FROM THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC TO THE SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC
Mar 11, 2002, 7:54 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
FROM THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC TO THE SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC
I know, I know... you all thought I was down in New Zealand! I have been there and by the time I post this I will be there again. At the root of this little side trip to America lies an explanation that's far too long and convoluted for this forum, however.
So how about this for now: Last thing I remember I was sitting in a Westport, N.Z. pub enjoyin' my 14th ~ or was it 19th? pint of Speights when next thing I know I'm being instructed to buckle up and sit straight because we're on final approach to Portland, Oregon. Huh!? Wha happened?!
Quite possibly, some might even think it's all been a lie, that I've never actually flown anywhere but instead am possessed of an active imagination and am in reality a disenfranchised Ozark ex-frequent flier now selling options on soybean futures or something suitably rural and living a quiet and unobtrusive life just outside Waterloo, Iowa. For sure I'm not an English teacher, with sentence structure like that.
Ah well, I yam who I yam and though it's occasionally strange, everything I've written and will continue to write is true. Except for that part about sitting at the pub in Westport. I'd only had 11 pints of Speights, at most 13.
As it is, having returned to Alaska in the middle of this trip, I've effectively gone around the world in an easterly direction, FAI-LAX-LHR-SIN-MEL-AKL-LAX-PDX-SEA-FAI. Now that I'm headed back to New Zealand to resume the rest of my trip, I'll be going back around the world in the opposite direction. FAI-SEA-LAS-SFO-AKL-MEL-SIN-LHR-IAD-SEA-FAI. That, I must admit, was part of the allure of coming back to Alaska. The chance to not only complete the circle and make this my first ever Around The World trip but, by returning to New Zealand, making it a Double Around The World Trip in opposite directions, no less. I like it!
Now I'm sure some of the more staid types out there are shaking your heads and thinking "This guy needs therapy" and perhaps even "We've got to make sure he never gets invited to any SEA-Do's!" but I'm havin' fun surprising people who've just received postcards from New Zealand and fully expect me to be in Te Anau or Milford about now. As well, I'm getting a lot of reading done on these flights and finally, as an added bonus, my relationship with Uncle Sam re. FY2001 taxes is now copacetic.
So, here's the story of my return trip to New Zealand. Sorry gang, it's almost entirely economy class - 13,150 miles aboard Alaska, Amtrak, United and Qantas but hopefully this will offer an entertaining contrast to my First Class journey to New Zealand just last month. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/002544.html
05 March
FAI-ANC-SEA Alaska 96 First Class
737-490 N799AS Seat 2F/14A
113p-737p Flight time: :43/3:07
I am now on the return leg of an Alaska Airlines round trip web special between Seattle and Fairbanks. Today was a beautiful late winter day in Alaska's interior. New Zealand's promise of abundant beauty and adventure notwithstanding, it's never easy for me to leave Alaska. I love this place!
I checked in just 40 minutes before departure and was able to upgrade on the FAI-ANC section but not the longer flight into Seattle. Interestingly, Alaska's computers do not recognize your MVP Gold status simply by your account number. I discovered this on the way up from Seattle when I was waitlisted for an upgrade and was told that I was on the list as a mere MVP. Not that it mattered - everyone in F checked in but apparently unless you tell the agent upon check-in that you are actually an MVP Gold, they have no way of knowing and will just list you as an MVP. Alaska needs to address this.
Clear days make for spectacular flying up here in the 49th State. We followed an Air France Asie Cargo 747-200 out to the runway and, after allowing the wake from its thunderous take off to dissipate, took off to the north and 22 seconds later were climbing out over Fairbanks and making the big turn south towards Anchorage. I followed the George Parks Highway out past the Ester cut off and up along the ridges above the Tanana River flats. Fourteen minutes later, we passed over the mining town of Healy where I was yesterday morning. What we flew in fourteen minutes routinely takes me two hours to drive! A couple of minutes later I watched as we flew over the road into Denali National Park - the road I drive 135 miles to work on each day in the summer. It was neat to see it in winter and follow the drainages of the Sanctuary, Teklanika and Toklat rivers as they headed north towards a rendezvous with the Yukon. Denali (Mt. McKinley) was gorgeous today, almost glowing in the mid-day sun as it crowned the Alaska range at 20,320 feet. I got spectacular views of the Ruth Amphitheater and the rock formation known as the Moose's Tooth before the Alaska Range finally fell behind us. I watched as the Chulitna River merged with the Susitna and emptied into the Cook Inlet. A flight attendant interrupted my reverie to ask if I'd like another beer. No thanks, but perhaps a couple more packs of those mixed nuts for the next flight would be nice!
This is only a 40 minute flight offering beverage only service so aside from the scenery on this fine day, there's not a lot else to comment upon. On a clear day, I'm hard pressed to think of a more scenic short jet flight anywhere outside of Alaska. If ever you should fly into Alaska, consider an open-jaw itinerary so you can fly into ANC and out of FAI. Then hope for sunny conditions.
ANCHORAGE to SEATTLE
Once again, First Class checked in full so I headed back to my exit row window and buckled in as our pilot previewed our trip. Cruising altitude at 33,000 feet, slight headwinds and a flight time of 3:00 would have us in Seattle right on time.
I've described the scenery on this sector in previous postings. On a day like today it doesn't get any finer with a veritable cornucopia of mountains, glaciers and fiords to feast your eyes upon.
Drinks were served, followed by dinner. While not a feast, it was more than adequate. Alaska is one of the few remaining airlines in America that still serve meals in coach on flights of less then three hours. Tonight's choices were pasta with a cheesy mushroom tomato sauce with green beans or white fish with rice and veggies. I opted for the pasta and was not disappointed. It came with a small salad, a wheat roll and a small square of chocolate cake.
We landed just a few minutes late and parked out at the end of the D Concourse. Since I failed in my Priceline bids to find anything around the airport for $27.00 or less, I hopped on the #174 Bus downtown to the Green Tortoise Hostel. Your stay includes a breakfast of eggs, bread and fruit and at only $20.00 a night for a shared room, I think it's the best deal going downtown.
06 March
SEA-PDX Amtrak #753
"The Cascade" Business Class
145p-515p
Despite the uncertain future that many of Amtrak's long distance trains face, I'd like to think that some of the shorter inter-city trains like Amtrak's "Cascades" will be around for a good long while.
The Cascades primarily serve the Seattle - Portland - Eugene corridor though one of them continues north from Seattle up to Bellingham and on into Vancouver. They certainly offer convenience and good value between Seattle and Portland. The trip is scheduled at 3 1/2 hours and a one way coach seat costs only $23.00. For only $11.00 more you can upgrade to Business Class. I rode up to Seattle in coach last week so this time I'm splurging and going for Business.
The Cascades utilize a consist known as the Talgo Train. The Talgo was built in Spain incorporates some enhancements to the suspension system that result in the ability to travel more smoothly at higher speeds. The train usually consists of, in order, two Business Class cars, a dining car, the Bistro car and six or seven coaches. The cars and the engines are painted in an attractive green, brown and white color scheme.
Inside, the green theme continues throughout Coach and Business classes. In fact, Amtrak looks to have borrowed all the leftover fabric that Cathay Pacific didn't use for their seats. Very similar colors. The walls offer beige carpeting and window curtains offset by a strip of wood paneling below the windows. The front and back walls of the cars are entirely wood paneled. Coach class seating is the standard 2 x 2 arrangement while Business class offers slightly wider seats in a 1 x 2 configuration. Both classes offer a 110-volt outlet beside each row of seats for laptop connections. This is great as not everyone has Empower adapters. Mounted on the ceiling of each car are TV monitors. When movies aren't being shown, they display trip information much like the Sky Map. Half the screen is taken up by a map that indicates our exact location with a flashing dot and beside that is indicated our next stop, the estimated arrival time to our final destination, the current time and the temperature. Unfortunately, our speed was not indicated though I did notice that in the few places where we paralleled I-5 we were going faster than the cars. The interstate speed limit in Washington State is 70 mph so by American train standards we were doing pretty well. And that, folks, is one of the secrets to success for the American passenger train: If it can't go faster than cars travel on the interstate, it's outta business. Of course, convenient schedules and competitive pricing are just as important. Amtrak scores well in each of these areas and for these reasons I predict a successful future for the Cascades.
We pulled out of Seattle's King Street Station right on time at 1:45pm. Right beside the station are the new stadiums for Seattle's Mariners and Seahawks. I can't speak for their interior amenities but from the outside they are no more attractive than the Kingdome ever was. Hopefully they will last longer.
Once you get past Seattle's urban sprawl it's a pretty ride down to Portland. In the first hour, much of the trip is alongside the Puget Sound. Most of the rest of the route is out of sight of the highway and quite easy on the eyes - forests, lakes, fields, the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, some ducks, a few river crossings, a race with cars along I-5 followed by more fields and trees before finally crossing the big bridge across the Columbia River and gliding into downtown Portland and its beautiful red brick train station.
Midway through the trip I paid a visit to the Bistro Car. One of the perks of traveling in Business Class on the Cascades is that you get a coupon good for $3.00 off anything in the Bistro. The menu offered three different sandwiches for $5.25 each, Ivar's clam chowder or the soup of the day for $3.25 and two different pasta bowls or a rice and chicken bowl for $3.75. I chose the penne pasta with chicken sausage and marinara sauce. It was served with a wheat roll and a packet of Parmesan cheese. The total cost to me was $0.75 so I felt I got a good deal. Especially since the pasta tasted pretty good, too.
For seating, the Bistro car offered a counter with six stools. Buffet style seating was also available in the dining car. The dining car has no kitchen and is only used as a traditional diner on the Portland - Seattle - Vancouver services.
Along the way we encountered a few short delays due to track maintenance. Each time this occurred, the conductor made sure to give us a complete briefing, which was appreciated. I remember riding Amtrak back in the seventies and sitting on a siding outside of Chicago for over two hours before anyone was kind enough to mention that we had a brake problem.
We pulled into Portland's Union Station about 20 minutes late. Baggage was delivered promptly and I hopped on a Tri-Met bus soon after for my ride across town to the Hawthorne District.
This was a good train trip. The cars were new and reasonably comfortable, the price was right, the food affordable and tasty, the scenery pretty and the service quite good. If Amtrak continues to operate its shorter intercity trains in this fashion, passenger rail service will not die out in America.
07 March
PDX-LAX United 1751 Coach Class
737-322 N377UA Seat 3F
955a-1212p Flight time: 1:55
The Portland Transit system, known as Tri-Met, operates a train right to Portland International Airport. I had to take two busses to get to the train and on one of the busses I sat near a gentleman engaged in a serious discussion with someone who wasn't on the bus.
First Class upgrades aside, one of the most appreciated benefits of being a United Premier is not having to wait in the usually long lines for the economy check in counter. When I arrived at United's counter, there were perhaps 30 people in the Economy Class line and only 2 in the First Class/Premier line. I was checked in within five minutes and on my way to Macheesmo Mouse for the best airport breakfast burrito in the land. Then I walked next door to Tully's for a big cup of their fine drip coffee. Good coffee and a non-greasy breakfast. I felt like First Class even though I was seated in Coach.
The aircraft was an ex-Shuttle 737-300 still wearing the old white Shuttle livery. I hope UA repaints these planes fast. They look tacky. At the gate next to us sat the San Francisco flight, placed on an ATC departure delay until 11:20am due to fog at SFO. If I've learned anything over the years, it's to avoid whenever possible morning connections through SFO.
Flight 1751 started boarding 25 minutes early and, by my watch, pushed back from the gate four minutes early. I noticed Northwest 727-200 N296US taxiing out ahead of us. I thought NW had parked all of its old 727s but evidently not. I've always enjoyed flying on the 727-200s, one of the prettier aircraft ever to grace the skies. Unfortunately, three noisy and thirsty engines coupled with a three-man cockpit mean the 727s days are numbered here in America. Only NW and DL still operate them domestically.
We took off to the west and quickly climbed to our assigned cruising altitude of thirty some odd thousand feet. The captain never said. He did however give us a detailed route of flight: South over Crater Lake National Park, then pass just east of Klamath Falls before heading over Redding and Sacramento, then straight down the San Joaquin Valley past Modesto and Visalia before entering into the LAX arriving traffic pattern. Unfortunately it was cloudy most of the way down so there wasn't much to see. Flight time was projected at 1:55 getting us into LA 20 minutes early. Cool.
Service from the UA crew was friendly and efficient. They really did a great job, patrolling the aisles regularly with water and coffee.
In the new stripped down service environment that is now the norm in America, this flight was about as good as it could possibly get for a flight of this length. Well done, United!
07 March
LAX-LAS United 1732 Coach Class
737-522 N916UA Seat 3A
100p - 204p Flight time: :42
I've always liked the little 737-500. This one was painted up in United Shuttle's final color variation, standard UA colors with United Shuttle in black block letters atop the windows.
Not much I can say about this flight. It was only 42 minutes across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas and the last 25 minutes of the flight were turbulent enough that the captain asked the flight attendants to suspend service and take a seat. Only the first couple of rows received any beverages.
If you like viewing desert scenery from above, this is a great flight. It's short enough that it doesn't climb all that high. The Mojave Desert itself is hardly flat. Anyone who's ever visited Death Valley knows there are plenty of little mountain ranges and the approach over the mountains west of Las Vegas is really a treat.
09 March
LAS-SFO United 1243 Coach Class
737-322 N377UA Seat 5F
730p-853p Flight time: 1:13
After two wonderful days of sunshine, hiking, billiards and excessive alcohol consumption in Zion National Park (Since Utah bars serve only 3.2 beer, one must drink excessive quantities to even approach a mild buzz) it's time to move on to the South Pacific.
Unfortunately, a three car pile up on I-15 in downtown Las Vegas coupled with a mass of conflicting flights, confirmations and waitlists in my PNR caused me to miss my scheduled flight into San Francisco while the counter agent called everyone from her supervisor to the Mileage Plus desk. Finally, I was rebooked on a 7:30pm departure that would connect nicely with my onward flight to Melbourne but would cause me to miss a dinner meeting in Burlingame with fellow FT member AW.
With three hours to kill, I headed over to the America West Club which has a reciprocal agreement with CO's President's Club members for LAS and PHX clubs. The LAS club is pretty nice - spacious, a decent bar, six workstations and a friendly and helpful staff. The USC-Arizona Pac-10 Conference tournament basketball game was on and the bartender, an Arizona fan, quickly came over to serve me. I gathered he didn't want to miss much of the game. I asked him if he might change the channel to ESPN 2's coverage of World Series of College Bowling as I was an avid fan and he about fainted! I assured him I was only kidding and together we got on to the business of watching Arizona defeat USC. I was the only visitor in the entire lounge. Ah well, it was Saturday.
At about 6:45p I headed over to the D Concourse and bought a Quizno's Sandwich for the flight. Quizno's bakes their sandwiches and I was happy to see they had a franchise in the airport. The prices were about the same as non-airport locations, too.
I was amongst the last to board and no sooner had I settled into exit row seat 12A than we were advised by the captain that there had been a security breach and we would all have to disembark while the aircraft was thoroughly searched. Not too surprisingly, everyone took it pretty well. With the exception of a wailing baby in the rear of the airplane, there were no moans and groans from anyone. Half an hour later, the aircraft was deemed safe and we re-boarded. Apparently what had happened was that a passenger had boarded with carry-on baggage, then noticed that he didn't have his passport for his onward flight. Uh Oh. He decided to get off the flight but as he had already boarded with carry-on luggage, by getting off he created a security breach. Who knows what was in that baggage?!
Interesting how times have changed and how, despite the business-as-usual lives most of us have been living since 9-11, we are actually at war that could flare up on our soil again anytime.
It was a short flight up to San Francisco. I had a beer and came within about ten words of finishing off the crossword puzzle in the Hemisphere magazine. Final approach into SFO took us past San Mateo and Foster City, followed by another smooth landing. I swear, United's pilots land their aircraft consistently smoother than any other airlines I've ever flown. Has anyone else ever felt this way?
Las Vegas to San Francisco is a 410 mile flight. My next flight would be more than 18 times as far. Flight 863 was departing from Gate 94 next door in the new International Terminal. It was an easy stroll over there and after clearing security it occurred to me that I'd made it a whole day without being selected for enhanced inspection or having to take my shoes off.
09 March
SFO-SYD United 863 Coach Class
747-422 N119UA Seat 37C
1045p-725a Flight time: 13:12
Boarding for this flight began 45 minutes early. Economy was about 70% full and Business was sold out. Don't know about First. I tried to get an exit row seat but was told only middle seats and windows were available. A window seat would've been nice except for the fact that on United's 744s at least, the seat row is so close to the door that the molded housing for the escape slide takes away any advantages normally gained from an exit row.
Barring a nice exit row seat, if one must fly economy on this flight the next best seat is in Economy Plus. I took my seat in row 37 and said hello to my seatmate, a SAAB 340 pilot for Mesaba Airlines/Northwest Airlink. Needless to say we found plenty to chat about through the dinner service before both lapsing off to sleep.
Menus were distributed and safety briefings performed as we pushed back from the gate. Here is a transcript of the economy class menu:
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Garden fresh salad with dressing of the day
MAIN COURSE
Beef with Texas Barbecue sauce
Served with roasted red potato and a vegetable medley
Cheese filled shell, tortellini and manicotti trio
Topped with Alfredo and marinara sauces
Chilled Chicken Wellington
Offered with a pasta Caesar salad
Dessert
Eli’s French Silk Cheesecake
** ** **
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
A snack will be served between the two main meals
** ** **
BREAKFAST
German Potato Pancakes
Topped with scrambled eggs with Mornay sauce
Cinnamon French Toast
Served with pork sausage
The above entrees are served with a fruit appetizer
* * * * * *
Take off took quite a long time and I made a mental note to time our take off out of Sydney on the next flight. Just curious?cuz it didn't seem like we got airborne until somewhere out by Candlestick Park.
Our climb out of SFO was smooth and uneventful - as it oughta be. My seatmate had just finished telling me how NW expected to operate the DC-10s for another six or seven years and was just describing to me the difference between the BAe-146 and the Avro RJ-85 (Steam dials vs. glass cockpit!) when the chief purser came on to describe the evening's service schedule. While all of the information she gave was pertinent and helpful, the style in which she delivered it was anything but. She spoke extremely slowly and added these annoying pauses between almost every sentence. I swear she was reading off a script and was slow to turn the pages. What any normal person could have said in two minutes she droned on and on and on for a good five minutes.
Not long after she had finished, our captain came on and told us how nice the weather would be in Sydney, giving us cloud and humidity information along with the projected temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. As we'd be dealing with very light headwinds into Sydney, our flight time would be only 13 hours and 15 minutes, putting us into the gate just a little bit early. No information was given as to our cruising altitude but I was confident it would be somewhere between 30 and 40,000 feet.
Due to the late hour, service was started almost immediately upon leveling out. Hot towels were distributed and we both ordered the Chilled Chicken Wellington. I was tired and planning to sleep soon but I hate to pass up airline food and the chicken seemed like a lighter choice. It was, and it was a delicious choice at that! I enjoyed it with half a bottle of Dourthe Freres Cabernet Sauvignon.
Afterwards, I read a few pages of my latest novel and called it a night. Normally, sleep does not come easily to me whilst sleeping in economy class airline seats so I tried something new this time. While in Alaska, I bought a small bottle of melatonin to use in the hope that I might sleep better under economy class flight conditions. I took one pill just before dinner. It worked great! I was able to read maybe four or five pages before putting the book down. Although I awoke two or three times during the night, I always fell back to sleep quickly. By the time I finally woke up for good, there were only a little less than four hours left in the flight! Now that I can handle! It effectively turned a thirteen-hour flight into a five-hour flight.
One nice treat upon awakening was the mid-flight snack box that the flight attendant had thoughtfully left on the seat beside me. The box contained:
A large ham and cheese sandwich
A cup of grapes
A small bag of M&Ms candy
Bread stick
Cheese and crackers
I snacked from the box and worked on this report until breakfast was served about an hour out of Sydney. I ordered the German potato pancakes topped with eggs and mornay sauce. It was an excellent entree and surprisingly filling. I washed it all down with several cups of coffee, easy to do as the FAs patrolled the aisles continuously with pots of coffee and tea. By the time trays were cleared and the last cup of coffee drunk, we were well into our approach to Sydney.
I watched as the shoreline approached, then slid beneath us. My seatmate was particularly excited as he hadn't been to Australia in ten years and had a great two week vacation ahead. Like many airline employees, Sydney was the least of his travels for the year. In just the next three months, he had separate trips planned to Italy and Ireland.
We touched down smoothly as always, thus ending the shortest and certainly one of the most pleasant 13-hour flights I've ever been on.
Following are my ratings for this flight:
Check in: B
Preflight: B+
Comfort: B+
Service: A-
Meal: A-
Surprisingly good food and service from United. Though the dinner tray was not quite as varied as NZ or QF, the food was tasty and satisfying. The FAs worked hard and if you must travel in Economy on a 13-hour flight, UA's Economy Plus is a good seat.
Of course, there was no way I could get off the plane with out seeing what the other half got to eat. Following are transcripts of the Business Class and First Class menus:
San Francisco to Sydney
B U S I N E S S C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Smoked salmon with leek slaw
Dill creme fraiche
Garden Fresh Salad
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
MAIN COURSE
Beef tenderloin with Hollandaise sauce
Accompanied by home-fried potatoes and haricot verts with tomato
Stir fried shrimp with chili plum sauce and spring onions
Presented with Chinese egg noodles and sugar snap peas
Baked potato and bacon chowder
Carrots, celery, onions and cheddar cheese
Dessert
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals
BREAKFAST
Fresh seasonal fruit appetizer
Served with breakfast breads, butter and fruit preserves
Swiss and Colby cheese omelette with marinara sauce
Accompanied by hash-brown potatoes and pork sausage
** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Salmon timbale with creme fraiche
Cucumber onion salad
MAIN COURSE
Grilled veal tenderloin with portobello mushroom reduction
Accompanied by cheddar mashed potatoes and vegetable saute
Salmon and halibut in a zucchini wrap
Presented with Israeli couscous and tomato onion stew
Golden sesame chicken with citrus sauce
Served with fried rice and a vegetable medley
THE EARLY SEATING MEAL
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep,
we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Butternut squash and leek soup
Lobster tail and claw with cucumber salmon salad
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
Dessert
International Cheese Sampler
Chaumes, Emmental and Bavarian Blue cheese
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
With sundae toppings
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals.
Hot sandwiches are available upon request
BREAKFAST
Your selected entree will be served with
fresh seasonal fruit and breakfast breads
Corned beef hash and scrambled egg timbale
Accented with Hollandaise sauce
Banana nut French toast with creamy maple syrup
Accompanied by pork sausage and Canadian bacon
** ** **
FEATURED WINES
United selects its wines in blind tastings governed by the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin in France.
Champagne
Brut, Dom Perignon
WHITE WINES
Burgundy
Chablis Beauregards 1998, La Chablisienne
Chardonnay
Kunde Estate Sonoma Valley 2000
RED WINES
Rhone
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Chateau des Fines Roches
Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 1997
REGIONAL WINES
Selected flights to and from Australia
Shiraz
Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale 1999
Selected flights to and from New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc
Isabel Estate Marlborough 1999
** ** **
The following statement prefaces the First Class menu selections:
WELCOME
We are proud to introduce our Pacific menu selections developed and designed to incorporate the expectations expressed by many of our customers who have flown in the Pacific market.
The four key elements of the menu design are: uncomplicated dishes with distinctive characteristics and flavors; the freshest seasonal products available; authentic American and Asian regional dishes and accompaniments; and light and substantial options appropriate to the time of day.
A wine consultant and a cellar committee have carefully chosen our exceptional selection of award winning wines to complement the seasonal meals we serve on board the aircraft.
We invite you to enjoy your selected entree, beautifully presented and served by our flight attendants. Our flight attendants take immense pride in gracefully delivering meals from the confined space of an airplane galley. Serving sophisticated international guests is part of our flight attendants?long term career commitment to the hospitality field.
It is our goal to provide you with meals of the highest quality and consistency. We hope that you enjoy these selections as much as we have enjoyed creating them for you.
** ** **
This all sounds like a fancy way of presenting and trying to justify what must be amongst the lowest per-meal expenditures for any international First Class service.
It works well amongst Mileage Plus members who traditionally fly economy class and still feel awestruck just to be flying in First Class, 90% of the time on an upgrade or an award. Slaves as they are to one of the finest Frequent Flyer programs ever developed, they are blinded to or just plain unaware of the deficiencies in UA's lackluster international F Class product. I can't imagine how any truly seasoned veterans of international caliber First Class service would consider this meal service appropriate for a 13-hour flight in First Class, especially the breakfast.
Comments, anyone?
11 March
SYD-MEL United 863 Coach Class
747-422 N197UA Seat 37A
935a-1050a Flight time: 1:03
Upon exiting the airplane I followed the transit signs to the departure area and looked for a cup of coffee. Ohmygawd!, we're back to the land of expensive but average coffee served in tiny cups! I shelled out $3.50 AUD - about $1.75 USD to assuage my habit and looked for a table. On the way, I passed a TV monitor with info. On departing flights. Interestingly, it listed not only the usual information re. gate, boarding time, etc. but also the aircraft registration numbers. Outside of myself and a very few FT devotees, I would never have figured there would've been much interest in this.
This flight was only about a third full so there was plenty of room to spread out once onboard. While taxiing out to the runway, we passed plenty of colorful aircraft rarely seen in my part of the world including a Polynesian 737-800 with winglets, a China Southern 777-200 and an Emirates 777-200. Perhaps the most interesting for me was VH-ECC, a Qantas 747-238 Combi with the rear side cargo door. So many airlines are starting to retire their "Classic" 747s and it's still hard to believe that the 747 celebrated its 32nd birthday just last January!
As promised from the last flight, I timed this flight from the beginning of the take-off roll. A one third full 747-400 taking off at sea-level with nowhere near full fuel tanks equals a 22-second take off roll. Impressive.
Who knows why UA serves any food on this segment. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but it's only an hour's flight down to Melbourne and in America it'd be a beverage only service. Even so, soon after take off the flight attendants made the rounds with big trays full of snack boxes. Each box contained:
Orange juice
Apricot yogurt
Bread roll and preserves
Cheese and Crackers
Cruising altitude was 33,000 feet down to Melbourne and after spending perhaps twenty minutes at that altitude we descended through scattered clouds and mild turbulence for an on time arrival at Tullamarine.
11 March
MEL-AKL United 841 Coach Class
747-422 N177UA Seat 32A
135p-720p Flight time: 3:04
Despite this being an international flight aboard a US carrier, security consisted of a thorough bag check and a ridiculously minimal wanding. Some change in my pocket caused the wand to beep but I was not asked to display the contents of that pocket in order to verify it. I proceeded to the podium to see if I could change my seat to the non-Economy Plus bulkhead row and not only got a window seat there but the row to myself as well. The reason for my change was that Economy Plus on United's 744s is almost entirely over the wing. I wanted to get as far forward as possible for as unobstructed a view as possible. I've been there, done that when it comes to watching flap action. Nowadays, I want to see what I'm flying over.
It was a light load into Auckland on this flight. Business Class looked wide open and Economy was perhaps half full. Flight time was planned for 3:01 at 39,000 feet, putting us into Auckland about fifteen minutes early.
Menus and towels were distributed, followed by the beverage cart. I ordered a Steinlager and found it deliciously cold. Why can't United accomplish this in America where so many times I've been handed cool or even tepid beers? But hey, who wants to dwell on that. We're down under now where the beer is cold and the menu looks pretty good. Here it is:
E C O N O M Y C L A S S L U N C H E ON
To Begin
Garden fresh salad with dressing of the day
MAIN COURSES
Chicken Kiev with ratatouille
Accompanied by zucchini, eggplant and bell peppers
Grilled filet of beef with a mushroom demi-glace
Served with garlic mashed potatoes and zucchini batonnets
Dessert
Caramel custard with toffee sauce
** ** **
I opted for the beef and found it quite tasty. I should add I suppose that for any of you who've been paying attention to detail during my posts, I tend to generally be pretty satisfied with airline food insofar as taste goes. To my mind, most of the complainers seem to have forgotten that they are indeed on an airplane with more than a few limitations when it comes to serving restaurant quality fare aloft. I give the airlines a fair bit of latitude. I've eaten far worse pre-packaged stuff on backpacking trips or in baseball stadiums (Although the A's have excellent sandwiches, especially sausage sandwiches at the Oakland Coliseum)
Most of this flight was cloudy but about a half hour out of Auckland the clouds started to break up just enough to get some excellent sunset visages of the beautiful New Zealand coastline.
We parked down at Gate 10, I collected my gear and headed over to the Garden Inn - at $60.00NZD the best deal going out at the airport.
Following are transcripts from the Business and First Class menus for this Trans-Tasman luncheon flight:
B U S I N E S S C L A S S
To Begin
Grilled scallops with cucumber pineapple salsa
Fresh green beans
MAIN COURSES
Thai chicken and pumpkin curry
Served on Thai fried rice with chili pepper and onions
Mushroom and cheese ravioli with creamy red pesto sauce
Presented with grilled zucchini and grated Parmesan cheese
New York style hot pastrami sandwich with Dijon mustard
Served with lettuce, tomato and a dill pickle
Dessert
Ice cream cup
** ** ** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S
To Begin
Grilled scallops wrapped in proscuitto
Presented with asparagus and cucumbers
MAIN COURSE
Grilled lamb chops with an onion and rosemary demi-glace
Accompanied by chive mashed potatoes and stir-fried vegetables
Seafood fettuccine with tomato basil sauce
Sauteed barramundi, shrimp and scallops
QUICK AND LITE MEAL
In lieu of our formal presentation,
We offer a complete service for the lighter appetite.
Oven roasted tomato soup
Chilled deli plate
With shrimp cocktail, chicken brandy pate, peppercorn chateaubriand, penne pasta salad and deviled egg with caviar
Dessert
Chocolate mousse
WINE LIST
This was exactly the same as the SFO-SYD menu
12 March
AKL-CHC Qantas 4115 Coach Class
737-376 VH-CZS Seat 10A
950a-1110a Flight time: 1:03
One way air travel is generally quite expensive in New Zealand. With less than seven days advance purchase on my last flight from Christchurch to Auckland, I had to resort to using my YHA Hostel membership for a 50% off the full Y class fare which got me a ticket good for standby only. Even then, the total cost came out to about $120.00 USD.
Via the Internet, Qantas offers a one way fare of only $109.00 NZD. The fare rules do not require advance purchase but the fare is so cheap that it's very unlikely you'll get it if you try to purchase it less than seven or more days out. With the tax, in US dollars it comes to about $56.00. Now that's quite reasonable anywhere on the planet for a 460 mile flight. Oddly, Air New Zealand has chosen not to match this fare though I did see a r/t AKL-CHC with NZ advertised in the Herald this morning for only $247.00NZD, about $115.00USD.
Regardless, for domestic services in New Zealand, NZ and QF are the two major players and I wanted to see how Qantas would compare to Air New Zealand's excellent service.
Qantas operates its own separate terminal for domestic flights at Auckland International. There's not much to it - downstairs is a very small check in area with perhaps three counter positions. Only two people were in line ahead of me and I was checked in and on my way within minutes.
To the right of the check-in counter is the baggage claim, to the left is a small cafe(no tables that I can recall) and a store selling primarily books and magazines. Upstairs is the gate area. There are two gates. There's also a nice looking and very inviting Qantas Club accessed through two glass doors. I wanted to stroll up to the doors and press my face against the glass to get a better look inside but the doors sensed my presence and opened automatically. I made a quick right turn to security and strolled right through, no worries. Just like on September 10th.
Boarding was timely and efficient. Our aircraft was VH-CZS, an ex-Australian 737-376 that looked resplendent in its Qantas colors. Once aboard, I found the interior to be equally attractive. All of the seats were upholstered in dark earth tone colors of olive, brown and greyish-blue. The Economy class seats each had adjustable headrests and seat pitch looked to be about 31-32 inches.
Alas, my assessment of the Business Class cabin cannot be so generous. There were two rows of 3 X 3 seats with a plastic tray-divider placed on the cushion of the middle seat to divide the window and aisle seats. Essentially, you got a coach seat with perhaps a 35" pitch. By comparison, Air New Zealand's 737-300 Business Class cabins offer 2 X 2 seating that has to be far more comfortable. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks as I'll be flying NZ 733s up front ZQN-CHC-AKL.
I took my seat in the exit row and watched as the man across the aisle from me removed his shoes and socks, then sniffed his shoes. I was happy and surprised to have my side of the exit row to myself.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Auckland so I was happy to have a window seat as well. We had excellent views of the North Island, including Lake Taupo and Mt. Ruapehu. Had I been sitting on the other side of the aircraft, I might have caught a glimpse of what I think may be the prettiest volcano in the South Pacific, Taranaki or Mt. Egmont.
This was a snack flight and our mid-morning departure rated a snack box containing a bag of styrofoam looking vegetable chips, a packet of tasty cookies, a container of orange juice and a coffee cup with condiments. A flight attendant appeared soon after with a pot of coffee in one hand and tea in the other. Like most airline coffee cups, these weren't too large and I was indeed looking forward to that second cup. I never saw it. The captain announced our final descent and suddenly the FA appeared to collect the cups and rubbish. No time for more coffee, she announced. We'd be landing soon. By contrast, Air New Zealand had me overflowing with coffee on a full 767 just a couple of weeks ago.
We touched down at Christchurch and got the full braking treatment: Flaps, spoilers and full reverse thrust. A dramatic ending to a long trip!
Here's how I'd grade this Qantas flight:
Check in: A
Boarding: A
Comfort: B+
Service: B-
Meal: B
All in all, an affordable and efficient though not particularly inspired effort by Qantas. That Business Class cabin needs a major upgrade.
Also, I'd like to note that I think while United's International First Class service is truly wanting, their Economy is excellent and the Business Class, while not as good as CO or DL, is certainly still a very good product. Were it not such a good means of clearing out millions of Mileage Plus account miles, I think United would do well to scrap its international First Class and concentrate on a world class Business Class much like Continental has done.
That's all for now, folks. I know economy class service isn't always the most enjoyable to read about nor the easiest to write about so if you've read this far, thanks for your patience. As always, comments, suggestions, hoots and hollers are always welcome and appreciated.
Next trip: Queenstown to Hobart, Tasmania with Air New Zealand Business Class and Qantas economy. Air New Zealand flights will all be meal flights aboard 737s and 767. Qantas Link services will be lunch and dinner aboard their new ex-Impulse 717-200s.
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-13-2002).]
So how about this for now: Last thing I remember I was sitting in a Westport, N.Z. pub enjoyin' my 14th ~ or was it 19th? pint of Speights when next thing I know I'm being instructed to buckle up and sit straight because we're on final approach to Portland, Oregon. Huh!? Wha happened?!
Quite possibly, some might even think it's all been a lie, that I've never actually flown anywhere but instead am possessed of an active imagination and am in reality a disenfranchised Ozark ex-frequent flier now selling options on soybean futures or something suitably rural and living a quiet and unobtrusive life just outside Waterloo, Iowa. For sure I'm not an English teacher, with sentence structure like that.
Ah well, I yam who I yam and though it's occasionally strange, everything I've written and will continue to write is true. Except for that part about sitting at the pub in Westport. I'd only had 11 pints of Speights, at most 13.
As it is, having returned to Alaska in the middle of this trip, I've effectively gone around the world in an easterly direction, FAI-LAX-LHR-SIN-MEL-AKL-LAX-PDX-SEA-FAI. Now that I'm headed back to New Zealand to resume the rest of my trip, I'll be going back around the world in the opposite direction. FAI-SEA-LAS-SFO-AKL-MEL-SIN-LHR-IAD-SEA-FAI. That, I must admit, was part of the allure of coming back to Alaska. The chance to not only complete the circle and make this my first ever Around The World trip but, by returning to New Zealand, making it a Double Around The World Trip in opposite directions, no less. I like it!
Now I'm sure some of the more staid types out there are shaking your heads and thinking "This guy needs therapy" and perhaps even "We've got to make sure he never gets invited to any SEA-Do's!" but I'm havin' fun surprising people who've just received postcards from New Zealand and fully expect me to be in Te Anau or Milford about now. As well, I'm getting a lot of reading done on these flights and finally, as an added bonus, my relationship with Uncle Sam re. FY2001 taxes is now copacetic.
So, here's the story of my return trip to New Zealand. Sorry gang, it's almost entirely economy class - 13,150 miles aboard Alaska, Amtrak, United and Qantas but hopefully this will offer an entertaining contrast to my First Class journey to New Zealand just last month. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/002544.html
05 March
FAI-ANC-SEA Alaska 96 First Class
737-490 N799AS Seat 2F/14A
113p-737p Flight time: :43/3:07
I am now on the return leg of an Alaska Airlines round trip web special between Seattle and Fairbanks. Today was a beautiful late winter day in Alaska's interior. New Zealand's promise of abundant beauty and adventure notwithstanding, it's never easy for me to leave Alaska. I love this place!
I checked in just 40 minutes before departure and was able to upgrade on the FAI-ANC section but not the longer flight into Seattle. Interestingly, Alaska's computers do not recognize your MVP Gold status simply by your account number. I discovered this on the way up from Seattle when I was waitlisted for an upgrade and was told that I was on the list as a mere MVP. Not that it mattered - everyone in F checked in but apparently unless you tell the agent upon check-in that you are actually an MVP Gold, they have no way of knowing and will just list you as an MVP. Alaska needs to address this.
Clear days make for spectacular flying up here in the 49th State. We followed an Air France Asie Cargo 747-200 out to the runway and, after allowing the wake from its thunderous take off to dissipate, took off to the north and 22 seconds later were climbing out over Fairbanks and making the big turn south towards Anchorage. I followed the George Parks Highway out past the Ester cut off and up along the ridges above the Tanana River flats. Fourteen minutes later, we passed over the mining town of Healy where I was yesterday morning. What we flew in fourteen minutes routinely takes me two hours to drive! A couple of minutes later I watched as we flew over the road into Denali National Park - the road I drive 135 miles to work on each day in the summer. It was neat to see it in winter and follow the drainages of the Sanctuary, Teklanika and Toklat rivers as they headed north towards a rendezvous with the Yukon. Denali (Mt. McKinley) was gorgeous today, almost glowing in the mid-day sun as it crowned the Alaska range at 20,320 feet. I got spectacular views of the Ruth Amphitheater and the rock formation known as the Moose's Tooth before the Alaska Range finally fell behind us. I watched as the Chulitna River merged with the Susitna and emptied into the Cook Inlet. A flight attendant interrupted my reverie to ask if I'd like another beer. No thanks, but perhaps a couple more packs of those mixed nuts for the next flight would be nice!
This is only a 40 minute flight offering beverage only service so aside from the scenery on this fine day, there's not a lot else to comment upon. On a clear day, I'm hard pressed to think of a more scenic short jet flight anywhere outside of Alaska. If ever you should fly into Alaska, consider an open-jaw itinerary so you can fly into ANC and out of FAI. Then hope for sunny conditions.
ANCHORAGE to SEATTLE
Once again, First Class checked in full so I headed back to my exit row window and buckled in as our pilot previewed our trip. Cruising altitude at 33,000 feet, slight headwinds and a flight time of 3:00 would have us in Seattle right on time.
I've described the scenery on this sector in previous postings. On a day like today it doesn't get any finer with a veritable cornucopia of mountains, glaciers and fiords to feast your eyes upon.
Drinks were served, followed by dinner. While not a feast, it was more than adequate. Alaska is one of the few remaining airlines in America that still serve meals in coach on flights of less then three hours. Tonight's choices were pasta with a cheesy mushroom tomato sauce with green beans or white fish with rice and veggies. I opted for the pasta and was not disappointed. It came with a small salad, a wheat roll and a small square of chocolate cake.
We landed just a few minutes late and parked out at the end of the D Concourse. Since I failed in my Priceline bids to find anything around the airport for $27.00 or less, I hopped on the #174 Bus downtown to the Green Tortoise Hostel. Your stay includes a breakfast of eggs, bread and fruit and at only $20.00 a night for a shared room, I think it's the best deal going downtown.
06 March
SEA-PDX Amtrak #753
"The Cascade" Business Class
145p-515p
Despite the uncertain future that many of Amtrak's long distance trains face, I'd like to think that some of the shorter inter-city trains like Amtrak's "Cascades" will be around for a good long while.
The Cascades primarily serve the Seattle - Portland - Eugene corridor though one of them continues north from Seattle up to Bellingham and on into Vancouver. They certainly offer convenience and good value between Seattle and Portland. The trip is scheduled at 3 1/2 hours and a one way coach seat costs only $23.00. For only $11.00 more you can upgrade to Business Class. I rode up to Seattle in coach last week so this time I'm splurging and going for Business.
The Cascades utilize a consist known as the Talgo Train. The Talgo was built in Spain incorporates some enhancements to the suspension system that result in the ability to travel more smoothly at higher speeds. The train usually consists of, in order, two Business Class cars, a dining car, the Bistro car and six or seven coaches. The cars and the engines are painted in an attractive green, brown and white color scheme.
Inside, the green theme continues throughout Coach and Business classes. In fact, Amtrak looks to have borrowed all the leftover fabric that Cathay Pacific didn't use for their seats. Very similar colors. The walls offer beige carpeting and window curtains offset by a strip of wood paneling below the windows. The front and back walls of the cars are entirely wood paneled. Coach class seating is the standard 2 x 2 arrangement while Business class offers slightly wider seats in a 1 x 2 configuration. Both classes offer a 110-volt outlet beside each row of seats for laptop connections. This is great as not everyone has Empower adapters. Mounted on the ceiling of each car are TV monitors. When movies aren't being shown, they display trip information much like the Sky Map. Half the screen is taken up by a map that indicates our exact location with a flashing dot and beside that is indicated our next stop, the estimated arrival time to our final destination, the current time and the temperature. Unfortunately, our speed was not indicated though I did notice that in the few places where we paralleled I-5 we were going faster than the cars. The interstate speed limit in Washington State is 70 mph so by American train standards we were doing pretty well. And that, folks, is one of the secrets to success for the American passenger train: If it can't go faster than cars travel on the interstate, it's outta business. Of course, convenient schedules and competitive pricing are just as important. Amtrak scores well in each of these areas and for these reasons I predict a successful future for the Cascades.
We pulled out of Seattle's King Street Station right on time at 1:45pm. Right beside the station are the new stadiums for Seattle's Mariners and Seahawks. I can't speak for their interior amenities but from the outside they are no more attractive than the Kingdome ever was. Hopefully they will last longer.
Once you get past Seattle's urban sprawl it's a pretty ride down to Portland. In the first hour, much of the trip is alongside the Puget Sound. Most of the rest of the route is out of sight of the highway and quite easy on the eyes - forests, lakes, fields, the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, some ducks, a few river crossings, a race with cars along I-5 followed by more fields and trees before finally crossing the big bridge across the Columbia River and gliding into downtown Portland and its beautiful red brick train station.
Midway through the trip I paid a visit to the Bistro Car. One of the perks of traveling in Business Class on the Cascades is that you get a coupon good for $3.00 off anything in the Bistro. The menu offered three different sandwiches for $5.25 each, Ivar's clam chowder or the soup of the day for $3.25 and two different pasta bowls or a rice and chicken bowl for $3.75. I chose the penne pasta with chicken sausage and marinara sauce. It was served with a wheat roll and a packet of Parmesan cheese. The total cost to me was $0.75 so I felt I got a good deal. Especially since the pasta tasted pretty good, too.
For seating, the Bistro car offered a counter with six stools. Buffet style seating was also available in the dining car. The dining car has no kitchen and is only used as a traditional diner on the Portland - Seattle - Vancouver services.
Along the way we encountered a few short delays due to track maintenance. Each time this occurred, the conductor made sure to give us a complete briefing, which was appreciated. I remember riding Amtrak back in the seventies and sitting on a siding outside of Chicago for over two hours before anyone was kind enough to mention that we had a brake problem.
We pulled into Portland's Union Station about 20 minutes late. Baggage was delivered promptly and I hopped on a Tri-Met bus soon after for my ride across town to the Hawthorne District.
This was a good train trip. The cars were new and reasonably comfortable, the price was right, the food affordable and tasty, the scenery pretty and the service quite good. If Amtrak continues to operate its shorter intercity trains in this fashion, passenger rail service will not die out in America.
07 March
PDX-LAX United 1751 Coach Class
737-322 N377UA Seat 3F
955a-1212p Flight time: 1:55
The Portland Transit system, known as Tri-Met, operates a train right to Portland International Airport. I had to take two busses to get to the train and on one of the busses I sat near a gentleman engaged in a serious discussion with someone who wasn't on the bus.
First Class upgrades aside, one of the most appreciated benefits of being a United Premier is not having to wait in the usually long lines for the economy check in counter. When I arrived at United's counter, there were perhaps 30 people in the Economy Class line and only 2 in the First Class/Premier line. I was checked in within five minutes and on my way to Macheesmo Mouse for the best airport breakfast burrito in the land. Then I walked next door to Tully's for a big cup of their fine drip coffee. Good coffee and a non-greasy breakfast. I felt like First Class even though I was seated in Coach.
The aircraft was an ex-Shuttle 737-300 still wearing the old white Shuttle livery. I hope UA repaints these planes fast. They look tacky. At the gate next to us sat the San Francisco flight, placed on an ATC departure delay until 11:20am due to fog at SFO. If I've learned anything over the years, it's to avoid whenever possible morning connections through SFO.
Flight 1751 started boarding 25 minutes early and, by my watch, pushed back from the gate four minutes early. I noticed Northwest 727-200 N296US taxiing out ahead of us. I thought NW had parked all of its old 727s but evidently not. I've always enjoyed flying on the 727-200s, one of the prettier aircraft ever to grace the skies. Unfortunately, three noisy and thirsty engines coupled with a three-man cockpit mean the 727s days are numbered here in America. Only NW and DL still operate them domestically.
We took off to the west and quickly climbed to our assigned cruising altitude of thirty some odd thousand feet. The captain never said. He did however give us a detailed route of flight: South over Crater Lake National Park, then pass just east of Klamath Falls before heading over Redding and Sacramento, then straight down the San Joaquin Valley past Modesto and Visalia before entering into the LAX arriving traffic pattern. Unfortunately it was cloudy most of the way down so there wasn't much to see. Flight time was projected at 1:55 getting us into LA 20 minutes early. Cool.
Service from the UA crew was friendly and efficient. They really did a great job, patrolling the aisles regularly with water and coffee.
In the new stripped down service environment that is now the norm in America, this flight was about as good as it could possibly get for a flight of this length. Well done, United!
07 March
LAX-LAS United 1732 Coach Class
737-522 N916UA Seat 3A
100p - 204p Flight time: :42
I've always liked the little 737-500. This one was painted up in United Shuttle's final color variation, standard UA colors with United Shuttle in black block letters atop the windows.
Not much I can say about this flight. It was only 42 minutes across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas and the last 25 minutes of the flight were turbulent enough that the captain asked the flight attendants to suspend service and take a seat. Only the first couple of rows received any beverages.
If you like viewing desert scenery from above, this is a great flight. It's short enough that it doesn't climb all that high. The Mojave Desert itself is hardly flat. Anyone who's ever visited Death Valley knows there are plenty of little mountain ranges and the approach over the mountains west of Las Vegas is really a treat.
09 March
LAS-SFO United 1243 Coach Class
737-322 N377UA Seat 5F
730p-853p Flight time: 1:13
After two wonderful days of sunshine, hiking, billiards and excessive alcohol consumption in Zion National Park (Since Utah bars serve only 3.2 beer, one must drink excessive quantities to even approach a mild buzz) it's time to move on to the South Pacific.
Unfortunately, a three car pile up on I-15 in downtown Las Vegas coupled with a mass of conflicting flights, confirmations and waitlists in my PNR caused me to miss my scheduled flight into San Francisco while the counter agent called everyone from her supervisor to the Mileage Plus desk. Finally, I was rebooked on a 7:30pm departure that would connect nicely with my onward flight to Melbourne but would cause me to miss a dinner meeting in Burlingame with fellow FT member AW.
With three hours to kill, I headed over to the America West Club which has a reciprocal agreement with CO's President's Club members for LAS and PHX clubs. The LAS club is pretty nice - spacious, a decent bar, six workstations and a friendly and helpful staff. The USC-Arizona Pac-10 Conference tournament basketball game was on and the bartender, an Arizona fan, quickly came over to serve me. I gathered he didn't want to miss much of the game. I asked him if he might change the channel to ESPN 2's coverage of World Series of College Bowling as I was an avid fan and he about fainted! I assured him I was only kidding and together we got on to the business of watching Arizona defeat USC. I was the only visitor in the entire lounge. Ah well, it was Saturday.
At about 6:45p I headed over to the D Concourse and bought a Quizno's Sandwich for the flight. Quizno's bakes their sandwiches and I was happy to see they had a franchise in the airport. The prices were about the same as non-airport locations, too.
I was amongst the last to board and no sooner had I settled into exit row seat 12A than we were advised by the captain that there had been a security breach and we would all have to disembark while the aircraft was thoroughly searched. Not too surprisingly, everyone took it pretty well. With the exception of a wailing baby in the rear of the airplane, there were no moans and groans from anyone. Half an hour later, the aircraft was deemed safe and we re-boarded. Apparently what had happened was that a passenger had boarded with carry-on baggage, then noticed that he didn't have his passport for his onward flight. Uh Oh. He decided to get off the flight but as he had already boarded with carry-on luggage, by getting off he created a security breach. Who knows what was in that baggage?!
Interesting how times have changed and how, despite the business-as-usual lives most of us have been living since 9-11, we are actually at war that could flare up on our soil again anytime.
It was a short flight up to San Francisco. I had a beer and came within about ten words of finishing off the crossword puzzle in the Hemisphere magazine. Final approach into SFO took us past San Mateo and Foster City, followed by another smooth landing. I swear, United's pilots land their aircraft consistently smoother than any other airlines I've ever flown. Has anyone else ever felt this way?
Las Vegas to San Francisco is a 410 mile flight. My next flight would be more than 18 times as far. Flight 863 was departing from Gate 94 next door in the new International Terminal. It was an easy stroll over there and after clearing security it occurred to me that I'd made it a whole day without being selected for enhanced inspection or having to take my shoes off.
09 March
SFO-SYD United 863 Coach Class
747-422 N119UA Seat 37C
1045p-725a Flight time: 13:12
Boarding for this flight began 45 minutes early. Economy was about 70% full and Business was sold out. Don't know about First. I tried to get an exit row seat but was told only middle seats and windows were available. A window seat would've been nice except for the fact that on United's 744s at least, the seat row is so close to the door that the molded housing for the escape slide takes away any advantages normally gained from an exit row.
Barring a nice exit row seat, if one must fly economy on this flight the next best seat is in Economy Plus. I took my seat in row 37 and said hello to my seatmate, a SAAB 340 pilot for Mesaba Airlines/Northwest Airlink. Needless to say we found plenty to chat about through the dinner service before both lapsing off to sleep.
Menus were distributed and safety briefings performed as we pushed back from the gate. Here is a transcript of the economy class menu:
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Garden fresh salad with dressing of the day
MAIN COURSE
Beef with Texas Barbecue sauce
Served with roasted red potato and a vegetable medley
Cheese filled shell, tortellini and manicotti trio
Topped with Alfredo and marinara sauces
Chilled Chicken Wellington
Offered with a pasta Caesar salad
Dessert
Eli’s French Silk Cheesecake
** ** **
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
A snack will be served between the two main meals
** ** **
BREAKFAST
German Potato Pancakes
Topped with scrambled eggs with Mornay sauce
Cinnamon French Toast
Served with pork sausage
The above entrees are served with a fruit appetizer
* * * * * *
Take off took quite a long time and I made a mental note to time our take off out of Sydney on the next flight. Just curious?cuz it didn't seem like we got airborne until somewhere out by Candlestick Park.
Our climb out of SFO was smooth and uneventful - as it oughta be. My seatmate had just finished telling me how NW expected to operate the DC-10s for another six or seven years and was just describing to me the difference between the BAe-146 and the Avro RJ-85 (Steam dials vs. glass cockpit!) when the chief purser came on to describe the evening's service schedule. While all of the information she gave was pertinent and helpful, the style in which she delivered it was anything but. She spoke extremely slowly and added these annoying pauses between almost every sentence. I swear she was reading off a script and was slow to turn the pages. What any normal person could have said in two minutes she droned on and on and on for a good five minutes.
Not long after she had finished, our captain came on and told us how nice the weather would be in Sydney, giving us cloud and humidity information along with the projected temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. As we'd be dealing with very light headwinds into Sydney, our flight time would be only 13 hours and 15 minutes, putting us into the gate just a little bit early. No information was given as to our cruising altitude but I was confident it would be somewhere between 30 and 40,000 feet.
Due to the late hour, service was started almost immediately upon leveling out. Hot towels were distributed and we both ordered the Chilled Chicken Wellington. I was tired and planning to sleep soon but I hate to pass up airline food and the chicken seemed like a lighter choice. It was, and it was a delicious choice at that! I enjoyed it with half a bottle of Dourthe Freres Cabernet Sauvignon.
Afterwards, I read a few pages of my latest novel and called it a night. Normally, sleep does not come easily to me whilst sleeping in economy class airline seats so I tried something new this time. While in Alaska, I bought a small bottle of melatonin to use in the hope that I might sleep better under economy class flight conditions. I took one pill just before dinner. It worked great! I was able to read maybe four or five pages before putting the book down. Although I awoke two or three times during the night, I always fell back to sleep quickly. By the time I finally woke up for good, there were only a little less than four hours left in the flight! Now that I can handle! It effectively turned a thirteen-hour flight into a five-hour flight.
One nice treat upon awakening was the mid-flight snack box that the flight attendant had thoughtfully left on the seat beside me. The box contained:
A large ham and cheese sandwich
A cup of grapes
A small bag of M&Ms candy
Bread stick
Cheese and crackers
I snacked from the box and worked on this report until breakfast was served about an hour out of Sydney. I ordered the German potato pancakes topped with eggs and mornay sauce. It was an excellent entree and surprisingly filling. I washed it all down with several cups of coffee, easy to do as the FAs patrolled the aisles continuously with pots of coffee and tea. By the time trays were cleared and the last cup of coffee drunk, we were well into our approach to Sydney.
I watched as the shoreline approached, then slid beneath us. My seatmate was particularly excited as he hadn't been to Australia in ten years and had a great two week vacation ahead. Like many airline employees, Sydney was the least of his travels for the year. In just the next three months, he had separate trips planned to Italy and Ireland.
We touched down smoothly as always, thus ending the shortest and certainly one of the most pleasant 13-hour flights I've ever been on.
Following are my ratings for this flight:
Check in: B
Preflight: B+
Comfort: B+
Service: A-
Meal: A-
Surprisingly good food and service from United. Though the dinner tray was not quite as varied as NZ or QF, the food was tasty and satisfying. The FAs worked hard and if you must travel in Economy on a 13-hour flight, UA's Economy Plus is a good seat.
Of course, there was no way I could get off the plane with out seeing what the other half got to eat. Following are transcripts of the Business Class and First Class menus:
San Francisco to Sydney
B U S I N E S S C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Smoked salmon with leek slaw
Dill creme fraiche
Garden Fresh Salad
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
MAIN COURSE
Beef tenderloin with Hollandaise sauce
Accompanied by home-fried potatoes and haricot verts with tomato
Stir fried shrimp with chili plum sauce and spring onions
Presented with Chinese egg noodles and sugar snap peas
Baked potato and bacon chowder
Carrots, celery, onions and cheddar cheese
Dessert
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals
BREAKFAST
Fresh seasonal fruit appetizer
Served with breakfast breads, butter and fruit preserves
Swiss and Colby cheese omelette with marinara sauce
Accompanied by hash-brown potatoes and pork sausage
** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Salmon timbale with creme fraiche
Cucumber onion salad
MAIN COURSE
Grilled veal tenderloin with portobello mushroom reduction
Accompanied by cheddar mashed potatoes and vegetable saute
Salmon and halibut in a zucchini wrap
Presented with Israeli couscous and tomato onion stew
Golden sesame chicken with citrus sauce
Served with fried rice and a vegetable medley
THE EARLY SEATING MEAL
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep,
we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Butternut squash and leek soup
Lobster tail and claw with cucumber salmon salad
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
Dessert
International Cheese Sampler
Chaumes, Emmental and Bavarian Blue cheese
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
With sundae toppings
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals.
Hot sandwiches are available upon request
BREAKFAST
Your selected entree will be served with
fresh seasonal fruit and breakfast breads
Corned beef hash and scrambled egg timbale
Accented with Hollandaise sauce
Banana nut French toast with creamy maple syrup
Accompanied by pork sausage and Canadian bacon
** ** **
FEATURED WINES
United selects its wines in blind tastings governed by the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin in France.
Champagne
Brut, Dom Perignon
WHITE WINES
Burgundy
Chablis Beauregards 1998, La Chablisienne
Chardonnay
Kunde Estate Sonoma Valley 2000
RED WINES
Rhone
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Chateau des Fines Roches
Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 1997
REGIONAL WINES
Selected flights to and from Australia
Shiraz
Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale 1999
Selected flights to and from New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc
Isabel Estate Marlborough 1999
** ** **
The following statement prefaces the First Class menu selections:
WELCOME
We are proud to introduce our Pacific menu selections developed and designed to incorporate the expectations expressed by many of our customers who have flown in the Pacific market.
The four key elements of the menu design are: uncomplicated dishes with distinctive characteristics and flavors; the freshest seasonal products available; authentic American and Asian regional dishes and accompaniments; and light and substantial options appropriate to the time of day.
A wine consultant and a cellar committee have carefully chosen our exceptional selection of award winning wines to complement the seasonal meals we serve on board the aircraft.
We invite you to enjoy your selected entree, beautifully presented and served by our flight attendants. Our flight attendants take immense pride in gracefully delivering meals from the confined space of an airplane galley. Serving sophisticated international guests is part of our flight attendants?long term career commitment to the hospitality field.
It is our goal to provide you with meals of the highest quality and consistency. We hope that you enjoy these selections as much as we have enjoyed creating them for you.
** ** **
This all sounds like a fancy way of presenting and trying to justify what must be amongst the lowest per-meal expenditures for any international First Class service.
It works well amongst Mileage Plus members who traditionally fly economy class and still feel awestruck just to be flying in First Class, 90% of the time on an upgrade or an award. Slaves as they are to one of the finest Frequent Flyer programs ever developed, they are blinded to or just plain unaware of the deficiencies in UA's lackluster international F Class product. I can't imagine how any truly seasoned veterans of international caliber First Class service would consider this meal service appropriate for a 13-hour flight in First Class, especially the breakfast.
Comments, anyone?
11 March
SYD-MEL United 863 Coach Class
747-422 N197UA Seat 37A
935a-1050a Flight time: 1:03
Upon exiting the airplane I followed the transit signs to the departure area and looked for a cup of coffee. Ohmygawd!, we're back to the land of expensive but average coffee served in tiny cups! I shelled out $3.50 AUD - about $1.75 USD to assuage my habit and looked for a table. On the way, I passed a TV monitor with info. On departing flights. Interestingly, it listed not only the usual information re. gate, boarding time, etc. but also the aircraft registration numbers. Outside of myself and a very few FT devotees, I would never have figured there would've been much interest in this.
This flight was only about a third full so there was plenty of room to spread out once onboard. While taxiing out to the runway, we passed plenty of colorful aircraft rarely seen in my part of the world including a Polynesian 737-800 with winglets, a China Southern 777-200 and an Emirates 777-200. Perhaps the most interesting for me was VH-ECC, a Qantas 747-238 Combi with the rear side cargo door. So many airlines are starting to retire their "Classic" 747s and it's still hard to believe that the 747 celebrated its 32nd birthday just last January!
As promised from the last flight, I timed this flight from the beginning of the take-off roll. A one third full 747-400 taking off at sea-level with nowhere near full fuel tanks equals a 22-second take off roll. Impressive.
Who knows why UA serves any food on this segment. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but it's only an hour's flight down to Melbourne and in America it'd be a beverage only service. Even so, soon after take off the flight attendants made the rounds with big trays full of snack boxes. Each box contained:
Orange juice
Apricot yogurt
Bread roll and preserves
Cheese and Crackers
Cruising altitude was 33,000 feet down to Melbourne and after spending perhaps twenty minutes at that altitude we descended through scattered clouds and mild turbulence for an on time arrival at Tullamarine.
11 March
MEL-AKL United 841 Coach Class
747-422 N177UA Seat 32A
135p-720p Flight time: 3:04
Despite this being an international flight aboard a US carrier, security consisted of a thorough bag check and a ridiculously minimal wanding. Some change in my pocket caused the wand to beep but I was not asked to display the contents of that pocket in order to verify it. I proceeded to the podium to see if I could change my seat to the non-Economy Plus bulkhead row and not only got a window seat there but the row to myself as well. The reason for my change was that Economy Plus on United's 744s is almost entirely over the wing. I wanted to get as far forward as possible for as unobstructed a view as possible. I've been there, done that when it comes to watching flap action. Nowadays, I want to see what I'm flying over.
It was a light load into Auckland on this flight. Business Class looked wide open and Economy was perhaps half full. Flight time was planned for 3:01 at 39,000 feet, putting us into Auckland about fifteen minutes early.
Menus and towels were distributed, followed by the beverage cart. I ordered a Steinlager and found it deliciously cold. Why can't United accomplish this in America where so many times I've been handed cool or even tepid beers? But hey, who wants to dwell on that. We're down under now where the beer is cold and the menu looks pretty good. Here it is:
E C O N O M Y C L A S S L U N C H E ON
To Begin
Garden fresh salad with dressing of the day
MAIN COURSES
Chicken Kiev with ratatouille
Accompanied by zucchini, eggplant and bell peppers
Grilled filet of beef with a mushroom demi-glace
Served with garlic mashed potatoes and zucchini batonnets
Dessert
Caramel custard with toffee sauce
** ** **
I opted for the beef and found it quite tasty. I should add I suppose that for any of you who've been paying attention to detail during my posts, I tend to generally be pretty satisfied with airline food insofar as taste goes. To my mind, most of the complainers seem to have forgotten that they are indeed on an airplane with more than a few limitations when it comes to serving restaurant quality fare aloft. I give the airlines a fair bit of latitude. I've eaten far worse pre-packaged stuff on backpacking trips or in baseball stadiums (Although the A's have excellent sandwiches, especially sausage sandwiches at the Oakland Coliseum)
Most of this flight was cloudy but about a half hour out of Auckland the clouds started to break up just enough to get some excellent sunset visages of the beautiful New Zealand coastline.
We parked down at Gate 10, I collected my gear and headed over to the Garden Inn - at $60.00NZD the best deal going out at the airport.
Following are transcripts from the Business and First Class menus for this Trans-Tasman luncheon flight:
B U S I N E S S C L A S S
To Begin
Grilled scallops with cucumber pineapple salsa
Fresh green beans
MAIN COURSES
Thai chicken and pumpkin curry
Served on Thai fried rice with chili pepper and onions
Mushroom and cheese ravioli with creamy red pesto sauce
Presented with grilled zucchini and grated Parmesan cheese
New York style hot pastrami sandwich with Dijon mustard
Served with lettuce, tomato and a dill pickle
Dessert
Ice cream cup
** ** ** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S
To Begin
Grilled scallops wrapped in proscuitto
Presented with asparagus and cucumbers
MAIN COURSE
Grilled lamb chops with an onion and rosemary demi-glace
Accompanied by chive mashed potatoes and stir-fried vegetables
Seafood fettuccine with tomato basil sauce
Sauteed barramundi, shrimp and scallops
QUICK AND LITE MEAL
In lieu of our formal presentation,
We offer a complete service for the lighter appetite.
Oven roasted tomato soup
Chilled deli plate
With shrimp cocktail, chicken brandy pate, peppercorn chateaubriand, penne pasta salad and deviled egg with caviar
Dessert
Chocolate mousse
WINE LIST
This was exactly the same as the SFO-SYD menu
12 March
AKL-CHC Qantas 4115 Coach Class
737-376 VH-CZS Seat 10A
950a-1110a Flight time: 1:03
One way air travel is generally quite expensive in New Zealand. With less than seven days advance purchase on my last flight from Christchurch to Auckland, I had to resort to using my YHA Hostel membership for a 50% off the full Y class fare which got me a ticket good for standby only. Even then, the total cost came out to about $120.00 USD.
Via the Internet, Qantas offers a one way fare of only $109.00 NZD. The fare rules do not require advance purchase but the fare is so cheap that it's very unlikely you'll get it if you try to purchase it less than seven or more days out. With the tax, in US dollars it comes to about $56.00. Now that's quite reasonable anywhere on the planet for a 460 mile flight. Oddly, Air New Zealand has chosen not to match this fare though I did see a r/t AKL-CHC with NZ advertised in the Herald this morning for only $247.00NZD, about $115.00USD.
Regardless, for domestic services in New Zealand, NZ and QF are the two major players and I wanted to see how Qantas would compare to Air New Zealand's excellent service.
Qantas operates its own separate terminal for domestic flights at Auckland International. There's not much to it - downstairs is a very small check in area with perhaps three counter positions. Only two people were in line ahead of me and I was checked in and on my way within minutes.
To the right of the check-in counter is the baggage claim, to the left is a small cafe(no tables that I can recall) and a store selling primarily books and magazines. Upstairs is the gate area. There are two gates. There's also a nice looking and very inviting Qantas Club accessed through two glass doors. I wanted to stroll up to the doors and press my face against the glass to get a better look inside but the doors sensed my presence and opened automatically. I made a quick right turn to security and strolled right through, no worries. Just like on September 10th.
Boarding was timely and efficient. Our aircraft was VH-CZS, an ex-Australian 737-376 that looked resplendent in its Qantas colors. Once aboard, I found the interior to be equally attractive. All of the seats were upholstered in dark earth tone colors of olive, brown and greyish-blue. The Economy class seats each had adjustable headrests and seat pitch looked to be about 31-32 inches.
Alas, my assessment of the Business Class cabin cannot be so generous. There were two rows of 3 X 3 seats with a plastic tray-divider placed on the cushion of the middle seat to divide the window and aisle seats. Essentially, you got a coach seat with perhaps a 35" pitch. By comparison, Air New Zealand's 737-300 Business Class cabins offer 2 X 2 seating that has to be far more comfortable. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks as I'll be flying NZ 733s up front ZQN-CHC-AKL.
I took my seat in the exit row and watched as the man across the aisle from me removed his shoes and socks, then sniffed his shoes. I was happy and surprised to have my side of the exit row to myself.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Auckland so I was happy to have a window seat as well. We had excellent views of the North Island, including Lake Taupo and Mt. Ruapehu. Had I been sitting on the other side of the aircraft, I might have caught a glimpse of what I think may be the prettiest volcano in the South Pacific, Taranaki or Mt. Egmont.
This was a snack flight and our mid-morning departure rated a snack box containing a bag of styrofoam looking vegetable chips, a packet of tasty cookies, a container of orange juice and a coffee cup with condiments. A flight attendant appeared soon after with a pot of coffee in one hand and tea in the other. Like most airline coffee cups, these weren't too large and I was indeed looking forward to that second cup. I never saw it. The captain announced our final descent and suddenly the FA appeared to collect the cups and rubbish. No time for more coffee, she announced. We'd be landing soon. By contrast, Air New Zealand had me overflowing with coffee on a full 767 just a couple of weeks ago.
We touched down at Christchurch and got the full braking treatment: Flaps, spoilers and full reverse thrust. A dramatic ending to a long trip!
Here's how I'd grade this Qantas flight:
Check in: A
Boarding: A
Comfort: B+
Service: B-
Meal: B
All in all, an affordable and efficient though not particularly inspired effort by Qantas. That Business Class cabin needs a major upgrade.
Also, I'd like to note that I think while United's International First Class service is truly wanting, their Economy is excellent and the Business Class, while not as good as CO or DL, is certainly still a very good product. Were it not such a good means of clearing out millions of Mileage Plus account miles, I think United would do well to scrap its international First Class and concentrate on a world class Business Class much like Continental has done.
That's all for now, folks. I know economy class service isn't always the most enjoyable to read about nor the easiest to write about so if you've read this far, thanks for your patience. As always, comments, suggestions, hoots and hollers are always welcome and appreciated.
Next trip: Queenstown to Hobart, Tasmania with Air New Zealand Business Class and Qantas economy. Air New Zealand flights will all be meal flights aboard 737s and 767. Qantas Link services will be lunch and dinner aboard their new ex-Impulse 717-200s.
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-13-2002).]
Mar 11, 2002, 8:33 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,617
Nice trip report! Some comments ...
Before they do a major upgrade, they'd need to install a First Class cabin first. Both QF and NZ sell the front section of their 737s as Business class, not First.
The Qantas web fare of $109 NZD between AKL and CHC doesn't have a 7 day advance purchase requirement -- the $109 NZD "red e-deal" can be purchased as little as 4 hours (!) in advance if seats are available. The website will search the next 7 days if seats aren't available for that fare on the date you specify.
http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn...etail?city=AKL
The cheapest Air New Zealand web specials (called "e-fares") require a 21-day advance, round-trip purchase and can only be purchased by residents of NZ.
[This message has been edited by Quokka (edited 03-11-2002).]
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Seat 2A:
Here’s how I’d grade this Qantas flight:
All in all, an affordable and efficient though not particularly inspired effort by Qantas. That First Class cabin needs a major upgrade.
</font>
Here’s how I’d grade this Qantas flight:
All in all, an affordable and efficient though not particularly inspired effort by Qantas. That First Class cabin needs a major upgrade.
</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Via the Internet, Qantas offers a 7-day advance one way fare of only $109.00 NZD. With the tax, in US dollars it comes to about $56.00. Now that’s quite reasonable anywhere on the planet for a 460 mile flight. </font>
http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn...etail?city=AKL
The cheapest Air New Zealand web specials (called "e-fares") require a 21-day advance, round-trip purchase and can only be purchased by residents of NZ.
[This message has been edited by Quokka (edited 03-11-2002).]
Mar 11, 2002, 8:50 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
Thanks for the info. Quokka 
I stand corrected and you'll note I've edited the report appropriately.
I've only just finished trying to clear out all these Asian symbols as I am at a Korean Internet place here in Christchurch. Or maybe that's just the way it looks on this computer...
I stand corrected and you'll note I've edited the report appropriately.
I've only just finished trying to clear out all these Asian symbols as I am at a Korean Internet place here in Christchurch. Or maybe that's just the way it looks on this computer...
Mar 12, 2002, 2:39 am
#4
Moderator Communications Coordinator, Signatures
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: deep within the Eskimo lair
Programs: TubWorld, Bar Alliance, Borratxo Legendarium
Posts: 16,968
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Seat 2A:
Now I'm sure some of the more staid types out there are shaking your heads and thinking "This guy needs therapy" and perhaps even "We've got to make sure he never gets invited to any SEA-Do's!" </font>
Now I'm sure some of the more staid types out there are shaking your heads and thinking "This guy needs therapy" and perhaps even "We've got to make sure he never gets invited to any SEA-Do's!" </font>
The last SEA-Do was certainly not lacking in attendees who are in serious need of therapy (or more likely rehab), but they are always the most fun!! You are ALWAYS welcome in the Emerald City
Great report!
Mar 12, 2002, 2:33 pm
#5
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 175
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Seat 2A:
"At the root of this little side trip to America lies an explanation that's far too long and convoluted for this forum, however. "
Does it involve a near-sighted deputy, four pounds of potting soil, a small pinata and a stripper named Dusty?
Until I hear otherwise, that's the story I'm going with.
Excellent report as always.
"At the root of this little side trip to America lies an explanation that's far too long and convoluted for this forum, however. "
Does it involve a near-sighted deputy, four pounds of potting soil, a small pinata and a stripper named Dusty?
Until I hear otherwise, that's the story I'm going with.
Excellent report as always.
Mar 12, 2002, 4:21 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Palm Beach/ New England
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, DL GM, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,382
Thanks for a great trip report.
I guess this means that they have ended one of my favorite events in the Cone: the caviar and the vodka shot, served in the little crystal hocks (cordials).
I agree with your comments about the service. A bit on the light side for such a long flight. I took a valium after the dinner service during my last SFO-SYD in F (a few years ago). I didn't awaken until the breakfast service, and my memory of it is some very worn-out, older FAs none-too-happy about doing the breakfast service.
[This message has been edited by fastflyer (edited 03-12-2002).]
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Seat 2A:
** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Salmon timbale with creme fraiche
Cucumber onion salad
MAIN COURSE
Grilled veal tenderloin with portobello mushroom reduction
Accompanied by cheddar mashed potatoes and vegetable saute
Salmon and halibut in a zucchini wrap
Presented with Israeli couscous and tomato onion stew
Golden sesame chicken with citrus sauce
Served with fried rice and a vegetable medley
THE EARLY SEATING MEAL
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep,
we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Butternut squash and leek soup
Lobster tail and claw with cucumber salmon salad
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
Dessert
International Cheese Sampler
Chaumes, Emmental and Bavarian Blue cheese
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
With sundae toppings
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals.
Hot sandwiches are available upon request
BREAKFAST
Your selected entree will be served with
fresh seasonal fruit and breakfast breads
Corned beef hash and scrambled egg timbale
Accented with Hollandaise sauce
Banana nut French toast with creamy maple syrup
Accompanied by pork sausage and Canadian bacon
** ** **
FEATURED WINES
United selects its wines in blind tastings governed by the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin in France.
Champagne
Brut, Dom Perignon
WHITE WINES
Burgundy
Chablis Beauregards 1998, La Chablisienne
Chardonnay
Kunde Estate Sonoma Valley 2000
RED WINES
Rhone
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Chateau des Fines Roches
Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 1997
REGIONAL WINES
Selected flights to and from Australia
Shiraz
Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale 1999
Selected flights to and from New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc
Isabel Estate Marlborough 1999
** ** **
The following statement prefaces the First Class menu selections:
WELCOME
We are proud to introduce our Pacific menu selections developed and designed to incorporate the expectations expressed by many of our customers who have flown in the Pacific market.
The four key elements of the menu design are: uncomplicated dishes with distinctive characteristics and flavors; the freshest seasonal products available; authentic American and Asian regional dishes and accompaniments; and light and substantial options appropriate to the time of day.
A wine consultant and a cellar committee have carefully chosen our exceptional selection of award winning wines to complement the seasonal meals we serve on board the aircraft.
We invite you to enjoy your selected entree, beautifully presented and served by our flight attendants. Our flight attendants take immense pride in gracefully delivering meals from the confined space of an airplane galley. Serving sophisticated international guests is part of our flight attendants?long term career commitment to the hospitality field.
It is our goal to provide you with meals of the highest quality and consistency. We hope that you enjoy these selections as much as we have enjoyed creating them for you.
** ** **
This all sounds like a fancy way of presenting and trying to justify what must be amongst the lowest per-meal expenditures for any international First Class service.
It works well amongst Mileage Plus members who traditionally fly economy class and still feel awestruck just to be flying in First Class, 90% of the time on an upgrade or an award. Slaves as they are to one of the finest Frequent Flyer programs ever developed, they are blinded to or just plain unaware of the deficiencies in UA's lackluster international F Class product. I can't imagine how any truly seasoned veterans of international caliber First Class service would consider this meal service appropriate for a 13-hour flight in First Class, especially the breakfast.
Comments, anyone?</font>
** ** **
F I R S T C L A S S M E N U
MIDNIGHT SUPPER
To Begin
Salmon timbale with creme fraiche
Cucumber onion salad
MAIN COURSE
Grilled veal tenderloin with portobello mushroom reduction
Accompanied by cheddar mashed potatoes and vegetable saute
Salmon and halibut in a zucchini wrap
Presented with Israeli couscous and tomato onion stew
Golden sesame chicken with citrus sauce
Served with fried rice and a vegetable medley
THE EARLY SEATING MEAL
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep,
we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Butternut squash and leek soup
Lobster tail and claw with cucumber salmon salad
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge Tart
Dessert
International Cheese Sampler
Chaumes, Emmental and Bavarian Blue cheese
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
With sundae toppings
MIDFLIGHT SNACK
Please help yourself to assorted treats between the two main meals.
Hot sandwiches are available upon request
BREAKFAST
Your selected entree will be served with
fresh seasonal fruit and breakfast breads
Corned beef hash and scrambled egg timbale
Accented with Hollandaise sauce
Banana nut French toast with creamy maple syrup
Accompanied by pork sausage and Canadian bacon
** ** **
FEATURED WINES
United selects its wines in blind tastings governed by the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin in France.
Champagne
Brut, Dom Perignon
WHITE WINES
Burgundy
Chablis Beauregards 1998, La Chablisienne
Chardonnay
Kunde Estate Sonoma Valley 2000
RED WINES
Rhone
Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1998, Chateau des Fines Roches
Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 1997
REGIONAL WINES
Selected flights to and from Australia
Shiraz
Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale 1999
Selected flights to and from New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc
Isabel Estate Marlborough 1999
** ** **
The following statement prefaces the First Class menu selections:
WELCOME
We are proud to introduce our Pacific menu selections developed and designed to incorporate the expectations expressed by many of our customers who have flown in the Pacific market.
The four key elements of the menu design are: uncomplicated dishes with distinctive characteristics and flavors; the freshest seasonal products available; authentic American and Asian regional dishes and accompaniments; and light and substantial options appropriate to the time of day.
A wine consultant and a cellar committee have carefully chosen our exceptional selection of award winning wines to complement the seasonal meals we serve on board the aircraft.
We invite you to enjoy your selected entree, beautifully presented and served by our flight attendants. Our flight attendants take immense pride in gracefully delivering meals from the confined space of an airplane galley. Serving sophisticated international guests is part of our flight attendants?long term career commitment to the hospitality field.
It is our goal to provide you with meals of the highest quality and consistency. We hope that you enjoy these selections as much as we have enjoyed creating them for you.
** ** **
This all sounds like a fancy way of presenting and trying to justify what must be amongst the lowest per-meal expenditures for any international First Class service.
It works well amongst Mileage Plus members who traditionally fly economy class and still feel awestruck just to be flying in First Class, 90% of the time on an upgrade or an award. Slaves as they are to one of the finest Frequent Flyer programs ever developed, they are blinded to or just plain unaware of the deficiencies in UA's lackluster international F Class product. I can't imagine how any truly seasoned veterans of international caliber First Class service would consider this meal service appropriate for a 13-hour flight in First Class, especially the breakfast.
Comments, anyone?</font>
I agree with your comments about the service. A bit on the light side for such a long flight. I took a valium after the dinner service during my last SFO-SYD in F (a few years ago). I didn't awaken until the breakfast service, and my memory of it is some very worn-out, older FAs none-too-happy about doing the breakfast service.
[This message has been edited by fastflyer (edited 03-12-2002).]
Mar 13, 2002, 4:35 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Woo-hoo! Another mad itinerary from Seat 2A, and another great trip report - thanks!
I was a little concerned to read about your excessive consumption of Speights lager in Westport. This is for two reasons:
1) Monteiths is so much nicer - especially their Golden lager - and it's authentic West Coast beer; and
2) Speights, when consumed in quantity, is well-known for having a somewhat laxative effect. As the saying goes: "If the bottom has fallen out of your world, drink Speights and the world will fall out of your bottom."
And, call me greedy, but where's the trip report from your AKL-LAX-PDX-SEA-FAI flights?
Looking forward to the next one...
I was a little concerned to read about your excessive consumption of Speights lager in Westport. This is for two reasons:
1) Monteiths is so much nicer - especially their Golden lager - and it's authentic West Coast beer; and
2) Speights, when consumed in quantity, is well-known for having a somewhat laxative effect. As the saying goes: "If the bottom has fallen out of your world, drink Speights and the world will fall out of your bottom."
And, call me greedy, but where's the trip report from your AKL-LAX-PDX-SEA-FAI flights?
Looking forward to the next one...
Mar 14, 2002, 5:58 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
Ah, Monteiths!
I became well acquainted with that fine brew right where it's brewed in Greymouth. I was giving pool lessons to the locals and getting half my beers shouted as a result. While I enjoyed both the Golden and the darker version of Monteith's, I still like that Speights quite alot. Truth be known, had I actually consumed 13 or whatever I claimed, I likely wouldn't have been able to keep count after six or seven. As for the laxative effect, well, I guess I'd have to drink more to discover that. No discernable effect after only 6 or seven though.
By the way, when in Oz, I used to be a big VB fan but then I discovered Power's Bitter! What fabulous grog! Is it still made? I also liked the Redback as a lighter alternative - sort of a "breakfast beer" as it were...
As for those AKL-LAX-SFO-PDX flights, I declined to post anything about them as the overall experience was not overly outstanding in either a positive or negative way. Just your basic UA international economy service.
Truth be known, the level of interest (as reflected by number of responses) regarding economy class travel on your everyday carriers like UA seems so minimal that it just doesn't seem worth the effort to put out a detailed report (if your report is limited to the inflight experience as mine are). Then again, I have no idea how many people actually read something I've written but then decline to comment. Still, based upon the reaction to my Alaska to New Zealand The Long Way report dealing with all First Class aboard AS and BA, as opposed to very few comments on subsequent reports, I think I'll concentrate on itineraries that feature primarily First and Business Class and limit my Economy Class reports to airlines or routes that we don't read of all that often.
Even so, I'm curious: is there any interest in reading about Qantas Link's 717 economy service from Melbourne to Hobart or SAS/Air Botnia economy LHR-CPH-HEL r/t? I won't even have lounge access on these flights. Travellin Man has submitted a fine report of his less than fine experiences with QF between SYD and CNS. Might I be just cluttering up the board if I submit another QF domestic report so soon? Quite possibly, the report might be more alluring were I to be shipped Fed Ex! While I have fun writing these reports, for now I'm leaning towards just doing the Air New Zealand Business Class ZQN-CHC-AKL-MEL. Lemme know... cuz it's alot of typing otherwise.
Presently I'm in Franz Josef, a small settlement along the South Island's spectacular West Coast. Yesterday, I hiked through the rainforest up to the Franz Josef glacier, a beautiful walk made all the more so for the occasional sun breaks that we enjoyed! Later, I quaffed pints of Speights one of the local pubs whilst watching paint dry - er - I mean, watching international test cricket between England and New Zealand.
Today, it's raining. It generally only rains twice a week here in Westland: Once, from Monday to Wednesday, then again from Thursday to Sunday
Movin' on to Glenorchy up on the northern shores of Lake Wakatipu tomorrow! Cheers!
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-14-2002).]
I became well acquainted with that fine brew right where it's brewed in Greymouth. I was giving pool lessons to the locals and getting half my beers shouted as a result. While I enjoyed both the Golden and the darker version of Monteith's, I still like that Speights quite alot. Truth be known, had I actually consumed 13 or whatever I claimed, I likely wouldn't have been able to keep count after six or seven. As for the laxative effect, well, I guess I'd have to drink more to discover that. No discernable effect after only 6 or seven though.
By the way, when in Oz, I used to be a big VB fan but then I discovered Power's Bitter! What fabulous grog! Is it still made? I also liked the Redback as a lighter alternative - sort of a "breakfast beer" as it were...
As for those AKL-LAX-SFO-PDX flights, I declined to post anything about them as the overall experience was not overly outstanding in either a positive or negative way. Just your basic UA international economy service.
Truth be known, the level of interest (as reflected by number of responses) regarding economy class travel on your everyday carriers like UA seems so minimal that it just doesn't seem worth the effort to put out a detailed report (if your report is limited to the inflight experience as mine are). Then again, I have no idea how many people actually read something I've written but then decline to comment. Still, based upon the reaction to my Alaska to New Zealand The Long Way report dealing with all First Class aboard AS and BA, as opposed to very few comments on subsequent reports, I think I'll concentrate on itineraries that feature primarily First and Business Class and limit my Economy Class reports to airlines or routes that we don't read of all that often.
Even so, I'm curious: is there any interest in reading about Qantas Link's 717 economy service from Melbourne to Hobart or SAS/Air Botnia economy LHR-CPH-HEL r/t? I won't even have lounge access on these flights. Travellin Man has submitted a fine report of his less than fine experiences with QF between SYD and CNS. Might I be just cluttering up the board if I submit another QF domestic report so soon? Quite possibly, the report might be more alluring were I to be shipped Fed Ex! While I have fun writing these reports, for now I'm leaning towards just doing the Air New Zealand Business Class ZQN-CHC-AKL-MEL. Lemme know... cuz it's alot of typing otherwise.
Presently I'm in Franz Josef, a small settlement along the South Island's spectacular West Coast. Yesterday, I hiked through the rainforest up to the Franz Josef glacier, a beautiful walk made all the more so for the occasional sun breaks that we enjoyed! Later, I quaffed pints of Speights one of the local pubs whilst watching paint dry - er - I mean, watching international test cricket between England and New Zealand.
Today, it's raining. It generally only rains twice a week here in Westland: Once, from Monday to Wednesday, then again from Thursday to Sunday
Movin' on to Glenorchy up on the northern shores of Lake Wakatipu tomorrow! Cheers!
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-14-2002).]
Mar 15, 2002, 9:09 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
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Hmmm - Aussie beer. I'm not the biggest fan, I have to admit, and they are not big on microbreweries here either which is a pity. VB is the best of the basic brews, but Cascade (Tasmanian) is my beer of choice. I haven't tried Power's Bitter, however, so I'll watch out for that one.
Re economy class travel reports, they are interesting if there's something unusual about the flight or the airline - either because it's an unusual or obscure airline, or because something unusual happens for better or worse, or because it's an unusual experience for the writer, in which case that will come through in the writing. The premium cabin experiences do have a greater appeal for the majority of us, though, since that is what we save up our miles for, and in the meantime we get to experience them vicariously through trip reports. Anyway, I'd be interested in reading about the Qantas Link service, not having flown them, to compare it to mainline QF... which, as travellin man discovered, can be pretty grim if you get a bad crew. They are fine if you get a good crew, but they don't compare to AirNZ domestic service. QF's only plus point is that they have entertainment on domestic flights here (which of course tend to be longer than in NZ) - are they offering that on their NZ domestic services?
Anyway, enjoy the fabulous south westland scenery. If you can stretch to a helicopter flight up the glaciers (and if the weather allows) it really is worth it - and NZD120 really isn't much in USD! Autumn is often the best time of year weather-wise around there. If you're driving down to Wakatipu, it's worth exploring the area south of Haast (where the main road turns inland to head over the Haast Pass) - the quirky little end-of-the-road settlement at Jackson's Bay, the gorgeous Arawata River, Lake Ellery up its little side trail (one of the most beautiful of the west coast lakes), and the Cascade Road is lovely too. Though, rereading your post you've probably already passed through... worth exploring next time you find yourself in the area, anyway!
Re economy class travel reports, they are interesting if there's something unusual about the flight or the airline - either because it's an unusual or obscure airline, or because something unusual happens for better or worse, or because it's an unusual experience for the writer, in which case that will come through in the writing. The premium cabin experiences do have a greater appeal for the majority of us, though, since that is what we save up our miles for, and in the meantime we get to experience them vicariously through trip reports. Anyway, I'd be interested in reading about the Qantas Link service, not having flown them, to compare it to mainline QF... which, as travellin man discovered, can be pretty grim if you get a bad crew. They are fine if you get a good crew, but they don't compare to AirNZ domestic service. QF's only plus point is that they have entertainment on domestic flights here (which of course tend to be longer than in NZ) - are they offering that on their NZ domestic services?
Anyway, enjoy the fabulous south westland scenery. If you can stretch to a helicopter flight up the glaciers (and if the weather allows) it really is worth it - and NZD120 really isn't much in USD! Autumn is often the best time of year weather-wise around there. If you're driving down to Wakatipu, it's worth exploring the area south of Haast (where the main road turns inland to head over the Haast Pass) - the quirky little end-of-the-road settlement at Jackson's Bay, the gorgeous Arawata River, Lake Ellery up its little side trail (one of the most beautiful of the west coast lakes), and the Cascade Road is lovely too. Though, rereading your post you've probably already passed through... worth exploring next time you find yourself in the area, anyway!
Mar 15, 2002, 9:46 pm
#11
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Burlingame, CA
Programs: TK Miles & Smiles, CM ConnectMiles, AA Advantage
Posts: 2,129
Fantastic report, as usual. I agree 100% with what you said about UA's F/C. I think UA's F is comparable to US's Envoy Class, sans the "sleeper seats".
Your transcript about the J class menu just confirms what a friend commented coming back from SHA-SFO. I think is disgraceful that an airline does not even offer a "Cheese and Fruit" course as part of the meal service on an International Business Cabin.
Glad you had a good flight on UA's Economy. Maybe next time we can finally meet for a decent meal. Enjoy!
Your transcript about the J class menu just confirms what a friend commented coming back from SHA-SFO. I think is disgraceful that an airline does not even offer a "Cheese and Fruit" course as part of the meal service on an International Business Cabin.
Glad you had a good flight on UA's Economy. Maybe next time we can finally meet for a decent meal. Enjoy!
Mar 15, 2002, 9:54 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
mad_atta, I agree with you totally re. criteria for Y class travel reporting which is why I didn't post my AKL-LAX-SFO-PDX portion, nor my AS SEA-FAI leg.
I will pass along one lesson I learned however on the AKL-LAX flight: NEVER sit in Exit Row 46 JKL or whatever the seats are on that side. It's right next to the galley and there was constant activity all night it seemed, if not from busy FAs, then from passengers milling about. To think I gave up an Economy Plus aisle seat for that! Ah well, live and learn...
Re. Qantas's domestic New Zealand service, yes, there was "entertainment" if you're between 12 and 22 years of age or whatever the music industry is aiming for these days. For sure it misses with an old Deadhead like me! Entertainment consisted of what appeared to be videos of urban street music based upon the surroundings and the histrionics of the performers. At first I thought it was all one big Pepsi commercial. In any event, I never used my headphones. Some pretty nice scenery was providing ample entertainment out my window!
Today's most recent entertainment was watching one of the Kiwi National Cricket team's batsmen score the fastest double century in international test cricket history, perhaps all history. I think he needed only 159 balls. Pretty amazing. I think he's still batting....
And finally, for you, mad_atta, and you alone I will 1.) check out the electronic recline (or lack of same) on those NZ 767-200s, and 2.) be happy to review the Qantas Link MEL-HBA service aboard the 717-200. The rest a youse just avert yo attenshun at that point! Cheers!
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-15-2002).]
I will pass along one lesson I learned however on the AKL-LAX flight: NEVER sit in Exit Row 46 JKL or whatever the seats are on that side. It's right next to the galley and there was constant activity all night it seemed, if not from busy FAs, then from passengers milling about. To think I gave up an Economy Plus aisle seat for that! Ah well, live and learn...
Re. Qantas's domestic New Zealand service, yes, there was "entertainment" if you're between 12 and 22 years of age or whatever the music industry is aiming for these days. For sure it misses with an old Deadhead like me! Entertainment consisted of what appeared to be videos of urban street music based upon the surroundings and the histrionics of the performers. At first I thought it was all one big Pepsi commercial. In any event, I never used my headphones. Some pretty nice scenery was providing ample entertainment out my window!
Today's most recent entertainment was watching one of the Kiwi National Cricket team's batsmen score the fastest double century in international test cricket history, perhaps all history. I think he needed only 159 balls. Pretty amazing. I think he's still batting....
And finally, for you, mad_atta, and you alone I will 1.) check out the electronic recline (or lack of same) on those NZ 767-200s, and 2.) be happy to review the Qantas Link MEL-HBA service aboard the 717-200. The rest a youse just avert yo attenshun at that point! Cheers!
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-15-2002).]
Mar 15, 2002, 11:29 pm
#13
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 371
BTW Seat 2A, thanks for the report, really enjoyed the details.
VH-CZS is an ex-AN plane. It's a B737-377 or -33A (can't remember whether it was leased or not), and therefore it is unique in that the economy class seats have nice headrests etc. And hence the business cabin is quite poor as well...
Just a small detail, and I wouldn't have expected you to know. Looking forward to your return trip to Alaska!
cheers,
Clement
VH-CZS is an ex-AN plane. It's a B737-377 or -33A (can't remember whether it was leased or not), and therefore it is unique in that the economy class seats have nice headrests etc. And hence the business cabin is quite poor as well...
Just a small detail, and I wouldn't have expected you to know. Looking forward to your return trip to Alaska!
cheers,
Clement
Mar 16, 2002, 3:33 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
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Posts: 12,148
Thanks, Clement!
I did a little research on VH-CZM over at Bill Harms' site. VH-CZS is 737-33A msn 24030 leased from AWAS (Ansett Leasing) It's also seen service as G-OBMC and XA-SGJ which further research might reveal as British Midland and TAESA (Mexico) though my $2.00 coin won't allow me time to check that far on this internet session.
Presently in Te Anau. All the hostels were sold out and I ended up staying in a caravan in the back of some nice folks' yard for only $30.00NZD a night. The InterCity driver went out of his way to set that up for me, but not before we'd stopped and dropped off the bus at the terminal and had a coupla beers in the office with his boss before closing it all up for the night! Try getting service like that in most countries!
It's been raining all night but now has cleared considerably to allow great vistas of the surrounding mountains which now sport a fresh mantle of snow. Glad I wasn't up on the Kepler last night! More rain is forecast over the next five days and I am debating the merits of heading over to Milford Sound. I've been there heaps, but it's always a nice place regardless how many times you've seen it.
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-16-2002).]
I did a little research on VH-CZM over at Bill Harms' site. VH-CZS is 737-33A msn 24030 leased from AWAS (Ansett Leasing) It's also seen service as G-OBMC and XA-SGJ which further research might reveal as British Midland and TAESA (Mexico) though my $2.00 coin won't allow me time to check that far on this internet session.
Presently in Te Anau. All the hostels were sold out and I ended up staying in a caravan in the back of some nice folks' yard for only $30.00NZD a night. The InterCity driver went out of his way to set that up for me, but not before we'd stopped and dropped off the bus at the terminal and had a coupla beers in the office with his boss before closing it all up for the night! Try getting service like that in most countries!
It's been raining all night but now has cleared considerably to allow great vistas of the surrounding mountains which now sport a fresh mantle of snow. Glad I wasn't up on the Kepler last night! More rain is forecast over the next five days and I am debating the merits of heading over to Milford Sound. I've been there heaps, but it's always a nice place regardless how many times you've seen it.
[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-16-2002).]
Mar 16, 2002, 6:14 pm
#15
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: London. Or a plane.
Programs: "Only" 50,000 TPs until BA GGLfL
Posts: 2,774
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Seat 2A:
Today's most recent entertainment was watching one of the Kiwi National Cricket team's batsmen score the fastest double century in international test cricket history, perhaps all history. I think he needed only 159 balls. Pretty amazing. I think he's still batting....
</font>
Today's most recent entertainment was watching one of the Kiwi National Cricket team's batsmen score the fastest double century in international test cricket history, perhaps all history. I think he needed only 159 balls. Pretty amazing. I think he's still batting....
</font>
1-0 England
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
2) Speights, when consumed in quantity, is well-known for having a somewhat laxative effect. As the saying goes: "If the bottom has fallen out of your world, drink Speights and the world will fall out of your bottom."
</font>
2) Speights, when consumed in quantity, is well-known for having a somewhat laxative effect. As the saying goes: "If the bottom has fallen out of your world, drink Speights and the world will fall out of your bottom."
</font>
Regards,
[A really worried now] Alex
[This message has been edited by alexwuk (edited 03-16-2002).]