Show notes
Recorded 28 April 2019 Written by: Geoff Dahl & Vinod Viswalingam Listen to this experience wherever you download your podcasts - including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play and Overcast. Listen to it on Apple Podcasts. Stream by clicking here. Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing "save as." In this experience, we look at railway to runway, using train services - that are often tied into the booking of your flight - to get to and from your airport. How does it work? How does it affect your baggage? Are you able to check in your bags at other airports besides the airport? What happens if your plane or train is late? Make sure you're catching the train at the right station. Vinny shares his city check-in experience at HKG. Does anyone still do curbside check-in? Shoutout to train travel writer extraordinaire Mark Smith – aka "The Man in Seat Sixty-One". If you're in a tough spot while, a train may be an option to get you to your short to mid-length destination. The railway to runway option is not limited to Europe...Taiwan has the option to book discounts on the high-speed rail system. Vinny shares his experience train travelling in Hungary and missed his station stop – in the days before smartphones...and how a phone call to Geoff helped him get back on track. Geoff shares a plane to train experience – complete with Nietzsche. And you never know what you're experience you're going to have...even a train car singalong in Germany. Jet Airways (9W) suspending operations. Skift news item about credit card companies holding back ticket revenue from Norwegian (DY). Will Geoff run into problems when he flies them from OSL-JFK in a few months? FlightGlobal news item about Firefly (FY) resuming flights from SZB to XSP. Vinny shares an experience from HKG-ZRH where he had to circle above the city to avoid a typhoon and an airspace restriction. Business Traveller news item on Boeing 737 Max grounding leading to Air Canada (AC) cancellations and schedule amendments. What happens when an airline swaps aircraft to a larger plane? If you have a story, question or experience that you would like to share (including train travel stories), please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/. SELECTED LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE EXPERIENCE Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) Göteborg Landvetter Airport (GOT) Eurowings (EW) Deutsche Bahn [German Rail] (2A) Rail&Fly Partner Airlines Important information for Rail&Fly passengers, who have booked heir tickets via an Airline Transfer connections to/from the airport Partner Tour Operators Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Munich Airport (MUC) Friedrichshafen Airport (FDH) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) Copenhagen Airport (CPH) Zurich Airport (ZRH) Geneva Airport (GVA) Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) Oslo Airport (OSL) Vienna International Airport (VIE) Lufthansa (LH) Lufthansa Express Rail OeBB [Austrian Federal Railways] Rail&Fly Austria Austrian AIRail Austrian Airlines (OS) SBB/CFF/FFS [Swiss Federal Railways] Flight luggage station to Zurich Airport Flight luggage door to Zurich Airport Flight luggage door to foreign airport with check-in Major changes to SBB Luggage Services as of 5 June 2018 (Trip Advisor 28 May 2018) SWISS (LX) Edelweiss Air (WK) Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) Eurail Passes Seat 1A Experience 003 - Connecting two tickets experience (show notes and audio) What airports still do curbside check-in? Curbside Check-in: The Best Airport Perk You're Not Using (smartertravel.com 25 September 2018) SNCF [French National Railway Company] (2C) TGV AIR : réserver un billet d'avion avec un pré-acheminement en train (appears to be only in French) The Man in Seat Sixty-One Amtrak (2V) New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) AirTrain JFK Long Island Rail Road - Jamaica Station New York Penn Station (ZYP) Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) Free high speed rail to Taoyuan for EVA and China Airlines passengers (taiwannews.com.tw 21 August 2017 - as of 2019 appears to now be only discounted fares) Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) EVA Air (BR) Uni Air (B7) THSR booking for EVA Air and Uni Air passengers China Airlines (CI) Mandarin Airlines (AE) THSR booking for China Airlines and Mandarin Airlines passengers China Eastern (MU) Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) Ryanair (FR) EasyJet (U2, DS, EC) Deutsche Bahn TravelService Information Seat 1A Experience 006 - Grab your passport (show notes and audio) Through coach (Wikipedia) MÁV [Hungarian State Railways] PKP [Polish State Railways] Jet Airways (9W) WOW air (WW – ceased operations 2019) Norwegian Air Shuttle (DY, D8, DI, DU) Firefly (FY) Subang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB - former KUL until 1998) Singapore Selatar Airport (XSP) Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) Airbus A340 Boeing 777 Finnair (AY) Air Canada (AC) Boeing 737 MAX Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) St. John's International Airport (YYT) London Heathrow Airport (LHR) Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL) Barcelona–El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport (BCN) Qatar Airways (QR) Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) Kahului Airport (OGG) Omni Air International (OY) Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD) Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) Shannon Airport (SHN) Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) Calgary International Airport (YYC) London [Ontario] International Airport (YXU) WOW air (WW – ceased operations 2019) (Wikipedia) Airbus A321 (airliners.net) Trent 1000 Packages B & C durability improvement explained (Rolls Royce) Seat 1A Experience 009 - Wet leasing experience (show notes and audio) Wet & Damp Leasing (UK Civil Aviation Authority) Boeing 787 Dreamliner NEWS ITEMS bbc.com | Jet Airways temporarily suspends all flights (18 April 2019) https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47963536 "...Troubled Indian airline Jet Airways has temporarily suspended all its domestic and international flights after failing to find fresh funding. The airline said its last flight would operate on Wednesday [17 April 2019] as it was not able to pay for fuel and other critical services..." Jet Airways (9W) skift.com | Norwegian Air Suffers as Credit Card Companies Hold Back Ticket Revenue (28 April 2019) https://skift.com/2019/04/28/norwegian-air-suffers-as-credit-card-companies-hold-back-ticket-revenue/ "...For air passengers, the nice thing about booking a ticket with your credit card is knowing you can probably get your money back if the carrier goes bust before you travel. For cash-strapped airlines, the arrangement has a downside. If card providers are worried about a particular carrier's finances, they can withhold more money on ticket sales from the company, potentially making its liquidity problem worse..." Norwegian Air Shuttle (DY, D8, DI, DU) Oslo Airport (OSL) New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) flightglobal.com | Malaysia's Firefly resumes Singapore ops after airspace dispute (22 April 2019) https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/malaysias-firefly-resumes-singapore-ops-after-airsp-457601/ "...Two weeks after Singapore and Malaysia reached an agreement over an airspace dispute, Malaysia's Firefly resumed flights to Singapore via Seletar airport on 21 April. In a media statement, Seletar operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) says the carrier will initially fly twice-daily between Subang and Singapore until 28 April, before operating six-daily services from 29 April..." Firefly (FY) Subang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB - former KUL until 1998) Singapore Selatar Airport (XSP) Businesstraveller.com | B737 Max grounding causes Air Canada Heathrow cancellations (26 April 2019) https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/04/26/b737-max-grounding-causes-air-canada-heathrow-cancellations/ "...Air Canada has been forced to make a number of changes to its network due to the ongoing grounding of the B737 Max. Flights from Halifax and St John's to London Heathrow have been suspended until July 31, as "alternative aircraft are not presently available". The carrier stressed that it remains fully committed to these routes, and during the suspension would reaccommodate customers through its Toronto and Montreal hubs..." Air Canada (AC) Boeing 737 MAX Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) St. John's International Airport (YYT) London Heathrow (LHR) Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) Barcelona–El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport (BCN) Qatar Airways (QR) Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) Kahului Airport (OGG) Omni Air International (OY) Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD) Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) Shannon Airport (SHN) Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) Calgary International Airport (YYC) London [Ontario] International Airport (YXU) WOW air (WW – ceased operations 2019) PODCAST CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS, CONFIRMATIONS Curbside check-in is still in effect at American Airports with numerous carriers High speed rail gauge tends to be the same, however depending on the country it may be set on different trackage than non-high speed or freight trains The interterminal train at New York JFK is named AirTrain SHOW NOTES What's in this experience [00:00:46] Railway to Runway what is it? [00:01:03] How does railway booking work with your luggage? [00:06:16] Vinny doing city check-in in Hong Kong [00:07:51] The days of curbside check-in at American airports [00:09:02] What would one normally do if getting off a flight and connecting to a smaller town? [00:10:25] What happens if your inbound train breaks down? [00:12:36] What if your inbound flight is delayed? [00:13:19] Be aware that the train station might be a bit of a maze to get to [00:14:03] Shoutout to Mark Smith and seat61.com [00:16:03] Using the train in crisis management situations [00:17:40] Geoff helping Vinny with train info in the days before smartphones [00:25:32] News Items [00:32:33] Jet Airways suspends operations [00:32:37] Norwegian Air Suffers as Credit Card Companies Hold Back Ticket Revenue [00:33:23] Could this affect Geoff for a booked OSL-JFK flight? [00:34:07] Malaysia's Firefly permitted to land in Singapore again...but not at Changi [00:35:46] Vinny experienced Chinese airspace restrictions flying HKG-ZRH - in addition to a typhoon [00:38:26] Air Canada schedule amendments due to 737 MAX groundings [00:41:03] Vinny shares a story of a co-worker who has a 737 MAX swapped for a 787-9 [00:44:26] Sometimes the plane type will be swapped out for a larger plane but new seats won't show for booking [00:45:18] Show Wrap-up [00:47:11]