From my first low cost redeye to a first class trifecta - an insane fortnight
Mar 26, 2010, 8:06 pm
#16
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Stanmore, Sydney, Australia.
Programs: NZ Airpoints GE
Posts: 1,360
Oh goodness me - that flight just reinforces why I refuse to fly LCC TT.I would rather stay home than suffer the indignity of flying Pac Blue.
As for the Mexican Wave - tacky,tacky,tacky..........bit like the airline really.
As for the Mexican Wave - tacky,tacky,tacky..........bit like the airline really.
Mar 26, 2010, 9:23 pm
#17
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
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Transit in Cairns
After a leisurely walk towards immigration I turned and double-backed along the path to transfer security. With just 2 international departures tonight, security was closed. An airport staffer manning an information desk had just turned up when I arrived and was soon joined by the cleaner.
I whiled away the time reading in between being questioned by the airport staffer.
Security and immigration opened a couple of hours before the next departure. The cleaner wasn't given access airside until the same time that passengers were allowed through and thus wasn't able to use his carpet cleaning machine.
As the first passenger through I of course got the "random" explosives swabs and pat down.
After a leisurely walk towards immigration I turned and double-backed along the path to transfer security. With just 2 international departures tonight, security was closed. An airport staffer manning an information desk had just turned up when I arrived and was soon joined by the cleaner.
I whiled away the time reading in between being questioned by the airport staffer.
Security and immigration opened a couple of hours before the next departure. The cleaner wasn't given access airside until the same time that passengers were allowed through and thus wasn't able to use his carpet cleaning machine.
As the first passenger through I of course got the "random" explosives swabs and pat down.
Mar 28, 2010, 12:48 pm
#18
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Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
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CAIRNS to AUCKLAND (CNS-AKL) on Pacific Blue in economy class
Once airside my first priority was to grab a shower. There are free public showers in Cairns, but you need to supply your own towel and soap. Not a problem for me - I have both in my carry on anyway in case they are needed during irrops.
When I emerged somewhat refreshed but still rather tired, most of the shops had now opened but there were few passengers. The airport had set up a table near the shops, with mini pavlovas, fruit salad, sponge cake, tea, coffee, juice, water and soft drink - all especially for the Pacific Blue inaugural flight from Cairns. The staff at the adjacent coffee shop was not impressed at the lack of custom she was going to get as a result. I thought they placed the table in an odd location - passengers who headed directly for the gate turn right after clearing security and thus do not see or go near the table.
I was fairly tired but resisted the urge to lie down on one of the couches or one of the big chairs for a nap. I might not wake up in time. Besides which, while they looked very comfortable, they actually were rather worn and had all sorts of lumps and bumps in them.
After a while the DJ marketing staff were back airside, so I knew the flight would soon be boarding. The load was relatively light again. Being a red-eye flight there was less frivolity and they tried to rush through the normal service and the special inaugural touches quickly.
Another lindauer or orange juice run.
A meal run - no hot food loaded.
T-shirts for donation to Variety - these had "See a Kiwi up close" on them.
No auction or games.
By the time they'd finished all this we were over 2 hours into the flight. I napped in between being whacked from someone passing up or down the aisle.
We landed on time to clapping and cheers, and taxiied to gate 16 on pier B. Along the way I saw some odd looking aircraft parked up between domestic and international terminals, but I was too tired to pay close attention. I later found out that some RAAF F18s (plus escort & tanker) had dropped in for the night.
We arrived at a very good time of the early morning - well after the first 2 flights (from Rarotonga and San Francisco) so their passengers had completely gone through immigration and customs, and before the next flight. This meant a fast clear run to be first to immigration. Unfortunately smartgate didn't accept my passport. I wondered if this meant I'd get secondary, but the officer at the nearby desk marked up my arrival card with the code for exit A, so it must have just been a glitch. Actually with no other passengers around now exit B would only have been slower due to the extra distance to walk - normally there is a big difference in time for customs to process (with B being much slower).
I was landside in no time, and looking forward to about 3 coffees.
Once airside my first priority was to grab a shower. There are free public showers in Cairns, but you need to supply your own towel and soap. Not a problem for me - I have both in my carry on anyway in case they are needed during irrops.
When I emerged somewhat refreshed but still rather tired, most of the shops had now opened but there were few passengers. The airport had set up a table near the shops, with mini pavlovas, fruit salad, sponge cake, tea, coffee, juice, water and soft drink - all especially for the Pacific Blue inaugural flight from Cairns. The staff at the adjacent coffee shop was not impressed at the lack of custom she was going to get as a result. I thought they placed the table in an odd location - passengers who headed directly for the gate turn right after clearing security and thus do not see or go near the table.
I was fairly tired but resisted the urge to lie down on one of the couches or one of the big chairs for a nap. I might not wake up in time. Besides which, while they looked very comfortable, they actually were rather worn and had all sorts of lumps and bumps in them.
After a while the DJ marketing staff were back airside, so I knew the flight would soon be boarding. The load was relatively light again. Being a red-eye flight there was less frivolity and they tried to rush through the normal service and the special inaugural touches quickly.
Another lindauer or orange juice run.
A meal run - no hot food loaded.
T-shirts for donation to Variety - these had "See a Kiwi up close" on them.
No auction or games.
By the time they'd finished all this we were over 2 hours into the flight. I napped in between being whacked from someone passing up or down the aisle.
We landed on time to clapping and cheers, and taxiied to gate 16 on pier B. Along the way I saw some odd looking aircraft parked up between domestic and international terminals, but I was too tired to pay close attention. I later found out that some RAAF F18s (plus escort & tanker) had dropped in for the night.
We arrived at a very good time of the early morning - well after the first 2 flights (from Rarotonga and San Francisco) so their passengers had completely gone through immigration and customs, and before the next flight. This meant a fast clear run to be first to immigration. Unfortunately smartgate didn't accept my passport. I wondered if this meant I'd get secondary, but the officer at the nearby desk marked up my arrival card with the code for exit A, so it must have just been a glitch. Actually with no other passengers around now exit B would only have been slower due to the extra distance to walk - normally there is a big difference in time for customs to process (with B being much slower).
I was landside in no time, and looking forward to about 3 coffees.
Mar 28, 2010, 6:50 pm
#19
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
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Posts: 14,365
Nice report. Michael O'Leary would think however that you haven't been on a LCC.
Mar 30, 2010, 7:02 pm
#21
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Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
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Posts: 71,419
As mentioned previously, I've known for a long time that at around this time I will be unable to take a long trip. However I have never given up hope that I could fit in a decent short trip, so I've resisted booking some domestic and trans-tasman sale fares in order to keep this time free for something more special.
Months passed.
A couple of weeks ago I realised time was running out to get a great trip organised, so I set to work trip planning. Where could I go that is interesting, affordable, schedules work, availability exists, preferably someplace I haven't been before (getting harder every year), preferably with great products in the air &/or on the ground, possibly with new products I haven't tried out yet? While I'm very flexible and good at optimising travel, I feared this may be too much for a relatively short notice trip around public and school holidays. Nonetheless, I was confident I could get something that would work out.
I quickly narrowed down to a few options and explored fares & availability using the various tools available to me. The hardest bit was marrying up schedules.
My first choice wasn't available on all legs so I put in a waitlist request. This was a small victory in itself because (a) they were holding a booking longer than strictly allowed according to the rules, and (b) I first had to convince them a transfer shorter than minimum connection time would be fine. Fortunately the agent's superviser knows me well enough that I have considerable experience in complex itineraries and thus a good judge of when it should be okay. The system warning was thus overridden.
The system request took longer to clear than I expected so I starting looking more closely into my second choice. That itinerary also has some minor complexity and thus I couldn't leave that too late either.
Fortunately, just before I was about to change to the second choice I got word the waitlist had cleared. A couple of days later the ticket was issued.
Months passed.
A couple of weeks ago I realised time was running out to get a great trip organised, so I set to work trip planning. Where could I go that is interesting, affordable, schedules work, availability exists, preferably someplace I haven't been before (getting harder every year), preferably with great products in the air &/or on the ground, possibly with new products I haven't tried out yet? While I'm very flexible and good at optimising travel, I feared this may be too much for a relatively short notice trip around public and school holidays. Nonetheless, I was confident I could get something that would work out.
I quickly narrowed down to a few options and explored fares & availability using the various tools available to me. The hardest bit was marrying up schedules.
My first choice wasn't available on all legs so I put in a waitlist request. This was a small victory in itself because (a) they were holding a booking longer than strictly allowed according to the rules, and (b) I first had to convince them a transfer shorter than minimum connection time would be fine. Fortunately the agent's superviser knows me well enough that I have considerable experience in complex itineraries and thus a good judge of when it should be okay. The system warning was thus overridden.
The system request took longer to clear than I expected so I starting looking more closely into my second choice. That itinerary also has some minor complexity and thus I couldn't leave that too late either.
Fortunately, just before I was about to change to the second choice I got word the waitlist had cleared. A couple of days later the ticket was issued.
Apr 1, 2010, 4:38 pm
#23
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Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
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AUCKLAND to SYDNEY (AKL-SYD) on Air New Zealand 767-300 in business class
I'd been looking forward to the trip all week, even going so far as to check whether or not I would finally get to see "Up in the Air" whilst up in the air. BTW I love the online IFE listing and wish more airlines did this.
Even though I've gotten up at a ridiculously early hour for a flight hundreds of times, the the shock on wakening to the shrill of my alarm only a couple of hours after getting to bed still gets me each time. After my shocking alarm error last year I think I'm now more wary about missing these early flights, which doesn't help with getting a good quality couple of hours of sleep. It also has had the side effect that I'm more jumpy when the alarm goes off.
Today I was up in plenty of time to pack and walk to the airbus. At this early hour there were more cabin crew than airline passengers. The trip to the airport was quick and I arrived just when I wanted to - in between the initial rush of earlybirds who turn up too many hours before departure, but before the laggards on the early flights. The premium check in lobby had 4 manned desks and only 1 passenger.
I'd hoped to get boarding passes for the first 5 flights, or failing that the first 3 at least. Unfortunately I was only able to get 2 boarding passes. There were no queues at premium immigration and only a very short one at security, so within 5 minutes of arriving at the airport I was at the lounge. The 2nd passageway of shops appears to be nearly ready to open, but it seems the corridor to the lounges will be more busy when it does as this is where the passageway opens out to.
There was a family with a couple of teenagers camped in the middle of the lounge, oblivious to lounge ettiquette. The were loud and obnoxious. I'm sure the other lounge guests and staff did not need to hear about their plans to ask their hotel for extra sleeping bags because they were only going to book one bed, and they had a heated argument about which hotel to book.
It got worse. They'd bought a bottle of duty free booze and someone remembered there are liquids restrictions so they had a loud debate over whether to stash the bottle in the lounge for someone else to find, or polish it off themselves. On and on it went. I tried to shut it out while working on the computer, but alas one of them came over and loudly asked when I was finishing up - I pointed out there were 3 computers vacant just waiting to be switched on, but apparently that wasn't good enough.
I don't know if it was my tiredness but it seemed surreal and for a while I wondered if this was for some tv show or movie - surely it cannot be real?
The lounge steadily filled. Despite being holidays, both public and start of school holidays, there were many customers and eventually most seats were taken. I guess a fair portion were people who'd booked in the recent trans-Tasman sale which included free lounge access (and the fares were pretty low too). Good for Air NZ filling their aircraft more to cover drop in business custom, but a much worse lounge experience for those that already had access.
Eventually I gave up and headed for the public area of the terminal where it would be more peaceful.
I'd been looking forward to the trip all week, even going so far as to check whether or not I would finally get to see "Up in the Air" whilst up in the air. BTW I love the online IFE listing and wish more airlines did this.
Even though I've gotten up at a ridiculously early hour for a flight hundreds of times, the the shock on wakening to the shrill of my alarm only a couple of hours after getting to bed still gets me each time. After my shocking alarm error last year I think I'm now more wary about missing these early flights, which doesn't help with getting a good quality couple of hours of sleep. It also has had the side effect that I'm more jumpy when the alarm goes off.
Today I was up in plenty of time to pack and walk to the airbus. At this early hour there were more cabin crew than airline passengers. The trip to the airport was quick and I arrived just when I wanted to - in between the initial rush of earlybirds who turn up too many hours before departure, but before the laggards on the early flights. The premium check in lobby had 4 manned desks and only 1 passenger.
I'd hoped to get boarding passes for the first 5 flights, or failing that the first 3 at least. Unfortunately I was only able to get 2 boarding passes. There were no queues at premium immigration and only a very short one at security, so within 5 minutes of arriving at the airport I was at the lounge. The 2nd passageway of shops appears to be nearly ready to open, but it seems the corridor to the lounges will be more busy when it does as this is where the passageway opens out to.
There was a family with a couple of teenagers camped in the middle of the lounge, oblivious to lounge ettiquette. The were loud and obnoxious. I'm sure the other lounge guests and staff did not need to hear about their plans to ask their hotel for extra sleeping bags because they were only going to book one bed, and they had a heated argument about which hotel to book.
It got worse. They'd bought a bottle of duty free booze and someone remembered there are liquids restrictions so they had a loud debate over whether to stash the bottle in the lounge for someone else to find, or polish it off themselves. On and on it went. I tried to shut it out while working on the computer, but alas one of them came over and loudly asked when I was finishing up - I pointed out there were 3 computers vacant just waiting to be switched on, but apparently that wasn't good enough.I don't know if it was my tiredness but it seemed surreal and for a while I wondered if this was for some tv show or movie - surely it cannot be real?
The lounge steadily filled. Despite being holidays, both public and start of school holidays, there were many customers and eventually most seats were taken. I guess a fair portion were people who'd booked in the recent trans-Tasman sale which included free lounge access (and the fares were pretty low too). Good for Air NZ filling their aircraft more to cover drop in business custom, but a much worse lounge experience for those that already had access.
Eventually I gave up and headed for the public area of the terminal where it would be more peaceful.
Apr 1, 2010, 5:41 pm
#24
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,419
I didn't have long before boarding commenced. Business class & *G passengers were invited to board by the main desk while 2 long lines boarded by the boarding pass scanners.
The flight appeared to be full in economy and moderate load in business class. I had carefully chosen my seat online the day before, allowing for maths and psychology top maximise my odds of an empty adjacent seat. Indeed I had one.
In business class on 767 and A320 there isn't a lot of point in activating the gate to gate IFE because monitors and handsets must be stowed for taxi, takeoff and landing. Instead of my usual quick start to watch a movie I caught up on some papers I needed to review.
A pre-departure drink of bubbles (other choices were water and orange juice), with top-up while boarding completed. We were handed a menu. No newspaper, which was disappointing - there was none in the lounge either before I left it. Perhaps the newspaper delivery was late today?
We pushed back on time but had a slow taxi to the far end of the runway. The chime went shortly after takeoff so I unfolded the monitor, plugged in the noise cancelling headphones supplied and began watching a movie.
Shortly after we got a post departure drink, and Australia arrivals and express arrivals cards were handed out. This was followed by breakfast service.
I had planned to sleep most of this flight so that I could more fully enjoy the onward flight in first class. However I found myself too awake and instead watched a movie and a few tv programs.
Before I realised the time there was an announcement that we were about to commence descent with an erroneous arrival time given, which was corrected a few minutes later.
I'm not a big fan of the business class seats on Air NZ. Not only are they old style but also, since the screens were increased in size and avod fitted, the width is fairly narrow - about the same as economy but with hard sides to the seat (table on one side, monitor on the other).
We did the loop over Sydney that is typical for early morning arrivals from New Zealand, to land towards the south. We got the short straw with the secondary runway, meaning a very long taxi back to the terminal - almost the longest possible in fact as our gate was tucked around the end of the *A/other pier.
Before being allowed to disembark, roughly on time, an announcement was made for connecting passengers to Johannesburg to hurry with their transfer.
The flight appeared to be full in economy and moderate load in business class. I had carefully chosen my seat online the day before, allowing for maths and psychology top maximise my odds of an empty adjacent seat. Indeed I had one.
In business class on 767 and A320 there isn't a lot of point in activating the gate to gate IFE because monitors and handsets must be stowed for taxi, takeoff and landing. Instead of my usual quick start to watch a movie I caught up on some papers I needed to review.
A pre-departure drink of bubbles (other choices were water and orange juice), with top-up while boarding completed. We were handed a menu. No newspaper, which was disappointing - there was none in the lounge either before I left it. Perhaps the newspaper delivery was late today?
We pushed back on time but had a slow taxi to the far end of the runway. The chime went shortly after takeoff so I unfolded the monitor, plugged in the noise cancelling headphones supplied and began watching a movie.
Shortly after we got a post departure drink, and Australia arrivals and express arrivals cards were handed out. This was followed by breakfast service.
I had planned to sleep most of this flight so that I could more fully enjoy the onward flight in first class. However I found myself too awake and instead watched a movie and a few tv programs.
Before I realised the time there was an announcement that we were about to commence descent with an erroneous arrival time given, which was corrected a few minutes later.
I'm not a big fan of the business class seats on Air NZ. Not only are they old style but also, since the screens were increased in size and avod fitted, the width is fairly narrow - about the same as economy but with hard sides to the seat (table on one side, monitor on the other).
We did the loop over Sydney that is typical for early morning arrivals from New Zealand, to land towards the south. We got the short straw with the secondary runway, meaning a very long taxi back to the terminal - almost the longest possible in fact as our gate was tucked around the end of the *A/other pier.
Before being allowed to disembark, roughly on time, an announcement was made for connecting passengers to Johannesburg to hurry with their transfer.
Apr 1, 2010, 5:42 pm
#25
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,419
Air New Zealand
Business Class menu
New Zealand to Australia
April 2010
Breakfast
Wake-up Drinks
Start your day with a fruit smoothie or your choice of juice
Fruit and Cereal
Continental selection with fruit, assorted cereals, bircher muesli and yoghurt
Bakery
Croissants, muffins, Vogel’s, brioche or fruit toast served with fruit conserve
Hot Breakfast
Smoked chicken pesto and parmesan omelette
with slow roasted tomato and chicken sausage
Corned beef and root vegetable cakes
with grilled field mushroom, leaf spinach, blistered vine tomato and tarragon mustard mayonnaise
Hot Drinks
Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate
Wine
Our wine list showcases some of the best wine New Zealand has to offer – from a country that celebrates its zealous passion for producing top quality wines.
The premium wine selection onboard this flight has been chosen by our wine consultants : John Belsham of Foxes Island Wines, Kate Radburnd of CJ Pask Winery and Jim Harré, nationally recognised wine judge. The fine wines served on this flight have been chosen to complement today’s menu style. Your crew will be happy to discuss the selection and help you choose wines to accompany your meal.
Spirits
Glenfiddich Malt Whisky
Chivas Regal Blended Whisky
Jack Daniel’s Black Label
Gordons Gin
42 Below Vodka
Courvoisier VSOP
Coruba Rum
Ron Bacardi Superior
Port and Liqueurs
Portuguese Port
Grand Marnier
Baileys Irish Cream
Beer
A selection of beer featuring Steinlager Pure, Speight's Gold, Heineken and low alcohol lager
Soft Drinks
Mineral water, orange juice, apple juice, tomato juice, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, cola, lemonade, L&P (sparkling lemon drink), tonic water, ginger ale, diet cola and diet lemonade
Business Class menu
New Zealand to Australia
April 2010
Breakfast
Wake-up Drinks
Start your day with a fruit smoothie or your choice of juice
Fruit and Cereal
Continental selection with fruit, assorted cereals, bircher muesli and yoghurt
Bakery
Croissants, muffins, Vogel’s, brioche or fruit toast served with fruit conserve
Hot Breakfast
Smoked chicken pesto and parmesan omelette
with slow roasted tomato and chicken sausage
Corned beef and root vegetable cakes
with grilled field mushroom, leaf spinach, blistered vine tomato and tarragon mustard mayonnaise
Hot Drinks
Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate
Wine
Our wine list showcases some of the best wine New Zealand has to offer – from a country that celebrates its zealous passion for producing top quality wines.
The premium wine selection onboard this flight has been chosen by our wine consultants : John Belsham of Foxes Island Wines, Kate Radburnd of CJ Pask Winery and Jim Harré, nationally recognised wine judge. The fine wines served on this flight have been chosen to complement today’s menu style. Your crew will be happy to discuss the selection and help you choose wines to accompany your meal.
Spirits
Glenfiddich Malt Whisky
Chivas Regal Blended Whisky
Jack Daniel’s Black Label
Gordons Gin
42 Below Vodka
Courvoisier VSOP
Coruba Rum
Ron Bacardi Superior
Port and Liqueurs
Portuguese Port
Grand Marnier
Baileys Irish Cream
Beer
A selection of beer featuring Steinlager Pure, Speight's Gold, Heineken and low alcohol lager
Soft Drinks
Mineral water, orange juice, apple juice, tomato juice, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, cola, lemonade, L&P (sparkling lemon drink), tonic water, ginger ale, diet cola and diet lemonade
C2B_MAR10
Apr 1, 2010, 8:05 pm
#26
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,950
Good report so far Kiwi Flyer. Looking forward to the F reports.
Boring! That's the same menu I had in December. Surely there'd be a change with the seasons? Or has the rotation gone quite quickly.
Boring! That's the same menu I had in December. Surely there'd be a change with the seasons? Or has the rotation gone quite quickly.
Apr 2, 2010, 9:24 pm
#30
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,419
Transit in Sydney
There was a huge queue at *A & other international transfers. A large extended family were going through and judging by their actions none of them have flown before. To make matters worse grandma was in a wheelchair tieing up one lane for ages, and the security officer waited until she was finally just about ready before pointing out that she'd need to use the other lane since there is no space for a wheelchair on this side. Geez - where was his common sense. He should have said something at least 5 minutes earlier to save grandma holding up both lines. Eventually I got through, managed to avoid the random explosives test and pat down, and headed up 2 levels to the Singapore Airlines first class lounge.
On arrival I was brusquely told to go next door to the Air NZ lounge - the SQ lounge is about to close. I was held up entering the Air NZ lounge because the bouncer wanted to call Thai to confirm I was okay to enter. Apparently I wasn't on the printout (small wonder, my flight wasn't due to leave for hours) and the bouncer didn't trust the Air NZ issued first class boarding pass. Good grief. There was mention of my long transit. I held back from commenting Air NZ not releasing a seat on a more conveniently scheduled flight is the reason I have such a long transfer time.
The other lounge bouncer was tied up with a queue of United passengers who were being disrupted by one of the 2 UA flights being over 6 hours late. The United staff was nowhere to be seen and so the Air NZ lounge staff were left to placate passengers as best the could and try to get them in touch with United.
I caught up on some messages and FT for a while, and then wandered over to the SQ lounge which had reopened for their next flight. Again on entry I was warned of the lounge closure before my flight boards.
I had a juice and a sandwich to keep me going. I don't want to spoil my appetite or thirst for the next flight.
When the SQ lounge closed I wandered over to the other pier. This is my first time through this passage since the *A/other airlines customs was closed so the rapacious airport could force passengers past and through another dozen or so shops. It really is a long way and a major pain in the neck, especially for those checking in at the highest lettered check in desks at SYD. Along the way I saw staff from 4 different airlines running around trying to find passengers who'd gotten lost along the way, plus another couple of passengers struggling to self-propel their wheelchairs a long distance without assistance.
I noticed that one of the last (1 or 2?) Singapore Airlines 747's was subbed onto one of their flights today. This was in addition to the A380 which had earlier departed (our Air NZ aircraft pulled into a gate in between the SQ and EK A380s!).
While in the other pier I paid a quick visit in the Qantas business class lounge, access thanks to open door policy for my status. I didn't hang around long for it too was full and noisy. Crud, perhaps the only quiet haven is the SQ F lounge which is closed for the next couple of hours.
I walked around for a while and then headed back to the SQ lounge - still closed, so revisited NZ lounge instead. A United passenger busy phoning all her friends and family to say (loudly) they were going to be delayed but managed to get o the earlier flight and also got upgraded to first class.
As the lounge filled up again I took a shower and decamped to the SQ F lounge, again. Before I left to board I checked the status of my onward flights as well as a couple of "plan B" flights.
There was a huge queue at *A & other international transfers. A large extended family were going through and judging by their actions none of them have flown before. To make matters worse grandma was in a wheelchair tieing up one lane for ages, and the security officer waited until she was finally just about ready before pointing out that she'd need to use the other lane since there is no space for a wheelchair on this side. Geez - where was his common sense. He should have said something at least 5 minutes earlier to save grandma holding up both lines. Eventually I got through, managed to avoid the random explosives test and pat down, and headed up 2 levels to the Singapore Airlines first class lounge.
On arrival I was brusquely told to go next door to the Air NZ lounge - the SQ lounge is about to close. I was held up entering the Air NZ lounge because the bouncer wanted to call Thai to confirm I was okay to enter. Apparently I wasn't on the printout (small wonder, my flight wasn't due to leave for hours) and the bouncer didn't trust the Air NZ issued first class boarding pass. Good grief. There was mention of my long transit. I held back from commenting Air NZ not releasing a seat on a more conveniently scheduled flight is the reason I have such a long transfer time.
The other lounge bouncer was tied up with a queue of United passengers who were being disrupted by one of the 2 UA flights being over 6 hours late. The United staff was nowhere to be seen and so the Air NZ lounge staff were left to placate passengers as best the could and try to get them in touch with United.
I caught up on some messages and FT for a while, and then wandered over to the SQ lounge which had reopened for their next flight. Again on entry I was warned of the lounge closure before my flight boards.
I had a juice and a sandwich to keep me going. I don't want to spoil my appetite or thirst for the next flight.
When the SQ lounge closed I wandered over to the other pier. This is my first time through this passage since the *A/other airlines customs was closed so the rapacious airport could force passengers past and through another dozen or so shops. It really is a long way and a major pain in the neck, especially for those checking in at the highest lettered check in desks at SYD. Along the way I saw staff from 4 different airlines running around trying to find passengers who'd gotten lost along the way, plus another couple of passengers struggling to self-propel their wheelchairs a long distance without assistance.
I noticed that one of the last (1 or 2?) Singapore Airlines 747's was subbed onto one of their flights today. This was in addition to the A380 which had earlier departed (our Air NZ aircraft pulled into a gate in between the SQ and EK A380s!).
While in the other pier I paid a quick visit in the Qantas business class lounge, access thanks to open door policy for my status. I didn't hang around long for it too was full and noisy. Crud, perhaps the only quiet haven is the SQ F lounge which is closed for the next couple of hours.
I walked around for a while and then headed back to the SQ lounge - still closed, so revisited NZ lounge instead. A United passenger busy phoning all her friends and family to say (loudly) they were going to be delayed but managed to get o the earlier flight and also got upgraded to first class.
As the lounge filled up again I took a shower and decamped to the SQ F lounge, again. Before I left to board I checked the status of my onward flights as well as a couple of "plan B" flights.
