Part 9

Route: EWR-LAS
Airline: US Airways
Aircraft: A320
Flight number: US218
Class of service: First
Scheduled departure time: 20:44
Scheduled arrival time: 23:22

My heart sank when I discovered the amount of people waiting for a taxi! I had 2 hours until my flight departed Newark and I was still at JFK. Eventually, my turn came and I jumped in the taxi and asked the driver to take me to EWR. I asked how long it would take as I did not have much time until my flight. He said an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I could live with that. It would be cutting it fine but I had hope!

However, a few in minutes into the ride, he told me that he’d be charging me a flat fee of US$130 for the journey as it was raining and he could make a lot more money in Manhattan. It may be fair to say that we had a difference of opinion over that before he engaged the meter and then began to drive at about half of the pace of the rest of the traffic. We had another difference of opinion that led to be demanding to be taken back to JFK. With this driver there was no way at all that I was going to make that flight. I knew US Airways had a similarly timed flight from JFK to Las Vegas (for which I had been unsuccessful in securing a seat originally) and hoped that they could put me onto that flight.

Having wasted another 5 minutes driving aimlessly around the terminals, we arrived back at JFK with the meter showing US$16.70. I got my luggage from the boot of his car and was taken aback to be asked for the US$16.70. There was yet another difference of opinion as I refused to pay and walked off. He followed, demanding his money, all of the way to the US Airways desk as I explained to him in no uncertain terms why he would not be receiving it. I must admit that during all of this, voices were raised and finally the police showed up. The cop wanted me to pay the guy, I refused and ultimately the driver just gave up and walked off.

The agent had managed to get me on standby for the flight. She totally understood my frustration with the driver and thought that he was trying to rip me off too. I thanked her for all of her help (and for the difficult circumstances) then headed through security as the flight was due to depart in 40 minutes.

Arriving at the gate I noticed that he was delayed by an hour. I took a seat and waited. Tiredness began to catch up on me as I waited. It was then announced that the flight would be two hours late as the inbound had been diverted to Pittsburgh due to the thunderstorms over JFK. That was an estimation – it could be later. It was! Another announcement – now three hours late. I was struggling to stay awake.

A few minutes before the flight was due to arrive, another announcement was made: “Ladies and Gentleman, I am sorry to say that US Flight 52 with service to Las Vegas has been cancelled”. All hell broke loose and my tiredness vanished! I REALLY did not need this. It was two hours later (at 1am) that I made it to see an agent!!!

She immediately commented on me not being confirmed on the flight and that the best she could do was to get on the same flight the following day. There was no way that I wanted to spend a day in New York or have to pay for a hotel and asked if she could put me onto another carrier or get me to either LAX or PHX early the following day and I would drive to Vegas from there. It became quite evident that she would not consider any connecting flights.

After a couple of phone calls were made, I made been put on American 33 JFK-LAX in economy to depart that very morning at 07:45. Realising that there was only three hours until check-in, I figured that I’d just stay in the American terminal (T8) overnight. I was not the only one.


There were many others how had been inconvenienced and were already asleep on the floor of the terminal. I needed to sort out my car hire and got onto that courtesy of Skype and Alamo UK. Alamo were fantastic and I got a good rate of US$225 for a full-sized car (i.e. Pontiac Grand Prix) including CDW, EP and a full tank of fuel!

Route: JFK-LAX
Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft: 767-200
Seat: 20A
Flight number: AA33
Class of service: Economy
Scheduled departure time: 07:45
Scheduled arrival time: 10:35

Finally I reached the front of the check-in queue. An agent became free and I approached her. She looked at me with a scowl and declared that she had not called ‘Next!’ yet. Memories of Italy came flooding back. Although at first I figured that she must have had some important work to do, I was not entirely surprised when she turned to her colleague (who was now free too) and began chatting about their personal lives. I was glad that I different agent called ‘next’ before they had completed their skive from work. Then over to the TSA for exposure to their witty banter and general foolishness. Nothing against the TSA per se but these employees in particular were clowns.

Thankfully, boarding time arrived quickly. I had managed to secure myself seat 20A but soon after settling in, I was approached to switch seats as she and her sister had been split up. It was a fair swop (for 20J) so I switched. My new seat mate was evicted once the FA realised that his English was less than satisfactory. The guy was not too fussed as the FA arranged for him to seat next to his wife (again they had been split).

The flight was not as bad as I had feared and the seats actually felt quiet comfy. After had no sleep at all since getting up at 07:00 the previous morning in Rome through to what was now 12:45pm (Rome time) the next day, it was hardly surprising that I fell asleep before we had reached the runway. I woke up in time to see Las Vegas passing by beneath and wished that I could just parachute out and save myself the expense and time of the drive from Los Angeles.


I chose a Volvo S60 and commenced my drive to Vegas. I had never made this journey before but had always wanted to. The cancellation of the US Airways flight now made this wish a reality. The directions that I had recorded were simple and straight forward. The 280 mile journey had me worried that I could become really tired after my lack of sleep for the last two days but I felt surprisingly ok. The drive was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery along the way.


It was not until Vegas literally came into view that my concentration began to concern me.


However, soon enough I was pulling up at the Four Seasons.


The Stratosphere Hotel & Casino Las Vegas

Failed to show up for this stay due to my forced overnight at JFK and hence late arrival in Las Vegas.


Four Seasons Las Vegas


The one thing that sets this hotel apart from all others in Vegas is the absence of gaming. The hotel actually feels like a hotel rather than a tourist attraction like the others. This makes the hotel a pleasure rather than a chore to walk through.


I was initially given room 35104 that has a good view over the pool complex and McCarran but I requested a switch after the first night. This room was the closest to the lift which in itself was not that bad – the occasional ‘ping’ as the lift arrives was tolerable. It was the fact that everybody on the floor had to walk past my room to get out. Even the quietest conversation outside engulfed my room and as for the noisy ones – well it sounded like they were in the room with me.

The second room (35331) was far better. It was pretty much as far from the lift as you could get. I did not hear a peep outside of the room at all during the two night stay in this room. The rooms themselves were identical except that the second had a deep bath as well as a shower. They were more spacious than I had expected despite having two queen beds. The staff were always extremely efficient and polite. 24 hours in room internet access was not only quick but cost just $12.


Having access to Mandalay Bay’s pool complex (the best in Vegas IMHO) I only ventured into the Four Season’s pool area once. It was small and well utilised which led to a limited selection of loungers. Although I did not spend long enough to get a taste of the full Four Season’s hospitality, I was given a taste when one of the female attendants approached me and asked if I would like my sunglasses cleaned. I handed them over and they probably received the most thorough clean that they are ever going to have. Large jugs of ice water were being distributed to guests as were large plates of fresh fruit. However, it was too laid back for me (however, the rather attractive French lady two loungers down from me did spice things up with an blatantly deliberate ‘wardrobe malfunction’) and I soon became bored and returned to Mandalay Bay’s Beach complex.

Las Vegas

For the first time ever (and I have been to Vegas probably at least 20 times), I decided to indulge myself and visit Bally’s for their Sterling Brunch. As far as I am aware this is by far the most expensive buffet in Vegas. And for good reason. Their seafood selection in particular (Lobster, Caviar, jumbo prawns, oysters and smoked salmon) is worth the $80 (inc tax) fee alone before you throw in the unlimited Perrier Jouet Champagne. I dare say that I consumed a bottle of Champagne during my stay along with five servings of caviar (and much more)!

Other than that it was just shopping (electronics from Frys) and clothing and a new Samsonite carry- on bag from the outlet mall nearby (used to be Belz – but keep forgetting their new name!) and spending time in the pool. I didn’t do a great deal of gambling at all on this trip but still won over $200!

What really did hit me though was the amount of construction underway on the strip and how much it has grown since my last visit in December 2006. I shall be returning to Las Vegas with my wife for our 5th Anniversary in October and she has not been since our wedding! I doubt that she will believe the amount of change that has happened in that time.


Route: LAS-LAX
Airline: US Airways
Aircraft: A320
Flight number: US104
Class of service: First
Scheduled departure time: 11:50
Scheduled arrival time: 13:12

I discovered through checkmytrip.com that the lady at JFK that had booked me onto the JFK-LAX flight had cancelled my LAS-LAX segment. ANA was still showing F availability so I rang the issuing carrier to get the flight reinstated. After some time on hold, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do as the reservation was now under US Airways control but they should be able to help. I rang US and explained the situation. The lady reinstated my booking on the original flight and I was good to go except that I was supposed to return my car to LAX not LAS. I rang Alamo to explain the situation and to amend the return location. They charged me US$150 for what was now a one way rental. I thought this was pretty good value at the time as I would have had to have refuelled the car to get me back to LAX (costing me $$$$), did not have to make the 4 hour drive nor worry about traffic accidents and a delayed arrival at LAX. When I returned the car, I also discovered another saving brought about by the one-way rental: by returning it to LAS at 10:30am rather than LAX at 14:00 I avoided the fourth day’s charge saving me another US$54.

As I wanted to make the most of the morning of my departure, I arrived at the airport a little over an hour before departure. The First Class check-in area was empty and I was seen immediately. The agent checked my bags through to Heathrow but could not issue my Air New Zealand boarding pass.

I used the First Class security channel and once clear, headed straight for the gate. I was not there too long at all before they made the announcement that there were some First Class seats still available that economy passenger could purchase for $50. How things had changed! I used to be a Gold Preferred member with US Airways and could never get an upgrade out of LAS with them.

I was one of the first to board and settled into seat 3A as the rest of the cabin began to fill. The gate agent had stated just as I boarded that they still had two First seats available for the $50 upgrade. There were now just three empty seats in First and one was beside me. I hoped that it would remain free but close to the end of boarding, this man asked me if the seat was taken. I said it was not and he took it. At first I thought he was a self-upgrader (particularly when he waved to his mates down the back) but the FA’s never said a word and nobody else made a claim on the seat.

There was a pre-departure drinks service by the one FA catering to the First cabin consisting of 12 seats in a 2-2 layout. Remembering US Airways domestic First Class from my days with them, I was expecting a rather disgusting old worn cabin. However, the logos on the bulkhead demonstrated that this A320 was from the American West fleet before the merger.


We taxied out to 19L and waited. Looking out of my window on the left hand side of the aircraft, I saw the bmi A330 on final approach. It disappeared behind the terminals and a few seconds later and we were rolling. We rotated and I looked along the other runway as we passed and saw the bmi A330 taxiing off of the runway. The flight only took 35 min and included another drink service and a choice from the snack tray that was brought around.


Route: LAX-LHR
Airline: Air New Zealand
Aircraft: 747-400
Flight number: NZ002
Class of service: Business Premier
Scheduled departure time: 16:30
Scheduled arrival time: 11:00+1

A walked across to T2 from where Air New Zealand depart and found the check-in desks. There was a sign saying that they open at 13:45 for the 16:30 departure but queues had already formed at both the economy desks and the premium desks. I waited outside until they opened and then joined the premium queue. There were four agents checking in passengers so the wait was not too long but I felt for the economy passengers. Their queue was massive and the terminal just did not provide enough room to pass the queue.


I spent an hour or two in the Air New Zealand lounge and found it to be better than I had expected. There were showers, computers, free wifi, ample seating, variety of drinks and a sufficient selection of snacks. As boarding time approached the Flight Services Manager made an announcement in the lounge stating that he hoped we will all enjoy the flight and he will be taking a walk around the lounge so feel free to stop him and ask questions. I have never experienced that before!


I turned left after boarding and took my seat. Soon enough a member of cabin crew stopped to welcome me onboard this flight and to enquire whether I knew how to operate the seat. I said that I flew Sydney-London the other day on Virgin Atlantic on my way here and was ok with the seat. You could see the penny drop: “Sydney to LA via Hong Kong and London??”


I was seated in the rear Business cabin which was filled to about 60% of capacity but did not see how full the front cabin and upper deck were. I was please to see that the three seats opposite me were all free when the door closed and I figured I’d take one of them to sleep in due to lack of neighbours. The taxi was short and we were soon starting our turn out over the Pacific. I switched seats when the fasten seat belt sign was extinguished and began watching U2 Rattle & Hum on the IFE as dinner was served.



The film finished and I reclined my seat to get some sleep. I had worried that with a 16:30 departure time I would not be tired until long into the flight. So I had taken the precaution of getting up at 04:00am that morning. Once the seat was reclined and I was settling in, I felt that the bed felt more cramped than the previous Virgin flight. Looking back at my window seat that I had vacated, I thought that it seemed to offer more space around the shoulder area and so I switched back. It did feel a little more comfortable and I was soon fast asleep.



I woke up as we past Iceland and snoozed through till Glasgow missing (deliberately) breakfast. I began preparing for arrival and put my bed back into seat mode. After a couple of laps in the holding pattern we began our approach onto 27R at Heathrow. Sitting on the left hand side of the aircraft, once we were through the cloud, the only landmark that I saw was Twickenham Stadium. As I am sure you are aware the right hand side is ideal for landmark spotting on the way in.

Despite an announcement prior to arriving at the gate that Business will disembark first, then Premier economy and finally economy, the premier economy passengers jumped straight up and out of door 2L that was located immediately in front of them. I did notice regularly during the flight that these passengers were moving up into Business to use the toilets there and the cabin crew were fully aware of what was going on but did nothing. I assumed that these are the toilets that they are supposed to use.

With only 25 minutes from getting off of the aircraft until my coach back to Brighton departed, I wasted no time getting to Immigration where a family of four were the only ones waiting for IRIS. I arrived first at the baggage reclaim belt but was joined by many others before our bags finally began appearing. Both of mine arrived less than 10 minutes before my coach departed. I followed the sign over to the Central Bus Station and, having identified the stand that my coach was on, headed for it. I was at stand 10 when I saw my coach on stand 13 reverse out and head for Brighton without me. After the 3 hour delays to the BA LHR-FCO, Delta’s FCO-JFK and US Airways JFK-LAS flights (the latter of course ultimately being cancelled) what was one more hour!?