Tr per - hk - jfk - ewr - yow - lax - los - lax - hk - per

[clazman]

Off topic but relevant, one of the reasons we go to North America is to save on shopping, but good old Apple dosnt like to play. 16mb iPad mini 3 is $4 cheaper here... Grrrrrr

 

[clazman]

Small side trip to Montreal by road.

To drive from Ottawa to Montreal is relatively simple on a dual lane freeway.
Drivers keep to the right so, very easy to overtake if you are in a hurry, be warned on the 2 hour drive saw plenty of police radar traps.

I though the highway was poorly maintained due to the frequent bouncing around of the car, but locals have told us it is due to the perma freeze and as it warms up the bounce will disappear.

Price of gas (petrol) in Ottawa was 95c a litre but in Montreal is a $1.02

Staying at the Le square Philips hotel and suites in the centre of town. We booked a $198 room suite but got a upgrade to a two room suite.

From the front door to the lounge area must be at least 15 meters, see photos. Room included continental breakfast, unfortanetly couldn't take photos, attendant stopped me.


Bedroom 1


Bedroom 2, king size and very comfortable


Living area


Kitchen


Bathroom got destroyed before I could get a decent photo....

Overall very comfortable, great location and would stay here again

 

[clazman]

Next stage of the trip

Ottawa - Toronto 45 minutes in the air with Air Canada in J

Clear sky, and nice sunrise at 6 am for the first leg



Standard J seat, but AC let down with their small screens and unfriendly IFE



Quick breakfast, unfortunately asked for a white tea and the French steward thought I said water...



arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule, which gives more time to battle through US customs and security

 

[clazman]

Ottawa do have a AC lounge and didn't find it until 10 minutes before boarding, the sign to it is so small and tucked away from the gates.

For future reference come through security and turn left and is about 100m up on the left.

Overall I like the Ottawa airport,

 

[clazman]

Arrived in Toronto early for the next leg of the trip AC to LAX

AC club is right just after security and access is via a lift

General lounge are, had the blinds down due to the early morning sun.



Food station with the normal tea, coffee, toast croissants, juice, yogurt and bagels



One of the food stations had a sign no alcohol before noon, but the one located away from the main area the taps were working



Kids room, what a great idea



Nice lounge

 

[clazman]

Toronto to Lax on a AC A330, a 5 hour flight, full flight and consistent turbulence.

Last 20 minutes into LAX were especially bad

Service on board was excellent and compliments were given to them

3 course lunch menu was served

Nice salad to start with



I chose the steak, veggies and potato for my main



Clazgirl had the ravioli



To finish the meal, a warm chocolate chip cookie and a tub of ice cream

 

[clazman]

Currently sitting in the AA lounge at LAX near gate 40.

AA lounges are different from Qantas clubs were everything is free, AA provides
- tea, coffee
- cookies
- apples, oranges
- savoury mix

Everything is paid for.....

Upon entering the lounge we were given 2 drink vouchers.....






Hmmm not impressed with LAX so far

Landed at terminal 2, that is under renovations, walked for miles through the building site trying to find the baggage carousel.
Detour signs had us going up a floor then down 3 floors to the ground level. Finally got our bags, no staff or signs on where to go next and lack of toilets.

Finally found a staff member and got directions to the free shuttle bus to take us to terminal 4 and check in with AA

 

[JessicaTam]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing your daughter's and your travels.

How long did you spend in Montreal?

 

[clazman]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing your daughter's and your travels.

How long did you spend in Montreal?

Clazgirl is SWMBO... Clazwomen doesn't sound right

Montreal was just a over night on the spur of the moment thing, drove down in the morning and left next day after lunch.

But some really nice architecture there, so when we return to Canada next will be spending a few days there to investigate

 

[clazman]

Really disappointed with AA flight from LAX to LAS, in comparison with recent AC < less than an hour flight.

AC you get in J (A330)

- hot towel
- pre flight drink
- news paper
- meal service and drink
- in flight entertainment

AA in F (which in reality is J) (737)

- inflight drink and bag of pretzels
- really disappointed with no IFE / no radio / nothing
- but you did get internet access which was turned on mid flight

Clazgirl asked for a ginger ale for the flight and the hostie, said that is a bit bland do you want to spice it up with some rye? Clazgirl agreed to it ( no twisting of the arm required) and then got a double bottle glass of rye and a can of ginger ale. I think the hostie has a drinking problem

AA legroom and seat were comfortable



IFE was there but used for preflight, cruise and pre landing safety videos only



Arrived on time... Ready for 5 days in LV

 

[clazman]

Arrived at LAS and had bags about 6:30 pm and chose a taxi to our hotel, walked outside from baggage conveyor 13 straight into a taxi. LAS to Palazzo cost us $28.

Checked in (2 people queuing) and was in the room 15 minutes

Booked a Fortuna 1 bed suite...

Bath and separate shower...
Yah hopefully a decent shower, I hate showers in baths, you either touch the cold tiles or get wrapped in the curtain



Comfortable bed



Living area





Now to pay for the trip .....

 

[clazman]

Oops missed the bathroom sink and TV and the door to the dunny

 

[clazman]

We are using ANZ travel cards and they come with 2 cards, went to use mine and it failed.

Logged into the website and it has been locked.

I thought it was SWMBO when she switched the primary currency from CAN$ to US$ had made a mistake.

I tried to unlock and it failed..so investigated further, some scum bag has been using it the U.S.

Thankfully ANZ locked it...

Downside apart from I can't buy anything myself unless SWMBO uses her card... The only way we can speak to the ANZ travel team is by phone....hmmm would have thought they would have a secure web form.

No communication has been received from ANZ which is disappointing

 

[TomVexille]

Ouch. That sucks.

 

[sinophile888]

I tried to unlock and it failed..so investigated further, some scum bag has been using it the U.S.

I hope you get that issue sorted.

My cards were all stolen in Paris, but luckily my daughter had some supplementary cards. We use to message my husband who would then transfer cash into a debit card. Then we would immediately run downstairs to the hole in the wall and withdraw the lot.
Had >A$12000 stolen before I realised the cards were missing. But all was reimbursed by CC companies and travel insurance.

 

[RooFlyer]

Saw your query in pilot thread re turbulence near LAX. I think you must have caught 'one of those days'; I've had lots of really smooth trips into there, from all directions.

AC Maple Leaf Lounges get very monotonous. Same wretched soup, crackers, salad and cookies; same coughpy wi-fi. AC. J is pretty much as you found it; usually pretty good. You can get used to how their IFE works, but not the screen size!

 

[clazman]

Was gob smacked by the size of the screen, but blown away when I went to watch a movie and it only used half the screen.

 

[clazman]

Le Reve showing at the Wynn

Two shows daily, we went to the 9:30 show

Amazing show, built around a constantly changing stage, one minute dry the next it is a pool

We bought the premium seats ($150 was) which was the back row, advantages were drinks / snack service, personal monitor to view behind the scenes and close ups.

There are no bad seats to select from, but the front rows get wet

 

[clazman]

 

[clazman]

A $15 taxi ride took us to the Luxor hotel, interesting hotel in the shape of a pyramid and everything is built around a Egyptian thread.

The reason for the visit was the titanic and bodies exhibition.

I Was offered free access to as many exhibits as I wanted but had to visit the hotels timeshare rooms about 10 minutes away and sit through a presentation for about an hour.

You can pay $57 and see choose 3 exhibits from about 12, note these are at various locations so be careful.

Titanic and bodies also have the choice of voice commentary device for $5 each, not really sure if we got value, but for $5 it is a no brainer.

Both displays are excellent and include the standard green screen photo opportunity and souvenir shops.

Very strict on no food and drinks entering, no cameras and phones turned off.

I was 50/50 about doing bodies, but after seeing I wouldn't hesitate again. The majority of the displays are of human body parts enclosed displayed cabinets, the bodies are of all Asian descent and you can get as close to them as you want.

note: one of the display rooms is about life and you can see the growth of babies from 4 weeks after conception, growth defects, conjoined twins.

Smoking gets a mention with a display of damaged organs from smoking and a box to leave your cigarettes in, very powerful. Funnily enough majority of the cigarette packets were empty.

Titanic display not much to say, but each room was themed and you followed the story from construction to sinking. At one point you are on the deck, with stars visible and you can touch a fake iceberg, very powerful.