The totally off-topic thread

[Mal]

So much for going to the USA for the weekend.

Frustrating. However in the end, immigration requirements are your responsibility. I think Virgin should have let you proceed to Sydney, with you paying for your own way home if your ESTA didn't clear in time. But what they did, they had every right to do.

 

[marki]

Frustrating. However in the end, immigration requirements are your responsibility. I think Virgin should have let you proceed to Sydney, with you paying for your own way home if your ESTA didn't clear in time. But what they did, they had every right to do.

The extra mile (extra care) could have been done here and everybody would had a better outcome.

 

[Mal]

The extra mile (extra care) could have been done here and everybody would had a better outcome.

Agree. Virgin should also send out an email around 24 hours before a US Itinerary and remind passengers to enter their ESTA details (Other airlines do). I'm not sure how Qantas handles similar situations, but I think they might have allowed the flight to SYD while the ESTA was being sorted.

 

[Pushka]

What happened JohnK?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Agree. Virgin should also send out an email around 24 hours before a US Itinerary and remind passengers to enter their ESTA details (Other airlines do). I'm not sure how Qantas handles similar situations, but I think they might have allowed the flight to SYD while the ESTA was being sorted.

I think with QF the outcome would have been exactly the same.
SYD refused to check me in for a SYD-MEL flight connecting to QF9 as it was a one way ticket and I showed them my Aussie Passport instead of my UK one.
Would only allow me to check-in once I had shown my UK passport.

 

[JohnK]

Frustrating. However in the end, immigration requirements are your responsibility. I think Virgin should have let you proceed to Sydney, with you paying for your own way home if your ESTA didn't clear in time. But what they did, they had every right to do.

Agree Mal but all Virgin had to do was allow me to go to SYD. It would have all been sorted. No hindsight required either. Not a DYKWIA and I did not use this at any stage but I am a Gold. Go the extra mile as Marki mentions. Nope too difficult.

P.S. The people with luggage weight issues should not have been allowed to stay at check-in counter for ~10-12 minutes shifting things around when there were 2 people in international check-in queue.

Blame for me what happened this morning. I am man enough to accept responsibility without crying. But all these little things makes me feel that Virgin is still a LCC and has a long long way to get to where they think should be let allowed a full cost carrier. Has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I just need to gather all the information in my mind and write a feedback letter. The worst that can happen is what exactly? I have lost ~AUD600 already. So what else can I lose?

And I am not asking for compensation by either expecting identical flights or even credit for the flights today. Virgin refused me carriage even if they were in the right. I had every intention to take the trip and some poor decisions this morning cost me that opportunity.

 

[Moindardt]

Today I am spending about 8 hours on the road driving kids to and from sport, dancing, parties etc. Already thinking an apocalyptic event might not be a bad thing. No-one seems to care about anyone else or think they are responsible for themselves or their actions. Some examples:
1/ Car almost wiped me out pulling out from the side of the road. She was too busy drinking her coffee to bother looking over her shoulder or in her mirrors. Then told me i should have given way to her anyway.
2/ Girl riding a bike on the footpath, headphones in her ears, pulls out onto the road in front of a car and almost causes a 3 car pile up. Never once looked.
3/ Woman trying to cross the road abuses the car that she walked in front of, telling them they will have to wait until she gets a break in the traffic. She was 30m from traffic lights and it was a 4 lane main road.
4/ Guy pulls into the servo and go confused as to which side of the car the tank was on, so parked basically in the middle and takes up both spaces (the line was out to the road). Every time someone said something or gave him a look or honked the horn, he says at the top of his voice to his kids, "You don't want to end up like those rude people".
5/ Car drives up the wrong way and pulls into the carpark on the opposite side, facing the wrong way, of course stopped all traffic, because there was no parks on his side of the road.

This is after 2 hours. Today is going to be a long day.

 

[coco50]

I paid just under $A60 for a glass of champagne on the weekend! (Roederer Brut) . I could buy the whole bottle for around $A80 in the UK!

In 2004, eating at Equinox in Singapore, I asked for thr wine list. Then, a bottle of Banrock Station Shiraz was $112. 10x what you would have paid in an up market bottle-o in oz.

 

[cove]

JohnK I can feel your pain. It is never nice to be left behind when you are ready for a fun weekend in LOTFAP.

 

[JohnK]

Feel much better after a steak and home cooked chips and a nap. Back to real life.

...

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Feel much better after a steak and home cooked chips and a nap. Back to real life.....

Good. Now forget about this weekend and concentrate on what is going to happen in a couple of months time.

 

[jukebox333]

There is always talk of Kit Kat varieties on various trip reports to Japan...

The NYT has a not so in depth piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/14/w...p-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

I do like the gif, though....

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

YES and last month we tried several varieties ! We brought a box of the Sake ones home, also the Wasabi (only drron eats that one !) and I would not try the sweet potato one ! We saw several of the "Kit Kat" specialty shops.

 

[Moindardt]

I filled up a carry on bag with Kit Kat, Pocky etc. This is a cabinet I sent back to the kids to look at. there was far more in the main shops but many of the boxes were too big. Think I brought home 7 flavors of Kit Kat and similar with Pocky. Apparently they are all the rage even with kids hat don't do Japanese.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

You can even get sweet potato ice cream ! :shock: That is just so wrong !

 

[love_the_life]

I remember Pocky from when I was in Kyoto with the kids in the mid 90s. They loved them.

 

[Foreigner]

On Foxtel just saw 1975 boxing heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, one tough son of a gun. Fight went almost 15 rounds but referee stopped it in the last round and Ali won on TKO.

 

[JohnK]

You can even get sweet potato ice cream ! :shock: That is just so wrong !

Totally wrong. Feel much better now.

 

[serfty]

To generalise, "Sweet Potato" = "Pumpkin"; I have had some great [-]pimpkin[/-]Sweet Potato pie in my life.

It make more sense than Wasabi ... although that has it place ...

 

[Major]

It make more sense than Wasabi ... although that has it place ...

With lots of cold beer on standby