Seven weeks on a DONE4 plus a cruise with hand luggage only.

[simongr]

In the Flagship lounge, they have complimentary T-Mobile Wireless 24h cards available. Just ask! Obtain one, regesiter and use in any T-Mobile 'hotspot' (including most A/C's) for the next day or so.

• New York John F. Kennedy International Airport

Is that still the case? When I was there in September they said the cards would be phased out within a month and there would just be free wireless.

 

[dragonman]

To get to the JFK Flagship Lounge that overlooks gate 12, go straight ahead from x-ray for ~50 metres then up elevator/stair to the left of the concourse. (There's some on the right as well, but you have to walk back across.)

In the Flagship lounge, they have complimentary T-Mobile Wireless 24h cards available. Just ask! Obtain one, regesiter and use in any T-Mobile 'hotspot' (including most A/C's) for the next day or so.

• New York John F. Kennedy International Airport

And of course that's what I should have done but at 6:00 am ......

 

[serfty]

Is that still the case? When I was there in September they said the cards would be phased out within a month and there would just be free wireless.

Maybe - I did obtain one in ORD FL in early November.

 

[JohnK]

The MD-11 seemed just fine to me. Given sufficient leg-room, comfort and service I am not sure it matters to me what kind of plane it is. Anyway a two thumbs up for Finnair. It was a great experience.

I like the MD-11. Not a very popular aircraft but I enjoyed the AY tag flights in business class BKK-SIN and BKK-HKG. I did a few of these and it is a shame AY no longer operates the tag flights on these routes.

 

[Keith009]

A good report thus far. Thanks for the effort mate.

 

[dragonman]

AA 2297 MONTREAL/MIAMI BUSINESS
AA 703 MIAMI/CHICAGO (O'HARE) FIRST
AA 1417 CHICAGO (O'HARE)/LAS VEGAS FIRST

Well and truly on the run home now its 4 nights in Vegas and the show is over. Well there is the Asia component to go but that will be sometime in the future.

The day starts with a 6:15 flight from Montreal. Ice on the road (and its -20 degrees) means I arrive at the airport at 5 am. The customs and immigration process takes 5 minutes and the dreaded SSSS is nowhere to be seen. 2 hours to get into Canada 5 minutes into the USA.

The flight to Miami leaves on time and an omelette is served. Amazingly it is really good, comes with ‘breakfast potatoes’ and hits the spot nicely. On time arrival into Miami so with a 90 minute connection no probs, off to find the AC.

I cannot believe my luck when I see the connection to ORD is on time as I only have a 60 minute connection time for the flight to LAS. The plane boards just a few minutes late and I cannot help but notice that the air-bridge does not retract when everyone is on board. Then the news that due to an earlier snowstorm in Chicago we will not have clearance to land unless our departure is delayed one hour. So we sit and wait and I hope like hell the LAS flight out of ORD is also delayed. Eventually we go and the meal service this time is a beef enchilada, which is quite good, and I figure that I can probably get from ORD to LAS via DFW if need be. Prior to arrival the FA tells me that the LAS flight will be running late.

At ORD I go find the Flagship Lounge and its ok, I guess the QF and BA F lounges spoil a person. Its certainly better than the AC. Just 30 minutes and off to the gate where I wait and wait and then we eventually leave 90 minutes late but I ain’t complaining. A beef roll is served and it’s ordinary. There is no AV system so I watch episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine on the laptop and in no time we are there. Both this flight and the last one are full.

So its certainly the long way from YUL to LAS but it gets me 320 SC’s and nearly 10000 FF miles.

 

[dragonman]

The Final Instalment

This trip as the title suggests was a challenge. A 5 day cruise and 40 more days around the world with just carry-on luggage. I write this from home (in Australia) and the question is did I complete the challenge. It has been 17 flights with very few problems. Most flights on time. All connections made. Mostly a very good experience indeed. Platinum status extended to Nov 2009. But I get ahead of myself ….

I spend the last 4 days in Las Vegas 2 with friends (a chance to use the washing machine) and two at the Treasure Island casino. Good hotel with great views of the strip from the 31st floor (saw the fire at the Monte Carlo casino) and a win at a poker tournament and its all excitement. Shopping at the outlet mall (3 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of jeans) and then the problem of fitting all the new stuff into the existing bag. No way. So I buy a simple bag and hope that I can stuff the laptop and new stuff into it. Then there’s the matter of getting them both on the last 2 flights.

Las Vegas – Los Angeles AA 3105 (American Eagle Embraer RJ140)

Check-in at the airport and I get the boarding card for the upcoming LAX-SYD flight as well. The AA lady notices that I have two bags and assures me that I will have to check-in one at LAX. I tell her that I hope not, and am amazed she lets me on the AA flight with both of them. The larger one is checked at the door of the plane by the valet guys, no probs I know that it will be returned to the aircraft door at LAX.

Seat 1A means I have no probs storing the other bag and its an uneventful flight to LAX and the other bag is duly returned as promised. The American Eagle terminal is remote so it’s a bus to Terminal 4. I decide to check out the new OneWorld TBIT lounge but the catch is that if I do I have to clear security again . If I stay in terminal 4 and use the AA F lounge I don’t. So it’s the T4 lounge for me, and the 4 hours or so passes quite quickly.

Los Angeles – Sydney QF 12 (business)

I struggled with the idea of up-grading on points to F, but decide that since its an overnight flight it probably is not worth it. The flight turns out to be completely full anyway. I have seat 11A, which is upstairs and bulkhead. Absolutely no questions asked about the 2 carry-on bags. Heaps of room and the side compartment stores the laptop. Breakfast is pre-ordered and pre-takeoff drinks offered and we depart about 30 minutes late.

From the beginning the AVOD system works perfectly, and then it gets re-booted, seems it was not perfect for the Y pax. At any rate it worked flawlessly thereafter. When it works it is a far superior product to any of the OW airlines I flew on in this trip.

Dinner was steak, well cooked. PJs offered and I doze off watching some docos. Brekkie is scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with a vanilla-banana smoothie. The new express card ends up in queues longer than the E-passport I used last time at passport control. But its fantastic at customs.

So, dear reader, I did it. Saved myself the best part of a full day standing around carousels, and BA never got a chance to lose my luggage. A great experience overall and I even finished this trip-report. Amazing.

 

[serfty]

... I decide to check out the new OneWorld TBIT lounge but the catch is that if I do I have to clear security again ...

Nice report,

.

Just a note - as QF12 departs from T4 you would not have been able to utilise TBIT in any case.

 

[dragonman]

The seven weeks were long ago but the DONE4 is not finished. This report is the first of the three SWP legs. The last 4 legs finish in Tokyo later this year

SYDNEY-DARWIN
QF 846
Business Class

The trip starts on a bad note when I get to the QP and realise I have left the QC2's at home. Ah well I figure I will look for a reserve pair of semi-decent headphones at the airport. Turns out at T3 there is not one single gadget shop.

The flight is delayed for an hour (late arrival incoming plane). When it does board its a free-for all no consideration for anyone. We sit on the ground for an hour because of an impending storm.

Food on board is salmon or a salad. The meal is ok. I try hard to think of why I thought QF J domestic was good. Can't remember and it ain't obvious.

 

[oldbold]

ROV?
Rostov-on-Don?
My most unfavourite airport in Russia!
Memories of there being no wheelchair for my wife, of being forced to stay overnight at a truly, truly dreadful Soviet-era airport hotel, of being woken at midnight by AK47-bearing military police to check that we were not trying to immigrate illegally, of not being able to change money, of having to employ five (5!) porters to carry our bags across the carpark to the hotel, and of the relief to finally board Lufthansa (and getting an upgrade from their friendly manager).
Nice city, though.