Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Community > Trip Reports
Reload this Page >

Collecting Continents: Circle of the World, but not RTW

Collecting Continents: Circle of the World, but not RTW

Old Sep 8, 2017, 2:41 pm
  #61  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
Originally Posted by CHSDOC
I need a primer, but did you book the flight DCA to SCL on Delta and Upgrade or was this an award? Confused on the circuitous standby flights?
Employee standby Generally standby travel isn't an option for the public, unless you're trying to get on an earlier flight than the one you booked.
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2017, 2:48 pm
  #62  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 356
Oh, yes, now its clear! You work for Delta, and standby is the lowest priority...but how did you get into One from ATL to SCL
CHSDOC is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2017, 4:44 pm
  #63  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
Originally Posted by CHSDOC
Oh, yes, now its clear! You work for Delta, and standby is the lowest priority...but how did you get into One from ATL to SCL
Nope, I actually don't work in the airline industry at all. However, not able to disclose the terms of the standby benefits.
Calchas likes this.
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 7:01 pm
  #64  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
5. Two nights in Sao Paulo

Arrived at my hotel, the Marriott Renaissance, just before 11pm. Fantastic check-in, and found out that they had upgraded me to a junior suite. Before the SPG/Marriott merger, Marriott would have been far down my list of choices in most cases since I tried to stick with SPG hotels, and if there aren't any convenient ones then I would chose Hilton properties. With Marriott giving status to SPG holders, they've now become my #2 choice, and this hotel delivered!

After dropping my bags in my room, headed down to the bar to get a drink, but unfortunately they were just closing. Headed back to the front desk, where the helpful agent who checked me in was still working. "Is everything good with the room?" "Yes, but I was hoping to get a beer before bed - is there anywhere else around here that I can get one?" He told me not to worry, and asked if he could send some up to my room.

15 minutes later, this arrived. Three Brazilian craft beers in a bucket of ice. This hotel was impressing me already!



After sleeping in a bit in the morning, I opened the windows to see that the cool, misty, rainy weather of Buenos Aires and Santiago with temps in the 60s had been replaced with a gorgeous day in Sao Paulo. They'd also been having temperatures on the cool side - hovering around 70F, but today was an exception and it was a gorgeous 80F and almost no humidity. This would be a great day for walking around!

I had missed breakfast in the exec lounge since I slept in, so I stopped at the Starbucks right around the corner from the hotel to get some coffee and pes de queijo for breakfast.



I had never spent any time in Sao Paulo on previous trips, so was looking forward to walking around and enjoying the city a bit. I hadn't planned it this way, but couldn't have planned it better if I did. On Sundays, Avenida Paulista, one of the main roads through the city shuts down to traffic and becomes pedestrian only. My hotel was at one end of it, the weather was gorgeous, and it was one of those travel coincidences where everything just works out. Time for a long walk!

Just outside the hotel, a local Metal band was performing....



Starting the stroll southeast on Avenida Paulista...



Crowd gathering to watch some performers...



After about an hour or so of walking, I came to the Japan House near the southeast end of Paulista. Really cool architecture:



It was a bit after noon by this point, and with the gorgeous weather if felt like the whole city was out enjoying it. After years of hearing that Sao Paulo was a boring business city with no soul, today was proving that nothing could be farther from the truth!



After three to four hours of walking, and another coffee, I took a walk in a different direction down Rua Frei Caneca. It was still close to the hotel, but less international chains and felt a bit more authentic. Lots of smaller local roadside bars and shops, and fascinating people watching. After about an hour, the sun was setting, so I retreated back to the hotel after a very long day of walking. Just what the jetlag needed, and just what my hip needed after the encounter with the car the day before.

Headed to the executive lounge, which was absolutely teeming with people. I don't know that I've ever seen such a packed executive lounge at any hotel anywhere in the world. The only table I could find was a large one with about six seats, and when a small group asked if they could join me I figured I'd meet some interesting people....however, they turned out to be a group of American flight attendants who had just flown in.

Mentioned to them how interesting I'd found the city, and got lots of tips for how to return to Sao Paulo standby, which was great since I now have a ten year visa!

Caipirinhas, chocolate mouse, cheese, and other small munchies. You could easily make a dinner out of the spread in this lounge!



It was such an interesting chat, and being Sunday night I wasn't too in the mood to head out late, plus I was pretty full from the lounge food, so after it closed I just headed down to the lobby bar to people watch. I forget the name of the small local appetizer the bartender recommended:



Another great night of sleep, and up to wander for a few more hours before heading to the airport for my inaugural south Atlantic crossing. My main stop for the morning would be the Havianas flagship store for two reasons: 1) it would let me walk through some new neighbourhoods, and 2) I hoped to maybe find some fun/local designs.

Look at all those electrical cables on the street!



On the way, the Jet Lag pub. Looked closed, or I feel like I would have had to go in just to check it out. Something to add to the list for my return trips!



No luck at the Havianas store, just didn't find anything that really interested me. The store was on Rua Oscar Freire, which clearly was one of the poshest streets in the city. Lots of fancy cars, super high end designer shops, and the whole area felt distinctively unlike the other parts I'd already seen. I got the feeling I could spend weeks in this city, exploring different neighbourhoods, and keep having interesting new experiences!

I still had a couple hours left, so on the recommendation of a friend grabbed an Uber (which worked really well in Sao Paulo, for future reference) to Hotel Unique which was supposed to have amazing views of the expansive skyline of the city.

Once I got there, it was a bit difficult figuring out how to get to the roof....but essentially it involved walking all the way through the lobby, out the back door, to another set of (heavily guarded) elevators, which would take you up to the roof.

Once there, I managed to find a seat outside, and it was a pretty awesome view...swimming pool, skyline...



View of the skyline. The city keeps going, and going...





Wasn't really too hungry yet, and knew I'd probably get plenty to eat on the flight and in the lounge, so decided to just have a caipirinha and enjoy the view...



One more shot of the pool and skyline. Had to actually move seats after a little bit to get out of the sun before getting burned!



One more view of the pool:



It was getting to be time to head to the airport, so caught an Uber back to the hotel, showered and packed up, and caught another Uber to the airport. Love this picture I snapped out the uber window of a pet store:



With that, it was off to the airport, and time to cross the South Atlantic for the first time!
makin'miles, Calchas and nequine like this.
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 11:12 pm
  #65  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Paris, France
Programs: Flying Blue Gold
Posts: 757
Great report as usual. Sorry that you were hit by a car in 9 de Julio.

I would write to AR about your experience with the lazy crew. I know for a fact their HR department is quite proactive regarding those cases especially when the complaining customer is an Elite.
Marambio is offline  
Old Sep 11, 2017, 10:34 am
  #66  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Originally Posted by ironmanjt
15 minutes later, this arrived. Three Brazilian craft beers in a bucket of ice. This hotel was impressing me already!

I hope you tried the caf beer too.

DanielW is offline  
Old Sep 11, 2017, 1:14 pm
  #67  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: RDU
Programs: Status? What's status?
Posts: 211
Originally Posted by ironmanjt

It was such an interesting chat, and being Sunday night I wasn't too in the mood to head out late, plus I was pretty full from the lounge food, so after it closed I just headed down to the lobby bar to people watch. I forget the name of the small local appetizer the bartender recommended:

Coxinha! I've got family in Brazil that I go visit every so often, was there in July and ate way too many coxinhas while there. I've found some frozen ones in a few places here in NC and they're probably available somewhere in DC.
lmsalman is offline  
Old Sep 11, 2017, 5:45 pm
  #68  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
Originally Posted by DanielW
I hope you tried the caf beer too.
Yup! That was one of them!
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2017, 7:10 pm
  #69  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
6. Sao Paulo to Cape town in South African Business

No wait to check in with South African, although I was mildly surprised that the check-in agent spoke extremely limited English. Not that I expect Brazilians to speak English, but I was definitely surprised that doing check-in for a country where the lingua franca is English you wouldn't have English-speaking agents - especially in the business class check-in line!

No worry though...and maybe it was good practice because while security was super easy, passport control decided she wanted to ask about the extra pages in my passport. Except, her English didn't go beyond "how many days" and "where you work" - so my terrible Portuguese and passible Spanish got the point across, but it was definitely a trying interaction.

The last time I was in Sao Paulo it was on a long transit with United, and I remember a smallish United club that was definitely not the most pleasant place to pass the time. This has since been replaced by a rather nice Star Alliance lounge which is not only spacious, but also rather bright and airy. The only downside was that it was slightly warm since it was "terminal temperature" but overall it was quite nice.

I didn't check out the showers, but there were plentiful places to charge your devices, and even with the lounge rather full of evening departures to Johannsburg, Frankfurt, Zurich, Houston, etc, there was plenty of seating. For some reason, I was feeling some protein was in order, so a hamburger pattie, meat pie, and some more po de queijo it was! ....with a glass of reasonable Argentine malbec to wash it down, of course. For anyone taking notes, the entire bar was also self-service.



After about an hour in the lounge I headed towards the gate, and was glad I got their slightly early to (a) catch a short of my plane before the sun set, and (b) because it was at the very last gate in the terminal. I joked about the long walk to the gate agent as we were queueing to board, and she said "it costs more to park closer." I don't know if she was kidding, but....



Boarding started 30 minutes before departure, and I was excited to see just how much of an improvement South African's A330-300s were over their tired old business class.

South African Airways flight 223
So Paulo, Brazil (GRU) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB)
Depart 18:00, Arrive 07:25 next day, Flight Time:.8:25
Airbus A330-300, Registration ZS-SXJ, Manufactured 2016, Seat 6K
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 80,325
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,457,302


I opted for seat in the sixth row, towards the back, since the flight looked completely empty and it looked like I would have the entire empty fifth row between me and any other passengers. I ended up being right. They actually blocked off the mini cabin behind the galley and kept it empty. In total, there were only nine passengers for the 28 seats in the front business class cabin.

First impressions: loved the colour scheme, and loved how spacious it felt. Very similar to the Delta seat I had come down to Santiago on.



View across the cabin, in 1-2-1 configuration.



The red accents were a nice touch. Headphones hanging at the ready:



Middle pair of seats - even here plenty of room between you and your seatmate.



Happy...and very tired to be on-board and settled in.



Pre-departure champagne was served...in a real flute. There were some delays in boarding, so when she came to collect the glass I asked if I might have another. "No. One per passenger." was the reply. Ugh.



Event the seatback video was advertising...the seat we were already in. Maybe this was meant for economy?



Nice-looking amenity kit, but just the basics inside.



The menu looked a bit better than I remember from recent South African long-haul flights:





Service began about 30 minutes after takeoff with drinks and canaps. The canaps reminded me of something I would see on a US airline - just uninspired and kinda cheap looking.



The roasted filet starter. It tasted better than it looked, but was definitely a little too roasted for my taste. That said, it was reasonably tasty. But what's with the unnecessary random lettuce garnish. The 90s called...they want their plating back.



I don't remember why, but I went with the chicken main. It was perfectly cooked, and the vegetables were a bit better than the usual super-uninspired fare. Given my usual low expectations for catering on South African, I'd say this meal overall did pretty well. Plus, there was garlic bread...



The milk pudding with caramel sauce, however, was amazing.



Ok...the cheese plate was pretty bad. I would almost venture to say worse than Untied with the cheap packaged biscuits and rubbery cheddar...but there was fig spread. So tough call...



The novelty of the trans-South Atlantic route hadn't worn off on me yet, but I was a little concerned about our apparent flight path. Upside...maybe a quick stop in Ascension or St. Helena?



I managed nearly five hours of sleep, and wasn't really hungry when I woke up, but the crew insisted I "at least have a little." Ok, so I went with the deli plate. It was reasonable, except that damn lettuce garnish made another appearance...



Upon landing, some rather official looking people boarded, and the flight attendants announced over the PA that everyone must remain seated while customs officials boarded the plane. A woman's scream could be heard from deep in the economy section, and a few minutes later two women with Louis Vuitton handbags were escorted off the plane. No clue what it was all about, but added a bit of excitement.

Rather long walk to immigration, and the usual early morning long lines in Johannesburg. Fortunately things moved relatively quickly compared to normal, and I was through in about 30 minutes. No questions, quick stamp into the country, and on my way.

On previous trips I had opted to skip the arrivals lounge, but out of curiosity I decided to check it out this time. It's a short elevator ride up just beyond the baggage area, and while small has everything you need upon arrival. There was an extremely friendly agent working the desk who was not only welcoming but also offered a shower (with escort to the shower) and offered if there was anything else I needed be sure to ask her. A nice touch after a redeye when you're tired and jetlagged.

After a shower and a couple bottles of water it was through the arrivals area, to the domestic wing, through security (which moved pretty quickly) and into the domestic South African Airways lounge to wait for my connecting flight. Was nice to see the large model plane in the lounge still:



Boarding was via a bus gate (as widebody domestic flights usually are at Johannsburg) because the plane had arrived internationally and was still parked at the international pier. Bus to the jetway, walk up a long flight of stairs into the jetway, and time to board.

South African Airways flight 323
Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) to Cape Town, South Africa (CPT)
Depart.10:05, Arrive 12:15, Flight Time: 2:10
Airbus A340-300, Registration.ZS-SXC, Manufactured 2004, Seat 1A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 81,114
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,458,091


I had originally chosen a seat in the middle section since I hate people climbing over me and I hate climbing over people. I wasn't looking forward to these seats in a couple of days to Australia after the great experience I'd just had:



There was even a small snack served on this flight which could have been much better, but given that I wasn't hungry it was adequate for pecking at the fruit at least:



Overall, South African actually managed to exceed my expectations on this flight. I had great hopes for the new A330-300 seat, and it met all of them with flying colours - although I'm sure the light load on the flight also helped to colour my perspective a little bit. South African can also be extremely hit and miss with service, but it was definitely a home run this time due to a great new hard product and well above average crews. Now, time to enjoy Cape Town a bit!

Last edited by ironmanjt; Sep 12, 2017 at 7:41 pm
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 13, 2017, 1:46 pm
  #70  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: JNB
Programs: Flying Blue, Miles and Smiles, Hhonors, ICHotels
Posts: 1,307
Upon landing, some rather official looking people boarded, and the flight attendants announced over the PA that everyone must remain seated while customs officials boarded the plane. A woman's scream could be heard from deep in the economy section, and a few minutes later two women with Louis Vuitton handbags were escorted off the plane. No clue what it was all about, but added a bit of excitement.
There is a certain issue on this route, and I am sure that there was something on the news around the time that you got in, so it may have been related to your flight.
roadwarrier is offline  
Old Sep 13, 2017, 10:00 pm
  #71  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
7. Two nights in South Africa

After landing in Cape Town, I realized that on all of my previous trips I had had someone else in charge of the planning (be it family, work, etc) so I'd never really had to think how I would get to where I was going. No problem, pulled up Uber, directions to the meeting point were very clear, and had a great drive to my hotel with a very friendly driver from Zimbabwe. We had a great chat about how Harare has changed over the past decade or so, and like many Uber rides all over the world it was a great insight into immigrants working hard to make a living in a new country.

Arrived at my usual hotel in Cape Town - the Westin - and was upgraded to a junior suite which was a bit less impressive than previous stays. It was more than fine for one night, but it had been barely a year since my last stay at this property and I was surprised at the complete turnover in staff. My last stay I had booked several hundred room nights for an event, and gotten to know the staff quite well, so was surprised in this short time that everything had completely changed.

Unfortunately, that also included the stunning Executive Lounge with views of Table Mountain. The lounge was closed for renovations, and there were very vague instructions from the reception about alternate arrangements. Unfortunate, as my last stay at this property had made it one of my very favourite SPGs in the world, and now it was decidedly average. Nothing at all wrong, but just didn't stand out.

After a super quick nap (still tired from the redeye from Brazil) my pre-arranged driver and guide picked me up for a guided hike up Lion's Head Peak. I was lucky today, as there was absolutely nobody else on the tour, so it would be a solo hike with just me and the guide. My guide today was Nathan from <a href="http://www.hikelionshead.co.za/">Hike Lion's Head</a> - who was a fantastic guide the whole way.

Given the accident I had had with the car just two days prior in Argentina, I was taking things a bit slow, and given the rain and slippery rocks I wasn't keep to be moving too fast. After heading up the peak a bit, we stopped for a gorgeous view over Camp's Bay:



Looking up at the peak of Lion's Head:



Towards the water as the sun set:





Amazing sunset views of Table Mountain, with the "tablecloth" of clouds covering the top:



We spent a couple hours on the hike, and Nathan was a fantastic guide - especially one on one. Sure, you could definitely do this hike on your own, but given the pricing it was great not to have to worry about transfers and to get a local perspective. Especially after sleeping on a plane the night before and doing the hike jetlagged and a slight bit injured. Highly recommend Nathan to anyone else looking for a hike up either Lion's Head or Table Mountain!

As we arrived back at the car, a great view of Cape Town just after sunset:



Since I wasn't interested in a tea or anything before the hike, Nathan insisted we stop at a local restaurant for what he promised was an amazing white hot chocolate. Unfortunately they were out this evening, but the regular hot chocolate was also amazing, and hit the spot after a great chilly hike in light rain.

After getting back to the hotel and showering up, I grabbed the complimentary Westin shuttle to the V&amp;A waterfront to get some dinner. I felt like I needed some serious protein, so headed to the City Grill for some game for dinner. Of course I went with the giant grilled mixed venison skewer...



I apologize in advance for the damage I did to Noah's Ark....but it was delicious!



I still wasn't tired, thanks to it only being like 6pm in Brazil, so decided to check out what the local craft beer scene had been up to in the year since I was last in Cape Town. At Nathan's recommendation I took an Uber to Beerhouse, which had an amazing selection of South African craft beer on tap. I seriously had no idea there were so many craft beers even coming out of South Africa yet!



Of course I had to have the 12 O'Clock wheel of samples...



After sleeping in a bit the next morning, I grabbed an Uber up to Truth Coffee for breakfast. Unfortunately, the nitro potion coffee machine wasn't working today...



So, I had to settle for the regular cold brew potion coffee. I love the old-fashioned grinders:



A bit of delicious Eggs Benedict to go with the bottle of potion coffee:



Full of a delicious breakfast - and a couple of potion coffees - I decided a walk was in order so walked over to the Bo Kaap neighbourhood to enjoy the bright houses. With the bright blue sky after a light rain, it was a perfect contrast for some photos today:





Got back to the Westin just in time to check out after a long walk, and grabbed another Uber to the airport. Uber was fantastic in Cape Town, and I can't wait to get back for a much longer visit again soon.

Check in was easy, but for some reason every flight to Johannesburg seemed to be running super late this afternoon. There was no explanation for it, but fortunately my flight seemed to be one of the least delayed. After a quick security experience, it was up to the South African lounge to wait out the delay.

Strangest combination of lounge food offerings anywhere in the world. Marshmallows, blue cheese, pumpkin, feta, and olives. That said, it was quite a tasty snack.



As I was waiting, I was my plane eventually taxi by, so it was time to head down to the gate to board, fortunately only about an hour late.



I'm not sure why, but every time I've taken an afternoon Cape Town to Johannesburg flight it's been filled with loud Americans complaining about everything in South Africa. I know this flight connects to many of SAA's flights to the US, but it always seems there's next to no local traffic. Today, we were also joined by at least a dozen people in business class connecting on Delta to Atlanta, who were complaining that South African would be responsible for them missing their flight to Atlanta. Sigh.

South African Airways flight 346
Cape Town, South Africa (CPT) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB)
Depart 15:10, Arrive 17:05, Flight Time: 1:55
Airbus A340-300, Registration ZS-SXD, Manufactured 2005, Seat 16G
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 81,903
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,458,880


Flight was completely full due to the delays, and a sandwich was offered as a snack. I decided the veg option was safer than mystery meat, and it was a cheese pita which was actually relatively tasty:



Landed in Jo'Burg around 630pm, and rather than deal with the Gautrain I decided to see how Uber would do to the hotel. Once again, pickup was super quick, reasonably priced, and a great option. Arrived at my hotel - the Hyatt Rosebank - barely 30 minutes later just in time to check in and enjoy the tail end of happy hour in the executive lounge.

Nearly 20 years ago on my first visit to Africa this was the hotel that I stayed at, and over the years so much has changed but some has also stayed the same. The hotel doesn't seem to hold the glamour of 20 years ago, but I'm not sure how much of that is me as a jaded traveler now and how much of it is the property simply being much older.

That said, the executive lounge is still quite nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the value for the money any longer unless it's a complimentary benefit.

Why is that? Well to me the value is in the happy hour (which there's a 50-50 chance I will miss anyways) and the breakfast. Unless the lounge breakfast is absolutely stunning, I'm usually going to skip it when there's a relatively new Starbucks right around the corner from the hotel. The first in South Africa. Justin....close enough!



The Starbucks made for fascinating people watching. I've been to Starbucks now in probably 30-40 different countries at a minimum, and there was something about this one that still felt much more local and unique. It was an interesting mix of young professionals, students, but surprisingly almost no tourists at all. You can go anywhere in the world and find Starbucks full of American tourists, so it was a bit surprising to see none at all here. Then again, there really aren't many (if any) tourists in Johannesburg anyways!

Had a bit of time in the morning, so caught the Gautrain over to Sandton for a bit of walking through Mandela Square:



Mandela Square...one of these things is not like the other...



Caught the Gautrain back to the hotel, where I grabbed a fantastic lunch and caught up with roadwarrier before packing up and heading to the airport. It was great that he was able to meet up on such short notice, and catch up on how things had changed since our previous meet.

It had been a very short two days in South Africa, but given my year away I was really craving the time back. I really need to make a point to get back for a couple of weeks sooner rather than later!

Now, it was back to the airport to get read for my first south Indian Ocean crossing...to Australia!
Calchas and roadwarrier like this.
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 14, 2017, 10:47 pm
  #72  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
8. Johannesburg to Perth in South African Business, overnight Perth

Took the Gautrain to the airport since I had plenty of time given the flight was a relatively late departure and the Hyatt would only let me stay until 4pm. To their credit, they didn't have to give me a late checkout at all, but when I mentioned I'd been staying at this property for over 20 years despite Hyatt being the one chain I don't have elite status with, they offered me a 4pm checkout on the condition I continue to say nice things about them. So no more! This is a great way to win loyalty of infrequent guests when you don't have a bunch of check-ins coming!

Bigger disappointment was when I got to the airport. The check-in line for business class was about 50 people deep, despite it approaching peak hour for long-haul departures. To make matters even worse, there was only ONE desk open, and she was moving at a snail's pace. Unfortunately, the economy lines looked even worse, with hundreds in line, and most of them having trolleys stacked high with luggage.

Lots of comments of "no wonder they're going bankrupt" and then all of a sudden, after nearly 30 minutes in line, four more agents appeared from nowhere and opened up all at once. Are you kidding?!

Security was equally annoying, and the agent absolutely refused to let me through with my rolling bag. "It is too big" "it is too heavy" and then he actually held out his hand, and it became clear what he expected. I raised my voice, loud enough so the agents standing around could hear, and said NO, I'M IN BUSINESS CLASS, I'M NOT GOING TO BRIBE YOU JUST TO CARRY MY BAG ON. One of the other agents quickly rushed up and said "business class, please, go right ahead." It was quite an ugly experience, and frankly quite surprising at Jo'Burg. Ugh.

When I got to the South African lounge, it was absolutely packed as would be expected at this hour, but I managed to find not only a quiet corner with plentiful outlets, but it was in a part of the lounge that also had wonderfully cold air conditioning. Definitely a win!

One of the best parts of this lounge is the super friendly attendants at the bar. Normally I'm slightly annoyed by lounges where you have to get every drink poured for you, but the agents in this lounge are always so friendly that I actually enjoy the interaction. Plus, this lounge always has a cranberry cheese that I absolutely love. I may have had a little more than I should...



Time in the lounge passed quickly, and it gradually emptied out as I was there. Perth is pretty much the last long-haul departure, so by the time I left the lounge was approaching empty.

As I headed to the gate, I had to snap a pic of one of my favourite duty free shops. I wonder if anyone ever buys the 15,000 rand (approx $1,000) zebra pelts that are for sale duty free...



Got to the gate, and we were on the wheelchair express tonight. One thing I didn't expect were numerous elderly passengers with Zimbabwe passports in the gate area. The sign saying Perth confirmed it...I was going to get my second southern hemisphere trans-oceanic flight!



Boarding was absolutely chaos when it did open, especially because they decided to board wheelchairs and business class at the same time. That didn't work out so well.

South African Airways flight 280
Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) to Perth, Australia (PER)
Depart 21:15, Arrive 12:20 next day, Flight Time: 9:05
Airbus A340-300, Registration ZS-SXB, Manufactured 2005, Seat 15A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 87,077
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,464,054


South African seat maps are available online right up until departure usually, so I stalked it carefully from the lounge and managed to get myself an empty seat next to me. For business class, I find these seats a bit uncomfortably close together, so having a second one would make for a much more comfortable flight. Plus, double pillows and somewhere to set my bag. Having a bulkhead was just an added bonus!

Welcome aboard champagne and bottled water. Off to a much friendlier start with the crew than the flight from Brazil.



A bit of light reading material. When I was in the lounge, a couple of people were talking about how they had been at the airport the previous day, and there was a temporary lockdown when there was a rumour Grace Mugabe was in the airport trying to covertly flee the country...and her arrest warrant. Oops!



What's for dinner tonight? Despite the late hour, a rather full meal:



Full breakfast in the morning as well:



After two flights, I'm comfortable saying South African really needs some work in the canap department. Soggy bread, mushy spreads, it was just very unappetizing.



The duck breast starter was relatively light which was what I wanted, and decently flavourful. It was nice to have something different, even if they didn't hit a home run with it.



Similarly, I can't remember the last time I had lamb chops on a plane, completely with old fashioned mint jam. Again, not the tastiest dish I've ever had on a plane, but it was a nice change. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised.



Even the cheese course was significantly better tonight. The chevre was a really nice addition!



Pear tort for dessert was nice and small, but super sweet and delicious. Overall, catering out of Johannesburg was significantly better and although I wouldn't call the meal amazing, it was solid. Definitely can't criticize them too much this time.



Got about 5.5 hours of good sleep, woke up, brushed teeth, watched some tv on the ipad, and decided to give breakfast a go. The danish was super tasty, and I was trying to figure out what the yellowish disks were as I bit into them...only to finally realize they were the poached eggs. The texture was definitely odd, but with the salsa it worked. I wasn't that hungry so only pecked at it, but again, for a plane breakfast they did a pretty good job!



Landed in Perth right on time, and immigration was a breeze. I saw an agent instead of using the automated gates, because I wanted a Perth stamp in my passport. Unfortunately, I was imformed there are absolutely no stamps anymore, but enjoy Perth! .Oh well, at least it was quick, and I was from the plane to exit in about 10 minutes and decided to grab an Uber to my hotel, the Four Points Perth.

Had a super friendly and chatty driver, who insisted on telling me about how much Perth has changed in the last 20 years, and I had really missed out by not traveling here sooner. He clearly loved his home town, and was eager to share details with visitors. Definitely a very friendly welcome!

After checking in and grabbing a coffee from the lounge bar and cafe, I decided to head out for a walk. Quick thoughts on the hotel: for a Four Points it was rather nice, and comfortable, and in another city could easily have been a Sheraton. The staff was quite friendly, rooms were a good size (though I must confess they did upgrade me to a junior suite), and I loved having a craft beer bar in the lobby. Definitely felt a bit more "hip" than the average Four Points, and reminded me a little bit of the Four Points in Brisbane. Plus, the location was really nice.

Several people had told me with just one afternoon the thing to do would be to take a walk to Kings Park if it was nice, and enjoy the city from above. With temps about 18C and gorgeous blue skies it was a perfect day for a walk, so off I went. It only looked to be about 2km on the map, but what I didn't know is a large chunk of that was up the appropriately-named Mount Street which had an average incline of over 7%....for quite a long stretch. That's one way to burn off the jet lag!

At the top, I was rewarded with a great view of the CBD:



Jacob's Ladder, a popular staircase built into the side of the mount with lots of locals running laps up and down. From the very fit to the very unfit, everyone was out enjoying the nice day.



Path through King's Park. Did I mention it was a gorgeous day?



Another view of the CBD from King's Park:



World War One Memorial in King's Park:





Boab Tree from well outside Perth. When a road threatened it it was uprooted and very carefully transported all the way to Perth to be planted in the park.



On the walk back, walked by Perth Arena which was packed with families going to see some boy band or another. I beat a quick retreat to my room for a shower, before heading out to get dinner and drinks. Being a weekend night the pubs and restaurants were packed, and I felt like I had stepped back in time a decade or more. It wasn't quite as bad as Darwin where I felt like I'd stepped back nearly 40 years, but Perth definitely marches to its own beat and definitely doesn't feel like the year 2017. In a way this was a really nice thing, as it gave the city a really nice unique character and made it more memorable.



One of the best parts of Australia to me is the amazing coffee culture, and I think Australia has some of the best coffeeshops anywhere in the world. So good that I pretty much avoid chains here all together knowing I'll get something much better at an independent shop. Several sites recommended La Veen Coffee to me, so after a good night's sleep I headed over to see what trouble I could get into.

Delicious cold brew and eggs benedict hit the spot and was amazing!



Walked around the city for another couple of hours after breakfast, and then it was off to the airport to continue my adventure to Sydney!
lb8001, Calchas, DanielW and 1 others like this.
ironmanjt is offline  
Old Sep 15, 2017, 5:16 am
  #73  
TPJ
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
Originally Posted by ironmanjt
A

No question this was just a lazy crew looking for an excuse to provide no service at all. I even tried to ring the call button at one point to ask for a glass of water...multiple times...and was completely ignored. This must have been the laziest crew in the history of aviation.
He he - somehow I am not surprised

Great report (as always and as expected) ^
TPJ is offline  
Old Sep 15, 2017, 10:05 pm
  #74  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,211
I had a couple Starbucks gift cards that I like to give to great staff at hotels. I had a great experience in Perth and was going to give a gift card to a hotel employee but thought I would check online to see where the closest Starbucks was. It was 2200 miles away in Adelaide. LOL! But I found coffee shops that made great flat whites just about everywhere I went. And a 24 Pho shop in Northbridge.

Like you, I enjoyed King's Park and the weekend fun scene in Perth. I found it a wonderful city. Thanks for sharing this trip report.
bitterproffit is online now  
Old Sep 16, 2017, 12:16 pm
  #75  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,504
9. Perth to Sydney in Qantas Business

Grabbed an Uber back to the airport in Perth, where I learned that Perth airport is actually four different terminals - two of which are connected together for domestic flights, and two more for international flights. The domestic terminal was pretty small, and it was super easy to get a boarding pass from the kiosk and I think I was through security in less than five minutes after getting out of the Uber.

It was kind of cool seeing the departures board with all the "exotic" place names from all over Australia:



I wasn't entirely sure which of the two Qantas lounges (the "Qantas Club" or the "Domestic Business Lounge") was the better of the two but a quick google found several reviews which suggested the domestic business lounge was actually better, and based on the dress code seems I made the right choice. I can think of some Admirals Clubs and United Clubs that could benefit from a sign like this!



Gift shop just outside the lounge....it was very tempting to get koala oven mitts...



The lounge was a nice place to spend an hour or so, with a rather nice buffet, fresh pizza constantly being made, and plenty of space. I can imagine how it might get crowded at certain times, but when I was there it was rather pleasant. Some tasty mezze and a Diet Coke while I waited...



Boarding was just two gates over from the lounge, and a rather civilized affair, although just like domestic flights in the US everyone started swarming the boarding lanes at least 15 minutes prior to boarding.

Qantas flight 476
Perth, Australia (PER) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL)
Depart 12:55, Arrive 18:25, Flight Time: 3:30
Airbus A330-200, Registration VH-EBA, Manufactured 2002, Seat 1A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 88,759
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,465,736


Now this is a treat...great lie-flat international seats for a domestic flight! Comfortable, spacious, plenty of storage space, and overall nicely designed!



What's this trickery, a menu on a domestic flight?!



For some reason, despite booking months in advance, Qantas had 75% of the seatmap blocked and the only seat I could select was in the very last row. Fortunately, their app works pretty well, and shortly after checkin 1A opened up and I grabbed it.



One of my favourite parts of flying over Australia is it always seems I get to see some amazing weather. Look at that crazy localized downpour:



Almonds and a glass of wine to start off...



The smoked trout with papaya, pomelo, and chili was delicious, and the bread even came with artisan butter!



Second lamb chop in two days! Seems to be something I never se on a plane, and here it was twice in two days. Maybe it's a Perth thing, who knows. It was super tasty though!



What is this sorcery, a cheese plate on a domestic flight? Though I'm not sure what this fetish Qantas seems to have for almonds is...



Cheese AND dessert. I swear Australia has the best ice cream flavours. Honeycomb and caramel, mmm...and yes, that's a glass of dessert wine. On a domestic flight. Crazy.



Overall, I was super impressed by Qantas on this flight. This blew away any transcontinental service you might find in the US, of which the best may be American's 777 between Miami and LA. United's premium transcon service doesn't even come close in my book.

Although Qantas seems to get mixed reviews on international routes, all my experiences domestically continue to be absolutely fantastic.

Landing was about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, and when I walked into the lounge in Melbourne I noticed that there was a 7pm flight to Sydney (I was booked on the 8pm) and asked the agent if I might be moved to the earlier flight. Despite being on an award ticket, this was no problem at all, and I would make it into Sydney an hour sooner. Great customer service as well!

Qantas flight 462
Melbourne, Australia (MEL) to Sydney, Australia (SYD)
Depart 19:00, Arrive 20:25, Flight Time: 1:25
Boeing 737-800, Registration VH-VZX, Manufactured 2012, Seat 3A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 89,198
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,466,175


Wasn't really hungry on this flight after the rather substantial meal in the previous flight from Perth but was super excited to have the seat next to me empty...until right before the door closed.

Not too sure who my seatmate was, but he was clearly a Qantas employee and someone extremely important based on the extremely polite and deferential way the crew were acting towards him. I got the impression he was some major senior executive - potentially CEO/President level based on the way the crew was going about making sure everything was just perfect.

Unfortunately it was dark and I couldn't get the lighting right to take a good picture, but for a 75 minute flight they served an impressive hot mean which I pecked and and can confirm it was pretty tasty!



Arriving Sydney an hour ahead of schedule was fantastic, and I was looking forward to getting a good few nights sleep after spending two nights of the previous four sleeping on planes. Once again, Qantas had done a fantastic job impressing me and I look forward to trying them longhaul soon hopefully!
wtcmor, Calchas, DanielW and 1 others like this.
ironmanjt is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.