Posted in Air Travel on Dec 31st, 2007 No Comments »
If you live in Chicago, you’ve probably heard that United had to cancel something on the order of 400 flights this week because they did not have enough crew. Crew can only fly so many hours in a month (and for pilots, in a year), and with the snowstorms that hit in early December, a […]
Posted in Air Travel on Dec 22nd, 2007 No Comments »
One of the unfortunate side stories of this trip is getting to Sydney. Specifically, getting to Sydney on the flight on which I’m ticketed. United Airlines’ fleet of 747s is old. They appear to be falling apart. And unlike a 737 or a regional jet, a 747 is not something you can just swap off […]
Posted in Air Travel, Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Uluru on Nov 4th, 2007 No Comments »
I’ve been to Europe probably fifteen times over the years, and I have never used airplanes to move from one part of the vacation to the next. It’s always been trains, using Europe’s incredible rail network to maneuver about the continent. But for Australia, train travel was just not practical for my […]
Posted in Air Travel on Apr 13th, 2007 3 Comments »
As I mentioned in my original rationale post, I was always worried about a 24-hour trip door-to-door. I had done 15 before, flying to a small town in Sweden for a work project. But my perspective changed after flying to Singapore last year. I had difficultly sleeping on the 14 hour flight […]
Posted in Air Travel on Apr 12th, 2007 No Comments »
In my last post, I set up the problem for flying to Australia during the US Winter/Australian Summer: It is a 17 hour time zone difference, with an early morning arrival in Sydney. The best thing to do in order to get in a full day of sightseeing is to sleep as long […]
Posted in Air Travel on Apr 11th, 2007 1 Comment »
In January, Sydney is 17 hours ahead of the US Central Time Zone. The trip is about 27 hours including ground time on either end. So what is the best way to deal with the potential for jet lag?
The way I look at it, the time zone difference is the same […]
Posted in Air Travel on Mar 25th, 2007 No Comments »
I had planned on getting my trip ticketed a three weeks ago. Now, getting a vacation ticketed nine months in advance is a little insane, even by my standards. But there are only two flights per day with upgrade inventory available, and the coach seats which are used to set the base […]
Posted in Air Travel on Mar 8th, 2007 1 Comment »
I’m going to Australia at the most expensive time of the year for airfare. Even the most highly discounted coach ticket on United Airlines is going to cost me about $2200. United probably is not the best carrier flying the US-Australia route, but it has one massive advantage:
A frequent flier program geared towards […]
