Comparison of Business Class Travel

OK, before we start, I'm grateful to be traveling business class and not economy. These notes are meant to convey my own personal experience traveling with different airlines and give feedback on the best of the best. Overall my experience of business class travel is very positive. Maybe some other time I'll contrast business and economy class which is a whole different story (guessing JAL will be top of the list in both categories actually, but I'm ahead of myself as usual).

OK, here is my own person run down from best to good (can't say worst as the others are all good).

1. JAL - OK, so I'm on one of their planes typing this blog now so that may be influencing me, but I'm bowled over by their awesome customer service. The air stewardess (non PC but I forget the PC name so slap me), was very apologetic for not having the particular veggie/fish meal I wanted and made efforts to combine the meals to make sure I had something to eat. In addition, their video entertainment system has a better user interface, better screen and overall better experience than any other carrier I've flown. Japanese customer service plus Japanese Tech = ++++ experience! Well done JAL, I'm sold. As an aside, I also travelled with JAL in economy last year and their customer service was awesome - akin to what I'd expect in business class (without the leg room though!)
2. Qantas - it has been a while since I traveled to Oz on a Qantas flight but their customer service for business class is awesome (yes sir). The seats are very comfy and conducive to sleep, relaxation or just to watch a nice movie. Now don't ask me about economy class as it's odd to see that a country that regards itself as "classless" treats the folks in the cheap seats a little less than average, but I must say their cheap seats do still have a good entertainment system.
3. Dragon Air - this is an Asian airline based in Hong Kong and affiliated with Cathay Pacific. As such they may be classified as more of a "budget" airline but I have to say my own experience was far from budget! Their entertainment system has an awesome widescreen and their customer service was pretty good. The flight attendant (ah, now I remember the PC name!) was a little put off by me asking if I could have a non-meat meal when I hadn't pre-ordered a vegetarian meal but she wasn't rude at all and we figured something out (maybe I've become one of those difficult "high maintenance" people that I hate. Heck, I hope not - switching to vegetarian food is trickier than I thought).
4. American Airlines - pretty decent service and good staff but their entertainment system is starting to look old with a little screen. I had to wear my glasses to watch the movies. Sorry, that's picky but for Dragon Air and JAL the screen was bigger/closer to me so I didn't need to worry about that. Also, on the flight from Dallas to Narita, the video quality was sub-par. OK to watch but when you pay extortionate fees for business class you expect better.
5. British Airways - it has been a while, but my memory of the BA flight in business class is that the customer service was OK but that their seats were a little funky and I found it difficult to sleep. Sorry BA if my memory is failing me, but my mental list has you just below AA. Still good, and I'm not complaining, but some way to go to catch up with your Asian and Aussie colleagues.

OK, that's my totally biased opinion on business class travel. If I have a choice, the Asian airlines definitely have an edge. I've heard very good things about Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific but I've not had the pleasure of flying with them. Maybe next time?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Movies on a plane

Spending hours traveling on a plane is not really my idea of fun. The one plus to the long distance flights with modern entertainment systems is the chance to catch up on all the movies I've missed. Surprisingly on my flights to/from Asia this month the blockbuster fantasy and sci-fi movies that I usually enjoy were a bit disappointing whereas a couple of movies that are outside my clichéd mainstay of movies were actually very good. OK, I also enjoyed the one animated movie I watched too, just don't tell anyone (if only Noah were still 6 and I could claim I was just watching them with him)!

Here Is my rundown of the movies I watched, my marks out of 10 and brief comments:

1. Safety not guaranteed - 10+/10. OK, if you read the description of the movie it sounds like a sci-fi, but it is most definitely not science fiction. It's about quirky people in the NW of the US interacting with each other. It's funny, quirky and a bit of a love story thrown in. Not my usual thing but I do love original movies done well and this is just that. This should win awards but I'm guessing it won't because it's too good. I recognize a couple of the actors but ask me to name them. I highly recommend to everyone.
2. Safe house - 9/10. If I have to pick a favorite actor it would probably be Denzel Washington. He is awesome in this very original spy movie. The supporting cast are very good too. In some ways this is a formulaic spy movie but with a couple of twists and strong and convincing acting. Definitely worth a watch especially if you like the Bourne series (which I do).
3. Brave - 8/10. OK it's an animated movie for kids but, hey, it's done well, the story is good and the characters funny throughout. There's enough "mush" to tug the heart strings but not too much that it degenerates into a soppy pile. Worth watching. Oh, the animation is impressive too if that's your thing.
4. Prometheus - 5/10. Very disappointed. Alien 1 was good and suspenseful. Alien 2 was even better. Alien 3 was crap. Alien 4 was OK. As a prequel, Prometheus promised a lot but delivered little. Now I think about it, 5/10 is generous. I put it in the same camp as Alien 3. Sorry. The acting was very good. The special effects excellent. But the story was awful and unbelievable. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for fantasy and sci-fi but somehow the story has to me credible. At college I recall someone saying that in fiction we have to "suspend our disbelief" but if the writer is bad then they can lose us and end up with a bad book or film. The whole scene with the lead character cutting an alien out of her own body was complete and utter... to be polite I'll just say "crap." Sorry, they totally lost me at that point. My disbelief was off the scale and the plot was lost. The other elements of the film were OK if a bit tenuous. Not one I'd want to watch again.... maybe 3/10 is closer to the mark. I'll watch Alien vs Predator instead.
5. Snow White and the Huntsman - 4/10. My wife loved this movie though I guess it's because of a certain lead character wielding an axe instead of a hammer. The acting and effects were good but, again, the story was a bit lacking. Ah well.

 

Posted with Blogsy