This was the return of our SYD-HTI trip.

Vacationed at Hayman Island (along Australia's Great Barrier Reef): a fantastic retreat for those living or going down under.

Ansett was wonderful. We even were allowed a flight change on this return portion as we wanted to visit Brisbane. Ansett initially did not allow it, but then a supervisor made a one time exception.

This documented exception actually turned out to bite us as my partner got a nasty sunburn in Hayman, and we tried to change the tickets again to the nonstop to Sydney. "We've already given you a one time exception. We can't do that again." They were right. So we put ointment on and set out.

Flew Hamilton Island to Brisbane in coach. We left our things in the Golden Wing lounge while visiting the city. (Those lounges are fantastic: internet, food, etc.)

Toured Brisbane. Nice city. Got back to the Ansett lounge to find that our flight would be delayed an hour. As we had plenty of time, the agent said, "How about an earlier flight."

"Sure! By the way, any chance of getting on the DM list for an upgrade?" Now, I had already asked other agents this, for both my outbound and the return. None were familiar with the expression "DM (Departure Management)." And when I would explain it, they would respond, "Oh, Ansett does not do this unless you are a member of our FF club."

I knew from previous threads that UA 1k's have had little to no luck. But nevertheless, I tried. This agent gave me a sheepish grin, then said, "Because of our delay, we'll see what we can do. Let me hold on to your tickets for now. By the way, let's make sure your bags get onto the right flight." I left her with the right info, and sat with my partner in the lounge.

A while later, she called me up and said, "I have Business seats for you, but they are not together. Let's wait til closer to flight time so we can assign you together."

And she did. The flight was great. The food was so-so. One thing I noticed was that in the first two rows of business in the 767, the seats had leg-rests. But rows 3-5 did not. Go figure!

Next day we flew SYD-LAX on NZ in F. Wonderful flight. 13 hours passed quickly. Biggest problem was that there were no taxis at LAX to be seen!