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Keith T

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  1. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    http://www.theage.com.au/travel/37-airline...81201-6ojf.html

     

    37 airliners allowed to leave Bangkok

    December 1, 2008 - 4:49PM

    Anti-government protesters have allowed 37 empty airliners to leave Bangkok's besieged main airport after agreeing to a request by Thai authorities, officials said Monday.

     

    A total of 88 aircraft have been stranded at Suvarnabhumi international airport since demonstrators stormed the terminal and forced it to close last Tuesday.

     

    "Thirty-seven aircraft have left Suvarnabhumi since the first aircraft of Siam GA (a regional airline) took off on Sunday evening," an Airports of Thailand spokeswoman said.

     

    "International airlines will have to contact us to take those stranded aircraft out of Suvarnabhumi."

     

    Of the planes stuck at Suvarnabhumi, 29 belong to flag carrier Thai Airways, 16 to Thai Airasia, 15 to private-run Bangkok Airways and 22 aircraft are from other airlines, the spokeswoman said.

     

    Twelve belong to the airlines of foreign countries.

     

    The People's Alliance for Democracy protest movement has refused to leave the airport, and the smaller Don Mueang domestic hub in Bangkok which it has occupied since Thursday, until the government resigns.

     

    Police say they are in talks with the demonstrators but have also issued them with orders to leave under a state of emergency declared at the airports last week by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

     

    http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-new...81201-6o2e.html

     

    Emergency flight laid on for stranded Bangkok tourists

    Arjun Ramachandran

    December 1, 2008

     

    An emergency Qantas flight will fly home hundreds of Australians from Phuket tonight, after the Government and airline had arranged bus transport for passengers from Bangkok.

     

    Foreign Minister Stephen Smith expressed frustration with Thailand's failure to evacuate stranded Australians after protesters seized control of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport last Tuesday and the smaller Don Muang domestic airport last Wednesday.

     

     

    Australian authorities have been negotiating with Thai counterparts to put on more flights from Utapao, about 150 kilometres from Bangkok, and the tourist resort of Phuket, about 900 kilometres away.

     

     

    One of those on tonight's Qantas flight from Phuket is 17-year-old Kristie O'Rourke, who was returning from a holiday in Vietnam with her mother when she was stranded in Bangkok for 13 hours.

     

     

    She has since missed her high school formal and an important audition that she had scheduled for a dance school.

     

     

    Ms O'Rourke and had been unable to get the same return flights from Hanoi as her mother, and was boarding a flight home at Bangkok last Tuesday just as protesters stormed the airport.

     

     

    The airline, Thai Airways, decided not to take off, leaving Ms O'Rourke stranded at the airport, her mother Judy said: "She was there for 13 hours, with no food or water, the ATMs were shut down,'' she said.

     

     

    Thai Airways eventually relocated passengers to hotels in the city, where Ms O'Rourke has since been staying at the airline's expense, her mother said.

     

     

    "As far as I know, Thai Airways have paid for everything, all meals - we haven't paid for anything.

     

     

    "She was in a nice place, although she was on her own, and got herself a mobile [to keep in touch with family].''

     

    Difficult

     

     

    Judy said the Australian embassy in Bangkok had been helpful, however she had found it difficult to arrange another flight home through the airline.

     

     

    "Thai Airways are barely coping, they don't seem to have any system in place - you can't even call the reservation line, it says it can't be answered at this time.''

     

     

    "Here's a kid on her own, she's missed her school formal ... she's trying to get her life together for next year.''

     

     

    She understood that Ms O'Rourke had been selected for tonight's chartered flight on the basis of "oldest and youngest'' first.

     

     

    A Qantas spokeswoman said seats were offered first to Qantas and British Airways customers, and then to Australians "as they get in contact''.

     

     

    A number of travellers were also looking to change or defer travel plans that involved trips to Bangkok in the future, said Flight Centre general manager sales and

    marketing Colin Bowman.

     

     

    Travel agents said they were treating these requests according to the policies of individual airlines or accommodation suppliers.

     

     

    No penalty

     

     

    A Qantas spokeswoman said passengers could defer flights to or bypass Thailand without incurring a penalty.

     

     

    Thai Airways will also waive cancellation and amendment fees for passengers who were departing for Bangkok until Friday.

     

     

    Singapore Airlines will waive fees for travelling up to and including Sunday.

     

     

    The airline was also operating a twice-daily service from the military airport at Utapao to Singapore until Wednesday for its passengers stranded at Bangkok.

     

     

    Customers would be booked on those flights according to the order they were booked to travel from Bangkok, the airline said.

     

     

    An Australian woman, who was stranded after anti-Government protesters blockaded Bangkok's international airport, has described mayhem and rioting at the military airport from which foreigners are being flown home.

     

     

    The NSW woman, who did not wish to be named, said she feared being crushed as thousands of foreign travellers - some becoming aggressive and intoxicated - crammed into the Utapao military airport. Many were forced to wait up to 11 hours with no water.

     

     

    Long delays

     

     

    There were long delays at Utapao airport and Australia's ambassador had visited the airport to "press Thai authorities to address issues affecting operations", a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said.

     

     

    The Australian woman, in Bangkok for work, said Qantas arranged to take her by bus to the military airport for a specially chartered flight home.

     

     

    She had waited up to eight hours before being able to board her flight home, she said.

     

     

    "But it wasn't really the wait. It just wasn't functioning, it was stretched to capacity," she said.

     

     

    About 3000 people were crammed into the airport, which she was told could handle only 10 flights a day, and had just one set of steps from the departure lounge to the boarding gate.

     

     

    As the crowd kept building, and the wait prolonged for already frustrated passengers, she feared being crushed.

     

     

    Dangerous

     

     

    "It was a very dangerous situation - it was packed, we were trapped in this departure lounge with nowhere to go," she said.

     

     

    "They kept letting people in, at any time it could have turned. I was shielding behind an X-ray machine.

     

     

    "They'd taken water off people as a security measure, so everyone was without water. Some people had been there for 11 hours without water.

     

     

    "[Airport authorities] would then bring in some water and people would just riot for the water ... these badly behaved foreign tourists."

     

     

    Many in the crowd were men, "half of whom had been drinking ... you could get alcohol duty free but couldn't get water".

     

     

    "And then they brought in these heavily armed military guys because there were this group of passengers who really started bellowing ... they were waiting the longest and had started to get angry.

     

     

    "I think it's fair to say passengers were traumatised - people have never seen, never experienced anything like that in their lives."

     

     

    The passenger has now returned safely to her home on the South Coast.

     

     

    Other Australians who managed to get on planes out of the military base have complained that the flights were returning to Australia only half full.

     

     

    Mr Smith said the main problem had been "logistical difficulties" in people being able to get access to the airports.

     

     

    "We have been becoming very frustrated with the Thai authorities, particularly Thai airline authorities and tourism authorities," he said.

     

     

    "We are working with Qantas to get as many stranded Australians back to Australia as soon we can.

     

     

    "But the two main airports in Bangkok are still closed, so we are looking to use a military airport 150 kilometres away and one in Phuket."

     

     

    Mr Smith said that once extra flights were organised to take Australians home, officials would organise buses to take the stranded tourists on the long journey to either Phuket or Utapao.

     

     

    In the meantime, he hoped the political turmoil gripping Bangkok would be resolved peacefully.

     

     

    "We are urging a peaceful and political resolution to it and the last thing we want to see is a military resolution," he said.

     

     

    - with AAP

  2. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Now I am just going to use my BA miles for short haul flight. I try to get the best deal from LON to KL this summer, 80,000 BA miles plus USD900, or I can pay full fare USD800 with QR fir the same route :finger:

     

    Switch to AAdvantage if you don't mind flying AA rather than BA between the US and the UK, though if ATI for AA/BA/IB comes through this might change. AA does not charge fuel fines for awards.

     

    Otherwise, in most cases the tax/fuel fines make F/J bookings better value than bookings in whY (like you pointed out it's often not much more to simply buy a flight in whY) though out of the UK you also have to deal with APD.

  4. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Freedom of expression includes demonstration and peaceful protest is a pillar of democracy. However, disrupting commercial and economy activity is not an option. With this direction, PAD will lose popular support pretty soon.

     

    :drinks:

     

    Direct action and thuggish behaviour are hardly democratic IMO.

  8. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Updated. But only 2 extra flights as I've discovered that there were a few times I deliberately ticketed myself on different flight numbers on the Roo route to get more status bonii. :p

     

    Expect my *A segment count (SQ, LX, SK) to increase in Dec... no I'm not switching allegiances from OW, just been busy redeeming my *A miles. Praise be to bmi diamond club...:D

  9. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Keith, if I were you, I would break up all the segments to reflect the actual situation as the aircraft didn't flew direct non stop all the way from MEL to LHR. So say, flight QF XXX from A to C via B will be recorded as 2 flights even though it is having the same flight number, using the same aircraft, you are seating on the same seat, travelling on the same date, day etc.

     

    It's more work though. :p

    Mmmm, but it means I get a few more segments in. :D

  10. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    You'll be surprised how good they are... :pardon: Was pleasantly surprised myself 2 years ago, when I made a day-trip to BUD flying both stretches on Malev !

     

    The :blink: was in relation to them collapsing when I'm already holding ticketed flights with them. But these are ticketed on AA 001 stock (oneworld Visit Europe) and I s'pose I could always get AA to reaccomodate me on other carriers as INVOL if it comes to that.

     

    Indeed I've heard good things about their intra Europe product. I'll be flying MXP-BUD and BUD-PRG on them. :)

  12. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    My top 10s:

    #    Airline     Amount     %
1     Qantas Airways      43      23.9 %
2     Singapore Airlines      36      20.0 %
3     British Airways      25      13.9 %
4     Cathay Pacific      12      6.7 %
5     American Airlines      12      6.7 %
6     Air New Zealand      8      4.4 %
7     Virgin Blue      6      3.3 %
8     JAL Japan Airlines      6      3.3 %
9     Thai Airways      6      3.3 %
10     SWISS      4      2.2 %

     

    Heavily skewed towards the top 3 unsurprisingly. Didn't know I'd flown Cathay, Thai or DJ that much.

     

    #    Airport     Amount     %
1     MEL     Melbourne      72      20.0 %
2     SIN     Singapore      61      16.9 %
3     SYD     Sydney      29      8.1 %
4     HKG     Hong Kong      18      5.0 %
5     LHR     London      17      4.7 %
6     BKK     Bangkok      16      4.4 %
7     AKL     Auckland      12      3.3 %
8     KUL     Kuala Lumpur      12      3.3 %
9     CBR     Canberra      10      2.8 %
10     NRT     Tokyo      9      2.5 %

     

    SIN and HKG would've gotten more hits had I broken up the QF 2 segment flights via both airports (eg QF9 MEL-(SIN)-LHR) and listed them seperately.

  15. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Looks pretty much like the current FCL cabin?

     

    Whilst it is the general trend of F (and J) cabins to move towards enclosed private suites these days, I'm not sure I like it. I prefer a more 'open' cabin. I found the herringbone type seats in J a bit claustrophobic for some reason (especially on CX) and I hate not being able to strike up a convo with the person next to me (part of the fun of traveling). I will report back on the SQ Suites in 3 weeks, but a lot of my friends have commented that they preferred to leave the doors open and blinds up.

  16. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    London to Brisbane and back for £467 pp a.i. Unbelievable!

     

    Too bad the offer is only until May 2009 and I have booked all my trips for the first half 2009!

     

    A friend of mine booked SYD-JNB return in F for only AUD9648 all in for him and a friend. Superb deal. That's like Air Mauritius J prices.

     

    Pity my DONE4 which I started in MNL back in July is meant to cover all my travels until July 2009. :(

     

    Now wondering if I should buy another DONE or rub my crystall ball and wait for another deal like this, in light of the global financial crisis there ought to be plenty of similar deals by QF or its OW partners....

  17. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    I forgot KLM.

    Don't forget Qf is trying to get good publicity after the you know serious incidents and allagations.

     

    “We have taken some of those suggestions, and also consulted aviation experts,

    to ensure we chose people who have not only made a great difference to

    flying in this country, but who represent the courage, tenacity and

    determination of the real spirit of Australia. “

     

    I fail to see how the Wright Brothers fit within that contemplation, nor of how it'd improve QF's image amongst Australians if it'd indeed been irrepairably tarnished.

     

    As i'm still HLed on a few Qantas flights I almost wish there'd be a couple more safety scares to frighten people off their planes so I can actually confirm my bookings. :p *touchwood*

  18. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    Yeah but they contributed to aviation BA named on of their planes.

     

    If Qantas had intended to honour international aviators then yes the Wrights would defo top the list; however, looking at the list, they'd clearly intended to include only Australian aviators and others who've made significant contributions to local aviation. What other airlines have done is irrelevant as that's simply comparing apples and oranges, it's like saying every airline should adopt 'The World's Favourite Airline' as their marketing tagline.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.qantas.com.au/info/greatNewsSal...u:greatNewsSale

     

    For 3 days only book amazing deals for 2 people on selected Qantas international airfares.#

     

    The 2-for-1 offer is available in Economy, Premium Economy (where available) and Business on selected Qantas international airfares. Each passenger pays all applicable taxes and surcharges.

     

    Available to a great range of destinations for travel for selected dates from 1 February to 31 May 2009.*

     

    Get away now to London, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, San Francisico, New York, Honolulu, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Auckland, Wellington, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Manila or Jakarta.

     

    Share the news with a friend and book now.

     

    Hurry! Sale ends midnight (AEDT) Monday 17 November 2008.

     

    A great deal from a top quality airline, The World's Most Experienced Airline.

     

    [simply change the location to your country of origin to get fares from that origin]

  25. Posted · Edited by Keith T · Report reply

    That's true. As a normal bloke I'm already dreading my 16-hr nonstop HKG-JFK next week.

     

    Hmm... now I don't think I'm an 'aviation buff.' But my convoluted routings (NRT-DXB via SIN and LHR for instance - see JAN-FEB '08 TR) and addiction to FF miles can hardly be considered 'normal.' And i do love flying but would only have a vague idea about planes. So I've no idea what I am. :pardon: :huh: :D

     

    Back on topic: Sorry to hear the inaugural return didn't go too well. Glad that things worked out in the end. :)

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