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Galley Gossip: Switching seats, exit row safety & asking for upgrades {Gadling}
Apr 14th 2010 12:09PM I'm a very infrequent traveller, but have been free-upgraded 3 times over perhaps a dozen transatlantic flights. It depends on the airline and the route: on a busy route, at busy times of year, airlines oversell their seats because they know there will be no-shows. This is a calculated gamble on their part, and sometimes too many people turn up which leads to people being bumped up to the next class of cabin.
On one memorable trade show trip I think all of our employees who travelled to that show - 12 or so, LHR-SFO - were upgraded from premium to business, across several flights from two different airlines (BA and Virgin). The upgrades all happened at check-in, and on one occasion even via a self-check-in machine which redirected me to a staffed desk.
My top tips would be to choose your flights carefully, to consider booking in premium economy, to be polite and friendly to the check-in staff, reasonably smartly dressed - remember, first impressions count - and *not* to ask for an upgrade. Perhaps enquire as to how busy the flight is, but don't push it - they're used to people asking for upgrades and they're ready to put you down.
Plane Answers: Crew rest seats and identifying pilot uniforms {Gadling}
Mar 29th 2010 6:45PM I was about to make essentially the same comment as Chris. To my knowledge, on BA it's the same as Virgin: two stripes for FO and three for senior first officer (i.e. one with the full ATPL but who isn't captain - typically one who hasn't yet made it to the top of the seniority ladder to get a command position). I suspect this is a British tradition.
I've never come across a single-stripe, except for that one time a friend managed to be in the right place holding the right licence at the right time and effectively got to ride right-seat to make up the paperwork for a flight (I forget on what aircraft; it wasn't heavy).
There is at least one uniform supplier who offers a joke five-stripe epaulette :-)
Galley Gossip: The mile high club - a question and a story {Gadling}
Aug 13th 2009 3:50PM I've heard some tales from a former Concorde pilot. If you think the lavs on a 747 are small, apparently Concorde's were really tight... and yet people could and did join the twelve-mile-high club from time to time.
Dead pilot? No problem. How to safely land a plane {Gadling}
Apr 15th 2009 6:14PM The rudder most certainly does not slow the plane down. This is a confusing conflation of what actually goes on. The pedals, on most fixed-wing aircraft, have multiple degrees of freedom: they control both the rudder (by heel action, the pedals are linked) and the brakes on the main gear (by toe action, independently - so if you want to stop in a straight line, push both toes forwards).
Plane Answers: Sleeping gas to thwart terrorists, longer winter takeoffs and which aircraft is the smoothest in rough air {Gadling}
Mar 23rd 2009 6:15PM The concept of a sleeping gas remains something of a Hollywood fantasy anyway. The nearest we've got are anaesthetic gases, but they have to be very carefully administered or you risk killing people - and it's very difficult, if not impossible, to control the dose that passengers would receive over a large enclosed space like an aircraft cabin.
Galley Gossip: A question about moving from coach to first class when there are open seats {Gadling}
Nov 19th 2008 5:46AM I've been lucky enough to be upgraded from premium economy to business a few times on transatlantic flights, but it has always happened at check-in, never at the gate or on-board - and I have *never* asked for an upgrade.
My tip? Premium economy is often worth paying for, given the increased chance of an upgrade to biz; it's often oversold. I usually travel alone, dress reasonably smartly and - above all - am polite and friendly to the check-in agents; this might have made a difference, although perhaps I was just lucky with the trips I was making.
Dubai Metro to feature the worlds first corporate branded station names {Gadling}
Nov 7th 2008 5:55AM Since 1978, it has been possible to take a train to IBM in Scotland. However, this is not branded but a private station, inside what used to be a major IBM facility near Greenock, only usable by those who work there. http://nationalrail.co.uk/stations/IBM.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_railway_station refer.
10 reasons why first class air travel is the best way to fly {Gadling}
Oct 10th 2008 5:18AM While I've never flown in F, I have flown in business on transatlantic flights a handful of times, and I can vouch for their being similar to what you describe. I have a couple of things I'd like to add with regard to premium passengers:
* Carry-on bag rules are often less stricter than for economy pax. You may be able to avoid having to check baggage entirely. (OK, this is harder now these days with the 100ml fluids limit, greater scrutiny of electronics and so forth - but there's still a difference.)
* At some airports, there are premium-passenger lines at immigration. (Annoyingly for me, at Heathrow, they're only good for non-EU passport holders.)
* Many airlines tag premium-pax hold baggage as such, then load it carefully so they can unload it first. You can sometimes be out of the terminal within 15 minutes of a long-haul flight, even having had bags to pick up.
* Arrivals Lounge. I think this is only a long-haul innovation, but very worthwhile. After a reasonable night's rest in my flat-bed seat on the redeye back from Vancouver, I was not in a rush, so went to the BA arrivals lounge after clearing customs. There, I was able to stash my luggage and relax for a while over a cooked breakfast buffet, lots of tea, the morning newspapers and the BBC News channel on the TV in the background. I could even have taken a shower, had I wanted to.
