The totally off-topic thread

[beardoc]

It will be with Vodafone so I can receive the 10,000 Amex MR points bonus. From what I have noticed Vodafone, Optus and 3 Mobile are all offering the same $29 plan with $180 calls included.

Then again I may stay with my current plan on Telstra ($30/month with $25 free calls but 3 miniute phone calls for free to a nominated number) as it is beneficial and I can call home many times throughout the day although they do not offer a new phone anymore.

Don't want to spend anymore than $30/month on any mobile phone plan.

I know you're keen on not spending more than $30/month, but if you're willing to go a little further, Vodafone now have the Infinite plans, which include unlimited calls to Australian numbers including mobiles (except 13/1300, 1800 and voicemail calls), and free unlimited text messages to anywhere in the world, as well as 1GB/month (excludes data tethering).

Vodafone Infinite Plans - Vodafone Australia

And if you're in the NRMA, they'll give you 3 months access fees free plus 10% off for the life of the contract. If you get a 12 month plan with them then this is a significant saving, and would bring it back to just above the $30/month you want over a 12 month contract ($364.50 over 12 months). I assume that the other motoring organisations have a similar deal.

https://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/mynrma/hs.xsl/m4m_vodafone.htm

The N8 is $5 month extra on the $45 plan, which isn't much, and it's a much better phone than the N97/N97 Mini. It's not the same as the iPhone or Android operating systems, but if your needs are basic, you should be fine. Much more responsive, and easier to use.

 

[anat0l]

Well I have decided to take the wife to the US (mainly so I can try F) and scored 2 seats on the A380

Now looking at booking the return using FASA and :shock: can not get two seats for a reasonable price, even for next Nov.

Looks like we may be slumming it in J for the return.

Did you manage to get the outbound on the FASA? If you did, you should be laughing already.

If F Classic seats are hard enough to get, I don't think I need to tell you that FASAs at Classic prices are harder to find than understanding what women want. Let alone getting 2 of them.

markis10's idea of getting a JASA then registering for upgrade is notable, however. Getting two F upgrades, however.....

 

[markis10]

markis10's idea of getting a JASA then registering for upgrade is notable, however. Getting two F upgrades, however.....

Thats not what I am suggesting, I am saying book a JASA, then change the JASA online by selecting a FASA for a cash difference of $400 or so, usually plenty of seats available if the fare level is right. In effect its an instant upgrade for cash.

 

[anat0l]

Thats not what I am suggesting, I am saying book a JASA, then change the JASA online by selecting a FASA for a cash difference of $400 or so, usually plenty of seats available if the fare level is right. In effect its an instant upgrade for cash.

I haven't thought about that quirk and didn't know it could even work. Would be kind of a .... oh, never mind (just in case we... you know...)

 

[markis10]

I haven't thought about that quirk and didn't know it could even work. Would be kind of a .... oh, never mind (just in case we... you know...)

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ing-asa-award-tickets-26435-2.html#post375329

 

[ejb]

Did you manage to get the outbound on the FASA? If you did, you should be laughing already.

If F Classic seats are hard enough to get, I don't think I need to tell you that FASAs at Classic prices are harder to find than understanding what women want. Let alone getting 2 of them.

markis10's idea of getting a JASA then registering for upgrade is notable, however. Getting two F upgrades, however.....

Yes got the 2 F seats for ~160000 each

Great score but now the prospect of returning in J has mrs ejb

I knew the risk going in about once you try F you can't go back.

May have solved it by going LAX-MEL on the return.

ejb

**UPDATE**

Scored 2 LAX-SYD FASA for ~160000 each on 744 so very happy.

 

[straitman]

The (Ch7) Sunrise crew are broadcasting from the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki this week.

It just so happens that is where we are staying for three nights so we went and had a look this morning and formed part of the 'rent a crowd'. Sue was happy as she got individual photos with each of the crew.

 

[JohnK]

I know you're keen on not spending more than $30/month, but if you're willing to go a little further, Vodafone now have the Infinite plans....

And if you're in the NRMA, they'll give you 3 months access fees free plus 10% off for the life of the contract. If you get a 12 month plan with them then this is a significant saving, and would bring it back to just above the $30/month you want over a 12 month contract ($364.50 over 12 months). I assume that the other motoring organisations have a similar deal.

Thanks. Now that sounds like a good deal especially the unlimited standard calls as I do not have to constantly check if the timer has reached 3 minutes to hang up and call again. I saw some advertising about Infinite somewhere but the $45 threw me off. Probably much better than original Amex deal of $696 over 24 months with $180 worth of calls a month included and 10,000 Amex MR points.

The N8 is $5 month extra on the $45 plan, which isn't much, and it's a much better phone than the N97/N97 Mini. It's not the same as the iPhone or Android operating systems, but if your needs are basic, you should be fine. Much more responsive, and easier to use.

To be honest I am not really interested in iPhone or Android. In fact I do not even know what Android means other than the conventional sense.

Is the N8 the only phone available on the $45 plan?

 

[Nigelinoz]

John did you get your laptop problem sorted? may be worth trying a new battery in it before you get a new one.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

NT News today had an article about JQ cancelling their DRW/SIN flight Sat 20 Nov JQ61 flight because of crewing issues.

One bloke was quoted saying he'd paid $5000.00 for him and his wife to go to SIN on a business trip. Given that one way fares currently available on the JQ website range from a Jetsaver light fare of AUD259.00 to a Jetflex fare of AUD539.00 he must be either staying at a bloody good hotel or taking a hell of a lot of people with him.

Apparently pax already boarded the flight when they had to disembark, re-enter the country then go downstairs to checkin & line up for their hotel vouchers.

According to duty free people it was actually the later Bali flight that didn't have enough crew so FA/s were taken off the SIN flight to crew Bali which had more pax on it so SIN got canned. I can't imagine too many disrupted pax being happy at that should that be correct.

A cynical person might say SIN was cancelled as it had less people on therefore less hotel rooms to provide but creates heaps more problems because of all the connecting flights to Europe that need to be rebooked whereas Bali I imagine would have very little oncarriage.

 

[MissBurrill]

On the weekend there was a car accident in Nowra which killed two people. The vehicle caught on fire. I just heard on the radio that the parents of one of the deceased attended the scene in a Rural Fire Service role. They did their job, unaware their son was in the car. The poor parents.

 

[JohnK]

John did you get your laptop problem sorted? may be worth trying a new battery in it before you get a new one.

No I could not get it sorted. No power in the cable/AC adapter and when we tried a new power cable still no power. The guy at the PC shop said that it may be the mother board and would be too expensive to fix.

Your suggestion does not sound too bad. I have already ordered another Lenovo (yes I know but I cannot/don't want to use a trackpad). Is there an easy way to check if the battery has had it? I shall talk to my brother and he can take it up to the other PC shop and see what can be done. My brother can have the laptop if he wants to spend the money.

I know you're keen on not spending more than $30/month, but if you're willing to go a little further, Vodafone now have the Infinite plans, which include unlimited calls to Australian numbers including mobiles (except 13/1300, 1800 and voicemail calls), and free unlimited text messages to anywhere in the world, as well as 1GB/month (excludes data tethering).

I have found an even better deal thanks to you posting this deal and me ringing Vodafone last night.

There is a combo plan for $49/month including a Nokia N97 Mini ($10/month extra for Nokia N8) which includes $500 worth of calls, 1.5 GB data on mobile and 2GB mobile broadband and USB modem is free.

So the above plan is valid on the NRMA deal (3 months free and 10% off for the remainder of the contract) and the Vodafone consultant is calling me back next Monday morning. I think I will go with the 24 month contract and the Nokia N97 mini. I am not sure I can justify spending an extra $10/month fpr the Nokia N8 but I have not seen that mobile phone yet.

 

[Nigelinoz]

I had a similar problem with a Dell laptop last year,I tried removing the battery and powering the unit with just the AC adaptor,I found that it powered up ok and was fine but when I put the battery back in it wouldn't work,I bought a new battery and it was fine,but that may not be the problem with yours.
Hope it works out for you John.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[Flashback]

No I could not get it sorted. No power in the cable/AC adapter and when we tried a new power cable still no power. The guy at the PC shop said that it may be the mother board and would be too expensive to fix.

Your suggestion does not sound too bad. I have already ordered another Lenovo (yes I know but I cannot/don't want to use a trackpad). Is there an easy way to check if the battery has had it? I shall talk to my brother and he can take it up to the other PC shop and see what can be done. My brother can have the laptop if he wants to spend the money.

I wouldn't think the battery is causing the issue ; if the battery was an issue even with mains power the machine should still work fine. As always, remove possible issues one by one until you can isolate the issue. Doesn't sound like it's worth doing, though.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Good morning from Perth, I changed planes from QF 10 to QF 78 but my bag stayed on the plane and ended up in Melbourne.

Just another thing to add to a complicated trip.


Sent from my iPhone using AFF Mobile

 

[JohnK]

I found that it powered up ok and was fine but when I put the battery back in it wouldn't work,I bought a new battery and it was fine,but that may not be the problem with yours.

I am not sure what happened on Friday but it would appear that my laptop has had it. It is just on 2 years old and has served me quite well considering I only spent $800 on it. There may still be some useful parts in it like the hard drive and 4GB memory. It is up to my brother if he wants to use these parts.

I wouldn't think the battery is causing the issue ; if the battery was an issue even with mains power the machine should still work fine. As always, remove possible issues one by one until you can isolate the issue. Doesn't sound like it's worth doing, though.

One day it was working fine and the next day it had multiple issues. I don't have the time or money or the expertise to try and diagnose the issues.

 

[Flashback]

I am not sure what happened on Friday but it would appear that my laptop has had it. It is just on 2 years old and has served me quite well considering I only spent $800 on it. There may still be some useful parts in it like the hard drive and 4GB memory. It is up to my brother if he wants to use these parts.


One day it was working fine and the next day it had multiple issues. I don't have the time or money or the expertise to try and diagnose the issues.

And for something that was only $800 in the first place, I'd agree:!:

 

[JohnK]

Good morning from Perth, I changed planes from QF 10 to QF 78 but my bag stayed on the plane and ended up in Melbourne.

So your luggage wanted a holiday in a different destination to you.

Just another thing to add to a complicated trip.

Another reason to keep the trips simple. :-|

 

[oz_mark]

I am not sure what happened on Friday but it would appear that my laptop has had it. It is just on 2 years old and has served me quite well considering I only spent $800 on it. There may still be some useful parts in it like the hard drive and 4GB memory. It is up to my brother if he wants to use these parts.

One day it was working fine and the next day it had multiple issues. I don't have the time or money or the expertise to try and diagnose the issues.

If it's the motherboard that is gone, then probably worth changing - sometimes its not easy to just change the faulty part in a laptop.

 

[anat0l]

Good morning from Perth, I changed planes from QF 10 to QF 78 but my bag stayed on the plane and ended up in Melbourne.

Just another thing to add to a complicated trip.

It probably didn't help that the connection time at SIN was a mere 1 hour. Yes I know SIN are usually efficient (both luggage side and passenger side), but on paper that's still a tight connection. Let me guess, however: the QF search engine spat this connection out as an option, didn't it:?:

In any case, FlightStats shows that QF10 arrived in SIN on time after leaving LHR approximately 25 minutes late. So given that the connection was not really compromised, the only reason I can give for the baggage not making it is a lapse in the usual Changi efficiency.