Economy Class & Beyond

Iberia pilots to walk out – again. New Strike dates announced

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Once again, Iberia and SELPA are at it like cat and mouse, this time with ground staff and cabin crew joining in too The pilots are walking out over the creation of Iberia Express on the following dates: 25th January 2012 27th January 2012 30th January 2012 Meanwhile the ground workers have voted for action to support demands for the extension of their job … [Read more...]

The Germanwings are coming – on LHR to Cologne route

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Germanwings seem to be - well - spreading their wings further. The Lufthansa owned carrier will be operating the Cologne to London route on behalf of the Lufthansa. Germanwings growth is accelerating in the UK. It has been announced they will Already they will be running to the UK: Stuttgart to Heathrow (Commencing February) Stuttgart to Manchester (Commencing … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week – Where Next with my miles/status?

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What I am about to do in is open up one hell of a can of worms and suggest programmes for those of us who are looking for a new home for our miles post BMI Diamond Club shut down (if/when it happens). Now, this affects me personally as I target the "value" range of flying, and I can see what might happen (and lets face it, it could be completely wrong) so here are a few … [Read more...]

BA the first retrofit of a 777-200 – what’s the upside for you?

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British Airways has been busy on the quiet, with the Boeing 777-300ER's being introduced and now the first Boeing 777-200 has been retrofitted with some new things internally. For those in World Traveller (Economy Class) and World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) is where the major improvements are with the seating from the 777-300ER's moved in - these include the dreaded … [Read more...]

A call centre that beats BMI for incompetence. Step forward… ICHG.

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Yes, you read right. I've found a call centre that has managed to mess things up *MORE* than BMI ever could (btw, I'm in FULL rant mood). Who is it today? Step forward InterContinental Hotels Group and your Ambassador programme. Those of you who have hung around GhettoIFE.com a bit will remember I was swayed with a Suite Upgrade when I did Toronto in Multi-Modal Mayhem, … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week – Should I re-qualify for BD*G/BD*S?

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Well the clue of the post is in the title - Should you be aiming to re-qualify for Gold or Silver? Well the short answer is Yes. Because when BMI finally goes, it's pretty much a given status will be matched by the overtaking airline - be it IAG's British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Based on the current timetables, here's my thoughts on when if to go for the full … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week. Next steps….

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As most of you sadly know, I am an ardent supporters of BMI and their Diamond Club programme. Heck, I've even flown with BMI. So yes, it is an airline and not just a frequent flyers programme that we all dump miles into ;) However, as the Bob Dylan song goes, The Times, They Are A Changing... For this week, I'll be talking about a few different things such as: Should … [Read more...]

Airplane Repaint Saturday – TNT 777F

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It's Saturday, so it's time for another plane to go into the paint shop for a spray and paint job. This week, it's a TNT Boeing 777 freighter going into the Boeing paint shop in Everett getting it's first coat of paint More Aircraft Repainting/Painting next week! … [Read more...]

Guess who’s adding a €0.25 ETS levy?

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And you're correct. Everyone's "favourite" low cost carrier - Ryanair - will be applying another levy on all tickets sold from 17th Janaury 2012. The £0.25/€0.25 levy which will be charged per passenger per segment is to cover costs incurred from the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. For Ryanair, this has a cost of at least €15 million - which isn't pocket … [Read more...]