1. Emirates - all round amazing customer service product- friendly, amazing food, attention to detail
2. Air New Zealand, an efficient and friendly operator- I love the fact they still give sweets/candies/lollies as you come into land
3. Lufthansa- -my perception of the German flag carrier is that they would be unfriendly and intimidating-far far from it- and the food is amazing
4. Singapore Airlines-while I have some reservations over their safety, Singapore is a baseline for being a good airline-boo hiss for them introducing fees for exit row seats
5. Lan - my other surprise for the year was discovering what a classy offering this airline is
6. Virgin America- everything about this airline is class
7. JetBlue- a US Carrier that are a pleasure to fly with
8. Qantas- its a worry when an airline that I used to put at the top three is at number 8. My perception along with many other loyal passengers is of an airline that has lost its service crown
9. Cathay Pacific- Cathay keeps earning awards for being the best. I have always regarded them highly but I think their product is slipping
10. British Airways-following the crowd in a decline in service  but still in my top ten
11. Southwest and Air Tran, , two US carriers that are in the process of merging share 11th spot for different reasons, Southwest's fun, straightforward service earns them respect and AirTran has some really good standout features. I will be sorry to see them go

• 356, 745 miles
• 574,125 kilometres
• 14.33 times around the world
• for 32.2 days inside their planes!

1. a reduction in the number of times I can use their private airport lounges. Currently I can access them at any time. The email told me that "From 1 February 2011, Platinum  members must be travelling onward that day ". There was a bit of an outcry from Qantas Frequent Fliers about this one. So much so, that they amended this to allowing us to access the lounge, when we land as well!
2. a reduction in how much luggage I can check in
3. the removal of my lifetime access to a private personal check in queue and the replacement of that with access to check in machines -the same machines that all passengers will be using
4. if I fly TWICE AS MUCH as I currently do, I can now get 3 chauffeur driven rides to the airport- 3 car rides for a spend of around $15 to $18 000 a year..yay!
5. While not a loss to Platinum Flyers,   priority access to frequent flyer seats is being offered to other fliers, dilutiing my benefit so there will be more people looking earlier for scarce frequent flyer seats
6. Some new program fees are being introduced and some existing fees are changing 
7. priority security lanes are being introduced at peak times at Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney (T3)
   domestic airports. 

1. I felt their email was dishonest suggesting enhancements and highlights. I would prefer if they had been honest and said its a tough economy, we are reluctantly reducing your benefits
2. I can not see why flying Qantas 61 times (and their partners 13 times) a year is worth it. If I flew 30 times and 7 times, I will still get their next tier down: Gold status and almost all the privileges I do now. I means I will fly Virgin airlines more
3. I was unhappy that the loss of lifetime check in priority
4. I was disappointed over the loss of anytime lounge access (now answered)

The classic line "Your feedback is important to us and I've forwarded it on to senior management for their information" was included.

As a result,  I am so frustrated with Qantas that I am now boosting my travel with other airlines. Some of my friends will be shocked at my lack of one eyed loyalty any more!

• For luggage limits check out: /wikitravel.org  or  this very useful table
• For all US carrier fees and baggage charges head to: Smarter Travel US fees   
• This UK Telegraph International Airline guide (in pounds sterling) and this surfboarding site are helpful!
• For European airline fees 
• South America and Caribbean Edition
• Frequent Flyer Fees: 

1. Take less Clothes because in reality, you don't need everything you want to take. My rule is to pack and then reduce by half the number of clothes you have packed. The reality is most people overpack. 
2. Choose clothes that will all combine. eg for men, make sure your ties and shirts will all work together. Taking 3 shirts and 3 ties creates 12 combinations. Most conferences and business meetings I have don't go for more than 2 days. No one will see me wearing the same shirt again and if they do, with a different tie, it can look like a different shirt!
3. Plan to wash. I aim for a weekly wash. I either wash in a hotel/motel with laundry facilites or find a laundrette or plan to stay with family or friends at certain times. Thank you to friends and family across that form part of the Aussie laundrette service...am thinking of Nikki in England, Geoff, Mike & Steve, John & Alison in the USA, Mum when she was in NZ. I owe you guys. I therefore pack a week of clothes. NB missing a wash can mean a tricky situation! I avoid getting my hotel to wash clothes for me-thats way too pricey.
4. Take quick drying underwear, socks and t shirts. I find them at camping stores. They are great because you can hand wash them in a sink, leave them to dry and most times they dry overnight. They are not cheap or very fashionable but 2 pairs means a lot less conventional underwear is needed.
5. Buy clothes as you travel. When I travel to the USA or an asian country, I reduce my clothes dramatically and buy stuff there. I also visit charity stores as part of my journey. If you can buy a t shirt for $2 and a business shirt for $5 to $7, you can buy stuff and leave it for another charity shop
6. Take fewer shoes. One walking, one dress up and one sports is enough. Synchronise your shoes to match your clothes. I have now managed to combine my walking and my dress up shoes by buying eccos
7. Wear bulky stuff on the plane- I have boarded Melbourne airport in full summer wearing a jumper (sweater/jersey) and a winter coat heading to Minnesota which is in full winter. My gloves and scarves were in the coat pockets
8. Reduce your electrical items-I use my phone as my alarm clock, camera, and watch. Ditch the electric toothbrush and razor. Reduce power cords. I have one multiple electrical adapter that works in every country. DVDS can play on a computer
9. Buy less souvenirs/smaller gifts When buying souvenirs, think: do i really need this? I now let me luggage dictate what I buy. Too heavy? Then I forget it or get it sent
10. Ship stuff  home -with the dropping of seamail, this has become expensive but can be useful
11. Buy books second hand at discount bookstores.  I read them on the flight/train and then at the other end I donate the book or sell it at another bookstore or leave it for someone to find (bookcrossing.com).  I have made a profit a couple of times buying a book in one country second hand and selling it at the other! Buying books as you go reduces your weight. Too many people take 4 or 5 books  of which they end of reading one. I take one book - sometimes two. I choose books that are lightweight. I have stood in shops weighing them
12. Take small toiletries with you. All of my toiletries fit into the regulation carry on size ( -and if you are staying in a hotel, remember they will usually be giving you shampoo and conditioner but some will also supply moisturiser, toothpaste, shavers, shaving cream, mouthwash. If you are going away for two weeks, you do not need a 1 litre mouthwash. Newsflash: -most places in the world sell toiletries
13.  if you are buying duty free,  see if you can buy it on your trip home so you dont have to carry it for you. Best method is to have it waiting at your home airport for you.

• its faster at check in- no luggage means a check in at home and straight to the gate (time saved 15-60mins). I fly about 90 times a year- time saved is between 22 and 54 hours!). Of course staying at home would save me more time!
• faster at the other end-baggage takes 10 to 90 minutes to reappear at the other end. I am already sightseeing by the time some people are hauling their luggage off the carousel
• easier-luggage that you will use as carry on only, means you can usually carry it up stairs yourself
• its less likely to be lost- lost luggage can take 2 hours to 2 weeks to get back to you
• many airlines in the USA and other countries now charge for check in luggage. Not having any reduces that concern
• other airlines (eg Air NZ, Virgin Blue and Tiger) offer reduced fares if you travel with no check in (its a cleverer way of charging for luggage!)

The residents of Milton, Mssachusstes reported On November 15, 2010, reported hearing a loud "crashing noise" at around 9pm. The body of a 16 year old Delvonte Tisdale  was found lying in the street at 930pm. The boy was found with massive injuries so a hit and run was suspected. he had no shirt and no shoes

Authorities, however, could not explain how the boy had ended up so far from home and what had been done to him.  The boy had been seen in North Carolina where he lived, at 130am that day. He had been missing since 5am. 

It is now believed that the boy walked onto the tarmac at Charlotte/Douglas Airport, hid inside a 737 which took off at around 7pm and fell out of the plane as it lowered its wheels on its descent inbto Logan airport. The flightpath goes over Milton.

Interestingly, Tisdale was a member of the Air Force ROTC program at North Mecklenburg High School near Charlotte.

 Evidence for this argument includes:

•  a handprint in the wheel wel of the plane 
• Sneakers and a red shirt that matched the family's description of what the teen was last seen wearing were found in Milton along the flight path
• the autopsy report indicatied the teen fell "from a significant height." He had no gun wounds

His father, said his son was happy but his brother was unhappy in North Carolina and had never wanted to leave Baltimore, where he had lived earlier.

Here is the video from a press conferece about the boy.

This is a sad story with obvious implications for airport security. RIP Delvonte.

1. Bring Manners- yes travelling can be stressful but its your choice. Glad you were not obnoxious to your waiter/check in assistant/husband/daughter/son/stranger
2. Are Prepared- You realise that  Passport queue means you need your passport! At the Check in counter, you have some sort of ID and you know which airline you are traveling on
3. Give yourself time-avoiding the stress of missing a plane or train by leaving early and allowing more than 2 minutes to change trains
4. Watch whats going on-so you know what's coming when you get to the head of the line. I realised how insulated people are, when immigration people came up to the guy in front of me in the Los Angeles line. They asked to look at his passport and visa. After 2-3 minutes of questioning and discussion, two men came and removed the man from the line and escorted him to a little room. When it was all over, I turned and commented to the two people behind me-who had not seen a thing! They noticed the guy had gone but had not seen it happen!
5. Are friendly - If i am sitting next to you and we say "hi", that's great.  If you are travelling, you can meet people!
6. Don't become too familiar in the first 20 minutes of a flight- its great you respect my space and privacy. I can find out about your messy divorce another time and you can ask me how much I earn and how big my house is when we know each other a bit better
7. Are ready for airport security - you know that "no liquids" means you definitely can't bring 3 bottles of family size shampoo on the plane and as for that champagne....?
8. Don't automatically recline your seats- there isn't much room for people with long legs and your respect of that is really appreciated
9. Accept your luggage limits- yes you got away with three suitcases last time but that's not always going to happen. If you are over the limit, yelling about it is not going to help
10. Say thank you- nothing else needed to be said here

1. Some people  have flown so often they think they know it all. Yet research suggests that in an emergency, even frequent flyer's become confused and/or freeze. You really need to listen and pay attention for every flight
2. Some do not believe an accident can happen to them
3. Some are so scared of flying that they want to avoid any possibility of something going wrong so they even avoid the safety briefing
4. Some people are so excited that they are oblivious to whats going on
5. Some people are just not aware that there are still risks because we have all become accustomed to saying how safe it is to fly

1. Watch and listen to the safety briefing - you may be grateful one day
2. Ask others to be quiet for it (I was once on an Ansett flight where the FA asked two passengers to shut up). Although I was not sure of it was appropriate to ask the United crew to shut up when they talked loudly through the demo on a recent flight
3. Totally concentrate on that briefing (i have found myself sometimes drifting off to another world  and had to come back to earth)
4. Count the seats to two different exits....do not assume if you are seated at one, that you will be able to get out that way
5. Hunt for your life jacket during the briefing. If you are needing to find it in a smoke filled cabin emergency, its good to know where it is.  I know there are people who remove life jackets off planes as a prank. This is an offense under most jurisdictions and bloody stupid

1. Iceland used to be the poorest country in Europe
2. Iceland grows bananas in greenhouses fuelled by geothermal heat
3. the word  Geyser is from The Great Geysir of Iceland, which first erupted in the 14th century, It now erupts  every few hours. The Geyser above is called Stroker which erupts every few minutes
4. Every child has to learn to swim
5. Energy consumption per capita in Iceland is among the highest in the world because it is so cheap
6. Children can only be named an official Icelandic name approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee
7. Your surname consists of your dad's first name with sson after it if you are a boy and dottir
8. if you are a girl...so my surname would be Geoffsson and my sister would be Geoffdottir
9. 7. the Phone books here are arranged by FIRST NAME
10. 8. Modern Icelandic has 31 letters but not a W or a C. Toilets are labelled WC however!!!!
11. 9. there is no word in Icelandic for please
12. 10. a very entertaining way to meet people is at the swimming baths there are 9 scattered around the capital (120 000 people)
13. McDonalds left Iceland last year ..the stores were replaced by Metro, a new local hamburger brand
14. Iceland is hoping that geothermal power will fuel a hydrogen cell export market to power cars around the world
15. Icelanders plan to be 100% fossil fuel-free in the near future
16. Iceland liberalised iits banking system and freed restrictions on its pension funds leading to spectacular growth followed by a massive meltdown resulting from the sub prime and world economic crisis. look at these ads made before the crisis for the bank that bankrupted Iceland: John Cleese 1 and John Cleese 2 and and the Bank's meglomanic ad
17.  Iceland’s 300,000 citizens have some kind of responsibility for $100 billion of banking losses—which works out to roughly $330,000 for every Icelandic man, woman, and child. On top of that they have tens of billions of dollars in personal losses from their own foreign-currency losses and the 85 percent collapse in the Icelandic stock market. The news of the collapse and a Funny sketch about the situation here
18. The Uk declared Iceland a terrorist state in order to freeze Iceland assets. Icelanders are very angry about this!
19.  Iceland will pay back the UK for their banking losses there by 2024
20. A third of the population have told pollsters that they were considering emigration..mostly to Norway
21.  Iceland had several months of protest after the economic collapse leading to the sacking of the Central Bank President and the resignation of the government. These are some pics of the demos
22.  Iceland may become again the poorest country in Europe