Rate your bad flight

by Martha Edwards on

Think about it — what was your worst flight of all time? Mine was just a few months ago — we booked one of those all-inclusive Mexico trips and were a little peeved when we found out that the flight left at 1am. When boarded with bleary eyes, we were surprised at the size of the plane — I’m not exaggerating when I say that if you sit at the window seat, you have to lean to the side because of the curve in the airplane. My guy is 6’2 and we had to trade seats because to sit by the window, he had to slouch painfully.

If that wasn’t bad enough, when the plane took off, it flew north (um, Mr. Pilot, Mexico is south… ) to pick up some passengers from another city because the flight wasn’t full enough. Ok, fine, we can deal with that — but we sat at the airport in that other city for 3 hours, and we weren’t allowed to leave the plane! We didn’t arrive in Mexico until almost noon the next day. Yes, it sucked. But I have to say it was worth it when I got onto that beach.

My point: Everyone has a bad flight story, and now you can rate your flights and post your stories. Check out MyBadFlight.com for stories, ratings, and even the occasional airline celeb sighting! I’ll warn you though — there are some real nightmare stories out there — like being stuck on the tarmac for 12 hours. Good grief!

The best of in-flight entertainment

by Martha Edwards on

Remember the days when the in-flight entertainment was watching the drool trickle down the chin of your snoozing dad and hoping it landed on the arm of your little sister? Or the days when you were so excited to see an in-flight movie, only to find out that it was showing on one TV screen 20 rows up and the headphones they gave you didn’t work anyway?

In-flight entertainment has come a long way since then. In fact, it’s too good — I stayed awake on flight from New Zealand to LAX catching up on movies like Borat and The Departed, and ended up being so tired afterwards that I almost missed my connecting flight because I was sleeping so soundly on the floor of LAX (Ew. And as an added bonus I crushed my glasses when I rolled onto them — now they’re permanently crooked.)

But entertainment can mean the difference between a tedious flight and an enjoyable — it really makes a difference on how satisfied a customer is with the airline, if you ask me. Want to know which airlines have the best in-flight entertainment? ProTraveller recently ranked them, and here’s the run-down:

  1. Virgin America
  2. Emirates
  3. Singapore Airlines
  4. JetBlue Airlines
  5. Virgin Atlantic
  6. Qantas
  7. Cathay Pacific
  8. British Airways
  9. Japan Airlines
  10. United Airlines

Want to find out why they made the list? Click here.

BA 747 narrowly escapes a mid-air collision

by Martha Edwards on

I’m constantly extolling the virtues of flying, telling my fearful friends how safe it is — much more so than driving, suntanning, crossing the street, etc. So I always cringe a bit when I hear stories about plane crashes or near crashes. Like this one: A British Airways 747, bound for Johannesburg, narrowly missed crashing into a Argentinian747 in the airspace over Marseilles, France, much to the horror of those looking on.

The incident happened in late September, but has only been revealed now. Witnesses claim that the whole thing has been hushed up. It’s thought that French air traffic control is to blame, but further investigation will hopefully determine the cause for sure.

Luckily, it all ended ok, but other close calls might not be so lucky. Hopefully whoever is at fault has learned their lesson.

See also:

Why not fly in style? Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 has full size beds! Check it out:

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The Colours of First Class

by Martha Edwards on

It’s almost physically painful for me to look at pictures of the fabulous first-class amenities that many long-haul airlines offer. Picture me on my last long flight from New Zealand, spending 12 hours trying to sleep in an upright position with the elbow of a 300-lb Maori man next to me (I feel more sorry for him than myself — he could barely squeeze into the seat.) Seriously — how great would be to kick back on a cross-Pacific flight in this kind of setting?

From a design perspective, first class is even more spectacular. I’ve never really considered it before, but the color and decor on a plane can have a lot to do with your overall experience, don’t you think? You want your plane to looks bold without being too overpowering; contemporary and sleek without being uncomfortable. Methinks drab shades of grey and brown will make the passengers feel drab, bored, maybe ever trapped. That said, if I had a choice between bright colours in coach and drab ones with a chair that folded into a bed and my own private nook with a TV, I could most definitely deal with drab.

Does this mean you should pick an airline based on the colour? I guess if you’re flying first class, you can afford to.

NY Air Travelers Have Rights. Well, Some Anyway …

by Martha Edwards on

I’m sure we’ve all heard of, seen or experienced first hand the horrors of flight delays. Aside from long in-airport delays, I’ve been pretty lucky in that I’ve never had to wait inside a plane for hours without food or water. But others haven’t been so fortunate, like the people on this flight or this one.

But don’t think that the powers that be haven’t noticed how much it can suck being a lowly coach passenger. Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed a ‘passenger’s bill of rights’ which is meant to protect air travellers in New York in case of such delays. According to the bill, New York airlines must provide passengers with food, water, fresh air, power and working bathrooms on any flights that have been sitting on the Tarmac for 3 hours.

Wait a second …. 3 hours? That seems like a bit much … I wonder how Eliot Spitzer would feel about waiting 3 hours to go to the bathroom. An hour sitting in the tarmac is enough to warrant fresh water, food and bathrooms if you ask me.