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Hello and welcome to Seat 1A!

When you travel, do you ever wonder how you can be that person who is always ahead of the pack, even when things go awry? Hosts Vinod Viswalingam (@VViswalingam) and Geoff Dahl (@geoffdahl) are proud to present The Seat 1A Podcast.

Seat 1A aims to provide savvy travellers with advanced industry based knowledge to enhance the air travel experience and take off from the crowd. By arming you with an understanding of the systems, processes, rules and structures that define modern air travel, Seat 1A strives to give you the upper hand by examining real experiences from abroad.

Whether traveling in ultra-economy or first-class, with or without frequent flyer status, knowing how the operation works will keep you moving in front of the masses, especially when things don’t go as planned. Seat 1A provides tips and tricks on how to make your travel experience as smooth and efficient as possible. Our goal is that you'll be in Seat 1A all the time!

We have over 5 million miles of flying and over 10 years working for numerous airlines, enjoying all classes and cabins, and exploring airports on every continent. We're enthusiastic #avgeeks, with a keen interest in modern aviation trends and aim to share our knowledge in The Seat 1A Podcast. To learn more about who we are, check out Experience 010!

The Seat 1A Podcast also relies on feedback from listeners, offering the chance to take real experiences and analyze them, breaking them down to understand what happened, where things went well or wrong and what can be learned from it. If you have a story, question or experience that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In the meantime please find us wherever you download your podcasts, and tell all your friends!

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  1. All Episodes
  2. Experience 018 Show Notes. Around the world we go! Vinny and Geoff's separate RTW adventures. The Seat 1A Podcast.

Experience 018 Show Notes. Around the world we go! Vinny and Geoff's separate RTW adventures. The Seat 1A Podcast.

Jun 27, 2019

Recorded 18 June 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.

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In this experience we look at Vinny and Geoff's separate round the world (RTW) adventures - Vinny's will already be underway when this experience is posted. We look at the world of booking an RTW with points travel, with stopover and mileage rules, but also how to maximize your layovers between stopovers. Vinny shares his geeking out with reviews and videos to ensure he maximizes his in-flight and lounge experiences. Just because you have an RTW ticket doesn't mean you can't supplement it with some separate point-to-point tickets. Make sure you catch the great story about how Vinny's wife got upgraded to Seat 1A.

Geoff approached his RTW adventure from another angle – what was the most economically priced set of tickets on multiple airlines to complete the trip? Mainline flag carriers and low-cost carriers mixed together to get Geoff around the world. Knowledge of baggage limits helped Geoff pick certain flights. Geoff notes how third-party lounge accesses don't always work in all airports, and some lounge-like benefits offered at certain airports for a fee.

What were the tools that both Geoff and Vinny used while booking their adventure? What are they looking forward to in the cities they are stopping in?

CMB, DAD, DPS, DUS, EWR, FRA, GOT, HAN, HUI, IST, JFK, KUL, MAA, MAD, MLE, NRT, ORD, OSL, PEN, SIN, TPE, TXL, VIE, YTZ, YVR, YYZ – there is bound to be an adventure or two just waiting.

Shout outs to the websites of Sam Chui, The Points Guy and One Mile at a Time. A big shout out to the Layovers podcast with Paul Papadimitriou and Alex Hunter – thanks for the inspiration!

View From the Wing news item about a passenger being served 16 Month Old Food.

If you have an RTW story, question or experience that you would like to share, 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



NEWS ITEMS

viewfromthewing.com | American Airlines Serves 16 Month Old Food (10 June 2019)
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2019/06/10/american-airlines-serving-16-month-old-food/
"Vegan red curry vegetables, he thought, sounded pretty good when the package was presented to him. But then he noticed the manufacture date, 16 months ago."



PODCAST CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS, CONFIRMATIONS

  • Geoff's YYZ-ORD-NRT-SIN flight was with an ANA special



SHOW NOTES

  • What's in this experience? [00:00:46]
  • The time that Vinny's wife got upgraded to Seat 1A with some very important baggage [00:01:11]
  • Vinny's round the world adventure [00:02:53]
  • Round the world rules using mileage points [00:05:33]
  • Difference between a stopover and a layover [00:06:23]
  • The route Vinny chose starting from YVR-TPE [00:06:48]
  • Shout out to Sam Chui [00:07:25]
  • Many different airlines have different versions of aircraft [00:07:54]
  • TPE-SIN [00:08:26]
  • SIN is first stopover, separate purchased tickets to Vietnam [00:09:04]
  • Back to SIN [00:10:15]
  • SIN-CMB via MAA [00:10:49]
  • Air India downgraded aircraft [00:11:30]
  • No IFE on a downgraded flight? [00:12:10]
  • Where's the last stop going to be? [00:14:00]
  • It's Spain! [00:14:40]
  • Flying Turkish to MAD via the new airport at IST [00:16:22]
  • Vinny figuring out how to complete the trip to YVR with available flights and RTW rules [00:19:43]
  • FRA-YVR [00:21:11]
  • The amount of geeking that Vinny did [00:22:08]
  • Creating a round the world ticket without needing round the world points [00:23:09]
  • Ticket call centre staff worth the fee [00:24:47]
  • Geoff's upcoming adventure [00:25:39]
  • Google Flights as a search tool [00:26:15]
  • YYZ-ORD [00:26:53]
  • ORD and third party lounges in T1, other options for passengers [00:27:29]
  • ORD-NRT [00:28:09]
  • Showers in NRT world renowned [00:29:01]
  • Watch out for late flights and the Singapore MRT closure [00:29:27]
  • Cheap Flights - what's the baggage allowance? [00:30:05]
  • SIN-PEN [00:30:33]
  • KUL-DPS [00:31:13]
  • Lining up distances in different parts of the world with your local reality [00:31:27]
  • What's the cheapest ticket from DPS to Europe for Geoff? [00:32:21]
  • DPS-SIN-TXL on Scoot [00:32:33]
  • TXL-VIE [00:33:26]
  • Austrian and German Railways [00:33:37]
  • DUS-GOT [00:33:54]
  • OSL-JFK [00:34:15]
  • TWA Bar at JFK [00:34:29]
  • EWR-YTZ [00:34:54]
  • Checking out The Jewel at SIN [00:37:15]
  • What kind of tourist are you and what level of disruption are you comfortable with? [00:37:49]
  • A lot of resources were used for our trips [00:39:51]
  • Shout out to Layovers podcast [00:40:14]
  • News Items [00:41:56]
    • American Airlines Serves 16 Month Old Food [00:42:18]
  • Show Wrap-up [00:44:28]