Economy Class & Beyond

Ryanair takes an axe to it’s UK Domestic Operation

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As you know from the previous post, Ryanair is having major problems with running a network at the moment. Whilst it tries to boast it's running at 99%, there have been some nasty cuts to the UK Domestic operation. Ryanair Boeing 737-800 at Birmingham Airport - Image Economy Class and Beyond. Let's look at the domestic cancellations for the winter: London (LGW) … [Read more...]

Updated: British Airways IT Outage – Flights Cancelled until 18:00BST

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Update: British AIrways has now cancelled all flights from London Heathrow and London Gatwick  until 18:00BST @TimReidCE British Airways cancels all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm today due to "major IT system failure"https://t.co/wU1tPIfdVX— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 27, 2017 It's going be a LOT longer to get out of London. And … [Read more...]

The end of the Travelex Supercard

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One of the bits of plastic I carry aboard is... well... was... The Travelex Supercard. However, for those who use Supercard, there's very bad news - with the product to be withdrawn after 24tht July 2017. The idea behind Supercard was simple - a card that could be used abroad, that charges your credit card, and avoid the annoying transaction fees that you can get on some … [Read more...]

Paying to recline your seat? How about asking the person behind you first? (Hello BBC WM/BBC Hereford and Worcester)

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New readers from BBC WM 95.6FM and  BBC Hereford and Worcester  - Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. This is a follow-on article from what I talked about on the Malcolm Boyden show this morning (11amish BST, 22nd May 2017). I was asked for my viewpoint on Should You Pay to Recline Your seat... and here are my thoughts. Firstly the report itself … [Read more...]

Got travel insurance? No? Get it if you’re travelling…

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As we head into the summer travel season, stories are beginning to emerge of those who failed to get travel insurance, and have had major medical bills because of this (according to ABTA) Are the contents of your bag insured correctly? And for that matter - have you got enough medical travel insurance? Now, I'll be honest - I've been on the rough end of travel … [Read more...]

If you do ONE Thing with your computer tonight…

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If you do one thing tonight with your computer, tablet or phone tonight, please check it for software updates. Why? I'm sure you've heard about the wonders of WannaCrypt/WannaCry/etc. There's technical advice from Microsoft too. Windows 7 Users Click Start, type Windows Updates. Download the updates and install them. Windows 10 Users Click Cortana/Search. Type … [Read more...]

Yup. It’s Eurovision time….

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It's been a busy week at Economy Class and Beyond towers, so normally I need a lot of bad music to relax to. Thankfully - it's that time where Europe comes together, and enjoy the Eurovision Song Contest. So, lets do the basics. This year, we're in Kiev (as Ukraine won last year). Here's there winning song by Jamala - … [Read more...]

Alitalia files for bankruptcy proceedings

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In news that should surprise exactly no-one, Alitalia once again faces the grim reaper with the airline filing itself for bankruptcy today (2nd May 2017). Alitalia Airbus A330 at Boston Logan International Airport - Image, Economy Class and Beyond. According to Bloomberg who broke the news, this is after workers voted to rejected job cuts and concessions which would … [Read more...]

Airlines: A Reminder – Airplane! is NOT instruction manual

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With everything that's gone on with the US3 over the past few weeks (with American now on the back foot), it was timely that Film4 in the UK played everyone's favourite aviation comedy - Airplane! Just before it went out on air, I tweeted this: Please note airlines. #Airplane is not an instruction manual on how to handle #paxex. #iamserious #dontcallmeshirley — … [Read more...]

As United discovers the term “contrition”, competitors dig in….

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I'm sure you're all aware of United Airlines incident aboard United Express Flight 3411 on Sunday evening... and the resulting fall-out of it. It seems that United has discovered the term "contrition" with their latest press release Although it's taken near enough 48 hours to get that apology out into the world. Not ideal. Meanwhile, other airlines are taking the … [Read more...]