I was worried because I was a virgin

I have to confess that I was a virgin up until today. Well, not that kind of virgin --- I have never flown on a budget airline before.

Imagine my shock at the travel agent when she told me only budget airlines fly to the Gold Coast. What choice did I have? The horror stories I have heard of have come rushing like a near-death experience.

But so far, it has been great and here are the surprises for me:

1. Flight was right on schedule

As advised by friends and travel agents, Virgin Blue have the least likelihood of delays or cancellations compared to JetStar.

On our flight, boarding gates were opened 20mins prior to departure. Take off was about 4mins after advertised time which I think is pretty spot on.

2. Virgin flight attendants were very pleasant

They reminded me of the old Qantas crew and the key was they came across as liking their job.

Being a budget airline, I was concerned about being treated like cattle as you are prodded into your seat. This was certainly not the case here.

3. Baggage allowance was included in our fare

We had 23kg allowed each! That's almost 100kg between us. If you are expecting to take a fair amount with you, sometimes the discounted fares end up costing more.

4. We got upgraded

Not sure how or why but while waiting to board, we were paged by Virgin staff and when I turned up at the counter, I was told that we were being issued a new boarding pass as we got upgraded --- awesome!

5. Virgin's in-flight menu was reasonably priced

I wasn't expecting to be fed for what we paid and the prices on the menu were pleasantly surprising --- water $2.50, chicken noodle meal $6.50, ham-cheese-tomato sandwich $7.50.

All in all, I am a satisfied customer and will fly Virgin Blue airline again to see if they are consistent. Let me know what your experience has been.

DISCLOSURE: My comments are unsolicited. I am not sponsored or associated with either JetStar, Virgin Blue or Qantas airlines.

swarm for melbourne's first foursquare day

Join the swarm on Friday 16/04 for Melbourne's first Foursquare day.

It will be held at @st_ali (http://stali.com.au/) from 8am. St ALi will be shouting coffee if a swarm (50+) is achieved.

Regular Friday tweetup #socialmelb will be held there as well for this special occasion.

I am looking forward to meeting Melbourne tweeps!


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Council takes on little kids on the block

There are so many rules for all facets of life in Australia. For the most part, it is a good thing to ensure we can all live peacefully with each other. Sometimes the rules are just lacking in common sense. But who is to blame?

Today, the Brisbane City Council is in the news for making the decision to pull down a treehouse built by kids on council property. They claim that the platform is 4 metres above ground and is overlooking a neighbouring property.

But the real issue here is that being on public land, this is a huge liability for the Council. We can all blame over-regulation, however we are all partly to blame.

We have become such a litiguous society, always looking for someone to blame, that insurance has become a major line item for annual budgets. All entities from multinationals, hospitals, councils and even neighbours with a shared driveway, now have to pay excessive premiums just to mitigate the risk of being sued.

As touching as it sounds that families on this particular street were brought together by the treehouse, the reality is that this risk is a potential headache for years to come (up to 20 years based on current statute of limitation).

It is sad that our world has changed in a single generation. Read the article on http://www.bit.ly/9MI7US