Carq

Hi, this is my first trip report and english is not my mother language, so forgive me for any mistakes that may occur. Feel free to point out any corrections that may be made.
This was a funny trip that started in a simpler way and ended quite differently. Smiles (mileage program from Brazilian carrier Gol) was going to devaluate its chart, so I wanted to spend what was left on my account. I used 37k miles to book a GRU-DTW on Delta business class. To return I used 60k miles from Lifemiles to book ORD-GRU on United first.
A bit later I decided that I was going to spend the days between the flights in New York, so I booked the hotels and flights to EWR. This was not a very aspirational redemption, but that was fine. This is how it looked like:



Except that the itching to improve or fly more started to act (and check things out of my travel bucket list). I began searching what would be my other choices. And I found two nice options to fly in F either on ANA (from ORD) or Asiana (from JFK). It was a tough decision, but I decided on ANA because Iīd rather fly Asiana on the A380. I canceled my ORD-GRU on United and used Lifemiles to book ORD-NRT.
So I was going to fly to Japan, but how was I going to get back to Brazil? I found a paid fare from Japan to LHR flying in Etihad F for U$ 4k. Etihad was on my list and to make it better AUH-LHR would be on the A380.
To wrap it up I booked a BCN-GRU flying Singapore F for 56k Krisflyer miles. The flying part of this trip was great and I was going to spend some days on Chicago, Abu Dhabi and Barcelona. This part didnīt sound that great to me, as I had already been to Barcelona and Chicago and Iīd rather go to some new places, but thatīs what I could come up with. The trip was now like this:


So now everything was set, right? Well, I had another trip booked to Australia that I had to cancel and suddenly I had a surplus of miles on Smiles, Mileage Plan, Krisflyer and Miles & More. Could I use them to improve my itinerary?
Of course I started to check what my options would be and came out with one that would be the definitive. I kept the GRU-DTW and ORD-NRT flights and canceled NRT-AUH-LHR (it was a fully refundable fare) and BCN-GRU. Then I used 32k Smiles to fly NRT-DOH-CAI on Qatar ( the first on business and the second in economy). This was the only good part of Smiles devaluation, as Middle East (including Egypt) went to the Asia chart and this flight became a intra-Asia flight.
More 9k BA Avios to fly CAI-AMM on Royal Air Jordanian business class. The more difficult part of this change was flying AMM-DXB-JFK on Emirates first class. I found Z space on Expertflyer for this flights, but booking them on Alaska Air Mileage Plan was a challenge, as it wasnīt showing up on Alaska site nor the agents could find them.
It took 20 calls and a lot of reading the Alaska forum on Flyertalk to discover the magic words to book those flights. Only after that I canceled my original flights and booked the others. To get back home I used Lifemiles to fly JFK-PTY-BSB on Copa business class.
Now, the flying part of this trip was really good and I was going to see the pyramids in Cairo and Petra in Jordan, two places that were really high on my to go list. Here is how this trip ended up being:



21/04 – BSB – 17:25 – 19:15 – GRU (G3 Y)
GRU – 21:25 – 07:21 – DTW (DL J)
22/04 – Chicago The James Hotel
23/04 – ORD – 10:50 – 13:45 – NRT (NH F)
24/04 – NRT – 22:30 – 03:20 – DOH (QR J)
25/04 – DOH – 09:00 – 12:30 – CAI (QR Y)
Cairo Conrad
26/04 – CAI – 06:45 – 09:00 – AMM (RJ J)
27/04 – AMM – 03:55 – 07:30 – DXB (EK F)
DXB – 15:00 – 20:45 – JFK (EK F)
New York Hilton Garden Inn JFK
28/04 – JFK – 09:55 – 14:25 – PTY (CM J)
PTY – 15:56 – 00:12 – BSB (CM J)

I hope you all enjoy this report.

. BSB Aeroportos VIP Club Lounge and GRU Smiles Lounge

. Delta 767 GRU-DTW business class

. The James Chicago Hotel and ORD United Global First Lounge

. ANA 777-300er ORD-NRT first class

. ANA NRT Arrival Lounge, Narita short visit, JAL NRT Sakura Lounge and Qatar 777-200 NRT-DOH business class

. DOH Al Mourjan business class, visiting Cairo and Conrad Cairo Hotel

. CAI “First Class Lounge”, Royal Air Jordanian Embraer CAI-AMM business class and visiting Petra

. AMM Crown Lounge, Emirates AMM-DXB first class and Emirates First Class Lounge Concourse B

. Emirates A380 DXB-JFK first class

. Hilton Garden Inn JFK, JFK Swiss Lounge, Copa 737 JFK-PTY business class, PTY Copa Clun Lounge, Copa 737 PTY-BSB business class

UTex09

Wow quite the evolution of the itinerary! Looking forward to it!

P.S. your English is very good

Madone59

Looks like it's going to be a great trip Carq ^ I can't wait.

Carq

I started my day at 5am in Curitiba, where I had been the last few days travelling with my family. I took a flight to Brasilia and went home for a shower, lunch and repacking my luggage. Then my wife dropped me at the airport.
I had two separate tickets flying BSB-GRU on Gol and GRU-DTW on Delta. The first one was bought and the second one booked using Gol mileage program. Delta also has a 10% share of Gol. I thought it would naturally be easy to check-in on both flights and send my luggage straight to DTW, but the agent said it wasn’t possible, I would have to pick up my luggage on GRU and check-in again. That was odd, but ok.
Brasilia International Airport saw a recent expansion and it was a great improvement. The facilities are much better. I waited for my flight on VIP Club lounge, which is great for a domestic lounge.



The space and furniture are all well laid out.







The food is also very good for a domestic lounge. There were finger sandwiches, cheese, some Japanese food and Brazilian snacks, yogurts, fruits and some sweeties.







I was just a bit peckish, so I just grabbed a few samples along a guarana.



The lounge was totally empty, for such a big space there were no more than five people inside. This was also partially the reason the food wasn’t great, as it was too dry for having sitting there all day.
The lounge also has a kids room and business center, along other features.





After enjoying some time there, I went to the gate for boarding.



Boarding was schedule to 16.25, but only started at 17.00. That wasn’t a big problem as where I was seated there were great views of the tarmac, with the runway on the back and Brasilia skyline on the background.



The flight was uneventful and there is nothing worth mentioning flying Gol. After landing, I waited a bit for my luggage then went to check-in on Delta. Guarulhos Airport has also been improved with a new Terminal 3, where there are very good lounge options and architecture is a major step up from Terminals 1 and 2. Unfortunately, Delta operates all its flights on Terminal 2.
There was something strange on the airport as there was no line on immigration and you didn’t need to dodge from people. If anyone has been to GRU, this is pretty rare.
After spending a good time on Brasilia domestic lounge and knowing that on Terminal 3 there are good new lounges, it was a disappointment going to Smiles lounge on Terminal 2. The food spread is bad, the space is small and the design is lackluster.











Nothing looked appetizing, but the white carrot soup with garlic and the brigadeiro were reasonably tasty. I spent one hour there before boarding Delta’s GRU-DTW flight.

steveman518

Looking forward to the rest! When I was in Brazil I was really surprised at the number of Japanese immigrants (and subsequently the number of Japanese restaurants in the cities). Also, send me a case of the Guarana

farbster

Please give me a moment to go and get some aspirin. I've gotten quite the headache reading about your trip planning. It made my head spin. It's amazing the great lengths we go to in order to tweak an itinerary based on plane types, connections, locales etc.

This looks to be quite a nice trip. Petra very intersting!

Can't wait to read

Carq

After settling in my seat (4D), I was offered champagne or juice, but I declined both. A few minutes later, menus was distributed. I found the options interesting, as catering leaving GRU is usually unremarkable. Shrimp and frittata? That was going to be my choices.



When I mentioned these choices to the stewardess, she realized that there were some mixed menus onboard and gave me another one, a regular boring GRU catering.



Tumi amenity kits were distributed. For a business class, I think Delta offers a solid product. The IFE is great, the seat is very good, there are air nozzle, and restroom is spacious. I wish they could offer a duvet/pad to make the seat softer. Service is also attentive for a business class.



Food was a lowlight, though. It was edible, but not specially tasty. The starter was too spicy.



Soup and salad too blend.



The filet had too little condiments.



Dessert was better, as ice cream was good (it’s tough to go wrong here), as was the brigadeiro; the mousse was bad.


Service took about 70 minutes and I watched The Imitation Game while eating. Entertaining movie, but the plot could be more interesting. After that I got solid 7 hours of sleep.
Breakfast again was edible but not tasty. Business load today was 15/36.



We landed at 06.15 and had to wait 15 minutes for immigration opening. It didn’t take long to go through, but I waited 20 minutes for luggage, only to be told by the staff that the luggage of those who flew business class was on another unannounced carrousel.
I went to Budget to pick up a car and found interesting that I got a Chevy Cruze, which is the same car I drive in Brazil. The only difference is that mine is a silver hatch and I got a black sedan.



Before heading to Chicago, I went to downtown Detroit to check what it was like. I parked my car and went for a walk. As I was going to cross the street, I tripped in a hole on the asphalt and went down. Immediately I knew something was broke. There was no pain, except on my heart when I saw that I smashed the glass shield of my Galaxy S4, which was on my hand. Bummer.
I got up and kept walking before someone called me and asked if the car keys on the asphalt were mine. Man, that could have been even worse had I lost them.
I didn’t find downtown Detroit any interesting at all. I think the highlight is seeing Canada across the river .





To celebrate that, I went to a Tim Hortons and had a small French vanilla along a bagel. I can’t understand how people can drink coffee on those chains right after it’s served. I had to wait about 15 minutes until I could drink it without burning my mouth.
Then I went back to my car for a 6 hours drive to Chicago.

Carq

Thanks, I haven’t written this much (when I finalize this report) since my Cambridge’s Certificate in Advanced English exams 15 years ago.

Thanks, I hope it will be an entertaining reading.

Japanese immigrants were concentrated more on Sao Paulo state, but Japanese food has spread around the country.

Hah, don’t tell me about it! I think I have as much fun planning the trip as taking it.

Carq

As I hit the road, I noticed a strange kind of rain or dust hitting the windshield. This lasted for a while and I realized that it was snowflakes. I hadnīt checked the weather forecast, so I started to get worried if this was going to end like an Eightblack report, driving through a snow storm.



Fortunately, it was only the flakes. I made a stop at Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets to buy a few clothes, then at Wendyīs for a baconator.



I arrived in Chicago at around 5pm and left my car at valet.



Check-in was good, but I booked The James Hotel through Visa Luxury Hotel Collection. I was entitled for an upgrade (which I think I got) and 25 dollars credit, which the lady from the balcony wasnīt aware of and had to check with management, then gave me a voucher later on.



The room was nice, it had some design couch, seats and table, a kind of bar and a double bed. There were two windows with a “view” of an internal patio. There were TVs facing the couch and the bed. I found it odd that there wasnīt a desk where you could use a computer, not that I brought mine, anyway.





Bathroom was also nice, but I donīt get why they canīt build the shower with a glass door and get rid of curtains and kind of bathtub floor. Inside the shower there were fixed dispensers of shampoo, conditioner and soap. I like that, as itīs easier to use them while showering, but I didnīt like too much the brand (Harmoniac), as the smell and the “refreshing” feeling wasnīt my taste.





Anyway, after taking a shower I went for a walk. I really like downtown Chicago, it has nice buildings, stores and views and you donīt have to walk too much to go to different places.
I had to make a stop at Millennium Plaza to take some pictures of the Cloud Gate. I think itīs one of the most interesting and beautiful modern urban sculptures of the world.



After some more walking, I went back to the hotel. I opened some toys I had ordered to be delivered there (they were for me, Iīm not going to lie they were for a nephew or someone else).



I wasnīt on the mood to go to the restaurant, so I used my voucher to order a burger and a smoothie. Both were good, but the fries that came with the burger were really bad.



In the morning I went to the hotelīs restaurant to have breakfast, which was included as part of the Visa booking. I didnīt like the options very much, Iīd rather have a yogurt and some fruits, but ended up ordering an omelet, which came with toasts and potatoes. I think I ate a third of it and went back to take my luggage and check-out on my way to OīHare.





After returning the car, I went to ANA first class counter. As it was busy, I was called on the business counter. As there was going to be a few hours between my arrival and departure from Narita, I planned on going to Narita City and didnīt want to carry my luggage. I asked if the representative could interline my luggage with Qatar, but he said that I needed to check with the supervisor.
I went to the company counter and the supervisor tried to send it all the way to Cairo, but it didnīt work, she could only add Doha to my ticket. I got afraid that my luggage might got lost as it wasnīt going to my final destination and I wasnīt supposed to pick it on Doha, as my ticket was booked NRT-DOH-CAI, so I thanked and accepted sending it just to Narita. There I would need to find a place to store my luggage temporarily.
I opted out the body scanner but the TSA agents said they only do pat downs on Fridays . After getting rubbed a bit, I went to Unitedīs Global First Lounge. I wasnīt expecting anything good from what I had read, but it ended up being a good place to spend some time.
The food offering was decent. I really donīt care for alcohol and would anytime rather have a fresh juice, but this was asking too much. Internet speed was very fast.









I found it a bit small, but there werenīt more than 10 people inside. After having a smoked salmon, I was excited to go to the gate to board on ANA first class.

Carq

When I arrived at the gate, there were already eight people in first class line. I was slighted disappointed that boarding was delayed a few minutes and I didnīt hear any apologies. ANA service seems to be going downhill .
After boarding I settled in my seat (1K). After this flight, I would choose row 2, as you can hear from row 1 some noise from the galley. Load today was 6/8 and fortunately the seat on my left side was unoccupied. I was the only non-Japanese in first class.



ANA has recently changed its first class amenity kit from Rimowa to Samsonite. The contents are the same and, to be honest, I liked this change, as I already have some Rimowa cases back home and itīs nice to have other options. I only wished that the case was a bit larger, but itīs the same size.





I liked the seat, which were comfortable and private enough. My only grip is that itīs a bit far from the windows, so if you want to view outside you have to lean forward quite a bit. The TV screen is great, but ANAīs IFE is rather average, with not too many options to choose from.



I declined the pre-departure beverage and started to watch ST: The Movie, which ended up being a pretty boring Japanese movie.
After seat belts sign were off, I went to lavatory to change to pajamas. ANA PJs are great, soft and thin and the temperature during the flight was good, never got too hot.
I choose the Japanese menu for lunch. I like Japanese food, but Iīm not a great fan, but I thought that the western menu is more similar to what I would get on other airlines, so I went for the experience.







The amuse bouche was great, then the Zensai was ok. Soup and main were good, but I had a hard time eating a soft fish with chopsticks. Dessert was terrible, I donīt know what it was, but it didnīt taste or look good. May be something bean candy.











One thing that I didnīt like about the Japanese lunch is that there lots of liquids in bowls. As we hit some turbulence, I was afraid that some of them would spill on me, so I placed them away from my table, on the console.
Service took about two hours. I had a glass of Krug but then just water. After finished I ordered a cappuccino which was delicious and better yet, warm enough so I could drink it right away.





I asked for turndown service. ANA bedding is fantastic. The have a comfortable mattress pad and two pillows, so it was easy to find a good position to lounge, as I wasnīt going to sleep now.



I started to watch Interstellar, which is a very good movie. I never was an emotional guy, but since becoming a father I canīt see anything about the father/son bonding without getting my eyes wet. By the end of the movie some tears were dropping and I really missed my daughters and my parents. As I was starting to write a message for them on WhatsApp, my eyes were still wet. I donīt know if itīs related, but all of sudden my nose started to bleed heavily.
I pushed the call button and when the flight attendant saw both my face and the blanket bloodied, she had a really horror look. I asked for some tissues and she brought me a package. It took a while to control the bleeding, as every time I removed the tissue from my nostril the bleeding would restart.
It also took three bags to clean all the mess, as the first two ones got dirty in the bleeding control process, so in the end she brought me a really big garbage bag so I could throw everything in. Fortunately, I only had to replace the blanket.
I tried to sleep a bit after this, but I couldnīt. I started to watch X Day, an interesting Japanese movie. I also got a bit hungry, so I pushed the call button to have some food. I waited for two minutes and nobody showed up, so I pressed the button again. Another minute and nobody, so I got up and went to the galley, but it was empty. It took five minutes after I initially pressed the button to a flight attendant show up.
As the Japanese lunch wasnīt very fulfilling, I asked if there were any options left from the western lunch menu. She checked and said everything was available (I guess the Japanese passengers went with the Japanese menu), so I ordered the salmon mousse and the prawn and scallop brochette. They were all very good and, to my palate, better than the Japanese options.





For dessert, I had the chocolate cake which was fantastic. I also had some sake, which tasted good and, with the food, made me feel sleepy.



After finally having some sleep, I was awaked by the landing announcements. The only problem is that they began this 90 minutes before landing! Cīmon, even 60 minutes before landing would be a bit premature.
We landed on time and, overall, I had a great flight but was a bit disappointed with the service. It was good, but I didnīt experience those small touches or attention to detail that I had read about. And the landing announcements really needed to be addressed.
As I was the first non-Japanese to arrive, I was directed in immigration to a relatively big line, but the others that came after me were all sent to another line which was significantly shorter. 30 minutes later, I was the last one from the plane to clear immigration.

lmsalman

Love the Legos, I've got the same two sets. I am curious, are you going to carry those around for the remainder of the trip? The Simpson's house is by no means a small Lego set. This is a great trip report so far. i look forward to the rest.

FallenPlat

Great report!

I'd probably read just about anything with "Petra" in it but, beyond that, your take on things is both really interesting and way, way better written than most of the stuff posted here by native English speakers. Way better.

You also have more courage than I when it comes to solo travel. I hate going anywhere without my family and, when I was a lot younger, I did enough solo travel to last several lifetimes.

I look forward to the rest of your installments.

Carq

Iīm already at home and Iīve almost finished the Simpsons house, but Ville Savoy is untouched. I travelled with a carry-on and a medium sized luggage. All my clothes would fit on the carry-on, so although there were lots of lego blocks, it wasnīt difficult to put them on my luggage.

Thank you very much. It would never be possible to travel like this with my family, because of costs (and award availability) and by the pace that I travel solo. And a week away isnīt that hard, although there are times or places where I really wish they were with me, but again, it would have to be a totally different kind of trip.

Carq

When I picked up my luggage, I went to ANA counter to ask if they know where I could store it. They didnīt know and told me to ask at the arrival lounge. When I got there, I asked again and they told me: right here! There is a good deposit room for luggage on the arrival lounge, where you can leave it locked by a nice security lock. And they didnīt know this both on ANA departure and arrival counters.



Anyway, I went to check the rest of the lounge, which has enough seats but its food and drinking options are severely lacking. Even Smiles lounge on GRU (which I ranted about previously) has better options.





As I had some hours to kill while waiting for my flight to DOH, I decided to go to Narita City. I could have taken a train, but then I would need to change money and would waste some time waiting for them. I took a taxi from the airport and paid with my credit card about U$25, which I thought was well worth.
I spent a couple of hours on Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, which is a beautiful and calm place, with interesting buildings and a nice park to walk. I also felt peaceful seeing some Japanese praying there. Then I walked on Omotesando road to see some shops and took a cab back to the airport.











I went back to ANA arrival lounge and took a shower. The bathroom was excellent, with good space, great shower and those Japanese bidet toilets. Towels and amenities were also very good. I was shocked later when I used Emirates shower on DXB first class lounge, as this one in a arrival lounge put the EKīs first class shower rooms into shame.







Later I went to Qatarīs counter to check-in for my NRT-DOH-CAI flights. Check-in took a while, but that was due to a good surprise as they stamped on my DOH-CAI boarding pass that I was granted access to Al Mourjan lounge in DOH. Even though I was arriving in business, I was leaving in economy, so I was prepared to pay to access Oryx Lounge as I thought I wasnīt entitled access to QR business lounge.
Qatar uses JAL Sakura lounge on NRT. The space is very good, as there are lots of seating options throughout the lounge. There is a food section on an upper floor, but itīs nothing worth mention. I donīt expect to have great food on a business lounge, except when itīs on the airline home/main hub airport. Qatar, Turkish and Singapore (to a lesser degree) come to my mind.







I went to the gate when it got close to boarding (around 21.00) and all the stores were closing. I think there were later flights to departure, so I found it a bit odd.
My flight was on a Boeing 777-200. It has a good product, except all rows are 2-2-2. I prefer to sit on the window, but I donīt like to idea of almost climbing my neighbor to go to the restroom, to I choose a middle seat.





Both seat and TV are good and Qatar IFE content is very good. PJs and sleepers are provided, which is a nice touch for a business class. The amenity kit has a famous brand but the contents are lacking. There are toothbrushes on the lavatories and I was looking forward them as last time I flew QR they came with a great case that covers the entire toothbrush, which is much more hygienic than those ones that just covers the head (so I took one or three cases and still use them ). Unfortunately, they have been downgraded to the regular ones.



There was freshly squeezed orange juice to drink in this business class. This should always be an option on first class flights. I had the beef for dinner. It was good, but I had better food on others QR flights, including an amazing lamb steak. Dessert, though, was delicious.











I watched Nightcrawler, which was an average movie, then I slept for a few hours. When I woke I asked for the strawberry and banana smoothie, which was delicious and, again, why canīt airlines invest a bit on non-alcoholic drinks?
I watched Birdman, which was a good movie but for an Oscar I was expecting more. I had the frittata for breakfast with more smoothie and an hour later we were landing in Doha. I was happy to go to the Al Mourjan lounge, since it looked great on the pictures I had seen.

Carq

Before heading to the Al Mourjan lounge, I had to take a picture of the huge teddy bear. The idea was very good, but wasnīt possible to build it without seeming like he is either under police interrogation or has been badly hurt by that lamp going through it?



Anyway, I spent the first half hour just walking by the lounge and taking pictures. Itīs gorgeous indeed and a major improvement from the old one, with lots of nice seating options. I had a salmon sandwich on the restaurant downstairs while browsing the internet.











Later I went upstairs to have breakfast. There wasnīt too many people downstairs, but on the upper restaurant almost all tables were taken. The food spread was good, but service was disorganized. I had to ask twice for my cappuccino and when my plate was taken from the table along fork, knife and spoon, the flatware wasnīt replaced and I had to ask for them, which took a while. There are lots of servants standing still downstairs, while upstairs they don’t seem able to handle all the customers. Although the food was good, it wasnīt up to the lounge architecture.
Later I went to the gate and was surprised when I boarded and realized it was a 787, as it was listed as 777. Had I know this, I would have spent another 33k miles to fly on “first” class.
I slept most of the flight (or rested, as sleeping on economy only if I was exhausted). About half an hour before landing, there were nice views of the Suez Channel and the desert. Right after landing some people unbuckled and got up, despite the warnings from the flight attendants.





Immigration lines were messy and I was sent for secondary questioning, which took about five minutes. I picked my luggage and waited a bit for my guide, which I hired from Ramasside Tours for U$ 125.
There were the guide and a driver on the car and we went first to the Citadel. I was told traffic was great as it was Saturday, but even though that everybody drives there blowing the horn and changing lanes every thirty seconds.
The Citadel and its mosque were interesting, but I’m sure there are more impressive ones. We spent one hour there before heading to the pyramids.







The guide stopped at a local restaurant and brought me a delicious sandwich, although I still don’t know what exactly it was made from.
It took 30 minutes to reach the pyramids. They were impressive and the size of the stone blocks was bigger than I thought. There were tourists there, but not too many. We went by car to each pyramid and I went in the third one (Menkaure). It was interesting inside but it was annoying that I was accompanied by a security who kept offering to take pictures of me inside, even though itīs prohibited. My guide advised me that he would do that to ask later for a good tip. After that we went to see the sphinx.















The pyramids are rightfully a wonder of the world, but to be honest I wasnīt astonished by them. There isnīt many details or things to see, so it doesnīt take too long to visit them. Cairoīs urban expansion is also worrisome, as itīs getting closer and closer to the pyramids site.
I was left on Conrad Cairo and I liked the services of the tour, which I recommend, especially if you want to visit Cairo on a short layover.
After check-in, I went to my room. There were some fruits and pastries waiting for me, which was a nice touch. The room was spacious and had a balcony with a good view of Cairo and the Nile. The bathroom is also nice, but overall they are all past their prime. After taking a shower, I went to the lounge, which had a great strawberry juice and the food spread was good enough to serve as a light dinner.









Then it was sleep time, as I was going to wake at 3 am for my early flight to Amman.