We landed into Auckland at 0100.  I noticed that the cabin lights had been left on for the landing and the earlier take-off from Brisbane.  It was actually super-bright in the front and rear galley areas by the doors. Enquiring with friends that knew Qantas crew, this is supposedly their requirement.  That’s something new for […]

Above:  Only snacks served on a 5h55 international flight; unusual for Qantas. Flying to Auckland Today, I finish my trip with a flight back to Auckland via Brisbane on a Qantas redemption ticket.  I was very lucky go get a redemption ticket as I wouldn’t like to have chanced a long weekly B737 flight on […]

Above:  Kuwait Airways spacious Boeing 777 with 9-across configuration. Leaving Guangzhou My Kuwait Airways flight to Kuwait departs at 0440 so it was a pleasant surprise that check-in opened at 0100.  I joined the queue 20 mins before opening and was surprised by the number of people already there, each typically having two large suitcases […]

Trip summary This trip started with the idea of visiting my favourite country in all my travels, Syria.  A friend, Dennis, had talked about having me over to visit him in his hometown of Teochew (Chaozhou) in China, and I managed to combine this into the trip.  The cherry on top was a redemption ticket […]

Flight cancellation Today, I’m supposed to finish my whole trip with a flight at 1150 back to Auckland with Latam Airlines booked with a commercial confirmed ticket (rather than a staff standby ticket at about the same price). Knowing that the airline is somewhat unreliable on the route, with the aircraft coming all the way […]

Killing a day Tonight, I have a flight to Sydney at 2130, brought forward a few months ago from 2335.  I had cancelled the hotel room for tonight, which I was going to use as late check-out but with the earlier flight time, I would only use it for maybe 4h max. To my surprise, […]

Arriving in Bangkok The 1630 departure from Istanbul wasn’t conducive for sleep on the 9h10 flight.  That’s despite the 0415 wake-up and half a sleeping pill.  Somehow, I must have rested enough during the 5h30 between the dinner and breakfast, as it didn’t seem to drag on. I did get peckish in between the meals […]

Leaving Chisinau Today I fly from Chisinau to Istanbul and from there, will somehow and hopefully make it to Kuala Lumpur on one of several standby options. I woke at 0415 and left my room about 30 mins later to check out from the hotel.  I managed to get a car on the Yandex app, […]