flight | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Jul

Would you pay to jump the queues at the airport? | ABC Melbourne Radio

Would you pay to jump the queues at the airport?

That was the question I tusselled with on ABC Melbourne Radio recently with host Charlie Pickering, the new host of the drive-time slot.

Our conversation came out of the news that Sydney Airport has launched its new Fast Track lanes – are they worth the money, or just another airport fundraiser? I have to say, they sound like the queue for those of us who can’t get out of Sydney fast enough. But Melbourne jokes aside…

Take a listen…

I admit that I am notorious for running hard to the wire with flights – so would a $20 fast-track make me arrive even later? Happy to learn that Charlie is in fact in the same boat, a serial last-minute kinda guy. Wait, I’m not saying I hold the plane up; I get there on time, but not for me hours spent hanging around airports, shelling out money on overpriced food that could better be spent at my destination.

We’ve dubbed the Fast Track ‘Business Lite’, for people who don’t want to queue, but can’t afford business class. So they get to feel a little bit elite, at just $20.

However, the real question is: isn’t this fast track at the wrong end of the journey? The queue-jump is available when you’re starting your journey; surely they’d be more useful at the other end, when you’re arriving home shattered after a 14-hour flight from the Middle East? Or imagine you’ve just jumped off a Project Sunrise flight, Qantas’ non-stop London to Sydney flights that have just seen the first planes roll into Melbourne from Toulouse just this week? Those flights are 22 hours long – please somebody, let me jump the queue so I’m not wrangling with the Smart Gates, running the gambit of the duty-free ladies flogging (not very) cheap gin and synthetic perfumes. Cannot. Get. Out. Of. There. Fast. Enough. $20? As the ad goes, shut up and take my money!

I spoke with Melbourne Airport before the interview; they have no intention of introducing Fast Track lanes from international departures, and to be fair, it’s extremely rare that I’ve been caught up in anything more than a 10-minute wait here. And you’re still at the mercy of the person in front of you as they cautiously unthread their belt, unlace their shoes, pull their laptop out, realise they’ve got a half-bottle of water which they’d like to drink…

Similarly at the other end, the great leveller, for everyone from the cheapest budget flight seats to First class, is customs. And in Melbourne, that can be horrific. Because I am – always – the woman who buys the elk sausage. The bag of spices. The biltong. The weird Japanese frozen strawberries… all have to be checked and declared.

Jump on to listen to me and Charlie on 774 MELBOURNE talking Smart Gates, queue jumping, children’s vomit and why customs queues are the great levellers between first and economy-class travel.

Who can use the Fast Track service in Sydney?
All passengers can buy and use the Fast Track service at Sydney Airport’s T1 departures, but it does not include priority security or border processing for departures or transfers.

What other countries have fast-track services?
Plenty of countries have fast track lanes in their airports, including the United Kingdom and Singapore. They are open to frequent flyers and other premium program members. However, many countries include fast-track lanes for free for families with young children, including the Scandinavian countries and most other European countries.

Does Melbourne Airport have Fast Track departures?
No, Melbourne Airport does not have a pay-as-you-go Fast Track lane in its international departures.

Jul

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

If you’ve ever tried to find a last-minute ticket to Japan from Australia in sakura (cherry blossom) season, read on. You’ll know direct flights sell out hotter than a plate of piping takoyaki balls, and when you do find a seat, you need to sell a body part to get your backside on that seat for the 10 1/2-hour flight.

Faced with this dilemma recently, and needing to buy two tickets, I took a circuitous route with Garuda Indonesia, the country’s flag carrier. Yes, the flight was longer. Yes, it had a three-hour layover in Jakarta (lovely airport) and back via Denpasar (for all the Bintang singlets, yogawear and seriously overpriced food – however the TUMI shop had some great bargains, if you’re browsing). But for this review for the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, I took away a few very interesting lessons…

Did you know that you can fly Australia-Tokyo, and break your stay in Indonesia, at no charge, for up to a month’s stay? That’s a two-destination holiday, Tokyo and Bali, for the price of one! And if you’ve been watching the travel stats, you’ll know that Japan has recently taken over Indonesia (specifically, Bali) as the most popular international holiday destination for Australians.

I need to point out that Garuda has won Skytrax‘ award for best cabin crew multiple times, which sort of surprised me, but then in the flight, I found the service to absolutely live up to the award, on and off the plane. At one point, my travel companion left a small toiletries bag in her seat when we arrived in Jakarta. We reported it to customer service, who told us to take a seat, and in about 20 minutes, they’d run back to the flight, found the bag and returned it to us with a flourish and lots of smiles.

Also, they made a point of telling me that if you book a ticket with multiple guests on it, you automatically get seated together on the flight. I mean, people, this should not be so shocking, but having been split from my (then) five-year-old child on an international flight, and frequently flying with the (now much larger) child, it is a constant stress for many parents, who are thus forced to pay for seat allocations on top of their air fares. So, hats off to Garuda for maintaining what should be (and used to be) a basic service for passengers.

And final takeaway, the beef rendang served in flight is delicious – in economy. If you are an omnivore, you can’t go wrong with this meal choice.

For the basics: I flew Melbourne (MEL) to Jakarta (CGK) on Flight GA717.

The MEL-CGK flight runs four times weekly on an Airbus A330-300. Don’t expect glamour: it’s teal and chocolate. Need I say more? Ok, I will – the usb chargers are stupefyingly slow (as is the case on many airlines) and the sound didn’t work on the flight of one of my legs (I just plugged into the vacant seat beside me).

I flew Economy, and I’m a window-seat girl, sitting in seat 28A. The flight time is 7 hours 35 minutes from Melbourne to Jakarta, and about the same again on to Tokyo. And yay, I got three seats to myself so I slept all the way from Jakarta to Tokyo, arriving at 6am as fresh as an economy-class flight can ever leave you. It doesn’t beat a direct flight, but sometimes, needs must.

Flight review of Garuda Indonesia by Belinda Jackson

To read the full review, click here.

Disclaimer: my flight was not hosted by Garuda, but was paid for by Cruise Traveller. I paid for my daughter’s seat.

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

Sep

Airline review: Madrid to Cairo with Egyptair

Recently, I completed an epic trek from Cusco, near Macchu Pichu in Peru, to Cairo, Egypt.

Let me tell you, it took some serious, late-night internet hunting! I could have travelled via Sao Paulo, (Brazil) then across to Casablanca (Morocco) and on to Egypt, or from Sao Paulo via a 12-hour layover in Addas Ababa (Ethiopia) and on to Cairo. In the end, the best connections were flying from Lima (Peru) up to Madrid (with three hours cooling my heels in a secondary airport in Ecuador) with LATAM and from Madrid on to Cairo with Egyptair.

This is my review of the Egyptair flight – I’ve flown many times domestically and internationally with the national carrier – on the Madrid-Cairo route, a direct flight of 4 hours 40 minutes.

I’m going to paste my favourite para here, about the food on board:

Chicken or the beef? The beef arrives cubed in a sauce with spiral pasta, and is surprisingly comforting. It’s accompanied by a dried, tired salad, crackers, chocolate cake, a wholemeal dinner role, butter and a triangle of La vache qui rit (The Laughing Cow, incidentally, is the nickname of Egypt’s deposed military dictator, Hosny Mubarak).

Because you needed to know that last fact : )

Published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age‘s Traveller section, you can read my full review of Egyptair’s service here.

Jun

3 of the best: Inflight gear

State of Escape totes.

Some people fill their carry-on luggage with ginormous headphones (I’m more of an earbud person, myself). For others, it’s bags of snacks (handy if you’re doing it lean, and on a low-cost carrier). I find that between a camera, laptop and big scarf, the corners of my inflight bag are filled with face spritzers.

I mean, my spritzer obsession really has gotten out of hand.

But I do love a pick-me-up of lemongrass, especially when that person behind me whips off their hot shoes to reveal socks that can stand up by themselves, or when the fug of reheated food just won’t leave the cabin.

Here, I’ve rounded up three more inflight essentials, including the latest colourways in the top tote from State of Escape (pictured), some damned fine eye patches by US cosmeceutical company Nerium and a truly fantastic salve from those clever Kiwis, Antipodes.

Click here for my feature in the first issue of the relaunched Essentials magazine, which has just gone national, around Australia.

Follow

Would you pay to jump the queues at the airport? | ABC Melbourne Radio

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

Airline review: Madrid to Cairo with Egyptair

3 of the best: Inflight gear