How to get to | Venezuela

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Venezuela

Source: cc Rich Childs

There are very few land border crossings to Venezuela. Airlines flying to Venezuela include:

• Star Alliance - Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa, TAP
• Oneworld - American, Iberia, LAN, Mexicana
• Sky Team - Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Delta
• Other selected - most Central American and South American based airlines

TIP On official exchange rates, fares from Venezuela are expensive. However on black market exchange rates regular longhaul first and business class fares from Venezuela are much cheaper than from USA.

UPDATED November 2009 - Mexicana joins Oneworld and Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.

Plane madness

Having recently sorted out some tricky itineraries for a couple of longhaul trips I've turned my mind to another challenge. How many scheduled commercial flights can I take in a day?

A couple of years ago I flew 8 flights within the same calendar day - landing from the last flight some 15 hours after taking off on the first one. In theory it should be possible to fly more flights in a day. In practice it isn't that simple, at least not without throwing money at the problem. As I toy with sample itineraries some considerations include:

• being able to check in for all flights in advance - not an issue for the airline I have in mind to do this on, unless they change the processes
• price - needs to be affordable, which for me means not booking extraneous flights just in case and also booking at least a month ahead of when I'd fly it
• schedule change impact - the tighter the connections the greater the problems with schedule changes
• schedule change likelihood - the further in advance the booking the more likely there will be schedule changes
• weather - where I live the weather is changeable and sometimes disrupts flights for a few hours to a day, some airports being more vulnerable than others
• aircraft used on connecting or turnaround flights - at some airports it is predictable the same aircraft will be used for the next flight, thus reduce the chance of a misconnect due to late arriving flight, whereas other airports have many flights with higher misconnection risk
• frequency - routes with high frequency of flights are less predictable in terms of same aircraft for connecting flight, possibly more vulnerable to cancellations (combining two flights into one), and also less likely that the flight will be held if only just misconnecting
• facilities - everything being equal I'd prefer more time between flights at nice airports (or those with nice airline lounges)
• time buffers to recover delays early in the day

I haven't yet booked this but I do have a sample itinerary with 10 flights in a day (also within about 15 hours) which I think is achievable.

How to get to | Norway

This post is on Norway. There is an additional post on Svalbard, the Norwegian islands to the north of the mainland.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Norway

Source: Micheal David Hill

There are lots of North Sea ferries plying between UK, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Sweden, Faroes Islands and Norway. Buses connect Norway with all the nearby countries. There are also trains between Oslo and several Swedish cities. Flight options (mostly to Oslo Gardermoen airport) include:

• Star Alliance - Austrian, blue1, Continental, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, TAP, Thai, Turkish, US Airways (seasonal)
• Oneworld - British Airways, Finnair
• Sky Team - Air France, Czech, KLM
• Other selected - Pakistan International, Brussels Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, many European low cost airlines (these may fly to Gardermoen or other "Oslo" airports at Torp and Rygge)

TIP There are few longhaul flight options direct to Norway and those that exist are either seasonal routes or vulnerable to schedule changes. Longhaul fares to Norway via European hubs are usually no more expensive than to most other places in Western Europe (excluding London, Amsterdam, Paris & Frankfurt).

TIP Some low cost airlines fly into secondary airports a long way from Oslo. The cost of bus or train into the city may more than offset the saving on air fare (although it is also expensive from Gardermoen to Oslo).

TIP By law there is no frequent flyer mileage earned on any domestic flight, and on some international routes from Norway (within Scandanavia). Award redemptions, however, are allowed.

UPDATED November 2009 - Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.

Points Breaks hotel redemptions

Priority Club Points Breaks are now up for October through January. Ignore the wording at the bottom of the page which refers to 31 October - that is incorrect.

I've gotten some great redemptions using these over the past couple of years, and just now have switched a refundable paid stay to a (refundable) points break. The cheapest room on offer was over €200 per night. Now I have a 5000 points per night cost, and I also was able to switch from the cheapest room category to an executive club room.

This is one reason why I pick refundable hotel rates as much as possible. You just don't know when you can get a fantastic deal later.

Frequent Flyer Friday #6

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Keith

Keith is a Laws and Political Science student at University of Melbourne. He loves to travel in style.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Keith is.

What is your home airport?
Keith - Melbourne Tullamarine, Victoria, Australia (MEL)

What is the airline you usually fly?
Keith - Over the past few years I have split my flights almost equally between Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
× jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
- I live on planes

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
× credit card spend
- business and leisure travel
× taking extra flights on trips I need to take
- mileage running

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
Keith - floating on champagne fumes

That sounds extravagant and delightfully indulgent. How do you manage to do this as a student?
Keith - Carpe diem. I seize on any and every opportunity to earn mileage and structure my expenses accordingly. I write down my travel goals, and work out a flexible plan to attain this. The various travel boards such as Flyer Talk, SQ Talk and Australian Frequent Flyer have been invaluable with many tips and tricks to achieve the optimum ratio of frequent flyer mileage accrual and redemption.

Through a combination of luck, some forward planning, and wisdom shared by others on those boards, I've even been able to snag Singapore Airlines A380 suites on awards.

[Editor's note - Singapore Airlines has a policy of no first class awards on A380 and 77W aircraft (their premium first class products). However, you can get them by being savvy - booking a first class award on 747 aircraft before the flight gets switched to A380 or 77W.]

Now for some travel advice from Keith.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Keith - I am carrying a Yoshida Porter tote for a day trip to Canberra tomorrow. Inside the bag is a Sony Vaio notebook, my travel documents including boarding passes from online check in, my wallet, a tub of American Crew foaming cream, Dior Homme Sport deodourant stick, travel size F by Ferragamo fragrance, travel size Bliss foaming facewash, Ultraceuticals lip balm with SPF 30 protection, and a pair of Calibre sunnies.

Contents vary according to the duration of the trip really. Choices of fragrance and sunnies are mood dependent. Obviously a change of clothes on international trips. I'd also usually take a camera (simple point and shoot) along but it was left onboard an Asiana flight in July and I've yet to replace it.

Please give a tip on travel.
Keith - One can meet some of the most interesting people in the world on planes. Whilst I've yet to sit next to a celebrity, I have met some truly amazing people who have added colour to my travels - some of whom I still keep in contact. Get to know your seat mate, you might be surprised. At the very least, it might be a good networking opportunity.

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
Keith - Singapore Airlines for the extensive international network, especially throughout Asia and Europe, and general ease of redemption availability (until more and more routes get taken over by the A380 and 77W). Qantas for the good domestic network, great international partners, and all round excellent service.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
Keith - Qantas. They have never failed to make each flight of mine a memorable one. The service on Qantas is the style of service I am most comfortable with, and their cabin crew always go that one step further to make pax feel special. The all-Australian wine list on Qantas almost always feature my favourite drops. Not to mention there isn't a better homecoming than seeing the red roo when departing from some random overseas location!

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
Keith - It depends.

BMI's diamond club, for the ease of earning and redeeming miles. Awards are fantastic value and flexible. The Cash and Miles option makes the mileage bank stretch that bit further.

AAdvantage has also been great value in terms of award redemptions on oneworld carriers, especially when miles are earned and redeemed in premium cabins.

In terms of status benefits, it is hard to go wrong with Qantas Frequent Flyer for the ease of earning status, and the bells and whistles you get when flying Qantas which is why I have decided to switch all my oneworld earning from AAdvantage to Qantas Frequent Flyer.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
Keith - There is no such thing as the perfect frequent flyer program. Examine your personal circumstances, needs and desires. Whilst advice from travel boards may help, you know your own situation best. Do not be afraid to look beyond the program of your usual airline your choice for value, as its partners might offer some very good deals. By the same token, the best status benefits are usually the ones offered by the airline you fly most regularly with so stick to them if you want all the bells and whistles. If you practically live on planes, don't be afraid to mix and match to achieve the best balance between value (mileage earning & awards) and status benefits.

Thanks Keith for your advice and information about finding an affordable way to fly in style on some top airlines. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

How to get to | Ethiopia

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.



Ethiopia

Source: Jialiang Gao

Ethiopia is the easiest of the East Africa countries to reach. There are buses from all neighbouring countries except Eritrea. There is also a train between Addis Ababa and Djibouti City. Allow plenty of time for land travel - distances are deceptively big. Airlines flying to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia include:

• Star Alliance - bmi, EgyptAir, Lufthansa, Turkish
• Oneworld - none
• Sky Team - Kenya Airways, KLM
• Other selected - Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates

TIP The best around the world option is on Star Alliance, because there are more flights and less back-tracking required.

TIP Ethiopian Airlines has some attractive fares from Europe and North America and codeshares on many different airlines. These codeshares generally are not available on alliance products or awards.