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…
Category: Asia
A Day Trip From Beijing – The Great Wall Of China – Juyongguan Pass
A few days prior to my departure for Beijing, I was on my way to work and I tripped on an uneven footpath. I was fine, no injuries – except my pride from the school kids behind me laughing – but upon picking myself up I suddenly had this huge grin on my face and…
Tamun Ayun Temple (Mengwi Temple) Bali, Indonesia
If like me, sometimes when travelling in Asia, you may have a moment where you feel ‘templed out’, in other words, after looking at temple after temple, often in repressive heat, they start looking all the same, you have seen enough and can’t bare to see anymore! When I was in Bali, this didn’t actually happen…
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…
Hanging out with the locals in Hai Phong, Vietnam
What: Hai Phong Opera House forecourt and adjacent park Where: Hai Phong, Norther Vietnam Who: The locals Sometimes, to really get the feel for a place, its nice to take a break from the information overload that sightseeing can cause and just hang out and do what the locals do. On recent trip to Vietnam,…
Prambanan, A Hindu Temple in Yogyakarta
What: Ancient Hindu Temple Prambanan Where: Located about 18 kilometres from Yogyakarta, Indonesia When: 8th Century “A group tour or independent?” was often one of the first question I would ask as a Travel Consultant. “No not a group tour, I don’t want to be with a bunch of people I don’t know” was usually…
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…
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China
What: Temple of Heaven Where: Beijing, PR China When: 15th – 20th Century One Christmas, when I was about seven or eight years of age, Santa Claus left my brother and I a board game called Chinese Checkers under the Christmas Tree. I don’t think my brother and I ever learnt how to correctly play…
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….
Tanah Lot and the Balinese Festival of Buda Wage, Bali, Indonesia
What: Tanah Lot, A picturesque Hindu Temple built on a coastal rock formation Where: Bali, Indonesia, about 45 minutes drive from the tourist centre of Kuta When: 15th century, restored in the 1980’s I’m not one that enjoys large crowds, I avoid the hoards of people around Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve and the thought of shopping…
Hoi An, Vietnam
What: Hoi An Ancient town a UNESCO world heritage site. Where: Central coast of Vietnam, about half an hour drive from Da Nang International Airport. When: 2000 years of history as a trading port starting with the Cham people, the Chinese and lastly the Vietnamese. I love to see history. I love it even more…
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…
Review: Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Hoi
Flight date: 20 April 2012 Aircraft: Airbus a320-200 Flight number: VN1400 Flight time: 1hr 40mins Class: Business Seat: 2F It was a quick check-in at the Vietnam Airlines counter at the sometimes chaotic Ho Chi Minh City domestic terminal, not only because of no others in the Business Class line, but also as I was travelling in a…
Review: Garuda Indonesia Airlines Denpasar (Bali) – Yogyakarta
Flight date: 14 February 2012 Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 Flight Number: GA251 Flight Time: 1hr 10mins Class: Economy Seat: 12A A 4.30am wake up call for a 5am pickup to Denpasar airport for a 7am flight. With very little traffic on the roads at this dark hour, I was at the airport by 5.20am for a…
New Chinese airline arrived in Sydney this morning
Today marked the start of another Chinese carrier serving Australia. Hainan airlines (HU) will fly an Airbus A330-200 three times a week between Shenzhen and Hangzhou and Sydney. Shenzhen, located on mainland China near Hong Kong and Hangzhou, also on the mainland near Shanghai are both important financial, trade and industrial cities and with populations…
Matty Somewhere 