This was no ordinary flight for me. According to my flightmemory, it was my 950th flight ever. In addition, it was my 275th flight with Qantas and my 24th on an Airbus A330.

Booking: 9 out of 10

Qantas’ booking engine is very streamlined. Six steps take you from enquiry to payment. If you are logged in as a Qantas Frequent Flyer, then the amount of information required to be typed in is minimal. Thanks to Skyscanner, I found the same fare on another website for $249 less. This saved me almost a third of the fare. It has annoyed me in the past that unlike Department stores, airlines don’t like to match fares. Since 2012, Qantas has offered a price guarantee: if, after purchasing a Qantas flight, on the same day, you find the Same Qantas Fare (including fare conditions) for a lower, publicly available price on an Australian website, we’ll match it. Frequent Flyers can also earn 1,000 extra points.  The site I bought from was not Australian so no bonus for me! – just a nice fare saving.

After booking and paying for me seats on the external site, I chose my seats back at qantas.com. Exit row seats were available for 90 dollars which I could not be bothered paying.  I opted for a seat as close as possible to the front of economy. I initially got  25 two rows behind the front Economy Row. 23, I looked every couple of days to see if the front row had become free. It did not.

Check in: 7 out of 10

I found Qantas online check in a little frustrating. It is supposed to be a five easy step process! For a  start,  why do I have to enter the same personal information for migration authorities every time I check in? Why cannot Qantas use my already entered name, and store my date of birth and passport information. I get tired of typing in passport number multiple times.  I also found that I could not complete the check in on my Ipad as a check box refused to respond to my response. After multiple times, I switched to a lap top and started all over again.    Still no seats available in row 23, sadly.

The use of the online check in meant I bypassed all of the queues at Sydney airport. The Economy line was crazy long. Even business class check in lines were long. Thanks to an express card obtained from a roving check in agent I got from airport entrance to Qantas lounge in just nine minutes.

Lounge: 7 out of 10

I was interested that I was recognised by three of the lounge staff. This was probably the result of some of those 275 flights! The Qantas business lounge was full. I commented on this to one of the staff and he told me this was the direct  result of the change of Qantas hub from Singapore to Dubai. He noted that the Asian flights now depart earlier in the morning, along with the Dubai flights. As a result there is now a mad morning rush in the lounges, followed by a lull until the US bound flights depart and then the afternoons are quiet. When I was in the lounge, seats were scarce, it was noisy and there were lines for the food. It was not exactly a restful expereince.

One of the the lounge staff changed me into a seat in row 23  and assured me that there would be no one next to me – he was right.

Boarding: 10 out of 10

I walked down to gate from the Lounge as late as I could so I missed out on most of the scrum. We were welcomed very warmly as we stepped onto the craft. I strolled to my seat in row 23 and settled in. Moments later,  I was greeted with a fresh orange juice, as was my neighbour across the aisle.  This is something I would get from time to time as Platinum customer. I was not sure how I won the honour on this occasion.

Takeoff

We departed a mere three minutes after the scheduled time. Take off was very smooth and we turned into the north-west bearing for Bangkok.

On board: 7 out of 10

I am not a fan of the A330, at the best of times. To me, it  feels  one of the more cramped of the Airbus family.   The 267 Economy  seats are arranged 2-4-2. They have a pitch (distance between seats) of 31″ and a width of 17″ . The 30 Business class seats arranged 2-2-2 have a pitch of 60″ and a width of 21.5.  Qantas has not had rave reviews over their economy seats. They are adequate. There are six lavatories  in economy and three in business class.

There was a tiny (and I mean tiny) amenity kit on each seat. The kit  includes a foul tasting tooth paste, cheap tooth brush and eye mask.  The kit reflects the continuing diminishing of  Qantas customer service. Once upon a time, there was more in the kit.

I asked a member of the Cabin crew if she could ask the pilot to sign my boarding pass for my 950th flight. I was very touched that Captain Pattison came down to see me and present me with a signed boarding pass.

Entertainment System: 7 out of 10

Both Economy and Business  have a seatback Audio and Video on Demand System. Qantas  has 20 Radio Channels, 120 CDS, 30 Movies, 120 TV programs including destination guides and 10 games. In Business, there are an additional 30 movies available. Found the selection, a little more disappointing than I have on previous occasions and found that I had seen all of the TV shows that I have any interest in. The system was a little slow in its responses when buttons were pressed.

While there is a power outlet in every business seat, there are no power outlets in economy which is a grave oversight in today’s world.   This distressed a fellow passenger who (almost tearfully) said that they had a full nine-hour work schedule to complete on the laptop and needed it charged. When the laptop’s battery flattened, the crew took the laptop and charged it in business class and returned it to the passenger who watched movies on it for the Rest of the flight! (not sure what happened to the work?)

Qantas has no on-board wi-fi. They cancelled the wi-fi program after a six month trial which saw five per cent of passengers using the wi-fi. Interestingly, Qantas’ new partner Emirates is continuing to roll out their wi-fi.

Meals: 8 out of 10

The crew provided a very attractive menu card, soon after take off. I chose a beef dish which was very nice. Fresh fruit available with drinks from the galley throughout the flight.
A small pizza sub was offered just before landing. Good selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, although the whites were not very exciting.

Landing

We had a very gentle landing into Bangkok, almost 30 minutes early.  I was met at the airport by a greeter service -part of the Fast Track service. They got me from gate through customs and immigration to the railway station entrance in seven minutes! (I had no checked luggage) I will use that service again!

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 80% (4 out of 5).

My Overall rating of Qantas: 4.7 out of 5 (based on my 275 Qantas flights)

Skytrax Rating of Qantas : 4 star

Positives: Staff, punctuality   Negatives: Entertainment system, wi-fi
Would I fly them again? Yes!

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Trip Report: Qantas 93: Melbourne to Los Angeles

LAX-SYD on A380

Farewell BA Bangkok – Sydney Trip Report

 Turkish Delight -Great Trip + Best Economy Meal Ever

Today, Virgin America a normally good airline gave a disappointing performance.

Virgin America (along with JetBlue) occupy top billing for me amongst all of the US carriers. On previous flight, I have given Virgin perfect scores with no exceptions.  This most recent Virgin America flight was more frustrating!

Virgin America (VX) launched in August, 2007 from their San Francisco base (now in SFO’s magnificent Terminal 2). They fly to sixteen destinations in the United States and three in Mexico. They began a Toronto, Canada service but it was not financially sustainable. This is an issue for the loss making airline which has been effectively in the red since day one.

 Booking: 10 out of 10

Virgin America‘s booking system is straightforward.  This was not always the case. Installed a year ago, their reservations system was a complete disaster for weeks with customers unable to book online at all. Average telephone wait times soared to 24 minutes — four times  longer than the next-worst airline. These things seemed to have been ironed out but one wonders how many customer’s this debacle cost.

When booking a fare, VX provides a choice out of three types of fares:

1. First class- extra leg room, free food and drink and two free bags  ($246 cheapest non  refundable fare at time of booking)
2. Main Cabin Select  (effectively a Premium Economy Product offering Bulkhead or Emergency Exit seating, free food and drink,  free entertainment, priority check-in and one free bag- worth $25). The price difference between Main Cabin Select and Main Cabin can be minimal ($177 cheapest fare at booking time)
3. Main Cabin ($77 cheapest fare at booking time)

When choosing seats in the Main Cabin, for an additional fee, a passenger can now choose a seat in the emergency exit in front of the Main Cabin Select row. In addition to extra leg room, this passenger also gets early boarding. This bundle is called Main Cabin Express and cost  $20 from LAX to SFO. Unlike Main Cabin Select, no bag or meals are included. Virgin America Silver and Gold Status Frequent Flyers can get  Main Cabin Express for free but this benefit is not extended to Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia  high status customers. This annoys me as a Virgin Australia Platinum customer.

I chose a 710pm departure which would arrive at San Francisco at 830pm.

Check in: 4 out of 10

The online check in was very easy to use.

The morning of the flight,  however, I received an email from Virgin advising me that my flight was cancelled.

The online system would not let me change my flight so I called. After  six minutes and  20 seconds, I spoke to Greg. He told me that  storm activity in both Los Angeles and San Francisco had taken its toll. Unlike their bigger brothers like United and Delta, Virgin America have fewer for rearranging aircraft for when things go really wrong. Greg advised me that one plane was “out of sync” and this had impacted all flights. He changed  my flight to the earlier time of 550pm. I also upgraded to Main Cabin Select which was now available for only $38 extra, down from the $100 I would have paid at booking. I checked in on-line for this new flight.

Upon arrival at LAX, I found my new flight was delayed to 820pm, after the departure time of my cancelled flight. My bad for not checking flight status en route to airport. If I had, I would have diverted and met a friend for coffee. Virgin America also failed to notify me by email, phone or text. After passing through security the plane’s  departure time had shifted to 1020pm.

Boarding: 7 out of 10

I discovered that while Virgin Australia promises that their Gold and Platinum members  have access to priority check-in and priority screening  on all Virgin America-operated flights, none of the staff at Los Angeles (or at San Francisco airport on my return trip) knew about this. To be fair, this changed only in October. Aussie fliers do not get free bags or Clubhouse Lounge access. I did make a choice between Virgin America’s Elevate and Virgin Australia’s Velocity as it seemed crazy to run both schemes.  It would be nice if more of their benefits were reciprocal. Interestingly if I fly Delta as a Virgin Australia customer, I get lounge access. How come Virgin America does not give it too?

The gate staff gave us regular updates about the boarding time which actually was earlier than the 950 time they initially said. Every 15 minutes, another announcement was made. I took advantage of my Main Cabin Select. I was impressed how calm the passengers were. This could be because few would be connecting to other flights and/or the respect most passengers have for the carrier.

The crew welcomed us as we walked through the plane. They were at the end of a 16 hour day which had included waiting at Los Angeles airport for five hours. They were friendly and humorous.

On Board: 10 out of 10

The first thing you notice about Virgin America is the dramatic purple and blue  lighting. Some passengers were grumbling that it was so dim, you could not properly see the seat numbers on boarding passes. The plane is laid out with

• Eight First Class seats at the front arranged 2-2 . Seats have a 55″ pitch and a 21″ width. They have a built in massager
• Main Cabin seating is arranged 3-3
• Row 3 and Row 10 are for Main Cabin Select seats. The twelve seats have a pitch of 38″ and width 19.7″
• Row 9 is for Main Cabin Express -six seats also with 38″ pitch
• the remaining main cabin’s 123 seats have a 32″ pitch

All seats are very comfortable which is one reason why VX have endeared themselves to so many.

Takeoff: 4 out of 10

We ended up taking off at 1020pm

Entertainment: 9 out of 10

They have a great seat back AVOD (Audio and Video on Demand) system called RED. The system offers free live satellite television which kept freezing in the middle of crucial points in the two shows I watched.  Plus there are also  on-demand movies and on-demand television programming plus 3000 CDS and a selection of games and shopping. You can recharge devices and plug your personal player into a USB socket. Wifi ( not free) worked well.

Meals: 7 out of 10

In Main Cabin, passengers order their snacks via the personal entertainment system.   Flight attendants receive the orders via a tablet computer on the food cart . Main Cabin  Select are not asked for money but the rest have to swipe a Credit or debit card. Virgin seemed to be offering  a complimentary basic drink service. The snacks, meals and drinks are definitely a very interesting range with things like Holly Baking Company  Choc chip cookies (very yummy), BBQ Popchips and Roasted Pear and Arugula Salad. One criticism is that VX do not seem to change the range very frequently.

Landing: 7 out of 10

Landed just on midnight not 710pm. We were thanked for choosing Virgin America but no real apology for the delay. I decided to book a room at a hotel at the airport for $99 instead of continuing onto my friends’ house as I was exhausted and I figured an arrival at 130am would not have been welcome. On the last two times I have flown on a delayed JetBlue flight, the airline has emailed me an apology and a savings voucher for a future flight. A nice touch which Virgin America could learn from. I did not have an international connection on this occasion but on my return flight I did. My anxiety levels were raised on my return flight as a result of this experience. I have come out of this experience it with a little less faith in Virgin America.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 66% (3.3 out of 5).

My Overall rating of Virgin America:   4.8  out of 5

Virgin America  has not been Awarded a Skytrax Star Ranking

Positives:   Staff, Entertainment, wifi, groovy plane

Negatives: Six hour delay, lack of knowledge about other airline reciprocity benefits

Would I fly them again?  Yes  but  next time I fly on a service connecting to an international flight, Virgin America will not be my first choice.  And do this to me again and I will be way less forgiving.

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Bundling

Background

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier and second biggest airline in Ireland. Operating since 1936, its name an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Aer Loingeas means “air fleet” .    A lot has changed for Aer Lingus in the last six years not the least being the Irish economic situation. The government reduced its 85 per cent stake to 25 percent through a listing on the Stock Exchange in 2006. Ryanair, arch rival and biggest Irish airline has now picked up close to 30 percent and attempted three takeover bids in five years. Abu Dhabi-based and owned Etihad Airways acquired 3 percent in May-2012. Aer Lingus operates a “hybrid model” here they compete as a Low Cost Carrier on European flights and operate as a full service carrier on North American flights. As part of this move, Aer Lingus moved out of One World but continued some relationships with One World carriers. Ryanair claims that since privatisation, Aer Lingus cumulative after tax losses are 91 million Euro and Ryanair’s profits have been over two billion Euro.

Booking: 5 out of 10

AerLingus.com has to be one of the most cumbersome booking systems I have ever encountered.  In many ways, Aer Lingus is repeating the Ryanair model of charging for every extra possible. It took seven screens from enquiry to completion. On the plus side, there are very good explanations for each step.

One frustration I had, was that Aer Lingus quoted everything in Forints. Yes, this is the currency of Hungary but I don’t use Forints very often.  I have no reference point to understand fares in Forints.    There seemed to be no option  on their website, unlike many other airlines to switch currencies. I  used XE.com  to understand the costs of luggage and seats etc. For example 1600 Forints is meaningless to me but 5.66 Euros or USD 7.35 makes sense.

Aer Lingus offer three types of fares. For this 1916 kilometre, three hour  flight the options and fares for the same Economy seat were (rounded to nearest dollar):

• Low:  Free Check-in and Assigned Seating (a dig at rival Ryanair who charge for check in and to get an assigned seat) $US91
• Plus: 1 checked bag, Free Seat Selection, Gold Circle Points  $115
• Flex: 2 checked bags, Full flexibility, Lounge access, $142 Refundable ticket

Aer Lingus have an option where you can hold the flight for around 5 Euros/7 Dollars. If you proceed with the booking within 24 hours, that money is deducted off your fare. Handy way to lock in a fare or a handy way for Aer Lingus to make more eruos?

They then added an admin fee of around seven dollars for my Credit Card. I imagine their actual processing cost would be closer to one dollar.  If I wanted an sms confirmation of my flight, that would cost me $1.40. Seeing that would cost the airline a few cents to do, here is another way of making Euros.

Bags were an extra $18.37 each for a 20kg bag.   Seat selection costs $5.51. To get an emergency exit seat cost me another $11.70.

So for a customer who chose the Low fare, accepted what ever seat they got would pay around $US98. If they had the same fare but added a bag and chose their seat selection, the price would work out at close to the Plus price. The advantage of the Plus price are the frequent flyer points you would earn.

For the fare difference of $51 dollars between Low and Flex, if you were carrying two bags and wanted to choose your seat, then your lounge access and full flexibility works out at less than ten bucks extra.  Note that I was doing these high financial calculations in Florints!

 Check In: 7 out of 10

I thought the Aer Lingus online check in system to be very “clunky”. I still needed to see an agent at the airport to sight travel documents. Check in was a little slow. Three passengers ahead of me had to repack their bags as they were over the regulation 20kilos. Instead of stepping to the side to do it and letting the agent serve others, they removed items at the counter. It is all a joke really because the person they wore the item removed from the luggage or put it in their carry-on. My check in agent was very pleasant and friendly. No questions were asked of my hand luggage.

Security was thorough and very structured with agents actively helping each customer with their computers, liquids etc

Boarding: 8 out of 10

The incoming plane was late. Boarding did not start until well after departure time. No announcement was made to advise us of the situation or to apologise.

When boarding commenced, the boarding area became a bit of melee with multiple lines cutting across each other. Despite specific rows being called, that did not actually matter.

Got the warmest welcome in lilting Irish tones from three of the cabin crew. If there is one way that Aer Lingus and Ryanair would differ, this would be it. I find the Ryanair greeting non existent or surly. The welcome was so warm, it made up for the lateness.

As I chatted to the flight attendant standing near my seat, I asked her if there any pain killers on board as I had an aching tooth. She got some for me before takeoff and brought them down to me (in exchange for my name and address to satisfy regulations). She did not charge me for the water.

On Board: 6 out of 10

The 174 Economy seats on the Aer Lingus A320 have a pitch of 30″ and a width of 18″.  My emergency exit seat had more room but not a huge amount more. Ryanair have the same pitch on their 737s but an inch less width on ever seat. Aer Lingus seats recline- whereas Ryanair’s don’t. The interior looked tired and didn’t grab me.

Meals: 4 out of 10

Aer Lingus sold a selection of snacks, sandwiches and hot and cold drinks on this flight. I wanted the chicken sandwich but the last one was sold to a gentleman a row ahead of me! Not wanting a BLT or a “Toastie”, I opted for a Snack Pack. Aer Lingus make a big deal that they sell the Irish Independent newspaper on board. Service was very warm and friendly.

Entertainment: 0 out 10

There was the window to look out of or sleeping. No wifi.

Landing

We landed a little late. Passport control was swift and I was in Dublin after a short ride.

The Verdict

My rating: Overall 62% (3.1 out of 5)- my overall rating of Aer Lingus based on my  previous flights is: 3.0 out of 5. I think the friendly welcome boosted this score. By comparison, I give Ryanair 3 out of 5.

Skytrax Rating of Aer Lingus: 3 star

Positives:   Friendly staff

Negatives: Entertainment system, lack of wifi, booking system, check in

Would I fly them again?  Yes- it was okay

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London City Bound

Why is Ryanair so bad?

Low Cost Gouging

My 920th flight was also my first  flight into London City. As a result of this flight, I have now flown into and/or out of every one of London’s five airports. The other are: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton.  London City Airport was opened in 1987 after six years of planning and construction. The airport is located within the newly developed Docklands precinct of London (11 km: 6.9 miles) from the City of London. In 2011, the Airport served nearly 3 million passengers.

Booking: 9 out of 10

This flight was operated as an Air France service by its subsidiary CityJet. The booking was fairly straightforward, once I had mastered which Air France website I wanted. AF has multiple versions of their website and I had stumbled onto the Greek one! There is no city named Dublin located in Greece, it seems! AF allow passengers to pay a non refundable deposit to hold the ticket for three or four days. I did not want this option and went straight through to payment and ticketing.

Check In: 9 out of 10

Online check in was an absolute breeze. Air France offer this option 30 hours before departure. At Dublin airport, CityJet operate from Terminal 1 which looks like a shabby bus shed with a very congested check in area.  I proceeded to the very small Air France check in area where I was warmly welcomed by the check in agent who turned out to be from Poland. I made an assumption that being a small plane, my 10kg roll on bag would have to be checked . My very friendly agent said “there would be no problem” taking it on. Security in terminal one, which has had some negative reviews, was okay. It was a little slow nonetheless.

I did something unusual for me  and opted for a window seat right at the back of the plane, so determined was I to have a ringside seat to watch my London City experience.

Boarding: 8 out of 10

Boarding was very fast. Passengers were able to board via both front and rear stairs so it I got a warm hello from the flight attendant at the rear door and easily fund my seat in the last row. There was indeed plenty of space for bags which I was surprised at and I stowed my roll-on easily. The plane had two flight attendants.

Most of the passengers  appeared to be travelling on business. I greeted the gentleman next to me. He  grunted, picked up his stuff and moved to Row 15. To be fair, there was an empty seat next to him, as a result.

On Board: 7 out of 10

Cityjet use the Avro RJ85 Avroliner. They fit 95 passengers in a one class layout. Rows 2 to 15 inclusive are in a 3-3 layout. Row 1 has two seats only. Rows 16 and 17 are 2-3 seat layout. Pitch is 30″ or 31″ and seat width is 17″, so it is a little squeezy. This was my first ever flight on the Avro. The craft is popular with a number of European airlines including  Brussels Airlines, CityJet, Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa.

We had some quite strong turbulence right at the start of the meal service but this did not continue. The Cabin felt a little ‘worn’. The seat was comfortable enough.  I was exhausted enough to fall asleep very early on.

Meals: 6 out of 10

I was sleeping when the staff arrived at the back row and so I missed the simple meal service of drink and snack.

Entertainment: 0 out of 10

These flights into or out of London City could surely be candidates for wifi? I know Air France are adding wifi from February 2013. I wonder if these planes are candidates at all?

Landing: 10 out of 10

This is what I was looking forward to. We came in low across the Docklands and then began a very rapid descent. It was thrilling seeing the city lights rush toward us.  In seconds,  we smoothly touched down on the single 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) long runway (09/27). The climb and the short runway restrict the type of planes allowed at the airport significantly. Dash 8s, Fokkers and Saabs are of course included. The larger types include Embraers and Airbus 318. Crews must be certified  to fly 5.5 degree approaches in order to land at the airport.

Our plane decelerated rapidly and then parked smoothly near the gate. There are 18 gates at the airport. Stairs were placed on the front and read stairs within a minute, and we began disembarkation. Twelve minutes after landing, I was on a train leaving the airport. Border control was painless.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 70% (3.5 out of 5).

My Overall rating of  Air France   3.9 out of 5 (based 32 000km travelled with them)

Skytrax Rating of CityJet: 3 star

Positives:   The landing, London City Airport arrival procedures

Negatives:  Entertainment system, dated cabin, Dublin Terminal 1

Would I fly them again? Yes

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Turkish Delight -Great Trip + Best Economy Meal Ever!

Major Alliance News

Trip Report: Air France A380

Changement d’Air France

Apologies for publishing both the final version and an initial draft almost simultaneously of my Report on my Turkish Airlines experience from Washington to Budapest via Istanbul. The draft was clearly not meant to be published. Ironically, I was on a plane when they went live. As one reader noted, I must have inserted the wrong disc in my amenity pack!  I recommend the correct version. It is much more tasty!  Thank you to those who noted the mistake.

Turkish airlines are the 83rd airline I have ever flown. Member of the Star Alliance since 2008, they have been expanding rapidly in the last eight years and now fly to over 200 destinations with 160 aircraft.  Turkish Airlines have been awarded  Europe’s Best Airline and Southern Europe’s Best Airline  twice in 2011 and 2012. Interestingly, this week, Lufthansa expressed an interest in either merging with or forming a closer alliance with Turkish Airlines.

Booking 5 out of 10

I booked through online travel agents who were offering the same flights at a much reduced cost compared to the Turkish Airlines own website. I also found the website to be slow and produced regular “page outs”.

My first actual contact with Turkish  “best airline in Europe“ was not good. I tried to add my frequent flyer  and choose seats on my six forthcoming Turkish flights. I could not find a way of dong it on the website so I called Turkish for help. It took five phone calls. The first three phone calls were disconnected. On the fourth call, I was connected to the airline for nine minutes. The operator said he needed to place me me on hold- and disconnected me!

The fifth call took 24 minutes just to add my frequent flyer and do six seat assignments. Call quality was poor and the agent struggled to understand my English.  I had to ask him to clarify himself on a few occasions. It was not at all a good introduction to the airline. The most annoying thing is that every time I was on hold I had to  listening to their “Globally Yours” jingle over and over.

Check in: 7 out of 10

Online Check- in was very frustrating. The first thing I discovered, that despite my calls (see above), neither my frequent flyer number nor seat requests had been noted. The emergency exit seats were available on the second flight but I could not request them. Further, at the end of the online check in process, I found I was as not actually checked in and still had to see  an agent at Dulles airport. The check in agent at Washington proved to be extremely lovely and very helpful and looked carefully for seats with extra leg room (while we chatted about Turkish food) -to no avail. She did get me such a seat on the second flight.They weighed my checkin luggage and it came in at 10kg. The Turkish Airlines limit is 8kg. She looked like she was about to say something about the weight but chose not to. I could have easily removed 2kg and carried it in my clothes or as an additional clothing layer!

Boarding: 9 out of 10

Boarding was a little chaotic in both Washington and Istanbul. Despite,  my boarding pass saying “Group 2″, I didn’t experience any attempt at groupings! Instead there was lots of “subtle” pushing and jostling by passengers to get to the front of the lines. At Washington, economy class passengers were barked at to form two lines for boarding. There was also a Business boarding line.

The Flight attendants at the door were both friendly and efficient. I felt personally welcomed. An interesting touch on then Washington-Istanbul route was the presence at the door of the on board chef. I saw him circulating amongst the Business Class passengers later, welcoming them on board. The chef personally creates the meals for Business passengers. The airline came fourth in Business Class catering in 2012 Skytrax awards. I vowed to fly Business Class if I could!

Attendants greeted passengers in Turkish and English as they came through the plane. One felt very welcome. It  was as if someone was inviting you into their home. It is hard to describe but I have never seen an airline staff do it so well.

On my second flight from Istanbul to Budapest, a woman strode down the aisle with two friends and they “occupied” the emergency exit seats around me. The woman placed a bag on the seat next to me and stood there next to it. As the correct seat holders arrived, the women gradually gave up their attempted seat takeover and moved to the rear of the plane.

On Board: 8 out of 10

On the longer flight, at each economy seat was an amenity pack, pillow, blanket and headphones for the entertainment system, The amenity kit in an attractive red case was very generously stocked. Toothbrush (albeit) with horrible toothpaste, toothbrush lid, lip gel, eye cover etc. The Turkish Airlines magazine “Skylife” was in the seat pocket. The magazine is also available as an ipad app. Flight attendants passed out menus just after take off.

I found the crew kept up their friendliness and hospitality for the whole flight even in deplaning. They spoke English and Turkish to passengers which is appropriate on a US to Turkey flight but I was surprised at the lack of Hungarian for the second flight.

On the Airbus 340 from Washington to Budapest, there were 34 lie flat Business class seats which have a 54″ pitch and 21″width arranged in a staggered 2/2/2 layout. 236 passengers slotted into economy in a 2/4/2 arrangement. Seat pitch (distance between seats) was a fairly generous 33″. Seat width  a less generous 17″.  There is a seat rest under each seat which for me was a waste of time. Seatguru warns that seats A, E and K lose half underseat space to have the entertainment system box stored there and seats B, D, F and J lose a third.  Hence I chose G!   Bulkhead row is Row 7 and emergency exit row 23. Seats have a brightly coloured turquoise fabric.

The cabin was very clean and feel fresh. Lavatories were spotless at start of flight but declined by the end. They did not seem to be refreshed.

On the next flight,  I had an emergency exit row which was very comfortable.

 Safety

There has been a lot of speculation about Turkish Airline’s safety. With three fatal crashes in 20 years, the last one in 2009, planecrashinfo gives them a much higher Accident Rate than the world average. Incidentally, the same rate as Singapore and Thai airlines and lower than Air France. Some say Turkish expansion is putting safety at risk and others note that many pilots are Turkish military trained. The airlines’s commentary on safety is here.

I was surprised on the second flight to see a father and his child in the exit row. The cabin crew moved them to another position after a while. I wonder how that mix up happened? There were a couple of small niggling things like ignoring mobile phone use or passengers moving around the cabin on taxi (more on that later).

The safety briefing is pre recorded and plays in Turkish and English. There was no staff accompaniment. I like to have this as to me it reinforces the importance of safety, may get people to pay attention to the safety procedures and identifies who I may be needing to watch to get off the plane in a hurry.

I was interested that after a spate of turbulence on the first flight, the captain left the fasten Seat belt sign on for most of rest of the flight.

Takeoff

The very laden A340 seemed to take to the air very slowly out of Washington.

Meals: 12 out of 10

There are four types of Economy Class meals in the world today:

1. Non existent (eg Virgin Australia domestic,  Jetstar, Most US domestic services)
2. Poor (eg United and American airlines long haul).
3. Okay (eg British Airways)
4. Good (eg Qantas and Air New Zealand).

Emirates breaks the mould by having amazing meals. Turkish trumps them. Turkish Airlines was the 2010 recipient of the World’s Best Economy Class Catering Award from Skytrax (Thai won it in 2011 and Singapore in 2012). Dinner was a choice between a beef burger and a chicken dish. The beef was like no other burger I had ever tasted.  It was so delicious. The servings were generous and the meal was accompanied by a fresh bread roll. Often airlines will provide a roll which feels stone cold and/or which is hard as nails. Air France always gets it right. Well Turkish had them beat. On both fights the roll tasted as if it had walked out of the bakery minutes before. For me, this is attention to detail and a desire to make the flying experience better. The meal which came with salads and dessert, as very filling. All Turkish airline food is halal which means you will never see a prok dish. Alcohol is served on the flights.

Through the night, there were sandwiches and marble cake available in then galleys. Frankly, the sandwich presentation left a little to be desired but the cake looked nice.

About two hours before landing on the Washington to Istanbul flight, the cabin crew brought a full breakfast with eggs, potatoes, fruit salad, and a croissanty roll. Delicious!

On the shorter Istanbul to Budapest flight, there was no choice of meal but it was the best the Economy class meal I have ever had on an aeroplane. Starter was smoked salmon with a cucumber and yoghurt sauce. Stunning! The main was stuffed eggplant, their signature dish. Tender and delicious. The dessert was some sort of runny custardy type dish, which I devoured.

With every meal came a refresher towellete.

Entertainment: 10 out of 10

The A340 came with Turkish Airline’s Planet digital system. It was a very intuitive easy to use system which operated very well. The airline promised  450 films and TV programs as well as 600 albums. On the 777, the airline has installed free wifi. I will get to test that out on the way back to Los Angeles.

For the air nerd like me, you can watch the takeoff and landing via cameras mounted at the front and back of the aircraft.

Landing

Both landings were brilliant. The thing that astounded me, however was how many people left their seats on both flights, after the landings. They grabbed luggage, chatted to each other or on cell phones and went to the rest rooms. There was an appeal twice over the PA on the first flight but the cabin crew largely ignored these passengers. This is surely a safety hazard? See safety above.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 89% (4.5 out of 5).

My Overall rating of  Airline:   4.5 out of 5 (based on my two flights)

Skytrax Rating of Turkish:  4 star

Positives:   Staff, amazing meals

Negatives:  Website, telephone reservations

Would I fly them again? YES!

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I had settled into my bulkhead row at the front of the USAir economy section when one of the flight attendants approached me and explained that they were re-seating a passenger who had never flown before. Soon a middle aged woman was escorted to the seat next to mine. She was terrified. Every noise made her jump. She gripped the armrest tightly – and we had not left the gate. I introduced myself: “Martin”.  She responded: “Debby”. I said: “with an ie” or a “y”? She smiled with relief and said “y”.

Debby explained to me that her father had suddenly taken very ill and that instead of driving the distance, she had been forced to take this flight. So compounding my seat companion’s terror at flying was anxiety over what would be waiting for her at the hospital when she touched down. She was not convinced that the plane was going to make it. I told her that this was my 904th flight. I reminded her that I had survived 903 takeoffs – and 903 landings and that this one would be no different.

Safety Briefing

As soon as the briefing started, Debby grabbed the Safety Information card as instructed by the crew and followed it step by step. I pointed out the lifejacket. The woman on the other side of the aisle joined me in promising her it would be extremely unlikely it would  be used on this flight.

Take off: 9 out of 10

We left on time and were soon positioned on the runway for a very very smooth takeoff. The woman in 1B and I talked Debby through the takeoff. As the engines of the Canadian Regional Jet fired up she muttered: “Oh God”. She was amazed how quickly and easily we were in the air but would not glance outside staring straight ahead or sometimes looking at us.

On Board: 8 out of 10

The CRJ 700 plane had two classes: First Class with nine seats arranged 1/2 with  a 37″pitch and 21″ width.  Coach Class with seventy coach class seats arranged 2/2. Pitch: 31″ (not in the bulkhead row where I estimate the pitch had to be at least 40″) and width 17.3″.

Meals: 0 out of 10

After takeoff, a Flight Attendant came past to check on Debby and offer her a drink. Her soda came back in minutes, with some mixed peanuts. No one else in the Coach section was offered anything. First Class Passengers were provided witha  drink. I know there was limited time on this service but could not a small water bottle be given to every passenger on such a flight? In today’s flying with the transportation of water  through security banned and with some passengers connecting from short flight to short flight with little layover time, that water could be very welcome. Debby passed her peanuts onto me!

Entertainment: 0 out of 10

No wifi and no entertainment on board – not that I noticed spending the flight reassuring my new companion.

Landing 10 out of 10

We landed a little early. The landing was very smooth, much to my relief as I had promised Debby, the landing would be fine! I walked Debby to her next gate where she begged me to come on her next flight. I demurred and she gave me a hug and promised that she would pray for me. I hope your Dad is doing okay, Debby.

Booking 7 out of 10

USAir’s booking system was pretty simple. Only five steps. On the first screen, plug in what date, destination and origin cities and hit enter.  The next booking screen which gives you a table of  the “best matches” by price and schedule  is a little confusing as you then scroll down a large table of numbers. It would be good, to have some sort of ability to filter by one stop/non stop or by time or by price. Through the booking process,  you are asked to consider a US Airways Credit Card three times. I ended up paying with Paypal.  Confirmation was very quick.

Check in: 8 out of 10

Check in online was very easy. I picked up my boarding pass at the airport from the self service terminal which also worked very smoothly.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 47% (2.35 out of 5).

My Overall rating of  Airline:   3.4 out of 5 (based on my 25  flights with them)

Skytrax Rating of USAir: 3 star

Positives:   Staff

Negatives:  Entertainment system, No wifi, nothing to drink (not even water)

Would I fly them again? ?

Booking 6 out of 10

United’s booking engine works very well. The Booking process is logically laid out  and flows well. My major annoyance was that there was a significant fare difference for passengers whose residence was in Australia and those whose residence was in the USA. I have encountered this on other occasions with both United and American Airlines. This difference seems so arbitrary and Australian customers generally have no work around. If you try and book the American fare with an Australian credit card, it redirects you to start again.

Check in: 8 out of 10

I looked at my seat options. The only seats available were a couple of middle ones and the very back row! YAY! Not. I grabbed a back row seat. When I checked in online, I again searched for a better seat but everything had gone. Back seat it was. At Los Angeles Airport, I used a machine to complete my check in. This time, the seat map would not even show up and a message appeared suggesting I ask for assistance. There was a woman who was helping a man through the check in process. It took them five minutes to complete this. Five minutes which felt like an eternity.

Her initial reaction was to treat me as if I was a stupid person. After all, she must get a lot of customers who have no clue how to use the machines. Her reaction changed when she found herself at the same roadblock. What I appreciated is that instead of pointing me at a far off desk and telling me to see another agent, she led me over to the check in counters and continued to serve me. Top Marks! There was  a better seat available on the flight. It was aisle seat exit row which suited me perfectly. The trouble is on the first sector it was 21C and on the second sector it was 21D.  The agent took a lot of trouble to try and get me these two seats. One issue, is that, these seats needed to be paid for $77 extra for each sector. If I had been able to get one of them for the whole flight, then I would have paid only $77 total. The workaround meant she got help from another agent, made a phone call, cancelled my check in, and checked me in again snagging those seats for a total price of $77. Worth it!

Boarding: 8 out of 10

With my Economy Plus Exit row seat, I was in group 4 which means I boarded very quickly. I was able to stow my luggage and grab a seat. The plane was totally full.

On Board: 6 out of 10

The Airbus 319 had three types of seats

• 8 First Class Seats  arranged 2/2. Seats had a 38″ pitch and 20.5″ of seat width. Customers in First were served complimentary drinks on boarding and free lunch. All for an extra $600
• 35 Economy Plus Seats with 35″ pitch and 18″ width. United’s Economy Plus offers early boarding and more room but no other benefits compared to Economy
• 72 Economy Class seats with 31″ pitch and 18″ width. Both Economy types were arranged 3/3

Bathrooms were old but clean. No extra amenities were provided. No blankets were available.

Take off: 6 out of 10

The first flight from Los Angeles to Chicago was meant to leave at 1139am and ended up leaving at 1238pm due to late in bound aircraft. The second flight left 14 minutes late for no apparent reason. My flight UA 420 was advertised as an Airbus 319 travelling from Los Angeles to Rochester via Chicago. The puzzling thing was we deplaned at Chicago and then boarded another identical A319 at a different gate. How can it be the same flight when it is a different plane with a different crew? The wonders of airline scheduling!

Entertainment: 2 out of 10

There were no individual TV screens,  which is what I expect on United domestic flights.  For those, one needs to travel Frontier, JetBlue or Virgin America. There was also no wifi. There were LCD TV Screens in the aisles but I paid no attention to them and some channels of sound which I also ignored.  Laptop power? Forget it!

There was not even the option United has where it allows passengers to listen to air traffic control on channel 9 of the inflight audio. I know pilots don’t always turn it on but for me it is one of the best features of United!

Meals: 5 out of 10

The cabin crew did two runs with drinks. On the first run, they sold two of the meal box types, that the airline offers. They also had  some snacks. I chose the Savory Pack for $7.49 (which came with the decidedly unsavoury Nutella, a  Raspberry Vanilla Fig Bar and Fresh  Dried Fruit!). Interestingly, my Australian Credit Card did not work in the on-board machine so I used my American  card! Is this a conspiracy?

Landing 10 out of 10

We caught up on time to do a perfect landing into Chicago. On the second sector, we landed a minute behind into Rochester. With no luggage I was at my shuttle, five minutes after de-boarding. Unfortunately the shuttle had to wait 36 minutes for the one other passenger who not only had luggage, he managed to get lost in the one terminal 22 gate airport.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 59% (2.9 out of 5).

My Overall rating of United Airlines:   3.4 out of 5 (based on my 71 United flights)

Skytrax Rating of United: 3 star

Positives:   Staff

Negatives:  Entertainment system, No wifi, Booking engines biased against Australians!

Would I fly them again?  Yes – if I had to! Not a United convert.

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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 exit row seats which you pay $180 for with Qantas  and the bulkhead seats which could not be selected online.

Check in: 8 out of 10

I attempted to check in online four times over 20 hours. Each time, I finished the whole process before the Qantas website told me that check in was not possible at this time.  Grrrr.  When I arrived at Auckland airport I tired to use the “Q Reader” kiosk system. The same thing happened. I ended up checking in at the Premium Check in at Auckland airport. The woman said that there had been a lot of trouble with online check in with this flight. She also told me that there were a number of seats available in the Bulkhead but she could not access them. They could only be unblocked in Melbourne (something which she did not offer to d0). She did block the seat next to me, though.

Melbourne Lounge: 10 out of 10

Boarding 10 out of 10

To get into the boarding area, meant presenting your boarding pass and passport to security. I can never understand how anyone can get through with the wrong documentation. After all, you have to show them to get into the international departure area. Then it is checked at customs.

Anyway,  I then joined the priority boarding line for Business, First, Gold and Platinum customers.  Cabin crew at the door were very welcoming. I always love stepping onto an A380. It brings a rush of excitement for me.

On Board: 9 out of 10

The plane was almost completely full. True to her word, however, was an empty seat next to mine. This airbus had four classes on board:

1. First Class: 14 suites of 83.5″ pitch and  29.0″ width
2. Business Class: 72 seats  80.0″ pitch 21.5″ width (seats convert into fully flat beds)
3. Premium Economy Class:  32 seats of 38 to 42″ pitch and 19.5″ width
4. Economy Class: 332 seats with 31.0″ pitch and 18.1″ width

From my vantage point I had a glimpse into the hallowed sanctum of First Class!

Take off: 10 out of 10

The other guy in my row had never witnessed an A380 takeoff. He was amazed. The plane is just made to fly. It never seems to have gathered enough speed on the runway before it lifts effortlessly into the air. Watching the take off out the window and simultaneously via the tail mounted camera broadcast on the entertainment system TV Screen was very cool.

Meals 8 out of 10

There were a choice of three dishes for the lunch and two (continental or cooked) for the breakfast. The lunch tray contained salad, a roll, peppermints, a small chocolate bar and a mousse. The crew brought through an ice cream, a small pizza in a box and apple through the night. There were also apples, biscotti and other snacks left on a serve yourself basis in the economy galley. I did not find the quantity sufficient. I raided the snack area few times.

Entertainment: 10 out of 10

The Qantas interactive system has one of the best ranges of any carrier I have been on. If not, the best. They claim to have 100 movies, 500 plus TV  programs,  a thousand CDs, 20 radio channels and 80 games. You also have access to  Lonely Planet destination guides. The seatback screen is  approximately ten inches.

The system responded well. Channels changed quickly. Sound and visual quality were good. I would like more Dr Who episodes please, Qantas.

Landing 10 out of 10

We landed early into a very foggy LA morning. The landing was magic and the view from tail camera and through the window super.  I made my way to immigration as quickly as possible (being close to the front of economy really helped) and was through the whole process and outside in the LA sunshine in 25 minutes.

The Verdict

My rating: Overall 93% (4.6 out of 5)- my overall rating of Qantas based on my 260 previous flights is: 4.7 put of 5.

Skytrax Rating of Qantas: 4 star

Positives:   Almost everything especially the Entertainment system

Negatives: Not enough food

Would I fly them again?  Yes!

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Two things about this week:

The first is I have a crazy schedule: five US cities in five days with flights from Auckland, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia. Will be flying Qantas, United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest.

The second is that I will fly the 900th flight of my life! Sadly, not a very exciting flight on  a Delta connection to Richmond, Virginia. Check out my flight memory which tracks where I have flown.

I have now flown over two million kilometres (1.2 million miles). That is almost 53 times around the world!

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