North America - Summer 2023

[cjd600]

Just for interest how did you pay for your subway tickets? I understand that they have a new contactless card system now.

Just tap your Aust credit card

 

[Lynda2475]

Yes, you can tap on with your credit card. And that's what I did except for when I had to pay the Airtrain exit fee when you have to go to a ticket machine, pay and get a ticket to 'get out'.

And those Air Train machines accept cards

 

[snabbu]

Just for interest how did you pay for your subway tickets? I understand that they have a new contactless card system now.

Applepay - $USD 2.75 for just about any subway trip. The Airtrain metro card you buy at Jamacia doesn't do Applepay, you need a physical card or cash.

 

[NSun]

By the time I was finished up at the stadium it was 5.30pm. Rather than go straight back to town, I took an Uber 6 miles south east to a steakhouse for dinner. It was a franchise called Longhorn Steakhouse than was very Texas-themed but apparently has restaurants nationwide.







I went for Flo's Fillet. Worth a thousand smells.



I then walked across the road then about 2 miles north to a Walmart. It is unbelievable how big they are - it's like a Woolworths, Bunnings and K-Mart all in one.





I went and bought myself a dessert. Strawberry mousse with a cheesecake base.





Then it was an Uber ride back to my hotel downtown.

 

[NSun]

I woke up about 6am the next morning. I went on a walk into Deep Ellum, the entertainment district of Dallas.





Then caught the DART light rail to DFW. It took an hour but got to see a fair part of the city, including surpassing Dallas Love Field Airport. I liked how all the lines went through the same rail line in the middle of the city.







Unfortunatly, the DFW stop only gets you near Terminal A and B. To get elsewhere, you seemingly need to catch some other shuttle bus or connect airside. Was no big deal as I cleared security in Terminal A and caught the airside Skylink to Terminal D to the Flagship Lounge.

DFW is the largest Oneworld hub on the planet. I took this photo because I recognised that 787 (N832AN) as one I'd been on before - took me up to Chicago last November.





I made myself a lunch in the Flagship Lounge - was actually pretty decent.




Then I caught the Skylink to Terminal C to board a 2.5 hour flight to Las Vegas.

 

[NSun]

It was an uneventful 2.5 hour flight to Las Vegas, a city which I'd never visited before. Once landed, there's no doubt you're there though.




I booked a hotel called the Golden Nugget in 'Downtown Las Vegas' and caught an Uber there. One of the first things I saw was Allegient Stadium which will host the next Superbowl. That's going to be some night in Vegas, next year - you would go to the city even if you didn't have a ticket to the game because you know there'll be so much on around the place.



Some shots of the Golden Nugget













Now there's more to come from my Vegas visit. But I think I should say that I really regret staying in that part of Las Vegas because it seemed the real area where everything was 'happening' was around Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio. In the sense that there was a slot more to do and there were more people around. The fact that there's a monorail that doesn't even go as far as the 'Downtown' area sums it up for me. The hotel did the job but wouldn't go back simply because of the fact that the only pool there closed at the pathetically early time of 7pm.

 

[NSun]

I ended up walking to the northernmost monorail stop to go to the real 'downtown area'.





There were plenty of these.






Eventually I made it to the northernmost stop and caught it to the southernmost stop - the MGM casino.

 

[NSun]

I walked through the casino for a bit and made my way to the Strip.









Yes, it is Raiders town - the team that lost to Baker Mayfield when he had less than 48 hours to study the playbook (if you know what I'm talking about, which I suspect not all people I see wearing these hats in Australia do).



I visited a few stores including M&Ms. This was virtually identical to the one in London except it had an MLB mix



And a Coca-Cola store too.





I ended up purchasing one of these signs (the 'In the distinctive bottle' one). Cost about US$20. I also bought a Cherry-flavoured Coke and that is 10x better than the Raspberry ones I've seen in Woolworths in the last few months.

 

[NSun]

More of the real Downtown Vegas. I explored two other casinos - the Pink Flamingo and the one that was Parisian themed (I forget the latter one's name).

 

[cjd600]

The hotel did the job but wouldn't go back simply because of the fact that the only pool there closed at the pathetically early time of 7pm.

I've never stayed downtown, but if it makes you feel better most of the pool decks on the Strip aren't open any later than that....

 

[craven morehead]

Well, its time for another trip report. After planning to return to Europe in June I cancelled those plans as soon as I saw the new SYD-AKL-JFK route being launched and was able to snag a reward seat in J on the second flight. That was last August and I spent several months thinking about where else to go. Obviously I'd be in New York, Auckland & Los Angeles (I got a return award seat out of there), but after some thought decided to visit New Orleans, Texas & Las Vegas.

Kicking the report off from the Sydney F Lounge on the Thursday night before the Friday. I booked my SYD-AKL flight separately and caught up with a relative for brunch in Auckland during the day.

Had a Manhattan Spritz coughtail then buffalo mozzarella, stir fried duck and pavlova. I have to say the stir fried duck was one of the best dishes I've had in the F lounge.

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Was a standard 737 Trans-Tasman flight. But getting after 12am is never fun anywhere especially in Auckland. It seems a handful of other flights from the South Pacific land at the same time and there consistently tends to be several people who carry all their worldly possessions with them. Hence it always takes at least 20 minutes to get out. I booked a hotel in Manukau and got a taxi only to get ripped off NZ$95 for a 15 minute cab ride. There was nothing I could do but pay the fare as my bag was in the boot. In retrospect I should've just booked the Novotel at the Airport as I would've parted ways with the same amount of money than I did with the taxi and hotel. Or perhaps spent $5 to activate my roaming and book an Uber. Anyway...

Fast forward to Friday at 2pm and I am back at the airport checking in for QF3 to New York. For the first time I got an SSSS on my boarding pass, obviously a punishment for booking a one-way flight (I never got it on any other flight - even the flight back which was one way too). But it wasn't that bad in Auckland - it's done before you enter the gate and its not much worse than having the 'random' explosives scan at domestic security, only they check your electronics are on too (but they don't go looking through them). I went to the gate early because the AKL lounge was so crowded it wasn't funny.

VH-ZND was our chariot. This was only my second flight on her, the first being the Great Southern Land scenic flight in 2020. I allocated myself 5A when I first booked it but 1K opened up 80 hours out and snagged that.

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Lining up for takeoff...

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And on our way - flight time of 14 hours and 55 minutes.

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Dialling in for another TR

 

[NSun]

Then I went back 'Downtown' and had dinner. I have an uncle who lived in Chicago for a few years who told me when I said I was going last year I had to try 'deep dish pizza'. I didn't get a chance to because the franchise recommended didn't seem to have any shops downtown. Well tonight I finally got the chance as I noticed a Chicago-style diner at the 'Four Queens' casino that was a block away from the Golden Nugget.

It was nice to give it a try but I couldn't finish the crusts because I felt full.



More of Fremont St after dark.








There was a Bon Jovi tribute band performing here.

 

[NSun]

The last stop of the trip would be Los Angeles to meet up with QF12. So I booked a 9am flight from Las Vegas to LAX for the next morning and took an Uber to the airport.

This was the calm after the storm the next morning.







Todays aircraft was N531DA, an A321neo that had only been delivered during the June quarter. Didn't take many pics but I did like the mood lighting, entertainment screens and complimentary headphones. What I didn't like was that everyone around me kept their windows firmly shut for takeoff and landing . I mean, even if it isn't illegal not to (I know its not illegal in the US), why would you want to miss the views, especially coming into LA?



Upon landing I received a text from Qantas telling me the second meal would be altered due to a fault with the refrigeration system on the aircraft. 'We have tried to rectify the issue but do not want to cause further inconvenience by delaying the flight'. Now, fair enough if it was later in the day. But to get it only a quarter of the way into that aircraft's 16 hour layover just seemed like a bit of a cop-out. I know there are supply chain issues across the world, but don't Airbus have facility in Alabama as well as one in Europe? As I'll get to, the second meal was good in the end.

Anyway, we parked at T3 and I decided to catch a bus to TBIT and see if I could have an early lunch at the F lounge. I also wanted to see if I could be checked in because I couldn't online (I feared I'd been given SSSS again and I had heard it was worse when you get it in the US). This was another one way flight.

I took a bus which had great views across the tarmac.



I got there at 11am and the breakfast menu was still on. So I went with museli, yogurt with bananas and honey plus toast.



Then after waiting half an hour, came back for some tacos and a sundae (with banana, dulce de leche, pecans and honeycomb).

 

[NSun]

Then set off to town having been well fed. I wasn't able to be checked in, had to wait to get to the desk that night, although I wasn't ultimately given SSSS. I walked airside from TBIT all the way to T8. It was a beautiful day and a perfect 22 degrees, not too hot, not too cold.





Then I exited the sterile area and walked down to Aviation station. That under construction train station which will stop right LAX cannot come soon enough in my view. I know I could've caught a bus there but I wanted the walk and didn't feel like waiting after my experience last time at LAX where I ended up having to free-ride another hotel bus to get me to my own. It was a greater issue on the way back to LAX.



Caught three metro lines all the way to Hollywood/Western to catch a bus to the Griffith Observatory. I don't know if its just me, but it seems to be the problem of antisocial behaviour on the metro is getting worse every time I visit LAX based on who I have the fortune of sharing the carriage with. Maybe it is just a problem on the line I catch but I'll leave it at that.

 

[NSun]

I ended up going a station too far and missing a bus so by the time I got to the Griffith observatory it was after 4pm. But it was worth the wait.







Then back down the hill and on a bus (taking another 1.5 hours) to my beloved Santa Monica.





The Santa Monica mall just always reminds me of Westfield Warringah mall because it is similarly designed.

 

[NSun]

Time to close our the report. By 8pm, I caught the Big Blue Bus all the way to LAX which took about an hour. You get dropped off at this 'Bus Terminal' that is about 10 minutes walk away from LAX and there's another bus that can take you the rest of the way. I waited about 10 minutes then decided to just walk myself. I have been a defender of LAX just because of the lounges (and because I've had long waits at DFW now that QF7 gets in later) but I will admit that it seriously needs that station. But in walking, I got there faster than I otherwise would have anyway.




I didn't partake in any meals but had a 'Clover Club' coughtail - a gin, vermouth and raspberry based one.



Boarded at 11pm, the aircraft was VH-OQB, marking the 3rd time in 18 months I'd been on it after only flying it once pre-COVID. I completed my set of amenity kits with the one onboard. I decided to wear my Rebecca Vallance PJs to see the reaction and I did get a few crew members asking my how it is.




Our captain told us in our pre-flight announcement that CSM Shaun was one of the best CSMs at Qantas and he wasn't wrong.

The meal service was done just 1.5 hours into the flight and I was glad about that as I wanted to get to sleep. And Shaun delivered each and every dish (at least mine).

There's no 'rush' to get sleep on long flights back from the US as there would be from Asia, but I was quite tired having been up for 20 hours. I jumped straight to the main with chicken breast and Mexican rice.



And chocolate mousse cake. I took a pic of it without having 'dug in' but you otherwise might not see it was chocolate mousse.



10 minutes after takeoff we saw a rocket launch right outside the window. Unfortunately couldn't get a pic of it as the cabin lights were left on.

I ended up sleeping for about 9 hours and adjusting back into Australian time seamlessly. This was breakfast. Rather than the card we had a 'trolley' service and I went with museli and a couple of pastries. Only thing missing that I'd normally have was yogurt. So in the end, no harm done from having the refrigerator out of action.




Sunrise.









And with that back home.

Having now been to the US thrice in 18 months, I probably won't go back until Thanksgiving 2024. Next 'overseas' trip is to New Zealand in a couple of weeks but it's a quick weekender to catch up with family - I do 3-4 times a year.

In terms of trips outside Australiasia, I am spending this Thanksgiving in Vietnam and Cambodia via Singapore. It is also possible I might be sent on a work trip to South Africa some time before March next year and similar to what I did with India, I will try to do some sightseeing if I get a day or two off - I'd love to do a safari.

Thanks for reading.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for the TR

 

[craven morehead]

Another great TR

 

[MG1]

Brilliant @NSun. This brought back memories of places I've been to and showed me what places that I'd like to go to (such as New Orleans) are like.