Flying Etiquettes Passengers Must Observe

You do not have to be paranoid of the passenger sitting next to your seat or in the front or in the back. Especially if you are a woman flyer, you are most likely to get this thought about some irritating passenger sitting beside or near you and troubling you with his voluntary or involuntary actions. Now, it is time to get these negative thoughts out of your mind and be confident of enjoying your travel during the flight.

So, there are certain etiquettes which are expected of each passenger. These are not written down in any formal sense anywhere, neither are these taught to the passengers before boarding (I wish this happens). But, these are some which are expected to be followed by the passengers on their own using their sensibility of how their actions will be perceived by others. If these are not followed, you can always complain to the cabin crew and get the person off-loaded or even arrested at the airport on grounds of misbehavior or inappropriate behavior.

1. Mind your arms and elbows. These shall be placed only on the armrest meant for you, not on those of others.
2. If you are bulky, you could cause inconvenience to others as you will move into space meant for others. Nothing much can be done for it except for seeking an apology for the same right in the beginning. Airlines generally have a policy on bulky passengers of asking them to buy two seats, not one. So, this can be invoked.
3. Mind your stares at women passengers or cabin crew. This would require traveling with the right mind set. Even stares can be embarrassing which is not right to do.
4. Do not straighten or widen your legs to enter the other passenger’s leg room. Even as your upper body is within your seat space, you might be willing to move your legs a bit for more relaxing posture. If this causes discomfort to other passengers, you are not showing the best of manners. So, it is highly recommended to observe your space limits.
5. Mind your cabin baggage. Airline has pre-designated space for keeping the cabin baggage and personal items. You must keep your own cabin baggage in such a manner that the other passenger is also able to keep it. If this to be kept under the seat, it is advisable that this does not move.
6. Even when you are within your space limits but are gesturing or posturing in such a way which does not look or feel good to other passengers, , such as keeping folded legs on front seat back, it is time that you behave in a manner a gentle person would behave.
7. Sleeping or napping shall be avoided. If there is no control, you shall be within your own limits.
8. Accidental touching of hands or body shall immediately be accompanied by an apology.
9. Dressing sense shall be appropriate. While you would love to travel in comfortable clothing, you shall be mindful that your dressing sense does not look obscene to others. 
10. Loud voice shall be avoided while speaking. 

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Dog and Cat Breeds Banned by United Airlines

One of the major airlines in US, United Airlines, has banned around 21 breeds of dog and cat in their Pet Safe program which was partnered with American Humane. This step was taken to enhance the safety and care of the animal while transportation. These steps are important because of a high number of animal deaths reported on United Flights early last year. So, the next time you decide to book United Airlines flight for your pet, please refer to the banned breeds given below.

Usually, the military charter is used to transport animals but it has a very limited number of facility and at a time only 20 spaces which comprise of 10 for large pets and 10 for small animals. These military charter can cost anywhere from $250 to $325. In commercial flights, the cost could go up to about $32,000. This ban has affected many passengers and military service members with pets. In one of the posts of a national newspaper, it was reported that United Airlines had the highest number of animal deaths in 2015-2017. One of the main reasons for these deaths can be because it was the only airline transporting most of the animals out of the other popular American carriers.

If you consider flying with pets then keep some of the things in mind. Prepare your pet for flying before 30 days and get a health certificate before you plan to travel. This certificate of fitness has to be produced to the airline before the trip. Help your pet to become comfortable with its crate. Take your pet in the crate and travel to shopping and market so that it feels comfortable in its crate. It helps your pet to feel the crate as its second home.

List of Banned Dog and Cat Breeds

 Dog Breeds

• Affenpinscher
• American Bully
• American Pit Bull Terrier/Pit Bull
• American Staffordshire Terrier/"Amstaff"
• Belgian Malinois
• Boston Terrier
• Boxer
• Brussels Griffon
• Bulldog
• American Bulldog
• English Bulldog
• French Bulldog
• Old English Bulldogges
• Shorty Bulldogs
• Spanish Alano/Spanish Bulldog/Alano Espanol
• Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
• Chow Chow
• English Toy Spaniel/Prince Charles Spaniel
• Japanese Chin/Japanese Spaniel
• Lhasa Apso
• Mastiff
• American Mastiff
• Boerboel/South African Mastiff
• Bullmastiff
• Ca de Bou/Mallorquin Mastiff
• Cane Corso/Italian Mastiff
• Dogo Argentino/Argentinian Mastiff
• Dogue de Bordeaux/French Mastiff
• English Mastiff
• Fila Brasileiro/Brazilian Mastiff/Cao de Fila
• Indian Mastiff/Alangu
• Kangal/Turkish Kangal
• Neapolitan Mastiff/Mastino Napoletano
• Pakastani Mastiff/Bully Kutta
• Pyrenean Mastiff
• Presa Canario/Perro de Presa Canario/Dogo Canario/Canary Mastiff
• Spanish Mastiff / Mastin Espanol
• Tibetan Mastiff
• Tosa/Tosa Ken/Tosa Inu/Japanese Mastiff/Japanese Tosa
• Pekingese
• Pug
• Dutch Pug
• Japanese Pug
• Shar-Pei/Chinese Shar-Pei
• Shih-Tzu
• Staffordshire Bull Terrier/"Staffys"
• Tibetan Spaniel

Cat Breeds

• Burmese
• Exotic Shorthair
• Himalayan
• Persian

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Cancun Destinations Worth Visiting

A video on Cancun tourist destinations. These destinations are liked by people globally and are visited in huge numbers. 

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The Points Guy Names Delta Airlines As Best Airline for 2019

The Points Guy has outlined the best and the worst American airlines of 2019 in its third annual survey. To begin with the final results at first, Delta Airlines has been established as the Best Airline, followed by Alaska, Southwest, United, Hawaiian, American, jetBlue, Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier. So, Frontier is the last one, or can be called the worst airline.

The question that naturally comes to mind is on what basis has the Points Guy come to such conclusions. Some of the criteria used by it have been outlined here:

a)      Percentage of flight delays and cancellations and number of destinations reached: Hawaiian Airlines has come on top in this respect as only 6.4% of flights were delayed for max 30 minutes. Cancellations on Hawaiian were also low at 0.3%. Frontier had most delays about 24.6% and jetBlue most cancellations about 2.2%.

b)      How likely are passengers likely to get ‘bumped off’ on a particular airline?- Delta came first on this metric. The airline had just 32 passengers involuntarily removed from its flight out of a 136 million flyers. On the contrary, Frontier bumped more than 1365 passengers out of 20 million passengers.

c)       Affordability- Spirit Airlines had the best fare cost per mile flown, whereas Southwest had best ancillary price.

d)      Comfort: Delta is the oldest fleet of average 17 years whereas Frontier has just 4 years as age of fleet. This makes Frontier the freshest in cabin experience.

Hawaiian and Frontier have widest seats at 18 inches on an average whereas Alaska has the narrowest seats at 17 inches.

Only Alaska airlines has power outlets on every seat.

jetBlue provides free Wi-Fi across its entire fleet, making it the only airline to do so.

With 52 lounges in 32 cities, Delta has the highest number of lounges across its network.

e)      Customer Satisfaction- Frontier has most number of complaints filed against it with DOT, at 778 complaints by flying just 19 million passengers. Southwest, which flies the highest number of passengers, at about 10 million, had lesser number of complaints at 602.

Spirit conducted itself really well in losing only about 1.7 bags over 1000 passengers whereas the American Airlines lost about 3.8 bags per 1000 passengers.

The significance of this survey is that the people are going to base their flying decision depending on the position each airline has got with respect to these metrics. So, the chances of getting Delta flight ticket reservations are more than that of other major airlines due to its overall superiority in these metrics.

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Frontier Adds Baltimore to Its Flight Network, Doubles GSP Flights

Frontier Airlines has been going strong ever since its inception. It has managed to add more than 100 destinations to its route map over all these years amidst stiff competition from other airlines. The airline began its journey as an ultra low-cost carrier which offers only a single cabin class of service. The other low cost carriers generally have at least one more cabin class of service, even though it might not be strictly the business class. Very recently, the airline has added a new destination to its network- the city of Baltimore.

The new route will connect BWI and Denver, and, BWI and Orlando from 11 April. There will be four weekly round trips between BWI and Denver using the A320 airplane. And, there will be three roundtrips between BWI and Orlando. These flights will give more flight choices to the passengers who can now make Frontier airlines reservations at low air fares to fly between these destinations. Spirit and Southwest are the other two budget carriers which fly passengers on these routes. With the addition of Frontier, the competition will get stiffer and the prices are bound to see the downward trends.

Besides the addition of these new destinations to its network, the airline is also planning to double the flight service between GSP to Denver. The non-stop flights from the airline will now be operated 4 times in a week- Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It shall be noted that GSP was added in network of the airline last year only and it is one of the six airlines which operated from that airport.

About Frontier

Frontier airline operates a single cabin, twin seat option airplanes within US and to some international destinations. The airline has Frontier Miles frequent flyer program which permits passengers to earn or redeem points.

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6 Amazing Things to Do In New York City

The New York City or The Big Apple is situated near the Hudson River which meets the Atlantic Ocean. New York is famous for the Statue of Liberty which is world famous and most visited island in New York. The City is famous for its parks, art museums, historical sites, and food markets. If you are planning a family or solo trip to New York then you will find many cheap flights to New York City from different parts of the world. There are many carriers which provide these flights to New York. Let’s find some of the 6 amazing things you can do in New York City.

1) The Empire State Building

It is the world renowned and major attractions in New York City. The view from over the top of Empire State Building is marvelous and you will never forget that in your lifetime. It is one of the famous and highest observation deck in the world. This art deco masterpiece and iconic structure is a must see for any serious traveler who visits New York.

2) Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty which enlightens the world is a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is a universal symbol of Freedom and democracy. The boat ride near the New York harbor offers a spectacular 360-degree view of New York Harbour and Statue of Liberty.

3) Times Square

This is the true New York landmark which has many crossroads across the city. This hotspot offers an instant slice of life in the big city with millions of visitors every year. Catch the Broadway theatres, electronic billboards, and cinemas in the city that never sleeps. During the New Year eve, you will find the most crowd of visitors.

4) Brooklyn Bridge

The best time to visit the bridge is at the sunrise because in the evening the bridge is covered with lots of tourists, bikers, and joggers. It was built between 1869 and 1883 is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States and one of the recognizable first steel-wire suspension bridges in the world. It connects Manhattan to Brooklyn across the east river and visitors can enjoy the skyline of New York City at this bridge.

5) Central Park

It was established 160 years ago and welcomes millions of visitors each year and is one of the New York City favorite attraction. The 2.5 miles park has many great places like the Belvedere Castle, Central Park Zoo, Lakes, fountains, strawberry fields, picnic spots, and the lush green landscapes. It is the much-needed space to relax from the fast-paced city life.

6) Museums

There are many museums in New York but some of the famous are the 9/11 Memorial and Museum which was built in remembrance of the 3000 people died in the world trade center militant attacks.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 has more than 2 million collections of artifacts which are around 5,000 years old. The highlight of this museum are artworks, armor, Egyptian art, musical instruments, photographs etc.

Some of the other museums such as The Met Cloisters, Immigration Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Rose Museum are also a must visit for art lovers.

Traveling through New York City is fun as you will find many local modes of transport. Some of the other major attractions are United Nations Headquarters, Wall Street, Fifth Avenue, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Little Italy, New York Public Library, Barclays Center, Madison Square, and many others. New York is one of the largest and densely populated cities of the United States as there are many good options of living a peaceful and healthy life. It is the culture of history, art, and there is so much to do and see in the city. It is always buzzing with tourist from around the globe who want to enjoy their vacation. So plan your trip in advance to this beautiful city so that you can explore a lot of places in a limited span of time.

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Qantas Rolls Out NDC-based Ticketing Platform for Agents

Qantas airlines is a flag carrier of Australia. Interesting as it might seem, it is the third oldest airline of the world. Qantas operates flights to 85 destinations with a fleet size of 131 airplanes as of now. The fleet also comprises of A380s which are jumbo long-haul airplanes, providing ultimate luxury to passengers. The airline is still going strong on these planes and ordering these, even as some of its Gulf counterparts are having other thoughts. Qantas is adding more premium economy seats to this airplane for the benefit of passengers who fly on it. Besides the 25 premium economy seats, it will also be adding 6 more business seats. However, there will be a cut on the economy seats. The carrier will be removing 30 economy class seats from this plane.

Qantas On New Distribution Capability

Qantas is the airline which has started providing a new platform to its agents for making Qantas reservations. The new platform is based on the New Distribution Capability of IATA. The NDC is an advanced ticketing platform. Qantas has developed its own QDC, Qantas Distribution Capability, which is based on NDC and also makes use of Farelogix of Sabre. The airline has also devised a promotional policy to encourage the agents to use the new platform for making reservations.

It shall be noted that the airline has promised to have at least 20% of its inventory on this NDC platform by 2020.

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How Marketing Strategy Influences Choice of Airplanes- Case Study Emirates Airlines

Emirates is perhaps the only airline in the world whose fleet of airplanes is made wholly of the wide-bodied airplanes. Unlike its American and European counterparts, the Emirates does not use different types of airplanes in its fleet. This has been the prime strategic point in the Emirates plans ever since it incorporated the first wide-bodied A380 in its fleet. These planes have definitely helped the airline in the evolution of its strategy of flying long-haul and also of beating the competition from European and American Airlines on the profitable routes from Asia-Pacific.

The A380s have been the strategic stratagem. In fact, of all the A380 orders worldwide, more than 50% are owned by Emirates. And, among its own fleet, these take a whopping 40% share, the rest being attributable to Boeing planes. There are some very obvious benefits of using these. The first is that it has served the strategic purpose of limiting the role of American and European carrier on long-haul routes. Secondly, there are savings to be made in maintenance costs of the airplanes as compared with those carriers whose fleet uses a mix of different airplanes. Thirdly, these have been able to attain a higher customer satisfaction level and have emerged as frontline companies in global aviation.

However, being large airplanes with more seats, there is a need to get more bookings per flight. For this reason, the airline, operating in a competitive environment, hinges on deals and discounts on Emirates reservations in order to get those bookings. Further, while long-haul strategy has secured the place in global aviation, many other profitable short-haul sectors of flights have been ignored. In order to gain ground there and still earn profits, it has to switch to single-aisle airplanes of shorter dimensions.

There is a consideration going in the Emirates circles that the company might be willing to cancel 20 orders of A380 and to order for the smaller version A350 or Boeing 787.

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Understanding Pros and Cons of Routing Models in Civil Aviation

Hub and Spoke Model

It is common knowledge that full-service carriers, also called the legacy carriers, operate on the basis of –hub-and-spoke model of operation whereas the low cost carriers (LCCs) operate on the basis of point-to-point connectivity.

Airlines have certain airports as their hubs. The hubs serve the purpose of concentrating the traffic at designated airports and plan for further routings. So, all routes operated by major legacy carriers are do have at least one hub, either in the end of routes or in between. This is a mandatory provision for their routings and all route planning is done keeping this in mind. However, there could be certain airports which are not declared as hubs as such but still have substantial operations by the airline. In this scenario, these cities are designated as the focus cities. The hubs are also used as international gateways and are key to international flight operations. Since there is a concentration of traffic on the hubs by the airline, you can expect these to be crowded and congested.

The necessity of operating through the hubs makes it important for the airline to have direct flights operating between those airports either of which is acting as a hub. If the airline is not flying with either end as a hub, it is a connecting flight in most of the cases and the connection is the hub. So, this is basic model of operation of the airline. This can result in airlines taking more time in these flights due to mandatory touch down at the hub in between.

When the LCCs first came into picture, thanks to Southwest Airlines, the hub-and-spoke model of operations was the first thing to be done away with. In its place, the point-to-point operating model was adopted. This cut short the time of travel as there was no hub. Further, this also saved on the cost of fuel and made it possible to offer savings on this count to customers are cheap airline tickets. The model required LCCs to add capacities only after estimating traffic on flight routes. Success of LCCs clearly demonstrates that the routing model is also contributing to the desired objective of providing lowest airfares to passengers.

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