I just put this up cuz I thought the livery matched the background of this journal.Yep, that's the standard of online journalism you'll come to expect...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Seat Selection - empty seat
There are few things in the world more satisfying than having an empty seat next to you (apart from having two empty seats next to you) as anyone who has spent 7 hours wedged next to a fat, smelly person, engaged in armrest war will attest to.
Here's a trick I use (when I'm travelling in a party of two) to maximise my chances of getting an empty seat next to me:
When selecting your seat, either at the time of booking online or when you check-in online, choose two seats with one empty seat between you.
For example, if the configuration is three-seats together, choose the A seat and the C seat.
Unless the flight is absolutely full, check in agents will usually not allocate that seat to anyone. And if you were checking yourself in, you wouldn't either, right?
It may seem like a risky tactic and even though there are some heart attack moments as both of you eye everyone as they board thinking "I hope this fat, smelly dude is not going to sit between us", it's almost always paid off for me.
But you see, even if someone IS allocated that seat, you can always ask him to swap (after all, a window or an aisle is better than the middle seat), leaving you no worse off than before.
Just make sure you explain this tactic to your travelling companion first. Especially if it's a new girlfriend...
Here's a trick I use (when I'm travelling in a party of two) to maximise my chances of getting an empty seat next to me:
When selecting your seat, either at the time of booking online or when you check-in online, choose two seats with one empty seat between you.
For example, if the configuration is three-seats together, choose the A seat and the C seat.
Unless the flight is absolutely full, check in agents will usually not allocate that seat to anyone. And if you were checking yourself in, you wouldn't either, right?
It may seem like a risky tactic and even though there are some heart attack moments as both of you eye everyone as they board thinking "I hope this fat, smelly dude is not going to sit between us", it's almost always paid off for me.
But you see, even if someone IS allocated that seat, you can always ask him to swap (after all, a window or an aisle is better than the middle seat), leaving you no worse off than before.
Just make sure you explain this tactic to your travelling companion first. Especially if it's a new girlfriend...
Seat selection
More airlines are allowing passengers to select their own seat either at the time of booking or during the online check-in.
So what should you look out for if you have a choice of seats?
If you are landing in airport known for lengthy immigration queues, then sit as far forward as possible.
Stay away from galleys and toilets, you may be served dinner first, but the noise will keep you up all night
Seats in front of toilets, bulkheads, closets (fixed partitions known as monuments) may have limited recline.
Seats in the front of the cabin are usually where the babies are.
The aisle seats just aft of the galley tend to get hit by the meal carts as they get wheeled through. It's fine if you don't mind your toes being sliced off.
The cabin behind the engines tends to be noisier.
As to which part of the cabin is the most stable, I'd say above the wings, but the jury's out on this one.
Sometimes with the taper (not tapir) in the very aft of the cabin, the seats are doubles instead of triples and if you are single, you have a high chance of sitting next to another single... (I can't take credit for this suggestion)
Emergency exit rows have more leg room. But more often than not the window seat leg room is eaten away by the big bulge in the door that holds the slide raft.
There are some hard core websites out there like www.seatguru.com which have seat maps of different aircraft types of different airlines and point out which are good seats and which seats have potential issues, like "seat 7A and B have a shared magazine pocket".
So what should you look out for if you have a choice of seats?
If you are landing in airport known for lengthy immigration queues, then sit as far forward as possible.
Stay away from galleys and toilets, you may be served dinner first, but the noise will keep you up all night
Seats in front of toilets, bulkheads, closets (fixed partitions known as monuments) may have limited recline.
Seats in the front of the cabin are usually where the babies are.
The aisle seats just aft of the galley tend to get hit by the meal carts as they get wheeled through. It's fine if you don't mind your toes being sliced off.
The cabin behind the engines tends to be noisier.
As to which part of the cabin is the most stable, I'd say above the wings, but the jury's out on this one.
Sometimes with the taper (not tapir) in the very aft of the cabin, the seats are doubles instead of triples and if you are single, you have a high chance of sitting next to another single... (I can't take credit for this suggestion)
Emergency exit rows have more leg room. But more often than not the window seat leg room is eaten away by the big bulge in the door that holds the slide raft.
There are some hard core websites out there like www.seatguru.com which have seat maps of different aircraft types of different airlines and point out which are good seats and which seats have potential issues, like "seat 7A and B have a shared magazine pocket".
Seat Factor
Often used interchangeably with load factor (though not technically similar).
Very simply, it's the percentage of seats an airline manages to fill with paying passengers.
Or if you speak maths, it's number of passengers divided by number of seats.
Some typical load factors:
a) British Airways for April 2008 - 70.5%
b) Singapore Airlines in Financial Year 07/08 - 80.3%
c) High Speed Trains (TGV in 2006) - 75%
You can tell an airline person (if you couldn't already with his constant usage of abbreviations and 3-letter city codes) when he thinks of everything in terms of load factors.
"We went to watch Kung Fu Panda last night at the new cinema. Pretty good for a week night. Seat factor was about 55%..."
Breakeven Seat Factor is the seat factor required for the operator to well, break even.
Except with oil prices at levels they are today, BESFs have this annoying habit of being about 110%...
Very simply, it's the percentage of seats an airline manages to fill with paying passengers.
Or if you speak maths, it's number of passengers divided by number of seats.
Some typical load factors:
a) British Airways for April 2008 - 70.5%
b) Singapore Airlines in Financial Year 07/08 - 80.3%
c) High Speed Trains (TGV in 2006) - 75%
You can tell an airline person (if you couldn't already with his constant usage of abbreviations and 3-letter city codes) when he thinks of everything in terms of load factors.
"We went to watch Kung Fu Panda last night at the new cinema. Pretty good for a week night. Seat factor was about 55%..."
Breakeven Seat Factor is the seat factor required for the operator to well, break even.
Except with oil prices at levels they are today, BESFs have this annoying habit of being about 110%...
Disclaimer
If you are looking for pared-to-the-bone, on a worn shoestring budget, type travel tips, SURF ON.
I am allergic to backpacks and the sight of someone carrying 3 months of unwashed clothing in a canvas teepee taller than himself makes me wonder about the sanity of the person.
Alternatively, if you are logging on (with a USD 1 per 5 minutes internet connection at 10 kbps) from the transit area of Cairo airport while waiting for your connecting flight in 9 hours because this itinerary saved you $50, SURF ON.
This is about realistic, good value travel.
There will be travel in premium classes and there will be travel on budget airlines. From Monte Carlo to Montenegro, I'll try to cover it all. Really.
I am allergic to backpacks and the sight of someone carrying 3 months of unwashed clothing in a canvas teepee taller than himself makes me wonder about the sanity of the person.
Alternatively, if you are logging on (with a USD 1 per 5 minutes internet connection at 10 kbps) from the transit area of Cairo airport while waiting for your connecting flight in 9 hours because this itinerary saved you $50, SURF ON.
This is about realistic, good value travel.
There will be travel in premium classes and there will be travel on budget airlines. From Monte Carlo to Montenegro, I'll try to cover it all. Really.
Travel & Living: Keep Discovering
Tired of watching people who get paid to travel the world in style?
Swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas, motoring journalists driving the latest Ferrari along the Amalfi Coast, etc. It's a million miles from reality given that your leave has not been approved for the past 3 months and fuel surcharges higher than airfares mean that you have to settle for a weekend in Batu Pahat.
If you feel like flinging Floyd far into the Adriatic (I can't spell Meditereanean) as you shovel instant noodles into your tired face because it's 9pm and you just got home from work and there's nothing left in the fridge, this is the blog for you!
I don't exactly know what you will find in these virtual pages - some travel tips, industry gossip, perhaps even a holiday review. But what's important is this is real world travel - dragging your suitcase (which you discover is missing a wheel when you pick it up from the carousel) across cobblestoned streets at 2am because the later flight was $20 cheaper, trying to find the supposedly 4 star hotel you booked on the internet at 2 star rates .
There may even be a test drive of a 2 year old beige Toyota Corolla and some quick home cooking suggestions. Think of it as Conde Nast meets Fast Track meets Holidays in a War Zone, Vroom Vroom meets Top Gear, Naked Chef meets Ready, Steady, Cook meets Survivorman. It's elements of all that...just far worse.
So fasten your seatbelts, sit back and brace yourself for the big journey that is life itself.
Keep Discovering, Travelling and Living.
Swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas, motoring journalists driving the latest Ferrari along the Amalfi Coast, etc. It's a million miles from reality given that your leave has not been approved for the past 3 months and fuel surcharges higher than airfares mean that you have to settle for a weekend in Batu Pahat.
If you feel like flinging Floyd far into the Adriatic (I can't spell Meditereanean) as you shovel instant noodles into your tired face because it's 9pm and you just got home from work and there's nothing left in the fridge, this is the blog for you!
I don't exactly know what you will find in these virtual pages - some travel tips, industry gossip, perhaps even a holiday review. But what's important is this is real world travel - dragging your suitcase (which you discover is missing a wheel when you pick it up from the carousel) across cobblestoned streets at 2am because the later flight was $20 cheaper, trying to find the supposedly 4 star hotel you booked on the internet at 2 star rates .
There may even be a test drive of a 2 year old beige Toyota Corolla and some quick home cooking suggestions. Think of it as Conde Nast meets Fast Track meets Holidays in a War Zone, Vroom Vroom meets Top Gear, Naked Chef meets Ready, Steady, Cook meets Survivorman. It's elements of all that...just far worse.
So fasten your seatbelts, sit back and brace yourself for the big journey that is life itself.
Keep Discovering, Travelling and Living.
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