Tagged With "Airline seats"
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Re: Trains in Cuba
Great question...and possibly not an easy clear answer. Cuba's trains have generally been in poor shape in recent years as older equipment has run down and spares not available. However, according to Mark Smith (The Man in Seat 61), that's changing with the arrival of a fleet of new Chinese-built locomotives. On his site ( Seat61.com ) he has an extensive update of recent changes in schedules, routes and locations (that's important because Havana's main station is closed for a 3-year...
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Re: Baby born on plane. Ticket, please ?
Whatever the little guy's name, he probably was born kicking the seat ahead of him.
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Re: Whom did you say was flying this plane?
Anyone remember the movie Westworld? Where nothing can go wrong...go wrong....go wrong... I'm okay with the pilot using automation, but the idea of automation REPLACING the pilot....nah... I want someone who can grab the controls and fly by the seat of his or her pants, not have the plane crash because some tiny part shorted out. Same goes for robot cars on the highway. I don't wanna get killed head-on by a car reacting to a sunspot in GPS. OTOH if you could get government on autopilot...oh,...
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Re: Share Your Budget Tablet and Laptop Picks
As Kermit the Frog says, It's not easy being green ! I like products in bright colors. It keeps me from losing things, especially when I travel. Hard to miss a bright green tablet, even in the gloomy corner of a budget hotel room or tucked into a dark airplane seat pocket. It is good to read about these bargain tablets. They can only get cheaper during the upcoming holiday sales.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
We flew Norwegian in May, Orlando-Oslo and were really impressed. The 787 made such a difference and we arrived feeling fresh. The moister air, bigger windows and lighting made a world of difference in how we felt post trip. We brought a decent sized carry-on and personal bag each for free too. As far other extra fees, we didn't pay any. They charge for food or drinks, but we just bought those at the airport. And I think they also charge for blankets, but we brought jackets to cover with and...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
This is sounding very promising, Rob. I can think of no reason to pay more money to pay with miles than for a ticket on Norwegian. I have enough miles to go around the world and only the first leg (or last, depending) is more expensive using miles. It makes no sense. So you were able to carry on your main bag plus a smaller one? I'm speaking of the limits for discounted coach tickets (aka "steerage").
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
Amazing the way these calculations work out. We're going to England next spring, using American Airlines points. The flight selection offered us flights on British Airways and American. The AA flights cost the points plus government fees. The BA flights cost the points plus the government fees, plus enough surcharges to make a $1000+ difference. If I only had the BA flights, I'd certainly rather find a low-cost carrier! It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming year as Aer...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
The carry-on limits are posted on the site. Still we were a little worried but there were no problems. We each took a carry-on and a personal bag on for free. A note that my same carry-on was too big for Air China so Norwegian had decent limits.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
The website states the limits for a carry-on bag are (approximately, stated in cm) 21 x 16 x 9 inches, and 10 kilos/22 pounds. Plus a "small" item that fits comfortably under the seat. Were your bags within these guidelines, Rob?
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
I think that's very similar to American Airlines carry-on allowance. A lot better than EasyJets etc. Whether my bag was over, I can't say. My original bag was lost by Megabus, if you can believe it, so I had a different bag and clothes than what I was planning on The thing about the 787 is there's actually room for the carry-on. in the overhead.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
I've checked my bag for years but it sounds like in this case it'd be worthwhile to pack light and carry it on. My usual, without trying, is about 13 kilos, so 10 isn't a huge stretch. Sounding like an interesting possibility.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
I was just reading a Chris Elliott piece on when people get so fed up with air travel they stop flying altogether. He interviewed a man who owned a travel company, Spencer Carlson and the positive airline example he gave was Norwegian. So it seems like my good experience is the norm with them. Here is this link: http://www.seattletimes.com/li...-to-take-it-anymore/
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
I can live indefinitely with 2 sets of clothes, 1 to wear & 1 to wash, 1 extra pair of shoes, all in a day pack. I wouldn't necessarily WANT to do it, but I could, rather than stop flying if, say, the airlines reduced baggage limits to 10 pounds altogether. It's the same old story, I figure, if for any reason, you can't or won't travel (time, money, fed up, whatever), you just don't want to enough. One excuse is as good as another. Good to hear about Norwegian. I repeated the exercise...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
Continuing my search for an economical way to use my miles and avoid absurd fees, I tried a combination of 2 one-way flights, one with miles, one on Norwegian. One way on Norwegian is as low as $286. If I avoid using BA with points, flights on AA to Paris are 20,000 miles (before May 15th) plus a $5 fee (excellent!) but with a stupid schedule, 3 flights and 2 days to get there. And 1 possibility available. All the rest are BA flights, $326 in fees + 20,000 miles. Next thought, why is AA...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
The AA-BA mashup is tricky, yes, but not as devious as it may seem. Between New York and Paris, for instance, AA has only two non-stops a day; BA has a half-dozen (or more, including Open Skies). And, BA has many seats LON-PAR, so availability is greater. A similar situation exists on this side of the ocean, where BA feeds many AA domestic flights. It's sometimes possible to get around better if you don't mind one stop...we've used AA to Madrid paired with Iberia to Paris (Iberia's charges...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
Call it whatever you like, but I seem to have missed your point. But, no matter, MY point was simply that I see no excuse for charging astonishingly different prices for the same product, transportation from point A to point B, on partner airlines ostensibly selling the same thing.
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Re: Beating Jet Lag
I hate to say it, but I think that Songhua Ni's advice—sleep as much as you can, and walk around a bit—is going to work much better for front-of-the-plane flat-bed-seat people like him than it is for the rest of us. I recently had the pleasure of New York-Doha round-trip on Qatar, bumped up to the front, and it made an immense difference in my sleep, especially the quality of it. Otherwise, my best advice, based mostly on trans-Atlantic travel, is get on the plane to Europe tired, sleep as...
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Re: Beating Jet Lag
When you arrive at your departure airport set your watch to your destination time. Sleep as much as you want to on the flight. Wear headphones to avoid being woken - listen to some smooth tunes on your MP3. Take snacks and bottled water. Don't eat big meals before and during your flight. Take a puzzle book to keep your mind active while you are awake. Take a pee long before they put the seat belt sign on for landing. (Waiting too long in line for Immigration when you're busting makes you bad...
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Re: How do you buy your travel?
Interesting topic and rather timely as I am in the midst of finalizing my plans for my upcoming trip. Hotels: This upcoming trip the first I've used Booking.com. I have used a variety of sources in the past (i.e. Travelocity, Expedia, etc.) and have also found that booking directly through the hotel is sometimes cheaper...sometimes. But, I love the option to be able to change or cancel my reservation, if needed. Flights: I prefer to book directly through the airline. Have never used a...
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Re: How do you buy your travel?
Hi TravelGirlJenn, I've used Expedia to buy tickets a number of times, only once or twice with Priceline, never with Kayak. The big advantage is that you get to see often hundreds of competitive prices, not just the few the airline sites directly show you. And often they are cheaper than directly buying from the airline. Whether or not you can pick your seat in advance is completely up to the airline, not to the online travel site (eg. Expedia). Some airlines (eg. United, Alaska) do let you...
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Re: How do you buy your travel?
I use booking.com the most for hotels and apartments because I can cancel. Sometimes I can't decide what part of town I want to be in, so I book more than one and keep researching until I have found the right spot. (I don't hold extra reservations long...just sayin'.) I love that booking.com now shows apartments and houses via villa.com because I always refer having a kitchen when I travel. I, too, use OTAs to see prices and schedules, and then I go to the airline's web page for booking.
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Re: How do you buy your travel?
Few more thoughts, following HistoryDigger and DrFumblefinger... 1. Definitely check all your affiliations on car rental; after years of getting better price through AAA than any other way I knew, I recently found that going to the same vendors through USAA (my car insurance) gets me even better. 2. Not only does Priceline have good pricing on cars, I've often found I can get 30-40% lower through their blind-bidding (Name Your Own Price) service. 3. RailEurope is something of a red flag for...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Wow ! That is a good deal. I need to drill down through those redeem mileage programs and see what I can learn. Thanks for this valuable lesson.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Thanks for pointing this out! By the way, it is also possible to take a free stopover on the international end. For example, a couple of years ago, we flew from NYC to Copenhagen (the routing) but with a week stopover in Stockholm along the way. We've used that kind of routing a number of times. Adding to your point about Britain: Many of AA's European cities are actually served by their closely-tied partners, British Air and Iberia. With a little persistence, you can find flights that don't...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
So, PHeymont, when you stopped for the week in Stockholm which airline was it and what fees were you charged for the stopover? You mention Madrid. Presumably that was a different trip, so same questions on that one. Also, can these stopovers be scheduled on the AA website or must you speak to an AAdvantage customer service person and pay the ($25?) fee?
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Originally Posted by PortMoresby: .... can these stopovers be scheduled on the AA website or must you speak to an AAdvantage customer service person and pay the ($25?) fee? I scheduled my flights using the website. When you go to the AAdvantage booking site there are three choices: round-trip, one-way and multi-city. When you choose your flights you see boxes showing the number of miles per leg. The leg between Dallas and San Francisco showed no miles. There was also some kind of comment to...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Similar to WorkerBee's experience, I've done these bookings using the Multi-City function, which allows you to specify a date for each segment. It didn't require assistance. Actually I've never had to pay a fee for help when booking something that could not be done on line, but who knows these days. I've done these stopover trips a number of times (NY-Budapest/open jaw/Prague-London w/stopover and then back to NY, etc.) The AAdvantage desk agents, by the way, are some of their best and can...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
All potentially very useful information. Many thanks, Gurus.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
All things to be watched closely, by the way; by January the new AA will start rolling out updated program rules and procedures for what will be a merged program. We'll need to watch closely to see what changes!
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
WorkerBee, how long will you be in Spain, and when? We're going for 8 days (not counting the travel days) in February. We'll be in Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Gumbo fans would love to hear how your trip is going and to see pictures along the way!
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
I will be there about a month, from February 12 to March 12. I will be in Madrid for a few days after I arrive and then off to Girona and environs for a few weeks. I may wander into southeast France for a few days as well before I return to Madrid for a couple of days before I fly out.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
I envy your trip! We'll overlap in time, but not in place. If you do add France to the itinerary, you might want to look into the new TGV service from Barcelona to Paris that starts this month. I'm not sure of its route as it leaves Spain, but it might go where you want to!
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Originally Posted by PHeymont: I envy your trip! We'll overlap in time, but not in place. If you do add France to the itinerary, you might want to look into the new TGV service from Barcelona to Paris that starts this month. I'm not sure of its route as it leaves Spain, but it might go where you want to! For some time the AVE has run from Madrid to Figueres which is north of Barcelona and Girona. The TGV has been running from Figueres to Paris for some time as well. I'm told that it takes...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
It required 40,000 miles for a round-trip economy ticket. All were in-seat miles and all were from a few years ago.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Now I know why your handle is WorkerBee. Persistence and hard work get the job done! Well Done!
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Originally Posted by WorkerBee: It required 40,000 miles for a round-trip economy ticket. All were in-seat miles and all were from a few years ago. That's one of the things I like about AA...aside from the one-way awards. When everyone else was 50K to Europe, they were 40K offpeak and 60 peak. Now everyone else is 60K peak, and AA still has the winter bargains. Hope it lasts!
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Wonderful piece of planning WorkerBee ! Missing off London to avoid the $18 Departure Tax for Spain seems a bit severe. I presume your return journey is more direct.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
$ 18 ? I am puzzled by this. When I have taken flights from London to the US, the tax has been more like $ 150 - $ 200. It was worth it to spend time in London, of course. Still, it was not a small amount.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
The UK departure tax is "Banded" into distances and economy / regular / 1st class. London - Spain is only a short distance.
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Well, but if Spain is the destination, passing up UK makes sense. On the other hand, APD leads to calculations such as Flying NYC-LON-Continental Europe: No problem; as long as your time in UK is less than 24 hours, you are a transit passenger and don't pay APD. Flying Continential Europe-LON-NYC: Not so good; you pay the APD on the trans-Atlantic leg, and that's high. The other issue with this is not APD at all; flying to the Continent through Madrid or Barcelona tends to be cheaper because...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
Garry RF and PHeymont - Thank you very much for the information. In this case, APD is not incurred - Flying NYC-LON-Continental Europe: No problem; as long as your time in UK is less than 24 hours, you are a transit passenger and don't pay APD. In this case, there is an APD, even if the transit is less than 24 hours ? - Flying Continential Europe-LON-NYC: Not so good; you pay the APD on the trans-Atlantic leg, and that's high. Concerning the third item, this explains why Worker Bee had a...
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Re: I get to Boomerang to Spain ! Cheap !
I'm not sure on your question about WB's trip, because it depends on routing. From NY, AA most often uses their own seats for the ocean hop, but does use some BA seats from Newark. Other cities...not sure how many BA seats used in that direction. And sometimes it's a matter of class. For instance, last year flying home from Paris, there were AA seats in business class available non-stop, but economy was only available on BA Orly-London-Newark.
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Can an Airline Video be TOO Funny?
I would have said "I doubt it," but WestJet's April Fools video has certainly stopped everyone here from getting on with their day...have a look. The scary part is...you could almost imagine it happening. 'Nuff said: And if that's not enough, here's...
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Are you a chatty seat-mate?
Modern travel often makes complete strangers sit in close proximity for hours at a time. This has the potential to be a very pleasant possibility, or very annoying. So how likely are you to have a chatty seatmate? Not very it...
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Song at 35,000 feet
Southwest airlines posted a fun clip of a band (the Black Cadillacs) performing a song they wrote in Memphis, in a 737 flying to Memphis. The plane's public address system provides far from a perfect sound environment, but the passengers seem to...
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5 Things You Must Tell A Limo Service Company While Hiring Them
Using a limousine service adds a sense of class and luxury to the person who is sitting in its back seat. Traveling in a limousine is an experience most people can only dream about. Most people hire limousine services for important life events, and therefore one needs to be careful in choosing the service. No matter what the event is, whether you want a luxury limousine service , a corporate event, or a wedding, there are a few things you must check with a limousine service company when you...
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The Best 7 Healthy Foodie Lunches in London
While there are many healthy options in the form of coffee shops and restaurants in London, few are mouthwatering. Healthy eating does not need to be boring, especially when you are paying to have it made for you! Here is a hit list of restaurants that are serving healthy food which doesn’t negate your morning workout. 1. Ottolenghi – Notting Hill, Belgravia, Islington, Spitalfields Mouthwatering Middle Eastern food My husband is Israeli and as a result, we have long been paying homage to...
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How do occupy your time while flying?
Despite the hassle of security clearances and waiting at airports, I usually enjoy my time in the air. I find it relaxing and productive. No cell phone or pages to deal with. No bureaucratic meetings. I stay off wifi (as I'm...
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Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
Looking for flights to Europe on which to spend my miles and being astonished by the fees, I had a look on the Norwegian site and was amazed in the other direction, by how cheap the fares were from the West Coast. Until I started trying to...
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How To Experience A Nature Stay In The Historic Inns Of Maryland
Have you ever imagined waking up to the sound of a rooster? Or have you thought to seat around the countryside with your family and having a homemade meal? Do you want to make these possible? If yes, visit Historic Inns of Maryla nd . If you’re sick of sterile hotel rooms, you’d likely to get a closer look at the local culture on your next trip, consider a countryside home stay or farm stay. Why To Choose Farm Stay? Staying on a working farm or in the home of a local family can offer an...