CallumElsdon.com

17/09/2024

While we spent the first few nights of our visit to Siargao at a decidedly more budget Little Nap Inn, we decided to spend our last two nights at Siargao Island Villas. Also located in General Luna, the property is one of the more premium places to stay on the island that has traditionally attract

12/09/2024

Air France's new lounge at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) is a welcome addition to the Franco-Dutch carrier's lounge network. With a contemporary design and a range of amenities, it's a decent option for eligible passengers. However, there are some areas where the expe

10/09/2024

Located in the primary town of General Luna on the island of Siargao, Little Nap Inn is a basic but functional option for lodging. Here’s a short review of the property - for no other reason than there not being too much to write about this place. There’s no more than ten rooms at Little Nap Inn...

05/09/2024

After a short stay in Cebu City as well as being impressed by both the Plaza Premium Lounge and wider Mactan Airport, we took a short flight across to Siargao. On this flight, we flew PAL Express - the regional subsidiary of Philippine Airlines that now only operates domestic flights using Airbus A3

03/09/2024

Flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, and my lesser favoured Nordic airline after Finnair has left Star Alliance for SkyTeam. Here’s what it mans for British travellers. Air France KLM now own a chunk of SAS After a few years of company restructuring, SAS unveil

29/08/2024

Having visited the Philippines extensively now, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what is the best options for mobile or cell network connectivity in the archipelago. Here’s my recommendations depending on your visit type.  I’m spending several weeks in the Philippines  Unsurprising

26/08/2024

El Nido is one of the most touristic destinations in the Philippines. Located at the northern tip of the island of Palawan, it’s famous for sandy beaches, jungle vibes and hidden coves. However, it is less famous for good hotels with most hotels in the primary El Nido township being low value hote...

20/07/2024

While not Cathay Pacific’s shortest flight, with that honour going to the Hong Kong - Guangzhou route, Hong Kong to Taipei is still a short flight to experience the flag carrier of the city. Scheduled at just under two hours, but usually taking just over ninety minutes, you can get a small taste o...

17/07/2024

There are few times when a non-airline lounge is hugely impressive. Almost all the best lounges in the world are operated by airlines, whether that’s Air France’s Salon La Premiere , Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First or Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. While the Plaza Premium Lou...

13/07/2024

Toyoko Inn is one of the preeminent business hotel chains in Japan known for clean and safe rooms with a boring design. Big and small cities in the East Asian nation feature prefabricated rooms that are almost the same regardless of the branch. In need of basic accomodation during an overnight dom

03/06/2024

This is a review of Singapore Airlines’ SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the Philippines. The lounge is open to passengers: Travelling in Business or First Class on Singapore Airlines or other Star Alliance airlines (ANA, Thai Airways, EVA

25/04/2024

As the capital of the Philippines, Manila is the default option for most tourist heading to the country. There’s just one problem - it’s an awful airport. Ninoy Aquino International Airport, often just referred to as NAIA (na-e-ah), is a mess with old design, bad air conditioning and awful inter...

23/04/2024

Air Asia is synonymous with low-cost travel in and around the ASEAN region. Inspired by the likes of Southwest in the US as well as easyJet and Ryanair in Europe, Air Asia has attempted to bring a taste of low cost travel to the region - but does it achieve that? Let’s take a look on how they perf

18/04/2024

Having just checked out from Marina del Sol Hotel in Busuanga, it was time to check into Zenvea Hotel, Coron - the main town on the island of the same name. While it is still considered quite a rural area, it was positively congested compared to the tranquilness of Busuanga. Zenvea is a newer hotel

16/04/2024

On the easternmost island of the Palawan archipelago sits Coron, a semi-rural municipality that is far less popular than the tourist hotspot of El Nido. With much of the same charm but fewer visitors, Coron could be a good spot for you to visit. But how about Marina del Sol in Busuanga? Here’s my

11/04/2024

Domestic flights in the Philippines have quite a lot of competition if you’re travelling from Manila or Cebu, with competition from the likes of Air Asia, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines with their subsidiary PAL Express. There are many destinations across the archipelago which don’t featur...

09/04/2024

If you didn’t realise by the very fact I have a travel blog, I am very much an AvGeek. For those who aren't aware it's a combination of aviation and geek i.e. people who love planes and travelling. Most people will select the best time for their flight or the most convenient airport, but often you

04/04/2024

Located on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, Metro Manila, The Heritage Hotel has been a mainstay of the skyline since the mid-nineties. It’s a hotel that could do with a bit of love from old fashioned façade to the dated rooms inside - here’s a look at The Heritage Hotel, Manila. This is a snapsh...

02/04/2024

At the end of February, BT Group (formerly British Telecom) announced a so-called strategic sale of the BT Tower located in the Fitzrovia area of West London to the MCR Hotels Group. While MCR may not be a household name, it is most famous for properties such as The High Line hotel and notably for t

28/03/2024

In the space of two months, the oneworld alliance has gone from zero lounge presence to two exclusive spaces at key global airports. Here’s a look at what you can expect.  Where are the new lounges? In late January, oneworld opened their first lounge at Seoul Incheon Airport followed by A

26/03/2024

Waking up at 4am on a cold Thursday morning and heading to the station, I was in for a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see an eight car train on the departures board at this hour, considering it’s usually only four units long this early.  Imagine my surprise to then see one of c2c

21/03/2024

Bloomberg reported (paywall - or via CNA ) that the national airline of the People’s Republic of China, Air China, are seeking to increase their share in Cathay Pacific, the defacto flag carrier of Hong Kong. While I have no doubt that the story has some element of truth, especially as the journal

19/03/2024

Etihad Airways, famous for burning mountains of money in the mid-2010s before downsizing just prior to the pandemic and recently announcing record profits, has just announced upgrades to their offering in all classes. Let’s take a look. Author note- I was employed by Etihad Airways UK until late 2

19/03/2024

Etihad announces new ‘Armani’ amenity kits and pyjamas - you just can’t get them yet

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Etihad Airways, famous for burning mountains of money in the mid-2010s before downsizing just prior to the pandemic and recently announcing record profits, has just announced upgrades to their offering in all classes. Let’s take a look.

Author note- I was employed by Etihad Airways UK until late 2023. During my employment, I never commented or posted about Etihad Airways as a conflict-of-interest and tried not to cover direct competitors i.e. Middle Eastern airlines Since leaving the airline and aviation industry career-wise for an unrelated field, I can now cover the airline freely and critically - as well as publish a backlog of reviews.

Acqua Di Parma is out, Armani in

Acqua Di Parma has been the amenity kit partner for Etihad Airways since August 2018. Pandemic withstanding, that’s a long time for amenity kit partnerships - although it came in several iterations during that period. Here’s a shot of the a kit from Acqua Di Parma:

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Unsurprisingly, Etihad have dropped Acqua Di Parma a year after introducing Armani/Casa as their partner for bedding and service ware, such as glasses, plates and cutlery. This isn’t much of a surprise particularly as the design of the amenity kit much better matches the colour palette and design of the rest of the Armani offering on Etihad. It’s worth noting that none of the Armani products are produced by Armani but are instead only designed and feature their logo. I would adjust the standard of quality accordingly for all the Armani items aboard Etihad.

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The press release mentions how the design of the amenity kits draw ‘inspiration from the rolling sands of the stunning Liwa desert in Abu Dhabi which can be used as packing cubes’. While I doubt many people will think that when looking at them, they do look smart.

In First and The Residence, a unique design has been adopted with a larger folio style kit which is large enough to fit a thirteen-inch laptop. I do appreciate Etihad trying to make these as reusable as possible, as way too many airlines have made kits in the past that are just made for landfill.

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New contents from ESPA

If you flew Etihad in November and December, you would have received a special edition 20th Anniversary amenity kit (pictured below) which featured ESPA Skincare products.

I had never heard of ESPA prior to this but the products seem of decent quality with larger size products provided in First and The Residence. However, some may see the move as a downgrade from the more premium Acqua Di Parma brand as well as the omission of any cologne in the kit.

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Snuggle up in PJs

While First and The Residence always had ‘loungewear’ or pyjamas, which were extremely comfortable, Business Class lost these several years amongst downsizing cutbacks. This made the Etihad Business Class offering comparatively worse than Qatar Airways, so it is good to see them reintroduce the new Armani designed pyjamas.

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However, we won’t see Business Class pyjamas on many flights. Much of the Etihad network consists of sub-eight-hour, mid-haul flights with these new pyjamas only available on flights over nine hours. Frustratingly and in a bid to keep costs down, these won’t be available on all European flights which depart at ungodly hours.
It’s long annoyed me that Etihad doesn't provide slippers on their flights, so much so I bring my own that have been collected from hotels or other airlines (shout out to Finnair!). Hopefully they can at least make these available on request but that does feel unlikely.

Economy Class isn’t forgotten…it’s just less interesting

Small amenity kits will be provided in Economy too with eye masks, ear plugs and hand cream, in a design that forms into a tote bag. Again, I appreciate the effort to make something that would be a disposable into an item that can be reused for shopping in the future.

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Final thoughts

It’s good to see some changes in the Etihad product after having a similar amenity kit offering for almost six years. Frustratingly, I’ve recently been on a trip with the airline after the announcement was made last month on eligible ultra long haul flights but the kits and pyjamas are nowhere to be seen. I suspect they are still using up old stock of Acqua Di Parma kits in a comparable manner to how it took several months to introduce the Armani bedding in 2023.

What do you think of the new Etihad amenity kits? Comment down below and be sure to look out for my written and video reviews of the airline’s premium cabin in the coming months.

Etihad Airways, famous for burning mountains of money in the mid-2010s before downsizing just prior to the pandemic and recently announcing record profits, has just announced upgrades to their offering in all classes. Let’s take a look. Author note- I was employed by Etihad Airways UK until late 2

17/03/2024

On Monday, Hong Kong’s de facto flag carrier, Cathay Pacific, quietly released a video on their social channels promoting their new cabin products. While there was no related press release, and no dedicated images, here’s a run down on what the video shared - and what it didn’t. New ‘Aria Su...