There have been many news reports of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, flying Coach after attending a wedding in Memphis. He carried his own hand luggage onto the Dallas bound flight. The Prince was accompanied by his four bodyguards. He ordered a water on the flight. Why didn’t American Airlines upgrade William Windsor and a bodyguard? Or did he ask the airline not to? People were certainly impressed by the prince’s choice. eg US television reporter Eli Ross tweeted: “I am still amazed #Prince William flies COACH. That’s pretty humble/awesome. Who knew?”
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Rail Mayhem in Myanmar (Trip Report)
I have ridden the rails in Africa, the Americas,Asia, Australia and Europe in steam trains to TGVs! Today’s report talks about a train ride in Myanmar (Burma) from Mandalay (the country’s second biggest city located in the centre of the map) to Bagan (the tourist and spiritual heart of the country located southwest of Mandalay). This ride has to be simultaneously one of the best, worst and funniest rail journeys I have ever done! Some websites warn tourists that trains in Myanmar are expensive compared to buses, slow, uncomfortable, dirty, noisy and smelly. True. Others extol…
What to do with left over foreign coins?
One of the annoyances of travelling international is the amount of “small change” that can accumulate. In some countries, coins are used instead of small notes so at the end of a trip, you can have a surprisingly large amount of money tied up in coinage. There is a limit as to how many of these coins one wants to collect for souvenir purposes and these coins are “virtually” worthless on return as most money changers and banks only accept notes in foreign exchange transactions. Options- Spend, Save, Give Learn the coinage of the country…
My 999th Flight
Just flew my 999th flight from Kuala Lumpur back to Australia with the magnificent Emirates. In many cultures 999 is a lucky number. Tomorrow I will fly for the 1000th time. That flight will also be my 291st flight with Qantas airways. I celebrate a half century this year, so on average, I have flown 20 times per year – about twice a month! I was three when I first flew and there were some years when I flew 100+ times and other years when my feet did not leave the ground. I have flown with 89 airlines since…
Tips for not spoiling places for others
I suggested last week that it is bad luck to ruin a place for fellow tourists. Here are some tips for avoiding spoiling places you visit. Please share widely and add yours: Build greener travel into your program Follow rules in ancient sites, cities or sacred spaces. The time to assert your freedom from rules is at a nudist beach not at a 500 year old site like Machu Pichu Do not collect or take away biological or geological specimens or man-made artifacts as a souvenir, including rocks, bones, eggs, fossils, and parts or contents of…
Ranking US airlines by complaints
US airlines get about 10, 000 complaints a year reported to the US Department of Transport. The number of complaints rose until 2012, when they fell slightly. Last year, 643 million passengers were carried by US airlines, so the number of complaints in that perspective does not seem to me to be that high. Of course few of us take our frustration with an airline to the appropriate authorities, preferring to whine about it ourselves or post our experiences on Facebook! The report “Unfriendly Skies”, an analysis of five years of airline complaints by…
Spirit most complained about US airline
I have never had the delight of flying Spirit Airlines in the USA. The one time, I turned up for a Spirit flight, they cancelled it! In the mould of Ryanair, Spirit combines low fares and profitability and customer complaints. Over the last five years, Spirit has consistently received three times more complaints than any other airline and the number of complaints against the airline kept rising in that period. In a report compiled by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund based on Department of Transport statistics, Spirit managed to increase its customer complaints from 6.7 per…
Get your Rent a Car Costs down
I was talking to a friend yesterday who paid more to rent a car for three days than I would pay for a week! When I asked him why he had spent so much money, he told me he booked it from the airport counter and he always rented from the same rental company. I have written in detail about car rentals but some tips for saving money: Book in advance Use a comparison website eg Priceline, Vroomvroomvroom or expedia.com.au/Car-Hire Ditch loyalty – other companies have the same cars so I have joined more than one…
3 New Airlines Joining One World
My favourite alliance oneworld (named best airline alliance of 2013) are in the process of adding three airlines to its stable of airlines. This addition of these new members is reportedly the biggest expansion since the program began.The three new carriers are: TAM – member from 31st March, 2014 US Airways – member from 31st March, 2014 Sri Lankan- member from 1st May 2014 TAM (JJ) Hubs: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Founded: 1976 Fleet: 172 Destinations: 61 destinations in 16 countries Skytrax Rating: 3 star airline. Skytrax Passenger Rating: 42% In 2012, Brazil’s TAM merged with Chile’s LAN. One…
Travelling with Others (without tears)
As a people watcher, I am sometimes morbidly fascinated by what can be very public fights by fellow travellers. You have probably spotted couples not talking for days or having screaming fights in the middle of airports, hotels and train stations. I know friends who have vowed never to travel with each other again. Here are some thoughts on avoiding frustrations with your travel mates: 1. Choose Your Travel Companion(s) Carefully Be aware that if you find someone’s behaviours irritating on a day to day basis, then on a trip any irritation will be magnified…
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