The 2015 Airline Awards

I laugh because I know some of you know, that we are gone on our 2015 “Winter Escape”. And here you come on to the blog to see a post from Buenos Aires today, just prior to this posting. Well let me just say that I finish what I start. It might take me a while but I eventually get it done.

In my defense, it has been a busy year and that last bit from our 2014 trip was a ton of work. We covered a lot of ground that day and I wanted an accurate record of it but I just kept putting it off.

So what about the 2015 trip? Well let’s just say we are back in the southern Hemisphere. However, we are nowhere near South America this time. This year we are just about as far away from Calgary as you can get. We are in the southern Indian Ocean on an island nation which is situated to the east of Madagascar, and I will get into the description of that island and provide a theme for you in my next posting.  Suffice it to say, I thought that because we made this epic journey getting here I should describe the journey itself because it was a real marathon. We flew 21 hours to get here on three airlines with a 2-hour layover in Europe and a 3-hour layover in the Middle East. It was 26 hours of travelling but because we flew east we lost a day and a half as we flew into the earth’s rotation. The coolest thing about it though is that we can legitimately compare three good long-haul airlines. So without further adieu, I give you ……

GYM’S 2015 AIRLINE AWARDS

We flew business class all the way, used each airline’s business class lounge and can make a number of different comparisons for you.

The first leg of the journey started in Calgary and took us across Canada’s Great Canadian Shield, crossed over the Hudson’s Bay and then over Labrador on a line that would have us fly above the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland and Iceland. Then we flew over Scotland and the English Channel, eventually entering German airspace and landed in Frankfurt, one of Europe’s busiest airports. Air Canada was chosen to handle this first segment and it was completed in a  767.

After a short layover in Frankfurt, we boarded a Lufthansa 747-400. This leg took us over eastern Europe, the corner of Asia and then dropped us down through the Middle East and into Dubai. Notable was the fact that we flew across the Black sea just to the south of Ukraine and then ran down between Iraq and Iran, without getting shot down. I was happy to sea the lights of Dubai as we left Iranian airspace and crossed the Persian Gulf.

The final leg of the trip went almost due south over the U.A.E., skirted the corner of Saudi Arabia and then went over Oman leaving that country’s airspace at Salalah.  From there it was all over water as we traveled down the eastern side of Africa in a nice new Emirates Boeing 777 to our final island destination.

There are lots of things to compare and I have tried to narrow it down to the important stuff, the things that matter to everyone. First on the list is the most important comparison, as follows:

THE SLEEPER AWARD

This gold medal goes to Air Canada for its “lie flat sleeper pods”. These units just have more room and you really can lie flat.  In addition the AC units allow you to flip over and roll around a little bit, as long as you loosen the seatbelt somewhat.  The pods also offer you more privacy so you can pick your nose and scratch things and no one will notice. Emirates units are nice but you don’t lie flat and movement is more restricted. Lufthansa seats afford no privacy and are really just recliners.

BEST AIRPORT LOUNGE

This wasn’t even close. The Maple Leaf lounge in Calgary simply sucks in comparison to the other two lounges but it’s better than anything an American airline offers. The clear winner though is Emirates, by a country mile. Incredible is a good word to describe the service, the style and comfort and the food and liquor offered by Emirates. Lufthansa gets a silver medal here and a special mention for serving Frankfurters with frankfurters for lunch in Frankfurt. It was also neat to see all the Germans drinking Beck’s draft just like they were supposed to be doing.

searching for the Emirates lounge in Dubai

Finally, at the Emirates lounge and unfortunately
there is only 5 chefs on at 2 am

IN-FLIGHT SERVICE AWARD

This wasn’t close either. Air Canada wins this award hands down. The senior crew on Air Canada, and I mean “senior” in more ways than one, really knew what they were doing. Everyone on the flight got what they ordered and although the food could be better quality, it was served efficiently and there were no screw-ups. Lufthansa had some nice offerings but somehow. they got out of sync. Perhaps they got confused when I said something that sounded like a German phrase and later, when queried in that language, I answered with a blank stare. Next time this happens I will just say, Danka. Emirates attendants looked good but the service was poorly coordinated and  simply the worst of the three. I was actually shocked by the service on Emirates.

AIRPORT SERVICE

Emirates gets the gold here. The Emirates tickets were not linked to the other two tickets and we were worried about our luggage. Emirates ground crew simply asked us for our Lufthansa luggage tags and promised us that they would get our luggage on their plane, which they did. They then guided us through this enormous airport to their lounge where we waited for our flight to be called. The Lufthansa staff was very nice but something the Air Canada staff did caused the normally efficient Germans to be embarrassed because the AC tickets we’d been issued for the Lufthansa flight were not recognized by the German hardware which delayed us from boarding first. In addition, the Air Canada departure gate staff in Calgary were held up by the airplane cleaners who could not get their act together to let us get away on time. Luckily we had a tail wind and made up the time.

CABIN AND COMFORT

Emirates had the most beautiful, modern interiors and the most gadgets I have ever seen on a plane including an excellent touchscreen entertainment center connected to a laptop at each seat. Emirates also had the best swag bag I have ever seen offered by any airline that I have traveled on. The Emirates swag bag includes a BVLGARI gift set, a real tooth brush and a month’s suppy of colgate toothpaste, a better razor than I use and a decent brush comb that is useful. I will be re-gifting the expensive men’s cologne next Christmas. The other two airlines were sort of tied in this category but let’s give the edge to Lufthansa who seemed to have a better selection of movies.

FLIGHT ATTENDENTS

Google pictures of Emirates flight attendants and you will see why they win gold here. They actually look like the pictures you will pull up on the net. They are young and their rich looking uniforms are perfectly tailored. Lufthansa gets the silver in their smart suits. Air Canada attendants need a makeover. Their uniforms are old school and the average age is 25 to 30 years older than the Emirates staff. AC attendants need a makeover but let’s hope they don’t ever lose their knack for excellent service.

So for those of you that are keeping track, Emirates won this competition with the most gold medals and the most overall points. However, there were some surprises and again let me just say that both Air Canada and Lufthansa beat any American airline in every category, hands down – especially United Airlines.

Tomorrow I will let you know where we are, so stay tuned.

Last Day in BA - March 19, 2014

Before I describe our last day in BA, I wanted to close the loop on the thread of a story that I started off the coast of Uruguay. The German pocket battleship Graf Spee had been scuttled and lay in the shallow waters close to where we had docked in Montevideo.  After scuttling the ship, the German Captain, Hans Langsdorff escaped to Buenos Aires. I thought we might come across his grave in BA but we did not. Suffice it to say, the noble Captain committed suicide in BA, 3 days after he scuttled his ship. He took his own life while he lay on the ship’s battle flag, in a hotel, in BA. He was buried by his crewmen, with full honors, in a cemetery we did not get to in our visit.

The last day of one’s vacation should normally not be as busy as our’s was. We were tuckered out after a full day of polo followed by the nighttime tango show and were sleeping soundly when the alarm went off to get us up and ready for a full day of touring. We breakfasted again in the Elena restaurant and were ready on time to checkout and be picked up by Carlos and our driver.

A short time later, we found ourselves in the Plaza de Mayo, the center of the political heartbeat of Buenos Aires. If someone wants to protest something, they do so in this place. We got out of the van and discovered that there were two protests going on the day of our visit and the park was very busy. Carlos negotiated the hubbub of The Plaza with us and it was here we learned how knowledgeable he was about his city and how much pride he had in it. We stopped in front of the Mayo Pyramid, the monument that commemorates the May revolution of 1810 that led to independence.  Surrounding the plaza are several important buildings, including the Casa Rosada, the home of the executive branch of the federal government and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Famous people have spent time here.  Eva Peron and Pope Francis are noteworthy examples. 

The Mayo Pyramid in Plaza de Mayo with Casa Rosada in the
background

Metropolitan Cathedral looks more like a library or bank than a
catholic church

We had lots of ground yet to cover, so we left the district of Montserrat and went through San Telmo to get to La Boca. La Boca is a working class neighborhood, famous for its brightly colored houses and the Boca Junior football club. We bought a soccer jersey here for our son and walked through the Caminito, a walkway an open-air museum where tango dancers were performing and local artists were displaying their wares.  Mrs. Gym found a couple of colourful handmade scarves at one of the stalls here. We then jumped back in the van and went back into the adjoining district of San Telmo but this time we stopped at the indoor market there. This area is quite distinct with its cobblestone streets and its colonial architecture. The venue of the tango show we had enjoyed the previous night was somewhere nearby.  The indoor market was in an old warehouse with a roof supported by wrought-iron trusses.   Carlos picked out a pastry for us at a kiosk here and we took a loop around the market where a wide variety of goods were being sold. There were many antique dealers and a great butcher shop inside the market. We left San Telmo and circled back through some very upscale areas towards Recoleta and a place that Carlos had picked out for us to have lunch.

Caminito an open-air museum in La Boca

The figures on the balconies are sculptures

The barrio was a working class neighborhood near the docks

typical artist kiosks in Caminito area

Our lunch spot was the Sottovoce, a highly rated Italian restaurant in the Recoleta area that caters to numerous politicians and government employees who work nearby. The walls are adorned with the caricatures of famous patrons which are hung on the wood-paneled walls. The pasta was great and I hope we can try it again sometime in the future when we are able to enjoy a longer service and some fine wine.

After lunch we visited the very famous Recoleta cemetery and the tombs of many Argentinian Presidents, Generals and wealthy families including the family tomb of Eva Peron’s father where Evita is buried. All the tombs contain the remains of many generations of well-to-do families and the architecture of each one is quite unique. Carlos led us around and pointed out some of the oddities and compared the architectural styles that were used in the cemetery.

an elaborate family resting place

memorial to Evita

each family plot contain many family generations and
may include several levels of caskets

a fancy coorner lot

a typical avenue in the cemetery

Later in the afternoon we explored the barrio of Palermo in the northern part of Buenos Aires.  This is a huge neighborhood that contains the largest green space in the entire city. The park is called the Palermo Woods. Although Palermo is newer districts than the barrios we had toured in the morning, this area is where all the rich and famous live and the real estate is very pricey, especially near the park.  There were numerous trendy cafes, bars and outdoor patios in the area. The restaurants covered all of the themes.

This is an old theatre turned into a bookstore that we took in

part of the Rose Garden in Palermo Woods

roses everywhere even though the "season for roses" was over

A water feature in Palermo Woods

elaborate walking paths

Palermo Woods

Before heading off to the airport, Carlos led us on a walking tour of the Rose Garden which is a part of the Palermo Woods and although this wasn’t the best season for the roses, it was still an impressive display. The enormous, multi-use park was well planned out for use by a variety of outdoor enthusiasts and had the feel of Central Park in NYC.

Our tour complete, Carlos saw us to the airport and when we got there offered guidance to the check-in counters. We said goodbye there and thanked Carlos for a job really well done.

Sadly, this is the final submission from the 2014 South American expedition. It was a great trip but it went by too quickly. We had that one night in a Rio hotel and then hooked up with the Oceana cruise ship which remained docked for a couple of nights allowing us to tour Rio with the cruise’s guides. We then sailed down the entire southeastern shoreline of Brazil stopping at several great points of interest and seeing a great variety of Brazilian geography. Then we docked in Uruguay and had a fantastic tour of the capital, Montevideo. Finally, we crossed the River Platte and left the ship in Buenos Aires. From there we had a whirlwind land tour of Argentina, seeing the world-famous Iguazu Falls and spending two incredibly full days in and around Buenos Aires. We were dog-tired at the end, so tired that it took me a year to finish this last installment. I apologize for being so tardy with this.

As I finish this submission Mrs. Gym and I have already embarked on the 2015 adventure to a new and exciting venue which is almost as far away from home for us as you can go. Stay tuned!