MORE THAN JUST A BROOKLYN REALITY TOUR.

I had been planning to attend the Brooklyn Reality Tour 2009 but I could make it work so I definitely was planning to attend the 2010 version, Dan keep saying it could be his last. Don't believe everything you read. Since the Dan was on his 10th running with repeat riders then I guess it was worth a visit. I had never been to New York before and had heard good things about it.

Since I was going to the US I thought I should catch up with my cousin who lives in Dallas, Detroit was included because I really wanted the DC9, Tampa was included because it was a good mileage earning destination and I included Washington DC because I know a few flyertalk friends live there. I planned the schedule over 2 weeks, enough so that I would only miss 2 weeks of work and the middle weekend was a long weekend with a public holiday so only really needed 9 days off work.

5 JUN 2010
BNE-LAX QF015 Y 67G B747-438 VH-OJI
Status Credits 45 Total 770

Even though I am now Qantas Gold(Oneworld Sapphire) I thought that Qantas wouldn’t have the nerve to reallocate my seat just because I didn’t get to the airport until 90 minutes before the flight. Well they did; I think there is a word for that.

So after check in and filling out the departure form I went through security and headed to the lounge. The lounge was rather full not just with the imminent departure of Qantas to LAX but there were the premium passengers from other airlines who use the lounge. I found a seat, the Wifi was free and the drinks were free so why should I complain. About 45 minutes before the flight boarding is called so I head down to the gate.

In case you don't know what a Qantas 747 looks like I have included a photo but you should all know what a Qantas 747 should look like by now.

I get word from some Australian friends that the seat next to me is occupied so I really should look at moving. It’s a seat on a plane and most seats are the same so I had no reason to move. The passenger sitting next to me was on his return to Seattle and seemed like nice enough seat mate, I am just glad that I still had an aisle seat or I really would have complained.

Take off was on time the IFE started up and I started on a movie marathon. Lunch was served about an hour after take off

There was a 2 choice lunch from menu I had the beef and the ice cream came around later then chocolate with snack pack including water.

There was some light chop around lunch seat belt sign was on for a while although at 6:39hr to go it has smoothed out watched 2 movies it's complicated (chick flick) and then “PS I love you” another chick flick.

The fact that economy was crowded I wasn’t able to get any rest and Hawaii can be especially bad due to the regular bumps

I managed a 5 movie marathon with periodic checks of the inflight map display.

The lights came on at 2 hours to go where breakfast is served, I had the hot breakfast option which included bowl of fruit, a bread roll, juice sausage, egg and pancake with tea and coffee also available.

Sunrise over the Pacific you know you are getting closer to LA.

We landed at 6:58am in fog.

5 JUN 2010
LAX-DFW AA2428 Y 11C (NOT)

Passport control took for ages almost 90 minutes, and when I had reached T4 where a security guard decided to weigh and check my second bag, I had checked it on the flight from BNE-LAX but American Airlines has very generous carry on allowances, why should I check it. The bag was going to pass I was never in doubt this is America after all where you can carry on the kitchen sink. Check in is downstairs but the security check point is upstairs.

I was surprised at the speed through security took less than 5 minutes which I was most surprised at. So it was 9:00am and I was cutting it fine to get on-board. American has these boards with all their flights with gate information for the day in city order to find the word CANCELLED next to my flight. This is where your Qantas Club membership comes in handy went to the lounge to get on a new flight.

5 JUN 2010
LAX-DFW AA2436 Y 12E 757-200 N678AA
Status Credits 40 Total 810(With the flight change it credited to a higher fare)

At the lounge you had to go to a separate lounge attendant who looks after your bookings and they say I was rerouted through San Diego but the departure for that flight was 9:15am so I was going to miss that. I was put on standby for the 11:00am departure, seems like with the 9:15am departure canceled the 10:15am departure was going to be full so I figured 90 minutes in the AA lounge wasn’t going to kill me.

At about 10:15am thought I should go downstairs in search of the gate and make sure I am at the gate when they start handing out confirmed seat assignments. This is one thing you don’t see in Australia where the gate agent has to do the last minute seat assignments for canceled flights and those passengers who want an upgrade or an earlier flight or both.

Names are called out and I get myself a new boarding pass. The new boarding pass shows priority boarding so I don’t have to wait for a number meaning I don’t have to fight for overhead bin space.

Flight went out full and on time; even for a big airport it’s only about 15 minutes from departing the gate to taking off. Onboard is a drink with nuts and with a B.O.B. menu; as it was lunch I thought I should buy the chicken sandwich.

One thing that they announce on US flights is the cruise altitude and the estimated time of arrival. Flight was scheduled for just over 2hours with a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet with a landing at 3:45pm (Dallas is in the Central Time Zone). Smooth flight; with radio on the IFE, I think they were playing a movie but the picture was terrible so I gave that a miss.

757s are a rare sight in Australia.

I spent 3 days in Dallas catching up with my cousin and her family.

8 JUN 2010
DAL-MDW(STL) WN20 Y 3E 737-700 N386WN
Status Credits 0 Total 805(This is Southwest afterall)

On Tuesday I headed to the other Dallas Airport, Dallas Love Field, this airport is dominated by Southwest Airlines who up until a few years ago were only able to sell flights to passengers from Dallas Love Field to airports in Texas and neighboring states. Read about the Wright amendment here.

Who are Southwest Airlines, well they are the biggest low fare airline in the world. They offer free seating, so you have to line up in rows to get a good seat. A few rival airlines make jokes about their herding of passengers. This is a recent youtube advert from Airtran Airways.

Dallas Love field has about 16 gates in an L shape, I think Continental is the only other airline at this airport. I found lots of canyon blue planes didn't see any of the older brown planes. I used one of the check in kiosks which was rather easy and as I wasn’t checking in bags I headed through security. Security took about 15 minutes not too long but longer than Australia.

My original scheduled departure was 12:20pm but departure was delayed until 1:00pm due to weather in St Louis our first stop on the way to Chicago. Southwest route network is full of 1 and 2 stop with single flight numbers. There schedule is geared towards lots of short flights without really using a central hub airport although places like Chicago and Baltimore has lots of connections available. The Wright amendment also meant that that Southwest can’t schedule long direct flights out Dallas Field, those restrictions will be eased in 2014.

Southwest has free seating so you have to line up in rows according to when you checked in. I received a group 3 ticket so I would be waiting awhile. Even after waiting for more than halve the plane to board I got myself a seat in Row 3.

It wouldn't be Southwest without nuts and your choice of drink sprite, Coke, water or juice; landing was at 2:35pm, definitely no B.O.B. on Southwest. The departing crew did a head count with 46 continuing passengers with the departing cabin crew off to Omaha.

8 JUN 2010
STL-MDW WN20 Y 3E 737-700 N386WN Part 2

So in the change, I moved to a window seat 2F yes I could have probably gone and found an exit row but my bag already had a spot so didn’t want to have to move that as well. Another quick service no nuts just water, with a flying time of 38 minutes at 27,000 feet.

There was still some rain about in St Louis with a few bumps and it was cloudy on the way to Chicago so really didn’t see a lot except lots of cloud.

We landed at 4:01pm and were at the gate B5 at 4:04pm, try doing that at Chicago O’hare.

8 JUN 2010
MDW-DTW 1148 Y 21B 737-700 N457WN

I had about 45 minutes in Chicago with the gate just on the other side of the same concourse at B8.

Flight departed at 5:01pm with expected flight time of 35 minutes flying at 21,000 feet with the cloudy weather we were advised to expect bumps and there was likely to be no cabin service.

Descent began at 5:19pm but we didn’t land until after 6:00pm (7:00pm) Detroit time. Yes Detroit is in the Eastern Time zone the message played on the loud speakers every 5 minutes in case you forgot.

On the shuttle bus to the hotel I was talking to one of the passengers who were connecting in Detroit to go onto Florida and Delta did a gate switch on him, so he missed the connecting flight. Something for me to constantly check to make sure Delta don’t do a gate switch on me.

I spent 2 nights in Detroit with one full day dedicated to seeing the Henry Ford Museum

I also got a ticket to go and visit the Ford Rouge plant tour; where Ford still builds the F150.

The Henry Ford Museum had a few interesting exhibits, the bus that was a part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the car that JFK rode in when he was shot in Dallas. As expected there quite a few cars and strangely farm equipment. Another interesting exhibit was the Ford Trimotor.

10 JUN 2010
DTW-EWR DL2120 Y Seat 9D DC9-50 N778NC
Status Credits 0 Total 805(Delta is part of Skyteam, but I did receive 244 points to Virgin Blue)

I got a boarding pass from the kiosk and then went through security which took less than 5 minutes. I was very impressed with security on this trip.

I rode the train to the north gates and then walked back to make sure I knew where the gate was. No plane in sight which wasn’t a good thing. With over an hour before departure went and got some breakfast from National Coney Island bar & grill, place reminded me of Dennys or IHOP. Got to love American cooked breakfast, with breakfast finished I went back to the gate to find that I had a Delta DC9 parked next to the gate.



The DC9-50 series aircraft Delta were keeping for the time being and so these aircraft were being repainted.

Next door was a real Northwest DC9, one that Delta had not got to repainting.



The smaller series DC9-20 and DC9-30s remained in Northwest Airlines paint as these aircraft were retired completely from service in September 2010.

At least it was a DC9 and there was no gate switch and it looks like boarding would start 30 minutes so we would get a close to on time departure.

Even though I checked in at the airport I got a group 3 boarding pass so as soon as group 2 was called I got inline so by the time group 3 was called was only 1 person away from the boarding pass reader.

In Australia boarding is by seat numbers, so on a 737 boarding would be rows 15-30 and then the rest of the plane could then board, business class boarding at any time.

Group 3 boarding allowed me some bin space above my row which was nice.

Full flight, take off 10:55 thank you for your attention and welcome aboard ended the safety announcement, probably a newly scripted cabin announcement with the merger of Delta and Northwest.

Coke, sprite Ginger ale with dry roasted peanuts, some bumps seat belt on the whole time. The weather was clear taking off but cloudy getting towards NYC with the landing at 12:03pm. One thing I love about the US airlines is the arriving gate information; baggage carousel number and any connecting gate information.

Delta flies into Terminal B and then it was 2 stops on the airtrain to the parking and hotel shuttle pick up point where I found the Hilton Newark Penn station shuttle straight away.

After checking into the hotel I then took the train into New York.

I had planned to spend the weekend in New York City. I had planned to catch a flight from Detroit to NYC to either of the 3 airports as long as it was on a DC9. Doing some research into accommodation I found the rates very expensive and Tom911 found a very cheap Hilton rate at Newark Penn Station in New Jersey. The rates at this hotel were half the price of what was available in NYC. This hotel was also useful for trying to do a Hilton Fasttrack Program.

The only catch with the Hotels location is that I would have to catch the train into NYC, the train station was just across the road from the Hotel. Newark Penn station is served by a number of train companies, including PATH.

The only problem I found is that I caught New Jersey transit which required a different ticket and which stopped at 34th street.

I spent a few hours walking around NYC, visiting Times Square Grand Central station and a few other places. I then caught a subway train to catch up with Trueblueflyer, Russ had spent 2009 in Australia



We had a look at Ground Zero and did a walk across part of the Brooklyn Bridge, before we caught the train to the first FT Do of the weekend.

The 1st Annual "DDD" DO, NYC Thread June 10th, 2010

The restaurant served food from the Dominican Republic, but it was also a good to catch up with old and new Flyertalk members.



Dinner finished and then a group of us went for a drink. I didn't make it back to the hotel until 12;00am. I somehow got lost on the way between transferring from the New York Subway to the PATH.

On Friday I met up with TOM911 where we did a ferry to Staten Island and back mainly to get a close up look at the Statue of Liberty.



Next stop was the Intrepid Air & Space Museum.

There are a few photos from Tom of the 2010 Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York City - tom911's Photos, the highlight for me was getting a close up look of the British Airways Concorde.



After spending a few hours at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum I wanted to go and visit the Empire State Building, $42.00 later I was at the top.



Friday night was another dinner organized by another famous Flyertalker Catman,

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...11-2010-a.html

Friday night I didn't get lost getting back to the hotel so I was in bed before midnight.

Saturday was the Brooklyn Reality Tour where we hoped on a bus at 46th street and rode around Brooklyn for the day.

Tom has a few pictures from the tour, yes one flyertalk member flew to the US for the weekend, did they do it just for the miles.



Sunday I was able to sleep in; went for a walk and had a quick look at a few other places around NYC before catching up with another flyertalk friend, NYC local but they didn't attend BRT. Sunday night was another dinner, with the main feature was the wine.

WineDo 3 - Sunday June 13, 2010 New York City - Greenwich Village

Each person had to bring wine, I was lucky in that lili who attended Ozfest was able to get my wine to NYC without me having to incur baggage fees. I found a nice wine during the Sunday winery tour during Ozfest; my choice of wine was a Langmeil 2008 Valley Floor Shiraz,

The meal was finished rather late; I made it back to the hotel around midnight, no I didn't get lost this time but we had a lot of wine to get through.

After a 5 hour sleep I had to get up early Monday morning to do some mileage running.

This set of flights got me closer towards Qantas Platinum oneworld Emerald. These tickets were brought on www.americanairlines.com.au and are discounted First Class tickets. You are buying an instant upgradable Economy ticket usually P class which gets you to fly first class in the USA and Qantas treat them as first class tickets so good for status.

14 JUN 2010
EWR-ORD AA2317 F Seat 5F MD80 N410AA
Status Credits 90 Total 900

I was up at 5:30am to get the first shuttle to the airport at 6:00am; I was able to check in at the First Class line and go through security in 10 minutes. Newark has an Admirals Clu where I was able to use the computers and get myself a hot drink. As flights commended boarding at 40 minutes before departure so at the appointed time I went in search of the gate.

My first flight in American Airlines traveling in first class, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and a pre-departure drink was offered. For some reason the front row is row 3, which I got wrong, I was too lazy too move so I stayed where I was while the other person moved to the row 3. The boarding pass didn’t show my Qantas frequent flyer number so I thought, oh no here we go I have to argue with Qantas to get my points.

During boarding the flight was oversold by 1 with $300 to go on the next flight at 10:20.

The flight departed on time but we were 11th inline for take off we eventually got away at 8:12am. Flight time was 1hr 55 minutes at 26,000 feet, part of those American Airlines cabin announcements.

Not that much different to a Qantas Y breakfast; well there was more; the presentation was better, with a metal knife.



A bread roll and tea or coffee was also served.

Chicago is in the central time zone(1 hour behind the east coast) Landing was at 9:05am, but we weren’t at the gate for over 15 minutes, why couldn't they put the runway next to the terminal

14 JUN 2010
ORD-TPA AA1502 F 3A MD80 N426AA
Status Credits 90 Total 990



Another AA MD80; I had previously flown an Alaska Airlines MD80 so it was a bit of a novelty to be flying 2 on the same day.

It was very foggy outside, gate K4 was not that far from where we landed and only a few minutes walk from the Chicago Admirals Club. I really didn’t have a good look around the airport. Flight departed on time at 11:05am but we didn’t take off until 11:29am. This flight had Gogo in-flight wireless internet, never did bother to play with it as we would be getting lunch. I also had planned for the lack of IFE on the MD80s as I had purchased a book. I did think to pay for the wifi if only to announce to my facebook and twitter friends that I was flying at 33,000 feet.

Service started with hot nuts;

Does this remind anyone of where I am heading, maybe readers of Flyertalk might catch the joke.

Lunch was this; well the main course anyway.



Which was followed by a coffee and a choc chip biscuit?

Got to love flying AA first class if only for the choc chip biscuits and the Qantas status credits of course.

The MD80s are rather noisy so it was good that the flight wasn’t too long, landing was at 2:40pm(Eastern time zone.

As we were deplaning the crew mentioned that with storm clouds in the area that baggage may be a bit slow. Lucky I had carry on only.

I had chosen another Hilton Property on my quest for Hilton Gold. I had hoped that the hotel would have a washing machine but it didn’t so I was out of luck there. I used the sink with some washing powder to at least wash a shirt.

15 JUN 2010
TPA-MIA AA983 F Seat 6A 737-800 N932AN
Status Credits 60 Total 1050

I was up at 7:00am for breakfast as I had purchased a rate that included breakfast; it was one of the poorer breakfast selections of the trip. One thing the lounge had was a computer and interesting or not interesting flyertalk showed up on the address bar at the top.

Shuttle back to the airport, another $1.00 handed over. Check in was quick but security was very slow and to reach the departure gates a tram is used.

A flight from Tampa to Miami is only 40 minutes at 21,000 feet, service in the front cabin would be a drink even an alcoholic drink was available at this early hour with departure at 10:20am.

One noticeable difference to the AA737s to the AA MD80s is the IFE onboard so each First class seat had head phones, the other thing noticeable was I found the 737s quieter than the MD80s.

15 JUN 2010
MIA-DCA AA1070 F Seat 6E 737-800 N952AA
Status Credits 90 Total 1140

Arrival was at E4 with departure on the other concourse D29, first stop was another Admirals Club. Qantas Club life membership is paying off very nicely on this trip. Another reason to stop by the lounge is that I had the address of where my hotel was but I hadn’t properly worked out where it was in relation to the Washington Metro.

I think I should be able to drink my way through my membership fees in no time. Boarding was at 12:20pm after drinking the 2 drink chits in the AA AC.

Flight was scheduled for 2 hours and 4 minutes at 39,000 feet; we were 2nd inline for take off with an expected arrival at 3:10pm.

Surprisingly there was no pre-departure drink, once the flight was underway drinks and nuts were served before a 2 choice lunch, either salmon or 4 cheese enchiladas. FEBO was at work with a terrible flight attendant looking after first class.

Landing was 3:08pm and for the only time in the whole trip I left the camera under the seat in front of me. Thankfully I realized as I was walking up the jetway that my back pack didn’t feel quiet heavy enough. One of the airline staff in the jet way was able to fetch it for me.

I caught the Washington Metro to the hotel Doubletree Inn, another Hilton property. This property had washing facilities. Although it was over $200 a night I was treated very well by all the staff.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I went and visited the Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport. I caught the Metro to Rosslyn then the 5A bus to Dulles airport then another bus on Virginia Regional Transit, who says the US doesn’t have public transport.

I spent more than 5 hours looking at the different exhibits which included an Air France Concorde.

And a Boeing 707.

Another major exhibition was the Enterprise Shuttle.

The first Space Shuttle orbiter, "Enterprise," is a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and tests on the ground; it is not equipped for spaceflight.

In the evening I caught up with everyone from DC.

The 2010 DC Area Happy Hour Thread



Recognize anyone.

Thursday

On Thursday morning I got up early to go and line up to get a ticket for the Washington Monument; yes you can reserve a ticket in advance but of course I only found out about that one week after the deadline had passed. Thankfully you could line up for them. The ticket booth opened at 8:30am so I thought get up at 7:00am and I made it to the line by 8:00am. I was happy to get a ticket for 3:00pm.

I guess while I was standing around I thought I should take a photo.

I got to the top at about 3:15pm in the afternoon.


In the mean time I visited the Museum of American History which was on the
mall. I also did a walk via the White House and did another walk via the Lincoln Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
I collected my bags and caught the Metro to Union Station and caught MARC up to BWI. The cheaper tickets are available from the machine but it didn’t like my Australian credit card but the train ticket inspector only charged me for the machine price.

My choice of hotel was the Holiday Inn near BWI, I was able to get a free room via a Priority Club points break so it only cost me 5,000 points. My other US hotel stays were with Hilton and those stays qualified me for Hilton Gold via a fasttrack program that was offered. I have no idea how I will re-qualify next year.

18 JUN 2010
BWI-DFW AA1277 F Seat 3A MD80 N249AA
Status Credits 120 Total 1260

First class check in was good and fast. I checked in my bag for the 4 flight 10,406 mile journey home.

With no Admirals Club in Baltimore I had to slum it in the terminal.

AA1277 was operated by N249AA a MD-82 (DC-9-82) manufactured in 1984

BWI is dominated by Southwest Airlines, one reason the airfares are cheaper than from the other Washington area airports. One other advantage on flying from BWI to DFW is that BWI-DFW in distance is just over 1200 miles so nice status earner on Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

The flight departed a few minutes early with an expected flight time of 2:41 minutes at 32,000 feet. Lunch was served on this flight. FEBO(front even back odd for food service) at work again, maybe I should have preselected my seat. The service started with more hot nuts with apple juice in a can.

The main course was a salad with salmon rice and beans and more of those pita chips with humus which I ignored,

The flight departed a few minutes early, 2:41 minutes at 32,000 feet FEBO(front even back odd for food service) at work again, maybe I should have preselected my seat. More hot nuts with apple juice in a can before the meal which was a Salad with salmon rice and beans and more of those pita chips with humus which I ignored,

Another picture of the meal; with a metal knife

The choice of wine was chardonnay or red cab/merlo, I think I opted for the chardonnay.

The seat belt sign was on most of the way with lots of cloud and a bit of high cloud every so often, but the flight remained relatively smooth.

Australia is such a long way away according to the flight attendant who is going to Tulsa. Our landing was at Gate C4 and the staff was nice enough to advise of connecting gate information.

The connecting flight was at the other end of the same concourse so I took one stop on the Skylink before heading over to the Admirals Club in Terminal C,



The Skylink operates bi-directional and operates inside the secure area. This system replaced the Airtran which operated from 1974-2005 operated outside the secure areas.

It was another stop by the Admirals Club for another drink chit and a use of the lounge computer. I think after a few lounge visits I seemed to have a pattern; walk to lounge ask the attendance where is the bar and the computers, after I got the 2 drinks chits of course.

18 JUN 2010
DFW-LAX AA2457 F Seat 5B MD80 N433AA
Status Credits 120 Total 1380

Another full flight what a surprise we get pre-departure drink juice or water.

Nuts were again available but I was over the nuts. Dinner was a choice of pepper steak or cheese tortellini.



This was probably the best inflight meal I had of the entire trip.

A South African 2008 cab/merlot was available with the meal. Thankfully there was no sighting of the Pita chips.

An ice cream was served after the meal with tea or coffee.

The flight time was 2:47 at 26000 feet 4:14 take off landing in LA at 5:10pm, there is 2 hours time difference between Dallas in the Central time zone and LAX in the Pacific time zone. The flight was operated N433AA a 23 year old DC9-83.

After the 7 flights with American Airline a few things that stood out. A crew can make a boring flight a great one. If you didn’t get a chatty flight attendant who served you pre-departure drinks you knew that the FA was going to do a sub standard performance. Another thing that was obvious was that there was such a gap between economy and first class, it was like night and day and no wonder everyone crowds around the podium to get that elusive upgrade.

18 JUN 2010
LAX-SYD QF012 Y Seat 61H A380-800 VH-OQD
Status Credits 40 Total 1425 I made it Qantas Platinum after 15 hours.

I spent a few hours in T4 AC then I walked outside of security and then through security at TBIT.

My upgrade did not come through so I was going to be stuck in economy for the trip back to Sydney, even an upgrade to PE would have been nice, checking expertflyer in LA showed that there was 0s across the board so it was a full flight.

Didn't think much of the business lounge at TBIT



Not to much food but the drinks were free, well you didn't have to tip for them. I probably prefer having a bar person serve you a drink even if you have to tip for them.

Boarding was called at 10:00pm.

Dinner was salmon or chicken, with a peppermint tea or chocolate drink served after the meal. The plane is very quiet very noticeable compared to MD80.

The flight started at 32000 feet 14 hours with departure at 11:20pm, it was a very smooth flight across the Pacific.

Australia is a long way from the USA it no wonder I don’t get there that often.



With 6 hours to go I ate the snack pack which included biscuits, M&Ms and dried fruit plus a bottle of water, ,

At this time I thought I should watch some movies. Beneath Hill 60 was featured in a previous Qantas magazine which I then followed with Man Who stares at Goats.

Beneath HIll 60 was good but I am glad I didn't pay to watch Man Who Stares at Goats. the size of the screen on the A380 is definitely better than the economy screen on the 747.

Lights came on 3:30am in the morning and with 3 hours before arrival breakfast was served.



Anyone notice the return of the plastic knife and fork.

We eventually got to 40,000 feet with 2 hours to go; as the fuel burns off the flight level increased.

Descent started at 6:06am and we arrived at 6:43am delayed due to traffic into Sydney airport.

Nice camera image from the A380 on landing.

Where is the gate and luggage carousel info, oh that’s right I am back on Qantas flying into Australia so there aren’t that many of them.

I was through passport control and then had to wait for baggage as I had checked in my bag in Baltimore, surprisingly the bag followed me.

20 JUN 2010
SYD-BNE QF512 J 1D 737-838 VH-VXL
Status Credits 10 Total Who Cares I made it.

Qantas have a domestic check in area at the international terminal for those customer who have flown in from overseas, even if you haven’t flown in on Qantas. I had been issued a boarding pass for this flight in Baltimore. I again checked my bag as I now had duty free and didn’t want to have to carry it with me.

Probably the biggest shock of the morning was printed on the new boarding pass. FF Platinum Oneworld E(Emerald)

Of course I had to send a text to another flyertalker to tell them of the good news.

And a picture of the boarding passes starting from 1 August start of a new membership year.

Departure of the flight was at 9:03am, the flight a standard Qantas flight in business class, a mid morning snack.

Flight got to 35,000 feet and another seat belt reminder. Flight time was 59 minutes so the flight attendant did a good job to serve all the business class passengers a mid morning snack.

Photo of the snack with a metal fork and spoon with a plastic knife

The flight arrived into Brisbane 10 minutes early, no connecting gate information and luggage would be available on a dedicated city flyer carousel.

My trip to the US covered 22,900 miles.

To reach Qantas Platinum oneworld Emerald I traveled 54,927 miles on airfares that were purchased on oneworld airlines. I did 82,000 miles on all airlines in the last membership year. I can get a bit sidetracked using other non oneworld airlines but I also burnt a few points as well.