AFF Gathering #13 in SYD on 18 - 20 October 2019

[oz_mark]

Back in Perth now, after my first attendance at one of these for a little while (unemployment has that effect).

Good to catch up with old friends, and to meet new people on the scene.

Thanks to the organisers.

And thanks to VA for the opup on the way back

 

[samh004]

A pair of QF J pyjamas was also given away but because I'm just so tired ATM I can't for the life of me remember the donor

That would be @Anna.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Thanks to support for doing a lot of the organizing.
Friday night drinks and dinner venue was perfect, thanks to serfty for looking out for me or I might have been longer in finding it.
Saturday night dinner was good, although the alcohol prices were a little high I didn't drink, thanks to Matt01 for guesting me lounge access before dinner.
Sunday HARS was good; although I did spend 4 hours just looking at a 747, good that it was both Rooflyer and myself doing the full tour, $220 worthwhile, I hope Rooflyer thought the time in the coughpit was worthwhile, the knowledge of a 2 year retired pilot was very good.
all the staff are doing it for free so most of them know all their stuff, must be hard catering to a varied tastes and interests,
To climb up into a 747 and then walk back to the cargo hold area was interesting and seeing all the oxygen bottles, I should post a photo of that, chance that Rooflyer did that already.
Thanks to serfty for the lounge access and a chance to say goodbye to everyone before flying home.
Now I need to go back to HARS to see the rest of the exhibits.
Also what does everyone do with the amenity kits, I ended up throwing half of the contents away when I got home.
What do you do with face moisturiser, hand cream and lip balm, give me sunscreen, after sun cream and or hair shampoo stuff I can actually use.
Its good to see that toothpaste and brushes have gone away from the cheap and nasty 2cent variety.

 

[VPS]

Thanks to support for doing a lot of the organizing.
Friday night drinks and dinner venue was perfect, thanks to serfty for looking out for me or I might have been longer in finding it.
Saturday night dinner was good, although the alcohol prices were a little high I didn't drink, thanks to Matt01 for guesting me lounge access before dinner.
Sunday HARS was good; although I did spend 4 hours just looking at a 747, good that it was both Rooflyer and myself doing the full tour, $220 worthwhile, I hope Rooflyer thought the time in the coughpit was worthwhile, the knowledge of a 2 year retired pilot was very good.
all the staff are doing it for free so most of them know all their stuff, must be hard catering to a varied tastes and interests,
To climb up into a 747 and then walk back to the cargo hold area was interesting and seeing all the oxygen bottles, I should post a photo of that, chance that Rooflyer did that already.
Thanks to serfty for the lounge access and a chance to say goodbye to everyone before flying home.
Now I need to go back to HARS to see the rest of the exhibits.
Also what does everyone do with the amenity kits, I ended up throwing half of the contents away when I got home.
What do you do with face moisturiser, hand cream and lip balm, give me sunscreen, after sun cream and or hair shampoo stuff I can actually use.
Its good to see that toothpaste and brushes have gone away from the cheap and nasty 2cent variety.

Home Every little bit helps is a great organisation. Please don't throw them out. I

or

 

[RooFlyer]

Also what does everyone do with the amenity kits, I ended up throwing half of the contents away when I got home.

Mine, along with any new PJs go to the Hobart Women's Shelter.

 

[Lynda2475]

Great weekend, i had a fab time meeting so many new people. So envious of the amount of flying and travel so many of you are able to do every year. Huge thanks to the AFF crew for organising everything, great choices all round. Hope to be able to get to more events in future.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Hear hear from Mrs H and me too. Organising a group of that size without formal infrastructure like payment platforms etc is quite a hassle. Well done to those who contributed.

 

[CaptJCool]

Great weekend, i had a fab time meeting so many new people. So envious of the amount of flying and travel so many of you are able to do every year. Huge thanks to the AFF crew for organising everything, great choices all round. Hope to be able to get to more events in future.

It was great you came along to your first (?) event and your stories about South America Galápagos Islands, Peru, Cuba, Bolivia (Altitude) and places in between were enjoyable, Insightful and appreciated. I did like the “coke” stories......

Fear not, often it’s the case of needing both time and money and an employer (or self-employed) to do the extensive points-based frequent flying for which this forum excels in helping create.

So many good tips and quite some different ways to make that happen!

Points chasing
Credit card churning
Getting on good points partners (lenders, share traders) who offer rewards

Finding great airfare sales (and there was an unadvertised QF J price cut floating around for school holidays December yesterday that’s morphed into Premium Companion Sale) to earn cheap points, and I notice this for example which is a lower price ($449 than advertised $809)



Status run stories (especially as add-ons or extensions to other trips)
Mileage programs for cheap redemptions especially for domestic trips


I’m sure there’s more but that’s some of the weekends discussions in which I was within ear-shot....

Thanks to the great organisation, Support, who even created Skybed Mark III down at HARS (photo evidence earlier in the thread)

 

[cove]

Yes we get those amenity bags to a shelter too.
Sarah Jessica Parker had a group of swooners around her as she entered the Qantas check in area at the same time as us. Naturally I said WHO?
Bundy Bear do give your amenity kits a second chance.

 

[AFF Editor]

I and my +1 had a great time on Saturday night. Thanks to Mr & Mrs Cove, Mr & Mrs kookaburra75 and jch for being great dinner companions. Special thanks to Mr Cove for being so generous with his Moss Wood. Lovely to catch up with others I’ve met before too. Ernst’s talk was terrific and I hope Matt is able to load the recording as part of his podcast or perhaps have Ernst as a guest.

We did record Ernst's speech. The audio quality unfortunately isn't great because there is a lot of background noise (it was a busy restaurant after all).

So I have transcribed the speech and you can read it here: The History of Airport Slots - Ernst Krolke's Speech at AFF#13

 

[Lynda2475]

It was great you came along to your first (?) event and your stories about South America Galápagos Islands, Peru, Cuba, Bolivia (Altitude) and places in between were enjoyable, Insightful and appreciated.

Yep my first event and havent been scared off!

I saw super cheap SYD-MEL fares on the weekend of the Melb Xmas dinenr, so may pop down, just need to verify no work trip possible or chnage in family xmas dates first. The March Tassie trip may also be possible, but I wont know until early int he new year.

Points earning is relatively easy for me via cards, its time and $ for personal travel plus huge reduction in work travel that will see me back as a Pleb Silver next year. I try to do at least 4 weeks overseas each year and another week somewhere domestically and an odd long weekend here and there but without the regualr work trips and DSC offers gold in too hard to maintain when all your non reward travel is in Y.

 

[Fifa]

The cashback is showing in my account so I hope it sticks!!!

$15.17 has posted to my Cash Rewards account for our Marriott stay!
The Amex $100 cashback brought the total to $390 for two nights.

 

[Eija]

$15.17 has posted to my Cash Rewards account for our Marriott stay!
The Amex $100 cashback brought the total to $390 for two nights.

I must admit I enjoyed my first Marriott stay(especially Silvester’s Restaurant!) and happy with $499. I’m a member of Golden Circle(Shangri-La) who wanted $1,200 odd...so a no brainer. Totally blown away with your knowledge…might have to push record on iPhone because 95% is gone already Also a member of One Harmony(Okura) I have 5 x “One Category upgrade Coupon’s + 5 Suite/Deluxe Category 50% discount Coupon’s expiring 31/3/2020 that I can post if anyone knows how to be me

 

[support]

The thread for 2020 has been posted: HERE!