Sector - MEL-SYD
Flight number - QF442
Class - Economy
Equipment - B767-300
Seat - 23B
I was surprised I could OLCI given that this was technically part of an international itinerary. Got allocated 23B automatically, first row in the whY cabin.
It was at the airport that I realised something had cocked up when the agent tapped furiously on his keyboard with a panicked look on his face. I had a peep at the screen and saw what the problem was; the reservation had treated this flight and the onward connection as separate itineraries, and the agent struggled to merge this flight with the onward connection. An error message popped up whenever he tried to do so, it could be related to the fact that I'm ticketed on the AA codeshare. ("inventory not controlled by Amadeus Altea") He grumbled that the new system had been giving staff lots of issues, and finally thrown in the white towel and rang up one of the "system specialists" who came along with my BPs and bag tag all the way to HNL. Finally got checked in properly after about 20 mins.
Made my way through a quiet security, then off to the Blounge via the QP. The QP was heaving even more than before, most probably because it is now a smaller lounge after they cut out a part of it to create the new Blounge. QP is open to paid up QP members, QFF Gold members and other OW sapphires, whereas the Blounge serves as a quieter sanctuary for J pax, QFF Plat and other OW emeralds. Suits galore at that time in both lounges, the end of week corporate traffic.
But apart from the fact that it's quieter due to the more stringent entry requirements and the nicer furniture (identical to the SIN and BKK lounges), I couldn't see much difference between the Blounge and the QP. For all that song and dance QF had made about the new Blounges, I was expecting a much improved facility with better food and drink than the QP (last i heard they were actually going to dumb down the offerings in the QP...
). Or perhaps most people just aimed for the the peace and quiet. And the highlight of the day was my Flounge visit in SYD anyway.
I settled down to a glass of Sauv Blanc Semillion and a plate of cake (love that pink coloured one with the red jello on top). And caught up with my emails.
Flight after flight was delayed, including the SYD departures before and after mine. So it was with a great feeling of relief that the boarding call for my flight came per schedule, and I made the short stroll to gate 1 to join the rugby scrum to board my shuttle bus, uhh flight to SYD.
Great legroom in 23B, and we got the refurbished 763 for this flight which made it a more pleasant ride. Other than that, not much there's interesting to say about this rather standard Cityflyer service. Flight was outside designated meal times so only a hot drink/juice and a cupcake. Alcohol isn't free until 1630 on a weekday from memory.
Next: Qantas Flounge SYD; QF3 SYD-HNL whY