RichardMEL
Dec 26, 01, 6:57 am
Quick trip to SYD for the night to take advantage of UA domestic oz
service, cheap "H" fare upgraded with non cheap mileage of 10,000
each way (but had lots to burn and figured the hotel certs may come
in handy).
15DEC01 UA0862NC MEL SYD 747-400(N197UA/8197) 1240 1405 0:22L/0:19L
8A 8->53 27=>16R BACK 1308 OFF 1317 ON 1419 GATE 1424 FT=1:02 HT=0 CH9=?
Grade: B-
Arrived at MEL International terminal around 1120. C class line had about
4 people in it, Y was fairly long - most passengers checking in a bit early
for 842 to AKL-LAX-ORD(dept at 1325). Waited all of 5 minutes and delighted
the agent with the easy task of checking no bags and an e-ticket receipt.
She however forgot the orange "D" (domestic pax) sticker required by customs
and immigration(and also to stop you procuring duty free items while in
transit). I pointed it out to her and she thanked me and said I was her
first domestic customer that day. That can't bode well for the domestic
traffic.
Went through "D" channel at immigration (boarding pass stamped) and wandered
to the small MEL RCC and was there by 1140. It is quite crowded in here - it
is only a small lounge. Yet again they are low on the drinks of choice -
diet and non- coke. Large supply of beefy Saturday newspapers so I sit down
for a good read.
Go up to the gate around 1210 (sched boarding is for 1155 but I already knew
the aircraft was late as the inbound was 1:00 late out of SFO and SYD. It
had already been re-scheduled for a 1300 departure before I arrived at the
airport. Boarding did not begin until 1225. Yet again no pre-boarding for
F or C class or elite pax, just the Ansett domestic style cattle call (which
perhaps belies the origin of these agents...).
When upgrading the day before was told the cabin was wide open so I told the
agent to "surprise me" with seat selection, as long as it was a window. Happy
to have 8A as it is the fairly nice "back corner" seat in front of door 2L.
When I boarded the C cabin was empty except for myself and an American
couple in 7D & E. Soon it filled up to about half full - I suspect some were
upgrades. One guy got on in full suit and tie looking very nice, with a full
size skateboard as a carry-on. Was he planning to roll down the aisles?!
Crew is lazy - there is ample time including a 5-10 minute delay for a
cargo-door problem (lots of curious banging noises from below) - yet no
pre-dept drink service is even offered, and I didn't see anyone assist
pax with coats etc on this flight. There was an animated discussion
behind me about which F/A would do the safety demo for our section - all
was resolved in the end.
Finally we push back and the tug is released while we sit directly beside
the parked EK 777-300, A6-EMM. Given a few minutes to check out the lines
you can apprieciate the size of one of these things. They are big. And
nice.
Finally we start a quick taxi and begin rolling as we turn onto Runway
27. As the crew was lazy we had no headsets so I had no idea if Ch 9 was
available or not.
Service is quickly started once in flight. I ask for tea with my "salmon
sandwich" snack and am informed with a flourish by the F/A "We use milk on
this run" (gee, thanks for that). The tea actually is quite nice. They also
refill champ. The actual food is less exciting, but there is plenty of it-
with a large salad with lots of carrots in it, and a tiny nugat chocolate
as the "desert" - at least we got table linens, and true to UA form -
plastic knives but metal forks and spoons. Go figure.
Bumpy descent into SYD where it is overcast and dull which is a pity as I
have a gorgeous view of the SYD harbour bridge from my seat as we come in
to runway 16R.
Arrivals is straightforward. Through "D" lane and out through customs.
They want to take my boarding pass stub with the sticker, but relent to
just taking the sticker section when I suggest I'd like the remaining
bit for FF reasons. Pretty decent about it (also of interest, UA puts
the sticker on the larger section of the boarding pass, and collects the
stub, which means they can't easily use gate readers to collect bp's for
domestic pax). I am out to the arrivals hall in perhaps 5 minutes after
docking.
I stay at the airport Hilton, who managed to not have my reservation
when I checked in, yet agreed my Gold VIP profile was okay. Luckily I
had the printed confirmation from my hilton.com web booking (gee, says
a lot for their system doesn't it?). The agent decides it is valid and
queries the computer, then tells me that according to them I stayed on
the 12th of December. Impossible I inform him, as I was flying across
the pacific that night and I'd never been to that hotel before in my
life. Hmm. (subsiquently I see in my bank account they debited my
c/c the next day for the total. You can bet there will be hell if they
attempt to double bill me!). At any rate he assures me they have a room
for me, and soon I am assigned a king room with an airport view. I can
actually see UA's gates from my window.
Next morning I can't see any inbound aircraft on stand so assume they
must be late. The hotel proclaims to provide flight info on the room
TV, but my remote control didn't haver the appropriate option, so I
just decided to go on over there anyway and enjoy the RCC provided
breakfast if nothing else. Catch the 0800 airport shuttle bus and
arrive at around 0805.
UA has *3* positions open - one is F/ticketing, 1 is C (but labeled
Y) and the other is Y. Can't be many pax, and indeed the lines are
pretty small. Most of the pax appear to be flying SYD-MEL to connect
to Auckland. I didn't see any other domestic passengers check in. I
don't understand why UA doesn't put these people on the direct non-stop
NZ codeshare service to AKL. This is partly answered later on by a
pax onboard who is telling a F/A he was on an mileage award ticket and
going to AKL - thus doing it on UA metal all the way.
checkin is quick and painless again. So is immigration check. yet again
gate security is hand wanding everyone and going through people's carry
on bags. I head down to the RCC where I am told "boarding will be on time
at 0850."
I help myself to several rolls and pastries, drinks and so on. This really
is a nice club in SYD and is quite large and for now quite empty. 0850
comes and goes and I eventually wander upstairs around 0900 just to get the
wanding over and done with before the rush from the RCC causes a mini-line
to form there. Just when I get through screening there is an announcement
that the caterers are still on board the aircraft and there will be a 30
minute delay in boarding and departure, with 10am the new departure time.
loud audible sigh is raised by the <100 pax in the lounge. It appears 815
was diverted to Nandi because of terrible winds over the pacific.
Eventually boarding begins at 0945 - this time a pre-board for people with
small children, needing extra time etc, and then F and C class.
16DEC01 UA0863NC SYD MEL 747-400(N191UA/8191) 0935 1055 0:36L/0:37L
14A 53->8 16R=>16 BACK 1011 OFF 1026 ON 1128 GATE 1132 FT=1:02 HT=1 CH9=Y
Grade: B
This crew is much better. pre-dept OJ/water/champ offered (yet last Thursday
I was told they couldn't open champ on the ground!). There are about 4 pax
on the upper deck, with 2 F/A's. That ratio works for me!
Surprise when the voice from the cockpit is a local one. Captain is Rich
O'Farrell who may or may not be a refugee from Ansett. Gives a great
address to pax explaining the delay due to "horrendous winds over the
pacific last night" and then continues to take pleasure in describing the
weather as only a Sydney native can: "Well, the weather en-route to Melbourne
sucks, and I can take pleasure in informing you it is even worse there in
Melbourne with 12 degrees currently and rain"(note: it wasn't much better
in Sydney!). We are scheduled to climb to 39,000 feet (briefly) and 1:05
flight time. Capt also makes CH9 available by announcement and F/A's
actually bother to hand out headsets after takeoff so it is nice to hear
aussie callsigns and voices (hooray to hear Hotel Yankee Echo up there!! --
HYE being an Ansett A320 along with the usual Qantas and Virgin callsigns
there was some guy doing touch and go training at Canberra at one point on
the air).
I avoid the fruit plate breakfast and just enjoy my drink with good refill
service from the crew. Meantime our aussie captain is quite chatty and
points out items of interest on the way down: "Those to the right of the
aircraft have the dubious pleasure to see the nation's capital, Canberra"
and later the Snowy Mountain range and so on.
We get quite a few bumps coming down into Melbourne but the landing by
the F/O is smooth and soon we are parked at gate 8 - just ahead of 841
coming in from AKL.
This time customs wants to take my bp stub totally with the sticker. When
I explain SYD were happy to just take the part with the sticker they wanted
the whole thing and suggested maybe the stub could get photocopied if I cared
to go through the red channel ("that's what they were doing last week" says
one officer). I just decided it was too much trouble and told them not to
worry and thanks anyway. If I have any issues I still have my e-tix receipt
and it will have to do for proof of travel.
All in all a fairly decent trip all around.
------------------
RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.
service, cheap "H" fare upgraded with non cheap mileage of 10,000
each way (but had lots to burn and figured the hotel certs may come
in handy).
15DEC01 UA0862NC MEL SYD 747-400(N197UA/8197) 1240 1405 0:22L/0:19L
8A 8->53 27=>16R BACK 1308 OFF 1317 ON 1419 GATE 1424 FT=1:02 HT=0 CH9=?
Grade: B-
Arrived at MEL International terminal around 1120. C class line had about
4 people in it, Y was fairly long - most passengers checking in a bit early
for 842 to AKL-LAX-ORD(dept at 1325). Waited all of 5 minutes and delighted
the agent with the easy task of checking no bags and an e-ticket receipt.
She however forgot the orange "D" (domestic pax) sticker required by customs
and immigration(and also to stop you procuring duty free items while in
transit). I pointed it out to her and she thanked me and said I was her
first domestic customer that day. That can't bode well for the domestic
traffic.
Went through "D" channel at immigration (boarding pass stamped) and wandered
to the small MEL RCC and was there by 1140. It is quite crowded in here - it
is only a small lounge. Yet again they are low on the drinks of choice -
diet and non- coke. Large supply of beefy Saturday newspapers so I sit down
for a good read.
Go up to the gate around 1210 (sched boarding is for 1155 but I already knew
the aircraft was late as the inbound was 1:00 late out of SFO and SYD. It
had already been re-scheduled for a 1300 departure before I arrived at the
airport. Boarding did not begin until 1225. Yet again no pre-boarding for
F or C class or elite pax, just the Ansett domestic style cattle call (which
perhaps belies the origin of these agents...).
When upgrading the day before was told the cabin was wide open so I told the
agent to "surprise me" with seat selection, as long as it was a window. Happy
to have 8A as it is the fairly nice "back corner" seat in front of door 2L.
When I boarded the C cabin was empty except for myself and an American
couple in 7D & E. Soon it filled up to about half full - I suspect some were
upgrades. One guy got on in full suit and tie looking very nice, with a full
size skateboard as a carry-on. Was he planning to roll down the aisles?!
Crew is lazy - there is ample time including a 5-10 minute delay for a
cargo-door problem (lots of curious banging noises from below) - yet no
pre-dept drink service is even offered, and I didn't see anyone assist
pax with coats etc on this flight. There was an animated discussion
behind me about which F/A would do the safety demo for our section - all
was resolved in the end.
Finally we push back and the tug is released while we sit directly beside
the parked EK 777-300, A6-EMM. Given a few minutes to check out the lines
you can apprieciate the size of one of these things. They are big. And
nice.
Finally we start a quick taxi and begin rolling as we turn onto Runway
27. As the crew was lazy we had no headsets so I had no idea if Ch 9 was
available or not.
Service is quickly started once in flight. I ask for tea with my "salmon
sandwich" snack and am informed with a flourish by the F/A "We use milk on
this run" (gee, thanks for that). The tea actually is quite nice. They also
refill champ. The actual food is less exciting, but there is plenty of it-
with a large salad with lots of carrots in it, and a tiny nugat chocolate
as the "desert" - at least we got table linens, and true to UA form -
plastic knives but metal forks and spoons. Go figure.
Bumpy descent into SYD where it is overcast and dull which is a pity as I
have a gorgeous view of the SYD harbour bridge from my seat as we come in
to runway 16R.
Arrivals is straightforward. Through "D" lane and out through customs.
They want to take my boarding pass stub with the sticker, but relent to
just taking the sticker section when I suggest I'd like the remaining
bit for FF reasons. Pretty decent about it (also of interest, UA puts
the sticker on the larger section of the boarding pass, and collects the
stub, which means they can't easily use gate readers to collect bp's for
domestic pax). I am out to the arrivals hall in perhaps 5 minutes after
docking.
I stay at the airport Hilton, who managed to not have my reservation
when I checked in, yet agreed my Gold VIP profile was okay. Luckily I
had the printed confirmation from my hilton.com web booking (gee, says
a lot for their system doesn't it?). The agent decides it is valid and
queries the computer, then tells me that according to them I stayed on
the 12th of December. Impossible I inform him, as I was flying across
the pacific that night and I'd never been to that hotel before in my
life. Hmm. (subsiquently I see in my bank account they debited my
c/c the next day for the total. You can bet there will be hell if they
attempt to double bill me!). At any rate he assures me they have a room
for me, and soon I am assigned a king room with an airport view. I can
actually see UA's gates from my window.
Next morning I can't see any inbound aircraft on stand so assume they
must be late. The hotel proclaims to provide flight info on the room
TV, but my remote control didn't haver the appropriate option, so I
just decided to go on over there anyway and enjoy the RCC provided
breakfast if nothing else. Catch the 0800 airport shuttle bus and
arrive at around 0805.
UA has *3* positions open - one is F/ticketing, 1 is C (but labeled
Y) and the other is Y. Can't be many pax, and indeed the lines are
pretty small. Most of the pax appear to be flying SYD-MEL to connect
to Auckland. I didn't see any other domestic passengers check in. I
don't understand why UA doesn't put these people on the direct non-stop
NZ codeshare service to AKL. This is partly answered later on by a
pax onboard who is telling a F/A he was on an mileage award ticket and
going to AKL - thus doing it on UA metal all the way.
checkin is quick and painless again. So is immigration check. yet again
gate security is hand wanding everyone and going through people's carry
on bags. I head down to the RCC where I am told "boarding will be on time
at 0850."
I help myself to several rolls and pastries, drinks and so on. This really
is a nice club in SYD and is quite large and for now quite empty. 0850
comes and goes and I eventually wander upstairs around 0900 just to get the
wanding over and done with before the rush from the RCC causes a mini-line
to form there. Just when I get through screening there is an announcement
that the caterers are still on board the aircraft and there will be a 30
minute delay in boarding and departure, with 10am the new departure time.
loud audible sigh is raised by the <100 pax in the lounge. It appears 815
was diverted to Nandi because of terrible winds over the pacific.
Eventually boarding begins at 0945 - this time a pre-board for people with
small children, needing extra time etc, and then F and C class.
16DEC01 UA0863NC SYD MEL 747-400(N191UA/8191) 0935 1055 0:36L/0:37L
14A 53->8 16R=>16 BACK 1011 OFF 1026 ON 1128 GATE 1132 FT=1:02 HT=1 CH9=Y
Grade: B
This crew is much better. pre-dept OJ/water/champ offered (yet last Thursday
I was told they couldn't open champ on the ground!). There are about 4 pax
on the upper deck, with 2 F/A's. That ratio works for me!
Surprise when the voice from the cockpit is a local one. Captain is Rich
O'Farrell who may or may not be a refugee from Ansett. Gives a great
address to pax explaining the delay due to "horrendous winds over the
pacific last night" and then continues to take pleasure in describing the
weather as only a Sydney native can: "Well, the weather en-route to Melbourne
sucks, and I can take pleasure in informing you it is even worse there in
Melbourne with 12 degrees currently and rain"(note: it wasn't much better
in Sydney!). We are scheduled to climb to 39,000 feet (briefly) and 1:05
flight time. Capt also makes CH9 available by announcement and F/A's
actually bother to hand out headsets after takeoff so it is nice to hear
aussie callsigns and voices (hooray to hear Hotel Yankee Echo up there!! --
HYE being an Ansett A320 along with the usual Qantas and Virgin callsigns
there was some guy doing touch and go training at Canberra at one point on
the air).
I avoid the fruit plate breakfast and just enjoy my drink with good refill
service from the crew. Meantime our aussie captain is quite chatty and
points out items of interest on the way down: "Those to the right of the
aircraft have the dubious pleasure to see the nation's capital, Canberra"
and later the Snowy Mountain range and so on.
We get quite a few bumps coming down into Melbourne but the landing by
the F/O is smooth and soon we are parked at gate 8 - just ahead of 841
coming in from AKL.
This time customs wants to take my bp stub totally with the sticker. When
I explain SYD were happy to just take the part with the sticker they wanted
the whole thing and suggested maybe the stub could get photocopied if I cared
to go through the red channel ("that's what they were doing last week" says
one officer). I just decided it was too much trouble and told them not to
worry and thanks anyway. If I have any issues I still have my e-tix receipt
and it will have to do for proof of travel.
All in all a fairly decent trip all around.
------------------
RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.