Experience 081. Summer Travel Plans With a Chance of Turbulence.

06/27/24 • 46 min

In this experience we review some recent travel along with a overview of our summer travel plans.

Severe turbulence has been in the news recently in various locations around the world. Turbulence is always there and always has been there and always will be there. Remember the words that Vinod would tell passengers concerned about turbulence "The people flying the plane have families they need to get home to tonight."

If you are concerned about the wings during turbulence, there are numerous wing flex test videos for all airplane manufacturers. Here is an example from Airbus.

We want to give a shoutout to the Layovers Podcast. Vinod was a guest interviewee of Paul on Episode 139.

Vinod tried out a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier, Flair, for the first time from Vancouver to Calgary. He shares his thoughts about the experience. Find out why Vinod says they held to the ultra of ultra low cost. Vancouver to Calgary is often a turbulent flight as flights cross the Rocky Mountains.

Turbulence can be divided into planned and unplanned turbulence. Flying into hot destinations often brings big thermals for pilots to deal with. Sometimes flights take big detours to avoid large unstable weather systems.

We discuss our 2024 travel plans.

Geoff has an upcoming round-the-world flight. The idea for the flight started when Vinod asked what a United 737 was doing in Tokyo. The trip starts from Toronto to Chicago to Honolulu on United. Then the Island Hopper in the Pacific, eventually ending up in Guam. Then a connection to Japan to one of the world's busiest single runway airports at Fukuoka. Geoff is looking forward to a domestic Japanese flight from Osaka to Tokyo. After enjoying Tokyo, onward to Copenhagen with 19 hours of flying via Singapore. Geoff has a couple of inter-European flights with Norwegian and Lufthansa. Geoff returns to Canada using a Singapore fifth freedom flight to JFK and finally to Toronto with Air Canada.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 74. "Summer Skies. 2023 Plans for Vinod and Geoff." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Vinod is travelling to Paris to work on the Olympic Games. He is looking forward to his in-flight experience with Air France. Later with family there will be trips to Portugal with TAP, Dublin with Ryanair and Paris with Aer Lingus. Vinod and family will enjoy a return flight to Vancouver together.

Maybe Geoff and Vinod will get a chance to meet up while on their adventures. Stay tuned.

If you have trip plans or experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/

In this experience we review some recent travel along with a overview of our summer travel plans.

If you are concerned about the wings during turbulence, there are numerous wing flex test videos for all airplane manufacturers. Here is an example from Airbus.

We want to give a shoutout to the Layovers Podcast. Vinod was a guest interviewee of Paul on Episode 139.

We discuss our 2024 travel plans.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 74. "Summer Skies. 2023 Plans for Vinod and Geoff." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Maybe Geoff and Vinod will get a chance to meet up while on their adventures. Stay tuned.

Previous Episode

Experience 080. A Special Interview with a Six-Million-Mile Flyer

In this experience we are happy to bring you a special interview with senior leadership advisor Marco Villa.

Over three decades Marco has flown more than 2800 flights and 6125000 miles.

Geoff and Marco flew together in 2022 on internal flights in Mozambique complete with a crazy trip to Nampula (listen to experience 64 for more details).

We ask Marco about his alliances and statuses. With all of these flights, Marco has almost achieved lifetime gold status on British Airways. He holds status in three different alliances along with Emirates.

It all started for Marco in the mid-1990s when flying staff standby tickets with Lufthansa, which sponsored AIESEC conferences that Marco (and Geoff and Vinod) attended.

We ask Marco about his business travel and his top “weird” destinations. Eritrea tops the list and Tajikistan being another exotic destination.

We ask about Marco’s pet peeves – he shares his thoughts about issues on the ground, in the air and at the hotel. He also shares an interesting “worst flight on the planet”.

We ask about Marco’s travel hacks and habits and learn what he never gets on a plane without.

What airlines or hotels are at the top of Marco’s list? Marco wishes that customer service comes back at the major airlines at some point in the future.

We ask about what airlines he feels are at the bottom of the list. It is a really populated place for both major carriers and low-cost carriers.

We ask what Marco would like to see in travel for innovation. Marco also shares his emotional attachment to his paper boarding passes.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 61. "A Very Special Interview. Selling Airbus in China." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

If you have other experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/

Next Episode

Experience 082. Island Hopper & Round-the-World. Wrapping up 2024 Experiences.

The podcast is back, and Geoff is flying solo for the first time in 6 years. Thanks Vinod for everything you brought to the podcast.

Geoff takes a look back at his 2024 round-the-world trip and other Canadian aviation experiences.

Geoff checked the Island Hopper off his bucket list, travelling from Honolulu to Guam via the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. He forced a long layover in Honolulu to allow a visit to the city before heading out on the Island Hopper.

The Island Hopper planes are old with some of the oldest Inflight Entertainment Systems Geoff has seen in years. Majuro airport and The Marshall Islands are in the middle of the Pacific on various atolls.

This particular routing took Geoff via Kwajalein (no pictures at this stop!), Pohnpei and Chuuk (you can get passport stamps in Micronesia even if you are in transit) before landing in Guam. Geoff is a much bigger fan of the south side of Guam than the north side.

Geoff took one of the last flights with United from Guam to Fukuoka. If you’re flying to FUK, take the time to enjoy the observation deck. He then headed to Osaka via Hiroshima with the Shinkansen.

Flight boarding in Japan is super efficient, and Geoff tried it first domestically from Osaka-Itami to Tokyo-Haneda.

After spending time in Tokyo, Geoff flew onward to Copenhagen via Singapore. There is a wonderful 7-11 after security airside at Haneda that sells all sorts of Japanese treats. The Jewel in Singapore is lovely but is super busy on a summer Saturday night.

A beach layover in Copenhagen is possible with a quick metro journey.

Geoff enjoyed his first ever fifth freedom flight from Frankfurt to New York JFK on Singapore Airlines.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 2. "International Megahubs and Flight Ticketing." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Geoff had some interesting domestic experiences in the second half of 2024. A widebody flight on a route not normally served by that plane, and subsequent upgrades. And then there was a massive storm system and hailstorm chaos in Calgary. Geoff also visited Canada’s easternmost international airport in St. John’s.

And to build his knowledge, Geoff is now a successful student with distinction for IATA’s training course on passenger fares and ticketing.

If you have trip plans or experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Bluesky, Threads and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/