vecta

Epic trip and report SHF!

I guess once this one is finally complete you will have already finished another?

Short hair Francis

Thanks vecta, I need about another day or two
The QF 763 J sections are pretty good, I got a good selection of seat and cabin photos on both as usual.


LOL, I supposed I should get on it
The next report definitely wouldn't have 50+ part.
Should only be 10 Max if I'm not mistaken.

Short hair Francis

Part 57 – A Perfect Sunset in Sydney Harbour and Qantas Domestic 763 SYD – MEL


It’s been 1, 2, 3, Four Years since I’ve last visited Sydney.
In fact, the last time I’ve been to Sydney was when I wrote this trip report back in Aug 2010
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post15506143

Ya, I really don’t travel to “Down Under” much
Hence why the 23 hr 59 min Overnight in Sydney and the associated added cost of hotel and airport taxes.

With a 5 Minute walk to immigration after getting off QF 64, it was relatively smooth sail past Australian Immigration. Only problem was to make sure I didn’t require a Yellow Fever Cert for Namibia, I don’t.
And not even a peek from Australian quarantine, finally entered Australia.

Took about a total of 45 Minutes from Arrivals to the Four Seasons Sydney via the Airport Link.
Yes I chose the Four Seasons because of its location
Let’s be honest, 900 Australian Dollars at the Park Hyatt, thanks but no thanks

Ended up buying a 7 Day pass, since I have Two “23:59” Sydney Overnight in 5 days
One outbound, One Inbound from Melbourne

Airport Link




Four Seasons Sydney




Partial Harbour View Room







After cleaning up a bit, I ended up heading out at 3:15pm for a bit of touring

Sydney Harbour during the day






Sydney Tower


Anzac War Memorial and the Pool of Reflection




Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

As it was already 4pm, I visited the Australian Museum which sadly closes at 5pm.
The cashier thought since I only had 1 hour, he declined to charge me and in lieu asked me to make a donation instead.

Australian Museum






It’s only August, a little early for Halloween, no


More Dinosaurs





Kangaroo, sadly no Kangaroo steak this trip



Ah!



Who wants to hug a Koala Bear


Isn’t Ostrich more common in South Africa?


Nice Lobster


Aborigine Goods




Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

St. Mary’s Catherdal


And now for the finale to the mini-day in Sydney




Pretty sure I can put 900 AUD into better uses









A Qantas Airways Boeing 767-300 coming in for landing






Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

A Little late for the Bridge Walk?












With about 90 Minutes near the Opera House and getting a good amount of sunset photos at the Bridge, it was time to retire for the night.

Good Night Sydney




Aug 16, 2013 – Friday
QF 427 SYD – MEL 11:00am – 12:35pm (763/J)

And catching about 7 hours of sleep, woke up at 6:30am with a wonderful photo opportunity

Good Morning!



I finally left the hotel at 8:30am with the train ride back to Sydney Airport

Time to head back to airport





Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Finally Arrived at the Domestic Terminal at 9:15am

Sydney Airport Terminal 3, Domestic Terminal




Someone really needs to have better priorities


Qantas Airways Domestic Business Class Check-In


Very Quick security line and I soon made my way to the Qantas Business Lounge

Sydney Australia Qantas Airways Domestic Business Lounge

















Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Breakfast was served until 10am, so things such as Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Meats, Yogurt were all available at that time.
There is a lull between Breakfast and Lunch where the lounge staff didn’t put out new servings.

Oh Poor Dog being transported, at least it was a cool August day


At 10:15am, I made my way down to the gate as I was a bit bored sitting in the lounge.



Time to air out the Whalejet


Qantas Airways Boeing 767-300



Back to Gate 6 for Qantas 427 to Melbourne

*Can someone tell me why a gate doesn’t have its own flight departure screen??

Priority Boarding finally started at 10:45am after a wheelchair had boarded at 10:40am


*56th Flight, 135232 Miles flown since Apr 28
Qantas Airways 427
Sydney, Australia to Melbourne Tullamarine
Scheduled - 11:00am – 12:35pm, 1 hr 35 Min flight
Delayed Departure – 11:07am, Late Boarding Complete
Delayed Arrival – 12:37pm
Business Class, Seat 3J
Food – Breakfast
Equipment – Boeing 767-300 (30J/211Y Refurbished Configuration)


For our quick flight, I was welcome into VH-OGV “Swan Hill”, built in Jun 2000 which had the new leather seats in Business Class installed with Ipad/Q Streaming on-demand entertainment available

Rant – At the writing of this section, this 13 year aircraft is now stored at Victorville (VCV), aka Aircraft Graveyard
Ya Let’s refreshed a plane then retire it in less than 2 years time
Begs you to wonder why Qantas keeps saying they are broke??


Qantas Airways Boeing 767-300 Refurbished Domestic Business Class Cabin




Qantas Airways Boeing 767-300 Refurbished Domestic Business Class Seat






Part 57 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Cross Aisle Look


Pre-Departure Beverage


Ipad Stand


The Ipad is found in the Seat Pocket in front of you



Entertainment Menu


Boarding was finally completed at 11:07am, after a Single Mother with Three Accompanied (3-7 Y.O) kids in Business Class Cabin finally settled down.
Of course the Mom and 1 Kid sat in 1E/1F then the other 2 kids sat in 2E/2F, as you might have guess, the overly excited kids in row 2 couldn’t seem to settle down and buckle up and starting running around in J.
All the Business Paxs and the FAs were not amused.

Here begs the question, and I’m being serious and not necessarily flaming
1) The Mom must have some dough or Qantas upgrades around to put 3 kids in J, so why not hire an adult maid to accompany travel?
2) Why would 1 Adult take 3 Kids along, I personally hear enough complaints from my Sis that 1 Adult = 1 Kid for travel is Key.
So 3 Kids = Mom, Dad and Nanny all travelling together.
3) Wouldn’t it be smarter to sit cross aisle, so have 1 kid sit in 1A, adult in 1B and the other 2 in 1E/1F.

As the Mom didn’t really plan well, the rest of the flight was a bit annoying to say the least.

Finally airborne at 11:25am for the 1 Hour 7 Minute flight to Melbornue

FA jumped into action very quickly after airborne and Q Streaming was also turned on at 10000 Feet, so very similar to Gogo Wifi

This also left me a bit shocked, as breakfast was served on a 11am departure, well you can argue if Quiche should be consider breakfast or brunch.

QF 427 Breakfast

Spinach Quiche with Bacon and Tomato served with Fruit Bowl
Or
Cereal with Milk accompanied with Yogurt





Service was done very quickly on this service with 1 Meal and 2 Drinks Run and we soon made our descent around 12:20pm into Melbourne.

Don’t forget to shut off the Ipad

*I’m surprised people won’t be stealing Ipads off flights left right and center.

Finally landed at Tullamarine at 12:33pm with a quick taxi to the gate.

As for disembarkation, the Mom and 3 Kids all decided to jam up both aisle and get off the plane first because they were in Row 1.
So yes, guess what happens, the door is opened but no one can get off.
Now most of the J pax wanted to kill and berated that Mom and I don’t blame them even though I was in 3J.

Here’s what I meant about Mom travelling with 3 Kids

*Excuse the blurry photo

As for me, time to head up to the Qantas Club for lunch and to catch up on some email.
72 Hours in Melbourne awaits…


Next Part
Part 58 – Dropping by for a Weekend Visit, Melbourne, Australia

LH4116

Nice continuation!

Interesting that you didn't opt for the usual Park Hyatt but I guess at 900 AUD I wouldn't be so keen on paying that price either. It's not often we get to see Four Seasons in trip reports here on FT, and I suppose that they are rather "exclusive" since they can't be paid with miles… And for the fact that most people including myself are too cheap to dish out the extra $$$ for a proper luxury hotel. How much was your rate?

You must've been rather unlucky with the mother and 3 kids as your fellow passengers. Normally the kids I have encountered in premium cabins have been very well behaved, most notably on my Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Haneda where a mother and her two kids (5-7) were seated in 1A, 2A+K. No running around or screaming at all from those kids, they simply sat quiet in their seats throughout the flight. I don't recall ever seeing so well behaved let alone well spoken children in my entire life.

One time I ended up next to a woman and her three kids on an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo. Mother was in the aisle seat next to me and the three kids occupied the 3-seat middle block which enabled her to keep an eye on them throughout the flight. They sat quiet and well behaved for most of the flight. So I suppose it is possible to travel alone with 3 kids, but I guess the woman on your QF flight did the mistake of leaving two of her kids in their own row without any direct supervision.

Other than that I must say that the service on SYD-MEL looked rather impressive. In Europe you will most likely get a plate of cold cuts on a similar length flight.

vecta

Such a shame to have that crowd in J. On the bright side at least it wasn't a trans con or long haul sector.

Actually the dusk bridge climbs are some of the most sought after as you can be up there when the city lights begin to switch on, quite a cool thing to see.

Eagerly awaiting the MEL section of this amazing journey!

themapelligroup

I'm enjoying all the parts of your trip report, I'm wondering if it will ever come to an end.

Short hair Francis

Nah LH4116, I'm not crazy enough to drop 900AUD on a 1 night stay.
You can throw a much of add-ons and it still isn't worth it.
Plus count it up as "Be There, Done That" since I stayed there 2 nights on points back in 2010.
Think my Four Season was in the mid 200s if my memory serves right, it was surprisingly the cheapest option with a Harbour view that I found.

And that partial view was still pretty damn good if you ask me

Very much so, Direct Supervision is Key.
I usually don't care about kids, you keep to yourself, I keep to my.
But when the kids are running around after the plane door closes and awaiting push-back, its not going to be just me who's going to be pissed.
The Entire Plane is going to be annoyed and pissed


vecta, Can't imagine how it would be on a PER flight, shudder
I guess that's true and I love the pics during the sunset.
It's really not my usual nature to sit at a location for 1 hour and take a collage of photos.
Unique and Cheap Experience but redeeming

MEL was ok, but I think it's going to be underwhelming compared to my other parts

Almost Almost, themapelligroup, 2 more sections to go ^

AA_EXP09

In my experience they only ask you about vaccinations if you must tick 'Have you been to Africa/S America in the last 6 days' on the entry card.

LondonElite

This is a very interesting, if perplexing trip report.

I have to congratulate you on an extreme amount of flying, since you clearly enjoy that. Well done. I'm also impressed with the quality of the photography, the interesting anecdotes about the places you have visited and the huge amount of information on the different carrier services that you have sampled. Clearly a huge amount of time and money has gone into this 'project', including the effort to bring it all to the FT audience. This is what perplexes me.

I know you're relatively young (you make that point a little too often, we get it) but you seem to have an unlimited amount of time to spend on holidays. I think I read somewhere along the line that you have a job (in HKG?), from which you needed a 'break' because you were feeling ill. But you seem to have spent months travelling with nary a care for work. Do you really have a job or is it just something that you can pick up and drop again? I can't imagine any real employer putting up with this.

The next thing that has me perplexes is the amount of money that this travel costs. I don't know your personal financial situation, but you appear to be paying for this travel yourself. Given that you don't really seem to work, are your parents funding this, directly or indirectly? It's just really bizarre to me. Maybe I've missed some big point, but I don't get how a person in their mid-20s, with a university degree, can spend endless time just flitting around (and I live in Europe, where we have endless holidays, and I run my own business so I don't have to report to anyone). I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just genuinely curious.

And that leads me to my third point, the one that really gets me. Much (most?) of your travel seems to be utterly pointless. You have an endless set of flights and connections that exist for no fathomable reason, other than to sit in a plane (at considerable expense). My head is slightly spinning from all the ins and outs of HKG, BKK, SIN, YYC, NRT, that have you just transiting a plane or spending a night at an airport hotel. I'm sure upstate NY was brilliant and I love SA, and I'm very keen to explore Burma myself, having grown up in SE Asia, but so much is just pointless sitting on a plane. Why? It's a free world, but that one just baffles me.

One final point I want to make is that you really didn't shower yourself in glory with that FCT incident. I've quoted two passages from your long report to highlight this to you:

For a person who travels a lot, you should know that in northern Europe, for example, dressing the way you did just makes you look like a bum, and you will get treated accordingly. "...respect their culture...?" I know that there will follow comments that, as a paying customer you can do what you want...but they will be wrong. There are many hotels in Europe (and Asia) where dressing like that will get you kicked out. The Ritz in London has a necktie policy for men. The Oriental in Bangkok has a no shorts rule after 6pm. And so on. Flip flops are for the beach. Period. I think that nearly everyone in the FCT would have looked at you and inwardly rolled their eyes.

The second point I want to make is that you too were out of line in your interaction with the concierge. I wasn't there so I have no idea what was said, so can only assume you are reporting factually. At something like T-2 hours, public sites like expertflyer.com or KVS are pretty much useless in telling you what the actual load on a flight/cabin is. The fact that you were seeing something like F4A0 is meaningless. Yes, possibly LH might have been willing to sell four seat in F for that flight, but unless you are the dispatcher or work in revenue management, you'll have no idea what the cabin load is going to be. LH may have closed down F sales to one, they may have oversold in C and were planning to UG some status pax, the captain may be bringing his wife and daughter on board...you just don't know. The concierge should have kept a cooler head, but you cannot accuse him of lying to you when he has much more accurate information than you do, especially wearing flip flops .

Finally, I don't get why you think people are in awe that someone your age travels in F or C and then is perplexed by a mother taking her three kids in C. What's the big deal? I'm taking our four children home in (paid) CW on BA from our holiday home in Florida to LHR at the end of April while my wife continues catching some rays by herself...better hope you are not on my flight!