Fascinating places...interesting people

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

- Jawaharial Nehru

When people first learned that I would be traveling around the world in just nine days, most people thought I was crazy. My Singapore guide thought so when he first met me. Then he started doing the math and counted the number of hours spent on airlines and airports. I think we came up with a total of 60 hours. After giving it a bit of thought, Danny thought it was a great adventure.

Life is a set of adventures, and I believe that we have to make opportunities, and grab opportunities. Maybe it isn’t traveling around the world. Maybe it’s something different. But life is too short for regrets and what ifs. The hardest part of this trip wasn’t keeping track of a new currency virtually every day, but rather leaving my family behind. If I could have, I would have brought Jack and Carrie along in a heartbeat, I know they would have loved it. Some may think it selfish of me for leaving my family behind. And maybe it is. It’s something I sometimes struggle with. But on the other hand, each experience we have makes us a better person.

If I had not chased this story, I would have missed out on eating delicious Malaysian food with Alzan and Siti. I would never have seen the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the most beautiful building I have ever seen. I would never have shared some laughs and eaten a delicious lunch with the marketing reps at the Fairmont Singapore, or have met Danny, my incredibly funny guide in Singapore. I wouldn’t have seen the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, or watched the sun sink into the Persian Gulf, while sipping a tasty beer and chatting with Paul and Nicky from Melbourne. I wouldn’t have experienced the “world’s largest” buffet lunch at the Doha Marriott with Updesh and his young, charming daughter. I wouldn’t have met Nirijan, the Nepalese man working at a Doha gas station to support his wife and two children back in Nepal. Or the Arab man who reached out to shake my hand in the old marketplace in Doha, and then placed his hand on his heart.

The world is actually smaller than we think. And it’s full of fascinating places and interesting people. I’m richer for having met those people and seen these places. When I began this journey I left you with these words from Mark Twain. They are still relevant today as they were 9 days ago.

Maybe I'll see you out in the world some time.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

So, what is the best airline?

Well, after 9 days, 7 flights, 8 airports, more than 23,000 miles, and 2 aborted landings, my around the world adventure has come to a successful end. The first thing that people ask me is which is the best airline? It’s a very difficult question to answer, because there are so many variables that influence an experience, such as the route, time of day, number of passengers on board, and aircraft type. I had trouble finding any fault with Singapore Airlines, but the cabin crew had it relatively easy, because there were very few passengers on that flight. Would the service have been different if the plane was full? Maybe not.

First of all, you could never go wrong choosing to fly on one of these airlines. There is a reason that each has been given a 5-star distinction. There are many similarities in service delivery between the airlines, but they also have their own strengths and weaknesses. Even though I said comparing the airlines is difficult, I have noted the top airlines in each category below based on my experience.

Friendliness of cabin crew
Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines
The gracious nature and kind hospitality of these crews was remarkable and something that is hard to recreate. There is something special about south-east Asian hospitality that allows these two airlines to excel in this area.



In-flight entertainment
Cathay Pacific
All of the airlines have good in-flight entertainment systems; however, if I were to choose one as a standout it would have to be Cathay Pacific’s new Studio CX.


Pre-take off service
Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines
On both flights, Qatar Airways brought a basket of candies for passengers on a 45 minute flight, and water was given to all economy class passengers before take-off. Singapore Airlines scores top marks for being the only airline to offer real hot towels before take-off. Qatar offered warm towelettes a few times during the flight, but again Singapore Airlines raises the bar offering real towels. Cathay Pacific did not offer any towels.

Food
Qatar Airways
All of the airlines offered good food and selection, but I’ll give the nod to Qatar Airways for offering a light meal on a 45 minute flight. I was disappointed that Malaysia Airlines did not offer a light snack on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, and the croissant in business class should not have been hard. Kudos to both Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways for providing warm bread rolls in economy class.


Seats
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is currently configuring their aircraft with new seats, and I was fortunate to try them on my flight to Vancouver. The lumbar support is excellent, and there is extra support that “wraps around” from the lower back. Singapore Airlines had a good seat with extra “padding” on the edge of the seat, which provided support to the back of the thigh.

Airport
Singapore Changi
Hands down, Singapore wins this contest with opportunities to keep passengers busy and entertained. Plus it’s the only airport I know of that offers free 2-hour city tours, and has a dish of candy for passengers at the immigration counters. Singapore does offer free wireless internet, but the drawback is you have to register using a mobile phone number, which maybe most people carry with them, and I am the only luddite that doesn’t have one. Kuala Lumpur comes a close second for airports. I didn’t experience the economy terminal at Doha, so can’t comment, but the premium terminal offers first and business passengers a comfortable place to rest before one’s flight.

Qatar Airways...a pearl in the desert

Most airports have a separate queue at the check-in counters for business and first class passengers. In Doha they do things a little differently. They have an entire terminal dedicated for premium passengers flying on Qatar Airways.

As a guest of the airline, I was probably the only economy class passenger to use the premium terminal yesterday, which comes with spacious and well appointed business and first class lounges, a business centre, jacuzzi and spa, and some modest, yet sufficient duty free shops.

After a bit of breakfast in one of the lounges, it was time to board my flight. Doha Airport doesn’t have any air bridges, so we boarded using the stairs, which actually suits me fine, because it allows for a good view of the aircraft, and harkens back to the good ol’ days of air travel, although I’m not old enough to actually remember those days.

Qatar Airways is a relatively new airline that was launched in 1997. Since then it has grown from four aircraft to 62, with another 178 on order/options, including 5 Airbus 380-800s.

The first leg of our flight to New York was a six hour service to Geneva, which was very comfortable, and the time went surprisingly quick. Qatar Airways offers good service, with two meals on each leg, and like the other 5-star airlines has an extensive in-flight entertainment system.

There were two disappointments. Plastic cutlery in economy and the entertainment controller was fixed to the armchair making it difficult to use. I asked the lead cabin attendant if using plastic cutlery was standard practice (I thought it may have been some inane U.S. security rule), and he said it was. A 5-star hotel wouldn’t use plastic cutlery for their guests, and neither should a 5-star airline. It may seem like a small issue, but it’s the little things that make the difference between a good airline and a superior one. At a 5-star hotel the newspaper comes in a cloth bag each morning. In the 4-star hotel it comes in a plastic bag. Later that day, I would learn that Cathay Pacific also cheapens the experience by using plastic cutlery in economy.

The other issue I had was the in-flight entertainment controller was fixed to the armrest, making it difficult to use. The three other airlines profiled on this trip all had controllers that come away from the armrest. The cabin attendant told me that some of aircraft are configured with the more contemporary system, but the particular aircraft I was on hadn’t been updated.

On the flight from Doha to Geneva, I was impressed that one of the flight attendants laid a blanket on me, when they noticed my eyes were closed. Qatar Airways enjoys 5th Freedom rights between Geneva and New York, which means they are able to sell and transport passengers between two different countries, so more passengers joined us in Geneva for the onward flight. I was suitably entertained on both flights by the extensive and interesting selection of documentaries available for viewing.

We were anticipated to arrive into New York early, which would have been good since I only had a couple of hours to transfer airports from Newark to JFK. Our approach to New York was a little bumpy, but nothing out of the ordinary. I am partially deaf thanks to a couple of screaming kids nearby. I felt sorry for the parents, although the mother probably could have handled a stressful situation a little better. Anyway, everything was looking good for our approach, and then just as cleared the perimeter fence of the airport, the pilots increased engine thrust, and we started climbing away from the airport. This was my second aborted landing in the past few days. The passengers around me were a little unsettled by all this, and my seat mate laughed and commented that I would probably need to take a taxi to JFK, instead of two trains.

After we leveled off, the Captain announced that wind shear was detected at the airport, and they decided to abort the landing. We circled around and made a successful landing. Once on the ground, there was another delay of 30 minutes, because of aircraft blocking the gate. It was then I decided to abandon the idea of taking the trains to JFK and opted for a taxi, which by the way is highway robbery—$91 for the fare and $30 in bridge tolls. One toll was a whopping $22. I told the driver that must be the most expensive toll in the world…he said he didn’t know. Anyway, after having to stop at a bank machine on the way, the driver dropped me off at Kennedy Airport, and after emptying my wallet, I checked in for my last 5-star flight on Cathay Pacific to Vancouver.