kellytklp
Aug 4, 03, 1:35 pm
Hi All,
I thought I would comment on my recent award travel from lovely Saint Louis (suburbs) to the wonderful city of Sydney Australia. It's my first trip report any suggestions would be helpful!
Kudos’ for my wife who back in April was discussing a family vacation to the Northwest, We were having some difficulty in getting award seats so we ended up paying for the Travel. In her Saintly way she suggested I use the miles to talk my dream trip to Sydney that I had been talking about for years.
Not being the seasoned road warrior whom I read so much about on Flyertalk I took the chance (back in April) to see if I could secure a business class seat. Low and behold with some minor modification of my dates I was able to book the ticket. (90,000 miles on United) I know it probably made it easier that I was going to Sydney in the low season.
I’m any case my original itinerary was STL-DEN-SFO-SYD-SFO-DEN-STL. Shocking, no direct flights from STL. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Arriving at the airport I find the first class check in was wide open. I was informed that a change in equipment required me to go through ORD instead of DEN. No biggy as far as I am concerned, the flight to ORD leaves 5 minutes later then the DEN flight, although the ORD-SFO flight got me in 1 ½ hours later. I had booked to arrive in SFO early so that I might spend the day touring.
Waiting in the gate area the UAL staff announced that they were offering a free round trip domestic ticket due to the STL-DEN flight being oversold. I was somewhat disappointed that I was not given the opportunity to take the bump for a later flight. Again no biggy.
The flight to ORD was a 737-300, I was in 2-A. Short flight, completely uneventful. Juice and some type of pastry were offered as breakfast. Crew was pleasant, no pre-flight drink, but heck it was only 7:05 AM.
Arriving at ORD I had 2 hours to kill. I loved it. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. As an airplane geek in high school I used to spend time on Irving Park Blvd and watch airplanes take-off and land. I understand they have some earthen barricades up now.
I made a bit of an error in my re-ticketing in STL. I had been offered my choice of the 747-400 from ORD-SFO or the Airbus A-320. I thought I would fly the Airbus since I would spend 14+ hours in a 747-400. Big mistake. Clearly the business class cabin (I was upstairs) on the 747-400 is far more comfortable then the first class cabin of the A-320. Nevertheless it was a pleasant enough flight, I was in seat 2-A and enjoyed the UAL Deli sandwich. I thought it was great, although I don’t fly in the cabin with food very often.
Arriving in SFO I had about 10+ hours. I had a dayroom at the Hyatt, I spent part of the day exploring and part of the day cleaning up and getting ready for the long flight.
Arriving at SFO about 2 ½ hours prior to my flight (I already had my boarding pass) I thought I would check out the RCC. Nice enough, I was given two drink tickets (without asking) and the staff was courteous and pleasant.
Finally boarding was called for our 10:50 departure to SYD. Boarding was smooth enough and I was lead to the upper-deck where I was seated in 16-A. Very comfortable seat, plenty of legroom. Glancing at row 15 (I think) I can see why you elite folks choose that row. It seems to have never-ending leg room. While the flight was 14+ hours in length it passed rather quickly, we ate, we drank, we ate again and then we had some snacks. My kind of trip. I took a walk down to the main cabin to stretch my legs about 8 or 9 hours into the flight. I was aghast at the coach cabin. Although it was the middle of the night many people were still awake. The cabin was backed with a mini crowd gathered at the very rear of the aircraft. Stretching the legs I suppose. I spent a majority of the flight with flight view screen on my IFE while comparing it to my own GPS to check our progress.
Arriving Sydney a bit early I found immigration to be quick and easy. (the electronic visa is the only way to go) I had to wait for my bags for awhile, do the priority bag tags really mean anything?
I found the information service in the airport very helpful. They were able to dell me a Sydney Pass for transportation and direct me to the shuttle pick-up area to get to my hotel. It was a pleasant surprise that the airport shuttle to my hotel was a mere $9.00 AUS and I was whisked to the Four-Points Darling Harbor in no time.
The Hotel was fairly nice, right on Darling Harbor. My room was fairly small with minimal accoutrements but I was thrilled that they had an early check-in available. After getting advice from the Flyertalk boards I decided to hit the ground running. Without any sleep (minimal sleep on the airplane) I went out exploring. I walked around Darling Harbor. It was magnificent. Scenic, clean and picturesque don’t do this harbor justice.
As I said I invested $90.00 UAS in a three day Sydney Pass. This included travel on all Sydney Explorer buses as well as the Bondi Bus and state run ferries. I spent that first day essentially riding around on busses getting aquatinted with the city and surrounding suburbs.
Highlights included the Bridge, Opera House, and Blue Mountains. ****, I am a tourist!
Without question the greatest commodity possessed by Australia are its people. I’ve done a bit of travel and have rarely encountered such a pleasant, authentic, lively citizenly.
Strong in humor, rich in personality to a person I enjoyed my interaction with those whom I met!
After way to short a visit, it was time to go home. The trip home was uneventful, full of sleep with the slight melancholy associate with completing something you had been anticipating for a long period of time.
To all of those who live in Australia, thanks for a wonderful trip. You can bet I want to return (I’ll bring the wife and kids next time)
Terry
I thought I would comment on my recent award travel from lovely Saint Louis (suburbs) to the wonderful city of Sydney Australia. It's my first trip report any suggestions would be helpful!
Kudos’ for my wife who back in April was discussing a family vacation to the Northwest, We were having some difficulty in getting award seats so we ended up paying for the Travel. In her Saintly way she suggested I use the miles to talk my dream trip to Sydney that I had been talking about for years.
Not being the seasoned road warrior whom I read so much about on Flyertalk I took the chance (back in April) to see if I could secure a business class seat. Low and behold with some minor modification of my dates I was able to book the ticket. (90,000 miles on United) I know it probably made it easier that I was going to Sydney in the low season.
I’m any case my original itinerary was STL-DEN-SFO-SYD-SFO-DEN-STL. Shocking, no direct flights from STL. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Arriving at the airport I find the first class check in was wide open. I was informed that a change in equipment required me to go through ORD instead of DEN. No biggy as far as I am concerned, the flight to ORD leaves 5 minutes later then the DEN flight, although the ORD-SFO flight got me in 1 ½ hours later. I had booked to arrive in SFO early so that I might spend the day touring.
Waiting in the gate area the UAL staff announced that they were offering a free round trip domestic ticket due to the STL-DEN flight being oversold. I was somewhat disappointed that I was not given the opportunity to take the bump for a later flight. Again no biggy.
The flight to ORD was a 737-300, I was in 2-A. Short flight, completely uneventful. Juice and some type of pastry were offered as breakfast. Crew was pleasant, no pre-flight drink, but heck it was only 7:05 AM.
Arriving at ORD I had 2 hours to kill. I loved it. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. As an airplane geek in high school I used to spend time on Irving Park Blvd and watch airplanes take-off and land. I understand they have some earthen barricades up now.
I made a bit of an error in my re-ticketing in STL. I had been offered my choice of the 747-400 from ORD-SFO or the Airbus A-320. I thought I would fly the Airbus since I would spend 14+ hours in a 747-400. Big mistake. Clearly the business class cabin (I was upstairs) on the 747-400 is far more comfortable then the first class cabin of the A-320. Nevertheless it was a pleasant enough flight, I was in seat 2-A and enjoyed the UAL Deli sandwich. I thought it was great, although I don’t fly in the cabin with food very often.
Arriving in SFO I had about 10+ hours. I had a dayroom at the Hyatt, I spent part of the day exploring and part of the day cleaning up and getting ready for the long flight.
Arriving at SFO about 2 ½ hours prior to my flight (I already had my boarding pass) I thought I would check out the RCC. Nice enough, I was given two drink tickets (without asking) and the staff was courteous and pleasant.
Finally boarding was called for our 10:50 departure to SYD. Boarding was smooth enough and I was lead to the upper-deck where I was seated in 16-A. Very comfortable seat, plenty of legroom. Glancing at row 15 (I think) I can see why you elite folks choose that row. It seems to have never-ending leg room. While the flight was 14+ hours in length it passed rather quickly, we ate, we drank, we ate again and then we had some snacks. My kind of trip. I took a walk down to the main cabin to stretch my legs about 8 or 9 hours into the flight. I was aghast at the coach cabin. Although it was the middle of the night many people were still awake. The cabin was backed with a mini crowd gathered at the very rear of the aircraft. Stretching the legs I suppose. I spent a majority of the flight with flight view screen on my IFE while comparing it to my own GPS to check our progress.
Arriving Sydney a bit early I found immigration to be quick and easy. (the electronic visa is the only way to go) I had to wait for my bags for awhile, do the priority bag tags really mean anything?
I found the information service in the airport very helpful. They were able to dell me a Sydney Pass for transportation and direct me to the shuttle pick-up area to get to my hotel. It was a pleasant surprise that the airport shuttle to my hotel was a mere $9.00 AUS and I was whisked to the Four-Points Darling Harbor in no time.
The Hotel was fairly nice, right on Darling Harbor. My room was fairly small with minimal accoutrements but I was thrilled that they had an early check-in available. After getting advice from the Flyertalk boards I decided to hit the ground running. Without any sleep (minimal sleep on the airplane) I went out exploring. I walked around Darling Harbor. It was magnificent. Scenic, clean and picturesque don’t do this harbor justice.
As I said I invested $90.00 UAS in a three day Sydney Pass. This included travel on all Sydney Explorer buses as well as the Bondi Bus and state run ferries. I spent that first day essentially riding around on busses getting aquatinted with the city and surrounding suburbs.
Highlights included the Bridge, Opera House, and Blue Mountains. ****, I am a tourist!
Without question the greatest commodity possessed by Australia are its people. I’ve done a bit of travel and have rarely encountered such a pleasant, authentic, lively citizenly.
Strong in humor, rich in personality to a person I enjoyed my interaction with those whom I met!
After way to short a visit, it was time to go home. The trip home was uneventful, full of sleep with the slight melancholy associate with completing something you had been anticipating for a long period of time.
To all of those who live in Australia, thanks for a wonderful trip. You can bet I want to return (I’ll bring the wife and kids next time)
Terry