The Flight Detective, Author at TravelUpdate

Oneworld Alliance Baggage Changes

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 14, 2016 | Airlines | 0

The oneworld alliance has made changes to checked baggage effective 1 June 2016. These changes are going to have a profound affect on frequent flyers, especially those who create itineraries that include mileage redemptions as part of the journey. Cathay Pacific have summed it up quite succinctly on their CXagents.com web site – With effect from 01 Jun 2016, all oneworld carriers have agreed that through check-in will apply ONLY to passengers travelling on an oneworld itinerary ticketed on a single ticket or where segments are ticketed separately but in the same PNR record. Therefore oneworld airlines are no...

Farewell, British Airways First Class Tasting Menu

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 12, 2016 | Airlines, Reviews and Reports | 0

A unique feature of the British Airways Airbus A380 service in First Class was the presence of a set five-course tasting menu. Restaurants that feature in the Michelin Guide will often have a tasting menu as an option so you can get a good feel for the cuisine on offer, and that high end feel is probably what was behind the concept on BA. Disappointingly, British Airways has withdrawn the tasting menu in First Class as of 1 June 2016. As with any removal of a service item there was no press release trumpeting this, so I can only...

Review: British Airways Transatlantic First Class

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 9, 2016 | Flight Reviews | 4

British Airways tout the First Class cabin on their web site with phrases such as, “haven of style and comfort”, “impeccable service and attention to detail” and “delicious and indulgent dining”. It all sounded very good! However, this is the same airline that says their lounges are “a world of calm and tranquillity” which a British Airways lounge most certainly isn’t. I had an opportunity to make my own judgement on this so I took it. BA217 – London Heathrow to Washington Dulles (LHR-IAD) 22 January 2016 Boeing 777-336ER G-STBJ Seat: First 1A Departure: 11:15 Arrival: 14:40 The bargain...

Review: Shangri-La Hotel Cairns

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 6, 2016 | Hotel Reviews, Hotels, Reviews and Reports | 0

My birthday is in April and I was visiting my family in Australia at that time. My Mother and I decided to go away on a short break to celebrate and after a couple of different ideas we settled on a trip to Cairns. For those that don’t know, Cairns is the main gateway to The Great Barrier Reef and the plan was to soak up the tropical atmosphere and visit the reef. Looking at the various hotels, it was obvious that the Shangri-La was going to be the most convenient as well as the kind of quality I wanted for a...

Review: The Aer Lingus Dublin Revival Lounge

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 5, 2016 | Airlines, Lounge Reviews, Reviews and Reports | 0

As part of the upgrade of the transatlantic Business Class product, Aer Lingus opened an arrivals lounge at their home base, dubbing it the ‘Revival Lounge’. The lounge has been open for around a year and is the only arrivals lounge at Dublin Airport. Eligible guests are passengers arriving from North America in Business Class only. I had arrived overnight from Boston in Business Class (detailed in this post) and I was looking forward to trying out the lounge as I had never used an arrivals lounge before. This is due to the fact I usually connect through London Heathrow...

Qatar Airways Business Class Sale to Tokyo

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 2, 2016 | Airlines | 0

Qatar Airways has a great marketing strategy. It seems they offer a bunch of sale fares from a certain country to destinations around the world and nestled among them is a deal that is better than all the rest. The latest sale fares are originating in Italy, with decent fares in Economy Class and Business Class from Milan, Pisa, Rome and Venice to cities around the world. Is anyone planning to go to Tokyo? The best deal is Pisa to Tokyo, which is €1,054.52 return in Business Class. You need to book the flights by 6 June 2016 for...

Review: Aer Lingus Business Class By Night

Posted by The Flight Detective | May 31, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews, Reviews and Reports | 0

I had flown Aer Lingus Business Class once before on a day flight which is here on Travel Update and I was looking forward to trying the seats and product on an overnight sector. I was curious as to whether the flat bed would be comfortable for a sleep without any additional padding, and whether the duvet provided would be warm enough. Apart from that, I knew the meal service would be substantially different for an overnight flight, which it was. EI136 – Boston to Dublin (BOS-DUB) 27 October 2015 Airbus A330-200 EI-EWR “St. Thomas” Seat: Business Class 3K Departure...

Qatar Airways Auckland Flash Sale – May 2016

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

Qatar Airways is the only one of the so called ‘Middle East 3’ airlines (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar) that is part of a global alliance, having joined oneworld in 2013. As a result, the airline is on my radar as a potential carrier as frequent flyer benefits are alliance wide. Having researched fares with Qatar Airways on a couple of occasions, I had come to the conclusion they were far too expensive for my budget. It looked like their rather nice looking Business Class would remain a mystery to me. Cut to this year and I read online that Qatar Airways...

Review: Aer Lingus Business Class by Day

Posted by The Flight Detective | May 27, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 3

Aer Lingus Business Class was revamped at the beginning of 2015 when the carrier chose the ‘Vantage Seat’ by Northern Ireland based company Thompson Aero, which is 22 inches wide converts to a fully-flat 6’6″ long bed. Keeping with Irish suppliers, all fabrics were weaved by Dublin based Botany Weaving. This seat now features across the entire Aer Lingus long haul fleet, being the same product on the Airbus A330 and Boeing 757 fleet. EI137 – Dublin to Boston (DUB-BOS) 22 October 2015 Airbus A330-300 EI-ELA “St. Patrick” Seat: Business Class 3A Departure: 11:50 Arrival: 13:45 On the ground at Dublin Airport, a separate...

Top 5 Airline Breakfast Meals

Posted by The Flight Detective | May 26, 2016 | Reviews and Reports | 0

Breakfast on board an aeroplane has to be my least favourite meal of all. Usually one is presented with scrambled egg or an omelette. That’s not the name of the dish on the menu of course. It will have whatever trendy name the hipsters have deigned it to be called this season. Usually this egg dish is urinal cake yellow, resembles a well used kitchen sponge and tastes slightly metallic like the inside of a galley oven. It will be flanked by a tomato that looks like it died a fiery death in hell, dismally grey mushrooms, and if you’re lucky some kind of potato....