Is it just us, or is our review of the V Australia the most comprehensive? It’s probably just us, so that’s why we went out exploring to see what other people are thinking about the newest airline down under.
It seems to be a success so far, no major complaints, and best of all—it’s causing other airlines to finally lower prices. Maybe we’ll get to go back to Australia in 2009 after all. ]]>
While we have no idea what the heck is up with Air Canada's WiFi, we do know that Alaska Airline's internet service is real and it is mostly spectacular. Harriet Baskas, who writes Stuck at the Airport tipped us off to her in-flight WiFi experience yesterday as she rode Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Orange County and back.
The first day online (courtesy of Row 44) wasn't worthy of any Branson-style celebrations and in fact, the only way passengers knew that the service was on the plane was by noticing the big WiFi decal plane by the door or if they read the card in the seatback pocket. However, those who used it seemed to like it very much:
Once folks did discover the service - which is complimentary during the test period - they used it, talked about it to their seatmates and across the aisles and, of course, sent e-mail messages: “Guess where I’m writing from.”
The service was a bit sluggish on the return trip, which got folks talking even more, but generally once travelers got connected, they seemed delighted to have this new amenity as an in-flight option.
Stuck at the Airport then wrote that the airline is asking travelers to fill out a survey with an important question being: "How much would you pay for this service?" Ah, a loaded question indeed. ]]>
Low cost carrier and marketing maven, Spirit Airlines, recently announced new flights from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Santiago, Dominican Republic. They’ll fly this route starting in June and will go back and forth four times a week. Although we love us some new routes and airfare options, we’re wondering if taking a trip on Spirit is worth it. ]]>
LAX - SYD is the definition of the long haul route. For years Qantas and United have dominated this route, but VAustralia has jumped into the fray and is attempting to redefine the way we fly to Australia. How did they do? The full flight review is after the jump.
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If you’re an airline geek like us, you've been eagerly anticipating some good first-person flight reviews of Azul, the newest Brazilian LCC. Now thanks to the help of Google’s translate feature and the travel website Snow Adventure, we’ve pieced together their initial impression and review of Azul.
...in the first five rows the pitch is 34 inches (86 cm). To fly in that area, called Azul Area, you pay $30 more on the ticket. Blue's fleet is fully equipped and prepared to offer live TV. The LiveTV technology is still being established, and when the company starts to operate it will be 5 channels of content recorded with varied programming... Starting in the second half of 2009 it will then offer 36 channels of live programming. It is very comfortable to have a monitor in front of you, instead of having to watch the roof to try to see and hear something.
The site also has some great pictures of Azul, and we learned that flights from Brazil on Azul are 25 percent off if you use the code AZUL25. The discount is good on flights through April 30, just book by February 20.
Things must be going pretty well for Azul, as the airline is already looking to expand. They’re looking to double their current destinations by mid-April, and add five new planes by the beginning of June. David Neeleman is hoping fuel prices stay low, and is already bragging that passenger loads could hit 65,000 passengers this month. Pretty good numbers considering that the airline only carried 45,000 people during their first month.
Have your own trip report to share? Send it our way.
Related Stories:
·Blue Makes Its Inaugural Flight [Snow Adventure]
·Brazil's Azul Airlines To Expand This Year [International Herald Tribune]
·Azul coverage [Jaunted] ]]>
In times like these, it’s hard enough to make a profit with any business. However, to do so in the airline industry, when everyone else is posting losses, is a pretty neat trick. That’s just what Allegiant Air did last month when they posted an $18.2 million Q4 profit. ]]>
So my Chile trip began late due to LA traffic (not because of my personal tardiness of course).
Typically you are supposed to arrive to the airport at least 2 hours before an international flight. I arrived a bit less an hour and a half before my LAX--Lima(LIM)--Santiago(SCL) . ]]>