Thursday, June 30, 2011
Unknown
Ever noticed how airlines welcome you aboard? As you go down the jetbridge and through the open aeroplane door, what happens. In Australia and New Zealand domestic travel, crew members check your boarding pass and usually greet you. This is generally the case with international flights. Not so in the USA as passengers wander onto the plane ignored by cabin crew.
These have been my experiences with domestic and international cabin crews.
Air Asia-there were flight crew on board?
Air Canada- Calm cheerfulness
Air France- Gallic hospitality-feel like I am coming home
Air New Zealand - Awesome Kiwi friendliness
American- Surly
British- mix of friendliness and British reserve
Cathay Pacific- Refined Charming
Delta-Down to Earth
Emirates-Extremely welcoming
Frontier- Fun and Friendly
JetBlue- some of the friendliest attendants ever
Jetstar- ugh
LAN- Latino politeness and warmth
Lufthansa- Lovely welcomes every time
Malev-
Qantas- Warm and professional
Rex-
Ryanair- reserved, resentful,
SAS -uber Scandanavian reserve
Singapore- almost subservient, almost forced greetings
Southwest- Fun, sometimes manic but always Fun with a captal F
United- Usually grumpy
V Australia- warm and groovy
Virgin America - Aloof coolness
Virgin Blue/Australia - Harried friendliness
What do you think? Whats your experience?
Friday, February 11, 2011
Unknown
This email offering fares from the US to Europe got me mildly excited for a minute with visions of Rome until i focused on
the star. I love those stars that sit next to all airline pricing. As I have long complained,
no fare is what it says it is.
So the star* in this fare special means:
- that's $198 each way- and you must buy a round trip ticket
- $198 of course is the cheapest possible fare and is from: NYC to Dublin, Ireland which while definitely part of the European Community is not anywhere near Rome which is in fact $315 each way
- fees, taxes and airport charges up to $245 are extra
- Fares are for mid-week travel -weekend surcharges apply
- The fares quoted are from New York- how many Americans actually live in NYC? Other cities are far higher. For example, St Louis-Rome is $471 each way!
The cheapest fare from St Louis to Rome on a Wednesday is $981.80. The weekend fare ranged from $1200 to $1900.
That's a far cry from $198 and it annoys me.
If our supermarkets operated the same way, they would offer a Bunch of Bananas for 10c*
- that's 10 cents a banana ....a bunch contains six bananas which must be bought together-otherwise each banana singly is $4
- the bananas actually do not contain any banana flesh. Its the banana skin price that starts at 10 cents. A banana inside each banana skin costs an extra 30 cents per banana
- fees, taxes and shop charges are up to 15 cents a banana extra
- the bananas are only on sale at this price between 1am and 4am
- the bananas are only available at this price at one store. The price at every other store will be 20 cents higher per banana
So your 10 cents banana becomes $4.50 for a bunch - only if you buy them at 2am!
Would we tolerate a store selling things this way? NO Why do we let airlines?
- we are talking large sums of money- most of us find it hard to picture $1000 purchases but we can imagine 10 cent purchases,
- airline travel is seen as slightly mysterious and most people do not understand the complexities
- the airline industry has been seen as a soft target for taxes and charges by governments and airports around the world. I am not sure any other industry has the regime of taxes an airline does.
- Airlines have shifted more and more of what was included in their core pricing to "fees" and "charges" They then can advertise the base fare and add the charges and fees later
In the meantime, watch your pricing- no price is what it seems. In this case I would be happier with Lufthansa is they said: Europe from $645....but that price does not grab your attention as much as $198 does it?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Unknown
So in 2010, I flew 90 times with my 90th flight for the year on 31st of December 2010 bringing my total air distance for the year to 202 000km (120 000 miles). I feel that gives me some qualifications for the following subjective rankings.
Best Airlines
I have confessed a few times in this blog that my favourite airline in the world (out of the 70 I have flown) is now
Emirates.
- Emirates - all round amazing customer service product- friendly, amazing food, attention to detail
- Air New Zealand, an efficient and friendly operator- I love the fact they still give sweets/candies/lollies as you come into land
- 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
- 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
- Lan - my other surprise for the year was discovering what a classy offering this airline is
- Virgin America- everything about this airline is class
- JetBlue- a US Carrier that are a pleasure to fly with
- 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
- Cathay Pacific- Cathay keeps earning awards for being the best. I have always regarded them highly but I think their product is slipping
- British Airways-following the crowd in a decline in service but still in my top ten
- 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
Not tried Etihad yet who are ranked best airline in world by skytrax
Worst Airlines
- Air Zimbabwe- I have not actually flown them for a while but their continuing decline is very distressing
- United -tough competition for the second worst spot but United's horrific performance got them to second worst airline but it was a narrow victory
- Alitalia-one hopes that the takeover of them by Air France will improve things, one tatty, rude airline, They were third worst for me last year and here they are again
- Air Asia- the recent Business class enhancements may be boosting this airline but I still put them a 4th worst
- Tiger Airways- I think these guys are appalling. Nothing will possess me to fly them again
- Ryan Air- the epitome of how not to fly. When an airline charges you by the minute to ring their complaints number, there has got to be something wrong. Having said that I have been fine with them -if you have no expectations
- Jetstar- ugh shudder- how they get awards beats me but I rate them a little higher than I did last year
- American Airlines- great to see some improvement here. The staff are a little less grumpy and their Admiral's Clubs have some food in them again. Would be nice if Qantas flyers could get free wifi in the lounges please. Still American Airlines continue to be a dark spot in the One World alliance
- US Airlines- has managed to combine the worst features of all the airlines that have merged with them
- Delta- Never thought I would say/see this but Delta actually has been getting better. Their wifi on board, website booking system , frequent flier program all improved. Its still a terrible airline but more bearable than it was a year ago. They are almost out of my top ten worst airlines.
NB I have not flown Cubana, Kyoro (North Korean), Aeroflot or Iran Air!!
