After another wonderful stay in Cairns, the city that feels like my second home, it was time to head back to Sydney. For this flight I chose Qantas Airways for three key reasons: first, the chance to fly on a widebody Airbus A330-200; second, I grabbed a seat with points (or miles) that was quite…
Tag: Airlines
Visiting the Qantas Club in Cairns.
Another lounge visit, this time at the Qantas Club in Cairns. Normally, I’d fly Virgin Australia since I hold Gold Status, but with no lounge there, I used points to fly Qantas. Conveniently, my Qantas credit card included a lounge pass, perfect timing! I genuinely share my loyalty between both airlines. This post may contain…
Virgin Australia Melbourne to Sydney Business Class
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…
QANTAS Airways Business Class – Christchurch to Sydney.
For my journey back to Australia from New Zealand, I scored a great deal combining Air New Zealand and QANTAS flights. The first leg was a short Economy flight with Air New Zealand from Dunedin to Christchurch, followed by a Business Class flight on QANTAS to Sydney. Full disclosure, this post contains affiliate links which…
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!…
Flying LATAM (LAN) Economy from Sydney to Buenos Aires. Part 1, Sydney to Auckland
LATAM AIRLINES LA800 SYDNEY TO AUCKLAND DEPART: 10:55 ARRIVES:16:10 BOEING 787-9 DREAMLINER It was not so long ago flying on a 787 Dreamliner was novel, it was a new aircraft with new innovations and ideas. On the day of my departure from Sydney I noticed United Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Air India, Jetstar and LATAM (LAN)…
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…
Jetstar, Sydney to Bali on the 787-8 Dreamliner, Economy Class.
“Pop the butter on top of your meal, it will soften it” After all my years of flying, I’d never heard something so simply ingenious when it comes to that hard frozen butter sometimes served on board a flight. I was heading on a last minute trip to Bali, partly birthday celebration, partly Christmas shopping trip but mostly…
Thai Air Asia – Bangkok (Don Mueang) to Mandalay, Myanmar
“When we arrive in Mandalay, will we just get a cab to the hotel as well?” Bert asked me as our cab pulled up in front of Bangkoks old International Airport, Don Mueang. “No, we’ll get the free Air Asia shuttle bus into the city” I responded. “Ha! yeah, ok” he scoffed. “Seriously, will we get a…
Flying Air KBZ – Mandalay to Nyaung U in The Republic of the Union of Myanmar
“You may sit wherever you like on the plane sir” “Wherever?” “Yes sir, no seating assignments on the flight” After a long hot day seeing some of the amazing sights of Mandalay, the 2nd largest city in Myanmar, our driver took my friend Bert and I to the airport at 3:00 pm for our 4:45 pm flight…
Review: 中国南方航空 – China Southern Airlines, Guangzhou to Sydney, Airbus A380, Economy Class (Part 1)
“WOW! I had no idea we’d be on the ‘double-decker’, isn’t this AMAZING!” my seemingly chatty seat-neighbour said to me as I flashed my boarding pass and pointed, indicating she was in my window seat. She sighed loudly as she grabbed her bags knowing they’d have to be re-stowed in the overhead locker. I had purposely…
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…
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: 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…
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…
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…
Matty Somewhere 