If I had an editor, this would definitely be at the request of a filler article. Yet I don’t, so I can only claim artistic boredom as the cause for it.
Here is a list of every airliner I flew this year. It was enough airline food to constipate me and you for three lifetimes.
Sadly, no fighter jets this year.
First Class
- Emirates A380 and 777-300
- Qantas A380
- Cathay 777-300ER
- Singapore Airways A380 and 777-300
- British Airways B789-9
- Garuda Airlines 777-300ER
Business Class
- Virgin Atlantic A333
- Fiji Airways A330-200
- Air Tahiti 789
- Kenyan Airways 787
- Avianca 787
- Turkish Airlines A330
- American Airlines 777-300
- JetBlue A320
Business Class Short Haul (less than 4 hours)
- British Airways
- Swiss Airlines
- Air Canada
- United
- South African Airways
- Air New Zealand
- LATAM
- Icelandair
- Avianca
- Virgin Australia
- Qantas
Economy Short Haul
- LATAM
- RyanAir
Best Journey
None of the above. Flying is a hideous experience. I award this to the Eurostar from London to Paris.
Second Best Journey
Garuda Airlines from Jakarta to London. What a shame they no longer do this route, but how fortunate we were to have tried it. I was desperately trying to find a deal on Singapore’s new A380 to get home from Sydney, but in the end it was half the price to fly with Garuda, and stay over in the Four Seasons Jakarta. The entire pre-flight setup was verging on fantasy, as they seemed to pour their heart into delivering the best experience imaginable. It may be the only time I’ve ever gone through immigration without physically being present, as one of the two Garuda staff sent to look after us did it for me.
Biggest Surprise
Icelandair should win this. Any airliner that allows me to watch The Lion King and enjoy the sunrise on a 3 hour flight gets my thumbs up. Yet Jet Blue’s Mint from LAX to FLL really was the best domestic flight I may ever have taken.
A shout out to BA First B789 to Santiago. It not sucking took me by surprise.
Biggest Disappointment
Turkish Airways. I had flown them before from Amanzoe to Amanyara via Istanbul, and was overly impressed. Yet long-haul from Prague to the Maldives via Istanbul, and back again, the crew were miserable and completely unaccommodating.
Biggest Waste of Money
Emirates First Class from Dubai to Maldives. An overnight flight which is apparently too short that providing blankets was outside of their policy.
Conclusion
Don’t do it, kids. Never aspire to make this your life. I hope virtual reality means you can just experience the world from your living room.
