Merry Christmas 2013 from FreakyFlier.com

When I came accross this picture it reminded me of one of my favourite flight moments of 2013. My ‘fifth freedom’ flight on Lufthansa German Airlines, in Business Class, between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur – Review: Lufthansa German Airlines – Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur Business Class I hope all my readers have a wonderful holiday…

Inspecting a Qantas Boeing 747-400

Settling into the large, soft and roomy First Class seat, I start playing with the in-seat buttons – footrest up, seat recline – hoping for a flute of champagne to be presented to me in the First Class cabin on board this Qantas Boeing 747-400 – Alas, I am not flying anywhere today and its now someone…

Review: Air Asia X – Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur – Economy Class

The Frugal Flyer – How little can I spend to get from Australia to Asia without going hungry? To celebrate low cost carrier Air Asia X announcing new services between Adelaide and Kuala Lumpur, they released a limited number of introductory fares between the two cities from AUD$99.  I managed to purchase one of these…

Introducing Australia’s First Dreamliner – Jetstar’s Boeing 787-8

I was excited when I saw the first 787 Dreamliner on the ground at the Boeing factory in 2009 and equally delighted when I saw an Air India Dreamliner take off as the first commercial 787 in Australia, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to get up close, really close, and tour Australia’s newest aircraft before it…

Review: Jetstar Asia Singapore to Bangkok

There are many choices to fly direct between Singapore and Bangkok – low cost carriers such as Air Asia, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Air, full service airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Silk Air and Thai Airways, then theres airlines with one stop such as Malaysia Airlines, via Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok Airways via Koh Samui. While planning my recent…

Air India returns to Sydney with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

After years of speculation, the return of Air India after a 16 year hiatus AND the first scheduled, commercial service of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner happened recently. I’d only ever seen the Boeing 787 Dreamliner once, that was in 2009 at the Boeing factory near Seattle when the first few had just rolled off the…

Review: Air Asia – Kuala Lumpur to Singapore

Having never flown Air Asia before and the fares being so ridiculously cheap – I paid a total AUD$41.37 including 20kgs of baggage, seat selection and a meal – I was slightly suspicious of what I was in for – was there going to be more to pay for along the way? So I made…

Review: Lufthansa German Airlines – Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur Business Class

Fifth Freedom rights – where an airline travels from its own country to another and onto a third having the right to sell tickets and transport passengers between the latter two ports. In this case Lufthansa flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Bangkok, Thailand, where I boarded, and onto Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – two countries completely…

Review: Scoot Airlines Sydney to Singapore, ScootBiz

Fees. It can sometimes be all about fees and ancillary charges with low cost carriers, but only if you decide to pay them or if you’ve done something wrong, wrong as in not followed the conditions of the ticket you have purchased. I’ve flown low cost carriers and budget airlines, with their ‘user pays’ systems…

McDonald’s DC-3, Lake Taupo, New Zealand

Whenever I travel, although I love the excitement of new sights and tastes of exotic food,  I sometimes use McDonalds as a comforting place of familiarity, a place where I don’t have to worry about what the food may taste like, a place where it is affordable – even in Sweden where a McHappy meal…

REVIEW: Virgin Australia VA543 Sydney to Gold Coast

Dashing straight from work, I arrived at  Sydney Domestic Airports Terminal 2 for my 19:10 flight, with self printed boarding pass in hand, at 17:40 exactly an hour and a half prior to departure, half an hour earlier than the standard recommended time. With a silent sigh and roll of my eyes I could see the bag drop line for those…

Happy New Year from freakyflier.com

What an interesting year 2012 was. From the 1st January till 31 December, I flew on 12 flights (lower than some years) on 5 airlines  including Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Jetstar and Vietnam Airlines which I reviewed on freakyflier.com. I flew Business Class and Economy Class and visited two overseas destinations, Indonesia and Vietnam. There were…

Review: Vietnam Airlines Dong Hoi to Ha Noi – ATR72-500 Economy Class

Flight date: 20 July 2012 Aircraft: ATR72-500 Flight Number: VN1590 Flight Time: 1hrs 40mins Class: Economy Seat: 6A I have travelled on hundreds of flights on jet aircraft all over the world, Airbuses, Boeings, Embraers, Canadairs and even a few DC”s, but I can count the number of propeller aircraft I have flown on on one hand. In fact, my first…

Review: Jetstar Airways – Darwin to Denpasar (Bali) Economy Class

Flight date: 12 February 2012 Aircraft: Airbus A321-200 Flight Number: JQ85 Flight Time: 2hrs 35mins Class: Economy (Value Plus fare) Seat: 28A Travelling overseas, for those living in the southeastern part of Australia, usually means a long-haul flight unless, of course, you are crossing the ditch to visit our Kiwi cousins. But for our country folk that reside in the north…

Review: Vietnam Airlines Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City, Business Class

Flight date: 15 July 2012 Aircraft: Airbus a330-200 Flight Number:VN772 Flight Time: 9hrs Class: Business Class Seat: 4c For me, a big part of the excitement of long-haul travel is the unknown. I’m not talking about where I’m going and what cultures, foods and history I will encounter, that surely is an exciting part, but my experience of getting there….

Review: Lion Air – Yogyakarta to Denpasar Bali & Yogyakarta Soto Ayam

Flight date: 15 February 2012 Aircraft: Boeing 737-900 Flight Number: JT568 Flight Time: 1hr 10mins Class: Economy class Seat: 17C It was hot and I’d had a huge day in Yogyakarta, visiting  Borobudur and Prambanan Temples and the Sultans Palace, so I was fine being dropped by my tour guide at Yogyakarta International Airport airport…