when flying into australia on the next leg of our trip, we ended up on one of the many random carriers that our cut-rate one-way plane ticket company assigns us to. while this means that we save as much as we can on plane tickets, it also means that we don't choose the airlines we fly on, and that we rarely fly on the same airline twice. for the new zealand to australia leg of our trip, we ended up on emirates air.
let me prefix this by saying that we were on cut-rate, super economy class, one-level-above-the-pets-in-the-cargo-hold tickets. and it was one of the nicest flights i've ever been on... certainly the best treatment i've ever gotten flying in coach.
the airplane itself (an Airbus A340-500), had massive seats with a suprisingly good recline to them. then you add the over 500 channels of in-flight entertainment (including over 100 new movies. my picks: doom and the simpsons.), the fancy LED overhead seat lighting, excellent food and beverages, and even the fiber-optic stars on the cabin ceiling. and did i mention the in-flight wifi email checking, sms messaging, and laptop recharging stations in the galley?
i suppose the ability to get our tickets so cheaply on them is part of an effort to build brand awareness. and if so, it's working. now if i can just get a ticket on another great carreir (virgin atlantic) when we head to europe later... and will virgin america be running flights in the US by the time i get home again?
