Extravigator - Premium Air Travel

best dates for holiday travel

forager — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:37:29 -0400

I agree with Dex. My best guess is that New Year's Day will be the easiest day to travel. Friday Jan 2nd and Saturday Jan 3rd will be a little more crowded, but not worth avoiding altogether. Sunday Jan 4th will likely be the worst of those days to travel. You'll notice that current flight prices are reflecting that sentiment.

best dates for holiday travel

Dex — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:10:10 -0400

I've always found New Year's Day to be a very lazy day in New York City. Everyone sleeps in and then goes out for brunch. So, it makes sense that travel would be easy. But to be honest, I wouldn't know because I always sleep in on New Year's Day.

I think January 2nd falls on a Friday this year, so it may be that many travelers extend their New Year's vacations through Sunday. It's hard to say.

best dates for holiday travel

loml95 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:22:03 -0400

my husband and i are going to new york for the holidays and i booked our return on new years day, as i had heard it is a quieter day for travel. does anyone know better? i am considering extending for 1 day, and returning on jan 2 instead. all comments welcome....

Will air travel ever improve?

dbw — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:32:01 -0400

I can't say for sure if this is an improvement. Delta plans to introduce the "Cozy" seat in coach class. They can squeeze more people into the plane by staggering the seats in every row. While the plane is more packed, everyone gets a little bit more privacy. I like the concept, but I think it would prove difficult to get out of your seat if you're sitting on the aisle!

Good airports for a connection or layover

Lovely Victoria — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:28:29 -0400

DTW (only the Northwest terminal and not the other one) and PHL are good as well. PIT, for a smaller airport, is also very decent.

Good airports for a connection or layover

dbw — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:52:56 -0400

Not that anyone wants to spend time in an airport, but I highly recommend connecting through Charlotte Douglas International Airport if you ever have the opportunity. For an American airport is was really refreshing to see an airport with an excellent choice of foods (there's a great barbecue restaurant in the Atrium, btw), nice shops and a wine bar and a spa to boot. The airport wasn't overly crowded, and most important, it was very clean and well maintained. Made the trip much better than going through the typical American airport that I'm used to traveling through.

If you know of any other great airports, throughout the world, that are worth connecting through, please add it below!

Has anyone tried Clear?

bmh3557 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:17:30 -0500

I live in Cincinnati which is a Clear city. You do still have to take off your shoes but supposedly they are working to get new equipement approved by the TSA that would not require removal of shoes, coats, or computers... Not there yet ;^( However, when lines are long, this service is SOOOO worth it!!! After getting ID assessed and biometricly approved, they carry your luggage for you right to the front of the line. It makes traveling so much more convenient. At about $100/year, its worth it to me.

Has anyone tried Clear?

cibo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:22:00 -0500

I wonder if they make you remove your shoes when you use Clear. That's one of the things I hate most about airport security. With everyone removing their shoes and walking barefoot in the same place, that's got to be a health hazard of some kind. And yet, the TSA forces you to do it.

Anyone else notice that when you go through regular security in Paris they give you little foot baggies to protect your feet? I love that. Why can't they do that everywhere?

Has anyone tried Clear?

Charles M Rieders — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:06:52 -0500

As I live near Orlando I use Clear on all my outbound flights. Unfortunately, I have not been able to use it on inbounds. It's very fast and since members are precleared the inspection moves swiftly and smoothly. It's well worth the money!

Has anyone tried Clear?

shawfly — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:14:56 -0500

Every time I get stuck in line at security I always see those smug signs for Clear that promise to speed you through airport security if you pay their fees and submit to a background check. While I wouldn't mind the special treatment, I wonder if anyone who has tried it actually has anything good to say about it. Whether it's worth the fees and everything else that's associated with setting it up and maintaining it. If you have, I'm curious to know what you think of it.

Best/Worst lounges?

Herry Lawford — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:33:17 -0500

You've guessed it weigela! It would be the First Class CX lounge in Hong Kong. The main lounge area is full of comfortable sofas and laptop/computer points (but the old mice are excruciating), and the quiet library area and above all the restaurant - managed by the Peninsular Hotel - are first rate. I have been trying to copy the superlative dressing they serve there - involving red wine vinegar, cheese and yoghurt - for ages! Add in the bathing cabins and the running stream and you have a wonderful place to relax.

Best/Worst lounges?

weigela — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:57:03 -0500

I noticed that Herry had some photos of the Cathy Pacific lounge in the Flickr pool.

Herry, if you don't mind me asking, would it be your #1 pick?

Best/Worst lounges?

dd67 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:44:05 -0500

Forbes ran a story that outlined their Top 10 picks. They are:

1) Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong
2) Virgin Atlantic - San Francisco
3) British Airways - JFK Intl, New York
4) Singapore Airlines - Singapore
5) Continental - Reagan Intl, Washington DC
6) Swissair - Zurich
7) Star Alliance Lounge - Zurich
8) Lan Chile - Santiago
9) Malaysian Airlines - Kuala Lumpur
10) SAS - Copenhagen

Will air travel ever improve?

travelista — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:21:30 -0500

There's a new site called http://seatexpert.com which is sort of a clone of SeatGuru.com but with more detail.

SeatExpert has also been more accurate in some cases than SeatGuru. You should really check both sites whenever you book your seats.

Ordering dietary restricted food for the flavor

jensen — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:10:31 -0500

Honestly, this wouldn't be my first thought when ordering food on an airline, but I was reading this article and the tip at the bottom claims that in some hubs, such as London, the dietary restricted menu in coach can be better quality than first class.

http://elliott.org/the-travel-critic/5-things-airlines-wont-tell-you-about-their-food/

I always figured that the dietary restricted menu would be worse, but now I might give it a shot!

Best/Worst lounges?

dmdoyle — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:31:12 -0500

The BA lounge at LAX is notably terrible, but apparently will be better when they finish rebuilding.

As mentioned above the Qantas First Class lounge in Sydney is amazing. Seriously blows away any other lounge I have seen, including the much lauded Virgin Lounge at Heathrow. The food alone is worth the trip.

Will air travel ever improve?

dmdoyle — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:27:00 -0500

I recently (past 4 months) had the dubious pleasure of flying around the world a few times in various directions. Some observations:

American Airlines was reasonably decent for domestic first class between Hawaii and LA. Maybe my expectations were extra low but it was not bad.

Air France is a shocker, although they definitely had the largest lavatory by far. The food from LA to Paris was appalling. Ancient non-flat First Class seats as well.

British Airways LA to London had the nicest eyeshades, crowded fully flat seats in First Class, so-so food and decent service. They need to upgrade badly. Forgettable, which for modern air travel is often a bonus!

I had two completely different Air Canada experiences on the same Sydney to Honolulu route. One 767 had the newer sleeper seats while the other did not. Easy to figure out which was better! Food was acceptable, wine was not. Oldest flight attendants as well.

Emirates from Paris to Sydney via Dubai was OK and great. OK from Paris to Dubai, great from Dubai to Sydney. The big A340-500 is the way to travel, for sure. Only the food could be improved upon. The cabin is fabulous, particularly the "night sky" effect during sleeping periods.

Hawaiian from Sydney to Honolulu made you feel like you were in the land of Aloha, except for the lousy seats. Great French Toast for breakfast. Avoid unless you want to stay up for the entire 10 hour flight - if you do, it's pretty good actually.

And Qantas, which I fly every month somewhere, is very good, with excellent staff and the best food, but is in dire need of new planes. They were counting on those A380's and are just making due for now. Great amenities, though.

Bottom line: the long overdue next generation of airplanes should make things a lot better, although not as quickly in the US. Not one A380 is on order by a US airline, but 787's are.

Will air travel ever improve?

maxf — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:46:17 -0500

Been on British Airways Club World seats yet? Complicated, badly built, badly configured, and won't last long I suspect.
Singapore Airlines First Class seats are just that.
My current feeling is that all US-owned airlines should be avoided at the moment, as your experience with Delta supports. Don't get me started on American Airlines...

Will air travel ever improve?

grouse — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:16:11 -0500

Of course! Everyone knows Seatguru.

The problem is that the Delta website said I was on a 767. But, I had to call up two diferrent Delta representatives before they could tell me if the flight was a 767-300, 767-300ER, or a 767-400. Seatguru is just a seat map, it doesn't know what flight I'm on.

My point is that the airline websites need to do a better job of telling people what kind of seats will be on their plane. It's pretty ridiculous that everyone needs to go to seatguru to figure out what they're in for. If things were done right, there wouldn't be a need for Seatguru.

Seatguru doesn't -- and can't single-handedly -- improve air travel for everyone. On each plane there are, at most, half-a dozen seats in each class that are desirable. That's a big problem when there are hundreds of people on board. Seatguru is merely putting a microscope onto the problem. It's not a solution.

Best/Worst lounges?

brook — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:09:04 -0500

Silverjet have nice lounges at Luton and Newark. You actually check in at the lounge so you don't have to go through the whole airport queuing nightmare with everyone else. The Luton lounge is the nicer of the two. There's also one in Dubai which I haven't visited.

Will air travel ever improve?

brook — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:53:06 -0500

Do you know this site? It can help you pick the right seat on the right aircraft. Masses of information on types of seat, airlines, the planes they're flying etc.

http://www.seatguru.com/

Will air travel ever improve?

grouse — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:35:30 -0500

Last month I was in "first class" of a transatlantic flight on Delta that was way below my expectations. Granted I had purchased the flight with frequent flier miles, so I'll admit that Delta wasn't my first choice. But, if I had actually paid sticker price on my seat, I would have felt like I wasted my money.

I just don't see how they can get away with flying 767-300s with yester-year seat configurations. The seats were all beat-up and worn, and looked like the plane was once on a domestic route many years ago.

That really isn't right, and their website doesn't do a very good job of telling you what type of seats you're in for before you buy your ticket!

Why don't airlines realize that customers who are splurging for greater comfort will appreciate the investment in better seats and are more likely to be repeat customers?

Will air travel ever improve? Or is it bound to keep on getting worse and worse?

Best/Worst lounges?

theNavigator — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:25:48 -0500

Hands down the best IMHO is Cathay Pacific first class lounge at Hong Kong airport. A luxurious paradise offering privacy, service and relaxation.

As for the worst, well there are simply too many to mention. I think the Shanghai Pudong airport lounges are a disgrace.

Best/Worst lounges?

brook — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:40:58 -0500

My vote for worst lounge goes to British Airways in Lagos. Truly horrible. Though there's one good thing about it. If you're in the lounge it means you're alive. You have survived the trip to the airport.

Best/Worst lounges?

Jill — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:16:17 -0500

I like the Qantas First Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne. They have a proper spa and a full service restaurant.

Best/Worst lounges?

dmmack — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:49:40 -0500

The Emirates lounge in JFK is very nice- good food, spacious, great view of the airport runways. Its not the Virgin Heathrow lounge, but its nice.

In terms of other lounges I don't love, the Miami lounge for Virgin (which they share with a number of other airlines) is really subpar. small, awkward, not much food, and worst of all for me, its before security. I really dread Miami International.

Best/Worst lounges?

Elegant_Traveller — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:00:15 -0500

I suppose that any airport lounge would struggle to match the standards set by the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow, but oh my goodness, what's going on at Boston's Logan Terminal E? At times, I wondered if we'd have been more comfortably accommodated in the general departure area, where at least there were enough seats for everyone to sit down...

Airline with the best food in first or business class?

forager — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:07:01 -0500

Now THAT's a meal! Nice photo, Herry.

I think one of the more challenging aspects of normal airline food is that the meals are often made at least a day in advance from what I've heard. That translates to leftovers when all is said and done. But, a good first-class meal can be much more complex because the chefs on the ground will aim to have the food prepped just enough so that the final finishing touches can be done in the air.

Having a good presentation doesn't hurt either. I'd imagine that the salmon wouldn't have tasted as good if it were stuck in a cassarole dish with tinfoil on top!

Airline with the best food in first or business class?

Herry Lawford — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:09:31 -0500

You will be hard pressed to find a more delicious meal than First Class in Cathay where they serve caviar with all the trimmings plus the exquisite 'Baltik' Royal Fillet smoked salmon. I usually have two platefulls and go to sleep!

Airline with the best food in first or business class?

ReyRob — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:36:58 -0500

I fully support DonPablo, I fly quite a lot from Europe to the Americas and in general, no other airline, can match the quality of Air France's food and selection of beverages.