A Singapore Sling Next Week - Come Join Me!

Greetings, cafe patrons. A shameless plug this week from the Barista, in case any of you are in the neighbourhood. Come join me at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives Asia-Pacific conference, where we will be tackling the big issues of corporate travel today. Mobile? Sorted. Supplier Negotiation Strategies? Easy. Transcontinental flight vs. telepresence? Discuss.

In any case, with several hundred of the Asia Pacific region’s best and brightest corporate travel minds all in the same room (I’ll be outside guarding the door) I’m sure some great discussions will take place and excellent ideas exchanged. And if you are coming by, catch me leading a few discussions as the “talk show host” with some of the leading minds in corporate travel on the panel.

We’ll be covering social media and communication in corporate travel programs, integrating travel alternatives into your travel program (I’m voting for “beam me up Scotty”) and how mobile is changing the travel distribution chain. That last one will be a fun one, given that the whole point of mobile is to break the chains altogether – or is it?

In any case, I do look forward to seeing a few of the cafe patrons at the conference but for those who can’t join the remote Cafe, I’ll be sending updates via LinkedIn and Twitter (@kcknacks) so feel free to join the action!

Mobile Mayhem? Not if You're Switched On

Greetings, Cafe Patrons. It's been a busy few weeks for the Barista, trying to keep on top of all the latest and greatest technology announcements from local and global players leading up to this week's NBTA jamboree in Houston. Many announcements have been related to new partnerships with significant mobile capability aspects (see: Travelport/Rearden; Orbitz/TripIt; TripIt/Google; Concur/Mobiata, etc. etc.) but the reality is that most of these integrations, in my mind, still have a long way to go before being embraced by corporate travel programs.

Oh don't get me wrong, I fully realise that business travellers the world over have been downloading and using services like these for a while now and will continue to proliferate amongst the world's road warriors. But today's Cafe is brewing up a subtle blend...note that I said corporate travel programs. Nothing to do with the aforementioned road warriors.

You see, the main issue that company travel managers are still struggling with is what these mobile vendors will (or won't) do to support (or torpedo) their carefully crafted travel programs. Years of relationship building and negotiations with preferred airline/hotel/car providers are being threatened by the Northern Regional Head of Sales' infatuation with the iPhone App Store and downloading all sorts of content that may have them booking a room at the Sofitel rather than the Sheraton. Room night commitments to Starwood be damned!

And herein lies the rub: travellers are being bombarded by a whole new world of choices when it comes to travel content, recommendations, booking channels, "special" deals, and loyalty perks. Some or all of which may be completely at odds with what the CFO has asked the travel department to do in order to help manage costs while maximising the return on travel investment.

All the while, those same road warriors are battle weary and travel tried from years of cancelled flights, middle seats and phantom hotel bookings. And they are saying "give me what I want as I now have the power to do more and be more effective right in the palm of my hand!"

2010 is truly shaping up to be the year of mobile (and don't just take my word for it - my former colleague and legendary travel blogger Tim Hughes also came around to this concept this year) so any corporate travel managers with their heads in the App World sand are about to get stepped on by the expectations of their travellers. But they still have to watch out for their boss' expectations that costs will continue to be managed and that contract commitments to suppliers will need to be achieved.

So - where to from here? To put it simply, travel managers must be embracing of these new platforms and services but also need to find a way to put some control into the mix. The key will be who can see through all the clutter and glitzy announcements to get to the core of what applications could be leveraged by a corporate buyer.

As example, if you look closer at the Orbitz/TripIt tie up, you'll see a key aspect which gives the travel manager hope: "private company groups" which can be managed by a company administrator. Similarly, applications designed specifically for corporate use like conTgo or Concur Mobile can also inject a significant degree of company management into the mobile space through directing content, messaging directly to travellers, and enabling two-way communication between traveller and company/TMC.

Breathing a bit easier now? Hopefully, as all is not lost if you just keep focused on balancing the need to have travellers be switched on with your company's objectives for strong travel management. But for sure, the mobile mayhem will knock you sideways if you're not careful, as I hear they're working on an App for that...

EXTRA SHOT FOR THE DAY

Talk about a mashup: the look for the newly merged United/Continental airline livery has been released (see page 4 in the hyperlink.) Maybe calling it a "mashup" is actually too kind...."dog's breakfast" perhaps? Poor Continental - they've led the way for the past decade in terms of a US airline that's somewhat tolerable and then their name gets relegated but the logo stays. At least we'll not have to see those awful snow-white United planes for very much longer....

Prediction: the iPad Will Finally Get People Booking Travel on the Move

Morning, Cafe patrons. I hope all our visitors know that the Cafe is a "mobile-friendly" zone whereby all things can be discussed regarding the future of mobile in travel. No quiet zones here! And to stir things up this morning and perhaps get some conversation going, I'm going to make a bold prediction. And it's not just predicting for prediction's sake.

I believe that the iPad will drive a significant growth trend in booking travel on the move over the next 18 months - 2 years.

And by significant I'm thinking double-digit growth within the next 12 months.

Last week at the Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit, Claire Hatton from Google shared with the assembly that mobile searches are nearly half of ALL searches in some Asian markets, and that Australia is rapidly growing as a mobile search market (to clarify, "mobile search" for those of you like the Barista who wondered exactly what that means, is simply a search initiated by a mobile browser or device rather than a PC-based browser.) That's a lot of browsing on the move.

But as with all things mobile, transacting travel on a hand-held device has always been far behind using the good-old PC and mouse to perform the task of buying something online. Even the iPhone still hasn't cracked the transactional code in terms of getting people to buy on a mobile device.

Whether you might argue that the iPad is more PC than mobile is certainly up to you, but I'd think you'd be in the minority. With Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connectivity, the iPad to me is truly mobile. Although you'd look like an idiot holding it up to your ear to carry on a conversation.

In the Barista's humble opinion, I don't think that the iPhone was truly a game-changing device. Much like the iPod, Apple just took an existing gadget - a phone - and made it better. Like the iPod did to elevate the MP3 player. However, I think that the iPad is truly a transformational device. More PC than phone, but less PC than a laptop, and certainly more functionality than an e-Reader, the iPad's size and portability (plus Apple's great use of touch-screen ergonomics) makes it game-changing.

Why? To me, the key unique value of the iPad is real estate - lots and lots of screen real estate. Big enough to seem like a full Internet browsing experience, complete with nearly full-size keyboard. And, ladies and gentlemen, that is why I think people will finally start to transact on the move using the iPad.

Granted, I don't yet have one for myself and have had only a handful of interactions with one (mainly at the airport - FREE TIP: buy it duty free, save yourself a hundred bucks here in Australia!) But I can tell you I'm a hell of a lot more likely to search, book and buy my travel on the iPad than I am on my Blackberry or on any iPhone. Because I can actually see what I'm doing and act like I'm still on my PC - keyboard and all. And that to me, is the true game-changer. And that is why I believe that by early 2012, mobile travel bookings (leisure, corporate or otherwise) will be through the roof on these nifty devices.

You heard it here first...

(And if you didn't, tell me where you did!)

image courtesy GadgetVenue.com

If You Want to Play Corporate Travel Leapfrog, Best to Have Strong Legs

Morning, everyone! This week I had the pleasure of attending the Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit here in Sydney. A 3-day gathering of the airline and travel industry glitterati packed with presentations and pontifications about the future of air travel, and the travel industry in general.

After flying on, writing about and booking tickets with airlines for years it was great fun to go to a conference devoted to the business of air travel. And what became apparent to me is that when it comes to business travel, airlines are pretty tough to keep up with.

As Cafe regulars would know I've devoted a few Friday Mornings lately to talking about Virgin Blue's quest for the Australian corporate market. And if the presentations I heard this week prove to deliver what was talked about, any possible leap frog plans past Qantas that Virgin had could prove to be very tough to deliver on.

It boils down to simple economics: the Qantas Group is profitable, despite all the groaning about costs and constant (and very publicised) battles with some categories of employees. Qantas' CEO Alan Joyce at the conference this week put it in very plain terms: they are making money. And when you make money, you can spend money. And when you can spend more money than your competitors, you'll end up leapfrogging well out of their league.

Joyce spoke at length about the 8 to 9 figure investments (yes that's tens to hundreds of millions of dollars) in airport operations and passenger experience technologies they've started to just roll out, and it is obvious they are moving into a new generation of convenience for business travellers. I'm soon to get my new Qantas Frequent Flyer card (got my "personal" email from Alan himself letting me know it's on the way!) and after what I heard this week I can't wait to try it out.

I've written lately about comfy seats, in-flight entertainment, air staff that try to do wonderful things for you, and all that good stuff. But time after time, in study after study, the things that business travellers tend to rate as most important when choosing an airline (assuming they have a choice of course) is convenience, reliability and capacity - and Qantas is nailing those facets well beyond the rest of the market.

With the new virtual check-in, and soon-to-come personal bag tags, as a busy traveller I'll be able to waltz into the airport minutes before my flight, stroll past the RFID kiosks which will pick up my information from the radio chip embedded in my Frequent Flyer card, toss my bag with similarly ID'd bag tag attached onto the waiting conveyor, and voila - I'll be checked in and on my way. No stopping at a touch-screen, and certainly I won't have to stand in line and talk to a person (heavens no!) to check in. It doesn't get more convenient than that.

And it probably didn't come cheap - which again is why Virgin will continue to struggle to capture the corporate market as I would predict that this new technology will be a huge hit with road warriors. As Virgin ekes out a profit, Qantas' money train seems to keep rumbling along just fine- "tank you very musch" as the Jolly Irishman Mr. Joyce would say. Deep pockets can buy big things, and this "frog" has some big legs. Going to be tough to get the jump on this....

Virgin's Business Class Bliss - the V Australia Sky Try

Morning everyone! After a couple of weeks off the Barista is revived, refreshed and ready to tackle all things travel. And much of my refreshed state comes from a truly fantastic holiday to Fiji. Which, interestingly enough, started off with a flight experience that has (at least in my mind) led me to believe that Virgin Blue's new boss John Borghetti has the future right where he probably wants it.

As I've said in previous editions of the Cafe, I was struggling to figure out how Virgin's new boss was going to loosen the bear hug on the corporate travel market that Qantas currently enjoys. But thanks to a terrific experience on V Australia (or maybe it was too much Fijian kava) things have started to crystallise in my mind about some things that Virgin Blue can start using to make inroads into the business travel market.

As a first-time flyer on V Australia, I have to admit even though I had heard the advertising and some feedback from others who've travelled on them, I was expecting a more Virgin Blue-like experience. Imagine my pleasant surprise then after boarding the plane that besides a flight attendant crew who all looked younger than my son, there was very little Virgin Blue and a whole lot of something else.

That "something else" was what you just don't seem to get these days on other airlines, and that's a feeling that you're in for a whole new experience. Yes, the colour schemes are from Virgin Atlantic and so is the pop/rock music piped in (which sure beats hearing Qantas' "I Still Call Australia Home" anthem over and over again) but the plane itself just feels more cool, more comfortable, and more unique than anything I've been on lately. The other "something else" was the crew - just as young, laid back and better looking than I am as is the rest of Virgin's staff but they just seemed to adapt their approach to the passengers better than other crews I've travelled with lately.

For example, our flight was to Fiji so obviously it was a holiday-heavy flight. However in Business class, there were several travellers who looked as though they were either coming from or going to a business meeting. As opposed to assuming everyone was off on holiday, the crew in the cabin took the time to not only say hello but also stop and query the nature of the passenger's journey. With Mrs. Barista, Barista Junior and yours truly already in our shorts and sandals it was obvious what our story was, but not so obvious was what the gentleman across the aisle with the Tumi laptop bag and phone glued to his ear was up to. Just saying a quick hello is fairly Virgin Blue or Qantas-like, but a "what will make your trip with us more comfortable?" is what V Australia seems to be about.

Now onto the actual experience on board: with mood lighting, cool colour schemes, big touch-screen TV's with on-demand content available for you right from the moment you sit down until arrival at the other end, and completely lie-flat seats, this biz class product is a real winner. Coupled with excellent food and, of course the requisite sit-down bar, the entire V Australia flying experience was a treat. As their adverts for the SYD-NAN route say, you'll wish the flight was longer. And I certainly did.

However - and this is the "Hey John, listen up!" moment- I was actually more impressed with the Premium Economy product. Not so much as saying its the best long-haul Premium Economy product in the sky, but rather that I believe that this product, installed in the first few rows of Virgin's domestic aircraft, would give Virgin Blue a differentiation in the domestic business class sector rather than the half-hearted attempts at doing so they currently have on board.

The V Australia Premium Economy seat is covered in very comfy, soft leather, has useful (ie- not painful) footrests on the seat in front, has generously-sized on-demand TV screens that, coupled with free on-board Foxtel, would really entertain the biz traveller and make it feel like a more international-type product rather than a rigged-up domestic seat with an extra drinks tray. Throw in a free welcome glass of bubbly in one of V Australia's cool and rather large champagne "schooners" (nothing like a big fat drink after a long day to calm the nerves!) then if I had the chance to fly biz class domestically this way I'd be all over it.

For certain, it will take a lot more than one comfy seat to send the corporate traveller who's drunk on Qantas Frequent Flyer status and points staggering over to Virgin Blue. But I'm sure John's got all those other aspects of engendering corporate loyalty all figured out. It's the actual flying experience on Virgin that I've said before still has a long way to go, but I think by taking a few pages out of their sister long-haul product then DJ could have a flying chance at it.

It's BULA time...The Barista is off to Fiji.

Greetings Cafe goers - the Barista is closing up shop for the next two Fridays as I take a long-awaited break to Fiji. Looking forward to flying without a laptop for once and also to check out V Australia's product. I promise to be more useful in my review of the on-board experience than I was last week in my useless ruminations about Virgin Blue...or is it Virgin Australia now? Can't keep it all straight...

Anyway, all the best to my Aussie customers for the school holidays and I'll have the Cafe back open on the 23rd of July. Cheers!

The Most Useless Travel Blog Posting Ever

Good morning, everyone. I know (or at least I hope) your weekly visits to the Cafe are insightful, interesting and useful - but I think today I may just disappoint.

I'm intrigued by the recent moves in personnel and public statements being made by new Virgin Blue boss John Borghetti as he continues to reiterate that Virgin Blue's future is based on a significant growth in corporate business. Just this past week it was announced for example that he's poached a bunch of his former Qantas colleagues to take on senior roles in Brisbane. And given that he was instrumental in building up Qantas' business products over years down in Mascot I certainly am sure he knows what he's doing.

However, as a frequent business traveller, and someone who flew Qantas predominantly for nearly 6 years and recently started flying on Virgin Blue, my curiosity is based on wondering how on Earth Virgin Blue is going to take a slice of Qantas' stranglehold on the Australian business travel pie. Because much of that curiosity stems from the fact that having flown Virgin Blue nearly every week over the past few months I have absolutely no clue how they are going to pull this off.

I certainly do not profess to know what drives the satisfaction of every single business traveller out there. But having logged my fair share of miles all in the name of whatever organisation I happened to be working for at the time, I do think I have a good idea of what business travellers are looking for in an airline.

But I really, truthfully, have no idea what I would tell John and his old and now new cronies there at Virgin Blue how they're going to capture the business travel market. Thus, today's Cafe being the most worthless travel blog post ever.

What I can tell the Virgin Blue team however, are some things about travelling for business on Virgin Blue that I would think that, if changed/edited/deleted altogether would be a great start:

- Terminal experience: OK, so this is a tough one, given that airlines have only so much control and influence over Macquarie Airports (oops, sorry - I mean airport operators) to enhance the airside experience. That being said, the difference between Sydney Domestic Terminal 2 vs. 3 (Virgin vs. Qantas, basically) is significant. I'm not talking about shopping or food- I'm talking about feel. Most savvy business travellers today in an era of mobile/online check-in are breezing into the terminal with only minutes to spare before boarding and don't give a rats about shopping or eating. The light, airy feel of Qantas' Terminal 3 compared to the dark, low-ceilinged rabbit warren of Terminal 2 makes me want to cut those minutes down to one single minute. T2 in Sydney (and don't even get me started on Melbourne) needs a serious overhaul.

- The "fun" factor: I don't have any specific issue with this, as I enjoy a sharp-witted flight crew and genuinely friendly welcome as much as the next person. What I don't like is when those who are tasked with my safety and onboard comfort put that fun above their job. The problem with the flight crew on Virgin from a business perspective is that they don't pay enough attention to why I am travelling. I don't need a joke after a long day and I'm buried in my laptop as soon as the seat belt sign is off, I just need a "hi there, do you need anything?" and then move on. Even if Qantas' flight attendants aren't always the warmest (generalisation of course, there are some very nice ones) they at least have the "attend" part of the job down pat.

- Make a decision on the front of the plane: the current "Premium Economy" is neither Premium nor good economy. Let's face it: flights in Australia aren't all that long, so why have a product that doesn't really give you any significant difference in the on-board experience? Qantas' domestic business class may not necessarily be "worth it" (again, given relatively short flights) but at least the difference in the product is noticeable.

- Narrow planes = narrow opportunity: Virgin needs to get bigger planes on the more popular routes. Like the earlier points around the "light and airy" feeling in the QF terminal vs. the DJ terminal, there is still something infinitely more comfortable being in economy on board a plane with two aisles rather than one. Every flight on Virgin Blue just reminds me of travelling in the USA, aka: Boeing 737/Airbus A319 hell. No matter that the seats are leather, or that there is a seat-back TV in front of me, I would rather be on a wide-body jet any day of the week. Especially to Melbourne, which is such a short flight that having a wide-body plane for a 50-minute journey seems luxurious. Business travellers like luxury, no matter how small it may seem, and having to cram on board single-aisle aircraft when you could go on something bigger just doesn't cut it. And yes - I am saying I prefer a creaky old wide-body 767 to a brand-new 737.

- Free Foxtel: I would have to think that the most clear-cut differentiator is that Virgin offers 24 channels of live-to-air TV on the seat back in front of you rather than stale Channel 9 news updates with the ingratiating Deborah Hutton winking at you from out-dated overhead monitors. I'm sure JB has already thought of this, but if you want corporate loyalty - give us free Foxtel!

Again, as I have said numerous times, I can't imagine how difficult it must be for an airline to offer various pre-flight and on-board experiences and capture market share all in the name of profitability. So if John Borghetti ever did shimmy up to the Friday Morning Cafe and order up some advice from the Barista, I'm not sure I could truly help him out. But as an avid and well-seasoned traveller, I would hope that my useless advice could perhaps find some value somewhere, somehow. Like JB's goal to achieve 20+% share of the corporate market...we dare to dream....

The Sky Try: Singapore Airlines "Sofa" Class

Greetings, everyone. Apologies for last week's unexpected closure of the cafe, but a trip to India with limited Internet connectivity and a limited ability to stay 100% healthy made for a tough task opening the cafe doors last week. I love curries....it's just that sometimes they don't love me back, apparently.

Anyway, let's move on shall we? Onto a long-awaited journey for the Barista in what I used to think was the most ridiculous-looking business class seat in the sky, on board Singapore Airlines. This not-so-new-now product certainly has made waves in the community that travels further up front of the plane, as the advertisements for the product has been exhaustive in the Australian market. Most everyone has seen them: pictures of smiling people curled up in what looked like a sofa-sized piece of furniture, obviously enjoying their experience in what is likely accurately billed as "the world's biggest business class seat."

And that's where I struggled with this product somewhat. Yes, it's big, but is it good?

Certainly the pictures convey the sense of space that you do feel when you get to your seat. Compared to other airlines' products, the width of the seat seems almost ridiculous. And as you sit down and figure out where to put your elbows to read your pre-flight newspaper or book, you realise indeed this sucker is as wide as a soccer goal. And like a soccer goal, it may look easy to score points but the reality is something else altogether.

Let's cut to the chase: as a seat, it's pretty lousy, actually. You can't figure out which side to sit on as it's so wide, there's not a very good recline or foot rest setting, and for a tall fellow like myself if you cross your legs your knee bumps into the shell of the seat in front of you. You can tuck yourself into one corner of the seat and prop your feet up on the built-in "shelves" that are in the back of the seat in front of you as a sort-of ottoman, but that is only comfortable for so long. However as compensation there is an amazingly large screen for movies and TV shows and you can plug your iPod directly into the entertainment system and listen to your own tunes if you want. That's cool.

But when it's time for lights out - then things start to change.

It starts with changing the seat itself. With one flip of a lever, the huge backrest folds over to lay flat and magically the aforementioned shelves become integrated with the back of the seat to form what looks like an acre of space. Flat, flat space. Like the Australian Outback or Great Plains of America, just seemingly uninterrupted great swathes of space. Unreal.

And when you lay down, although your head and your feet end up at an angle across that great open space (your feet are near the window and your head is near the aisle) there is still so much room to toss and turn it's pretty remarkable, actually. Yes, your feet are in sort of a "cave" tucked into the seat shell in front of you, but unlike other "lie-flat" products (this means you Qantas) you actually have room for them.

So on an all-too-short 5 hour, overnight flight from Delhi to Singapore where sleep was THE only thing on my mind - I loved it. On a 10+ hour daytime flight? I might bring some extra sleeping pills....

DISCLAIMER: The Barista appreciates that ANY business class product beats travelling in economy 8 days out of 7. Therefore my review was in the spirit of assisting companies understand the return on investment for those that do spend the money for the well-being and productivity of their employees travelling for business. Everyone OK with that? :-)

Back in Black

Sorry for anyone here in the Cafe that's a bit bleary eyed this morning, as I'm cranking up the AC/DC in honour of our global airline industry:

(you know the guitar riff already so sing along in your head...)

Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back
Yes, I'm let loose
From the noose
That's kept me hanging about
I've been looking at the sky
'Cause it's gettin' me high
Forget the hearse 'cause I never die
I got nine lives
Cat's eyes
Abusin' every one of them and running wild
(Copyright 1980; B. Young, A. Young, B. Johnson)

You may ask if I've hit the espresso a bit hard this morning. But after some of my recent posts worrying about the supposed drop in premium traffic as well as the frenetic airfare discounting happening in some markets, you can forgive me if I'm now happy to hear that the airlines' worst days are behind them. Cut loose indeed - keep flyin' high boys!

IATA this week announced that they now expect airlines to post a global profit of $2.5 billion in 2010. According to IATA (http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2010-06-07-01.aspx) "This is a major improvement compared with IATA’s previous forecast released in March of a $2.8 billion loss." A $5.3B turnaround? Yep, I'd say that is quite a major improvement.

Although good news for the travel industry as a whole (after all, a bankrupt airline industry is essentially a bankrupt travel industry) it also didn't stop IATA from taking a swipe at some classic "bad guys" in the industry group's eyes. Well at least the eyes of Signore Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

In the above referenced press release, Mr. Bisignani said the following: "Seeing black on the bottom line is a great achievement. The resilience of the industry has been strengthened by a decade of cost cutting, restructuring and re-engineering processes. IATA’s programs have contributed to this with $47 billion in cost savings since 2004 with efficiencies in safety auditing, fuel management, infrastructure costs, and Simplifying the Business.

"But even with all of our hard work, the result is just a 0.5% margin that does not even cover our cost of capital. The industry is fragile. The challenge to build a healthy industry requires even greater alignment of governments, labor, and industry partners. They must all understand that this industry needs to continue to reduce costs, gain efficiencies and be able to re-structure itself if it is to be sustainably profitable. We must all be prepared for a greater change,” said Bisignani.

All very true, and certainly all valid points.

But then in a speech delivered to IATA members in Berlin also this week, Mr. Bisignani blasted GDS's in particular saying: "they (GDS's) are leeches charging at least $4 per transaction when China Travel Sky does it for just $1.20. On top of that, they sell you your data with a seven-digit price tag. That is pure profit. BASTA. We will break their monopoly on your data with a cost-effective solution."

Yikes. As the old west cowboys used to say, "dem's fightin' words."

Which concerns me, as in his prepared comments in the press release about airlines coming back to profitability he professed the need for "greater alignment...of industry partners." Is yelling (albeit in Italian, which does sound cool doesn't it?) at those same partners his method of "alignment?"

Of course, Mr. Bisignani could be taking inspiration from the hard rockin' Aussies in Acca Dacca by "running wild." Perhaps being "back in black" isn't all that great for the industry after all? Depends on how you spin the tune, I guess.

The Premium Conundrum Continuum...

Good morning, cafe patrons. I hate to serve up the same brew two weeks in a row, but I can't help but be flummoxed by this back-and-forth going on in the Antipodean market at the moment with regards to first/business class strategies.

In last week's cafe I talked about the new IATA report showing that premium traffic globally seems to be picking up, and the Asia Pacific region in particular is looking fairly healthy. However, during the last few months all we seemed to hear from Qantas, Air New Zealand, BA and a few other airlines was that the days of premium travel were drawing to a close. Or that at least a future much closer to economy class would be the new norm.

Although I'm pretty sure Qantas execs aren't yet frequenting this humble little cafe for their Friday Morning cuppa, I feel a bit vindicated following some of the comments QF leadership has been saying over the past few days. But I'm also a bit confused, to be honest. Which is easy to do, I get up early to open the cafe so sometimes I'm a bit bleary-eyed with all this airline stuff.

At the Australian Tourism Exchange this week in Adelaide, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Executive Manager Rob Gurney both made statements about the importance of premium products as they talked about deploying more A380's in the coming months complete with the new first and business class products. In addition, Stephen Thompson who is Qantas' GM of International Sales also stressed the importance of the premium product and the business travel market within Qantas' overall strategy.

So which direction is this going? I think it's safe to say that the A380's coming on line soon will of course have the new first and business (and premium economy, for that matter) products as part of the service as those cabin configurations have been set for a while.

But then in another article this week from Travel Daily Australia, according to travel agent GDS queries the Sydney-Buenos Aires and Sydney-San Francisco services will not get First Class back on those routes until late September - more than three months later than previously planned.

And I've also not yet heard any mention of putting the B747 back onto the SYD-JFK service, so as of early July it will still be a downgraded A330 on that route. Sure, I've flown that half-empty plane from LAX to JFK but I've also experienced every return flight from JFK-LAX as completely full so I would think that Qantas would prefer customers on QF metal rather than on feeder flights via American Airlines.

As I've always said, you couldn't pay me enough to be an airline revenue manager and certainly I'd be lousy at it anyway. However I'm sure whoever's running that department, along with the head of on-board products for Qantas, must be scratching their heads as much as I am as to what the premium strategy for Qantas really is.

EXTRA SHOT FOR THE DAY

Today's extra shot is taking a shot at cranky taxi drivers. Especially ones in Sydney who seem to not want to take passengers from the airport to the Inner West.

A friend of mine claims 5 straight journeys home with drivers who have given him all sorts of grief about waiting at the airport for hours only to get a "short fare." I've had this before as well, but not nearly as much as this gentleman has. And as he actually probably is going a bit further than I do in terms of how far the crow flies, I certainly can't understand why any cabbie has a gripe about "not far enough."

It's not like they have the right to gripe anyway, as the taxi charter clearly states that a passenger has the right to go to pretty much any destination in the Sydney metro area.

Not to mention that how do we know whether the cabbie's fare TO the airport wasn't a nice big fare so he's just annoyed he couldn't double up the success?

To be fair, I have to say that although this has happened to me in Sydney by far the worst city in the world for cabbie grumbling is New York, thanks to the flat fare from JFK to Manhattan. It's not like I set the price guys, so don't take it out on me!

Ah, if only we all could have London Black Cabs...the world's greatest form of public transportation. Clean, very comfy, with a driver who knows exactly where to go and the best way to get there. Happy to pay a premium for that level of service every time...take note, "Silver" Service!