The Flight Detective

Review: British Airways Club Europe From Dublin

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 6, 2016 | Flight Reviews | 0

Club Europe is the British Airways business class product for flights within Europe. European airlines have a business class cabin where the seats are the same as in economy class. In Australia and the United States there is dedicated business class seating featuring wider seats that are spaced further from the seat in front. The European model allows for a greater degree of flexibility. It is not unusual to see the first ten rows set aside for business class passengers and the product differentiator is the middle seat is kept free and of course the cabin service is substantially...

Review: Cathay Pacific Premium Economy

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 4, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 2

Cathay Pacific is one of just eight airlines in the world to be rated as a five star airline by SKYTRAX. The service on board is some of the best in the sky and I always make a point of flying them when I am on my way to Australia. British Airways codeshare on the Cathay Pacific services between Hong Kong and Sydney so I am able to take advantage of this and still earn full credit with my frequent flyer programme. CX100 – Sydney to Hong Kong (SYD-HKG) 26 April 2016 Boeing 777-367ER B-KQQ Seat: Premium Economy 30A...

Bonus Airline Miles For Hotel Bookings

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 30, 2016 | Hotels | 0

Do you know you can earn thousands of airline miles for one hotel booking? I certainly didn’t! When I found out this was possible, it changed how I booked hotels forever. Many airline loyalty programmes offer the chance to earn miles through hotel stays. Usually the offers are things such as 500 miles per night, 500 miles per stay or 1 mile per dollar spent. These have been around for years, but this is not what I am talking about. I’m talking about Kaligo, Rocketmiles and PointsHound. These companies source hotel rooms at a discount from consolidators, price them...

Coach Potato: Qantas Domestic Economy Class Review

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 29, 2016 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 0

The atmosphere aboard our Qantas jetliner was relaxed as we cruised the stratosphere. I could hear the delicate clink of crystal as a couple toasted an anniversary. Gentle laughter as the crew joked with a passenger while delivering a piccolo of Champagne. The light clatter of silverware against fine china as another person finished their meal. These were sounds I was accustomed to, these sounds of Business Class… emanating from somewhere ahead of me. On this flight I was a coach potato, sitting in Economy Class amongst the other coach potatoes. QF649 – Cairns to Brisbane (CNS-BNE) 21 April 2016...

Cancelled Flights and Rebooking Logic

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

Cancelled flights are an interesting thing. There are operational reasons as to why a service is cancelled and I completely understand that. The vagaries of air travel with variable weather, regular summer strikes by Air Traffic Control and the myriad of other possible issues means that cancelled flights are a fact of life. I had plans to travel from Dublin to London flying out on Saturday at 2pm and returning on Sunday at 2:10pm. It was an overnight trip to see friends and attend an event. I had checked in online 24 hours before the flight time, had my...

Brexit Challenges Aviation Industry

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 24, 2016 | Airlines, News | 2

The United Kingdom had a referendum on whether to remain a member of the European Union (EU) or to leave. A British exit, or ‘Brexit’ in short parlance, became a reality on Friday 24 June. This means that the UK must now invoke Article 50 to formally notify the EU of the intention to withdraw and the country will cease to be a member 2 years from that date. What does a Brexit mean for UK aviation? Airlines have reaped immense benefits from a single European aviation market. Unrestricted access to all cities throughout the continent has transformed air...

Review: British Airways World Traveller Plus

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 23, 2016 | Flight Reviews | 10

World Traveller Plus is the British Airways Premium Economy product which is a hybrid between World Traveller (Economy Class) and Club World (Business Class). In order to differentiate the product it contains elements from both classes as you well see in this flight review. BA31 – London Heathrow to Hong Kong (LHR-HKG) 11 April 2016 Airbus 380 G-XLEG Seat: World Traveller Plus 61A Departure: 18:40 Arrival: 13:35 British Airways is celebrating 80 years of service to Hong Kong in 2016. Passengers in World Traveller Plus and above are offered a special “celebration dish” as a meal choice to celebrate. According to the...

Review: InterContinental Hong Kong

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 20, 2016 | Hotels, Reviews and Reports | 0

The InterContinental Hong Kong’s web site says it is “recognised as one of the world’s top hotels” which is a fairly bold claim to make. It is located directly on Hong Kong Harbour at Kowloon with easy access to the shopping of Nathan Road and close to a MTR station. This is the detailed review of my experience at the hotel and we will see whether the bold claim about being a top hotel is indeed true. Booking The InterContinental Hotel is one of the hotels available for booking with Rocketmiles and I chose to book through this channel...

Dublin Airport Transfers

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 19, 2016 | News | 1

Dublin Bus have been handing out and delivering flyers about the launch of a new route between Dublin Airport and the City Centre which is expected to start in June 2016. This new route will be the first Dublin Bus operated route from the airport to service this part of the city and this will connect to Dublin’s light rail system (called Luas) near the Harcourt Street stop. I thought this was a prime opportunity to go through the options to get to and from Dublin Airport. You’ll note that all of these are road based as Dublin Airport does not have any kind...

Delayed Aer Lingus ‘Aer Club’

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jun 18, 2016 | Airlines | 0

The current Aer Lingus frequent flyer programme is called Gold Circle Club and it appears to be designed to primarily reward people who fly transatlantic on a regular basis. The earning for people flying regularly throughout Europe is low to non-existent as there are a variety of fare classes which are ineligible for points earning. The programme is much maligned by Irish frequent flyers including myself. When you join, you become an ‘Applicant’ which means you’re not a member of the club until you fly enough to get on the bottom rung. When you achieve that you receive a membership card and are...