Get 1,000 Avios points with your first Airbnb stay

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• BJ says:

  6 Nov6 November 06:02

  O/T: Top page BBC article on 787 safety this morning.
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50293927

  • BSI1978 says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:42

    Thanks BJ,

    Would never describe myself as a nervous flyer (I wouldn’t follow this page if I was!) but it’s articles like this, and the many allegations against Boeing now which does raise concerns as to their corporate culture. Hoping that the MAX issues aren’t replicated elsewhere….

    • BJ says:

      6 Nov6 November 08:55

      Flying is very safe but once in a while shortcomings are bad news for many. My concern is that we seem to hear much more about these stories for Boeing than Airbus, and that oversight by FAA (and probably others) might not be as sound as we should reasonably expect. Although I do not know the stats, my guess is that flying has become increasingly safe over time. It would be a great pity if all the progress in technology, training and management that have contributed to this was undermined by shoddy corporate culture.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:55

    It’s become clear over the last couple of years that the culture at Boeing has shifted slightly from a 100% safety focus to a mix of safety and sales (hence the rush for the 737 Max which is the only modern plane released that cannot safely fly without software, all because sales were in a rush to get a new model out to be competitive with Airbus).

    None of this means that their airplanes aren’t safe of course, just that the culture has shifted in some small way.

    The 787 story today is hard to get a read on how serious this is – certainly there hasn’t been any real-life issues with this so far, only in the testing. That could either be just good luck or because this isn’t a real problem.

    I still hold my long term view that the Max has to be scrapped (or smaller engines found, removing the need for MCAS which is the system that has caused the issues) and the only reason it hasn’t is because of the money people.

  • Paul Pogba says:

    6 Nov6 November 11:31

    Pickle fork cracks found in three Qantas 737s have now been found in three Ryanair aircraft: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-grounds-three-planes-due-to-cracking-between-wing-and-fuselage-1.4074196

  • Doug M says:

    6 Nov6 November 11:45

    Not great. But you never know whether these stories are around all the time, and just take traction when there’s a bigger safety concern.
    Incidentally, on the version I read it referred to the assembly centre in the South Carolina. My understanding from Flyertalk was Qatar refuse 787s built in there, and insist on Washington ones as they believe the Carolina plant has issues.

• Nick M says:

  6 Nov6 November 06:49

  OT – what is the best way to find out which airports fly directly to another (specifically Agadir)?

  Using Google/Skyscanner, the prices from London for the dates I’m looking at (April) are around 3-4 times normal pricing. So looking at potentially having a couple of nights elsewhere en route – ideally aomewhere we can get to with Avios or fairly inexpensively. There will be 4 of us, so a reasonable saving on flights will hopefully cover hotel costs

  • Genghis says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:02

    On sky scanner you can input to start from the UK, enter Agadir then filter to direct flights.

    • Genghis says:

      6 Nov6 November 07:04

      Or if nothing from the UK you can search “everywhere” from Agadir and then again where you want to fly from and then match up the cheapest combo

      • Nick M says:

        6 Nov6 November 09:51

        That was the potential complication… happy to consider anywhere between here and there as a stop over, provided we could get reasonably priced flights/accommodation

  • Callum says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:25

    I prefer Wikipedia to Skyscanner. The only way to catch routes that aren’t daily on Skyscanner is to search for the whole month, and I may be unlucky but the results I get on vague searches are invariably terrible and inaccurate.

    Definitely requires more effort, but I get better results.

    • Lumma says:

      6 Nov6 November 08:07

      +1 Wikipedia page for the airport and airlines and destinations section. Great resource for trying to get somewhere that the direct flights from the UK are relatively expensive.

      For Agadir have you looked at flying to Essaouira instead? Ryanair have started flying there and easyJet have for some time. Or even Marrakech? Even if just one direction it could be worth it – and Essaouira is a great place to spend a couple of days anyway

      • Genghis says:

        6 Nov6 November 08:12

        +1 for Essaouira. Best place in Morocco, which isn’t saying much, however…

      • Nick M says:

        6 Nov6 November 09:56

        Didn’t even think of Wikipedia – thank you… yes that looks to be a great starting point, thanks.

        Will have a look at Essouira too – we’re meeting someone just north of Agadir and they said there were lots of low cost flights… I just didn’t seem to find any, but as Anna says it will be over the Easter holidays!

  • Anna says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:36

    There would possibly be flights from Spain given its historic links with Morocco, but if you’re traveling over the Easter period prices are going to be high whichever route you take.

  • memesweeper says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:51

    flightconnections.com — a marvellous resource

  • Andrew M says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:01

    This is a fantastic tool for researching routes –
    https://www.flightconnections.com/
    You can search all routes from any destination or get complete route maps for individual airlines, which is usually how I use it,

    • Richard says:

      6 Nov6 November 08:12

      Thanks Memesweeper and Andrew M – that looks very useful and never heard of it before. Helping me out for how to get to SKG from Venice region.

      • Peter K says:

        6 Nov6 November 09:14

        I never knew Skegness had an airport!

        • John says:

          6 Nov6 November 11:44

          Its code is EGNI

      • Nick M says:

        6 Nov6 November 09:57

        Yes, thanks both – this looks like a great tool to play around with!

  • VP says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:01

    I second Callum’s suggestion of Wikipedia. It is quite reliable in most cases and serves as a good starting point.

    • John says:

      6 Nov6 November 11:45

      “It” is only reliable because somebody can be bothered to update it. This person could be you.

  • Alex M says:

    6 Nov6 November 11:08

    flightconnections.com

  • Tom1 says:

    6 Nov6 November 12:45

    Flight connections.com

  • Lady London says:

    7 Nov7 November 21:26

    Pretty sure Agadir used to be a destination much provided by package holiday companies. Guessing Thomson, TUI, would take a guess tjaereborg, Ryanair even but not necessarily from the UK. You might get a package deal for less than the cost of some flights. Gut feeling France in particular may have flights going there too.

• Benylin says:

  6 Nov6 November 07:12

  OT: Cairo – hotel ideas? Could end up being 4/5 nights split on either end of my trip depending if first night counts.

  Land at 5.10am so wonder if I check in early if I have to pay full rate? Most likely will be a cash booking, I have some IHG points and free nights but probably spent better elsewhere. I do have 35k and 45k respectively of VA points I could convert to Hilton if useful. Struggle to use these points.

  • BJ says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:30

    Kempinski

    • Benilyn says:

      6 Nov6 November 14:12

      @BJ:
      Kempinski Nile Hotel Garden City Cairo
      or
      Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Cairo

      • BJ says:

        6 Nov6 November 15:13

        Nile. However, if you are not planning on being in hotel much I’d save cash and stay elsewhere.

  • Lumma says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:34

    Being Egypt, I’d imagine you’d have a better chance of a room being “available” in the morning if some cash was handed over to the check in agent…

  • ankomonkey says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:39

    We stayed at Hilton Pyramids Golf earlier this year. It’s not centrally located (so not near Egyptian Museum), but is in a fairly modern and new shopping mall area. The rooms were massive and everything was new. It also had a good pool and we got lounge access as HH Gold – a bargain at 10k HH points/night.

    • Benilyn says:

      6 Nov6 November 13:49

      @ankomonkey – how long did it take to get into the city?

      • ankomonkey says:

        6 Nov6 November 20:45

        30min-1hr was our experience, completely dependent on traffic.

• mark says:

  6 Nov6 November 07:25

  Ot i have a few avios in my ba account i have not used for over 2 years do they get cancelled at some point if i dont add some or buy something from the shopping portal?

  Thank u

  • Shoestring says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:33

    £2 delivered (or something like that) for some batteries from 7DayShop

    or buy a secondhand book £2.80 from AbeBooks

• EvilDoctorK says:

  6 Nov6 November 07:50

  https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/11/06/heathrow-express-to-use-single-platform-at-paddington/

  This can’t be good news for Heathrow Express services ( they’ll only be using one platform at Paddington now rather than the current arrangement with two platforms , so there won’t always be a train to board )

  Hard to see how this won’t mean increased queuing to board as well as making the service more susceptible to delays / slower to recover from delays ? .. I assume it will still be theoretically 15 minute service, but it’s going to be more ‘fragile’

  • ChrisBCN says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:30

    There is enough slack in the system for things to run smoothly with one platform most of the time. Problems will only start to occur when a train arrives or leaves later than it should by anything around 10 minutes or more, but given there is enough slack at the Heathrow end, it’s only when there are major delays on the GWR fast services that this becomes a problem – and that is the same situation as today.

  • Rob says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:33

    There a WILL always be a train at T5 now, which was not the case before, so swings and roundabouts.

• memesweeper says:

  6 Nov6 November 07:53

  No more first class on the Stansted Express means no more buy-first-class-and-get-fast-track-security-at-the-airport — which, at Stansted, is a really good idea. In the opposite direction no access to the First lounge at Liverpool Street to catch up on emails before the first actual meetings of the day. All round the loss of first on this route is a proper downgrade.

  • Shoestring says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:04

    and the SWR strike (effectively all of December!) can’t be good news is you use that line

    A union has announced 27 days of rail strikes during December and on New Year’s Day as part of a long-running dispute over train guards.
    The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said its staff at South Western Railway (SWR) had been left with “no choice” but to take industrial action.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50307665

• VP says:

  6 Nov6 November 07:54

  OT: We went to the World Travel Market (WTM) yesterday and if you have the time it is definitely worth a popover. Entry is free with pre registration. Virgin Atlantic had a fun game lasting 30 seconds and the highest scorer each day wins 2 return economy + 5 nights with breakfast in Israel. (We played it twice..alas we didnt win). If you are there with your partner its a genuine 1 in 100 odds of winning I would say which is pretty good for the nature of prize. Turkish had their latest business class seat and amenity kit on display as well. It is also a wonder opportunity to browse through stalls of various countries and get some tourist info which you wouldn’t think of otherwise while having various sweets/nibbles. Madame Tussauds had an afternoon tea with Queen display which was very popular for pictures. There was Daniel Craig’s wax statue as well. Harry potter stand was also popular for pics with the robes and wands provided.
  In Europe section, at least 4-5 stalls were very generous with wines from their countries, Irish whiskey shots were available as well, lots of cheese, popcorn, ice cream, traditional snack bites, (all free of course) but the area is huge and you do need to walk a lot. So probably helps best if you are genuinely interested in travel and finding out about places rather than just going for free wine and food. Many interesting traditional dances/programmes also take place from time to time. (Asia section scored very well in this).
  I wouldn’t take a day off especially for this but if you do happen to have a free day or afternoon, would highly recommend this. Best time is in the afternoon 13.30-16.30 when the wine and food starts flowing more generously.

  • VP says:

    6 Nov6 November 07:58

    Just wanted to add that it is at Excel Centre, London and today is the last day. While, the closing time is 18h, most stalls start closing or go for private events after 17h. The Virgin game ran till 17h30 or 17h45 I believe.

  • Jtz says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:22

    I was there yesterday too and would definitely reccommend it, the talks were really good too and I got info about countries/cities I never thought of visiting.

    • Rob says:

      6 Nov6 November 08:30

      Lots of booze from 4pm on Wed as it is the last day.

  • AndyGWP says:

    6 Nov6 November 13:58

    Thanks both – sounds fairly interesting and one to look out for next year!

    You have me wondering about “Madame Tussauds had an afternoon tea with Queen display which was very popular for pictures” though.

    Was it Queen? or the Queen?

    • VP says:

      6 Nov6 November 20:59

      Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.

      • AndyGWP says:

        6 Nov6 November 22:09

        Ah – shame

        Lol

• Andrew MS says:

  6 Nov6 November 08:02

  OT . Yesterday I noticed the Manchester Airport app had updated so i had a look . They are offering 20 percent off lounge access which i took advantage of and booked a space in the 1903 lounge , which comes with fast track security, for £36

  • Rob says:

    6 Nov6 November 08:31

    I am at PremiAir as I type – see Instagram

    • GJB says:

      6 Nov6 November 10:31

      Very much looking forward to a review of this. If they do this will it will make such a huge difference to those of us who despise MAN security.

    • Dev says:

      6 Nov6 November 12:04

      Great posts on Instagram Rob. I’m tempted to use the lounge the next time I am at Manchester Airport, possibly spring 2020 for the Singapore Airlines flight to Houston.

      • Rob says:

        6 Nov6 November 12:06

        Here’s a direct link – https://www.instagram.com/p/B4hI4XDFY51/

        • AndyGWP says:

          6 Nov6 November 14:02

          Looks busy! 😀

    • Lady London says:

      6 Nov6 November 13:11

      Taking one for thé team, Rob? 🙂 I suppose someone’s got to test the one thing that light circumvent the hellhole that apparently MAN sécurité is.

      • Doug M says:

        6 Nov6 November 13:17

        I’ve read it has improved. The thing is for me it was so bad on two occasions I said I’d never go back. But some £1K AA fares to the right US cities would get me there again as I’m cheap and I know it.

      • Rob says:

        6 Nov6 November 13:54

        Was the first time in my life that the immigration official and the security team have greeted me by name. It’s a bit weird actually! “Hello Mr Burgess, pop your stuff in the tray …..”

        As indeed did the security guy on the gate. That was weirder because I didn’t know at that point that I was the only customer (which is how he knew it was me).

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