Globaliser

I think this is right, and I suspect that there are structural reasons for this. First, international flights are more likely to be subject to slot requirements and restrictions. This means that arrival and departure times are constrained by the slots that the airline holds and intends to use to operate its flights. This means that whenever the arrival or departure time of a flight is moved, another flight has to be moved as well. My impression is that this contributes to the relative stability of such schedules. Second, if slots are relevant, the airline must use them responsibly. Typically, there are "use it or lose it" rules that require the airline to operate each specific slot at least (say) 80% of the time, or else the slot will be forfeited and could be allocated to another airline. Also, the actual times when the slot is used have to bear a proper relationship to the nominal slot time, so the airline can't hold an 0745 slot but only use it to operate a 1515 departure every day. These requirements probably also contribute to schedule stability; the contrary was illustrated during the pandemic, when "use it or lose it" rules were suspended in many places, and there were lots of cancellations at relatively short notice even after travel became permissible again. Third, because of the Chicago Convention system governing international flights, these are more likely to be "out and back" rotations rather than the country-spanning apparently-random domestic itineraries that many airlines operate. Changing an operating pattern can have an effect on quite a number of flights in the network, but if there are no other real constraints on doing so, then the machines will work out how best to do this. In contrast, an "out and back" rotation either operates, or it doesn't. I suspect that this makes them less liable to be changed as a result of network-tweaking shenanigans.

Coincidentally, yesterday's Evening Standard mentioned Simpson's, so I had a look at what has been said. The person behind the revamp is Jeremy King (ex-Wolseley etc). In early November, he gave an interview to The Times, which reported: The third element in King’s strategy — the regeneration of Simpson’s — is at a more embryonic stage. The restaurant dates to the mid-19th century and was famous for the roasts that were wheeled around on silver platters and carved tableside. “That will be more of a big-theatre brasserie,” he says. “But one that will very much hark on its tradition. I want people to walk in there and say, ‘Oh good, they haven’t changed it’, although it will have changed.” If all goes to plan there will be a big restaurant downstairs, another upstairs, a basement bar and a private dining room. It could be a daunting proposition, but King seems excited, raring to get back to the business that he never intended to enter, but one that he has made unequivocally his own.

From the place that you've now picked to stay at, this is the route that I would use to go straight to the ABBA Arena. Your best bet is to walk down to Embankment Tube and go to the eastbound District Line platform. There's a "secret" fast way of doing the change at Monument. Get on the District (or Circle) Line train at the very back. When you get off at Monument, there are stairs at that end of the platform signposted for the Northern Line. Go down those, and then down the escalator to Northern Line platform level. Immediately after you get there, there's another set of stairs down signposted for the DLR - take them to DLR platform level. The official signposted route from the District Line to the DLR involves a rather longer walk. The alternative route from Embankment involving only one change to the DLR at Bow Road / Bow Church is still feasible. Personally, I just prefer not to do that walk at the interchange point.

Maybe, but don't count on it. Wouldn't you spend more time going to the airport a second time to ask the question than you could possibly waste by getting to the airport a bit earlier than you would ideally need to be?

Look, if you set two inconsistent aims, and then you're determined to simply hear that which you want to hear, then just go to the airport whenever you want to go and see what happens when you get there. Your downside risk is missing one of your aims by having to wait around in the check-in area until the check-in staff turn up for your flight. But we've all done that sometimes.

An email today says that it will be: TJC: 8 January 2024 SJC 24.1: 15 January 2024 SJC 24.2: 22 January 2024 Botti: 29 January 2024

Superb airport restaurants are pretty rare anywhere in the world. Indeed, the only one I can immediately think of is also in the USA: One Flew South (at Atlanta).

To be fair, it wasn't the answer to the OP's original question! 😄

Four hours before departure sounds more like the time that check-in opens at the counter, not at the gate. But this will vary by airline, so your best bet is probably to ask yours. At an outstation (as LAX is for Singapore Airlines), it's less common to be able to check in very early, as check-in staffing is specifically organised around departure times.

Where? And why? Why can't you simply check in at the check-in counter? I find it hard to think why there would be any SQ staff at the gate 4 hours before the flight departs. In fact, that long before the flight, the airline may not even know which gate it will be using.

I'm really not sure why there's so much random guessing going on in this thread. If you buy it at Manchester airport, make sure that it's sealed into a compliant STEB (remembering that compliance requires that the receipt is sealed in the bag but is visible). A compliant and intact STEB will be accepted at security at Paris before you onward flight, if you're required to clear security there. If duty-free at Manchester won't do you a STEB, and you're not sure whether you have to re-clear security in Paris, then don't give them your money. (That, of course, generally gives duty-free shops an incentive to do STEBs properly.)

I have a vague memory that someone has mentioned the possibility (?confirmed) that direct trains between Gatwick and Southampton will have ceased by late June 2024, which is when the OP needs to travel. I can't remember who drew that to our attention, and I can't now find the post. This change would presumably take effect at the beginning of June 2024, when the new timetable comes into force. ETA: I reckon it must have been gumshoe958! 🙂

This will probably fall well into edinburgher's category of something that is neither hidden nor off the beaten path, and it's unlikely to win culinary awards - but we're fond of the Mussel Inn, as much as anything because of its location and convenience, and its friendliness (at least, all the times that we've been there).

My copy of the announcement email has just arrived. Of the headliners who aren't regulars, Dianne Reeves and Arturo Sandoval caught my eye.

Just who is Cathy, anyway? You were the one suggesting that the market is omniscient; and that regardless of the fact that Qantas is currently making money hand over fist, it's "really hurting".

Monthly cycles for catering planning purposes, possibly? I've lost track of how December works now. On BA at least, a lot of the crew are in effect volunteers: they choose to fly around then and to be away from home, because they can turn it into a holiday. So these trips can actually be in high demand. The last time that I flew close enough to Christmas that my crew were going to be downroute on Christmas Day, they were basically all getting four or five full days in Singapore before their rostered flight home - so lots of them had family with them. One of them burst into tears when I was chatting to her mid-flight, because her partner hadn't managed to get a seat on that aircraft (staff travel is like that); but after we arrived she came to tell me that he'd got on the later flight that evening and so they would be getting their holiday after all. I suspect that ground staff have much less choice.

That seems closer to your real issue with oneworld: Maybe it doesn't suit you (or doesn't suit you anymore). But oneworld not working so well for you now, so that you personally are buying tickets on other airlines/alliances, is not the same as oneworld airlines "really hurting". QF's current problems are fundamentally cultural, not financial. However much one may despair about them, it is (once more) not the same as the airline "really hurting". As for your comment about the market: Do you have any interest in a bridge?

It's not that close. It's about a 20-minute walk to Waterloo station, which may feel like an eternity if you have luggage. I'm beginning to wonder whether you've booked the Rose and Crown that you think you have. From what you say, you're in the one at 65 Union St SE1 (ie the backpackers' hostel). There is another Rose and Crown at 47 Colombo St SE1, which is only about half the distance away from Waterloo station proper. So you need to make sure you're going to the right place. The hostel does at least have the advantage of being very close to the Menier Chocolate Factory, which is one of London's best off-West End theatres and has a long track record of excellent and successful productions that later transfer into the West End.

That will be an adventure.

Who's Cathy? 😉 If oneworld airlines are managing to charge higher prices than other alliances' airlines, that's usually a sign that oneworld airlines are doing the opposite of "really hurting". Prices are driven by supply and demand. So the higher-priced airline is often the one in higher demand, and therefore making bigger profits. Anyway, you can't seriously suggest that Qantas is "really hurting". Its latest annual results showed an underlying profit of AUD2.47bn (USD1.62bn), which isn't the picture of an airline that's struggling to stay in business. Unsurprisingly, that was delivered because of high fares, which in turn reflected high demand.

How would you plan to travel? Winchester could work as a stop if you're going to drive yourself. But it's not really "between Southampton and Gatwick" if you're going by train (see the network map for why), and it's similar if you're planning to take the coach. I think that the most obvious place, if you're taking the train, would probably be Brighton.

The train from Southampton is not really a good option if you're flying from Heathrow, because the direct train goes to central London not Heathrow. You can in theory get a train from Southampton to Woking, and then change there for the Railair coach to Heathrow. But if you're going to do that, you may be better off just getting a National Express coach directly from Southampton to Heathrow.

Opinions may differ on which union is more militant, but one thing that the last two years have shown is that if the RMT strikes, most TOCs can run some services; but if ASLEF strikes, almost all TOCs grind to a halt. The next week will underline that. ASLEF is the drivers' union. You and I and most of the country all hope that ASLEF will reach an agreement soon so that we can return to depending on rail transport and not have to resort to roads. But if ASLEF don't, they already have a ballot mandate for strikes for the next six months. That period runs well into the start of grockle season next year. CCers reading this thread can therefore work out for themselves whether it is accurate to say now that our rail strikes are "basically finished".

That's an interesting thing to post today, which is the first day of nine days of industrial action by train drivers, including strikes on 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 December; and also the day on which their union has announced that they have a ballot mandate for another six months of strikes.

I doubt it. Saturday night minimum stays haven't universally gone away. You still see them on long-haul fares, together with the feature that one-way fares are often much more expensive than cheap round-trip fares. And there, I think, is the more likely driver: just look for why one-way fares are now cheap in many (typically short-haul) markets.