Bloody Mary Morning - Great Flying Song

Written in 1970, a few years before the invention of Bailey's, the Willie Nelson song Bloody Mary Morning is a fun song about flying. Or maybe a broken heart, I hear what I want to hear.

New QANTAS Logo

Well it's more like an updated logo and font, but big news from an airline with the same look since I was born. 

Current QANTAS Look

Not Having Good Luck to Asia on United

I spent a few hours hanging around Denver watching my departure move further and further back. Then I got on the plane, heard the wheels up time, and then exited aircraft and left for home. My flight with a 3 hour connection in SFO wound up miss-connecting by 15 minutes. Less than half of my Asia trips have gone correctly this year. Two of them were scrubbed completely. United is not running a good operation.

Memories of Better Times

Boeing Sold 14 (Maybe 28) 747's

Boeing sold 14, with options for 14 more, 747-8 freighters to UPS. They are an existing 747-400 customer and probably got these for a steal since Boeing was planning to shut down the 747 production line once they filled their remaining orders. This will keep the 747 program alive for another year.

I Don't Have Many Cargo Airline Shots

The A340 is 25 Years Old and Obsolete

Good thing Airbus paired this design with the A330 or it would have been dumped years ago. It has a limited future with VVIP operations, small carriers, and for it's long overwater (not ETOPS limited) range. You can buy one ready for airline service for $20,000,000. 

Most Operators Have Replaced It

First - Coach - First Crossing the Pacific

First class over the Pacific can be one of the best in flight experiences available, see ANA, Cathay Pacific, or JAL for examples. As per tradition, US carriers do it worse or not at all. United is no exception. They run domestic configuration 737's out of Guam all around the Pacific. They also run a domestic 777-200 from Guam to Honolulu and regional upgrades don't work on this flight, so be ready for 7 long hours in coach. From Honolulu, it's all domestic configurations.

Like I'm Flying to Boston

Regional Upgrades Work HKG-GUM

This means passengers flying the equivalent distance of LAX to London have to do it in planes made for LAX to SFO. Even worse there is no free food or alcohol. United has a monopoly, more or less, on the central Pacific routes and no interest in improving the onboard experience. Be prepared.

View from GUM United Club

Breakfast on a Domestic 737 Flight for Comparison

Breakfast HNL-IAH - Meh

Meal Leaving HKG on 737

Double Amex Points!

Shop small and get double points when using a registered Amex card. Not as fun as free money ($25 or $10 a card in previous years), but still a worthwhile promotion.

Delta & Amex Are Friends