The Flight Detective, Author at TravelUpdate

That Little Fokker – My First Flight

Posted by The Flight Detective | Aug 9, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 4

Picture it, Sicily 1926. A small farm girl travels to the… wait! Wait! That’s Sophia from The Golden Girls! My story is about a little Fokker that I met around the time The Golden Girls was airing on television for the first time. As a boy who thought aeroplanes were the most beautiful things in the world, it won’t surprise you that I remember this day very well. EW551 – Sydney to Maroochydore (SYD-MCY) Fokker F28-4000 VH-EWD Seat: Economy 13A East-West Airlines were a regional player in the Australian aviation industry based in Tamworth in New South Wales. The...

Review: British Airways Club World

Posted by The Flight Detective | Aug 7, 2016 | Flight Reviews | 0

Club World is the Business Class product at British Airways featuring lie-flat seats in an 8 abreast configuration on most aircraft. Uniquely, half the seats face backwards and half the seats face forwards which allows the airline to have a higher density than other airlines. The seats have remained largely the same since they were introduced over a decade ago and this report will detail a recent trip in Club World on the largest passenger jet in the world, the Airbus 380. BA32 – Hong Kong to London Heathrow (HKG-LHR) 26 April 2016 Airbus 380 G-XLEJ Seat: Club World...

Review: Qantas International First Lounge Sydney

Posted by The Flight Detective | Aug 5, 2016 | Airlines, Lounge Reviews | 2

The Qantas International First lounge in Sydney is a place I have always aspired to visit. When I received my British Airways Gold card I knew I had the key to some seriously nice lounges. High on my list was Cathay Pacific’s The Pier in Hong Kong; however, top of my list was the Qantas International First lounge in Sydney. This is the flagship Qantas lounge located in the city I grew up in and as a proud Sydney-sider I was curious to find out what it was like. The Lounge The entrance to the International First lounge is...

Cheap and Cheerful Dublin Bus Tours

Posted by The Flight Detective | Aug 2, 2016 | 0

Dublin bus tours are operated by the company responsible for the bus services in Dublin. The tours are a cost effective way to see Dublin and the surrounding areas in a single day. Let’s have a look at what is on offer. The 2016 Tour – Beyond Barricades This year is the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. This is an important historical event where Irish Republicans attempted to end British rule of the island. The tour is new for 2016 and has been created to commemorate the anniversary. The tour is available several times daily and is one hour...

Review: British Airways Galleries First Lounge London Heathrow

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 29, 2016 | Lounge Reviews | 2

British Airways’ Galleries First lounge at London Heathrow is second only to the exclusive Concorde Room in Terminal 5. Reaching Gold status in the British Airways Executive Club means you can access this lounge whenever you fly. This is also the lounge accessible by oneworld Emerald frequent flyers. It has been eight years since the lounge made its debut and a long overdue light refresh was recently completed. My visit to the lounge featured here was after arriving from Hong Kong. It was very early in the morning and the lounge had not long opened which was very advantageous...

Retro Jets: Like Pokémon Go, Do You Try To Catch Them All?

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 28, 2016 | Airlines | 0

Airlines that have been around for a long time are extremely proud of their heritage. There has been an increasing trend in recent years towards celebrating this by introducing special retro liveries (or heritage liveries) on aircraft. This is usually one of the airlines former corporate liveries applied to a modern day aircraft and there are many examples of this. In the United States it is also common to commemorate the airlines that were absorbed by the modern day carrier. The aircraft are painted with the original carriers livery with the name of the current airline instead. It is...

Review: Qantas Domestic Lie-Flat A330 Business Suite

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 27, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 4

Qantas operate the Airbus 330 on some domestic routes within Australia and these feature seats in Business Class that are referred to by the airline as the Business Suite. These aircraft are primarily deployed on transcontinental services between the east coast capitals and Perth, flights to Asia and Hawaii and certain services from Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane. Let’s have a look at these on a short flight between Brisbane and Sydney. QF549 – Brisbane to Sydney (BNE-SYD) 21 April 2016 Airbus 330-200 VH-EBJ “Margaret River” Seat: Business Class 2A Departure: 18:25 Arrival: 20:00 The seats are in a...

Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge Hong Kong

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 25, 2016 | Lounge Reviews | 0

Is Cathay Pacific’s The Pier lounge the best First Class lounge in the world? The Skytrax awards for 2016 were announced earlier this year and The Pier received their highest accolade in the lounge category. I made a point of sampling the lounge this year so let’s delve into the details and see if The Pier lives up to the hype. The Pier is located at Gate 63 at Hong Kong airport and is easily found by looking out for the signage. You proceed down the escalator and run the gauntlet of smiling Cathay Pacific people decked out in...

Review: British Airways Washington Lounge Concorde Dining

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 18, 2016 | Lounge Reviews | 0

British Airways are very fond of the fact they used to operate the supersonic Concorde airliner. There is a Concorde Room at London Heathrow, which is an exclusive lounge for First Class passengers and the crème de la crème of British Airways frequent flyers. The Concorde Room has a counterpart at New York JFK and together they used to serve Concorde passengers back when the aircraft was the fastest way between London and New York. A new lounge concept is being introduced at British Airways. Rather than having separate First Class and Business Class lounges, they now have a...

Review: Qantas Domestic Business Class (Part 2)

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 13, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 0

Qantas has two different configurations for their Boeing 737 business class. One has seat back inflight entertainment and the other features entertainment streamed to your device. My first review featured a breakfast flight from Sydney to Brisbane on an aircraft with the seat back entertainment. This review will check out a flight on an aircraft with streaming. QF782 – Brisbane to Cairns (BNE-CNS) 19 April 2016 Boeing 737-838 VH-VXE “Coffs Harbour” Seat: Business Class 1A Departure: 09:45 Arrival: 12:10 After a short connection and lounge visit, boarding commenced for our flight to Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef....