Australian Abroad

I can already tell easyJet will not be good for my Parisian bank account!

Do Australians who Travel Abroad Live up to Their Stereotypes?

News.com.au Travel has an interesting report on what the rest of the world thinks of Australians who travel abroad. They have compiled a list of common Australian stereotypes including that Australians are:

• Dumb 
• Fat, loud and drunk
• Racist
• The world's worst tippers
• Easy-going and don't complain
• The world's greatest travellers

I would personally like to add one to the list:
Australians are the worst dressed travellers.

When heading back home to Australia from America, Europe or Asia, it is always easy to tell in the airport which are the Australians returning back home. They will be wearing thongs and board shorts for the guys and ugg boots and trackies for the girls. Why can't we wear blazers and comfortable chinos like the European men do? I understand it is a comfort issue, but come on, you left the beach four hours ago!

Not Just Cats who are Having Lasers Shined at Them

While the previous post made a joke of cats fascination with lasers, The Economist has released a troubling article on the current trend in Canada and the United States for people/criminals to shine lasers at aeroplanes which are landing. The number of aircraft getting "hit" with lasers jumped 25% to 229 last year in Canada and from a staggering 2,836 in 2010 to 3,592 in 2011 in the United States. While the act can come with up to a C$100,000 ($98,000) fine and/or up to five years in prison under the Aeronautics Act in Canada many people are continuing to do it.

I say lets leave the laser pointing just for playing with cats. Endangering peoples lives is no joke!

Funny Travel Photo of the Week

Amazing Qantas Sale! $1499 Return from Sydney to NYC

Qantas is having a massive sale with return flights to New York from Sydney going for a crazy $1499! Travel dates are from 3 August to 13 September 2012, 1 to 28 November 2012 and 1 February to 21 March 2013. I called up Qantas and spoke to a representative and even he was surprised how cheap they were. One thing to note however is that there is a $30 charge for paying with credit card.

More details on their current specials can be found here. 

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-flight-specials/from-sydney/economy/global/en

Would you Make a Phone Call on a Plane?

Virgin Atlantic is soon to allow passengers on its London to New York route to make phone calls, send and receive text messages, as well as accessing emails and using a basic internet access via GPRS. The system is like having a telecoms base station on the plane relaying the signals to a satellite or land-based system without interfering with the aircraft’s instruments.

The system for O2 and Vodaphone subscribers will only allow 10 users simultaneously and will bill the customers for international roaming charges.

I think I can wait to get back on the ground before I make a call.

More details on the new service can be found here:
http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/ring-ring-welcome-to-the-rude-airways/story-e6frfq80-1226356088594

Where are the world's busiest airline routes?

The Economist has a very interesting article on the world's busiest airline routes. Trips between Jeju and Seoul in South Korea come in at the top spot with 9.9 million passengers per year. Impressively, Melbourne- Sydney comes in 5th with a little over 7 million passengers.

For more results please visit:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/05/daily-chart-8