Booking 8 out of 10 I actually started my flight in Auckland, New Zealand. The fare for Auckland-Melbourne-Los Angeles-Melbourne-Los Angeles was actually $A1000 less than the fare for Melbourne-Los Angeles-Melbourne. Combining two New Zealand trips in was easy for me. The Qantas website easily worked out the multi city fare and came up with a better fare than Expedia.com or Webjet or Kayak could find. Sometimes looking at the airline’s website can be a bonus. Trying the same search with Virgin Australia online was not possible. Seat selection was easy. All the preferred seats were gone, These included the…
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Qantas Gold Frequent Flyer-again
Quiet week here with no travel anywhere! Qantas sent me through my new Qantas Frequent Flyer card last week. My Frequent Flyer membership ticked over July 31, 2012. I have retained Gold status for another year.I had contemplated a last ditch Platinum run but resisted it. I also have some points with Emirates, JetBlue, Southwest and United. My other two main Frequent Flyer programs are with Virgin Australia (Platinum Status until December, 2013) and Delta (Silver Status until January). I also reached 7000 vists in July which was a new record for me. 80 per cent of you are regular visitors…
Hawaiian Down under
Hawaii and Australian have been linked by air for 61 years. Qantas began flying from Australia to Hawaii in 1941 (during World War Two). Jet service began in 1959 and 747s started plying the route in the late 1970s. Air New Zealand commenced its service to the islands in 1968. Pan Am, Continental, American and United have all plied the route in the past. Today Non stop service between “Down Under” and Hawaii currently consists of: Qantas QF3: Sydney- Honolulu -three times a week (Wed, Fri, Sun)- Boeing 767-300 Jetstar JQ3: Sydney – Honolulu -daily -Airbus 330-200 Hawaiian Airlines…
Trip Report: Virgin Atlantic to London in Premium
I am a bit of a Virgin with Virgin Atlantic, particularly compared to their sister carriers: Virgin Australia and Virgin America. Since 2011, Virgin Australia has transitioned to a full service airline and integrated their frequent flyer and fare offerrings with their UK and American counterparts. As a Virgin Australia Platinum flier (top tier), I am eligible for benefits with these partners. My experience is that the systems are still a bit creaky, as this trip illustrates. Booking 8 out of 10 I booked through Virgin Australia using their points on Virgin Atlantic. I got great service…
And the new Qantas Dance Partner is…
There has been a significant amount of chatter about possible Qantas interest in a middle east carrier. Etihad who are partners with Virgin Australia were not a contendor. Emirates had been a possible favourite but seemed to announce they only wanted a quick codeshare. Yesterday, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al-Baker suggested that they were very interested in a Qantas tie up and would meet with Qantas management in Sydney soon. Qatar was awarded top airline status in 2011. They have been flying into Melbourne from Doha for two years and this week will launch Doha to Perth. To have Qatar feeding passengers into…
I just hit Two Million km!
Today’s flight with Virgin Australia from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia tipped me over two million kilometres (1.25 million miles) travelled by aeroplane! This is a distance equivalent to 50 times around the earth. I have eaten, read, slept, chatted and worked for 16 and a half weeks of my life in the air. I record all of my 857 flights at Flightmemory.com. This database allows me to keep all of my flight information in one place and print maps based on the data. In case you think I am completely geeky,…
Virgin Australia A330 Per – Syd Business
In aviation, a year can make a huge difference. A year ago Virgin Australia was Virgin Blue. They did not have A330s and they had no business class. All that changed in May, 2011 when the discount carrier became “ahem” less discount. Since then, my observation is that Virgin have continued to improve their product. Significantly, they managed to increase profits by 118 per cent last year. Not an easy feat in this industry. Today, I review their A330 Business Class product. Booking: 9 out of 10 Virgin Australia has a very simple and straight forward booking system at www.virginaustralia.com.au All…
Trying Spirit-First Time
A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines. Qantas: Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney Virgin Australia: Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy product. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats? Spirit: I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like as I have never flown them. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see. Related Posts Why is…
Air Australia Grounded- Shock! Not.
When I blogged about Australia’s newest airline in January, I was not convinced it was a viable proposition. So many start ups have tried in Australia and failed/disappeared (East-West, Compass I, Compass II, Impulse, for example). More recently, we have seen Tiger Airways Australia in trouble. Australia is a tough aviation market in a tough aviation world. Already in 2012, three airlines have collapsed including Malev that I blogged about last week. Air Australia is the world’s fourth airline to be grounded this year. On the morning of February 17, Air Australia, after less than three months of operations, ran…
This Week: 13-19 February, 2012
I am in Bangkok, Wellington, Palmerston North, Auckland and Melbourne this week. 8005 miles (12 808 km) to be flown with four airlines: Air New Zealand, British Airways, Qantas and Virgin Australia. Trivia: I will fly my 820th flight of my life! I will also have my 40th Air New Zealand flight! Where are you this week? Hope its a great one!
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