This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Austria
Austria is easily reached by train, car or boat (along the Danube with canals connecting to other rivers). Many airlines fly to Austria (mainly Vienna) including:

• Star Alliance – Adria, Aegean, Austrian, Croatia, EgyptAir, LOT, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish
• Oneworld – British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Royal Jordanian
• Sky Team – Aeroflot, Air France, KLM, Korean, TAROM
• Other selected – Emirates, lots of low cost airlines

TIP Many European low cost airlines fly to Bratislava in Slovakia, from which it is a fairly short bus train or boat ride to Vienna.

TIP Vienna has excellent flight connections to most places in Eastern Europe.

UPDATED August 2010 – Updated for TAM and Aegean joining Star Alliance, Shanghai leaving Star Alliance, Vietnam Airlines and TAROM joining Sky Team. No change to advice.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Angola

Source: Silje L Bakke

Most visitors to Angola arrive by air, with the only safe land border (at time of writing) being with Namibia and involving a long journey by car. A handful of airlines fly to Angola (all to Luanda) including:

• Star Alliance – Lufthansa (from Frankfurt), South African (from Johannesburg), TAP (from Lisbon)
• Oneworld – British Airways (from London LHR)
• Sky Team – Aeroflot (from Moscow SVO) , Air France (from Paris CDG)
• Other selected – TAAG Angola Airlines (from Dubai, Lisbon, Paris CDG, Rio, and various African cities)

TIP Fares to Angola are very high – hopefully this will change as more airlines begin flying there. Book as far ahead as possible. Try to get on an award.

TIP On Star Alliance and Sky Team round the world fares, Angola will use a considerable portion of the mileage allowance. On Oneworld Angola is not possible to include in an around the world ticket (without an African surface segment) due to back-tracking rules, and with some exceptions will require entry or exit to the continent through flights between Johannesburg and Hong Kong or Johannesburg and Sydney.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

Paul Smith, aka the twitchhiker, set off from Newcastle, UK on 1 March to see how far he could travel in 30 days solely on offers made to his twitter account. Along the way he hoped to raise a lot of money for charity:water.

The spot of land furthest from Newcastle is Cambpell Island far to the south of New Zealand’s main islands at the end of the world. At the time of writing Paul has reached the nearest significantly sized land to Campbell Island (green pin on the map below), namely Rakiura or Stewart Island (blue pin). There are a few more specks of land in between – The Snares and Auckland Islands – you’ll need to zoom in a lot on the map to find them.

View Larger Map

Even by reaching Stewart Island, a place that very few visit and even fewer live (are there even any tweeters on Stewart Island?), Paul has ably demonstrated the power of social networking. I played my very minor part in meeting the twitchhiker at a tweetup, and by contributing a flight from Auckland to Wellington. Getting to Campbell Island, visited by a mere handful of people (mostly scientists) a year during the brief “summer” of the sub-antarctic, is probably too much to hope for in the couple of days remaining of his quest.

The media reporting has been interesting. Initially there was a sceptical tone and as much emphasis on the charity aspect as on the journey. More recent media attention has paid little attention to charity:water and been more on introducing twitter to a wider audience and about the journey itself. New Zealand tourism organisations and providers have latched onto the global attention as a means of cheap publicity.

A similar shift has happened in the offers of help, although perhaps in part this is explained by population (much more in Europe and USA than in New Zealand) and perceptions. For the early parts of the journey offers were made mainly by individual tweeters. As the trip has progressed travel-related business have recognised the publicity aspect and made more offers of help. Without Air New Zealand’s gift of a flight from Los Angeles to Auckland would the twitchhiker have made it beyond US shores? I’m not sure.

Social media will continue to evolve. This has been an interesting experiment to follow (and play a teeny bit role in). It feels a long way from my first post on the first twitchhiker.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Dubai

Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) can be reached by land from other UAE Emirates. There are also a limited number of ferries crossing the Persian Gulf to UAE. Many major airlines fly to Dubai International Airport, including home carrier Emirates which flies to 6 continents. A large new airport is under construction at time of writing. When it opens flyers will need to check which airport their flight uses. Airlines flying to Dubai include:

• Star Alliance – Air China, Austrian, EgyptAir, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore, Swiss, Thai, Turkish, United
• Oneworld – British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian
• Sky Team – Aeroflot, Air France, China Southern, Delta, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean, TAROM
• Other (selected) – Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, most airlines from north Africa, Middle East, western Asia and Caucasus.

TIP There are a number of fifth freedom flights between Dubai and other places in the Middle East and south Asia, eg Swiss between Muscat and Dubai. These can be relatively inexpensive.

TIP It may be relatively cheaper to fly via Dubai with a stopover than to fly a simple round trip, whether on a paid ticket or an award ticket. For example Australia to Dubai is often not much less than Australia to Europe via Dubai.

TIP If visiting somewhere else in Middle East and flying on Emirates it is usually worthwhile on paid tickets to make the other place the destination with a stopover in Dubai. The cost is the same or very little extra compared with Dubai as destination. The opposite applies if flying other gulf airlines (ie if flying Gulf make Bahrain the stopover and Dubai the destination).

TIP On Star Alliance round the world tickets (which are mileage based) use a combination of Asian (eg Singapore) and European (eg Lufthansa) to visit Dubai and avoid high mileage wastage of back-tracking. On Oneworld round the world (continent based) tickets you can backtrack with British Airways (limit one visit to Middle East though). In both cases backtracking to Asia is not allowed because Middle East is in IATA TC area 2 and Asia is IATA TC area 3.

UPDATED August 2010 – Updated for TAM and Aegean joining Star Alliance, Shanghai leaving Star Alliance, Vietnam Airlines and TAROM joining Sky Team. No change to advice.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Timor Leste (aka East Timor)

Source: J Patrick Fisher

No major airlines fly to East Timor, and the few airlines that do fly have low frequencies and fares are very high. The options change from time to time. At time of writing this post the following fly to Dili:

• Airline alliances – none
• Other – Airnorth from Darwin, AustAsia Airlines from Singapore, Merpati from Denpasar (Bali)

TIP Airnorth is a partner of Qantas Frequent Flyer. If you can get to Darwin cheaply (easy enough from Singapore and Australian capitals on low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger, difficult & expensive from elsewhere) and manage to get an award Darwin to Dili return, then this is by far the cheapest way to get to Timor Leste / East Timor.

There are no other ways to redeem miles for these flights, or include them on round the world or similar tickets.

Incidentally for those readers who are following my Flyer Tip series, AustAsia Airlines Singapore to Dili route is a classic example of where very limited number of booking classes are on offer. There is one price in business class, and just 1 or 2 prices in economy class.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog posts on tips for flyers.

Why might this post be useful to you?

Booking classes are a key tool which airlines use to manage their revenue. As airlines try to maximise their revenue, while passengers try to minimise their spending, it is useful to understand booking classes. The previous post in this Flyer Tips series introduced some basic airline revenue management concepts. This post builds on that information by explaining how booking classes control the availability of the millions of airfares that exist.

What are booking classes?

For airlines to maximise revenue they need to limit availability of their cheaper fares. They do this by way of booking classes. Every single fare has within its rules a constraint that it books into a particular booking class. Every booking class is designated by a single letter.

Booking class is not the same thing as class of travel or cabin. Every class of travel may have several booking classes associated with it. Some are for expensive, super flexible type fares. Some are for cheap fares. Some are for frequent flyer awards.

Example booking classes

Unfortunately booking class designations are not standardised across all airlines (although alliances are trying to make these more aligned within an alliance). Some common booking classes (although not universal) are:

F = first class
J or C = business class
Y = economy class

As an example, here are the booking classes for Lufthansa. They are listed in order of class of service, and then flexibility within each class of service.

F = first class full fare
A = first class discounted fare
O = first class awards and upgrades to first
C = business class full fare
D = business class discounted fare
I = business class awards and upgrades to business
R = business class industry travel (not available to general public)
Z = business class sale fare
Y = economy class full fare
B = economy class very flexible fare
M = economy class fairly flexible fare
H = economy class fairly flexible fare
X = economy class awards
Q = economy class moderately flexible fare
N = economy class industry travel (not available to general public)
V = economy class fairly inflexible fare
W = economy class fairly inflexible fare
U = economy class fairly inflexible fare
S = economy class inflexible fare
P = economy class inflexible fare
G = economy class inflexible fare
K = economy class inflexible fare
L = economy class inflexible fare
T = economy class inflexible fare
E = economy class sale fare

Not all booking classes are offered on all flights. As well as the obvious cases where no first class or business class exists, some routes may not offer some of the more heavily discounted fare classes (eg longhaul tends to have less economy booking classes than shorthaul due to more competition on shorthaul/domestic translating into a greater need for differentiation on price and terms). Codeshares often have a narrower range of fares. Some business-oriented shuttle flights may be restricted to just a few flexible booking classes.

How can booking classes be used?

The fare rules determine the booking classes, usually from the first letter of the fare basis code (a series of letters and numbers that are the “name” of the fare in the rules). For those that look at fare rules, knowledge of booking classes helps inform where in the hierarchy a fare sits and gives clues as to how likely it is or isn’t to be available.

There is a gotcha to watch out for. Airlines have their own tables of booking classes and mappings. These differ by airlines and sometimes an airline will change theirs (eg Air New Zealand added a new booking class code “A” for premium economy last year). The online travel agents and booking engines can sometimes be caught out by these differences or changes and describe a fare as being for a wrong class of travel. Eg “A” is used by many airlines to designate discounted first class and thus some websites showed the new premium economy code for Air New Zealand as first class instead of premium economy. This one was easy to spot as an error – Air New Zealand removed first class some years ago. Other similar errors may not be as easy to spot.

A later post in the series will explain availability tools and show how you can look up this information.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Tonga

Source: Chris Fleizach

Some cruise ships and freighters visit Tonga from other South Pacific islands and also Australia and New Zealand. However, most visitors to Tonga arrive by air at Nuku’alofa airport on the main island of Tongatapu. Airline options are limited to regional carriers. Note there are no flights on Sundays and Tonga is west of the international dateline (despite being in the western hemisphere) – thus almost a day ahead of USA.

• Star Alliance – Air New Zealand from Auckland and from Los Angeles via Apia (Western Samoa)
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other – Air Pacific from Fiji, Virgin Blue subsidiaries from Sydney and Auckland

TIP Fares from Auckland, Fiji, Sydney and Apia are relatively cheap, except in school holidays or if there is a major event on in Tonga.

TIP Air New Zealand has through-fares from UK and USA to New Zealand and Australia that allow an en-route stopover at Cook Islands, Samoa or Tonga for little or no extra $.

TIP Awards in business class between USA and New Zealand are easier to get via the islands than on non-stop flights.

TIP On a Star Alliance round the world fare, which is distance based, it is much more efficient to fly Auckland to Tonga to Los Angeles or vice versa than doubling back via Auckland (Los Angeles to Auckland to Tonga to Auckland).

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Cook Islands

Almost everyone arrives at the Cook Islands by air at Rarotonga airport. Options are limited:

• Star Alliance – Air New Zealand (from Auckland, Christchurch and Los Angeles)
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other – Air Tahiti* (from Papeete), Pacific Blue (from Auckland)

* Note Air Tahiti is the shorthaul Tahitian airline, not Air Tahiti Nui which operates longhaul.

TIP Fares from Auckland are relatively cheap, except in school holidays or if there is a major event on in the Cook Islands.

TIP Air New Zealand has through-fares from UK and USA to New Zealand and Australia that allow an en-route stopover at Cook Islands, Samoa or Tonga for little or no extra $.

TIP Awards in business class between USA and New Zealand are easier to get via the islands than on non-stop flights.

TIP On a Star Alliance round the world fare, which is distance based, it is much more efficient to fly Auckland to Rarotonga to Los Angeles or vice versa than doubling back via Auckland (Los Angeles to Auckland to Rarotonga to Auckland).

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the contact me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Argentina

Source: J Kikuchi

Argentina is a huge country, accessible by land, sea and air. There are buses from all neighbouring countries. By sea there are ferries from Chile in the far south and Uruguay across the Rio del Plata, plus cruise ships on the Patagonia and Antarctica circuit.

Flights to Argentina include the following airlines (mostly to Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport)

• Star Alliance – Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa, South African, TAM, United
• Oneworld – American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, LAN (including subsidiaries), Mexicana, Qantas
• Sky Team – Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Delta
• Other – most main South American airlines including Aerolineas Argentinas

Note flights to/from Uruguay and domestic use Buenos Aires Newquay airport.

TIP Intra-South America air travel sold in South America is cheaper than the same flights sold on US or international websites or travel agencies.

TIP While air fares to South America are often high, there can be some great savings during sales from USA and Canada in particular.

TIP South America is difficult to include on a Star Alliance RTW due to lack of a connection across the Pacific Ocean. Consider taking a side-trip (separate ticket) from USA.

TIP With LAN Argentina now a member of Oneworld and the resumption of Qantas service, Buenos Aires is almost as good a hub as Santiago for intra-South America travel. This applies for both awards and around the world tickets.

UPDATED November 2009 – Mexicana joins Oneworld and Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.
UPDATED August 2010 – Updated for TAM and Aegean joining Star Alliance, Shanghai leaving Star Alliance, Vietnam Airlines and TAROM joining Sky Team. No change to advice.

Musings of the Global Traveller

Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Portugal

Source: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

Portugal is easily reached by road from Spain, with plenty of bus services. Many airlines fly to Portugal (Lisbon except where stated):

• Star Alliance – Austrian (to Faro and Funchal), Continental, EgyptAir, Lufthansa (to Faro Lisbon and Oporto), SAS (to Funchal), Swiss (to Faro Lisbon and Oporto), TAP (based in Portugal), Turkish, US Airways
• Oneworld – British Airways (to Faro and Lisbon), Finnair (to Faro Lisbon and Funchal), Iberia (to Lisbon and Oporto)
• Sky Team – Air France, KLM
• Other – many European low cost airlines and charter airlines (to Lisbon, Faro and Funchal)

TIP It is about 8 hours drive from Madrid or Sevilla to Lisbon, so check fares to Spain as an alternative to Lisbon, Oporto or Faro.

TIP Faro and Funchal are highly seasonal destinations. Fares should generally be lower outside the summer peak.

UPDATED November 2009 – Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.

Musings of the Global Traveller
Thoughts, advice and travel news from around the world by a seasoned frequent flyer.