Seat 2A

This is quite a long report and I can't help but wonder when noticing the tallies (2902 hits, 35 comments so far) how many people may have opened it, looked at the content and the length, then just threw up their hands and walked away. I tried re-reading it on the long flight across the Pacific last night and fell asleep before I finished! So, to all of you who've taken the time to read all or part of this report's 26000+ words and then comment, thank you so much! Your kind words are truly appreciated and certainly serve to corroborate the time and effort that go into a report of this length.

If you thought the travels reported upon here were crazy, consider flying to Australia and back in economy class over a five day period. I miss the good old days when flights from Oz made stops in Fiji and Hawaii on their way to the west coast. Thirteen and a half hours is an awfully long time to sit in anything but a First Class suite! While there's little if any jetlag flying westbound, the return flight is a real bear. In any event, let me take a moment to answer a few more comments and questions while I still enjoy a brief moment of lucidity this morning.

Thanks, catweazel! I use a simple Canon SD850i pocket camera. I don't know anything about photography but I'd like to think I do a decent job with picture composition. Really though, I honestly try to take a good picture. I can't imagine why some people here submit blurry or poorly composed pictures, but the fact is many trip reporters here at FlyerTalk do exactly that. I mean, it's hardly rocket science to photograph a plate of food or an airplane cabin. If the subject is something I know I'll want to use in a report, I'll usually take 3-4 pictures and select the best one. It all boils down to taking the time to do it as well as I can.

I never fail to disappoint? This report must've been a huge disappointment, then! Thank you though for your kind offer to meet up in Brisbane. I gave no notice of my arrival because I was met at the airport and actually spent no time in Brisbane other then the hour and a half it took to get out of town. The return flight was out of Sydney.

To those of you wondering why I didn't stay longer in Australia - it's a wonderful place that I've thoroughly enjoyed visiting over a dozen times, but when you factor in the costs of an extended stay as well as a desire to spend more time back home in Alaska (where I also have no small number of chores and commitments to attend to) it was an easy decision to make this a quick trip for the wedding only. As anyone who's read this report by now knows, I have no problem with spending only a short time at some destinations.

Thanks, BT. I've been walkin' the walk since my first mileage run in 1988 though I was doing some pretty extreme flying via Unlimited Mileage Fares even back in the seventies.

Super-Duper Diamond Encrusted Kryptonite Level! (a.k.a. MVP Gold 75K)

Thanks, zookeeper! It seems my reports might best be started first thing in the morning over a cup of coffee, though some FTers have indicated a distinct preference toward enjoying them with a bottle of good scotch or wine, perhaps best started a bit later in the day.

Dang, you're well on your way, Mr. King! 54000 miles by late February is nothing to sneeze at. Most years I try to knock off about that much by March and finish off the rest in September/October. Here's wishing you many upgrades and great weather on your Boston runs. ^^

I stopped flying as much with United shortly after they stopped flying to Fairbanks (1999) and then cut back to just one flight per day out of Anchorage, departing at the uncivilized hour of 1:00am. Does United still do status matches? I'd heard they don't though I sure would like to check out some of those Star Alliance First Class products.

eightblack, you are the most naturally gifted writer I've ever had the pleasure of reading here at FlyerTalk, so I really am quite honored and appreciative of your positive comments. We write different styles of trip reports but seem to run in the same company of well regarded written reports. As for traveling in the same company, there's certainly no charge for that. I think it'd be great to meet up on a flight or three some day, preferably one up in the front of the aircraft!