You don’t think of Trans-Atlantic airlines as being ones where you don’t get a complimentary meal on board. But sure enough, there are plenty that don’t offer the service. Most of them are branded as “Budget Carriers”, however, like Norwegian Air, who fly out of the U.S. East Coast to the UK and Europe. Others,…
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Last month I flew from New York City to Sydney, via Honolulu, with Hawaiian Airlines, who celebrated their 90th birthday last month. I’ve already written about how strong of an option the route is for those who can’t sleep on planes, but today I wanted to delve into the experience of upgrading your ticket from an…
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Earlier this month, I jumped on board Virgin Australia’s Boeing 777 five-times-a-week service from Melbourne to Los Angeles, and was surprised to find a number of enhancements to their Economy service – which mainly floated around the quality of their meal services. Read on to see what a VA trip across the Pacific Ocean is…
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The short flight from Sydney to the pacific paradise of Fiji is one of the most frequented for keen Australian travellers looking for a quick and budget friendly escape. Fiji Airways, which has a codeshare agreement with Qantas, has long been known as one of the better and more comfortable ways to get there. So…
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Back in September, I flew with the Luton based budget airline easyJet from Amsterdam to Berlin’s budget terminal, Schoenefeld. It’s putting it mildly to say that budget airlines in Europe get a bad rap – but unlike a lot of other places on the planet – I’m looking at you North America – the price difference…
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Once you become dedicated to a certain flight network, you find that you tend to travel the world on a lot of the same airlines. But every now and then, you’re thrown a surprise in your journey that means you don’t get the points you were hoping for, but you do get the chance to…
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Not to be confused with the airline of the same name from Australia’s Top End, Canadian airline Air North has been taking passengers to the Provence of Yukon since 1977, first as a Charter airline and then servicing passengers from the 1980s. This month I flew with them for the first time, travelling on a…
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Say what you want about AirAsia, but it’d be hard – and downright foolish – to deny the low-cost carrier’s ambitious and ever-growing network. Some surprising new routes seem to be opening up every year for the busy airline, and for 2019 the most exciting would definitely have to be the service between Kuala Lumpur…
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There are a number of airlines flying from Brisbane to Honolulu, but what is it like to fly with Hawaii’s flag carrier? Flying direct, competitive pricing and kick-starting with the Aloha Spirit from the moment you board – all benefits to flying with the fourth largest airline in the USA. But what else? Sally Scott…
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Transiting from a domestic to an international flight at Toronto’s Pearson International, as we’ve talked about in the past, can prove to be a bit of a nightmare. But how does it compare when you’ve got to connect from international to domestic? You may not have to clear US customs post security, but you still…
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This month marks the one year anniversary of the debut of the Sydney to Hong Kong Route – the maiden flight of which we were very excited to be a part of. So how have Virgin’s flights to Hong Kong changed in that time? We started further south this time around, and flew Business Class…
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Over the weekend, I flew on Air Canada‘s long haul service from Hong Kong to Vancouver on the Boeing 777. On the flight, I enjoyed an upgrade to the airline’s “Preferred Seating”, which is essentially any seat in economy with extra leg room, which will normally set you back an extra C$130 or so. Those…
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Two months back, I talked you through the transfer process at Toronto’s Pearson. One way to bypass some of these difficulties is by flying one of the WestJet “Simplicity” routes, which are their short haul services between Toronto and either New York, Ottawa or Montreal. They promise priority access in the queue, a snack with…
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Last month, I jumped on board Virgin Atlantic’s red eye service from New York’s JFK Airport through to London’s Heathrow. As a Platinum member of Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent flyer program, this gave me access to one of the best features of the Virgin Atlantic network – the “Revivals Lounge” at Heathrow. Given the airline’s…
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Last week, I jumped on board Virgin Atlantic‘s flagship route from Heathrow to JFK on board the new Dreamliner 787. How does the service stack up? Here’s today’s flight review… Airline: Virgin Atlantic Route: LHR – JFK (VS137) Aircraft: Boeing 787-900 Seat: 59G centre aisle 3-3-3 Flight Time: 6 Hours 45 Minutes (Scheduled at closer…
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Late last year, I flew with Canadian carrier WestJet from Halifax, Nova Scotia to LA via Toronto. It’s a long journey – about as far from one side of North America to the other as you can get. And there’s no way to do it direct. You start off with a two hour flight from Halifax…
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I’ve always heard Korean Air offered one of the best in flight experiences, and last month, with my flight from Vietnam to Korea being requisite of a Delta Air Lines ticket, I got to try them out for the first time. So how do they compare to other Asian airlines in the market? Read on!…
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When I think about taking a budget flight, I tend to fly for a maximum of 4 hours – about the length of a flight from Perth to Sydney. Anything longer than that and I’d never think twice about flying any budget carrier. But I had a 7 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo…
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I’ve heard a lot about the JetBlue service over the years, with the US airline often topping domestic lists for in flight experience, comfort and customer satisfaction. Though in more recent years the airline has fallen from grace on certain lists. Within 12 months I saw it sitting near the top of some lists, and…
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US airline Delta has been delivering daily service between Sydney and LAX since 2009, around the same time that “V Australia” – Virgin Australia’s then international brand – was introduced to the same route. The competitors then partnered up in late 2011, with each airline offering codeshare on the trans-Pacific route. This allowed for seamless…
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There are a string of new budget carriers popping up in Canada, but the two major players in the market remain Westjet and Air Canada; with each airline placing the “Encore” and “Express” brands alongside some of their shorter routes. Towards the end of last year, I tried out the service from WestJet Encore, on…
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Prior to this, I have never heard of anyone flying Malindo Air and I’ve only ever seen anything about the airline on billboard adverts scattered around Kuala Lumpur. I fly the KL to Singapore route a lot with other airlines, so how does Malindo compare to the likes of Jetstar, Singapore Airlines or Air Asia?…
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Malaysia Airlines (MAS) hasn’t had the best of reputations in recent years, but as Malaysia’s flagship full-fledged carrier: the show must go on. Over the years though, MAS has had to stop serving a lot of their European routes, however their London route still remains and is (and has always been) their most popular. But…
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There’s been a lot of changes to some of the world’s best airlines of late that have seen them change in flight offerings and add in charges for choosing seats ahead of check-in to their lower economy tickets. Singapore Airlines has been no stranger to the latter, but how does their service stack up for…
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Today we’re jumping on board budget airline Jetstar’s regular service from Hong Kong to Osaka (KIX) in Japan. The journey starts in Terminal 2 of the busy Hong Kong International Airport and takes us to the Kansai International Airport in Osaka – with a landing time of about 2am. So how does the flight rate…
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Dubbed Japan’s “first true Low-Cost Carrier”, chances are, unless you’ve been to Japan, you’ve never heard of the carrier Peach. The airline started flights in 2012 with All Nippon Airways (ANA) the largest shareholder. ANA’s other budget carrier, Vanilla Air, which was a rebrand for what once was AirAsia Japan in 2013, has recently started a merger…
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Earlier this month, I travelled to the US for the weekend with Delta Air Lines to cover the Foo Fighters’ Cal Jam Festival in Los Angeles. You know, the one that “Nirvana” reformed at. Yes, with flights to the US more affordable and more frequent than ever, the idea of a weekend getaway to the…
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Located “just three kilometres from downtown Toronto”, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport sits on an island off the city’s centre; accessible by ferry or a relatively new underground walkway. And it may just be the world’s most conveniently located airport, as they go out of their way to make sure every passenger feels like a…
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If any domestic service calls for a slight upgrade, it’s the coast-to-coast flight from Sydney to Perth. While not exactly a gruelling long-haul, the five hour service is testing enough that a little bit of extra comfort goes a long way. We tested Virgin Australia’s Economy X product on the service to see if the…
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Singapore Airline’s budget carrier Scoot has been carrying passengers from Australia to Singapore for years now, but many travellers may not know about its “Scoot-in-Silence” offering; a section between the airline’s “ScootBiz” Business Class offering and the standard economy section. With just five rows, the section is given its name by offering a quieter in-flight…
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