Around the world ski trip with Qantas and Finnair

[rugbyskier]

I recently returned home from an around-the-world trip on a Qantas/Finnair ticket in Business Class. The ticket was Melbourne-Tokyo-Helsinki-Munich-Helsinki-New York and Los Angeles-Sydney. I purchased separately Canberra-Melbourne and Sydney-Canberra flights with Qantas, New York-Salt Lake City with Delta and Salt Lake City-Phoenix-Los Angeles with American.

By way of background, I am a part-time ski instructor with over 20 years experience (I work weekends and the July school holidays) and I have a small business running a tour to Japan each Jan/Feb. This year it's a significant birthday, so I decided to treat myself and go around the world. I have friends in Germany, so I visited them and had 5 days skiing in Oberstdorf on the German/Austrian border. Coming back through North America meant skiing in either the US or Canada and Salt Lake City worked out the most convenient, so I had 5 days skiing in Utah.

I left Canberra and had the weekend in Melbourne with friends before flying to Tokyo on the Monday. I then had to go back to Canberra on the Sunday as I realised I hadn't packed my International Driving Permit, which was essential for the vehicle I had rented in Japan for the ski tour. I booked FF award seats at short notice, flew home and back to Melbourne in six hours.

I stayed overnight at an airport hotel and then had breakfast in the Qantas First Lounge before the flight. When I arrived at the lounge I was asked if I would like a spa treatment as there was an appointment free. I usually don't get to use the spa as I'm transferring from a domestic flight, so it was nice to get a neck and head massage before the flight (particularly given the stress I had put myself through the day before). So, nice and refreshed I boarded the flight to Tokyo.

It's a day flight so PJs aren't given out but I had packed a pair in my cabin bag just in case I wanted to sleep. In the end I didn't and I just relaxed watching some documentaries on the entertainment system and listening to my own music with my Bose headphones.

I decided to get into Japan mode early and ordered the Japanese bento lunch, which had a nice piece of grilled salmon and a tasty miso soup.

The flight left Melbourne late because of the congestion caused by an Etihad flight aborting take-off and gouging up the main runway the afternoon before. I counted 8 flights taking off and another 8 landing as we were at the taxiway threshold. We left an hour late but made up time and were only 10 minutes late landing at Narita.


Canberra from the first flight.



Outback NSW at 37000 ft on the way from Melbourne to Tokyo



Japanese bento lunch on the Melbourne-Tokyo Narita flight

 

[rugbyskier]

After a very successful ski tour, with lots of snow and a great group who had a ball, I had a couple of days rest in Tokyo before the next part of the trip. For the perspective of one of the tour guests, see QF WP's trip report.

I ended up getting a great tip from AFF which is useful for anyone flying out of Tokyo Haneda in the evening, the Villa Fontaine Hotel in the Airport Garden complex adjoining Terminal 3 offers day rooms for around $140AUD for 8 hours. I had the Finnair flight at 2155 and went out to Haneda early afternoon and had a day room. I always use the onsen at that hotel before flying out of Haneda and a single entry to onsen costs $50 plus another $10 for a locker for your cabin bag, so having unlimited onsen access during my stay made the day room great value. I ended up going twice and watching a little TV in between.

I picked up my ski bag from the Black Cat takkyubin luggage service, checked in at the Finnair counter and went through to airside, stopping at the JAL First lounge for a sushi, miso and Japanese beef curry dinner, before boarding the flight to Helsinki.

As I had dinner I changed straight into my Qantas PJs and went to settle down. The purser on the Finnair flight was slightly disappointed that I didn't want dinner, so I said "although I had dinner in the JAL lounge, I didn't have any dessert so that would be lovely, thanks". She was pleased at that and brought it to me straight away so that I could go to sleep.

Thanks to a certain Vladimir, the Finnair flight from Tokyo to Helsinki now goes over the North Pole. I was fortunate to wake up around 30 minutes before we went over the top and got some photos on the moving map. There was also a chance that the Northern Lights may appear but sadly that didn't eventuate.

After we went over the Pole I had a little chat with the purser and then a (very early) breakfast, as we ended up arriving into Helsinki an hour early at 3am local time. As it turned out it was too early for the lounge on the Schengen side of Helsinki Airport and I had to wait around in the terminal before it opened at 5am.

I had a shower and a coffee before boarding the flight to Munich. The flight was full of Finnish skiers heading off on a holiday in Austria. We landed on time in Munich but it took a long time for the ski bags to arrive, so I had a bit of a chat with my fellow skiers before picking up my bags and heading out to meet my Bavarian friend and the drive to his place near Munich.

View of Tokyo after taking off from Haneda.

Going over the North Pole



A very Finnish breakfast

Early morning into Helsinki

Been there, done that, got the certificate!

Coming into a foggy Munich, with the Alps in the background and the Olympic Tower peeking through on the centre-right.

 

[rugbyskier]

After catching up with my Bavarian friends and skiing in Oberstdorf, I did the return flight to Helsinki before flying on to New York. The intra-European flights in Business on Finnair have Economy seats with the centre seat empty and slightly more leg room. In Economy there are snacks and light meals available for purchase but in Business you get a small hot lunch.

I had a 3 hour connection in Helsinki, so had plenty of time to do the transfer from the Schengen side to the International side of the terminal. The Finnair long-haul lounge has a separate area for Finnair Platinum and Oneworld Emerald, with a dining room and sauna complex. I didn't try the meals but the menu was quite extensive.

The flight was 9 hours, departing Helsinki at 5pm and arriving in New York at 7pm, so we had sunset/twilight for several hours before it got dark over Labrador/Quebec. As it was a day flight I didn't use the PJs and just relaxed on the lounge seat. The Finnair business seat polarises opinion, as a bed I found it good as I could bring my knees up a bit when sleeping on my left side. As a lounge it is good to have it in bed mode with the legrest up as you can sit back with your legs stretched out, but a also found it a little bit limiting at times a the recline position is fixed.

We were served dinner not long out of Helsinki and then a supper 90 minutes out of New York. The menu has a little less choice than Qantas but the food was well prepared and tasty. The crew on this flight were a little more reserved but still chatty when I got up to stretch my legs and have a cup of tea in the galley.

We landed in New York on time and the baggage delivery at Terminal 8 was fast and I managed to beat the rush to the Immigration desks with a Cathay Pacific flight landing at the same time. I was in my room at the TWA Hotel adjacent to Terminal 5 within an hour of landing.

Berlin from 35000 ft on the way from Munich to Helsinki.

A six hour sunset on the way to New York.

Dinner on the HEL-JFK flight - Finnair serve two cold entrees and a hot main course

And dessert

Supper before landing in New York

 

[rugbyskier]

With a 7pm arrival into New York JFK and an 11am departure the next morning, I decided to stay at the TWA Hotel, which is the only hotel within the central terminal area of the airport. If you're interested in aviation history, and I'd imagine that most here would be, the TWA Hotel is highly recommended. The hotel lobby, restaurants and lounges are located in the old TWA terminal which was designed by famous Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and opened in the early 1960s. The old terminal has been restored and has historical exhibits, with a great 60s vibe. The hotel check in uses the original terminal check in desks and if you want to store large bags, they put them the old luggage belt (which isn't working). There are 60s pop classics playing over the PA in the public areas and the highlight is an old Lockheed Constellation on the old ramp which is now a coughtail bar. The rooms are in two modern wings which have been sympathetically built around the original terminal, but the décor in the rooms reflects the 60s.

Well worth a stay but I have a tip: make sure you get a room that doesn't have an interconnecting door with the adjoining room as these doors have no noise insulation. I was woken up at 1am by the selfish people in the next room having a loud conversation. Being 7am Munich time that was it for sleep for me.

With the exchange rate at the moment, the US is very expensive for food and accommodation (and ski lift tickets). A light breakfast of bagel and juice cost $35AUD.

Arriving at the TWA Hotel

My room, with vintage travel poster and rotary-dial telephone!

1960s travel posters in the lobby




A 1960s hair salon and Twister room in the lobby

Connie!



A familiar slogan on the boarding stairs.



A model of how the terminal looked in the 1970s.



A display of old TWA cabin and flight crew uniforms.




Umm, NO!

A re-creation of Eero Saarinen's 1960s living room

 

[rugbyskier]

I'll add reports for JFK-SLC and SLC-PHX-LAX-SYD-CBR flights in the next few days, together with reports on the skiing at Oberstdorf and in Utah.

 

[rugbyskier]

I had the gap in the around-the-world ticket between New York and Los Angeles, so I looked at options for some skiing and Utah came out the easiest to do, with the ski resorts close to a major airport with easy access to both the East and West Coasts. I looked at American Airlines first for flights from New York to Salt Lake City and then on to Los Angeles but Delta had a direct JFK-SLC flight so I decided to go with it and I booked American for SLC to LAX.

Travelling with a ski bag meant I would be up for a hefty charge if I flew Economy, so I ended up booking First Class (which really is equivalent to Qantas Domestic Business). However, booking First Class with Delta does not give you lounge access so I had to hang around at the gate lounge for the flight.

Delta was pleasant enough to fly with, the check-in staff at JFK took my ski bag and I didn't have to schlepp it around to the oversize baggage drop off. The cabin crew on the flight were friendly and helpful and the lunch provided was nice but not outstanding. After the long flights the day before and the disrupted sleep, I was tired and the last 90 minutes of the flight had me wishing it would be over soon.

Salt Lake City has had a major airport terminal redevelopment and it's really quite a good airport. I especially liked the ski/golf bag carousel where your bag comes out standing up in an individual container. Baggage was delivered fairly promptly and I was across town to my hotel at the base of the canyon up to Solitude and Brighton ski resorts in 75 minutes from landing.

Waiting to take-off at JFK, with the Manhattan skyline in the background


A good view of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan after take-off


The plane circled around over Long Island and Connecticut before crossing the Hudson River north of NYC.


Lunch on the Delta flight from JFK to SLC


Coming in over I-80 to land at SLC


The excellent oversize baggage carousel at SLC, with 54 containers for ski/snowboard and golf bags going around in a clockwise direction.


Finally to the Courtyard Marriott SLC Cottonwood. I liked the wallpaper.

 

[rugbyskier]

After 5 days skiing and a day sightseeing in Salt Lake City, it was time to come home. I flew with American from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles via Phoenix, with a six hour layover at LAX before catching QF12 to Sydney.

The trip started with a potential problem. We had boarded the CRJ and pushed back to head out to the taxiway, then waited, and waited... I thought to myself "This isn't good" and then the pilot came over the PA and told us that he couldn't get the right engine started and we were going back to the gate. I said to the fellow in the next seat "I wonder if they'll have to turn it off and back on again?" The engineering crew came onboard and then the pilot announces "we're just going to power down for a minute or two and power back up to see if that will start the engine." My seat neighbour burst out laughing and said to me "you got it!"

Well, it worked but several people decided to leave the plane as they wouldn't make connections in Phoenix, so we had to sit there for another 20 minutes with the engine running so that their bags could be offloaded. We eventually got away an hour late but made it into Phoenix only 40 minutes late. Fortunately I had a 2 hour connection, so I still had enough time to go to the AA Admirals Club to have some lunch. My flight was First from SLC to PHX and Economy from PHX to LAX. On the first flight we got a drink and a snack, and nothing at all on the second flight. Apparently American thinks that a 75 minute flight is too short to offer any service in Economy, they need to take a SYD-BNE flight on Qantas to see how it's done!

Being Oneworld Emerald meant I was able to get the front row of Economy, which had more legroom than Finnair Business intra-European flights and I had a vacant seat next to me, so it was more comfortable than the Munich-Helsinki flight despite no food or drinks.

We landed in LA on time and I had to collect my bags and schlepp them to the Bradley Terminal. Despite being Oneworld partners, if you have a separate ticket American can't tag the bags through despite the fact the gate agent at Salt Lake City could see on the computer that I was going all the way through to Canberra.

The highlight of the trip was going over the Grand Canyon.







Heading out to the runway at Phoenix on the way to LA.

 

[rugbyskier]

Despite getting into LA nearly six hours before the flight the Qantas check-in was open and I dropped off the bags and headed through security to the Qantas First Lounge. I had a three course dinner in the restaurant, starting with the entrée one can't go past, the salt and pepper squid. My first choice for main wasn't available so I had the sea bass which was very nice, and the ice cream sundae for dessert.

I had packed two changes of clothes in my cabin bag (long sleeve shirt for LA and shorts and a polo shirt for Sydney) so I had a shower and changed, then tried to kill a couple of hours before the flight boarded.

As I had had a big meal, I changed straight into PJs and put on the 'Do Not Disturb' light and went to settle down to sleep. To my horror, the seat wouldn't initially recline into the lie flat position and as the flight was full I was resigning myself to not getting any sleep. However on a second attempt it worked and I got around 5-6 hours of sleep.

After waking I listened to some music and got changed back into my clothes (I don't like eating in PJs on a plane). I had a coffee and chat in the galley and later got served breakfast early as the crew were aware I was awake.

We landed in Sydney on time but getting through Sydney is hell, that airport seriously needs upgrading. It's a total zoo and a stressful experience not helped by being the slowest to bring the ski bag out for collection, over an hour after landing and it was fortunate I'd allowed a 3 hour connection for the flight to Canberra. The line up for the green channel after baggage collection snaked around a couple of the baggage carousels, with one Border Force officer doing the screening.

One more time schlepping the suitcase and ski bag through an airport terminal, this time to Qantas Domestic Transfer, and then on to the bus for the scenic tour of the airfield and over to Terminal 3. The Qantas Domestic Business lounge is overdue for a refresh but still it was nice to get a coffee and biscuit. There was a big line up for the showers, so I just got changed into my summer clothes in the loos.

On to a Dash-8 for the last flight and finally back to Canberra.

 

[Quickstatus]

@rugbyskier unfortunately single tickets required even for OW connections.

Those ski carriers are also at DEN

 

[rugbyskier]

@rugbyskier unfortunately single tickets required even for OW connections.

Those ski carriers are also at DEN

I thought that might be the case, however it's something that the alliances should look at as sometimes people have to book separate tickets.

When I mentioned how good the ski bag carousel was I did hear that Denver had similar ones, which makes sense given that SLC and DEN would be the most popular major airports for skiers and snowboarders. Vancouver and Calgary should also look at getting them.

 

[rugbyskier]

Well, Japan has turned out to have its biggest snow season ever, after such a bad season last year.

It snowed every day I was in the Aizu region and I got the opportunity to coach some of the group on techniques for skiing in deeper fresh snow. I also taught QF WP's two teenage children to ski and was pleased with how quickly they progressed.

Fresh tracks at Grandeco (note the number of cars in the carpark)

One of Grandeco's advantages is all chairlifts are covered. That makes a big difference for staying warm on a big blizzard day.

Snow day! The view from my room.

Another blizzard and a huge lift line at Grandeco.

Made friends with a couple from Ibaraki Prefecture who were staying in the hotel. He is Japanese and she is Indonesian, they worked in fashion and met in New York.

Having to dig the rental car out after only two days. That's my rugby mate Jack, who helped me out on the tour.

At Nekoma South Side (formerly ALTS Bandai) with one of the rare times the sun came out.

Going up the ALTS Express at Nekoma.

Teaching the junior QF WPs at Grandeco

With the QF WP family at Grandeco.

Jack with Kazumi and Landra, they decided to come back from Ibaraki to ski with us again.

Going up the gondola at Grandeco. The hotel we stayed at is up on the right.

The clouds lifted briefly on the last day.

 

[Quickstatus]

Japan has turned out to have its biggest snow season ever,

And as a result there are 3 skiers and 1 snowboarder in our hospital at the moment...

 

[Quickstatus]

sometimes people have to book separate tickets.

QF wouldn't do it for me with a

QF SYD-MEL revenue connecting to a QF MEL-LAX classic reward - this was back before Rona and even though the rules said they would.

 

[rugbyskier]

The second skiing part of the trip was in Oberstdorf in Bavaria. Oberstdorf is Germany's southernmost town and is the base for seven ski areas straddling the German/Austrian border and all on a single lift pass. A totally different vibe to Japan and although there was a little less snow, the Alpine views are spectacular and the town was chocolate-box Bavarian.

It was interesting too that it was the only place I skied alone. Although I am at B1 language level in German (which is enough to make and hold general conversations) and was able to chat with people on the chairlifts, no one offered to ski together with them. I met an English fellow on the train from Munich who was going to a conference and we met up on the afternoon of my last day to have a ski together and I ended up giving him an informal lesson.

Views at the Nebelhorn ski area at Oberstdorf.

A classic Alpine view.



Zugspitze (Germany's highest mountain) in the distance.

At the Nebelhorn summit (four metres lower than Mount Kosciuszko)



Fellhorn ski area at Oberstdorf, the area is joined with Kanzelwand on the Austrian side of the border.


Skiing down the Kanzelwand side to the Austrian village of Riezlern. I forgot to carry my passport with me, that was naughty of me to cross the border without it.

Views on the Kanzelwand side.



Standing on the German/Austrian border.



The hotel I stayed at in Oberstdorf. I had half-board and the dinners were superb.

Views of Oberstdorf.

 

[Quickstatus]

Looks like you had excellent ski weather

 

[rugbyskier]

Some more photos of Oberstdorf.

 

[rugbyskier]

I'm planning to go back to Oberstdorf with a tour group in 2027.

 

[Quickstatus]

Oberstdorf

Mostly all groomed?. What's the snow characteristics