Count to 10,000

[Nosy]

4336

Anybody here who went on an airplane ride recently?

[1993matias]

4337

No, sadly! But I plan to soon

[Thunderstruck]

Four Three Three Eight

My last flight was about 3 weeks ago, PARIS ORLY to MALAGA.
Transavia B737-800 Aircraft.

I've flown that low cost airline 3 times now, always on time, always fine.

I have a big trip planned for August, and I'm getting real excited!

When was your last flight?

[1993matias]

4339

My last flight? Hmm... February, Brussels -> Copenhagen with SAS A320. Nice airline, nice aircraft, but nothing special.

I hope to go on the water plane from Aarhus to Copenhagen (Nordic Seaplanes), that's gotta be a special ride!

[Nosy]

4440
A year ago. :p Scoot 787 SIN - SYD and back.

[1993matias]

4441

That's a longer flight, no?

[Nosy]

4442

About eight hours or so. Worsened by the fact that Scoot does not provide inflight entertainment. :/

[1993matias]

4443

No in-flight movies? Not even paid??

[Thunderstruck]

Four four four four

Ahhh you young ones... no inflight entertainment, how terrible! 😨

Just kidding, I know this has become indispensable to most people now. Although I fiddle around with the IFE symbolically, I usually always take out my book and read from take-off to landing, with regular breaks to look out the window. I'm old school.

When I was a kid, aircraft only had one giant screen per aircraft section, so everyone watched the same movie at the same time, kind of like it was a flying cinema, and it made us feel a certain bond with all the passengers. We are all in it together! .

Another thing that changed is that there were the smoking vs non-smoking sections on the aircraft. It seems totally crazy to imagine anyone smoking in an airplane nowadays, but not so long ago that was perfectly normal. The last smoking flight I remember taking was in 1997 between Paris and Seoul on a Korean Airlines B747.

[1993matias]

(Since when did we start counting 44--? It should be 43-- )

4345

I also remember the times of one screen one movie. But I also remember (I think it was British) that had personal IFE screens, but there were only 12 channels or so showing the same movies on a loop - so 12 different movies. Had the movie just started, then too bad, no rewinding!

[Anzatax]

4346

You guys are all very lucky - no more vintage flying experiences for us younger ones!

I have only flown on three premium carriers: Qantas, Emirates, and LAN (Chile?). The only issue I have with these kinds of airlines is with the IFE; budget airlines make any premium carrier seem like first class treatment!

Qantas had some very nice (and fun) flight attendants. The only downside to Qantas's IFE is the limited amount of choices. But then again, I may have been flying on one of their older A330's, so that may have contributed to the fact.

Emirates had a great range of IFE options, but sadly I was flying on a short SYD-AKL trip, and on approach my earphones were confiscated, and I had to watch the movie Alice in Wonderland in silence, and this sort of dream-like movie only gets worse when you cannot hear what was going on!

LAN gave me the worst experience.  First of all the aircraft looked as if it were made of wood, and broken-down wood at that! The main reason: my IFE screen was completely broken and I had to suffer 4 hours of budget airline experience on a premium carrier. Definitely did not make me feel to good about the poor airline!

[1993matias]

4347

IFE is a privilege, but a long haul flight without IFE (low-cost airline or not) is not expected nowadays. Some airlines charge you for it, so be it, but a flight with no IFE is just not what passengers expect

[Thunderstruck]

(Since when did we start counting 44--? It should be 43-- )

4348

Well spotted Matias, I guess we jumped ahead of ourselves here!

I think sometimes its surprising how on a same airline, people can have quite different experiences. Anzatax had apparently a bad impression of LAN Chile, whereas I retain a very good one. I flew on that airline about 9 years ago on the following flights:

1- Return flight Santiago to Calama (in the north of the country) on an A-320 : new aircraft, fine service.
2- Return flight Santiago to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) a 5 and half hour flight over only ocean to one of the most remote and magical places in the world. It was a B-767 with brand new IFE system (of that time), I was actually very impressed. On Easter Island we were greeted by local women who threw a string of flowers around our necks

Are you sure if was the LAN Chile you flew on? If so perhaps there is a discrepancy in aircraft from their older ones vs their modern ones. Where did you travel to on that airline?

Also the airport on Easter Island IPC/SCIP has a VERY long runway, as it was lengthened by NASA as an abort site for the Space Shuttle. Unfortunately, this makes it look like a giant scar across the surface of the island.

I operate a flight there whenever I can on Airline Mogul, but I have never yet seen another player fly there apart from me, in numerous games that I played.

Hereunder the famous and mysterious Moai sculptures (it had always been a childhood dream of mine to go there, so I did it!)



Our LAN Chile A320 resting on the tarmac at Calama El Loa Airport, under the hot Atacama Desert Sun:

[Anzatax]

4349

4347

IFE is a privilege, but a long haul flight without IFE (low-cost airline or not) is not expected nowadays. Some airlines charge you for it, so be it, but a flight with no IFE is just not what passengers expect

Well, Scoot does offer IFE on long haul flights but 1) they charge you for it and 2) you have to hace a mobile device because it is actually similar to a TV program. There are no IFE screens on any of its aircraft, so SIN-SYD is quite a boring 8+ hours flight :/.

And sadly, Thunderstruck, your pic of that LAN Chile A320 has confirmed that the airline I was on was indeed LAN Chile. It was a AKL-SYD Qantas codeshare Oneworld flight. I must have been unlucky. Anyway that A320 looks very clean and new!

[Nosy]

4350

Nice pictures Thunderstruck.