Erk To WPerth

[erkpod]

Got row 3 on the PER - MEL sector. I'll take it even though that means being in 3E. Obviously that confirms the flight's being operated by a 73.

Gee the entrance to the Vlounge is awkward near security! And the lounge is smaller than I thought. Fairly emprty now with no hi-vis to be seen.

 

[erkpod]

Breakfast of champions in the Vlounge.



Waiting for the screen in the Vlounge to show boarding. Even when I boarded, it still was not showing boarding had commenced.

 

[smit0847]

Got row 3 on the PER - MEL sector. I'll take it even though that means being in 3E. Obviously that confirms the flight's being operated by a 737.

Gee the entrance to the Vlounge is awkward near security! And the lounge is smaller than I thought. Fairly emprty now with no hi-vis to be seen.

I agree the entrance is in a strange spot- extremely close to security! I liked the layout of the actual lounge but the food offerings were minimal.

Get used to Row 3 being WP now- it's the best benefit! If you have other future flights booked ring up once WP and change the seating to Row 3.

What was the food like in J? That's the best part of the flight! Any pics of that?!

 

[erkpod]

Preparing to board at PER





VH-YVC prior to departure. FA Courtney saw me taking the latter pic & asked me if I got the pic ok. I did!



Legroom in row 3. I'm pleased to note a real good improvement to my staph infection aka my unicorn bite under that bandage.



The magic rope keeping me out of J. J was only 1/2 full despite me being told on Wednesday that J & row 3 were full.

 

[Intra]

The magic rope keeping me out of J. J was only 1/2 full despite me being told on Wednesday that J & row 3 were full.

Rest of the Plats. must of changed flights... I know I would do everything I could to get out of going from J to Row 4 in a 738 :?

I'm not a fan of the PER Lounge compared with BNE/SYD/MEL; MKY Lounge at least as the slick VA look/feel with it. The first half of the lounge is Ok, but when you go into the other area, it just looks like VA build an extension and chucked in some tables/chairs/TVs ect. in their to accommodate the wave of FIFO workers.

I lived in Perth for 14 months, took the trains on occasion. Every 15 minutes off-peak is much better than the 1/2 hour deal we have in Brisbane. The bus system is way out of wack though.

And yes, coughburn Central is still abit of a joke, even in its name. Went back earlier this year, drove through the place. Still just lots of construction... still more dust/dirt/sand than anything.

 

[markis10]

Waiting for the screen in the Vlounge to show boarding. Even when I boarded, it still was not showing boarding had commenced.

This has me puzzled

As for the lounge, its temporary and not that different to when it was a Golden Wing Lounge, kind of makes sense to not put to much into the area when your moving.

 

[erkpod]

This has me puzzled

As for the lounge, its temporary and not that different to when it was a Golden Wing Lounge, kind of makes sense to not put to much into the area when your moving.

I was one of the last to board & on the summary screens, it still showed go to gate. At no stage did I see it show boarding like other flights.

Think that's bad? This afternoon in the MEL Vlounge, they had a flight to Sydney that due to depart in about 90 minutes time according to the schedule but it was showing as departed. The lounge angels made an announcement & told people to disregard that info on the screen. They assured pax that the plane had not yet left.

 

[Bofter]

I think I might have been in the MEL lounge at the same time as you today as I heard that announcement

 

[erkpod]

Looking out the window somewhere over WA.



Time to fire up the WIFE.



I'm pleased to say that while limited compared to the long haul 777 offerings, there was way more on the WIFE on the 73 compared to the iPad & the Commodore 64 on Awful.



Time for some food. 3DEF selected the chicken. 3DF tells 3E (me) that there actually is some chicken under all that (Luke Mangan designed) rice but you have to go diving for it. 3F also tells me that there's chilli involved. 3E passes.



Greetings from FL 370.

 

[erkpod]

Flight Report
VA 684 PER - MEL
VH-YVC

Captain: Justin
CSM: Chris

I knew about a week ago that the A330 was now a 737. When I upgraded the MEL - PER sector to J on Wednesday afternoon, I was told J was full & that it was indeed a 737. Nor was row 3 available.

The departure was delayed by a few minutes due to the aerobridge not retracting. Safely retracted a few minutes later, we were off.

Smooth flight to MEL under blue skies (with white fluffy cloud) & I enjoyed row 3. I could have worked a bit harder & possibly got a J seat as it was half full but I was happy enough with 3E.

We were slowed by ATC a little coming into MEL but were close enough to time so I wouldn't miss my flight to OOL.

 

[erkpod]

Flight Report
VA 753 MEL - OOL
VH-YIV

Captain: Justin (I'm pretty sure it was the same flight crew who had just flown me PER - MEL).

CSM: Belinda

After a short time in the MEL Vlounge, there was a longish walk to gate 15.

Flight departed close to time & I saw a nice sunset. FA tried to charge me for a Coke until I reminded her that I was on a Flexi. After confirming that she indeed DYKWIA & reading the manifest, one Coke without charge for Mr 7A.

The CSM did make an error at the start of her spiel about the food service. She made an announcement as if the flight was going to BNE & not OOL but corrected herself shortly thereafter.


One the ground in OOL & taxiing to the gate,I found out via a friend on Twitter that she was just arriving into OOLto fly to SYD just like me. But she was arriving via Dad's Taxi, not in a 737 like me.

We arranged to meet outside the Vlounge because she doesn't have status. Once she arrived, I asked the lounge angel to seat us together. We only have time for a quick lap of the Vlounge before it is time to board.


Flight Report
VA546 OOL - SYD

It was a red E190. Can't tell you much more than that because I was flying with a beautiful woman. VH-WHAT? LOL. Captain Who?

It was my first flight as a WP (unofficially because my status review to WP hasn't happened yet, I hit 1000 SC on the last sector).

With excellent company, the flight flew by really quickly even if I was in row 24 due to now having a travel partner. I was in 24C & she was 24A. She says "I hope the person in the middle doesn't mind" as we were on the tarmac. I tell her that there shouldn't be a 24B because it's an E190. You are correct, Erk.

Mid conversation (that still could be going if things were favourable), the FA asks if we want drinks. I ask for a Coke, the FA asks for $4. I tell him I'm on a Flexi just as I have been on for numerous sectors this week. He tells me that a free Coke doesn't apply on this sector but it does on others due to different rules. I empathise with the FA & his trolley buddy because I know this is true. He urges me to tell VA via Facebook or email that the different rules are confusing & not clear to many people. I tweet VA's account when I fly so they know of me so I'll do that tomorrow.

The red jet arrives into SYD & my epic weekend of flight is over.

I'm on my train home writing this & can't wait to see WP on my profile.

 

[erkpod]

I think I might have been in the MEL lounge at the same time as you today as I heard that announcement

I was there for about 20 minutes at most. Glad I had some quality time there on Friday.

 

[erkpod]

Rest of the Plats. must of changed flights... I know I would do everything I could to get out of going from J to Row 4 in a 738 :?

I'm not a fan of the PER Lounge compared with BNE/SYD/MEL; MKY Lounge at least as the slick VA look/feel with it. The first half of the lounge is Ok, but when you go into the other area, it just looks like VA build an extension and chucked in some tables/chairs/TVs ect. in their to accommodate the wave of FIFO workers.

I lived in Perth for 14 months, took the trains on occasion. Every 15 minutes off-peak is much better than the 1/2 hour deal we have in Brisbane. The bus system is way out of wack though.

And yes, coughburn Central is still abit of a joke, even in its name. Went back earlier this year, drove through the place. Still just lots of construction... still more dust/dirt/sand than anything.

If I was flying direct PER - SYD I might have done the same. But because I went via MEL & OOL, my options were limited.

I wasn't going to blow 9000 points in J on a 73 compared to a 33. It was bad enough that I got Awful on the way over. I was happy with row 3 but would have liked J on a 33 that wasn't Awful or Broken on the way back.

I do like the Perth rail network - it has the advantage of newer trains & a newer network compared to SYD/MEL. It has a similar feel to the BNE network but that's the train driver in me speaking.

I want to go back to PER sometime soon, preferably for a lot longer than I did this weekend.

 

[erkpod]

My chariot from PER - MEL on arrival, VH-YVC





Red jets at MEL



Entering the MEL Vlounge (briefly) again.

 

[erkpod]

On VH-YIV waiting to depart MEL for OOL







VH-ZPG on the ramp at MEL as seen from VH-YIV prior to leaving for OOL.

 

[erkpod]

Sunset shots soon after leaving MEL bound for OOL.



Pre-company selfie outside the OOL Vlounge.



Home. Adding my Perth Thunder puck to my Sydney Bears puck & my Portland Winterhawks cowbell. This report now contains cowbell.

 

[erkpod]

I like the thread title!

I was wondering who would be the first to pick that up! That could only work on AFF! And there will only be the one time where I get WP for the first time.

So to sum up the trip, I of course would have loved to have gone for longer. But I got everything done that I wanted to do.

I'm pleased I was able to do the trip after all because of my recent health issue. Things have improved a lot. I was concerned that I'd not allowed to fly. I was allowed to fly & it worked out fairly well. Partly thanks to time & partly due to a change of dressing type, my pain has reduced a lot. It could be argued that being out of the house has helped too.

Of course, I'm a little disappointed that I got Awful on the way to PER & I couldn't get a 33 on the way back. Apart from the IFE, I had no problem with Awful in J but I would not have wanted to spend $1600 one way to get Awful or Broken or a 73 in J.

Overall, I can't really fault the crews on my 6 sectors & the lounge angels & staff. There were a couple of minor things but a lot of that comes to VA proceedures & I can understand why the crews do what they did.

OTR for each of the sectors was pretty good. Of course, there was the missed approach in OOL & the aerobridge that didn't retract in PER.

Vlounges were nice but the food is an issue. I don't expect a 3 course meal but something hot that I can eat would be nice. I'm sick of cold beef but thankful it was there. No hot dogs or party pies - I would have welcomed that. None of the Vlounges were overcrowded & were reasonably quiet.

Priority security & boarding were handy & one of the best perks of having status. I was HLO so priority baggage wasn't required.


I was annoyed with the hotel for the check in procedure & the lack of powerpoints near the bed but the location was great. Surprisingly quiet too considering the location.

Of course I loved the flying, the train trip & the ice hockey. The last flight & how that worked out was excellent. It was typical of how things work for me. Something that was unplanned worked really well.

As always, I loved doing the report in close to real time. I loved the interaction with people here & that someone could take photos of my plane & tell the world about my missed approach before I could.

It is thanks to many people here on AFF that helped me along the way to become WP (as I will be when my last 3 sectors credit & my review is done). There is a lot of respect, friendship & information freely shared that I would never have known by myself.

I've enjoyed this TR & reading other people's reactions to it. Doing it in close to real time sure helps.


So what's my next adventure you can read about?

In 22 days I leave again on a jet plane. I'm off to AUH (first time) in J (first time) on VA. I'm then flying to LHR (for the first time) on EY (for the first time) to London (my second time) for a couple of weeks. Then I'm off to YOW (first time) via DTW (first time) on DL (not first time). I'll be enjoying the eastern side of the Canadian way of life (first time) where I'm meeting up with my roomie on next year's 70000 Tons of Metal. So for the first time, I'm being shown around by a Canadian local.

After that few days is over, I return home with a rest day in both LHR & AUH, basically the way I came. And I can't wait!

 

[bass_ke]

Grand effort Erk! Enjoy those WP benefits!

 

[Steady]

Inspirational Erk, thank you. As well as your adventure - I enjoyed seeing a glimpse of what is one other ide of the fence in VA

Steady

 

[erkpod]

From Twitter a few minutes ago. Read from bottom up.