nidnoyham

If you have to book it now from BKK- LHR return in May, it works out over a £1K @ 51bht- GBP. A lonely summer for me and Herb lies ahead this year. On the plus side, money saved, will get the motorbike back on the road. Sex, or a burn up to Brighton and other places ? It's a hard one to call.

Chaps. I was just using a Combi as an example of equipment change. I could have said 747 to Airbus or 777. I wasn't getting all technical.

I'm not worried about football hooliganism. I think the locals, will put football fans well in the shade, when it comes to a bit of violence. I'm sure the media, go to football matches to report any Aggro'. It sells more papers than the result of the game. Very few are interested in the result of a Millwall- West Ham match, but the whole country will watch a punch up between the fans.

With Bill, it was as if he was standing in the crowd, watching and enjoying the game with all the supporters. You could walk away from the T.V to make a cuppa and his commentary was even more enjoyable just to listen to. R.I.P old son.

My daughter and I were offered free accomodation, to attend a wedding in S. Africa during the World Cup. I am still not tempted to go.

LTGTR ! I am sorry for the tone of my reply to your post. You touched a raw nerve with me about the workings of the Airline industry. I spent over 20 years being told by 'Suits' that things I saw in my role in operations were not possible. I have stood next to my manager looking at a baggage tag that had on it, exactly what I told him the day before. ( a Canadian originating conx tag through LHR to GLA, that had an code share AC flight printed on, for the final leg, which should have had a BD flight on ) He stood there looked at it and said " This can't happen !" WTF ? Worse, when he found out why it happened, I never got an apology from him When I posted, I had just got back from the pub after 6 pints of ale on an empty stomach. I meant to get chips on the way home, but I had to quickly divert into the park. If anyone asks " Does the baggage handler shit in the woods ? " you can answer "Yes" with confidence. So unless you were/are a Air Canada/ United, or BAA transfer baggage manager for T3, we have no argument old son.

You must be right of course. What do I know ? You have statistics to work on, all I had was the real world. Like an Indian family, booking their flight with a cousin, who booked them on all 5 flights to Toronto. Or I just just made that up. It never happened. Just thought I would make a statement , so a person with more knowledge, like yourself, could shoot me down in flames. Tony Blair was convinced that Iraq had WMD's too ! Hmm, so you think a system could sort out one family of Ali, Nguyen, Khan, or Singh.... booked on multiple flights ? The passengers mentioned, would be well pissed off, if their booking had been canxld ( airline speak ) because a family of the same name had traveled on an earlier flight. Ohh to live in the world of Management, away from real people- Nivana !

Airlines allow a 10% no-show for almost every flight. So 10% oversell is normal. As an employee, I have stood by on flights that are fully booked, but still got a seat and some to spare. Even oversold flights have left with space. It is an accepted part of the industry. If it was not good practice ABTA and other travel outfits, would stop it from happening. The traveling public are a fickle lot. Many buy one ticket, but register for several flights. That way, if they change their travel plans, they have a firm booking on more than one flight. This is really useful when transiting. Should your original flight be delayed, you still have a later booking on the next flight to your final destination. I have known transit passengers to have a booking for a family of five on all 5 of our Toronto flights from LHR. If they miss the 0900 one they can get any other one they like. That is 25 bookings for five people in one day. See what I mean ? You could be expecting 60 passengers to transfer from one airline and the flight arrives too late to take them. And on it goes....... Sometimes there is an unscheduled equipment change, giving a flight a different configiration from the one taken bookings for. A full 747 may be swapped for a Combi..... On days with two flights as Thai operate, a passenger for the late one, may ask to be travel to the early one. Or visa virsa. I don't know which of these is the case this week, but an airline would not take a firm booking from another's canceled flight, if it didn't have space available. It would give the transfer passenger a Wait- listed status- standby to us. If I find out the problem, I'll let you know

I hear from an employee, that Thai have an oversale problem this week. People are being offered about £500 Denied Boarding Fee. My mate flies tomorrow.He may take it.

If you use the Travel Lodge in Feltham, there is the 285, 24 hour bus to LHR central, that stops at the train station. The station is a short walk from the hotel. A taxi will be about £10- 15. Alternatively the H25 bus from the station, goes to Hatton Cross Tube. 1 stop from T1-2-3. Forgot to say, bus takes about 20-30-mins from station.

So there can be something worse than your team losing in the first round then ?

As much as I dislike Man. U, when it comes to the FA Cup, their departure means a possible lifeline payday game for a lower division club, has gone. Had Kettering beat Leeds and played at Old Traford, it would have secured their future for years to come. Leeds are one of the richest clubs in our division, they drew a gate of 9000+ in the recent league game at Brentford. (0-0 but a cracking game Vic.) Teams like ours are not going to win the cup, but a big club draw, is like a winning lottery ticket.

As in most cases nowadays, it's hair today- gone tomorrow !

Foreign players and owners seem to lack the passion of the fans. They are there purely for the profit. I remember a quote by a Sky football presenter about a new European player at QPR ; " He looks the part, but I wonder how he will perform at Loftus Road on a cold rainy Tuesday night in January ? " At least our Clubs new prospective owner, is local and a life long fan.

Basically Man.U. are like Villayouth- they tend come from behind ! As for Spain and Italy bagging all the top boys. The players are just going back to where most come from. More room for young British players to establish themselves in the E.P. Could be good for the England squad- with Harry as the Gaffer.

How about a sound and thorough thrashing ? Man.U losing to Burnley ? Laugh- I nearly bought my own beer !

An English manager doing well ? Blimey wacy, you will be suggesting he manages our national side next !

I don't care how much you nonce it all up Wacky, there will only be 1 of the usual 4 who will win. Unless swine flu starts affecting rich, healthy, footballers, or failing that, a restriction of foreign players to 5 per team, the rich will get the pleasure and the poor will get bugger all. It would be interesting to see how a lower division manager would do ,if given the 'war chest' of the Premiership to play with.

I haven't watched this vid', but remember a deer being hit by a car at night and watching steam rise from its spilled guts on the road. We all wonder how we are going to die- well I do. Given the choice of laying in a bed for months with tubes and wires all over my body, or dieing instantly on a motorbike, doing something I enjoy. I would go for the bike option. Preferably on a windy country road in summer, by the sea in Cornwall, Devon, Cumbria, or the highlands of Scotland, along that road by Loch Lomond. In Pattaya, I would pay the extra 80bht to hire a taxi at Mikes, rather than use the M/bike blokey nearby. A low speed fall off one of those, was taken as a warning from above.

I didn't, but if there is no profit to be made, what else is there ?

Of course ! As Harry Rednap, pointed out, when Arabs took over Man. City. " The fans don't care where the money comes from. If Sudan Husien bought them out with billions to spend, they would be chanting - There's only one Sudam. There's only one Sudam, one Sudam.... " But the Premiership ? Championship would do me. It is not dominated by a 'Big 4' and has the occasional Bri't playing in it. The managers in the lower divisions, require a different skill, from the big boys. They take average players and get the best from them. Very few Primadonas, just blokes who are glad to be playing football for a living.

So they do it just for the prestige ? They see that owning a E.P.L team, is the pinnacle of achievement ? Gotcha ! My club, Brentford, is owned by the fans. The nearest we have to any Arab involvement, is " Fly Qatar Airways " painted on the roof of the Bill Axbey Stand. This stand was named after a 104 y.o supporter, who died 2 years ago. We have no famous players to name things after. A few years back, we had to find £3/4 million pounds from the fans to keep the club going. People with buckets collecting loose change after every game. That is one of the reason I have no time for the Premier League. Next season, I will be buying a Seniors season ticket, for the less than 4 tickets to Chelsea. Win or lose, they are my team !

They were the Giant Killers of '66 reaching the semis with Portugal. Very popular side here. They had a lot of local support at their games. Well done America for the Brazil game and of course the Spanish one. Shame they ran out of steam. Pity they didn't have the fitness of the Basketball lads !

How very charitable of them. Sinking all that money in with no chance of making any for themselves. Where are they when non 'flavour of the month' clubs run into trouble ? Luton- Mansfield Town- Darlington........

Couldn't agree more regarding league games. Internationals are different. You can't get a ticket to watch England at Wembley now Unless you get picked out of a hat. The big companies have about 25% of the seats for their clients. The overrun costs of the new stadium have got to be sucked back by someone.