Yarmouth International Airport

As I was looking at my  life insurance quotes , there had been talk about a new air service in Yarmouth for a few weeks now - and apparently - it will be up and running real soon  - in fact in March.  I’ve written a few weeks ago about Starlink Aviation pulling out of Yarmouth because of funding being utilized to the max which was supposedly for 5 yrs period from the government. I wonder for the people of Yarmouth - how this new air service will work out for them - since it is only going to land in Maine and Yarmouth and not in Halifax?  A 8 seater plan was so secretly kept till last week - wonder whats all the secrecy about ? but as the people of Yarmouth loves to say  - ” THIS IS YARMOUTH! “   Good luck to the ppl of Yarmouth and the air service .. i hope things panned out better for both.

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Cuba Here I Come !

Cuba here i come at the end of March !  i refused to go during the March break because it is so expensive !  and very crowded too in Cuba - just about anyone i know from my small town is in Cuba suntanning and making a fool of themselves.  But did you know that WestJet has a sale on for it’s flight as well as 7 nights for as little as $999 - so I’m taking advantage of it .. and packing my best wrinkle cream for this trip.

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Barcelona Airport

I’ve written many a times about Spain but rarely write about Barcelona Airport - I’ve many happy memories in Spain, especially Barcelona - for there I met a wonderful couple that I had lost touch with and missed a boss and his wife who had settled in a small island in Barcelona after they retired.  I even remembered about the natural colon cleanser that was introduced to me at the Duty Free Store at this very airport - it was rather funny because I was with my Managing Director taking a shuttle to Madrid - you see - Barcelona was where our factory was.

Don’t forget to check out the taxis at the airport entrance the yellow and dark blue cars all lined up and steadily waiting for the arrivals of the airplanes.  The airport was huge but clean and many DFS for you to pick up your last minute gifts.

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Narita Airport

If you are at the Narita Airport and looking for some noodles at the noodle bars, just so you know that the noodle bar is currently being refurbished.  But don’t worry you can still head up to the ANA lounge for some other food.  So armed with my equestrian apparel i propped myself in the lounge chair and  enjoyed a beer on them.

For those who are not aware of this, there are three ANA Lounges at Narita Airport.  One is right after the security checkpoint while the other two are at the end of the airport with one being ANA Lounge First and the other ANA Lounge.  ANA Lounge First are restricted to Star Alliance Gold members flying First class while the other lounge are for Star Alliance Gold.

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Traveling First Class

Traveling so much for work, you would think that a cross country moving wouldn’t defeat me but as i waited in the airport from Hong Kong back home a good 18 hours flight with transit in Alaska, i cannot but thank my lucky star taht I’m traveling first class and in one of the best airline - Singapore Airlines.  Known for its hospitality and beautiful gals in kebaya - their signature uniform.  But truth be told, the hostesses are always nice on first class even on Malaysian Airlines.   We flew in United Airlines first class too - but the matronly looking hostess weren’t as nice as the asian counterparts.  So what do you think ..??  are the Asian airlines a lot better ..?? when it comes to hospitality?  well, don’t make comparison if you are taking economy class though - because i remember taking Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Singapore and the hostess weren’t even there as soon as we boarded the plane till we landed.

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Hong Kong Airport Food Junction

One would definitely need the best appetite suppressant when on transit in Hong Kong Airport.  One would think that some random food junction wouldn’t really have any great food.. but Food Junction is a chain store i heard.. therefore the standard of most of the food .. has gotta be up there.  So if you can’t wait to reach home to Malaysia.. or Singapore and on transit .. like i was..  in Hong Kong for like 3 hrs..  i ate my fill of chee cheong fun and some congee.  Nothing fantastic.. but pretty good.. after not having authentic chinese food for this long.

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Continental Airlines Joins With Star Alliance

For those who’ve traveled with United, US Airways, Lufthansa and Air Canada, will not find Star Alliance a starnger at all.  In fact, you will know that Star Alliance is one of the biggest airline group with 25 members with them.  You will be glad the next time you fly Continental, you will have many options when it comes to connecting flight and the likes.  I think they must also use barcode scanners like the ones back home when you check in your luggage by now.  So the next time.. you fly continental .. you know you have a lot of other options as well.

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Traveling During The Flu Season

So you have a business or vacation trip.. and now you not only have the flu season here.. there is the H1N1 swine flu, you have to be afraid of.  So do you cancel your trip..?? and stay home.. and wait for the flu season to be over.. ??  Or can one travel.. since you’ve heard .. the swine flu is quite deadly..?? So the question again..  can one travel .. during all these outbreaks.. or do one stay home and do alli reviews instead.

Experts said.. that if you are on the high risk list - then you should try to avoid traveling. So who are the high risk group..??  If  you are a pregnant woman .. or adult over 65, babies and a kid under 5 and if you have chronic illness .. then you should speak with your family doctor first.

Health screening in other countries.. are not guaranteed .. but at this time.. in the USA .. they are saying they will not be screening.   Wearing a mask may not prevent you from catching the flu or H1N1 .. but washing your hands.. with soap and water.. plus not putting things in the seat pockets of your flight.. may save you the hassle of seeing a doctor during your vacation or business trip.

Note that.. you will not be guaranteed a refund.. even if the hotel or the country you are going to .. has an outbreak.. just before you leave for your trip.  But you can always ask.. and the hotel or travel agent .. may be able to compromise. Make sure you by travel insurance.. because they may not refund you for the canceled trip.. you will always be reimburse .. when you get sick during the trip.. or vacation.. and need medical care.

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Not Happy With Your Hotel Or Airline?

The airline failed to set aside the special meal you requested. The dry cleaner didn’t press your suit on time. The online retailer bungled delivery of a gift that really mattered to you.

When confronted with such situations, do you sometimes think it will end up being too much hassle to speak up about it? Or do you swing in the opposite direction, getting so overheated and going so ballistic that you can never do business with the erring company again?

Here’s the problem with those approaches: They frequently result in unpleasant consequences for you, either in the short term or in the long term. Take heart, though: There is another way to proceed. The following tips can help you lodge complaints in an effective — rather than a futile — way.

. Stay calm. Make a genuine effort not to get emotional. Doing so could damage your argument and your credibility. Behave as professionally as possible, and always remember this: You’re talking to a fellow human being. In many cases, the person on the receiving end of your complaint may not have had anything to do with what went wrong.

2. Don’t dally. If you want a quick resolution to your problem, don’t wait weeks and weeks to complain about it. Immediate action can get the ball rolling and help the customer service representatives in question take your situation more seriously.

3. Seek special treatment if warranted. Do you do lots of business with the company in question? If so, be sure to mention that in all of your conversations and correspondence about the complaint. It really should count for something.

4. Try the easiest approach first. Call, e-mail or visit the company’s customer service department. Explain your situation clearly, and say how you would like to see it resolved. This step alone could make the problem evaporate. If the first customer service representative you reach turns out to be unhelpful, ask to speak with that person’s manager.

5. Keep good records. If none of that works, start writing down notes about each encounter you’ve had with people at the company. Your documentation will demonstrate your efforts to resolve the problem.

6. Write to the right person. Draft a concise letter to the president or chief executive officer of the company. You can get that person’s name by calling the company, visiting the company’s Web site or going through Hoover’s or Vault. In some cases you’ll be able to e-mail the person directly; in others you might have to mail your letter to the person’s attention at corporate headquarters.

7. Be polite. Whether you e-mail it or snail-mail it, your letter should open with a sentence that captures your reader’s attention, perhaps by saying you are dismayed or shocked. But be courteous throughout the letter, thanking the person in advance for what he or she is going to do for you.

source :msnbc

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Compensation From Airlines

Winter storms are a fact of life in Canada, and they can paralyze the entire air transport system. This Christmas was a case in point, when a ‘perfect storm,’ in fact a series of them, hammered airports across Canada just as thousands of travellers headed home for the holidays.

As always in such situations, and more so in recent years as the ‘passenger rights’ movement has gained momentum, there was a great hue and cry as the cameras and microphones descended on stranded passengers. The anger of the sound bites was almost universally directed against the airlines, with little acknowledgement of the role played by Mother Nature.

What responsibility do the airlines have in this situation? No one wants a plane to take off in an unsafe situation, but as the hours drag by, questions are raised. Should airlines have to feed and house stranded passengers? When the storm abates, how quickly should airlines be expected to recover, clear the backlog and get passengers and their baggage on their way?

Let’s start with the bottom line. Just prior to last fall’s election, the Conservative government launched ‘Flight Rights Canada,’ a series of policies described as “strengthening consumer protection for air travellers.” There was little new in the announcement — it was more of an awareness campaign about existing regulations.

The rules include stipulations about food and lodging when flights are delayed. If a delay exceeds 4 hours, the airline must offer a meal voucher. If the delay is more than 8 hours and involves an overnight stay, the airline must pay for a hotel and transfers for passengers who did not start their travel at that airport.

There’s one important caveat to these rules, however: they don’t apply to inclement weather situations. And why should they? Airlines don’t control the weather. Arguably, airlines suffer as much as passengers in these situations, especially during high-traffic periods. Crews can’t get to work, planes are stuck in the wrong locations, extra staff need to be called in to assist with the backlog – it’s a logistical nightmare, a financial drain and often it’s a public relations disaster.

As the situation unfolded this year, there were clear winners and losers: WestJet earned an avalanche of praise for how it handled the crisis, while Air Canada was bitterly condemned. Of the 2,000 complaints received by the Consumer’s Association of Canada on the weather’s impact on holiday travel, 90% of them were about Air Canada.

In itself this isn’t unusual. As ‘Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture,’ WestJet almost always wears the white hat while one-time government-operated Air Canada is the airline many Canadians love to hate, despite being recipients of numerous international and North American awards recognizing their service.

During the December period dubbed ‘Snowmaggedon’ by the press, both of Canada’s major carriers went far beyond their official responsibilities. Air Canada paid for more than 5,000 hotel rooms and issued over 25,000 meal vouchers. WestJet spent $2.7-million on meals, hotel rooms and chartering planes from as far away as Florida to eliminate the backlog of passengers once the snow stopped. As far as the meals and lodgings are concerned, the airlines didn’t have to provide them, but they did, which in itself is somewhat amazing given the vigilance of shareholders about unnecessary spending.

here is a difference in how the two carriers approach weather situations. Air Canada told TakeOffeh that “when it comes to this issue we deal directly with our customers as each circumstance is different.” WestJet, on the other hand, says it decided two years ago that it would take care of stranded passengers whatever the reason for the delay.

“It shouldn’t matter why we cancel our flights,” says WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer. “If you’re not in your home city we will provide you with your hotel room, we will feed you. The guest experience is everything to us.”

Palmer says WestJet’s low-cost model and smaller size gives it a bit of an edge over Air Canada when it comes to dealing with weather situations. But clearly the company’s culture played a role, as hundreds of staff volunteered their time and worked long hours to reassure passengers and try to get as many people as possible home for Christmas.

On the other side, Air Canada ended up announcing an internal review of its storm performance. “The long lines, piles of delayed baggage, late and canceled flights on airport screens and frustrated customers all made for unflattering visuals for the television newscasts,” CEO Montie Brewer told the Globe and Mail. He added that some consumers were “justifiably upset” by Air Canada’s slow recovery once the storms cleared.

Last year, Air Canada earned more derision from the press and public when it introduced the On My Way program, designed to offer peace of mind to travellers in the event of weather, airport or air traffic delays. For $25 on short-haul flights, $35 on long-haul, the airline will pay for meals and hotel rooms and offer priority rebooking on any North American airline. If you are flying with Air Canada during a Canadian winter, it might not be a bad investment. Considering that they don’t have to offer those services, it actually seems like a reasonable price to pay.

But it’s tough when you have a competitor like WestJet. Asked whether shareholders were upset that the airline had spent $2.7-million above and beyond what was necessary, WestJet’s Palmer replied: “The response from shareholders has been phenomenal. One told me ‘I’m so proud. This is why I’m a WestJet shareholder.’”

Source : Yahoo Lifestyle

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