After visiting the Virgin Australia Lounge, I took a relatively short flight of just 58 minutes (versus the usual slotted 1 hour and 30 minutes) back to Sydney. Virgin Australia pulls out all the stops on this quick high traffic route. The corridor between Melbourne and Sydney is one of the busiest air routes in…
Category: Business Class
LATAM Airlines Premium Business – LA800 – Sydney to Auckland.
I was heading across the ditch—as we like to say in Australia and New Zealand when hopping between the two countries. The flight from Sydney to Auckland is a short one, blocked at just over three hours, but when I spotted a business class fare for only $200 more than economy, I was instantly sold!…
WestJet – Calgary to Los Angeles – Economy Plus
My mum always says “You attract more bees with honey than what you do with vinegar”. This is so true in any service industry. Get up to date FreakyFlier posts delivered direct to your inbox! Sign up at the bottom of the page! I’m leaving Calgary after 3.5 weeks and heading to San Francisco (via…
QANTAS Airways, Dubai to London Airbus a380 – Business Class.
I’m seated in 11A when a man walks up to me and says “I think you’re in my seat”. He shows me his boarding pass, it is emblazoned FIRST CLASS and he is seated in 1A. I’m surprised he thinks this is first class and I wonder how he found his way to the upper…
HARS (Historical Aircraft Restoration Society) and the Famous QANTAS 747-438, VH-OJA – Oh and Connie, VH-EAG
HARS – Historical Aircraft Restoration Society – is located at The Illawarra Regional Airport in Wollongong and just over a year ago it gained another major attraction with a retired Qantas Boeing 747-400 arriving at the museum. Back in March of 2015, I was invited with several media and bloggers to visit Qantas Headquarters in…
Qantas First Lounge, Auckland
“No, this way!” Bert said as I bounded into the Qantas Business Class Lounge. He was pointing to the ‘By Invitation’ door. On our recent trip to New Zealand, I flew Emirates Business Class on a Qantas flight number between Auckland and Sydney. I was travelling with my friend Bert, myself in Business Class and Bert…
Emirates, Auckland to Sydney Business Class
“Welcome on board this Emirates flight to Brisbane” Brisbane? Am I on the right plane? “Ladies and Gentlemen, please disregard the menu stating Auckland to Melbourne, we are in fact off to Sydney” Melbourne now? “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Dubai” Either Dubai now has a harbour with replica bridge and Opera House or I’m…
Melbourne to Sydney, Qantas Airways Business Class
Have you been watching that new show ‘Ready for Takeoff’? It’s a fly on the wall documentary about Qantas and the inner workings of the airline. I loved the second episode with Qantas mega Frequent Flyer John Martin, who hails from my hometown the City of Wollongong who during the episode took his 1000th Qantas flight….
QANTAS Airways, Sydney to Brisbane Business Class
“Tonight we have the traditional lasagne with steamed greens or the seared beef on glass noodles.” the cabin crew member discretely repeated to each passenger as he made his way down the centre aisle of the secluded Business Class cabin. The food, it is the thing I get most excited about when taking a short flight in Business…
Melbourne to Perth – QANTAS Airways Business Suite.
Mints and mince, although sound similar are two very different things – especially to a vegetarian! I was at a party once, enjoying a delightful array of finger foods while chatting to a vegetarian over the loud pumping music. The lights were low and she was relying on me to let her know what each of the…
China Airlines Sydney to Auckland Business Class – Airbus A330-300
Question: China Airlines comes from what country? Answer: Taiwan (Republic of China) Bloody Mary. People often think China Airlines is from mainland China (The Peoples Republic of China) but its not, it’s Taiwan’s (Republic of China) national carrier and largest airline based the country’s capital Taipei. Now I’m not going to go into the how, why and…
Inspecting a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 at Sydney Airport
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Cathay Pacific, Happy Birthday to you! Cathay Pacific recently celebrated its 40th year of operating flights from Hong Kong to Australia and FreakyFlier was invited on board one of their Airbus A330-300 aircraft which fly the route between Hong Kong and Sydney up to…
QANTASLINK Hobart to Sydney Business Class
As we returned the hire car, the young lady asked my friend Bert: “Are you returning the car with a full tank of petrol?” “Yes” said Bert. “And has there been any damage?” she asked. “Only to our livers” I replied. We were flying home to Sydney after a weekend in Hobart and after checking in…
Review: Qantas Airways Sydney to Melbourne Business Class
Many years ago, a few months after Jetstar took to the skies as the low cost carrier offshoot of Qantas Airways, I was travelling with a friend, Business Class, on a Qantas Flight between Melbourne a Sydney. After a few glasses of wine we were having a good old time, laughing at the fact we…
One Day In November – A FreakyFlier Day Trip
Let me take you on a day trip, its not your regular outing but for an aviation enthusiast its going to be a freaky good day! Late last year, when Jetstar received its first Boeing 787 Deamliner, they offered a few sectors domestically to ‘break-in’ the new aircraft and give the Australian travelling public a…
Review: QANTAS AIRWAYS – Gold Coast to Sydney, Business Class
“Why do you want to fly Business Class?” my friend Liz asked me the other day. “Huh? Did you seriously just ask me that?” I replied, stunned. Obviously Liz hasn’t flown Business Class very often. Even though this was a short 1 hour 25 minutes sector, one of the many benefits of flying Business Class is lounge access and with…
Review: Jetstar Airways – Boeing 787 Dreamliner – Melbourne to Gold Coast Business Class
“We’re flying on a plastic plane daddy?” I over heard the young boy ask his father…. “Well,…um,…kinda” came the reply….. I think the father wanted to explain that the aircraft was made up of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer making the aircraft stronger yet lighter but it might just be a little to much for the youngster to understand….
Review: Qantas Airways – Sydney to Canberra Business Class – 737-400
A few weeks ago my lovely friend Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella wrote about an express lunch she had in half an hour and it reminded me of a Qantas Business Class flight to Canberra a few Saturdays ago that was kind of similar. The actual flying time this day was also 30 minutes and…
Review: Air Asia X – Kuala Lumpur to Seoul (Incheon) – Premium Class
Already featuring a few times here, Air Asia has fast become my favourite Low Cost Carrier. I’ve shown you a short flight for less than $42 when I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, a long haul flight with Air Asia X for less than $160 when I flew from Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur, now let me show you…
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…
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…
Matty Somewhere 