Category: Travel
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It seems that Hong Kong is soon to have a new budget airline, called Oasis [via salty water]. I am not sure that "budget airline" actually means anything very much in Asia, because each company seems to have its own business model, none of which are quite the same as the well-established US and UK…
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A promotional brochure arrives from a certain credit card company, offering a trip to London for some dollars and some credit card points. It’s described as a “5 days / 2 nights London package”. Er, hang on. 5 days? I’d call it 3 days (and even that is a touch optimistic). The first “day” is…
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I have to admit that I am fascinated by maps – well, some maps. So from Metafilter via Shaky, some interesting London public transport maps. Firstly, a geographically accurate London Underground map (rather than the classic Harry Beck diagram with straight lines), and secondly, (Mayor of London) Ken Livingstone’s ambitious plans for a much bigger network of underground, overground, light rail and trams by 2016, though unfortunately most of…
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The Economist frequently has light-hearted leaders. This week their subject is the large number of frequent flyer miles that are outstanding, and they claim (somewhat mischeviously) that they have replaced the dollar as the world’s main currency. Shaky mentioned this a few days ago (based on a report in The Guardian). This sounds absurd, and…
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The first in what may turn out to be a series about the world’s biggest weasels. This week – car rental companies. It shouldn’t be so hard, should it? You make a booking (by phone or over the Internet), you turn up at the appointed time, they take your credit card details, check your driving…
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According to Time magazine, the budget airline business in Asia is fairly cut-throat: Udom Tantiprasongchai, chief executive of Orient Thai Airlines routinely employs a team in his office to go on the Internet and buy up as many of the cheapest tickets on AirAsia flights as they can get, often spending more than $3,500 a…
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Funny thing Frequent Flyer programs. I think I have miles in three or four different programs – I have a large number of miles in one program, a few in another one and some more that are about to expire in a third. Should I pay a fee to keep my miles alive for another…
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Each country has its own rules governing how long foreign nationals can stay and whether they can work. However, as far as I am aware, normally the difficult part is getting a visa in the first place, and once it has been granted you can stay at least as long as your contract of employment…
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This week I received a letter from one airline telling me that they will be renewing my membership of their frequent flyer program and simultaneously discovered that my membership of another program has been downgraded from silver to ordinary. The first airline is one I have used twice, first for a return (short-haul) flight in…
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Some people always fly business class, others never do. Personally, I sometimes manage to fly business class, but I can never quite convince myself that it’s really worth the extra money. I have yet to be blessed with an employer who felt that I was (consistently) entitled to this benefit, so I mainly have to rely on upgrades…
Ordinary Gweilo 