YouTubers. Youtubers everywhere [Travel Bloggers]

[Scott K]

Forget about Tyson Vs Paul, the real bust-up online appears to be the confected drama between Josh Cahill and Sam Chui.

I reckon we're all going to collectively groan as that rubbish drama plays out, but I am curious about what everyone else's current presenter subscriptions are and if there's others that may be worth giving a subscribe to. What you think their weakness and strengths are? Maybe someone needs to rate them in a tier system.

Here's my view on the state of YT and some alternatives I feel you could look at

Chui is probably the biggest personality in this space, so it is hard to avoid him. I do subscribe, but have found his videos straying quite some way away from the realms of reality and into the kind of soft holiday mindspace that shows like 'Getaway' used to. I don't feel Sam reflects my, or even anyone's travel reality but is interesting from an Avgeek prospective. I have subscribed to Sam for a long time and feel his holder videos are the best.

Wingin' It Paul Lucas
As an alternative to Chui, Paul's personal presentation ability is much more watchable than Chui, even if he doesn't have the polish of his videos. He's very well researched and all round much more grounded a guy. Long time subscriber here.

Cahill on the other hand, I have watched many of his videos at the time of suggestion on YT I have never subscribed. He covers a lot of different airlines frequently and does chart changes well. However I have found him to have the personality of a cashed-up bogan that is complaining about cleanliness standards on a cheap holiday to Bali - nothing is ever good enough, but everyone else is held to an arbitrary standard that they could never meet themselves. I've never subscribed as I find his videos turn me off wanting to travel more than anything else.

Non-stop Dan.
As an alternative to Cahill, I think Dan has travelled just as much and keeps a balanced and a critical eye. years ago I found Dan infuriatingly annoying but his channel has matured beyond Cahill's in both quality and presentation, as he himself has matured. I eventually subscribed, but only recently. Like Cahill though he can be a bit of a deference to travel and a bit prone to shifting the narrative.

Dennis Bunnik.
I learned of Bunnik through this very forum and have stuck with his reviews for a long time. Dennis reviews from his position as a Tour Guide operator and has occasionally been given some of the privileges Sam Chui gets to look at things behind the scenes. Denis seems very down-to-earth, and does occasionally give a solid serve at an airline when it is due (take the Jetstar video of his as an example). However his presentation style isn't as polished as some. Subscribed.

Jeb Brooks
Jeb is a great bookend too Dennis. If you subscribe to one, you may as well subscribe to both. Jeb is very much a travel reviewer, although I am not sure what industry Jeb is in. Clearly a good presenter, he's very watchable. Yes, Subscribed.

Noel Phillips
Probably the most click-baity of presenters, Noel gets himself onto some of the less mainstream of airlines, and into some very odd locations that you wouldn't expect to travel. From this point of view he offers plenty to watch, however despite his amazing ability to book himself onto unexpected airlines, he's quite probably one of the least researched and lax planned travellers out there, and the only Youtuber I have found myself screaming "what the **** are you doing"? at the screen over. I subscribed during Covid as his content was reassuring to watch which stuck in lockdowns, but is terrible advice for travel.

Jayden Wong
As an alternative to Noel, I strongly suggest Jayden Wong. Jayden is a Hong Konger that has lived in Australian up until very recently, and is probably one of the nicest and politest Av Youtubers out there. I think I was the one to encourage Jayden to start saying 'G'day' in his videos, back when he was still getting to grasp on Australian English, and used to subtitles his videos. Today his videos, while long - are quite fun and always honest. He has the everyman charm of Phillips while demonstrating a few greater sensibility and travel knowledge. Long time subscriber here, and the only channel I subscribe to their Patreon.

LoungeIndex
Often poorly filmed, and using an AI voice that suits the topic but not the quality of the footage, LI does get around a few airports and interesting airlines if you really want point-of-seat reviews. Unsubscribed

Economy Traveller.
If the context of LI sounds like your bag, ET also keeps that point of traveller view, while not using a pretentious voice, while getting into some of the more interesting locations in Asia. Not subscribed.

The Flip Flop Traveller
Very much in the same stream as Cahill, TFFT gets around a lot, but seems to have the amazing ability to make you want to stay in the comfort of you own home. While he presents much better than Cahill, the acopic genera really is over-represented as it is. Not subscribed.

Traveller & Copenhageninfocus
As an alternative to TFFT, this couple tends to explore the same territory, and are actually quite fun to watch. Not hugely well presented and polished, but it is YT - there's an audience for that. Subscribed.

Paul Stuart
Paul has one of the biggest Avgeek hearts out there. I love his videos, and presents quite well, although not quite with the charisma of his contemporaries Bunnik and Brooks. Moving more into exploring museums lately, Paul does do a reasonable Travelogue when he wants. Subscribed.

Rory Ding Travels
Rory is a lot like Paul Stuart in his presentation, however where Paul likes exploring a plane museum, Rory gets his hands into interesting public transport items around Australia.

Mentour Pilot
Spanning several channels now, Mentour has probably one of the broadest minds in travel on YT and is a gifted presenter. Always worth a watch, although we rarely see him exploring a travel destination or a plane these days. Subscribed.

74 Gear.
Kelsey, like Mentour is also a pilot, but his presentations are rougher, less planned out but always hold a lot more urgency. Subscribed.

Quick caveat, I have not included a bunch of Silent Vloggers that I have subscribed to. While I enjoy these, they are definitely an acquired taste and not great for general viewing.

Happy flying.
Scott K

 

[kpc]

I avoid them all...in their own way, they all irritate the sh.t out of me!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Josh Cahill is just click bait. Complains about everything and is deliberately misleading. For example he was recently downgraded on an Air Algérie flight out of Europe and spent most of the video complaining about being ripped off and losing his money. He knows perfectly well EU261 applies and he’ll get back 75% of the ticket. His ‘banned from China’ video was just as bad. He made a big story out of being denied entry when he failed to meet the TWOV (transit without visa) requirements.

Noel Phillips is equally as bad… it *must* be deliberate how dumb he acts? He was flying business class somewhere seated in 1A. This was a lie-flat seat behind a bulkhead. Because there was an emergency exit instruction card in his seat pocket he spent a good 5 mins of the video asking ‘am I in an exit?’. (err, no) ‘will i need to help in an emergency?’ (err, no)

Sam Chui and Nonstop Dan at least give a decent flight review, without the clickbait.

 

[Seat0B]

In the spirit of being an avgeek, I like Mentour Pilot, 74 Gear and Pilot Debrief, all on YouTube.

I don’t really follow the general travel tip stuff, although I do sometimes find channels I like for particular trips I plan to take eg The Honest Guide for Czechia; Road Trip Spain and Portugal for - you guessed it, Spain and Portugal; Paolo in Tokyo and Cakes with Faces (mainly about Japan). And in the special interest category, as a newly minted senior citizen, I quite like watching The Retirement Travelers (Bev and John). They are into slow travel to cheaper destinations, and I figure I might do that some day.

Thanks for starting this thread, it will be fun to see what others say.

 

[Forg]

There’s a travel/flight vlog I watch semi-regularly by the name of Flying High.
Quite long eps, they tend to last for about 1.5hrs.
I don’t watch that often as all the eps seem the same as each other.

 

[Pushka]

I use YouTube a lot for research. It’s brilliant. And of course Dennis Bunnik. Harrcruises does great cruise reviews.

 

[levelnine]

If you want a true behind the scenes look at life as a pilot, there is no better than coughpit Casual. Unlike pretty much all other pilots, the guy can show the entire flight experience because he works for his own company as a ferry pilot.

The story of them repossessing Virgin Australia's planes during the height of COVID-19 is a legendary set of videos. Part 1 is here.

 

[Scott K]

Josh Cahill is just click bait. Complains about everything and is deliberately misleading. For example he was recently downgraded on an Air Algérie flight out of Europe and spent most of the video complaining about being ripped off and losing his money. He knows perfectly well EU261 applies and he’ll get back 75% of the ticket. His ‘banned from China’ video was just as bad. He made a big story out of being denied entry when he failed to meet the TWOV (transit without visa) requirements.

Noel Phillips is equally as bad… it *must* be deliberate how dumb he acts? He was flying business class somewhere seated in 1A. This was a lie-flat seat behind a bulkhead. Because there was an emergency exit instruction card in his seat pocket he spent a good 5 mins of the video asking ‘am I in an exit?’. (err, no) ‘will i need to help in an emergency?’ (err, no)

Sam Chui and Nonstop Dan at least give a decent flight review, without the clickbait.

I completely forgot about the ‘banned from China’ thing. I remember watching that way back, not really aware who I was watching, and thinking the whole time I had no sympathy for the guy and it seemed very entitled expecting them to be flexible on their rules to suit what he wanted. Had he got his way he would have carried on like he discovered a ‘visa hack’. But instead of accepting that it wasn’t going to work his way, he just made clickbait and tried to boo-hoo that he was treated poorly.

As for Noel, I’m not entirely sure it’s deliberate but you could be right, If it is he’s Rage Baiting and doesn’t deserve respect. Yet he has such a strong standing in the community. He was in Melbourne earlier this year and after getting angry that Starbucks didn’t have the breakfast options he expected elsewhere, he mouthed off that he hated Melbourne and it was a dirty city. 20 seconds on Google would have told you Melbourne was famous for Starbucks failing there. It’s a bit like Cahill expecting the world to work how he wanted it to, and not bothering to do more than basic cursory research on where they were going.

 

[RooFlyer]

In the spirit of being an avgeek, I like Mentour Pilot, 74 Gear and Pilot Debrief, all on YouTube.

Yes, those are mine too. I’ve barely heard of any of the others in the OP. Also like coughpit Casual and definitely Juan Brown on Blancerilio Channel.

 

[Scott K]

If you want a true behind the scenes look at life as a pilot, there is no better than coughpit Casual. Unlike pretty much all other pilots, the guy can show the entire flight experience because he works for his own company as a ferry pilot.

The story of them repossessing Virgin Australia's planes during the height of COVID-19 is a legendary set of videos. Part 1 is here.

Hey this sounds worthwhile!

 

[Seat0B]

Yes, those are mine too. I’ve barely heard of any of the others in the OP. Also like coughpit Casual and definitely Juan Brown on Blancerilio Channel.

Ah see I don’t much like Juan Brown because a lot of his sessions consist of him just reading out slabs of FAA reports into incidents. I like Pilot Debrief a lot more because he adds some valuable analysis of the incidents.