AFF Gathering #17 in BNE on 18 - 20 October 2024

We're pleased to announce that the 2024 AFF annual gathering will be held in Brisbane, the sunny capital of Queensland!

The weekend of Friday 18 - Sunday 20 October 2024 has been chosen for the event. As per past years, there will be a welcome dinner on the Friday evening, optional activities on Saturday and a main dinner on Saturday evening. There may also be an optional activity on Sunday in the late morning.

All AFF members (and +1's, etc.) are welcome to attend. Most people usually fly in on Friday afternoon and leave on the Sunday afternoon/evening.

Your lead organisers for this year's event are @NM and @QF WP. Other Brisbane-based members are also welcome to volunteer to assist.

We'll update this thread over the coming months with more information about the planned activities, dinner venues and costs, which we expect to be similar to past gatherings. There will be a $5 registration fee per participant, plus the cost of any activities and/or meals that you choose to join.

For now, please feel free to let us know in this thread if you think you'll be able to make it! For those unfamiliar with the AFF terminology:

• "Platinum" means you're planning to attend and have booked flights/accommodation
• "Gold" means you're likely to attend but will need to confirm at a later time
• "Silver" means you're unlikely to attend at this stage.
• "Bronze" means you're unable to attend.

The AFF Leadership Team can provide support in terms of money collection and distribution, and editing this thread as needed. If something needs to be updated, please simply report the post with the update so anyone on the team can action it (starting a conversation only alerts one person).

We're looking forward to seeing you all in Brissie!

 

[Dantas]

Flights out of MEL grounded, I'm going to miss my connection to BNE. It was a business classic flight reward so not super optimistic there'll be another J seat to rebook onto. Qantas lounge is packed and some healthy amounts of alcohol being imbibed

I’m just landing in MEL. Is the Spice Bar open? Maybe we can pretend we are at Chu the Phat? I’ll be there in 10 mins

 

[RooFlyer]

Sebel. Sniff. Should be adequate









Currently enjoying coughtails in the bar with some fellow AFFrs

 

[Ade]

Boarded QF 1058 CBR-BNE. Almost missed this flight. Got late at work, and then got carried away in an impromptu work meeting with a colleague that I ran into at the airport. Talk about opportunistic meetings eh!

I was the last person to board after a few repeated calls - name blasting in the airport speakers. One good thing I guess is, QF has got a new staff member in CBR. who is able to pronounce my name very correctly

 

[AIRwin]

Same here - Oktobeerfest Happy Hour work drinks

I'm on my way over now

 

[StayGoldPonyboy]

Off to Julius Pizzeria for lunch

Love that place, highly recommend. Hope you enjoyed.

 

[StayGoldPonyboy]

What better way to get the day started than photographing some Queenslanders !

Out on a 50cent fare!

You would have gone right past me, hitting some fuzzy yellow balls on the Milton courts (just past the xx_X brewery in your photo).

A family event means I can't attend this weekend but I will keep my eyes peeled for likely looking AFFers at BNE airport Sun a.m.

 

[CaptJCool]

You would have gone right past me, hitting some fuzzy yellow balls on the Milton courts (just past the xx_X brewery in your photo).

A family event means I can't attend this weekend but I will keep my eyes peeled for likely looking AFFers at BNE airport Sun a.m.

Oh wow
For those missing their rugby fix




Sunset over mt Cootha (?)

I’ll dawdle back in awhile

 

[patrickw]

Love that place, highly recommend. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks, I enjoyed the Pizza Special and Chinnoto. Staff were very friendly and were more than happy to convert my takeaway order into a dine-in. Just hope I still have space for drinks and dinner . The food coma nap probably helped

 

[straitman]

We have landed and should be there by about 1945.

 

[CaptJCool]

A warm welcome from atop

 

[Flyfrequently]

Please give a special welcome to .... oh wait, its a surprise, you'll have to wait until tonight to find out.

And for those of us playing along at home, we wait patiently @NM…
Enjoy!

 

[Hvr]

The food is delicious and we're definitely Chuing the Fat.

 

[samh004]

And do note that we have two special guests coming tonight (Friday night dinner). Some will also know the other special guest and some will have the opportunity to meet them for the first time. QF WP and I have known this special guest for many years and they have a wealth of knowledge about FF programs travel and on-line forums. Please give a special welcome to .... oh wait, its a surprise, you'll have to wait until tonight to find out.

Wonder who it could be?

 

[Katie]

A warm welcome from atop
View attachment 412463

Oohh, you waited til we arrived to take a photo!

 

[tdimdad]

From the back corner. Where the cool kids sit, I mean...

 

[AIRwin]

From the back corner. Where the cool kids sit, I mean...
View attachment 412488

Looks like I'm in the emergency exit window seat then

 

[Mr_Orange]

Great evening, good food and very interesting chat with our special guest. It felt as though a couple of us monopolised him but I guess we must have just been that interesting .

Enjoy the rest of the weekend's events for all those involved.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Great evening, good food and very interesting chat with our special guest. It felt as though a couple of us monopolised him but I guess we must have just been that interesting .

Enjoy the rest of the weekend's events for all those involved.

Very enjoyable evening.

Fascinating to hear the guest’s perspective of culture in the airlines at which he has worked.

In particular the change during the tenure of a long term leader.

 

[bPeteb]

Oi. Pig And Whistle across the road

 

[QF WP]

Was a great night, meeting all those new and old faces alike. Yes, for those playing at home, the guest was Peter Collyns, former RGM Qld for QF.

Some samples of the dinner fare:











Think I missed some as I was up and down like a yo-yo

I’m sure some are kicking on but It’s m in bed about o turn out the light. See all the tour goers in 8.5 hours