Not First, not Economy: Premium Economy

**UPDATE: Think twice before you book through Air France's call center, especially the Italian one, they still have trouble understanding what is Premium Voyageur...

Since first class plane tickets are super expensive, I always fly economy. I have a discrete experience in choosing the best airline (according to my needs and preferences) for the trip I'm taking: best entertainment on board, best food, comfortable seats, etc.

On my last long-haul flight, I experienced AirFrance's Premium Voyageur class, a service available on long-haul flights which offers additional leg room (+20%), more comfortable seats, individual screens and the possibility to board the plane right after those lucky bastards of the first class. 

I had never paid much attention to all these things but now that I've tried Premium Voyageur I never want to go back to economy!

The extra fee for a single route -on Air France-, per person, is between 50 and 80 euro (to be added to your economy fare). This class is available on most Boeing 777s, 747s and will be gradually extended to other long-haul flights.

location of Premium Voyageur seats on a B 747 (upper deck) *

Seats *

Other companies are also getting this lass on their long-haul flights, like Delta's Economy Comfort, British Airways' World Traveller Plus, Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy and many more.

On this website (http://www.seatguru.com/charts/premium_economy.php) you can find a comparison chart on the services each airline offers for this class).

* All images are taken from Airfrance's website.

100

We are celebrating the 100th post!

Thanks again for joining, reading and sticking with me!

“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes, in seeing the universe with the eyes of another, of hundreds of others, in seeing the hundreds of universes that each of them sees.” -M.Proust

Happy expats

Have you ever wondered if you are a happy expat, if you are, which strategies did you use to become one, if not, what do you think is preventing you from becoming one? This 7 habits come from the Global Coach Center, a website for expatriate and cross-cultural crossing, after having followed many clients they came out with a list of seven habits that affect the happiness levels of expats:

Emilia Romagna

As you may know, the past weeks have been terrible for the population in Emilia Romagna, a region in Central Italy struggling with endless earthquakes since May 20. There have been a couple of those that were above 5 degrees Richter and caused lots of damage and unfortunately, victims (26). 
I come from a place (Mexico City) in which you learn to live with earthquakes (and pretty strong ones) and fortunately, after the davastating earthquake in 1985 which destroyed the city and caused thousands of victims, it seems that we have learnt to build our houses and monuments the right way so even strong earthquakes over 6 degrees Richter leave us only with minor (if none) damage.
In Italy all this is hard to do, we are talking about monuments that are hundreds of years old and they are the first to suffer damages. But what makes us really angry right now is that other very recent buildings (including factories) were damaged because apparently they were built with no respect of the rules regarding earthquakes... There are investigations undergoing and we really hope they find the guilty ones and they can move on.
I read the following editorial from an Italian newspaper called "Il Resto del Carlino" and found it beautiful, here's the original plus my free translation:

The quest for the perfect swimsuit

Summer is already here and I don't know about you but I'm really looking forward to spending some time at the beach (or even by the pool!) so let the quest for the perfect swimsuit begin!
When I was younger, I never had any issues when looking for a swimsuit but now that the signs of too much eating and no exercise start to show, I think I'll let my bikinis in the drawer and settle for a more covering model...
Since I know I'm not the only one having some issues with swimwear, here's a guide I made:

A) Pear shape: avoid skirted bottoms, they'll make your lower part look bigger. Go for fold-over bottoms to slim your bottom and full coverage tops to compensate the upper part.
B) Flat chest: Avoid bandeau tops, they flatten your chest even more. If you want bandeau you might want to try a ruffled one to add volume. Pair it with a bottom with strings on the sides to improve your hips.
C) Large chest: Avoid triangle bikinis which would only make your chest look bigger. Try instead an underwired halter top with fuller coverage.
D) Tummy: Avoid bulky swimsuits, they'll maker your body look big and shapeless. Go for ruches in the sides to slim your shape, and try a nice plungy neckline to take away attention from your tummy.

And the golden rule: choose a swimsuit in which you feel comfortable!

Enjoy your summer and wear sunscreen!