Airline Rankings (Within the United States)

I have been a little busy over the last few months but now I’m back! The following blog was written in November 2014

I have been fortunate to travel a lot within the United States. This post, as a matter of fact, is being written during on a flight from Boston, MA to Phoenix, AZ. Considering the variety of airlines I’ve had the opportunity to fly on, I felt it best to rank them.

The airlines that I am ranking are : Virgin America, United, US Airways, Delta, JetBlue and American Airlines. The basis of ranking are all factors in a journey including ease of reservation/cancellation/rebooking, seat comfort, inflight food/beverage service, inflight entertainment, age of fleet and bag handling. Since all of these carriers offer internet on board and all carries in the U.S. in general suffer from delays, they are being excluded from the criteria of comparison.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that I have recently enjoyed free premium seating in the economy cabin and free baggage allowance on American Airlines and US Airways which are One World partners of British Airways, therefore I will be including 2 sets of rankings for clarity; one independent of these privileges and another including ‘premium’ economy and factoring membership perks in for fairness and better understanding.

INDEPENDENT RANKINGS:
1. JetBlue – 1 free-bag, maximum legroom in coach in U.S.,

2. Virgin America – Great seats, inflight service, friendly staff.

3. American Airlines – Close 3rd

4. United

4. Delta – Tied with United

5. US Airways

Rankings with Perks and ‘Premium’ Economy Seats:

1. American Airlines: Splendid legroom

2. Virgin America

3. JetBlue -Great overall experience

3. Delta – Tied with JetBlue, but for great seating option and flexibility

3. United- Also ranked 3rd. I just haven’t traveled frequently enough.

4. US Airways – the good legroom seats don’t recline enough and that can be cumbersome on transcontinental flights.

As you will notice US Airways ended up last in both the rankings. One of the main reasons for this is that in 2014 all other airlines are doing too many things to keep pace with the competition but US Airways continues to be dull and monotonous. Perhaps their recent acquisition by American will help them upping their game.

Oysters

For someone who has always made simple food choices, I would say trying oysters was a brave decision for me. And I say that particularly because if you’ve seen the episode of Mr. Bean where he has them and falls sick, you’d need a brave heart to try them as well. Yes, I agree that they lack a visual appeal, but they are indeed now one my favorite foods to have.

One of my closest friend and I went to enjoy some sea food in Boston about an year ago and she changed my life by introducing me to the world of oysters. A lot restaurants and oyster bars serve them raw although cooked versions are available as well. I have only had them raw yet. So they are served on a bed of crushed ice with cocktail sauce, horse radish and cucumber mignonette and just have to spoon the oysters with these and they are ready to consume. Recently, I also discovered that adding to 2 drops of the Green Tabasco (jalepeno pepper) makes things even more interesting.

Oysters are very light and refreshing and taste like the sea a little, especially since they are briny inside. There’s no point in trying to chew them because they are so soft, so they are best slurped down!

Oysters have very high nutritional value as well with a good amount of Omega-3 and Iron. But one should be cautious of where they are having oysters since the water in different places is affected differently by the seasons thereby increasing the risk of bacteria in water. For instance, in USA one should avoid having shellfish in the west coast during summer. However, the east coast has no such problem. But one should still be quality conscious of the place where they are eating them. My personal favorite is Legal Sea Foods where I love the Wianno’s (from Cape Cod). This restaurant chain has a lab where they test their daily landings for quality control which at least helps psychologically knowing that it’s safe to consume.

If you do end up trying and liking them, don’t forget to share your experience. Slurp away!

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Uber: The smarter way to get around town

Uber is a mobile app “that connects drivers with passengers at the touch of a button”. This service started in San Francisco and is now offered in over 100 cities across 32 countries.

How it works?
After downloading the app from the apple App Store/Android store/or Blackberry AppStore for free, users can request an uber-accredited car nearby at a location convenient to you. The app open up in a map interface where one can select from the different services that Uber offers in different cities like ‘Black Car’ where they send town cars/ sedans to you (good for up to 4 passengers) , ‘SUV’ where you get a car up to 6 passengers and the most popular, ‘UberX’ which is a service where anyone who owns a car can sign up and drive (drivers go through a stringent background check and it is safe so don’t worry about it). UberX is a the most economical option that they offer and is 25% cheaper than regular Taxis. In London(and maybe some more cities), Uber offers a more premium service called ‘UberLux’ through which they send you luxury sedans like the Mercedes-Benz S-class, BMW 7 series, Audi A8 or Jaguar XJ. In most cities you can also call for a regular taxi at an extra small-fee. All of these options are accessible from they app itself and are very easy to navigate through.

One of the main convenience that the app provides is the ease and clarity of payment. You can set up your debit/credit card to the app and it automatically debits it at the end of the ride . So you basically never need to worry about carrying cash or being confused as to how much to tip the driver as the app takes care of it. You can change the tip percentage through the app itself.

Among other conveniences, ‘Split Fare’ is a big one. Keeping tabs on friends or colleagues sharing a ride with you becomes difficult and this is a great feature that helps you split your fare with up to 3 more people from within the app.

Uber is very competitively priced and also features economical flat fares from most airports to the cities and other frequently travelled routes. All information regarding this is available here

Uber has grown rapidly in the last 2-3 years and it has been successfully backed by a great back-end customer service team. The allows for instant feedback after the ride. You have to rate your driver and you may write comments as well. Also, interestingly the driver rates you as well (so be at your best behavior). Incase you don’t enjoy your ride due to any reason, Uber (on most such occasions) refunds your money and/or gives you some promotional credit for your next ride.

One of the only drawbacks, so to say, that users come across is ‘Surge Pricing’, which is a rise in price due to high demand in the area. But again, the app informs you of this before you request one. It is also easy to cancel an Uber within 5 minutes of ordering one without the $5 charge, which is charged otherwise.

Uber has already been hit with legal action, protests and bans of various kinds in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Houston, Portland, New Orleans, Seattle, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Vancouver and Toronto. These are primarily from Taxi drivers and Taxi company owners due to a significant loss of market share to Uber. They claim that uber is illegally operating and breaking taxi laws. But the company responded by saying that they are not a taxi company and do come under the laws that govern taxis.

Whatever the taxi companies may claim, I consider Uber to be a safer and more convenient service which I like to use in different cities that I go to. It is truly, as the company calls itself, “Everyone’s private driver”.

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Coca Cola Freestyle

Easily one of the most impressive things I’ve seen during my travels. This fountain soda machine is amazing! It’s the called the Coca-Cola Freestyle, it’s got a touch screen and offers a “100+” drinks (and flavors). The first I came across one of these was in Washington D.C. at a Five Guys Burger.

The welcome screen (top) shows the various drinks they have to offer and the following screen (bottom) shows the flavors. Then just hit the ‘push’ button and it’s Christmas.

You can find one near you and probably win a free drink by downloading the coca cola freestyle app here

Heineken: A Late Encounter With a Classic

Let’s start off by clarifying any suspicions of me being a connoisseur for any sort of alcoholic beverage: I’m far from it. I like to think of myself simply as an admirer. I really enjoy beverages or food that taste good and then recommend them to people. Simple.

This particular blog post though is a little ironic; I’ll explain in what sense. The first beer that I can recollect seeing as a kid is Heineken. It used to be lying right next to the cheese in the refrigerator but as far as I can recall, no one ever drank it and then I just saw the can in the trash one day. Keep in mind I was only 11 and alcohol was off limits and neither did I have any curiosity to find out what was the contents of the can tasted like. However my first impression of the Celtic green can with the black and silver logo on it was that it is definitely some pathetic tasting concoction.

Forward to present day when I’m well within the legal age to consume alcohol. I have tried a lot of different beers ranging from American classics like Budweiser and Coors, to Stella Artois from Belgium, Kingfisher from India and to the renowned Corona from Mexico. I have only tasted a handful of the brands out there globally but within whatever I have tasted, I have broadly classified them into 2 simple categories for my personal decision making process: lager and wheat beer (and then there is ‘ale’ which is dark and I’m not brave enough to try it yet). And until now, I had 2 favorites from these categories: Corona (lager), which is a very refreshing beer and Blue Moon (wheat ale) which is light and goes very well with almost any type of food and is best served with a slice of orange.

But here is the irony that I mentioned earlier; I had never tried Heineken, the first beer that I had ever seen, until 3 days ago and like one of the early iPhone ads used to say, “This changes everything”. I had one sip and then I stared at the glass with surprise. For someone who had not tasted beer in a long time, I was enchanted for that moment. It tasted perfect and when say perfect I mean it was very light and smooth, the exact opposite of what I had expected. It was poured in the glass from a bottle and for a good pale bottled beer it surprisingly had the perfect carbonation, almost as if it was a mildly pressurized draught beer. It was very smooth for a bottled carbonated beverage in general and went great with grilled fish. I am in complete awe (as evident as I have made it in this paragraph) and I’m looking forward to trying it again.

I really enjoy moments when I discover something amazing that has been around but just came to my notice. It’s probably in amazement of my lack of observation of things in plain sight and the relief that I noticed them sooner than later.

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The Actual Speedbird: Concorde

Flying into or out of London Heathrow one is most likely to see this beauty parked just short of runway 27L. I captured the above image In January this year.

A little background info: British Airways’ call sign is Speedbird which they adopted in 1945 and the aircraft in the picture is, in my opinion, the greatest achievement in aviation history : Concorde

This aircraft flew at supersonic speeds,i.e, faster than the speed of sound, i.e., 320 meters per second with an average cruising speed of 1340mph or 2158kmph. Now that’s super fast. It could get you from London to New York in about 3 and a half hours which takes around 6.5 to 7 hours in the present time.

It’s a real shame that it was taken out of service after it’s first and only fatal accident. It’s true that for a long time in the beginning the Concorde operated at a loss but I wish that these companies could foresee it’s potential and how much revenue would be brought in by transatlantic travel.The fact that the British Aircraft Company and Aérospatiale (co-manufactures of Concorde) chickened-out of the venture appears more than just a case of non-viability. Considering how Boeing and Airbus only became bigger even after a number of accidents with their aircrafts. My best guess is that pressure from the French government and lobbyists that would lead to more fund allocation towards Airbus and ‘benefit’ Europe in a greater way, so to say. What strengthens my suspicion is the advent of the European Union around the same time frame.

It was also in the news that Sir Richard Branson (@richardbranson) of Virgin Atlantic offered to buy BA’s Concorde aircrafts for £1 million each but British Airways refused. Also there is the Save Concorde Group who want BA to either help fund a heritage flight or release an aircraft to someone who will.

It is indeed great to see such initiatives to get Concorde back in the skies. As unlikely as it may be, I certainly hope they succeed for it is undoubtedly an aviation marvel.

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The Most Rewarding Frequent Flyer Program

I travel from Asia to North America 3-4 times a year. Now this may not sound like a lot many but it’s because I study in the U.S. So since my first time I went to college, I flew British Airways and enrolled in their frequent flyer program, the Executive Club. Just like in almost all such programs you move up the different tiers and acquire the respective benefits.

Before I explain what differentiates it from other such programs, I’d like to give a brief background. So British Airways is a part of the One World Alliance, which is a one of 2 biggest airline alliances; the other one being Star Alliance. In the United States, American Airlines is one of the biggest partner airline of the One World Alliance and they have just become the world’s biggest airline (In terms of fleet) with their recent acquisition of US Airways. With such a vast network, I have don’t have a hard time selecting an airline when I have to travel.

Now back to why the decision of enrolling with them has been so rewarding. After only completing 2 round trips back and forth to college, I gained the Silver membership on BA. This is relatively fast compared to other airlines where you keep slogging for minimal returns. This brought in so many benefits and honestly, I got so so so excited. Lounge access, priority boarding, free additional check- in bags, fast track through almost any line at the airport, business class check-in, priority baggage handling, premium seat selection at the time of booking at no extra cost and many more every time I flew on any One World partner. I was 19 and having these perks to get you through a 20+ hour journey doesn’t hurt. My most favorite perk thus far is easily the free business class upgrade which I receive almost every single time, and believe me you want to sleep on a lie-flat bed on those super long haul flights.

Now talking about redemption. The BA Executive Club let’s you and your family/friends collect miles (or Avios as they call it) together. this means and everyone can pool their miles and spend them as they wish (if they want to, that is). What’s great is that they let you redeem on One World Partners as well. You only have to pay the tax element of the fare in cash and the rest on your miles. I personally have flown on short haul flights on American Airlines with redemption and paid $1.65 one way and 4,000 avios. A round trip fare to London from North America can cost as low as $300 and about 40,000 avios. A round trip between Asia and North America costs $700 and 60,000 avios. Now if you compare all these to actually paying in cash, you’ll notice that difference is ginormous.

Now I feel I might have missed a lot details in anxiety of this being my first post, but I assure you I will cover all bases of everything in the future with so much travel coming up in the next few months. The tags will be particularly easy to navigate.

Click here to find out more about the executive club

Thanks for reading 🙂