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Personalizing The Experience In The Air
Even the on-board experience is becoming more like home … or office. All of Qantas’ Boeing 747-400 aircraft offer Business Class Skybed sleeper seats, which, at nearly six and a half feet (199.4 cm), are among the longest in the sky. And Qantas’s new Airbus A380, beginning service this fall between Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles, will boast first class mini-suites spacious enough for two people to dine.
Similarly, ANA has completed the rollout of a major long-haul cabin overhaul on its stateof- the-art 777-300ERs. Now the aircraft is equipped with four cabins encompassing the private-room concept in first class and lie-flat seats in its Club ANA business class cabin. Another new feature is a separate premium economy cabin on flights between Tokyo and North American and European destinations than offers 20% greater seat width and legroom than economy class.
Major carriers such as American, British Airways, Virgin, Lufthansa and others have joined luxury class pioneers such as MaxJet and Eos
to offer single-cabin business class service to major destinations, often at fares competitive with those for multiple-class flights. ANA has
entered this market with the 737-700ER Business Jet from Tokyo to Mumbai, making use of two specially outfitted aircraft, one with only 36 business class seats, the other with 24 business class and 20 enhanced economy seats.
Downtime In Sydney
Sun-drenched Sydney is not only a gorgeous place, but also a major Asian-Pacific business hub and a world player in finance and foreign exchange. Downtime is easy and relaxing here.
Airport Transportation:
The airport’s location only five miles southwest of the city center means you can get into town fairly quickly. Taxis cost about A$50. The train leaves every 15 minutes (A$14), but gets crowded at rush hour. The best overall choice may be the Kingsford Smith Airport Coach, which services hotels directly (A$12).
Good Eats:
You can’t go wrong at Neil Perry’s award-winning Rockpool (107 George Street, The Rocks NSW; 2-9252-1888), where the exquisitely prepared, creative cuisine is world renowned.
Kicking Back:
The Royal Botanic Gardens, located just south and a bit east of the Opera House, will relax and amaze with an incredible variety of exotic plants in a peaceful setting.
Connectivity, Credit Cards And The Cutting Edge
The innovations in choice and convenience keep on coming. Car rental companies such as Hertz, Avis, Budget and other major brands offer electronic toll-payment systems that allow you to bypass cash toll lanes throughout the Northeast Corridor and elsewhere in the
United States. In portions of France, Hertz customers can avoid any visit to the rental desk simply by sliding a smart card into a dedicated kiosk at the airport.
In the air, the cutting edge of personalization includes in-flight connectivity for PCs, PDAs and cell phones, with service starting to emerge on several airlines. Qantas’ Borghetti reveals that the airline partnered with AeroMobile to offer such a system on select aircraft between April 2007 and January 2008, deeming the test a great success. “This next-generation technology will allow travelers to use their in-flight time more effectively,” he states.
Even co-branded credit cards have become high-tech in the personalization race. This past December, ANA announced that it is launching a smart credit card in Japan. The ANA Suica Visa will not only earn you miles and points, but it can also be used to take a Japan Rail East train to the airport so you can then easily board your flight — all with no tickets, no check-in, no boarding passes and no waiting in line.
Impressive? Absolutely. As the future of business travel unfolds before our eyes, it’s clear that what we’re seeing does not have so much to do with traveling higher, faster and farther as it does with personalizing the travel experience with enhanced choice, comfort and productivity.
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