In this experience we review some recent travel along with a overview of our summer travel plans.

Severe turbulence has been in the news recently in various locations around the world. Turbulence is always there and always has been there and always will be there. Remember the words that Vinod would tell passengers concerned about turbulence "The people flying the plane have families they need to get home to tonight."

If you are concerned about the wings during turbulence, there are numerous wing flex test videos for all airplane manufacturers. Here is an example from Airbus.

We want to give a shoutout to the Layovers Podcast. Vinod was a guest interviewee of Paul on Episode 139.

Vinod tried out a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier, Flair, for the first time from Vancouver to Calgary. He shares his thoughts about the experience. Find out why Vinod says they held to the ultra of ultra low cost. Vancouver to Calgary is often a turbulent flight as flights cross the Rocky Mountains.

Turbulence can be divided into planned and unplanned turbulence. Flying into hot destinations often brings big thermals for pilots to deal with. Sometimes flights take big detours to avoid large unstable weather systems.

We discuss our 2024 travel plans.

Geoff has an upcoming round-the-world flight. The idea for the flight started when Vinod asked what a United 737 was doing in Tokyo. The trip starts from Toronto to Chicago to Honolulu on United. Then the Island Hopper in the Pacific, eventually ending up in Guam. Then a connection to Japan to one of the world's busiest single runway airports at Fukuoka. Geoff is looking forward to a domestic Japanese flight from Osaka to Tokyo. After enjoying Tokyo, onward to Copenhagen with 19 hours of flying via Singapore. Geoff has a couple of inter-European flights with Norwegian and Lufthansa. Geoff returns to Canada using a Singapore fifth freedom flight to JFK and finally to Toronto with Air Canada.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 74. "Summer Skies. 2023 Plans for Vinod and Geoff." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Vinod is travelling to Paris to work on the Olympic Games. He is looking forward to his in-flight experience with Air France. Later with family there will be trips to Portugal with TAP, Dublin with Ryanair and Paris with Aer Lingus. Vinod and family will enjoy a return flight to Vancouver together.

Maybe Geoff and Vinod will get a chance to meet up while on their adventures. Stay tuned.

If you have trip plans or experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/

In this experience we are happy to bring you a special interview with senior leadership advisor Marco Villa.

Over three decades Marco has flown more than 2800 flights and 6125000 miles.

Geoff and Marco flew together in 2022 on internal flights in Mozambique complete with a crazy trip to Nampula (listen to experience 64 for more details).

We ask Marco about his alliances and statuses. With all of these flights, Marco has almost achieved lifetime gold status on British Airways. He holds status in three different alliances along with Emirates.

It all started for Marco in the mid-1990s when flying staff standby tickets with Lufthansa, which sponsored AIESEC conferences that Marco (and Geoff and Vinod) attended.

We ask Marco about his business travel and his top “weird” destinations. Eritrea tops the list and Tajikistan being another exotic destination.

We ask about Marco’s pet peeves – he shares his thoughts about issues on the ground, in the air and at the hotel. He also shares an interesting “worst flight on the planet”.

We ask about Marco’s travel hacks and habits and learn what he never gets on a plane without.

What airlines or hotels are at the top of Marco’s list? Marco wishes that customer service comes back at the major airlines at some point in the future.

We ask about what airlines he feels are at the bottom of the list. It is a really populated place for both major carriers and low-cost carriers.

We ask what Marco would like to see in travel for innovation. Marco also shares his emotional attachment to his paper boarding passes.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 61. "A Very Special Interview. Selling Airbus in China." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

If you have other experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/

We’re happy to be back after a few months of hiatus.

In this experience we examine pets and other furry fliers, and Vinod shares a couple of trip reports.

We have talked about animals as cargo in previous experiences. Airlines should know that there is an animal in the plane. Vinod remembers a dog that escaped out of the plane in Edmonton and went missing for weeks. Geoff remembers a poor dog that made a mess of itself in the kennel. Vinod remembers a massive dog that took up a row of seats with a passenger flying from St. John’s to Toronto.

Animal kennels on board need to be able to fit under the seat under the seat in front of you.

Prior to COVID in the US, there was a large number of unique support animals brought onboard.

We saw Dexter the emotional support peacock, Daniel the emotional support duck, Fred the miniature service horse, an emotional support pig, Gizmo the emotional support marmoset and a turkey at security.

Eventually in 2020 a new rule was implemented differentiating between trained support animals and emotional support animals.

Vinod shares a story that his father would share about a passenger feeding a miniature monkey in his jacket.

Vinod shares his experience of rescue dogs flying from Taiwan to Canada.

We wonder what happens with irregular operations and delays with pets. Vinod shares his memory of rats and mice in aircraft.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 41. "What are you Shipping? The Complex World of Air Cargo." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Vinod shares a couple of trip reports.

The first was a flight from Toronto to Vancouver that was delayed by more than three hours. There was extra drama with passengers and a crying baby.

The second was a family vacation to Costa Rica. Vinod’s son had wonderful interaction with a Delta pilot in Atlanta. The return flight via Los Angeles, caused Vinod’s loathing and hatred of the airport to go up a notch.

• bbc.com article 'Emotional support peacock' barred from United Airlines plane
• thenationalnews.com article From horses to peacocks, the wildest emotional support animals spotted on flights

If you have a story about pets and animals on flights, or other experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/