Posted by Seth on August 3, 2011 under Flying, Trip Reports | 
It seems that about once a year or so a news piece comes across the wire about a passenger who books a flight to Sydney and ends up in Sydney, only to find out that it is not at all what they expected. Rather than arriving in Sydney, Australia they find themselves in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Quite a difference there.
As part of our Canadian Maritimes adventure I purposefully booked an open-jaw award ticket. This was partly to ensure that we got to see as much of the area as possible without needing to double back with the rental car when it was time to leave. Just as much, however, it was to be able to fly out of Sydney. On purpose.
The flight was completely uneventful. Nothing special at all. Well, except that a woman in the row behind us was on her first flight ever and it was on a DASH-8 prop that took just about every bump along the way and transmitted it right into the passenger cabin. There were a few yelps at those points.
Soon enough we were in Halifax and ready to connect to our onward flight back to Newark. Not nearly as entertaining as the flight from the "other" Sydney.
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Posted by Seth on May 17, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
A bit of excitement coming out of Australia this morning as Qantas has announced several changes to their frequent flyer programme. Most of the changes appear to be rather beneficial to customers, particularly at the high end, but there are a couple moves that quite likely will limit earning potential in the program as well.
Perhaps most significant is that a new elite tier is being added to the program. The "Platinum One" level will require 3,600 tier points to qualify (Platinum is only 1,200) so this level is not going to be something that many folks reach. It will require 20 paid one-way trips in business class between Sydney and San Francisco or 10 paid one-way trips in first class between Sydney and London in a year to reach this level, for example. The specific details of what benefits will be included are not yet published.
In addition to the new top tier level the earning rates for travel are changing, mostly for the better. Passengers who already have elite status will see their bonus miles earning rates grow and passengers flying in premium cabins will also see the bonuses they earn grow.
| Status-based bonus |
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Silver |
25% |
50% |
| Gold |
50% |
75% |
| Platinum |
100% |
100% |
|
Cabin-based bonus
|
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Premium Economy |
10% |
25% |
| Business |
25% |
50% |
| First |
50% |
100% |
All good news, right? Well, maybe not. There is one area where the earning is going to change a bit for the worse. As explained on the announcement page:
Currently members earn a Loyalty bonus of 5,000 points for every 450 Status credits earned. Loyalty bonuses will be calculated this way only until 30 November 2011.
From 1 December 2011, Members will earn a Loyalty bonus of 8,000 points for every 500 Status credits earned within a single membership year – up to a maximum of four Loyalty bonuses per membership year.
At 1 December 2011, Status credit balances relating to the calculation of the Loyalty bonus will be adjusted to recognise only those earned within the member’s current membership year. Status credits earned in previous membership years will not be recognised in the calculation of Loyalty bonus after 1 December 2011.
Not a huge devaluation there, though the 4x maximum annually seems a bit limiting. Those passengers aren’t even at the top tier level (only 2000 tier points, just over half way to Platinum One) and they no longer will be earning the Loyalty bonus points.
Overall it would appear that these enhancements are actually that, changes that make the program better. It certainly is nice to see that happening in an industry where program devaluation seems to be more the norm lately.
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Posted by Seth on March 7, 2011 under frequent flyer, points |
Some folks love the challenge of earning frequent flyer points. To me, that’s just business. I do it and I accrue and I move on to the next flight. But when the time comes for redeeming those points, that’s where the fun begins. Part of it is because the airlines really do make it difficult to book awards. Part of it is because there are quirks and tricks and nuances in every program and understanding the rules of your specific program makes a huge difference. And part of it is that I generally feel triumphant when I can beat the airlines at their own game.
I won HUGE last week.
First up, our annual anniversary trip. Now in its 5th iteration, my wife and I have gone somewhere out of town for our anniversary each year. Ecuador, Philadelphia/Washington, DC Norway and Scotland were the previous four. This year’s goal was the Canadian maritime provinces. Turns out they’re a bit too spread out for us to hit as much as we wanted in the long weekend so we scaled back to just Nova Scotia. Not too disappointed about that at all.
With non-stop flights from New York to both Moncton and Halifax it was actually surprisingly easy to find award seats into the region. Our outbound requires a connection in Toronto but we’re waitlisted for the non-stop flight (shown in red on the map) and I’m betting that it clears. Either way, we get where we want to be on the day we want to get there and at roughly the times we want to fly. No complaints there. Coming back we picked Sydney as the departing airport. No, not that Sydney. There’s another one up in Nova Scotia. Being a tiny town with a tiny airport the prices on revenue tickets can be pretty ridiculous. So even though we’re only going a few hundred miles the cash version of these flights was pretty ridiculous. But award inventory wasn’t a problem at all. Connecting in Halifax and then back into Newark at good times and with no real issues.
As an added bonus, there are flights from Sydney to France (in the form of Saint Pierre & Miquelon, shown in purple on the map) that we just might have to try. If the flight schedules work that is definitely on my radar.
Did I mention that these were a pretty good deal in terms of valuation for the points redeemed? I like that the Continental booking engine gives you the offer to pay cash instead of redeeming miles for the trip. But I couldn’t help but laugh when this was the option it presented me:
Purchase this Reservation in Economy for $4,452.46 without redeeming miles
Instead I cashed in 50,000 points and about $100 in taxes for the two seats. I’d say that’s a damn good deal.
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Tags: Air Canada, award, Continental, Ecuador, France, frequent flyer, Norway, Nova Scotia, Philadelphia, points, Scotland, Sydney, Toronto, Washington DC
Posted by Seth on October 22, 2010 under frequent flyer, News |
The SkyTeam alliance, oft faulted for their lack of coverage south of the equator, is working to rectify that situation with the announcement this week that Aerolineas Argentinas is expected to sign an agreement to join the alliance later this month. The carrier will aim to be fully integrated into SkyTeam at some point in 2012.
The move will open up a number of new destinations for SkyTeam in South America. It will also open up a number of routes to connect the dots between other cities served by the alliance. With the uncertainty presented by the recently announced LAN/TAM merger and those carriers participating in OneWorld and Star Alliance, respectively, this move ties up one of the larger carriers in the continent as part of SkyTeam.
Personally, I’m hopeful that they can be integrated quickly and that I can use points from various SkyTeam programs for interesting frequent flyer redemptions, including Ushuaia and the antipodal routing of Buenos Aires – Auckland – Sydney. I don’t know why, but I really want that line on my map.
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Posted by Seth on August 4, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Sure, Continental recently announced that they’ll be operating the 787 Dreamliner on the Houston – Auckland route next fall, but in the mean time getting to Oceania using their program requires a bit of creativity. Fortunately they have some of the most flexible rules regarding award travel routing, particularly to that region. Assuming that the seats can be found, there are quite a few options available. And I’m taking advantage of many of them on an itinerary that I just booked to New Zealand this December.
Perhaps the most significant benefit that the OnePass program offers is the ability to book travel to Southeast Asia and Oceania either across the Atlantic or Pacific ocean. I have a couple friends who even managed to book both on the same trip but it seems that the computers have finally closed that loophole. Still, the ability to go transatlantic opens up a number of additional carriers and routing options for getting to that part of the world. With Singapore Air limiting premium cabin reward redemption on so many of their aircraft these days having such flexibility is important.
In the end I managed to book an eight segment award and I’m holding out hope that the last couple segments I need can be picked up as awards if the inventory opens up. As a platinum elite such changes are complimentary. If I cannot find the seats then the cost of buying that ticket is relatively low. So what’s the routing? On the outbound I fly:
- Newark – Munich: Lufthansa A340-600 First Class
- Munich – Bangkok: Thai Airways B747-400 First Class
- Bangkok – Melbourne: Thai Airways B777-300 Business Class
- Melbourne – Auckland: Air New Zealand A320 Economy Class
The return trip is similarly enjoyable:
- Sydney – Bangkok: Thai Airways A340-600 First Class
- Bangkok – Istanbul: THY Turkish B777-300 First Class
- Istanbul – Frankfurt: THY Turkish B737-800 Business Class
- Frankfurt – Newark: Lufthansa A340-300 First Class
I even get about 10 hours in Munich and about 8 hours in Bangkok to see some of the sights. Every single one of the flights will be a new line though none are new airlines. It will, however, be my first experience in a proper international first class cabin and I get to compare a few different products. At 160,000 points and $175 in taxes it is hard to complain about just about anything with this trip other than that it is so short. It is no surprise that Continental continues to report in its quarterly calls that they are experiencing increased costs related to award redemptions since the move to Star Alliance.
Oh, and why am I going to New Zealand anyways? Some friends are chartering a plane from Air New Zealand and we’re going on some pretty incredible tours. Plus I will get to participate in the Star Alliance annual meeting a bit. Should be a great time.
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Tags: 787, Air New Zealand, Airbus, Auckland, award, Boeing, Dreamliner, Frankfurt, Lufthansa, Munich, New Zealand, Singapore Air, Sydney, Thai Air, Thailand
Posted by Seth on June 15, 2010 under Trip Reports |
As my day of beach visits in Sydney wrapped up on Saturday afternoon I headed back in to the Circular Quay area and up towards The Rocks to my bed. I desperately needed to shower and change before going out for dinner. As I walked up the side of the harbour I noticed quite a few folks with their cameras mounted on tripods, all pointed at the Opera House. OK, such a scene isn’t all that unusual but, well, it just seemed different this time. Sure enough, it was.
I happened to be in Sydney during the middle of the Vivid Sydney event. Billed as the largest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, Vivid Sydney includes large-scale light installations, a concert for dogs and all sort of other wacky stuff. One of the events, a repeat from last year but with a different artist this time, was Lighting the Sails. Basically the Opera House was lighted from across the harbour with rather intricate patterns and designs. It was surreal, particularly as some of the schemes were animated (there is a video below).
The event was, overall, very cool. And it definitely brought folks out to the harbour. That being said, it looked pretty much like all of us watching were tourists, not locals, so I’m not entirely convinced that we wouldn’t have been in that neighborhood anyways.
A very cool exhibition, though also quite trippy.
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Posted by Seth on June 14, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Sure, it was winter time in Australia while I was visiting but apparently my visit brought (or at least coincided with) the first warm, sunny day that Sydney had seen in several weeks. This meant that lots of folks were out an about, especially on the beaches. I really wanted the ferry ride through the harbour so I hit up Manly beach first, but given its slightly more popular coverage in the media (at least up here) I also felt that I should take a trip out to Bondi Beach. So after lunch I did just that.
Unfortunately, by the time I got out to Bondi the weather had turned for the worse. It was grey and overcast, with intermittent spurts of mist, drizzle and rain. It was not beach weather at all. Still, I had made the trek out there and I was not going to be denied.
One of the “must do” events at Bondi Beach is a visit to the pool at the southern end of the beach. It is justifiably famous and really quite cool. It is open to the public for a small fee but, alas, I didn’t have my suit with me. Plus it was cold and raining. Still, I did stop by to see the famed salt-water pool that sits right on the ocean.
All the photos I’d seen and reports I’d read mentioned how cool the pool was, mostly based on its location. But not a single one of them ever showed just how crazy it could be, particularly when the weather was a bit less than ideal. Well the day I was there definitely had less than ideal weather and the pool was constantly being overrun by the waves crashing against the sea wall.
Yeah, the waves were somewhat violent crashing against the wall there. I guess the folks in the water are used to it because they just kept on swimming.
There is a long walkway that connects the beaches around Bondi. I headed a bit further south along the walk just to see how folks were enjoying the afternoon. Even with the misty drizzle folks were out, doing what they could to keep dry as appropriate and to enjoy the waterfront where they could.
I enjoyed Manly better than Bondi but I cannot say that it wasn’t entirely because of the weather. The beach at Manly is longer though Bondi is deeper. I suppose they both have their appeal and either one is a great place to spend a few hours – preferably when it is warm and sunny – during a stay in Sydney.
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Posted by Seth on June 10, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Apparently the weather immediately prior to my arrival in Sydney last Saturday morning was miserable. Several weeks of gray skies and rain. It was bad enough that the Sunday morning newspaper actually had a story about the fact that the Saturday weather didn’t suck, complete with a photo of a rainbow (which I saw and it was quite cool) and some statistics about how the bad weather was causing more traffic accidents this winter. But for me, for the 32 hours I was on the grounds, the weather was pretty much unbeatable.
With such a short stay it was important to prioritize what I planned on seeing and doing to get in as much as I could. I booked a bed in the Rocks YHA Hostel, just off of Circular Quay and under the Harbour Bridge so I was quite centrally located to do pretty much anything I wanted in town. I checked in at 9am and they were able to get me into my room right then which meant a shower and dropping my bags off and then I was on my way to see the city. Plus, it was rather cheap and the view from the roof deck was, well, awesome!
First stop, Manly Beach. Read more of this article »
Posted by Seth on June 4, 2010 under Trip Reports |
It is not often that folks have reason to be happy about delayed flights. But anyone complaining about the initially posted 15 minute delay on my flight from San Francisco to Sydney last night would be someone who hadn’t ever chatted with route planning folks in operations. Indeed, we actually needed to take the delay on our departure in order to ensure that we could arrive on time.
There are crazy rules all over the world about where you can fly and when. Among those is a restriction preventing arrivals at Sydney earlier than 6am. With favorable winds our flight time was under 14 hours, meaning that if we departed on time we actually would have arrived too early into the Sydney area and then we’d be forced to circle, waiting for the airport to open up for morning operations.
I’ve had the opportunity to chat with the flight plan guys on a couple previous occasions and understanding the immense amount of planning that can go into a single flight, such as Newark to Hong Kong, is quite overwhelming. In addition to operating at the edge of the performance envelope for the aircraft the route has to be timed to hit certain waypoints over foreign airspace rather precisely. If you’re not where you are supposed to be over Russia or China at the exact moment you’re supposed to be there things can get ugly.
It turned out to not be as important that we take the initial delay holding based on the predicted flight time. As we got to our new departure time the pilots determined that there was a problem with the #2 engine that would require some maintenance guys to cannibalize another 747 across the field to get us some spare parts so that we could make the trip safely. I got to chat with the captain, listen to the flight attendants discussing whether they were going to be going illegal or not and watch out the window of the jetway – under the careful eye of the armed Customs & Border Patrol officers waiting for us to close the door and go. Ultimately I’m quite glad that they got the repair done right, even if we’re now two hours late and I risk losing my room reservation for tonight because it was only being held for three hours after my planned arrival. I’m sure I’ll figure that out and it beats not quite making it all the way to Australia.
Oh, and I managed to get lie-flat coach seating again on this flight. Four across in the center of the 747, all to myself. Hard to complain about that. I slept great!
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Posted by Seth on June 3, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Yes, I will be spending more time flying round trip than I will on the ground in Sydney. Yes, I plan to have a ton of fun this weekend. Yes, I am crazy.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, allow me to elaborate. A couple weeks ago United Airlines had a very brief 40% off sale for fares to Australia. Not being one to ignore a good sale I took a peek and noticed that it included trips from New York City. The price was right and the number of miles earned – almost 20,000 EQMs and almost 40,000 reward miles – are large enough that knocking out a weekend of flying was a good investment plus a great way to get back down to Oz. Tickets were booked and I didn’t look back. Now, a couple weeks later, I’m in the middle of my first segment of four on the trip, JFK – San Francisco aboard a United 767-300 with the International configuration.
The regular p.s. plane was swapped out due to a fire a couple weeks ago so I get this one instead. The plane feels especially roomy due to the fact that there are way more coach seats on this than on a normal p.s. plane though United is still only selling the normal number just in case. Pretty much everyone who wants one has their own block of seats. Quite nice indeed.
That being said, I’m a bit disappointed in the interior appointments on the plane. Yeah, I know I’m sitting in coach, but I still expected a little better. United has been tooting their own horn a ton lately about cleaning up their aircraft. Maybe they just haven’t gotten to this one yet but the insides have a few issues that don’t make me all that comfortable about maintenance habits. Like I put my armrest down and was greeted with this:
Yeah, I can put the piece back on and I did and no big deal in the end, but it’s just not right. A couple minutes later, after push-back I look across the cabin and notice the flight attendants fighting to keep a couple overhead bins closed. They’re not over-stuffed or anything; thy just won’t stay closed. Apparently a previous attempted fix – taping them shut – also didn’t work. So there we were, cleared to taxi into position for take-off, and the crew was scrambling to find somewhere to store a few bags. Again, our plane was empty enough that it wasn’t an issue but not comforting to see that even the “just duct tape it together” approach wasn’t working. 
And, to top it all off, the IFE was broken. I’m not sure how entertaining watching a movie on these tiny screens would be; watching the moving map was hard enough though I do applaud United for not going to the fully advertising sponsored model there. Still, not having an option on the video was a bit annoying when I woke up from my nap. The good news is that United is familiar enough with things going wrong on flights so their flight attendants are prepared. They made an announcement about an hour prior to landing and came through with the compensation certificates for the entire cabin without prompting. They definitely have the service recovery part down pat.
And the flight itself hasn’t been all that bad. I got some work done, had a nap and read a bit. Not bad at all. Of course, this is the short flight, only 5:50 in the air. The true test is coming up in a few hours when I strap in on a more crowded 747-400 for the 14ish hour overnight flight to Sydney. Good thing I’ve stoked up on drink chits for the RCC in advance of that.
