Economy Class & Beyond

Hotel Review: Doubletree by Hilton, Southampton

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Time for a hotel check, this time looking at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Southampton. Location: The DoubleTree Southampton is located about 4 miles outside Central Southampton, as a low rise building over five floors. It is located near the M27/M3, or a £12 Uber ride out that far. Check-in: Check-in was pretty much nothing short of omnishambles, with the hotel … [Read more...]

Malaysia Airlines “Fast Track to Gold” Offer – Is it worth it?

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Malaysia Airlines are offering a Fastrack to Gold offer - giving you the equivalent of oneworld Sapphire in four flights. Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 at Kuala Lumpar International Airport - Image, Economy Class and Beyond. There are -  of course - a fair few conditions to be met - the first being you'll need to be doing this in Malaysia Airlines business … [Read more...]

Airplane Art – Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 “Negaraku”

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It's Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane art. This week, we have a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 in the special "Negaraku" livery arriving at Singapore Changi Airport from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Negaraku livery was first introduced on the Boeing 737-800 fleet. It also flies on the Airbus A350 fleet too. According to Malaysia Airlines, … [Read more...]

Last Week at Economy Class and Beyond (1st September)

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It's time to dive into September - but not before we looked back at Last Week at Economy Class and Beyond Congratulations to my friends on their recent wedding... and for some content I'll be going into next week. Passenger Experience UK Government mandates installation of 3D cabin baggage scanners - If this happens on time, I'll honestly be shocked. Japan … [Read more...]

AirAsia X -re-balances its orders, welcomes the A321XLR

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AirAsia X is juggling its order book with Airbus, and has cut its order of planned order Airbus A330neo aircraft down, in favour of the Airbus A321XLR The finalised order with Airbus calls for an additional 12 A330-900neo aircraft, and 30 A321XLR aircraft to join the AirAsia X long haul fleet. In formation - AirAsiaX Airbus A330-900neo and A321XLR. Image, … [Read more...]

LNER to trial new rail fares

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One of the odditities of train travel in the UK are return rail fares. A perfect example of this is one of the routes I use - London Marylebone to Brimingham. If I brought a single ticket - it would cost £31.30. However, if I brought a return ticket, it costs a £31.40 - a grand total of 10p extra. 10p extra for a return ticket is a bargain. Not … [Read more...]

Japan Airlines rolls out new amenity kits

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Amenity kits can be many things - it can be a useful aid en-route when travelling, a memory of travel beyond travel or as a collectable Japan Airlines have updated their amenity kits for its international business class routes, introducing a kit by Maison Kitsuné and Beams. And which one you'll get depends on which direction of travel you're doing. Flights … [Read more...]

Airlines move to ban certain unserviced MacBook Pro’s

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If your daily workstation is a 2015 edition MacBook Pro, you'll find airlines over the world no longer wanting it for travel... unless it's had a battery swap. If you've got a 15" 2015 MacBook Pro, time to get the battery serviced... or don't expect the device to travel - Image, Apple.  Those who need to their laptops serviced should head to … [Read more...]

SNAPSHOT: British Airways 767 Oslo to London Heathrow

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It's time for another snapshot - this time looking at the passenger experience on British Airways 767 between Oslo to London Heathrow. For those of you who are new to the blog: Trip Reports – These are full deep-dive reports taking you into the experience and the small things… as well as the big things! Snapshots – These are bite-sized reviews that … [Read more...]

Marriott to remove miniature bathroom amenities from rooms worldwide

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It seems that hotels are catching on to the idea of removing single-use plastics, with Marriott International announced that it’s expanding an initiative to replace single-use toiletry bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel in guest room showers with larger, pump-topped bottles. Marriott International New Amenities, now with added pump action - Image, Marriott … [Read more...]