Recent content by bfmi

On the topic of headphones.... Inflight headsets provided don't work for kids under 7. Get a set of "ear clip" headphones - they just hang on top of the childs ear without anything over the top of their little heads. Here's a pic of the ones we got for Miss 18months. She's now 5 and has...

About 1.5 years ago I was on a SQ flight from SYD when this screening occurred. So I think there must be some level of intelligence applied and not just the country of origin.

My best was traveling in a taxi from downtown Manila headed to the airport to catch a flight to ICN to pickup a nearby replacement. ETix bought on phone to Asiana call centre during the taxi ride @ 1hr 40 prior to departure.

It's fee free for the 1st year and yes it comes with a free flight each year (including the 1st year - without a fee paid).

Agree, don't leave it to chance, take it into your hands.

Check out vRoam Global. It's a SIM card rental service for the countries being visited with billing either postpaid or prepaid. It has a "follow me" (number forwarding) feature which keeps you reachable on your AU number but with much lower costs since your not roaming but forwarding calls.

Same goes for our US guys :(

Get the US agent to quote on it - can't hurt. Sometimes it works out and other times not. I find it's a function of their business, market and consolidators interest in the business at the time. Example, even for Sydney/Melbourne travel I get better prices (sometimes) out of our US HQ TA...

Pop the loose unconvertible change into a "Change for Good" envelope. Charity providers still have mechanisms to exchange these useless notes/coins into useful tender. That way someone gets a little good instead of clogging up your draw.

Aint worth the pen or keyboard stokes to do the application form. 5% up to $300 is a joke - especially considering the inflated value of goods found in service stations.

You need a pretty big variance in the rates to make much of a difference. I suspect we are not talking about large sums of money. That's why I won't pay a FX fee - they should make their money on the rate differences between buy/sell.

Don't exchange them when back in Australia. I find changing in Singapore (even at the airport) a much better deal compared to the coughpy rate + FX fee charged in so many AU outlets. I have found some little private cash changes around Chinatown in Sydney offering reasonable rates but without...

Actually, VS is more than just a partner of SQ, SQ owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic. Longer term, Branson buys back more of Virgin Blue, strikes another deal with SQ - easy access for SQ to carry pax over pacific via another brand!!

Don't get too excited about the 747-300. It's really mutton dressed up as lamb. Each time I've been in J on this bird I've copped a lapful of water from the dripping condenser in the air conditioning equipment.

QuickCheck - it's a marketing term to give the feeling of quick. How to convince the customer it's faster and make the customer do most of the work!