Flights | Jason Around the World

Podgorica to Belgrade, Serbia on JAT, Metropol hotel

Airports, Flights, hotels, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan Moscow Serbia and Montenegro No Responses »

Dec 272013

Check-in, security, and immigration were a breeze in Podgorica. The airport is so small there’s no real gates, just one large room on the other side of immigration with multiple doors leading out to busses. There was a VIP lounge as well, but unfortunately (for some odd reason) Air Serbia had no agreement for business class passengers to use it. Yes, I said Air Serbia. So what happened to flying JAT? Well, for once, I trusted my travel agent (who knew JAT was gone) that I was JAT, but they’d actually rebranded several months prior to Air Serbia when Ethihad took a 49% ownership stake.

Air Serbia flight 173
Podgorica, Montenegro (TGD) to Belgrade, Serbia (BEG)
Depart 15:40, Arrive 16:30, Flight Time 0:50
Airbus A319-100 Registration YU-APE, Manufactured 2007, Seat 2A

15:40 came and went, and no sign of boarding, although the area leading to the door outside was a madhouse. Finally 5 minutes after scheduled departure, the floodgates were open, and everyone madly rushed our plane:

I was expecting the usual crappy Euro Business by this point, but it was proper 2×2 US-style seating up front…quite nice!

Quickly was asked for a pre-departure, and I asked if by chance they had sparkling wine. She went to the galley, and brought it on a tray with my glass to pour in front of me, and OMG it was Veuve! Now THAT is seriously impressive on a 50 minute flight gate to gate!

Vienna to Podgorica, Montenegro on Austrian in “business” and visiting Podgorica

Airports, Austria, Flights, hotels, Montenegro, Restaurants, Tajikistan Moscow Serbia and Montenegro No Responses »

Dec 252013

Taxi back to the airport in the morning took over an hour thanks to traffic, adding another 10 euro to the meter from the previously ridiculous fare that I had from the airport. Can’t seem to win! Check-in, security, and passport control were all a breeze – this is the first time I’ve been through Vienna since the remodel, and I was seriously impressed how efficiently things seemed to run.

The new Austrian Senator lounge was quite nice, with a good variety of munchies and drinks, but given the hour I behaved and stuck to water and munchies pre-flight. Soon it was time for the walk to the gate, which turned out to be a bus gate. Being a prop plane they fit everyone on one bus, and off we went. Turned out the plane was completely full, except “business” class, which consisted of 2 rows of 2×2 seats, thus 4 possible to sell. Felt kinda bad coach was completely full and I had the front eight seats to myself, but I guess there’s some consolation to having paid for business class on a short prop flight.

Austrian (operated by Tyrolean) flight 727
Vienna, Austria (VIE) to Podgorica, Montenegro (TGD)
Depart 12:50, Arrive 14:25, Flight Time 1:35
Dehavilland Dash 8-400, Registration OE-LGH, Manufactured 2002, Seat 1A

Takeoff was quick, and I was curious to see what the food would be. Being a prop, I expected the same cold sandwich I saw economy getting, but nope…it was the full real deal. Kudos to Austrian and Do and Co catering! Nice little meat pie, some bubbly, and a tasty desert – not bad at all all things considered!

It’s no Dom, but I was beginning to actually enjoy the Austrian sparkling wine, and it worked well with the dessert…at least that’s what I was telling myself!

Amazing views over the mountains as we descended into Podgorica:

Moscow to Vienna on Austrian in Business, Hotel Bristol, and overnight in Vienna

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Dec 252013

Given my experience getting to my hotel on the way into Moscow, I decided to leave for the airport a solid 4.5 hours before my flight just in case it took four hours again. No such experience this time, and in right around an hour I was at Domodedovo Airport for my flight to Vienna. Check-in went pretty quickly, and then it was off to passport control and security, which also was really quick. Soon I was in the lounge with over three hours before the flight – ugh. Oh well, better early than late!

Good planespotting from the lounge:

A Saravia Yak-42 – not a plane you see every day!

Uzbekistan Airlines…making up for the photo I couldn’t get when I flew them back in May.

Istanbul to Moscow Vnukovo on Turkish in business, and the Sheraton Moscow

Airports, Flights, hotels, Russia, Tajikistan Moscow Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey 3 Responses »

Dec 142013

Fortunately my flight out of Istanbul wasn’t all that early, but I decided to try and get an early start to “enjoy” the Turkish lounge, crowded as it usually is. It’s a good thing I did, because traffic was nightmare-ish this morning, and took well over an hour to get to the airport. Due to that, it was also going to be much more expensive than on the way in. I had 74.60 lira on me, and prayed it wouldn’t go over that. I had some dollars and euros as backup, but didn’t want to get in a negotiation.

Pull into the business class check in and the meter reads? 74.32 lira. Obviously, I’m doing something right! w00t for that!

Business class checkin was quick with zero line, as was passport check and security. I was curb to lounge in 15 minutes max…for once Istanbul airport is redeeming itself to me. Of course, the lounge was mildly packed, but I not only found a seat, but one with a power outlet. This day keeps getting better and better, Time for a snack! Mmmm…baklava!

Soon, it was off to the gate. Boarding only started 20 minutes before departure…this was not looking good…except…upon boarding it was “new” style A321 barcalounger business class…and only 3 of the 16 seats were taken. I’m obviously living right today!

Turkish Airlines flight 415
Istanbul, Turkey (IST) to Moscow, Vnukovo, Russia (VKO)
Depart 11:45, Arrive 16:35, Flight Time 2:50
Airbus A321-200 Registration TC-JSG, Manufactured 2013, Seat 2F

I was glad to see that even though the flight was shorter, and with real seats, we had the chef again! Hahhahaha!

…and pre-departure fresh-squeezed OJ is always welcome!

Dushanbe to Istanbul on Turkish in business, and the W Istanbul

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Dec 102013

This will be a relatively short one, since I griped a few posts back about how miserable Turkish A321 business class is. Got to the airport approximately two hours before my flight, which was about right, as check-in took nearly 30 minutes. There was only one line, for all passengers, forget about any priority or business class. Immigration and security were completely painless, and soon we were in the departure room. I say room, because it was one big room, with a tiny snack bar, and that was it. Almost every seat was occupied.

This morning’s 5am entertainment was provided by a group of around 10 soldiers in uniform, getting completely trashed throwing back vodka shots. Fortunately, they weren’t on the flight, but makes me wonder what they were doing on that side of security. Maybe I’m better off not knowing.

Bus gate (no jetbridges in Dushanbe, which was hella fun in the pouring rain. That meant when the bus doors opened, it was a mad dash to the stairs…and of course the first people on the plane jammed the aisles so everyone else got soaking wet. It was a great way to start a long flight in Turkish’s craptastic Euro business class! 😉

Turkish Airlines flight 255
Dushanbe, Tajikistan (DYU) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
Depart 6:00, Arrive 9:00, Flight Time 6:00
Airbus A321-200 Registration TC-JRB, Manufactured 2006, Seat 2D

Once again, our friendly young man in the chef costume presented orange juice and a few other fruity drinks right before takeoff, along with some Turkish delight, and soon we were off into the rainy skies. Flight was completely full this morning, with every seat taken. Literally five minutes off the ground the crew sprang into action, impressive since they’d just worked the inbound from Istanbul. Yes, they’d be pulling a 13-14 hour day…don’t think that would fly with the FAA.

Very soon it was hot towels and the meal service. So, to start we were promised:

Fresh Fruits

Yoghurt with Honey

Chicken and Turkey Breasts

Assorted Cheese

Pretty tasty for an appetizer/starter, and I will admit that the food is one thing Turkish really manages to get right.

Then, we had a choice of:

Turkey Ham & Cheese Toast (Turkish style spinach puff pastry, chicken sausage / herbed mushrooms)

Gratined Crepe with Scrambled Eggs

I asked the “chef” which he recommended, and he said definitely the crepe, the other one is not at all good. I’d say he was right on the crepe, but can’t really speak to the other choice.

About an hour before landing, only 2.5 hours after the main meal, we were offered a snack. A bowl of hazelnuts, and a “cheese sandwich and sour cherry cake.” Skipped the sandwich because I was still full, but had the nuts and the delicious cherry cake with a couple of coke zeros in an attempt to wake up.

Landed in Istanbul right on time, no line at all for visa on arrival, and I still ended up waiting nearly 30 minutes for bags to be delivered. Not a huge deal, but I was anxious to get to my hotel and get seeing the city! I had a 24 hour rest stop, and wanted to see as much as I could, having only been to Istanbul once briefly before.

Bags came about 45 minutes after deplaning, no line for a cab, and it was off to the city in Istanbul’s terrible traffic. Was a surprisingly expensive taxi, over $40 due to traffic, and soon we were at the W. I had the choice of a standard room available right away, or waiting an hour for a suite. Easy choice. Dropped my bags with the concierge, and headed out to refuel with some coffee. Felt much better, and it was off to the W.

I’ll talk about my wander around Istanbul in the next post, but I’ll give a quick review of the W here.

Staff: absolutely fantastic. Warm greetings, genuinely seemed interested in helping, and were extremely friendly. The only small drawback were the staff in the restaurant, who I’m sure were trying their best, but I’ve seen turtles that moved faster.

Room: awesome upgrade to a studio suite, which had a fantastic rain shower in it. Well, it would have been fantastic if there weren’t oddly placed pieces of furniture everywhere which caused me to break my toe when I stubbed it in the middle of the night. Not real thrilled with that. Oh, and since I always complain about it, the AC worked wonderfully, and kept the room nice and cool.

Restaurant and bar: food and drink were good, but prices were absolutely outrageous. Service was also, as I mentioned above, insanely slow. I wanted turkish food, but not fast-food takeout, and after a day of wandering I was too tired to go far, and everyone I talked to seemed to agree there was really nothing good in the neighbourhood which met that description. I mean, food was tasty, but an appetizer, some kebabs, and two glasses of wine should not cost $70 in Istanbul. Highway robberly.

Location: everything you need in walking distance, but not a great selection of restaurants. Also, it’s about a 15 minute walk to the tram to old town, or 15 minutes uphill to the cable car to the metro. So, it takes a while to get to sites, but I really didn’t mind. Gave me a chance to see things along the way.

In summary, I love this hotel, well, maybe not love but really like. This was a rest stop in between intense work stops for me, and it was relaxing and comfortable, which was just what I was looking for.

Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Frankfurt in Lufthansa First

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Nov 272013

Ok, so I lied. I initially intended to make one long post about the travel all the way to Tajikistan, but since I normally post trip reports so late that I forget the details I’m going to do this entry while it’s still fresh in my mind. By fresh in my mind, I mean Lufthansa’s beverage offerings haven’t completely erased my memory 😉 So, live from the Lufthansa B-Terminal First Lounge in Frankfurt…

This is mainly going to be a pictures post. If you’re not interesting in airline food and drink porn, you might want to stop reading now. So, thanks to Mohammad from Über, the trip to Dulles was completely uneventful, despite the heavy rains in Washington. Check-in at the Lufthansa First counter went smoothly, and the upgrade from business to first was confirmed. A very promising start to the trip! Tried to use pre-check, but Lufthansa doesn’t participate, so it was downstairs to security theatre with TSA. Wasn’t feeling like a nice dose of radiation today, so decided to opt out since I’ve never done it before. There appear to be two types of TSA agents: those who get their jollies when they get to do the pat-down, and those who get really uncomfortable with it. Today’s lucky TSA winner was somewhere between 100 and 200 years old, and moved slower than most snails. He changed rubber gloves three times before finding a pair he liked (OCD much?) and then the TSA tug and grope could begin. After reading the speech about what he was going to do, he started telling me his life story. I mean, come on, it’s awkward enough you’re groping me but I don’t need your life story. Just because you’re getting frisky with me doesn’t mean we’re gonna date…

Soon enough it was over, and I was on the way to the United Global First lounge. The Lufthansa Senator lounge is usually way too crowded, so I opted to go hang with United for a few glasses of Veuve. Or so I thought. It appears that the one thing I didn’t think United would dare Jeff Up (champers in the first lounge) they did. The Veuve has disappeared some time in the last month, replaced by Heidseck Monopole Blue Label. Perfectly drinkable, but another example of United doing the cheap. At least the shrimps are still there – for now.

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to Washington, DC via Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines First Class

Airports, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 212013

Got to the airport, check-in was nice and easy, and the line for security and passport control were non-existent. So far, this was definitely the most modern and well-kept airport I’d seen in West Africa. It was clean, good facilities, and everything seemed to, for lack of a better word, work. Wandered around for a couple of minutes, before heading to the lounge.

The lounge was a multi-airline lounge, and it looked like my Brussels Airlines flight would be sharing it with Air France tonight. The attendant brought over a small plate of finger snacks, and offered me a drink. It was warm, so I asked for a bottle of water…when she brought it, she asked for my lounge invite and marked it. Seems you only get TWO drinks, and I’d used one of mine on a bottle of water. Eventually she did say you could BUY more drinks if you wanted, but only two were included. Why can’t Brussels and Air France pay for their business class passengers have drinks? Poor image in my book.

There was one other major shortcoming for the lounge – a lack of outlets. I’d arrived early and managed to get one to charge my phone, but many others were wandering looking for them. I think there were a total of maybe 4 or 5 for the whole lounge. Having consumed my water, free glass of wine…and another glass of wine I sweet-talked my way into, I decided to wander the airport for the 45 minutes left before boarding. It grew old pretty quickly, and I decided to sit at a gate cafe and people watch. You can’t really tell well in this picture, but those are discoball-studded silver stillettos. I know that’s what I always wear to fly. Wasn’t going to post this picture, but it also shows a bit how the airport is really rather nice as well.

Another shot of the gate area:

Soon, it was time to board,which was done through a jetway. A rarity in west Africa!

Brussels Airlines flight 231
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ABJ) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 22:50, Arrive 07:25, Flight Time 6:35
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFU, Manufactured 2000, Seat 5K

On board, and welcomed with a flight of bubbly…and thanks to a friendly flight attendant a second.

Ouagadougu, Burkina Faso to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and first day in Abidjan

Airports, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, hotels, Restaurants, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 152013

Got up relatively early thanks to being early to bed, and decided to explore the hotel grounds a bit more. Breakfast was included in my rate, and it turned out to be extremely good. The Laico Ouaga 2000 put on quite a good spread. Super fresh baguettes, lots of nutella, fruits, omlettes made to order and fresh-squeezed juices. I was quite impressed.

Walked around a bit, and then caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport. I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. Reviews online were pretty mixed, but the rooms were comfortable, clean, and cool, fastish WiFi, free airport shuttle, nice grounds, etc etc etc. The only negative at all was that it was a hike into downtown, but that was honestly a plus in this case. I can’t recommend this hotel enough!

So, back to the airport, and time to try and find my passport, lolz. My driver was kind enough to try and assist because “I know how things work in Ouaga” but I decided to brave it alone.

Inside the airport, and walked towards the door where you exit from immigration. There were two guards there, and I told them they have my passport inside for a visa and I need to get it. That worked, and they let me in. Walked past the immigration booths, and straight to the counter from yesterday. Told them I was there for my passport, gave them my name, and voila…got it back. Did a quick check of it, and there was no visa inside. I asked where the visa was, and they told me I didn’t need one for a one day transit. You may go. Back out the door, and into the departures hall. It couldn’t be this easy…and cheap…could it?

Over to the Air Burkina counter, and no trouble checking in. Then, it was off to official immigration to leave Burkina…with stamps in my passport, but no visa. This is where it got entertaining. “Ou est votre visa?” “J’ai pas besoin d’un visa….chu en transit.” Um, yeah, that went over about as well as a lead brick. I tried to explain. See, the lady inside the arrivals area kept my passport last night, because I had an overnight transit. She gave it back to me 10 minutes ago, and told me I didn’t need a visa. “Ok, so you leave Burkina Faso now?” “Yes.” Ok. Stamp stamp, and that was it. One hurdle down!

Then, it was security. They, surprise surprise, wanted my passport…and started hunting for a visa. Not finding one, they asked for it. Time to tell the whole story again. “Oh, American. Barack Obama!” Great, that again. “Ouais, chu Americain, mais j’ai pas besoin d’un visa pour transit.” They were a bit thrown off. I continued to explain to them. They’d never heard of someone getting in…and out past immigration…without a visa. They tried a different strategy. “Vous avez un petit cadeau pour nous?” Um, no, no gifts for you. Bags on the xray belt, and I walked through the metal detector. They all just laughed, handed my passport back, and wished me a good journey.

This stop completely validated the biggest lesson my 2013 travel has taught me. When confronted with “officials” who smell blood and want a gift or bribe, the best strategy is to stay happy, joke with them, be nice, but not give in. Almost every time they end up respecting you, and you get out of it without paying anything.

Then…it was time to find the lounge. Up the stairs, and look, there’s a sign!

Before you get too excited, however, let’s talk about the lounge.

On the positive side, bathrooms were clean. Free water and Coke Zero…but working Wifi? Hahahahah, um, no. The chairs were pretty awesome, big overstuffed leather chairs, and the AC worked nicely. It was overall, 75% of what a lounge needs to be in my opinion. Only serious downside was the total lack of functional WiFi. I waited out the last 15 minutes before boarding in the gate area, which also wasn’t too bad at this time of day. Then, it was time to board!

Air Burkina flight 515
Ouagadougu, Burkina Faso (OUA) to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ABJ)
Depart 12:25, Arrive 13:55, Flight Time 1:30
Canadair CRJ-200, Registration TZ-RCA, Manufactured 2000, Seat 2A

Yup, it was the same plane that brought me into Ouaga the day before. I was curious to see if service would be any different on a slightly longer flight. Business class was only booked to three people again, so time would tell.

Shortly after takeoff, the crew sprang into action, delivering a cold meal along with choice of drinks. Champagne? Of course! Now that was quite the pleasant surprise. For a flight that was just over an hour, I was quite impressed how Air Burkina performed!

Soon, it was time to land. Parking, we exited the plane onto a bus, where I had a chance to snap a picture as we headed to the terminal.

Lomé, Togo to Niamey, Niger and Hotel Terminus in Niamey

Airports, Flights, hotels, Niger, Restaurants, Togo, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 012013

My driver showed up right on time in the morning, and soon we were off to the airport. About one or two miles into the drive, the car started going slower and slower…and slower…until it completely stopped. I asked what the problem was, and the driver said he didn’t know…but it seemed pretty clear to me that this had happened to him before. He just pulled over to the side of the rode, and flagged down a passing taxi.

He loaded my bags into the new taxi, and said we would go together to the airport. I am guessing since I was paying him a good rate, he wanted to settle at a lower rate with the replacement driver, so he came along. Clearly, the new driver was pro-America:

No problems at all, and soon we were at the airport post office to mail my post cards. After I got them mailed, the original driver walked me over to the terminal so I could check in. I settled the bill, got a passport check by a security guy, x-ray of my bags, and was in the check-in area. While I was waiting to check in, there was a very loud (and apparently drunk) man yelling at the security officers. It seemed, he was claiming, that someone had planted drugs on him and security found them. Of course, they were asking him to pay a fine on the spot or turn him over to the police…

Finally got to the front of the check-in line, and they said the flight had some problems, and was not open for check-in. Please step aside for 15 minutes. ut oh…are we going to cancel? I went back up to the counter 15 minutes later, and checked in no problem. Who knows what the original drama was about.

Cotonou, Benin to Accra, Ghana on Air Cote d’Ivoire

Airports, Benin, Flights, Ghana, hotels, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Oct 182013

Up nice and early to get to the airport well in advance of our flight. In most places, I don’t take airlines’ recommended check-in times too seriously, but in Africa I definitely do. Corrupt immigration officials are often looking for any excuse to “fine” you, and I didn’t want to take any chances.

One last word about the Novotel hotel, since I realised I haven’t mentioned the breakfast yet. We had asked the night before and they told us it opened at 6am, but when we got down there around 6:45 it wasn’t yet open. Turns out it was 7am on weekends, but the helpful staff member just told us to be seated and help ourselves – they were still bringing food but we were welcome to get started. Very nice! Lots of fruits, breads, cold cuts, etc, and made to order eggs – quite a decent breakfast spread. More than enough to get fueled for the day.

Got to the airport roughly two hours before scheduled departure time, which turned out to be more than enough. There was a bit of a line for check in, but approximately 15 minutes later we had checked one bag each, and were walking around the corner to immigration. No questions at all from immigration, a quick stamp, and we were at security. There was a small business lounge before security, and according to the Priority Pass app they would accept it…we decided to try. No problem at all, and John was able to access with a Canadian AmEx card for some reason. Unlimited booze in the lounge and a few tiny munchies, but more importantly an air-conditioned comfy place to wait for the flight.

30 minutes or so later, it was downstairs, through a quick security check, and time to walk out to the plane:

It wasn’t reassuring that this plane was parked right next to ours, LOL!

…and this ancient L1011 was parked just a short way away!

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