So sorry about that, I have been distracted by re-entry activities. OK, my deadline is May 20th.

As a sneak peek, my final rankings of premium services are below, which only includes the airlines I flew on this trip:
(1) Qantas
(2) Cathay
(3) Royal Jordanian
(4) American Airlines
(5) LAN
(6) British Airways

More on BA in the final report -- that is without a doubt the worst large carrier to fly within this alliance. They were so bad that I actually hope they get gobbled up once we find out just "how ready" they are for the Olympics. Virgin Atlantic issued a stunner of a cabin upgrade a couple of weeks ago, and the war is on...

Exceptional TR^

I've recently completed my first QF A388 F - SYD-SIN-SYD & I'm still smiling:D

The only other F flights I've done is 6 flights with BA, OF & NF - QF has raised the bar by a considerable level.

In regards to the LHR, CCR - IMO you didn't miss much.....SYD & MEL are far better!

Where Is My Camel?
 

For the fearless among you, let's start with "how to go from Tel Aviv to Beirut on a connecting flight."

It's obviously a work of fiction, and will clearly be your first and last trip to Beirut for a long while. But a massive part of the thrill is getting in and out of Beirut with a connection to Tel-Aviv.

For those of you who are trying to load TLV-BEY on Google maps, be forewarned -- there is no such distance, by foot, car, or public transport. This is not a wise choice, but it is your homework assignment given your unwillingness to deviate from the BA F museum into the Middle East.

First, book your seats from TLV to BEY on two R/Ts (TLV-AMM-TLV; AMM-BEY-AMM). Make sure they are nested (AMM-BEY-AMM is within TLV-AMM-TLV).

Then, do the triple-dog-dare: take your TLV-AMM flight at around 9am (with 3 hours of line-up at TLV), connecting to the 11am flight from BEY.

Then, just hope you are lucky. Here's what could happen...

You arrive to TLV with masses of people all heading to the morning departures. You stand in line, behind about 100 people, to get into checked baggage x-ray. 45 minutes.

Take your bag out of x-ray and have it reviewed by the secondary x-ray. 15 minutes.

If you're like my friend, the secondary x-ray person may accompany you to the check-in (no idea what trips this wire). He will wait there while you get through the Royal Jordanian line. Do not say to the woman at the counter "hi, I'm a dumb blonde American, would you mind ever so much checking this bag through to Beirut?" Otherwise she might say "we probably don't want to do that -- it may not make it." And she won't be able to print your AMM-BEY boarding pass. 15 minutes.

Now it's time for the carry-on search. You will be pointed to a line of maybe 5-10 people long, but don't be fooled, as each person takes about 5 minutes. 60 minute queue.

Tick, tock.

Once through, run like the wind to your gate, but arrive calmly for the pre-flight check on the jetway. Your flight could be delayed 20 minutes, reducing the full connection time in Jordan to exactly 60 minutes from wheels-down to bus-departure.

Transiting in Jordan is not swift. You cannot use the transit halls because you are going to clear and pass immigration. First, buy Jordanian Dinars. Second, buy a visa. Third, stand in line for 20 minutes. Finally, get your bag from the belt and race out of the terminal to find the terminal ENTRANCE, while withstanding about 40 people trying to get you into a cab. 10 more minutes.

Here's where you might make a larger mistake. You see a section called "Crown Checkin" with a long line and bypass it. This was the moment to use your Sapphire status. Instead you go to the very long, very busy check (Mumbai-style).

Then, about 15 minutes before the flight closes (you've made it about a quarter-way up), they announce "Beirut." Nobody moves, except you, and you go racing up... to possibly the most gorgeous Arab ever created. Who smiles and says, "I see you are Sapphire on OW, so I assume you would like an exit row aisle? It seems you are in a middle seat, and I'm sure you won't want that." 2 minutes.

Check bags.

Check in.

Check him.

And, run for immigration...

On you go, through immigration and visa checks, to gate 6 (although that may change with the new airport). Here's where you break down and order a sandwich, thinking you have time. Oops: 5 minutes.

Then walk through the terminal and see that there is another check at gate 6 (which goes to 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, and 6E). You are in 6E. There is a LONG LINE and another bag search (this time, males separate from females). She asks "you don't have any Israeli stamps in the passport, do you?" 15 minutes.

Finally, there is the line to the bus. RIGHT BACK TO THE SAME AIRPLANE YOU LANDED ON.

This is a good stage to just make sure you've gotten rid of anything that might mark you as coming from TLV. Tear off everything that you think MIGHT have been a security tag in TLV.

When you land in Beirut, undoubtedly there will be an officer who says "hold on one moment" and gets his supervisor. The supervisor takes your passport to another room to recheck it. Finally, after about 15 minutes, he gives it back and you are cleared for entry! Grab your bag and head straight for the Four Seasons where, yes, you will have to sign about 3 wavers before you get up to the pool.

You lucky dog.

JW Blue is fairly standard on CX LH F flights.

I wonder how many people who read this understood what you meant? I took me a bit of thinking!

Apoligies for my silence...

I haven't tied up this journey because it has become much more of a journey than I expected. I loved Tel Aviv, which was a surprise, and I am looking into the possibiliy of moving there permanently. What I will do by early June is get you guys a bit of an overview of why I hate BA F. I will also add in a review of a trip I'm doing tomorrow using 150K SA points to visit Israel on LH F!

incredible!

Final report coming soon?

great report!
 

Great report and writing! I know you said your rank is based on this trip's experience only. Somehow I think you have to fly the carrier for quite sometimes before you can rank. I think some carriers (like CX, QF) are very consistent while some others are not. I have had not so good experiences with BA, but turned out that the best experience ever was with BA. I had MANY bad experiences with UA, but some were quite good. With CX, some experience were very good while some were quite robotic (still good) as you say. With QF, LH, I had never had bad experiences, they were all very good, but I read other reports that were not so good... I guess you have to take average of experiences...

Great write-up. I'm waiting to hear your detailed report about BA F. I'm flying a lot of family members on there and chose BA over AA F.

Can I also be included in your family?

great report. I sooo want to try Quanus F now

Where is the BA F report?

Thanks for the great TR! Makes me want to try more carriers premium products!

flyer.ben.1,

I have really enjoyed seeing all the pictures and info from this TR. A couple of questions.

On what routes does QF fly the A380?

I've heard sometimes leaving from some Asian countires can make the ticket much less expensive. Did you try pricing out your RTW F ticket departing from different countries to see if it might be cheaper?