| Are you looking for the website of the company Etihad Airways? Go to etihadairways.com. This is a non-commercial hobby site, run by a non-trading UK individual. There is no intention to be unfairly detrimental to the rights of this airline, or to transfer trade away from it. I only use legitimate non-commercial fair use of name operated solely in tribute of this businesses, and use of proprietary company names within the context of a fair analysis of that companies performance, in line with standard Journalistic practice. There is no intent for any unfair disruption of the airlines business, an airline that I have loved since 2004. Legal Notes Here. This is totally compliant with UK internet law and Domain Name restrictions. Really, if you want to book a flight, go right here to etihadairways.com. |
Please read the FAQ before sending me queries or ommissions.
Things change. Prices go up, the quality of wine goes down, schedules are put back, and aircraft are revamped. The nut service may be tweaked. New lounges open. And the older ones thankfully close. Good inflight entertainment goes bad, and some airlines install AVOD. Nothing stays the same. All of this is going on constantly, and as a result, your experience onboard may be different from mine.
So if you find things better or worse, recently opened, or long since closed, please tell me. While I fly a lot, there can be some weeks when I'm not at LHR, SIN, BKK, SYD, FRA or LAX. As soon as I get updated information and can verify it, I will update the site, and make sure that flyers in future get the most up to date reviews. I genuinely value all the feedback I get, but please note that due to my insistence on independently checking all updates which are sent to me, it can sometimes take a few weeks to get new information on the site. Normally I can do this by checking direct with the airlines concerned. Sometimes alas, particularly when an airline installs new seats or a new lounge, a site visit is required - which I end up travelling to, and paying for.
Some web search engines will of course come up with these names linked to my site when searching webpages. If you have a problem with that, please contact the search engine directly. I also own other domain names pointing to this site, making legitimate non-commercial fair use of the Domain Name, operated solely in tribute to or in criticism of these businesses. There is no intention to be unfairly detrimental to the rights of these airlines, or to transfer trade away from them.
I think it's worth replying to some of the common Emails I get here though...
"Where do you live?" On a plane.
"I've got the same information on my site/webpage/blog/forum - did you nick it from me?" It is inevitable that with a review of something that many people travel on, there is a lot of common information. For example, the number of planes in a fleet, good seat information, Frequent Flyer perks and the like are all common - so I'll have the same info as you. Be assured, it's all come from endless hours of sitting in a tin tube, as are the pictures. An important point here comes in regard to the news section of the site: one person's write up of a press release of an event may sound like another, if only because there are only so many ways you can write up "A380 now flies from Melbourne, and has new seats". But just because I've written it up in the same way, doesn't mean its come from anywhere else other than the airline concerned (or in some cases employees of that airline, who have written to me). To make the source clear, each news story item now includes a link to the relevant press release. Savvy? And while I'm on the subject - please don't nick the pictures for your site. It is getting to be a habit seeing my pics appear elsewhere - the last time was on an airline booking agency at USM airport. Now that was an interesting conversation.
"Why did you recently change your URL?" I wish I hadn't - it's thoughly messed up the links from search engines, etc. Alas my only server - at TV Centre in White City (London) ceased operating following the demise of www.beeb.net in 2005 and after a totally annoying experience I walked from another ISP. I now pay for server space. At least it works and it's fast.
"Any other legal comments?"
By browsing this site, including (but not limited to) all its sub-areas & sub-domains such as news, lounge photographs, and seatmaps, you agree to be bound by copyright within England and Wales, and should there be any copyright dispute, to agree that regardless of where you are located, courts within England and Wales shall be permitted to pass judgement in accordance with the State of England and Wales Copyright Act. Under this act individual non-commercial use may have been made (for example, but not limited to, the reproduction of information contained in airline press releases, timetables, or inflight magazines) of external material. this site has attempted to contact copyright owners of material included in this website. I apologise if material has accidentally been included for which permission has not been specifically sought. If you believe you are the copyright owner of material included in this website, please contact me. Apart from any use permitted by the Copyright Act (including fair dealing), none of the material on this website may be downloaded, printed, emailed, stored in cache or otherwise reproduced without the written permission of yours truly. So there.
You agree to use the Site and the Content solely for your own use and benefit and not for resale or other transfer or disposition to any other person or entity. You further agree not to use, transfer, distribute or dispose of any Content in any manner that might compete with the business of this site.
If it is brought to our attention that you have indeed sold, published, distributed, retransmitted or otherwise provided access to article(s) from the Content to anyone without the prior written permission from this site.
"What access do the airlines give you so you can take interior photos of the planes?" None at all - I just make sure I'm first in the queue to get on the bird, and walk around the cabin taking photos. Understandably, on some airline this provokes a bit of a reaction from the cabin crew, and I end up having to take photos when I'm in the seat.
"Why do only some premium lounge reviews refer to other airline's lounges?" This one has always been a thorny problem - if a business/first lounge is used by another airline do I review the lounge in both the airline's reviews, just in the airline it is "owned" by... or what? And how about seconded lounges with an airline that I have yet to review? And how about corporate lounges? The only sane answer I've come up with is that if I review the airline, theire "home" lounges are always in that section. If it is used by two airlines, the base review will be in the "home" airlines page, with a link and separate pictures in the alternate airlines page. If it is a coporate lounge it will be (with separate pictures) in all contracted airlines pages. If it is owned by one airline which is not reviewed, but used by one or more other reviewed airlines, a full review will be on both their pages until such time as I get around to reviewing that sub-airline, at which point the review may more. Other policies I make up on the spot. Your mileage may vary. This policy is not applicable to Bangkok Airways.
"Why start this site?" I write travel guides, and after a while I found I got very bored with the original airline I was very loyal to, and for a laugh tried some others. Surprised (horrified would be a better word...) about how wildly one airline can differ from another, I started making a few notes on which airlines had what services. At the time the internet was in it's infancy, and most airlines' websites just had the usual bollox about "a great cabin ambience in all 3 cabins. Food & wine to suit are available, and there is a film (two in business)". I thought it would be fun to put on a few pages on the internet - 4 to be exact - to share what I'd leant with other passengers. That was way back in 1999. And it grew to become the all consuming monster that it is, where I'll end up flying not on a mileage run, but on a lounge & meal photo run. It now takes up so much of my time, there are occasions I wish I'd never started it.
"Who funds this site?" Yours truly. All the flights come out of my own pocket.
"I will say that you seem to have had very bad experiences on many of your flights" No, I just call it how it is. I know many people in the travel industry are not used to straightforward reviews - however if something is bad, I'll say so, not dress it up in the flowery sales talk the airlines would rather I use.
"You are highly critical of the choice of wine on XXXair. We offer a wide range of wine to suit all tastes." (This from the press office of one of the airlines reviewed). That'll be a choice of white or red then? I'm sorry, but if you Email me PR rubbish, I'll call it as it is. Please see above. However please note as I previously mentioned (you were listening weren't you?) this site makes use of proprietary company names within the context of a fair analysis of that companies performance, and in no way makes any claim over the use of these names. I take no responsibility if these names which I use purely to review the airline are in common use on the airline, but which the airline also makes no claim over, and this also extends to regional or geographic names which the airline may be using: for example if the airline in question offers me something they claim as Stilton, which which does not meet EU rules on it being Stilton, don't come after me and say that their blue cheese isn't Stilton if they offer it to me as such - I simply report what the airline has, and that's the airline's problem (and the same with any other product on board). Also note that some reviews on here could be up to 20 years old, and just as newspapers may have out of date reviews which refer to the older name of a product, so may I, which may not reflect changes in company names or the new EU naming rules, or indeed how the airline refered to a product at the time. For the avoidance of doubt, all reporting is taken as 'an honestly held opinion' and which is 'contemporaneous at the time', and this time may have been when a product was legally permitted to be called whatever it is you are complaining about. However if I do make a mistake, and accidently give an incorrect label to any foodstuff, wine, seat, film, or any other product or information on this site, or if you wish to point out that a product name or designation has been changed, I will of course try and rectify it as soon as possible. Just drop me an email - getting all legal on me would be as pointless for you as me. I try and rectify any unintentional errors as soon as possible, but by reading this website you agree that I am not liable for your own legal costs if you choose to get all legal on me rather than just letting me known under the English 'Without Prejudice' rules: indeed, if I may suggest, to go down this route first is pretty wreckless and downright odd. Note that billing me for your proir legal costs is not only totally un-enforceable, but is regarded by the courts as constituting misleading and deceptive conduct, and I may take it as such if you proceed in such a way. So don't email me a massive legal bill with bank details in Thailand to send all my money too (I presume the last three of these I've had have been spam anyway). Isn't it much easier to just drop me an email and have a chat about how you would like me to describe your wine, and exactly how you'd like the label spelt? Or indeed, maybe I could describe to you what wine might be better in the cabin anyway.
"Why do you use basic HTML, instead of Flash presentations and other ways to make your site prettier?" Simply because many of my readers will be viewing this site from a slow or dial up connection, on computers which have primitive browsers. Sure, I could make the site wizzy with lots of animations - but this would make the site pretty much unreadable from an internet cafe in Bangkok, or from the internet pillars at Sydney airport. I have deliberately kept all the information on each airline on one page, rather than splitting it up into sub-pages with links - so that readers can view all the information in one go, and compare the airlines. Alas as all the pages I have are vast - if you print out the Singapore guide on A4 it goes on for 47 pages - and if I then put it all with wizzy animation, it will take hours to load. As it is, each page should load on dialup in less than one minute. True, this makes the site look rather amateur, but then it is (it is after all, just something I do as a hobby). And in any event, for me, content is king, not the look of the site.
"Why are you so obsessed with the wine available on the flight? Although I occasionally see a few passengers drink alcohol on board, it is hardly part of the flying experience..." Perhaps not if you fly with airlines based in the USA, but most other passengers like their G&Ts or the odd beer. A good selection on board can make a short dull flight quite fun, and that is why all scheduled European & Asian Airlines (except bmi) offer a free bar service longhaul.
"How many free flights do the airlines give you?" None at all. I pay for all my flights myself, and never alert the airline to the fact that I'm on board. If I'm lucky enough to get upgraded, it's because I use the methods described on the site. I will add however, that being in the top tier of the Frequent Flyer clubs of many of the airlines does pay dividends on this score.
"Can you fly in First on Singapore & BA and compare the two services, before I book my flights to Sydney?" I would be delighted to, when I win the lottery. See above - I book & pay for all my own flights. I accept no payment or free upgrades from the airlines, so unless I get real lucky, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until my numbers come up.
"I love your pictures. Can you send me them all please for a book/article/TV item I'm thinking of writing?" Thank you. Yes. And no. I can't send you them all - there are vast numbers of them. If you already have the proof of the article ready, please send it to me, and then we can negotiate terms.
"You say the SQ245 is a 777-200 with non-bed Raffles. I was on a 777ER beded with Wisemen3000. Why can't you be more accurate?"
! I'll leave the arcane definition of which aircraft type is on which rosta to the anorak brigade. I can only tell you what is on the scheduled service - but, as the airlines warn, aircraft types can change at short notice.
"You say the QF Dash 8 has no air conditioning. In fact the Dash 8 has a pressurised cabin"
Please read the page. I say no air-con that works on the ground. QF's early Dash 8s have no APU that powers AC. And when it comes to aircraft, please see above. I'm purely interested in the service on board.
"Why don't you start a forum on the site for people to add information, or discuss your content?"
Because again that would bias my editorial integrity. While I always do value feedback, I like to maintain an objective overview of the content. There are plenty of forums on the internet discussing everything from the very good airlinemeals site (alas, this site has recent collapsed due to the illness of the father of the editor), to the terrible and really rather hopeless Skytrak - a site which just turns into passengers ranting about the checkin staff: hardly objective! Then again there is a good forum about collecting frequent flyer miles, Flyertalk, but despite its size there is a small hardcore clique of posters, but it is very intimidating for anyone new genuinely asking for information, where they generally get a kicking from the clique, who will then rapidly go off topic and discuss the latest Tesco promotion. Having said that, if you fly a serious number of miles each year, I do thoughly recommend joining in the discussions on good techniques that can really ramp up your mileage earning. There is also airliners.net, but this is of little interest to the ordinary passenger or anyone other than the few people who like to really know what plane they are on, and the professional pilots rumour network. Again, good, but this deals with the minutie of which pilot wants to get on a soapbox about their airlines latest shenanigans. Finally the good loungeguide.net does offer very good review of premium lounges - but thats it. Nothing more. And for those who want to know where to sit there is Seatguru.com however (I personally believe with an honestly held opinion) it is notoriously inaccurate, with major mistakes on most non-US airlines, and can be pretty much ignored. So it all comes back to there should be a one-stop-shop for those non-experienced passengers who want to know what their ticket is going to give them. And there's only one place for that - and alas I seem to won the job of putting it on the net. Quite frankly, I wish I'd never started, and I now tend to go on & get a life, and only update the site when I'm actually sitting on the plane, thanks to the wonderful inflight internet access (less so, since Boeing Connexion was axed, but thankfully other airlines have alternatives).
"So where and how do you write material for this site?" On my trusty Toshiba libretto: one of the smallest laptops that was available "back in the days" - it is 6 inches long by 4 wide, and with a battery that will last for 8 hours on a long haul flight. It's been battered by many, many adventures. For the past year or so while I'm on Sabbatical, my favourite place to update this site was in a bar in Malta, the First Class lounge at Bangkok, and on the beach in Sydney. And while we're about it, I write pretty much all the content in international airspace, so don't get all legal and say I wrote a review in Hong Kong so Chinese law applies (or whereever). It doesn't.
"Any more comments on the food, drink or alcohol that appears on this site?"
this site is a non-commercial, not for profit blog, written by a non-trading individual, which does not market or promote any product listed, and does not make any direct or indirect commercial use of any name, and as such assert my rights as an individual writing a (non-marketing) review to be exempt from the relevant parts of RSA regulations, UK licencing laws, and EU laws regarding alcohol, promotion, designation, and marketing. Also note that some products listed here are no longer sold, and some have either changed their name, product line, designation, area, or some other facet of their product. As such these wines, beers and spirits must be legally viewed within a historic context, in some cases dating back over two decades, when the product could legally be called and promoted under its original designation. This site promotes the responsible use of alcohol, and also respects the legal drinking age in countries where it is restricted. this site aims to correct innocent mistakes as soon as they are pointed out, and apologises for inadvertent omissions, but will not pay your costs in this respect. Correspondence on this matter will not be entered into. By browsing this site you agree to these terms and conditions.
"I hate this site. Will you just shut it down? You are telling people information they really ought to find out themselves."
a. It's your right to say that, and mine to disagree. b. No. c. That's the whole point of the site. Everything from the consumer magazine "Which?" to Haynes Manuals at launch got a kicking from people who already knew the information in them - but my point is that none of this information is out there in an easily digestible form other than on my site. So, I'll stick at it, thank you very much
"I love this site. I want to buy it."
See above on being non-commercial. I'm not doing this to make money. Please look up "altruism" in the dictionary, then learn something. And while we're about it, remember this site is run purely for fun, and run as a non-commercial entity, with no legal liability, with reviews published as in terms of personal opinion, and comments take the form of an opinion, and that the opinion is one which an honest person could have held the basis of any fact which existed at the time my opinion was published (in terms of the law), and there is no intent in any way to damage the reputation or trade of any company or entity. It you really object to my personal and honestly held opinion which I report as a person who reviews (in a personal way) many entitys or airlines - just drop me a line. I'm happy to talk to you: just don't send me a snotty letter asking me to transfer millions into your bank account as compensation for an alledge slight: I get dozens of those a year, and I've set up email filters so if you send me an email demanding money for a legal letter you are writing me, it is treated as spam and I won't get it. Equally, if you're one of spammers who claims to be from Madrid, please go away. This site is fully compliant with UK internet law. Please keep the subject line as is - this is the fastest way to ensure it'll get past my hotmail filters. Would you still like to Email me? Click Here.
Log Files: As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as BT or Telstra), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.
Cookies and Web Beacons: We also use third party advertisements on this site.com to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing Cornwall real estate ads to someone in Cornwall, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing Frequent Flyer ads to someone who frequents Frequent Flyer sites).
DoubleClick DART cookies: We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements). This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (”interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about Qantas, you may see Qantas advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey). DART uses “non personally identifiable information”. It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, UK national insurance (or EnglishTaxfile, or US Social Security) numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx
You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.
Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.
A new law on cookies demands that you, as a website user, are given the opportunity to understand how cookies are used on our websites and consent to cookies being stored on your computer (laptop/mobile/tablet).
A cookie is a small text file, typically of letters and numbers, downloaded to your computer when you access websites. Typically, they contain the following information: a site name and unique user ID, the duration of the cookie's abilities and effects, and a random number. As a rule, cookies cannot be used to reveal your identity or personally identifying information.
When you visit a website that uses cookies for the first time, a cookie may be downloaded onto your computer. The next time you visit that website, your computer checks to see if it has a cookie that is relevant and sends the information contained in that cookie back to the website.
Generally, the role of cookies is beneficial, making your interaction with frequently-visited sites smoother with no extra effort on your part. Without cookies, online shopping would be much harder. Without cookies, some websites will become less interactive with the cookie option turned off.
Third party cookies are set by another website; the website you are visiting may have advertising on the page and this other website will be able to set a cookie on your computer. Third party cookies on the main web browsers allow third party cookies by default. Changing the settings on your browsers can prevent this.
Exceptions There are some exemptions to the above where it is essential for a website to store information on your computer, for example, to provide a service to you that you have requested.
Our use of cookies
We use cookies to improve your experience on our websites and for functionality purposes, for example, if you choose to buy any of our products and services, you must consent to us placing a cookie on your computer; We also use cookies to understand your usage of our website; We have partners who have referred clients and in using cookies, we track referred sales so we can compensate our partners accordingly; Further information can be found at http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/the_guide/cookies.aspx and http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
Page last updated June 2008.