As a kid, I first started plane spotting when I flew through the airports of  in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. I became expert by the age of six at picking out all of the different tails of airlines. The bright colours of Braniff, the dignified blue of Pan Am, the proud speedbird of BOAC,  the Kangaroo of Qantas and the blue and white S of Sabena all were recognisable instantly. Fast forward forty years, and most of those airlines are gone.

As an adult, I still like looking at those tails and dream both about the carrier and it service and the exotic destinations it connects.   I promise I am not obsessive about my plane spotting.  I don’t make many special trips to the airport, just to watch planes!  I am noticing that while I see more planes at most airports, I am seeing fewer and fewer airlines.

A few years ago, a friend of mine Tony (see earlier post on how he got me into Flightmemory) and I tipped that the number of carriers globally would fall to a dozen or so with a small number of regional carriers. We saw national lines would get blurred, that fewer governments would be able or willing to prop carriers up and economics would force consolidation. Tony passed away a few years ago. He would be amazed at how quickly our predictions are indeed happening. Air France-KLM (2004), Lufthansa-Austrian-Swiss (2007-8), Delta-Northwest (2008), British-Iberia (2011), and United-Continental (2012). Now American and USAir are talking.

European airlines seem to be consolidating into seven major airline groups listed here in order of number of passengers carried:

1. Germany’s Lufthansa (who own Austrian, Germanwings, SWISS, Lauda, 45% of Brussels and 16% of Us Carrier JetBlue)- they made €820m in 2011 but lost money on British Midland who they are offloading. Thei subsiudary Austrian is under major pressure
2. Ryanair- made  €401m and are aiming to double passenger numbers in a decade
3. Air France-KLM (who are closing in on ownership of Alitalia) lost €353 million
4. EasyJet - increased  pre tex profits in 2011 to €303 ($362m £248m)
5. International Airlines Group ( British Airways and  Iberia) who doubled operating profits to €485 million
6. Turkish Airlines (winner of best European airline in 2011) was profitable and aims to be one of the 12 airlines in the world
7. Air Berlin  ( now 29% owned by Etihad) and the newest One World member reported a net loss of €271.8m ($322m; £205m). I am curious as to how much Etihad will decide to end up owning

The remaning independent airlines in Europe seem to be increasingly limping toward bankruptcy or absorption: Poland’s LOT, Portugal’s TAP, Hungary’s Wizzair,  Ireland’s Aer Lingus, Slovenia’s Adria airlines, JAT Yugoslav and Czech Airlines all cannot last more than another couple of years.

Spain’s Vueling and Air Europa are now in a much stronger position with the collapse of Star Alliance member Spanair. It makes logical sense to me that Vueling consider Star Alliance membership. Their competitors Iberia are in One World and Air Europa are in Skyteam. Eventually Vueling and Air Europa will have to join the consolidation dance.

Across in Scandinavia,  SAS Group has had four years of losses. Finnair is under enormous pressure after losing €87.5 million 2011 and is looking at outsourciing European flights to a new low cost joint venture.  Meanwhile low cost carrier Norwegian has ordered 222 new planes: 100 737 Neos, 22 737-800s and 100 new  A320neos.

I can’t see SAS, and Norwegian both surviving. One will have to give and the weaker one is SAS. Takeover by Lufthansa or Air France?

 I think Finnair will merge or be taken over. Possible candidates? IAG group? JAL? SAS?

Icelandair who has pegged its strategy on funnelling traffic through Iceland between the US and Europe must choose a new plane to replace its entire fleet of ageing 757s. They could remain a small regional player but more likely will be absorbed by someone else.

The British Airways/Iberia International Airlines Group is considering a possible stake in One World partner Japan Airlines when it has its IPO in September. It would seem to me that Qantas (which BA used to have a stake in) would also be a possible candidate for investment from IAG. Is it further possible that One World could move from airline alliance to airline? Eg One World Airlines combing all or most of their members?

How far will consolidation go? Will we end up with but three airline groupings in Europe all affiliated to an alliance ? And a couple of regional carriers?

Whatever it means, there will be fewer tails at airports to spot. Lets hope the mega-airlines keep the smaller brand names for a while on their planes.

This is the fourth time I have flown British Airways on this sector- and my last. BA will cease flying this route from this Friday March 3rd.  Qantas will terminate its Bangkok to London services on March 26th and its planes will turn around in Bangkok. Instead both airlines will “swap” passengers at Bangkok. The same thing is happening with their Hong Kong flights. Both airlines will maintain their services via Singapore (the “Kangaroo Route”). This shorter “hop” will be where all through Australia-London passengers will be fed. Passengers going via Hong K and Bangkok will be choosing to stop. I have some disquiet about how these reductions in service will help “sell” Qantas as a carrier which I have blogged about previously.

Competitors on the non stop Bangkok to Sydney sector are now Thai and Emirates. Air Asia, Malaysian, Singapore all offer one stop service.

This was the 22nd British Airways flight in my life.  I also flew their predecessors BEA and BOAC a lot. I have flown them in total enough miles to go around the world four times.

Booking: 10 out of 10

The British Airways website is very clear and very easy to use, It loads quickly. Booking and paying is a breeze.  Entering my frequent flyer number, and choosing my seat was simple. I chose an exit row aisle seat. Love it!

Check In: 10 out of 10

I checked in online and was really disappointed to find that I had lost my emergency exit seat. Worse I now had a middle seat almost at the back of the plane. I looked for seats near the front of the cabin and could not see anything that a 185cm 6’1 frequent flyer would find comfortable so row 51 it was.

On arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, I made my way to the clearly signposted British Airways Gold/Business Check in counter where a very friendly check in attendant greeted me.  I mentioned politely to her how disappointed I was to have been relegated from exit row to back. She said “Let me have a look. Well sir, the plane is very full. We have moved you to  another class of srevice. You are in row 18.” In other words, the magic words: “you have an upgrade”. Row 18 on this 747 is in British Airways call “Club World” *Business Class) . Thank you BA!

Lounge: 8 out of 10

Bangkok Airport’s British Airways/ Qantas Business lounge is airy, pleasant and comfortable. The showers were very nice. Food included little mini lamingtons  which made this Australian  very happy.  The lounge could not be faulted.  

Boarding: 8 out of 10

Finding a gate at Bangkok airport always seems a challenge for me. I have been there so many times and I still manage to lose Boarding gates! So I arrived a little stressed at the gate. After that, Boarding was pretty smooth but on the plane itself, the pace felt very frantic. It was a clearly a fully laden flight and passengers and crew seemed to be everywhere. I was glad to be offered a welcome drink! I asked for Sparkling wine but was told I could have champagne instead. (When I last flew Business with Air New Zealand, I asked for a champagne but was told on the ground they could only serve me Sparkling Wine!).

Unlike Business Class on Air New Zealand, Virgin and Qantas, no cabin crew member welcomed passengers on board individually. Crew on these carriers show passengers the ins and outs of the cabin. Not sure if BA don’t do it or if the heavy passenger load precluded it.

On Board: 8 out of 10

The 747 felt old. The interior fittings in Club World (Business) looked dated. My seat was great, however. There were a total of 52 seats in the Club World cabins, all 180-degree fully flat sleeper seats. The window seats all face the rear, as do the E & F seats. The seat has a 20″ width and 73″ pitch. On Qantas 747 on the same route you get 21.5″ and 60″ . Thai gives you 20″ and 55″ on their 747.

I chatted to my seat neighbour, before we raised the privacy screens. He was not convinced about flying backwards.

I initially found the BA service a little out of character. I could not place my finger on what i found jarring about the crew attitude. They won me over when I asked for a sparkling water, however. The cabin attendant leaned forward and said “we don’t have any.  It looks like they drank us out of it from London. It was a very full flight.” He said “I have looked“  Ten minutes later, he was back with a bottle from First Class. Very nice!

Safety: 10 out of 10

I feel I have seen the BA safety video many times now. Is it memorable or dated? Crew took safety briefing and checks carefully. 

Meals: 9 out of 10

Following my doctor’s noting my iron levels are low, I chose steak or my main course, Again, there was the slight jarring of service. Bizarrely, my flight attendant could nt recommend  a wine to accompany it. and even when prompted did not know the difference between the wines on this trolley. The steak with a  nice French red was perfect.

I found out later that British Airways have snacks available for club world passengers including sandwiches, smoothies and chocolates for access through the flight.  They didn’t mention it and I regret I didn’t check it out.

Entertainment: 8 out of 10

British Airways has  ”HighLife Entertainment’s Audio and Video On Demand (AVOD)”. In ClubWorld the flat TV screen is  26cm (10.4 inches). It rotates out in front of you and allowed lots of room to adjust it. noise canceling headphones are, of course, provided.  The 100 movies and TV programmes included lots of Downton Abbey, an excellent Mockmentray about Monty Python’s Life of Brian but one episode only of Mike and Molly, one of Modern family, one of Big Bang and one of Parks and Recreation! There were also 50 music CDs and audio books and 20 games which I didn’t play.

The Verdict:

My rating: 91% (5 out of 5)

Positives:   Meals, Lounge, Check in, Seat

Negatives:  Boarding, lack of Personal welcome

Would I fly them again?  Yes, especially if you upgrade me again- but alas it won’t  be on British Airways on this sector for a while

My last Trip Report: February 14: Malev – Rome (ROM to Budapest (BUD) Boeing 737

Okay, time for my annual review of airlines to see who I give top and bottom billing to. I rate every airline on every flight i fly vis a vis their offerrings from booking to landing. On my rating scale 5 out of 5 is an almost perfect travel experience. Any airline with:

• 4.7 or more out of 5 is Superb
•  4.4+ Excellent
• 4.1+ Good
• 3.5+ Average
• 3+ Below Average
• Under 3.0 Poor

Superb and Excellent List

1. Emirates once again scooped the pool for me with 5.0 out of 5.0 Consistently good service, food, entertainment, safety means I trust. Disappointed in 2011 that they did not recognise and match my Qantas frequent flyer status
2. Air New Zealand at 4.9 out of 5. This is an airline that is always a joy to fly. Amazing customer service, great food and wine and so many innovative attempts to make flying fun.
3. V Australia – now rolled into Virgin Australia plys the International routes. In all three classes, the V product is excellent earning then an average 4.8 out of 5.
4. Qantas Airways -still came in with 4.8 out of 5. There has been a lot of talk about a decline in Qantas service. On board, I still find the Qantas customer service focus to be there. I cannot say the same with upper management and the disgraceful grounding incident earlier in the year, almost had me remove Qantas from this list.
5. Cathay Pacific- still one of the best in the world though their service has become less consistent recently, their seats are not very comfortable (and are being replaced) and I had a run in over their online booking system in 2010…still get 4.7 out of 5 from me
6. LAN (about to merge with TAM) gives many carries a run for their money with service, cleanliness, food and entertainment.  4.7 out of 5
7. Lufthansa  My 2011 Lufthansa experience was very disappointing but overall I still give the German carrier 4.7 out of 5
8. JetBlue- for me, this low cost carrier has never compromised  servcie, courtesy or on board offerings. There are horror stories of  a grounding in the snowstorms a few years ago which I believe JetBlue learnt from: 4.7
9. Virgin America- the carriemr doesnt make any money but manages to fly customers around in amazing aeroplanes with great service and and an amazing eneternment system. A light in the dark US domestic scene: 4.7
10. Singapore Airlines- othe rpeople rave about Singapore and place them higher. I am satisfied with my 4.6 scoring.
11. Frontier- another low cost carrier makes it into the top ten list. Whether its the free on board chocolate chip cookie, groovy planes, or warm mid west hospitality, Frontier always delivers.

Out of my favourite airlines, three are One World,  three are Star Alliance, two are Virgin linked, three are unaligned and none are Skyteam

My Least Favourite airlines

1. Tiger Airways Australia – my last flight with them was a non event. Arriving 42 minutes before the flight, I found that check in had closed (they have a 45 minute check in cut off and didn’t offer online check in). They had no interest in accommodating two marginally late passengers insisting we buy new tickets. Coupled with their grounding in Australia last year and crappy on board project, Tiger comes  in for me with 1.5 out of 5 which I wonder if it is too generous?
2. Alitalia- enough said with 1.5 out fo 5
3. Ryan Air sits next. Their cheap fares attract but their legendary lack of care for customers, desire for revenue at all other costs earns admiration as a business model but one wonders if its really sustainable long term or will people continue to fly to save a few Euros, pounds or dollars even treated worse than cattle? (2 out of 5)
4. American Airlines. Grumpy service, aged planes and their  built in online ticketing rip off for Australian kept American in the list of worst carriers I have flown. Will bankruptcy improve them? (2.9 out fo 5)
5. US Airlines-How many airlines cancel a flight and invite you to drive  193 miles [310km] for an alternative flight. My US air flights were marginally better this year than my overall experience with them over years. (2.9 out fo 5)

Worthy of Comment

1. I have rated Air Asia at 3 out of 5 but think its time I revised this as people around me rave about them
2. United Airlines- my question in the United/Continental merger is will the Continental part raise the overall standards of United.  Pre merger, I gave United 3.5 out of 5 and Continental 4.7. For my nine 2011 United flights in 2011, I gave the new carrier an average of 3.7 out of 5. This means United is no longer in my bottom carrier list- just. Don’t get excited – they only just make average!
3. After a long absence, in 2011, I began frequenting Delta again. Boy am I impressed. Delta’s overhaul over the last few years has moved them from my no fly list to Good. I would rank them as the best US domestic carrier!
4. Etihad who I flew six times in 2011 were my biggest disappointment. I gave them a solid 4 out of 5 suggesting they are an average carrier. For all of their awards and marketing, I found the hype did not love up to a fairly ordinary global product.

What have been your experiences? Next Thursday:  Cities Visited in 2011

As a Qantas very frequent flyer, I am watching Qantas in disputes with three unions. There is the classic “blame the management” by the unions and the classic “blame the unions” by Qantas spokespeople. For passengers, there’s inconvenience of cancelled flights. For the tourist industry, theres a fear of loss of passengers at this crucial time. For Qantas there is presumably the economic impact of revenue losses.

I am interested that Virgin Australia is adding capacity to cope and advertising special fares. Since their conversion from discount to full service carrier, they have apparently snared 13 per cent of the Australian business market. Thats got to hurt Qantas again (although Virgin Australia are not making money yet). No wonder Qantas has announced improvements to its Gold Status Frequent Flyer program with better upgrade opportunities and extra baggage. They are also rolling out their new top tier: Platinum one. Still I see nothing useful for the Platinum tier which I think has been rapidly eroded by the airline. Talking to business people in the lounges, they voice concerns that the national carrier is not what it was. They know change is necessary but the attitude to their top customers (Gold and Platinum) is perceived to be poor.

The Australian public in the meantime are being assaulted by messages that Qantas is “unsafe”. Every diversion, every turnback and every piece of severe turbulence is being reported on Australian national news media. Its hard to know if the number of “incidents” involving Qantas is up or just being reported more or both. In addition, there is the message that maintenance is being outsourced, cabin crews internationalised and a whole new Asian airline added. Add the strike actions, and from my conversations, I think the Australian general public’s positive sentiment toward Qantas is being tested. Time was there was a feeling of pride at seeing a Qantas tail at an airport around the world. Is that still there?

CEO Alan Joyce says that Qantas is involved in a race for its survival. He has warned that Qantas could go the way of Ansett. To bring this change, he really needs the support of the general public, the business fliers and the unions. I worry in this change process he may have lost much support?

News comes that Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia will code share on each other services and passengers will enjoy reciprocal FF arrangements and lounge access. Virgin Australia also have a relationship with Delta (Skyteam) and Malaysia (about to join One World).

Is this a step toward Virgin Australia becoming a Star Alliance partner in Australia? We continue to move back to the days when we had two full service airlines Qantas and Ansett in the One World and Star Alliance networks. I blogged about this in May.

The impressive changes at Virgin Australia (albeit not yet with a profit) are accompanied by the brilliant incompetence of Qantas management in the way they are handling both staff and passengers. There is a stinging rebuke on the Business traveller forum pages today: But Joyce has to be also singled out for his stupidity in the way he has managed Qantas and in particular his perceived obsession with trying to Jetstarize Qantas. He has been in the job for 3 years and one can only wonder how long he can last.


I received an e-mail from QF FF this morning about a new food and wine venture I would rather hear about some real management changes on service and route development…. I have to ask myself why am I, like many, losing confidence in the Qantas brand. 


I am with the writer on this. A few of my posts have expressed my concerns re Qantas:

• Dear Nut Please go away 
• My rating of airlines for  2010 lamented the slide of Qantas to 8th position on my list (when I used to rate Qantas as the third best airline you could fly)
• When Enhancements alienate a customer referring to the poor way Qantas sold changes to their Frequent Flyer Program

To me the people who do not seem to be listening are Qantas themselves.

25th March, 2011: Bangkok- Amman-Beirut

Royal Jordanian are the Flag Carrier for the Kingdom of Jordan, a country between Israel and Saudi Arabia.  Founded by the Jordanian king in 1963, it is now a privatized company. Royal Jordanian is the first (and only) Arab airline to join a major airline alliance being part of One World. I have now flown 8 of the 12 airlines in One World (although one of them, Mexicana Airlines  has suspended its operations and I wonder how long One World can keep saying they are a One World member).  Finnair, JAL and S7 remain for me to fly.

Buying a Ticket

The Royal Jordanian website (www.rj.com) is reasonably straight forward. Getting human help for an e-ticket was more interesting. There is an Australian sales office in Sydney but they referred me to a number in Jordan, who fixed up the ticket and then sent me back to the Sydney sales office! Both the Amman and Sydney offices were very friendly. I found the Sydney office a little chaotic throughout. 

Check-in: 8/10

I love airlines with online check in but found Royal Jordanian’s a little more complex than I think it needs to be. Seat selection  was easy-ish and I got my coveted emergency exit seat. Then I thought I had lost the seat because of the confusing way, RJ displayed the seat selection so I re-chose the seat, to find that I still had it. Royal Jordanian has a very good system of emailing you confirmations of regarding seats, though. 

Boarding pass collection at Bangkok airport was easy.  I was invited to use the Thai Airways Silk Lounge. I had used this last year when I had flown with Thai. What seems strange to me that Royal Jordanian a member of One World uses a Star Alliance airline’s lounge and not the Qantas/Britsh Airways lounge. Wonder what that is about? Cost? The fact they are both connected to Royalty?

Boarding: 10/10

 I boarded late so I missed seeing if the boarding process was  smooth or chaotic! I am not sure whether the announcement in the Thai lounge was at the end of the boarding process or if it was a very rapid efficient process.

The welcome from plane entrance to my seat by all of the on-board crew was very warm. It was done in English and or Arabic depending on the guesses over the passenger’s language. The crew was a diverse mix with all the males being Jordanian and all but one of the females not being Jordanian. There were two Thai flight attendants, one from Ecuador and one from somewhere in Eastern Europe. The crew were all very friendly, very attentive and very welcoming and worked well. They were definitely proud of their airline but I did not get an impression of them being an overly cohesive crew today.

On Board: 7/10

I was traveling on an Airbus A330, a 300 seat twin engined plane. I am not a huge Airbus 330 fan, The cabin looked great: clean and airy. The colour scheme is very nice. Blanket and a pillow were provided at every place it seemed. Economy aisles are quite narrow.

On reaching my coveted exit aisle seat, I found it occupied. The occupant laughed and shrugged and offered me the bulkhead seats across the aisle. I took it figuring the leg room was almost as much as the seat I had reserved. Having already been travelling for 14 hours, I was not really ready for a discussion!  The leg room difference was enough that next flight, I will demand my seat.

They have a combined Business First section which I think leans toward the business end. Looked very comfortable and spacious with lie-flat seats.

Immediately, after takeoff, cabin crew brought round refreshing towelettes (yes, yes, yes). Amenity kits which consisted of the head sets came next. No little tooth paste and brushes were provided here.

Safety:  6/10
Safety demo good and clear with crew checking belts etc very well -with one major exception. In my row at the other end was an “interesting passenger”.  He moved himself from his assigned seat to an empty bulkhead seat. He carried out shouted conversations to his friends all over the plane.  He refused to put his seat belt on for take off and landing. He refused to switch his mobile off and was texting as the plane came into land in Amman. He ordered the stewardesses around in a way that I thought was rude. Interestingly, the female attendants seemed quite unassertive with him. They did make him put his luggage out of the passage way into the luggage compartment (“but I need it close” he said). The flight attendants pretended they could not see he was not wearing his set belt and I watched them gaze at him texting and look away. If there are genuine safety issues here then, this needs to be dealt with.

My problem “friend” decided soon after dinner, that he would sleep on the floor of the bulkhead. A male Jordanian steward spent some time remonstrating with him to take his seat and he finally moved. A hour he returned to the floor and another guy curled up on the floor at the emergency exit and they stayed there for most of the flight. Qantas would have a fit!! The ride was very smooth for the whole flight which is of course, always luck! I wonder what they would have done with the floor sleepers if it had been rough?

Takeoff




We were delayed out of Bangkok because of “traffic” and the captain clearly advised us over the PA system about this delay- twice. Finally, we pushed back -over 40 minutes late.

Our nose wheel left the ground and we seemed to move down the runway for a long time with the plane’s nose in the air and rear wheels on the runway before lifting off into the Bangkok post midnight sky.

Meals: 8/10

There was  no written menu provided for the trip. 

Dinner was promptly and efficiently served with 3 main courses offered:

1. beef and rice

2. chicken and vegetables

3. shrimp (prawns) and rice

I chose the beef dish which was delicious but the staff did no mention to me that it was spicy hot. This did not bother me but for some fliers, it may be a shock! Also on the meal tray were a bread roll, excellent fresh salad, crackers, a camberbert spread, water and a chocolate dessert (which I did not eat).

After such a nice dinner, breakfast the next morning,  was a little disappointing but perfect adequate. The roll was a little stale and the croissant was cold. I assumed they would have heated it. I was also surprised at how western,  the breakfast was. No Fetta or Olives, for example. The cheese spread and jam were excellent and the fruit was very fresh and very refreshing. Fascinatingly, the provision of Australian Berri Orange juice.


Royal Jordanian had water available in the galley but no food/snacks through the flight.   They did give me a nice cup of assorted nuts  without me asking for them) as I attempted to watch the Narnia Dawn Treader movie. They made it clear as they gave me the snack, that I was very welcome to order any drinks at any time. I did not observe them passing through the cabin offering water through the night (something Qantas do well on long haul flights).

On my short connecting flight from Amman to Beirut, I was stunned to be served a very delicious sandwich and drink. There were no choices with the drinks and no coffee served but I was impressed (as always) with the hospitality.

Entertainment: 8/10

The reason for not appreciating the Narnia movie (mentioned above) was nothing to with the brilliant Royal Jordanian entertainment system. I just hated this movie adaption of my favourite Narnia book).  The system itself works very well. The interface is excellent and works smoothly with good menus.

I thought selection was limited. Not enough for a nine hour flight. Only one 30 minute Arab music video, for example?Likewise, only  3.5 hours of comedy in total (including 4 eprisodes of the offce and one of Molly and Max- iw atched them all). I tend not to like watching movies on planes. Here is where I catch up on TV!

The headphones provided were okay.

Arrival: 6/10

Every passenger was given a survey form and envelope to send back to Royal Jordanian. The survey asked about aspects of Royal Jordanian service. I documented my concerns re the safety over My Seatbelt man. I was interested they asked no questions about their food.

Landing was pretty well right on time at 516am (scheduled 515am). Not bad after a 40 minute delay. It was one of the smoothest landings I have ever had in my life.  

We were warmly farewelled from the plane by the crew. That part of the arrival would have given RJ 10/10. The next part of the experience let them down.

On arrival in Amman, I attempted to switch to the earlier flight (6am) to Beirut which I had been told might be possible by the Royal Jordanian booking office in Sydney. “Flight departed sir”. I was told. “I see it still on the screens”. “No sir”. 

As I walked away from the counter, I heard them calling the flight!   I popped into the Royal Jordanian Crown lounge for my five hour wait for my connecting flight to Beirut. It is the biggest lounge in the whole of the Middle East.

Lounge Staff: “sorry sir , you are too early . You can only use the lounge 3 hours before your flight”.

He then explained there was a transit bus that would take me too a neaby transit hotel for a rest. I followed his directions and ended up unable to find the counter he was referring me to. I asked someone else who pointed me in the opposite direction and alas still no transit counter was there either! So I sat in an airport cafe using the wifi from the Crown Lounge. I will do an Amman airport report soon! I found the 3 hour rule interesting -anyone else encountered this with a lounge?

Overall Assessment: 76% (53/70)

For me, Royal Jordanian is way better than any American Carrier but not quite as good as Cathay, Singapore, Qantas or Air New Zealand and not near Emirates levels. I found them about the same or a little better than British Airways which would put them in my Top Ten airlines- so far. I have three more flights with them!  The difference being that BA seem to be declining and Royal Jordanian give an impression of improving. Their major selling points are their warm hospitality,  new aircaft and membership of One World (Frequent flyer points/status credits, Lounge access and World wide connections).

My flight with my 70th airline (LAN Chile) almost came to blows in the Check In line – before it had started.

I get to stand in the priority check in queue because  of the curse/benefit of having flown too much!!. When I arrived at Auckland, New Zealand airport for my 430am Check in for  Sydney, I went straight to the Priority Line. As I stood there,   I observed the man in the regular line was eyeing me carefully. When the check in clerk gestured to me to move forward, he was off! He roared across with his luggage trolley, narrowly scraping in front of me. The check in  clerk gestured him to stop and waved me forward again. He kept zooming up to the counter glowering at me the whole way and demanding attention from the check in staff. Suffice to say, the clerk refused to serve him. He looked ready to punch me out as he slunk back to his place in the line.   I could feel his eyes burning holes in my back as i checked in!

Air New Zealand handled the check in on behalf of LAN. I appreciated their initiative in getting me an exit row seats. What was even nicer was that they seated me alone! (after defending my place in then line!)

The LAN plane was an A340 which I love. Its a great plane. Almost as nice as the A380 but its engines don’t seem to blow up. It feels roomy (especially in 25A exit row!). 

Being an airline from a Spanish speaking country, the crew were bilingual. They greeted each passenger in Spanish and/or English. I decided I would go Spanish! Every member of the crew from front door to my seat welcomed me!

Safety briefings included the crew standing silently while a cute cartoon briefing played. It was very well done.LAN appeared to take safety very seriously and their pre safety checks were quite thorough (compare to Uniteds’ slap dash approach I blogged about a few weeks ago)

The pilot made his announcements in English and Spanish and wasted no time in getting the plane into the air. It was a superb take off on a grey morning

 My only two negatives with my seat were:

1. that the man who tried to head me off at the check in was just a couple of seats behind. He glared at me as he boarded!
2.  that it was opposite the :facilities” which were well used after take off and before landing.

Breakfast was fresh fruit, a very fresh ham and cheese croissant and carrot cake. Alcohol (from Chile) and non alcoholic drinks were freely and generously available. Cabin Service was warm and friendly from all crew.

The Trans-Tasman route Between Australia and New Zealand is one of the more competitive in Asia Pacific. Multiple airlines have slugged it out on this route. Because i like ranking everything, This  list ranks the airlines on that sector based on my rating of my experiences with them:

These ratings are ONLY for the Trans Tasman (Aust-NZ) Service

1. Emirates (amazing meals, great service, comfy planes, individual entertainment)  55/60 
2. LAN (good meals, v good service, comfy planes, individual entertainment)   51/60
3. Air New Zealand (no meals to good meals, v good service)  : 50/60
4. Qantas (ok meals, ok service, cramped planes, no ind entertainment)    39/60
5. Pacific Blue/Virgin Blue (no food, ok service, cramped planes, no ind entertainment)   30/60
6. Continental (ceased this sector)
7. Jetstar (no food, ok service, cramped planes, no ind entertainment)  26/60
8. United (ceased)
9. Aerolíneas Argentinas (not flown but they have a horrendous rap)  ?/60

I would fly with LAN again! I just hope check in is in the afternoon! (and watch out for pushy  men at check in)