Economy Class & Beyond

Marriot backs down from banning personal WiFi hotspots

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In a not too surprising move, Marriott International is to back down from its FCC request to block personal wifi devices (such as MiFi's, Personal Hotspots on phones). The company released the following statement Marriott International listens to its customers, and we will not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our managed hotels.  Marriott … [Read more...]

Gogo ceases issuing fake certificates – and why it matters

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Note from Kevin: Parts of this article were first published on Runway Girl Network at http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2015/01/13/gogo-no-longer-issuing-fake-google-ssl-certificates/. I encourage you to visit Runway Girl Network for unique analysis in the Passenger Experience field. For those of you who use Gogo in the air will notice that YouTube is accessible again (as I … [Read more...]

A Hotel Tonight? It’s worth shopping around…

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On my way home from my epic Tier Point run, I had this idle idea of actually staying at a hotel and crashing for a while in peace and quiet. Not the worst idea in many respects I think we can all agree with the flying that I've done recently. For a giggle, I fired up Hotel Tonight on the phone to see what it could pull in the Heathrow area. My "preferred" (well, that's a … [Read more...]

The case of the missing e-ticket, and a class one omnishambles…

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EDITORS NOTE: This might be a bit ranty. Advanced apologies. Good morning from Dublin's fair airport - where at the moment, I'm in a livid mood if I'm brutally honest. Yes dear reader - livid. On the way back from New York last night, I found that my ticket had been booked into economy class on the final segment on my I7SALE fare. Whilst it's only a 1 hour 20 … [Read more...]

SNAPSHOT: BA001 – London City Airport – Shannon – JFK

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Time for one of the bigger snapshots on this trip - BA001 - London City Airport - Shannon - JFK As most of you know, this route is operated by one of the smaller "mainline" aeroplanes that British Airways operate - the Airbus A318 The seat used is completely different to all the other Club World products - in that it has 2 x 2 seating facing forward (as opposed to a … [Read more...]

US Airways Economy class… Is it as bad as I remember?

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Good morning from my downgraded flight to JFK. Is US Airways economy as bad as I remember? Well considering the "retro plane" I had between Honolulu and Phoenix... (Boeing 757-200). Now, compare to what I have in economy... (Airbus A321) And the worst part is... I haven't even take off yet. This is going to be a long 5 hours.... So... Yes it … [Read more...]

Reward flight savers… a real saver

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Due to the scheduling chaos created by British Airways - with an A318 out cold - I've had to chop and change my onwards itinerary quite heavily. I had booked a return Ryanair flight - but I can't make that due to the new timings imposed - which has put that connection in the bin. Good thing it was only £25. I therefore need to position back to London to get home - and at … [Read more...]

A Hawaiian thought and reflection

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I've had some great experiences the past few days in Waikiki and Honolulu - from climbing the Diamond Head Crater to navigating the local bus network, to forgetting to book things, and even visiting the sobering site of Pearl Harbour. And all these things reminded me of something important in travel. Hiking the Diamond Head Aboard the USS Arizona … [Read more...]