Economy Class & Beyond

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...]

BMI’s Prock-Schauer rallys to the troops ahead of the sale…

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As we are all aware (or if you've been living under a rock), British Midland Ltd - comprising of British Midland International, BMI Baby and BMI Regional is on the block to be sold by Lufthansa to International Consolidated Airlines Group (owners of British Airways and Iberia) with Virgin Atlantic making grumbling noises in the background. Well a post on the FlyerTalk BMI … [Read more...]

Delta to make a bid for AMR (American)???

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Well, I was planning to go bed, but this is breaking. The Wall Street Journal has published an article that could have serious ramifications if there's the money to do... and the will.  And it involves Delta looking with hungry eyes with Delta. The full article at the Wall Street Journal (sub required) , however the AFP has posted a precis of the article. Delta Air Lines … [Read more...]

FlyBe expecting rough UK clouds ahead

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Flybe seem to be flying into rough weather in the UK, with domestic traffic declining by 8% in Q3 this year. For the airline, UK Domestic traffic makes up 70% of its business - therefore this is a worry to the company. Flybe for those who don't know is a UK Airline which works on the Low Cost Carrier principles - which operates a mixed Q400 Dash-8 and Embraer 175/195 fleet, … [Read more...]

EasyJet is up to it’s olde LCC tricks again…

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Low cost carriers - you've got to hate them. EasyJet comes high on the list of companies that need a clue distributed to them (although regular readers of this blog know where my venom usually lies when it comes to Low Cost Carriers)  - although EasyJet comes high on the list after today's announcement. The "Debit/Credit Card" fee has been axed. But before you cheer, it's … [Read more...]