mike carey

Not about a 19 hour flight, but a somewhat shorter long haul sector. In the last couple of days the US Department of Transportation has given tentative approval for a Qantas-AA joint business venture for greater coordination of routes, fares and schedules between the two countries. As part of the proposal Qantas has indicated that when the venture receives final approval it will begin flying from Brisbane to Chicago, the airline's first service to ORD. They will also add BNE-SFO adding to existing routes from Sydney and Melbourne.

@quoththeraven and @latbear4blk I didn't like the idea of a GPS talking to me in a car, and have always been fairly good at reading a map in advance and driving according to what I'd worked out, and I didn't mind stopping to check. That said, I had one in my rental car in April and didn't mind it. I let it take me via a route I'd rather not have taken but from having checked on a map in advance I knew where I was going. What I liked about it was how it could redirect me back on course when I had taken a wrong turn, and how it told me which lane to get in on LA free-ways. I don't know that I'd buy one but for a rental I think I'll be using one.

[MEDIA=twitter]1135867176865357826[/MEDIA]

He does? I must check that out.

Spot on @MrMattBig.

No, from what my dealership says it's a weight issue, the suspension was just too heavy. So maybe that is 'boring Peugeot' but it's a serious practical issue.

I lament that Citroëns no longer have their signature suspension. My Xantia did, my C4 doesn't.

Oh, that, of course.

What could you possibly mean by that?

Welcome back!

Completely off the topic of hiring him, I was on a bus going along Century Boulevard near LAX checking my phone for Wifi coverage (I don't have international data roaming on my mobile account) and AradWinWin came up as one of the Wifi options. And yes, I had been paying attention to some of his scenes.

To add a perspective from across the big pond, same pressures here, some similar some different responses. Of course, I don't fly anything like as much as you. Most of the cost cutting is directed at reducing how much they can sell their cheapest tickets for. They want those low numbers so they won't wind back cuts even if their expenses fall. Rather than impose radical cost cutting measures, Qantas set up a low cost subsidiary, Jetstar, 15 years ago. The legacy airline (which contrary to some expectations has not been cannibalised by the low cost off-shoot) now has 'all fares include baggage, entertainment and food' as part of its pitch. Still its seats are closer together and less comfortable than they used to be, although seat pitch is better than Jetstar. Cabins are two-class (Y and J) on jets and single class on turbo-props, and there are two price-points in economy, discount and flexible, prices for both of which vary closer to flight date. There's nothing comparable to basic economy. Passenger loyalty is gone for most, although it's easier to be loyal when there are only two airlines to choose from. As in the US, the premium product is improving and in some cases being increased. It's no return to the golden age, but you can buy more comfort although it ain't cheap. No free upgrades here for elite flyers but 5,000 points on SE routes, 10,000 coast to coast. They also have a business-class lounge as well as the regular one. Internationally, they have three or four class configurations. As I mentioned here a year or so back, Qantas are removing 30 economy seats from the upper deck of its A380s and replacing them with business and premium economy seating in their current refit.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Sint Maarten yet.

What? No Krug?

I remember looking out the window to see whether the washing was dry on the tower block balconies.

Indeed, some do, most don't. I flew on American from LAX to DCA in January and saw from the card (or maybe the safety announcement) that it was on a 737 Max but I didn't join the dots to Lion Air. I did remember, and join the dots, after the second crash. (My other flights on that trip were an A380, B787s and Bombardier Dash-8s.)

No, you said virtually anywhere, and that is true. Living in Australia, I'm acutely aware of where I can go non-stop and where a stopover is necessary. My measure is where I can go with only one stop. (Interesting the bit starting with 'Except Africa' wasn't in your post but showed up when I hit 'Reply'. Edit: The words now appear above. And there are non-stop flights from the US to Cape Town and/or Joburg, not sure if they are from Chicago.)

Well, Chicago does get you non-stop to Auckland.

I suspect that Los Angeles is the only big city in the US that would meet the 'anywhere' test, although I'm not sure of that. I live in one part of the world that is the exception that the 'virtually' allows for cities in the north east, which the climate description implies. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha seem to have non-stop flights to everywhere but the cold winters and beautiful summers part hardly applies.

I'm really naïve on these issues, but if you like watching @Kurtis Wolfe in porn videos and you do it on free sites, why not find a way to pay him something. Or maybe go to Dallas and hire him.

Copyright 101.

To be precise, the reviews aren't hidden, they are there with the star rating and basic stats, but the textual comments are not visible to US viewers unless they use a VPN.

While legality wouldn't be problematic in Brisbane, coming up with a way to obtain a work visa would be very difficult unless you can suggest a business reason for one, or if you have a marketable skill that's required in Australia. Neither of those would need to be in Brisbane, although some of those visa classes are only for the duration of one specific job.

Great comment @JoshATX.

I would totally chat endlessly with [uSER=12155]@Dominiking[/uSER].