Sick of flying :(

[GoldCanyon340]

Juddles, what have the crews been like on your QF27/28 runs? I think you've mentioned some have been ordinary? I love it when you get a good crew.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

It is interesting, my travel since June has dried right up and I am starting to miss it greatly.

I have no travel booked until after Christmas ... last week I nearly booked a weekend to Singapore for later this month but managed to restain myself.

I've had downtime in the last three months. Living near a National Park I've done a lot of walking through there which is good to clear the mind and body but I very much miss flying and being at airports. If QF Anytime Access was still available I'd be more inclined to see friends and family off on their trips ex-ADL lol.

 

[Ausbt]

One of our senior guys flys J regularly and whinges on FB about it, including pics of his J seat, drinkies etc, all the while as his division makes a massive loss. Meanwhile his peer flys PE including the 17 hour Q haul LHR-PER on behalf of his own very profitable division. Maybe J-guy is just exercising transference over the poor performance but as an employee-shareholder I would really like him to just use videoconferencing from this point on. If you are whinging about your travel and you don’t need to (ie to chase business) then stop travelling and let the rest of us take your spot.

 

[juddles]

Juddles, what have the crews been like on your QF27/28 runs? I think you've mentioned some have been ordinary? I love it when you get a good crew.

Hi GoldCanyon - in a simple response - very hit and miss - some lovely crew, even spectacular, but also some shining examples of why so many prefer to fly other airlines.... :/ The bad ones make you feel like an absolute pest, even if you are in 1A as a P1 - how can that be??

 

[juddles]

One of our senior guys flys J regularly and whinges on FB about it, including pics of his J seat, drinkies etc, all the while as his division makes a massive loss. Meanwhile his peer flys PE including the 17 hour Q haul LHR-PER on behalf of his own very profitable division. Maybe J-guy is just exercising transference over the poor performance but as an employee-shareholder I would really like him to just use videoconferencing from this point on. If you are whinging about your travel and you don’t need to (ie to chase business) then stop travelling and let the rest of us take your spot.

Ausbt, you are most welcome to take my spot I travel due to personal/family needs. Noone, no business, funds my travel. I am not "whinging" - I am just sharing my personal pain with some fellow AFF people.

Your post may be misinterpreted by me, but it seems you harbour a grudge against that senior staff member. If he is gallavanting around the world at company expense, but managing his division at a "massive loss", then that is the fault of his superiors.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Hi GoldCanyon - in a simple response - very hit and miss - some lovely crew, even spectacular, but also some shining examples of why so many prefer to fly other airlines.... :/ The bad ones make you feel like an absolute pest, even if you are in 1A as a P1 - how can that be??

There are two CSMs that often crew a QF flight I take to Asia. They are spectacular, we have long chats in service downtimes and you walk off the aircraft feeling like a valued customer. But this year I've had shockers on domestic flights and you wonder why they bother getting out of bed in the morning.

Getting back in the saddle soon for a bit of domestic travel after time on the ground so I'll see if I'm properly rejuvenated for this flying lark.

 

[Ausbt]

Ausbt, you are most welcome to take my spot
Your post may be misinterpreted by me

Yep should have clarified, apologies juddles was in no way a shot at you. Yep, I think it's tinge of grudge, so the problem is me after all. Anyhoo...

 

[JohnM]

I'm sure it will be OK once you get aboard, mate.

I'm getting a bit stir-crazy not flying since early September but that will vanish on Sunday when I'm out of here xDXB-KRT in EK J.

 

[JohnK]

Never. I don't fly often enough to get sick of flying.

 

[browski]

I'm sure it will be OK once you get aboard, mate.

I'm getting a bit stir-crazy not flying since early September but that will vanish on Sunday when I'm out of here xDXB-KRT in EK J.

Hi John, this is way off topic (and I should probably have sent you a PM) but......, but could you answer 3 questions:

• Is there Visa on Arrival for KRT for Aussies? If not, is the visa process painful?
• Just returned on Sat from DAR-DXB-MEL on EK J. I frequently do DAR, EBB, ADD, LUN and NBO all the time, but now must head to KRT. Any reason why you take EK over QR or is the 6.00am PER (or MEL or SYD) departure (with great connection) just too damn good?
• Can you recommend a hotel (please!)?

 

[JohnM]

Hi John, this is way off topic (and I should probably have sent you a PM) but......, but could you answer 3 questions:

• Is there Visa on Arrival for KRT for Aussies? If not, is the visa process painful?
• Just returned on Sat from DAR-DXB-MEL on EK J. I frequently do DAR, EBB, ADD, LUN and NBO all the time, but now must head to KRT. Any reason why you take EK over QR or is the 6.00am PER (or MEL or SYD) departure (with great connection) just too damn good?
• Can you recommend a hotel (please!)?

First - you clearly do some interesting travelling that I may need to pick your brain on in the future .

There is VoA. I'm doing a tour, so they are arranging that. Whether I could have saved the USD135 fee for that service by doing it myself (and how easily), I don't know as I didn't bother trying. It's then another USD100 for the VoA itself.

This is all leisure travel on a FF redemption. EK was what came up. Out of PER at 2220 Sunday (A380), arrive DXB 0525; connect to KRT (B777) 1450. The layover is no big deal when slumming in the EK F lounge .

In KRT I'm staying at the Grand Holiday Villa Hotel on the first night before heading into the desert for two weeks and again on the last night. Again, that was organised by the tour company. Looks OK and location looks good: Grand Holiday Villa Khartoum, Sudan | Khartoum Hotel - Holiday Villa Hotels & Resorts. But I'm not a hotel fuss-pot.

Out of KRT at 1845, arrive DXB 0040, then DXB-PER 0245-1725 A380 F .

 

[Cossie]

I probably don't fly as much as you do Juddles, but I never seem to tire of it, the only thing I don't like is waiting in line for immigration/customs, however I seem to have lucky in that regard of late.

Contemplating going Sydney to Santiago, Chile next year for their new round of the world rally championship, hopefully meeting my friend from Montevideo there so he can translate for me as my Spanish consists of Hola!

Anyway 'chin up' and good luck!

 

[drron]

I know a little bit of Spanish but hasta la vista bebe doesn't seem to get me anywhere.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I definitely would be more sick of flying if I had to queue. Flying QF in Australia is virtually queue free for me now ADL has its premium security line. But for every ADL premium security there is a LHR/LGW immigration (until mid next year anyway)

 

[juddles]

I do really love flying, and due to circumstances I spent so much time (sheer hours) that being in a plane also feels like a "safe" spot for me. I became so accustomed that it seemed my home was aloft, from which I from time to time stepped off to do something...

But as Cossie says, it is the queues, and the other stuff associated with travel (jetlag being a biggie for me) that takes the shine off.

It is also much more fun with others. In feb doing a small run to Canberra with my wife and kids, and I really am looking forward to that! Not just the trip, but the flying part. My daughters love to be able to get into a lounge - just watching them enjoying such things as "free" icecream and juice machines makes me happy.

Anyway, it is 22 hrs till I get aboard again. One thing I do like as an aviation enthusiast is that when I do QF 28 I suspect it will be on VH-OEB - the oldest of QF's 747's, and one I have flown a lot. I don't know how long "Phillip Island" has left in her, but it cannot be long.

But I am in premium economy this trip . As much as the refurbed nose cabin (the old F part) is ok, I don't want to try for an upgrade on points (almost guaranteed to get it looking at almost full Y and W loadings, but lots of seats in J), as such an upgrade would come in too late for me to secure that nose section - the rest of J sucks on that aircraft.

So my plan is to yet again drown my sorrows in the SCL LATAM lounge, then grind through the hours aboard...

Woe me

BTW, speaking of "woe me", how dare browski hijack my sorrow thread with concise questions, and showing they travel to a heap of places I can only dream of!! Shame!

 

[JohnM]

We need @browski to open up a bit more .

 

[juddles]

I definitely would be more sick of flying if I had to queue. Flying QF in Australia is virtually queue free for me now ADL has its premium security line. But for every ADL premium security there is a LHR/LGW immigration (until mid next year anyway)

I loved my Colombia time as I had a form of fast-track automated immigration thing - very much like what australia has in that you go to a machine, not a person - but in Colombia almost noone had this so my biggest queue there ever was ONE person in front of me.

In contrast, doing the QF28 milkrun from SCL to SYD, you arrive early evening, shattered, and despite being a premium pax, there is no such thing as priority luggage, and they insist on feeding all the bags onto a carousel that can hold about 20 bits of luggage. That part is always sheer agony. Each time I have to wait whilst 400 other people wander of the plane, stuff around with immigration, then linger in duty free, before they eventually take their bag off the carousel which allows just one more bag to pop up.

AArrrrgggghhh! I started this reply almost calm, but am now getting upset again!!

 

[GoldCanyon340]

I loved my Colombia time as I had a form of fast-track automated immigration thing - very much like what australia has in that you go to a machine, not a person - but in Colombia almost noone had this so my biggest queue there ever was ONE person in front of me.

In contrast, doing the QF28 milkrun from SCL to SYD, you arrive early evening, shattered, and despite being a premium pax, there is no such thing as priority luggage, and they insist on feeding all the bags onto a carousel that can hold about 20 bits of luggage. That part is always sheer agony. Each time I have to wait whilst 400 other people wander of the plane, stuff around with immigration, then linger in duty free, before they eventually take their bag off the carousel which allows just one more bag to pop up.

AArrrrgggghhh! I started this reply almost calm, but am now getting upset again!!

Zen, Zen, Zen.

Longest wait I had for luggage was at LAX. Arriving in QF F I had to wait *at least* 45 minutes from the first bag appearing. May have been longer as it was 2009 and my brain attempts to remove this memory from existence. It was a good crew on the flight though so swings and roundabouts.

 

[juddles]

Zen indeed! I will try this moment to retreat to that and contemplate.....

 

[mrsterryn]

I think @juddles for some of us you put flying into perspective.
Many years ago I had almost weekly flights to Canberra from Sydney that was for a year or two (didn't know about status in those days )
My son was quite young , I was recently divorced and it was so difficult
My travel now is all self funded and for enjoyment
However as you have mentioned you miss your family. I am fortunate as mine is for fun that I can reduce significantly next year when my son has his first child
I hope the flights are pleasant and your bags first off