Flights: FD 3524 and FD 3525

Fare Paid:  12,440 Thai Baht for four passengers (USD 385) for round trip, including taxes and fees.

I am not sure what makes the difference, but I fly on some no-frills airlines and I am perfectly happy.  I fly on others and I wind up feeling irritated.  For example, I have flown on Southwest a number of times and I have no complaints whatsoever.  Yet I feel irked when I hear about airlines like Spirit and Ryan Air (I have never flown on either of them).  The now shabby service on United’s aging fleet  is equally annoying.  I mourn the loss of British Airways as one of the few airlines that belonged to that elite group that people looked forward to flying on.

The difference is possibly one of attitude.  Southwest attendants are consistently jolly.  They seem to be very concerned about getting you to your destination on time in a way that is pleasant as possible.  And their executives refrain from making mean spirited statements to justify the very basic services and the extra charges.

In a recent statement aimed to justify charging passengers to bring on carry-on bags, the chief executive of Spirit Airlines said, “Nobody brings their package to FedEx or U.P.S. and expects them to ship it for free.”  What an attitude!  And how much kinder it would have sounded to say that the airline, faced with increased fuel prices and other pressures, was forced to seek ways of saving money.  ”We really don’t want to do this to you, but these fees are needed for us to keep flying.”  I might have sympathized.

Approaching Singapore on Air Asia Flight FD 3524

Enough of that!  Air Asia delighted all four of us on a recent trip from Phuket (HKT) to Singapore (SIN).  The Airbus 320 was new, spotlessly clean, and we were greeted by a smiling, friendly Thai crew.  And the fare was only about 12,440 Baht (about 385 USD including tax and airport fees) for the round trip for all four of us.

We had a small delay on FD 3525, the flight back from Singapore to Phuket, but otherwise things seemed perfect for this short flight.  We made absolutely sure that our bags were consistent with the limits for carry-on baggage so that we didn’t have to pay any extra for the bags.  I understand that Air Asia is really strict about baggage and they stick rigidly to the rules.

Check in was easy, simple, and courteous.  Like many other no-frills carriers, Air Asia charges extra if you want to pick your seat on line.  (So does British Airways!)  We didn’t bother with that and had no trouble finding pleasant (leather!) seats on the plane that was half empty.

Click here to see their prices for check-in baggage. (Note that it is much cheaper if you pay in advance rather than at the airport.)

Approaching Phuket on Air Asia FD 3525

Although they offered basic food for a fee, we didn’t have any.  They don’t serve alcohol.  Air Asia is another of the world’s dry airlines.

Air Asia won the Skytrax award for the second year running for being the world’s top low cost carrier.  After this very pleasant experience, I can understand why!

We bought the ticket directly from the Air Asia website.  Competitors included Tiger Air (comparable pricing), Silk Air, and Thai Airlines, which were a lot more expensive.

This turned out to be a pretty awful flight, though.  It was absolutely full, and I volunteered to give up my seat, but unfortunately the no-shows allowed the plane to leave without a single empty seat and nobody was able to take a bump.  Since it was such a full flight and I am now in the ignominious position of holding a just a blue card on United, I was given one of the punishment seats — 41J on the Boeing 777.  All my attempts to engineer a seat change failed!

I have been in punishment seats before, but I think this is the worst.  First, it is in the back of the plane at the point, and it at the point where the fuselage becomes narrower.  So they put the seats in a 2-4-2 configuration rather than 2-5-2 as in the rest of the economy section of the plane.  (For the uninitiated, this simply means SEAT-SEAT-AISLE-SEAT-SEAT-SEAT-SEAT-AISLE-SEAT-SEAT).

41J is the third seat across in the middle section so you need to ask your neighbor to move if you need to get up for any reason.  With four seats in your row and five seats in the row in front of you,  your seat isn’t aligned to a screen in front of you making it almost impossible to enjoy a movie.  The seats are a little narrower than in the rest of the economy section because they can’t put a tray in the seat in front of you so they have to put the tables in the arm rests.

I continue to refuse to pay extra for “Economy Plus” on United, but I strongly recommend that readers avoid traveling in this row.  Consult SeatGuru.com for advice on seating!

Food was predictable — fairly juicy breast of chicken; a nasty salad; and a dessert that most people left.  Flights out of London do offer butter rather than the strange spread that you get on flights originating out of Washington.  Drinks were offered at $6.00 each, and the wine was the rather poor Redwood Creek.

A strange snack appears about two hours before landing — a sandwich (not nice), a bag of crisps (chips), and a Twix.

The flight left on time and arrived a little early.  I’ll continue to use this flight to get my Star Alliance points, but this was one of the most unpleasant transatlantic flights I have had in a long time.

I resent United behaving like a low cost carrier particularly as this flight cost $1250 for the round trip.

Just after take-off, every passenger is given a complementary pack, which includes a draw-string bag, sleeping socks, and eye mask, a toothbrush, a small tube of toothpaste and a pen. Headphones are also handed out. There is a small screen on the back of every seat, which shows the current location of the plane and how it is progressing.

Later in the flight, a choice of movies, TV programmes, games and radio stations become available too. The choice of films was not very large, but it was a nice and very up to date selection.

About an hour after take-off, food and drinks were brought round. The choices for the meal were: chicken curry, roast chicken, or vegetable curry. Each main dish came with a starter of minted cous cous salad which was pretty dull- there was too much mint and little of anything else of flavour. Salad, I believe, was a hightly inapporopriate term for something in which the only vegetation was the mint and a very small amount of peppers. The chicken curry I chose ‘Kori Gashi’ was neither particularly bad nor particularly good. The daal that came with it, however, seemed to rely on being too hot, to mask a lack of any other taste. The paratha was too thick and slightly confusing- an incomprehensible combination of too oily yet too dry. To finish the meal, there was ‘Cococnut Prini’, a fairly non-descript, strangely textured, vaguely coconut-ty, overly sweet, jellyish mush.

Drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, were provided on demand and without limit throughout the flight. Breakfast was served at about an hour and a half beofre the scheduled landing time. The two choices were English breakfast or vegetarian Indian breakfast. The English breakfast that I had consisted of reasonable scambled eggs, a couple of nice little hash browns, and a not very pleasant meat patty with tomato sauce.

About half an hour before the scheduled landing time, we were informed that the airspace over Delhi was overcrowded which meant it was necessary to wait for it to clear before we could land. However, due to the plane not having enough fuel to wait until the airspace was clear, we had to take a diversion of abour 400 miles each way to Ahmadabad, to refuel. We were kept up to date with what the situation was throughout the delay, and countless apologies were given both by the captain and by the hotesses. In the end, we arrived at Delhi about 3 hours late, but after a pretty comfortable, fairly pleasant flight.

I have miles in accounts with United, British Airways and Continental.  This article is focused mostly on United, but the principles apply to pretty much all frequent flier plans.

There are a number of options.  Here are a few:

• Rent a car. You may not get many miles, but at least you will create a transaction in your account.  Weekend car rentals can be really cheap too.
• Get a Visa card that is affiliated with an airline, and use it every month.  This eliminates the problem altogether since you can make sure that you purchase something every month.
• Stay in a hotel. Hilton gives you points in their HHONORS plan and also puts miles into your account.
• Buy some miles. This is a last resort option as airlines charge a lot of money when they sell you miles.
• Donate some miles. Although this forces you to give up a few miles, it costs you nothing, and donating 1,000 miles is a much better option than allowing several thousand to expire.  Almost every airline allows you to donate miles to a charity of your choice — and this triggers a transaction in your account giving you another 18 months.
• Take a trip. Earn some miles in the program that is about to expire.
• Spend your miles. Miles don’t collect interest, and, as the airlines make economies, it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to spend your miles.  So don’t let miles hang about in your account.  Book a trip as soon as you have enough to do something nice.

If you follow one of these tips, you can be sure that the miles you have accumulated never expire.

This might be in response to an initiative by six Democratic senators who have been talking about legislation that will  designate carry-on luggage as a necessity for travelers and have even considered taxing revenue generated by these charges.

But it might also be a recognition that we have found that this trend towards “unbundling” fares has reached a limit.  These extra charges are simply a way of raising fares, and travelers are weary of it.

I know I will continue to favor airlines that include baggage in the price of the ticket, and, of all the American domestic carriers, Southwest is the best airline in this regard.

In reality, unbundling has become a euphemism for a miserable product line and bad service.  But there are still some airlines that want to attract your attention with a wonderful experience rather than simply rock bottom prices.  These are the five-star airlines.

SKYTRAX provides a website that monitors airline and airport quality as well as offering a forum for passengers to post reviews.  I often use it and find it really useful particularly when I’m flying on an airline for the first time, and I want to know what to expect.

The very top airlines earn five stars, and only six airlines are considered to have attained the five star level of quality:

• Asiana Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Kingfisher
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines

I have flown in First Class and Business Class on Singapore Airlines, but never in Economy.  In both classes, the seats, the service, the food, the wine, and the in-flight entertainment systems are outstanding.  I especially like being offered a choice of Krug or Dom Pérignon in First class, and I also like the book-the-cook option for both First and Business Class, which allows you to select your meal before you ever leave the ground.  Click here for details.

I have flown on two legs of the same trip (Phuket to Seoul and Seoul to Beijing) on Asiana in Economy.  It was fine, but it did not really show the hallmark of a five-star airline although this may have been because I was flying relatively short distances at night.

There are two airlines that I believe come very close to the five-star standard.

The first is ANA.  Last summer, I flew from Washington to Tokyo and onwards to Bangkok on ANA All Nippon Airways in Economy.  I have never been so courteously and graciously treated in Economy.  When I described my pleasure to a flight attendant, a few minutes later, the head flight attendant came to our seats with lovely gifts for both my daughter and me.  This is, by far, the best experience in Economy I have ever had.

The other is Lufthansa.  I have flown in all classes and I find them to be excellent in every respect.

For the airlines, desperate to turn the corner of profitability, this means a lot of revenue.  For example, in 2007, US carriers collected $464 million for checked bags, and almost $2 billion in just the first nine months of last year.  In short, this cash-strapped industry is now dependent on this revenue, and we can hardly expect these charges to go away as the economy gets better.  Nor can we expect American legacy carriers to position themselves as “premium” players that are above these petty charges.  United can hardly suggest that it is a player in the same category as Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific as it moves closer and closer to a Ryanair style of travel!

We’ll see more and more carriers repositioning themselves as competitors in the cut-throat low cost carrier sectors.  Traditional European flag carriers seem to be going the same way with AerLingus, Iberia, and Alitalia firmly committed to the unbundled business model, and British Airways making every indication that it is about to follow.  This is a little sad for British Airways customers who became used to feeling that their European vacations had begun as they stepped on to a British Airways flight and were greeted with nice drinks and good food.  (Does anyone remember the smoked salmon, clotted cream, and afternoon tea even in Economy?)

I have always worried that these baggage charges lead to people putting as much as they possibly can into their hand luggage — resulting in a chaotic frenzy to park wheelies as the passengers settle themselves on the plane.  Spirit Airlines seems to have found a solution!  Not only are they unbundling checked-in baggage, but they are also charging for carry-on bags.

For any bag, other than small items like purses and laptop bags, or “baggage that will not fit in the under seat space,”  there is now a charge of up to $45.  Click here to see details of Spirit Airways new policy.

Ryanair has taken unbundling another step forward with their determination to remove as many toilets as possible from their planes.  And if you want to “spend a penny,” you’ll have to spend a pound ($1.50) to get into the remaining toilets!

As for passengers, there is probably nothing we can do except endure this.  But airlines should be required to reveal the real cost of flying when all the extras are added together.  And I will vote with my wallet and fly on Southwest, one of the few American carriers that still allows you to carry on two bags for free.

Indeed, Southwest is now advertising the difference!  If you consider the fees for baggage, Southwest may save you as much as $120 for a round trip when you consider that two checked bags are included in the price of your ticket.  Click here to see Southwest’s advertisement.

Also, the last time I flew on United last August from Beijing to Washington, was awful with a late and dirty plane staffed by attendants who frowned as they gave you “meals” of dried noodles that they hydrated by walking around with jugs of hot water.  (I will try to get round to putting up a report of that flight at some stage.)

Anyway, I managed to get seated in Seat 30J, which is, as far as I am concerned, one of the best seats in the steerage section of United’s Boeing 777.  United organizes its Economy seats in a 2-5-2 configuration, which sounds awful, but it always seems to work out.  I always dread the idea of being stuck in seat E — right in the middle with two strangers on my right and two on my left, but this never seems to happen.  Seat 30J is an Exit Row window seat, which gives you lots of extra leg room.  Your television and tray are stowed in the arm rest, which makes it impossible to move the arm rest, but that is only a minor disadvantage.  30J is the window seat.

I am looking forward to new planes on this route as I find that United’s 777 are beginning to look tired and dated.

Redwood Creek on UA 925 from London to Washington on February 21, 2009

Shortly after take off, the flight attendants came round with the drinks trolley.  I asked for a sparkling wine, but I got a look that seemed to demand who and where do you think you are!  (I recently enjoyed a very nice sparkling wine in Economy for free on a Lufthansa flight.  Click here to see that report.)  Part of my reasoning was that since they now charge for wine, they might view this as a sales opportunity.  Instead, there was a narrow range of wine options, and I settled for a wine Chardonnay from Redwood Creek, a medium bodied forgettable wine from California that retails for between $6.00 and $9.00 for a full bottle in the United States.  I paid $6.00 for the quarter bottle with no extra charge for the scowl, the plastic glass, and the pretzels that came with it.  (Fortunately, I had my traveling Riedel glass handy as I really hate to drink wine out of plastic!)  Note that cash is no longer an acceptable form of paying for drinks on United!

Meal on United 925 Economy

Lunch was quite acceptable.  Salad, surprisingly juicy chicken, but a practically inedible dessert.  A pretty horrid snack was served shortly before we landed.  Are those plastic knives and forks really necessary?

The flight arrived pretty much on schedule at Dulles.  Although I complained earlier about the scowl that accompanied the drink service, I was most impressed by a very friendly flight attendant when I exited.  I asked him for a First Class wine list.  Not only did he give me the lists for First Class and Business Class, but he also gave me First and Business Class amenity kits.  How very kind and friendly!  I have always been impressed by United’s cabin crews and suspect that the scowls I have seen recently are not the usual pattern.

Arrival was smooth and easy with the minor annoyance of being herded into the mobile lounges at Dulles airport to take you to immigration and customs.

To conclude, I take this flight because I like the schedule and I appreciate getting Mileage Plus miles.  But I find that United has now has all the attributes of a low cost carrier except for the low cost!  No frills, no thrills, and a $680 fare in February!

But what did they drink in First Class?

Here is the list:

Champagne

“D” de Devaux Brut, Champagne, Veuve Devaux

Monthly Proposal

2005 Terraced Shiraz-Petit Verdot Gran Reserva, Luis Felipe Edwards, Chile

White Wine

2007 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Erstes Gewächs, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Germany

2007 Alexander Valley, Chardonnay, Alexander Valley Vineyards, USA

2008 Ihringer Winklerberg Weißburgunder Spätlese trocken, Winzergenossenschaft Ihringen, Germany

Red Wine

2006 Eclissi di Sole, Rubicone IGT, San Valentino, Italy

2002 Chateau Belgrave, Haut Medoc, France

Dessert Wine

2008  Pfalz Chardonnay Eiswein, Adreas Bender, Germany

Monthly Proposal

Niepoort 10 Years Old White Port, Portugal

There is also a very long list of other drinks including Jack Daniels Old No. 7, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Bushmills 10-year old malt, Lheraud Cuve 30 Cognac.

My comments:

My first reaction to this was the fact that I have tasted only two of these wines, the Alexander Valley Chardonnay and the Chateau Belgrave.  The way Lufthansa puts its lists together seems to suggest a very different philosophy from other leading airlines.  For example, on Singapore Airlines, they offer leading brand names that are easily recognizable.  Last time, a regrettably long time ago, I flew Singapore Airlines in First class, I drank Cos d’Estournel, Krug, and Dom Perignon!  (Click here to see how I contrasted Lufthansa’s First Class with Singapore Airlines.)

Lufthansa, on the other hand tends to go for rather obscure wines, that are much less expensive but very interesting nevertheless.

If I were faced with Lufthansa’s list, I would definitely have had the Champagne.  I love to have Champagne when I fly.  Then I probably would have gone for Riesling.  I’ve never had this particular wine before, but I love Riesling, and I have heard good things about Kaseler.  I would definitely skip the Alexander Valley Vineyards even though I like that wine very much because it can e found almost anywhere.  Too close to what I might buy at our local liquor store in Maryland.

For my red wine, I would have had the Belgrave.  Belgrave is an Haut Médoc, classified as a fifth growth in the 1955 classification.  Like most red wines in the Médoc, the dominant grape is Cabernet Sauvignon representing 50% of Belgrave’s plantings.  The other grapes used are Merlot (42%), Cabernet Franc (5%), and  Petit Verdot (3%).  The grapes are hand harvested and vinification takes place in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks.  Some of the wine is left on the lees to preserve the aromas, and it is then matured in oak for 12 to 15 months.  Belgrave makes about 255,000 bottles a year, and there is a second label, Diane de Belgrave, which accounts for an additional 105,000 bottles.  The 2002 was noted as a very concentrated wine with a distinctive Cabernet taste and complex aromas of dark fruit.  Not an expensive wine, but interesting.

I simply love dessert wines.  I imagine that the Pfalz Chardonnay would be extremely interesting.  Eiswein in Germany is made by harvesting the grapes only after the temperature has dropped below minus 7 degrees centigrade.  Although I have frequently had Icewine from Canada, I have much less experience with German Eiswein.  It is also interesting that they are service a Chardonnay-based Eiswein as this is much less common than Riesling for this type of wine.

I have flown Lufthansa a number of times over the years, and I believe that this was actually the first time I have ever flown in long-haul Economy on this airline!  Click here to see the report of the last time I was on this very flight in Business Class.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 at Frankfurt Airport

The plane was a Boeing 747-400.  I am not sure how old it was, but I was surprised to notice that the film was shown on an old-fashioned screen in the center of the plane.  I was in a bulkhead seat, and there was an empty seat between me and another passenger in the window seat.  Quite comfortable although I did get the sense that we were flying on a very old piece of equipment!

I think I was already tired when I boarded this flight!  This was the first day that flights were open after the huge snow storm, and I wondered whether I would leave at all.

My usual strategy for making my way to Washnigton Dulles is to rent a car the day before in this area, usually at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), and then I return the car at the airport in Washington the next day.  This is usually the cheapest way — particularly on weekends — and you can leave when you like!  But the Budget rental car location was closed, and, in the end I used Columbia Airport Shuttle, which worked out just fine.

Lufthansa’s flight (LH 419) leaves at 5:40.  So, under normal circumstance, I would have left the house at about 1:40.  This would safely get me to IAD by 2:40, three hours before my departure time.  (I am not one of those travelers who likes to arrive at the last minute!)  But February 11th 2010 was not a normal day.  Most of the local roads near where we live were still covered with snow, and I thought extra time was a good idea.  So I ordered my shuttle for 12:15.  And, as usual Columbia Airport Shuttle arrived on time.

I was expecting Dulles airport to be very overcrowded, and in the line waiting to check in, I chatted with other travelers.  One person was very frustrated.  This was her third attempt to get back home to her native Croatia, via Vienna on Austrian Airlines.  What I was really thinking about was the possibility of being bumped!  After all, this was Thursday, and there had been no flights on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Unfortunately, there seemed to be plenty of room on the plane.

Checking in was quick, efficient, and I was especially impressed by the fact that they offered soft drinks and snacks at the check in counter.

As expected, the plane was delayed and departure was rescheduled for 8:00 pm because the plane was late coming in from Frankfurt.  This, of course, was completely expected, and the news was announced in a timely way causing me no distress whatsoever.  I am often baffled when I watch people on the news on television weeping because their planes are late!  The joy of traveling is something to do with dealing cheerfully with the unexpected!

When we finally boarded, getting on the plane was quick and efficient, and the friendly flight attendant were helping all the passengers to put their bags in the overhead locker.

Flight 419 from Washington to Frankfurt on 11 February, 2010

Not long after take off, the attendants served drinks.  (Alcoholic drinks are free on Lufthansa.)  I had a scotch whisky and soda before dinner, and a very pleasant Riesling-based sparkling wine with my dinner.

Economy class dinner on Lufthana LH 419 on February 11, 2010

I did not have high expectations for the dinner, but it was actually rather tasty.  There was a nice appetizer course (top left of picture) consisting of large shrimps served over a bed of salad.  The main course was chicken served over a mixture of mashed potatoes and scallions with green beans.  The pudding looked dreadful, but it was actually very good — chocolate mousse with a fresh strawberry on the side.  The only minor complaint was the rubbery dyed cheese and the very artificial tasting “Naturally fresh” salad dressing.

Then it was resting time.  Before landing in Frankfurt, we were served a forgettable light breakfast with surprisingly good coffee.

Frankfurt Airport was suffering from delays too because of snow.  We were put in a holding pattern and eventually landed several hours later than the scheduled time.  I was delighted to fly at all on this very difficult day, and the Lufthansa crew provided us with excellent service.