Delta airlines went the extra mile for a nursing mum. Photo / Getty Images
Delta airlines went the extra mile for a nursing mum. Photo / Getty Images
We like:
Airlines that go the extra mile. This week we reported on a breastfeeding mum who was given an upgrade to first class by Delta Airlines, so she could pump milk in comfort and privacy.
We don't like:
Airlines that don't. Also this week, Air France was slammed bya man with motor-neuron disease, after they told him they couldn't transport his wheelchair - with only 48 hours' notice.Tell us what you like and don't like in the world of travel. Email TRAVEL@NZHERALD.CO.NZ
Emily will enjoy award-winning service on her non-stop flights to and from Hong Kong.
Congratulations Emily Pearce!
Cathay Pacific plane over Hong Kong.
Travel reader Emily is taking off with Cathay Pacific after she won our $5000 Hong Kong getaway to visit the great city.
A student of architecture and design, Emily tells us she's "extremely eager to visit a big city and to immerse myself in a place which challenges the limits physical and social density".
"I would most definitely take my Mum as my partner, because without her support I would not have achieved what I have so far with my degree."
Enjoy, Emily!
Inflight service on Cathay Pacific Business class.
Emily and her mum will enjoy Cathay Pacific's award-winning service and inflight entertainment of more than 100 movies and 500 TV shows on their non-stop flights to and from Hong Kong.
The prize includes two nights at the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel, an award-winning boutique hotel in Central within walking distance of the Star Ferry terminal. The hotel's Cantonese Restaurant, Celebrity Cuisine, has been awarded two Michelin Stars since 2011.
There's also a complimentary massage treatment in the hotel spa for each guest. Thanks to all who entered.
Hong Kong.
Travel Wires
Tempting fate
History never repeats - at least that's what the Australian company planning to launch a ship called Titanic II will be hoping. Blue Star Line wants to have the ship - a near-replica of the famous ship that sunk after it collided with a glacier in 1912 - launched in 2018. James McDonald, of Blue Star Line, said the ship would feature "modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems", but elsewhere Titanic II will be heaving with Edwardian opulence. The maiden voyage will go from Jiangsu, in China, to Dubai - a course notably clear of icebergs.
Japan rising
Flight Centre are picking Japan to be a hot new destination for the year ahead, with bookings to Tokyo in January up almost 30 per cent on those last year. With a new bullet train launching next month between Tokyo and Hokkaido, it's a great time to go.
The inbound travel trade's love affair with China is set to grow even stronger, with new figures revealing the jaw-dropping scale of Renminbi up for grabs. Chinese travellers spent $388 billion in their journeys around the world last year, with 60 per cent of that going on luxury goods, say luxury goods consultants Fortune Character.
Kiwi share
The New Zealand share of that Chinese money is still a pittance. In 2015, more than 355,000 Chinese visited New Zealand, an increase of more than a third on the year before, but a tiny number compared with their global total. About 100 million Chinese travelled internationally last year - a number picked to grow to 500 million within the next five years.
The crashes that don't count
Last year was an "extraordinarily safe" one for commercial aviation, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says. The 2015 global jet accident rate was one major accident for every 3.1 million flights, a 30 per cent improvement on the average over the previous five years. Gamely, IATA do not include the destruction of Germanwings flight 4U9525 in March or Metrojet 9268 in October over the Sinai in its report because "they are classified as deliberate acts of unlawful interference", rather than accidents. Which seems rather like not counting the pesky iceberg thing when assessing safety on the Titanic's maiden voyage.
