When OZ rebooked me, they gave me my pick of flights (i.e. my unchangable *a ticket was now completely open). I needed to get back to SH today in time to be somewhat productive so only the morning flights were an option. Given the choice between the 9:50 and the 10:50 --both 744s-- I chose the latter on the grounds that: 1) the majority of Sunday night pax would prefer to arrive as early as possible; 2) the later flight would be less likely to be delayed due to typhoon remnants; 3) I wanted to eat a proper lunch on the flight and 9:50 is too early for such.
Anyway, I got to the airport in time for the 9:50 (and my bag ended up taking that flight), but I still stuck with my guns and took the 10:50. While in the lounge for my hour plus, I did some internet work (plus a post to this thread). I checked the time at 10:25 and decided to walk to the plane, even though there was no announcement. I got on the plane and headed straight towards my upper deck exit window -- a good choice on most airlines because of the added legroom, but a bad choice on OZ if you actually like looking out the window because there was none.
Consequently, I moved myself 2 rows back, which wasn't a problem because there was only one other pax in business class. The pre-departure champagne was Dom because there was also only one person in F and they didn't want to waste a whole bottle on him. (Note to upgraders; this is not a good plane because everything except for the nose and the upperdeck is Y.)
My seat was no match for its counterpart on the 777 (and I presume the longhaul airbus planes, based on the ent guide) but I found it more comfortable, presumably because of: 1) the upper deck factor; 2) the empty cabin; and 3) the illusion of more pitch.
In any case, the IFE wasn't all that good. In fact, I had to ask the FA how to make the TV work..... and those headphones certainly weren't cutting edge. But, it was a good flight. We flew all the way south to Jeju, turned right, and then headed towards Shanghai. The food was comparable to my PEK-ICN flight, but the service was better, given the 3:2 FA
ax ratio.
We landed at 11:41 China time and pulled into the gate at 11:45. It wasn't until noon that the jetway joined our airplane due to reasons that no one could explain.
As a business class pax, I got no special treatment from OZ other than advice to make a go for door 1 because door 2 was always slow to open (which proved to be wrong), but I was still among the first 30 off the plane. I made up my loss in the race for immigration (with which I am quite familiar) and ended up placing 3rd. It turned out to matter not because 8 other international flights had just landed --> immigration was a complete zoo. The lines did all sorts of crazy curves and zig-zags. New lines would open up periodically and result in mad dash scenarioes. I stayed in my original line.
At 12:55, I finally made it through. Then I hung at baggage claim for 10 minutes and watched the same 30 bags loop 10 times. At that point, I conformed that all bags were off marched towards the lost luggage counter. Midway through filling out my claim, I noticed that my bag was just to my right.
I then walked straight to the terminal and marched towards bus #2. I got home at 2:42; a plane to house time of 3:01 (my record is 1:10).
When I reached home, I deposited all those dirty clothes in my washing machine and passed out hard. I was awoken by a phone call from another fter who later joined us at Paulaner for dinner.
All in all, I had a great weekend, but wish I had stayed in better touch with the weather. Hiroshima is a great city and my girlfriend is spectacular!