Part 4 ……………………… the LONG journey home.

Fri 22 Jul 16

ANC-PHX, 0125-0752
AA511 A319

0125??? You must be joking!! Oh, well, needs must, I guess. This time it was in 2A/C, again in the mini 8-seat F cabin. I remember little about it, and took no notes apart from push-back at 0130 … I do not function at such a time of day, especially having been out of bed for nearly 18 hours already! However, at some stage we were provided with snack meal [some Hummus] and later a ‘normal’ Cereal and Yoghurt breakfast.





We landed at PHX at 0740 [local]. Here was the one nervous part of the trip, as an AA schedule change had cut a leisurely 1h 30m connection into one of 42m. However, on disembarking we found that our departure gate was just 2 gates along the pier, and was commencing boarding in 10 minutes! Yay! We decided not to bother with a Lounge, but instead hovered by the Priority Boarding line, in a Lice-like manner

PHX-CLT, 0835-1542
AA1899, A321

We were settled on board at 0800 (4A/C this time), PDB’d in a suitable manner and pushed back at 0840 - oooh, 5 minutes late, AA!! By this time we’re heading into the sunrise, so it must be time for another meal. Ahh, Breakfast 3 … or is it a lunch? No, it has the fruit plate again, so that’s definitely another Breakfast - probably.



Somewhere along the way, there was that dreaded “Is there a Medical Professional on board?” announcement … oh, no, please don’t have to divert, we have further connections! As it transpired, the poorly pax seemed to be OK with care and attention and we trundled onward to CLT, arriving at 1530 [local] and somewhere next month as far as my brain could determine.

CLT-DUB, 1810-0635
AA724, A 332

Those times were the planned times, but it was not to be. There’s a 1h delay while they wait for a replacement aircraft to fly in from ORD [coming from a Hangar, according to the AA app] - it also appears the outbound DUB-CLT went u/s. That’s actually good news, as we were facing a 4h layover in DUB without Lounge access. Oh, and another check on the excellent AA app shows that our luggage [now 3 pieces] has arrived at CLT too, so the short connection at PHX didn’t cause a problem. Phew!

Eventually the replacement a/c arrived at D3 at 1815, at which point an army of cleaners descended on it. To be accurate, they actually ascended onto it, up the stairway beside the airbridge. How dirty can it get in a hangar at ORD? Ho-hum, another 30m or so to wait. Eventually, at 1915, we were boarded and settled into 1H/2H in those nice single window seats. iWife is now 100% convinced that 1H is her favourite seat



At 1940 we pushed back, and launched on the penultimate sector … a simple TATL. Dinner was soon served … well, I was starving by this time, having lost count of the number of meals since whenever it was. This was a Thai Chicken starter [YAY! - not a salad, although of course one was also provided] followed by a VERY nice steak [again] with a dipping bowl of “thyme jus”.







Then, again finding nothing I wanted to actually watch on the IFE, I decided to go horizontal and relax with some ‘classical music’ before drifting off to sleep



Sat 23 Jul 15

I am apparently still flying. At 0700 I was awoken to enjoy yet another breakfast [how many is that now?], which I vaguely recall was some fruit, cereal and Greek yoghurt. No photo, though - how many breakfast pictures do you people need to see?? And then we were descending towards DUB, and our charming FA went round the cabin shaking hands with everyone and wishing us all a safe onward journey … how VERY nice!

We landed at 0800 [1h 30m late] - and we were off and away to …

• Immigration, where at 0810 we had the pleasure of having a gap opened in the Tensa barriers for EU passport holders. Goodbye Americans, your longgg line starts over there
• Reclaim next: 1st bags arrived at 0820, and our 3 arrived at 0821 ^
• Departures next: up in a lift to the next floor, where self-tagging seemed to be the EI preference. I coped with the technology brilliantly
• Kerb-side next: a couple of ciggies in the designated smoking zone on the ground floor restored us sufficiently to face Security without TSA Pre✓.
• Security: back up 2 levels, where we encountered minimal delay. Well done, Dublin Airport Authority ^
• Duty Free: nothing we wanted, and their cigarette offering was pathetic!
• Gate 333, then. Somewhere a long way away, on the ground floor, with the most malodorous toilets I’ve encountered at a Western airport. DAA, you just lost that tick

Thirty minutes of Kindle-reading and people-watching kept us occupied until we were put on the bus at 1015 … and waited for the last meandering pax.
1035: we boarded the aircraft …

DUB-JER, 1050-1240
EI 3342, ATR72.

This time it was the regular Stobart Air seating in EI-FAT, which was perfectly acceptable for a couple of hours. At least as much knee-room as BA offers on s/h, and the big 6-bladed propellor by the window didn’t seem to generate much noise. So, apart from a lack of free F&B or OWE boarding benefits, there was nothing to complain about - except the baggage charges!









At 1230 we were in JER, disembarking last, and waited just 5 minutes for our non-priority bags. The taxi home had us through the front door at 1300 in some time-zone or other, and wondering when our next breakfast would be served.

And after our 30-hour journey home, we were rather tired, and thus retired early to bed … The Cat can stay in her ‘hotel’ until Sunday lunchtime