Flight Detective’s Top 10 Posts of 2019

It’s that time of the year when we have a look back at my most popular posts of the year 2019. Very much like my Top 10 of 2017, all the posts recorded in excess of 10,000 views bar one.

You can also check out the list for 2018, which was a little more eclectic than this year. Either way, it’s been another good year of travel and writing. Here’s the list and you can click on the article title to read it.

10. Hey airline crew, I want to keep my window blind open!

It’s safe to say that I much prefer my window blind being open during a flight. I think it is really nice to see the world passing by at any time of the day or night.

Since dimming windows have made a comeback, you sometimes don’t have control over what you can and can’t see. Still, most of the time you get to choose.

9. When booking a flight, what does 5 seats left really mean?

Everyone has seen it when booking a flight, that notification that says there are just five seats remaining. The notification could be interpreted a couple of ways.

Is it saying that there are literally just that many seats left to buy on the flight? Or something else? Clearly the article was of great use to many people.

8. This is an unusual way for an airline to do a business class sale

Indonesia’s Garuda ran a sale in 2019 which was rather interesting. Most sales are usually a discount off the regular airline ticket price and you go ahead and book.

Not so with this sale. Essentially, the more people travelling, the less the tickets cost per person. You had to be between two and six people flying, so I found it worth mentioning.

7. Can you move to any free seat once on board your flight?

One of those little conundrums when everyone is on board your flight and there are plenty of free seats for the taking. Some might be better than what you have in some way, so can you move there?

Explaining the rules around when to move and where not to move, the article proved to be quite popular. No doubt there’ll be some form of seating Tetris on your flights in future!

6. Fantastic around the world business class fare out of Australia

It’s not often that Australia gets a decent fare for originating travel, but this was certainly one of the best. A$5,170 for an around the world ticket in business class is an excellent price.

This translated to US$3,666 which of course many other bloggers used as their headline fare. While it’s not on sale any longer, you never know, it may come up again!

5. Which airline will be first to ditch economy class altogether?

On certain airlines, premium cabins are taking up a lot of floor space. Looking at historical cabin configurations compared to those of 2019 has a real tale to tell.

It is not without merit to think that someday economy class may no longer exist on certain flights. Will it happen? Well, you never know what the future may hold.

4. Should you pay for seats on a flight or wait for check-in?

The answer to this one is, it depends. Do you have a travel party of a few people who want to sit together? Or are you someone travelling alone but have a favourite seat?

Another factor is cost, of course. Is it a reasonable expense in the context of your flight ticket? Ultimately, it is up to you to do what is best for you.

3. Airline two for one sales in first and business class make me sad

As a solo traveller, a sale that requires two people to travel means it is out of reach for me. Lufthansa and Swiss had such a sale and I was sad I couldn’t take advantage of it.

No doubt in the future I will travel with more than just me, but until then, sales like this will be out of reach. However, it would probably work for quite a lot of other people!

2. Here’s something you don’t see every day… a Boeing 747 in the sea!

When this popped up online, I thought it was a pretty remarkable thing. An actual Boeing 747 being towed around on the ocean. Pretty unusual, right?

Dive Bahrain sank one of the jets near Diyar Al Muharraq as the centrepiece of a diving reef. It almost makes me want to learn to dive so I could swim through it.

1. What happens when Hillary Clinton is on your flight?

What a surprise it was when Hillary Clinton sat right behind me on Club Europe on British Airways on a flight from Dublin to London City. Complete with entourage and secret service men, it was certainly unexpected.

With well over 40,000 views, it came up as the top post for 2019 for me. Now if only I had the balls to get myself a selfie with the woman of the moment, however I think the secret service detail would have stopped that and fast!

Overall Thoughts

Those are the top 10 articles I published in 2019. Of course, some articles from previous years also did very well, such as “You can now upgrade a British Airways flight after Check In“. This was published in November 2017, is the highest viewed in 2018 overall and still came in third this year.

In addition, three other articles from 2017 and three from 2018 came in between number 9 and 10 on the 2019 list. Half are flight reviews, two are aviation themed articles and one is a flying tip. Variety is the spice of life, it seems!

What do you think of the Top 10 posts of 2019? Surprised at any of them? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Daniel Eledut on Unsplash.
Unusual business class sale image via Garuda.
Moving to a free seat image via oneworld.
Finnair Airbus A330 by Jakkrit Prasertwit on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
Pay for seats image by Omar Prestwich via Unsplash.
Two for one sales image by Konstantin von Wedelstaedt on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
The 747 in the sea image via Airportoday’s on Facebook.
Image for Hillary Clinton by Aero Icarus from Zurich, Switzerland via Wikimedia Commons.