Why do I fly with...?
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Why do I fly with...?
The work I do varies a lot, but there have been periods when I've been a piece of SLF over 60 times in one year. The reasons I choose to fly with an airlines aren't the same as most people, but what the hell!
The company travel policy is fly on any airline you want to (within reason), and fly economy class.
OK - Airlines I like to fly with and why are :
BA, JEA, Lufthansa for shorthaul. The main reason is that the flight deck crew often let visit their office, sometimes staying for approach/landing. Other pluses are great cabin crew (usually!), seats/legroom OK for shorthaul but they give me backache on longhaul as I can't stretch my legs out. The BA frequent flyer plan is very poor though, 30 return trips between Heathrow & Frankfurt didn't get me a damn thing as my tickets wern't full fare.
Virgin Atlantic. Premium economy seats are actually comfortable, great cabin crew (always!), flight deck crew usually allow a visit in the cruise. My preferred longhaul carrier if I'm flying Premium economy, and as good as BA/Lufthansa for economy. Good inflight entertainment as well, and a decent frequent flyer program.
United Airlines is currently my favourite U.S. carrier, because firstly they have (so far) always put ATC on channel 9 when I've asked, and secondly a request to visit the flightdeck once we're parked at the gate has usually been granted.
I haven't yet flown on American Airlines, but their website indicates that they will be giving more legroom throughout coach class, in which case they could well become my preferred carrier to and around the U.S.
Carries I don't like to fly with :
Monarch. Flight deck crew are fine, they allow visits and often invite people to stay for approach and landing. But some of the cabin crew are rude to the point of being obnoxious, the food is barely edible (and lukewarm) and the legroom is nonexistent. (In fact my grandmother died of a deep vein thrombosis a few days after flying back from holiday on a Monarch aircraft. She had no medical history of this condition.)
Mik
[This message has been edited by mik (edited 19 April 2000).]
The company travel policy is fly on any airline you want to (within reason), and fly economy class.
OK - Airlines I like to fly with and why are :
BA, JEA, Lufthansa for shorthaul. The main reason is that the flight deck crew often let visit their office, sometimes staying for approach/landing. Other pluses are great cabin crew (usually!), seats/legroom OK for shorthaul but they give me backache on longhaul as I can't stretch my legs out. The BA frequent flyer plan is very poor though, 30 return trips between Heathrow & Frankfurt didn't get me a damn thing as my tickets wern't full fare.
Virgin Atlantic. Premium economy seats are actually comfortable, great cabin crew (always!), flight deck crew usually allow a visit in the cruise. My preferred longhaul carrier if I'm flying Premium economy, and as good as BA/Lufthansa for economy. Good inflight entertainment as well, and a decent frequent flyer program.
United Airlines is currently my favourite U.S. carrier, because firstly they have (so far) always put ATC on channel 9 when I've asked, and secondly a request to visit the flightdeck once we're parked at the gate has usually been granted.
I haven't yet flown on American Airlines, but their website indicates that they will be giving more legroom throughout coach class, in which case they could well become my preferred carrier to and around the U.S.
Carries I don't like to fly with :
Monarch. Flight deck crew are fine, they allow visits and often invite people to stay for approach and landing. But some of the cabin crew are rude to the point of being obnoxious, the food is barely edible (and lukewarm) and the legroom is nonexistent. (In fact my grandmother died of a deep vein thrombosis a few days after flying back from holiday on a Monarch aircraft. She had no medical history of this condition.)
Mik
[This message has been edited by mik (edited 19 April 2000).]
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Any airline who will give an ageing parent of a USAir Hostie an ID90 (okay, I'll settle for a ID75 if I have to!)
(For the benefit of SLF that are totally out of the industry, "ID90" is a standby ticket, charged at 90% discount from the "full unrestricted fare" - the one that NOBODY pays! - to staff and their families - usually works out at about 20% of the "normal" fare, the "ID75" works out at just under half - still "standby")
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**Self-Loading-Freight do it sitting down with cramps**
(For the benefit of SLF that are totally out of the industry, "ID90" is a standby ticket, charged at 90% discount from the "full unrestricted fare" - the one that NOBODY pays! - to staff and their families - usually works out at about 20% of the "normal" fare, the "ID75" works out at just under half - still "standby")
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**Self-Loading-Freight do it sitting down with cramps**
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I'm happy with KLM & Swissair long-haul. I very much enjoyed Varig biz class Sao-Paulo to Buenos Aires (B747-300 2 years ago), 3.5 hour sector if I remember correctly.
I positively loved Gulf Air first class Dubai-Muscat, unfortunately the flight wasn't long enough
- only 90 mins.
Best of all are B747 freighters: between 4 and 6 biz class seats, 2 bedrooms.
rgds Rat
I positively loved Gulf Air first class Dubai-Muscat, unfortunately the flight wasn't long enough
- only 90 mins.Best of all are B747 freighters: between 4 and 6 biz class seats, 2 bedrooms.
rgds Rat
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I fly an airline because the schedule and routing are suitable. Unfortunately, not all cities I work in are connected directly. Gulf and Thai give me the best flights. Unfortunately, Gulf's inter-Gulf flight timings leave a lot to be desired. BA gives wonderful service to the Far East and SE Asia.
Flying in and out of Baku has recently become a big pain, and I'd gladly avoid flying Royal Brunei ever again. Aeroflot actually put me down in a place I couldn't even find on a map, somewhere on the Kazakhstan Caspian Sea coast last year. I suspect it was Aktau. No one got off, no one got on, and after an hour, we took off again to Atyrau where I and the other poor unfortunates on board, where supposedly going. No explanation in Russian. I wasn't expecting one in English.
A recent Quantas cross-continental Perth-Sydney left a lot to be desired too. I had to ask for a drink! JAL needs lots of improvement too.
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Wake me up when we get there
Flying in and out of Baku has recently become a big pain, and I'd gladly avoid flying Royal Brunei ever again. Aeroflot actually put me down in a place I couldn't even find on a map, somewhere on the Kazakhstan Caspian Sea coast last year. I suspect it was Aktau. No one got off, no one got on, and after an hour, we took off again to Atyrau where I and the other poor unfortunates on board, where supposedly going. No explanation in Russian. I wasn't expecting one in English.
A recent Quantas cross-continental Perth-Sydney left a lot to be desired too. I had to ask for a drink! JAL needs lots of improvement too.
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Wake me up when we get there
