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

[clazman]

Another $15 taxi fare to the northern premium outlets, apparently there is a southern one as well but this is the cheaper one

Spent 3 hours there, and had to purchase another suitcase thanks Clazgirl.

Downside to this outlet is they are all individual shops no mall, so it can get warm but there is plenty of shade

 

[clazman]

Last full day at Vegas, ready to go home, miss my bed, shower and eating home cooked food

Up early and called Battlefield Vegas And was picked up 15 minutes later in a Humvee

Battlefield Vegas is a gun shooting range with a extensive range of weapons you can fire or drive a tank.

Guys are all ex military,defiantly worth a visit, if you are interested in firing some interesting guns.

I selected a mixture of American, British and German guns from WW2 and over the next 90 minutes had a absolute ball.

Saying that my should hurts like hell and wallet $500 lighter.

Spent the afternoon at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat, probably wouldn't have paid for it but was part of the titanic / body deal. The exhibit is two pools of Dolphins including underwater viewing areas and trainer demonstrations. The secret garden includes white lions and tigers, leopards. Luck early enough to be there with the trainers playing with the young white lions and had the privilege to meet Siegfried.

We choose to eat at BLT burgers at the Mirage, interesting meal, where half of our table send the burgers were the best they had had for a while and the other half saying it was cough. I was one of the haters, burger wasn't cooked and had no taste.

Back to the room to pack ready for the flight to LA before our next day flight to Australia

 

[clazman]

Flight from LAS to LAX again was extremely turbulent again spoke to the CSM and they told me generally speaking the first 20 minutes out of LAS is rough and not in common for a passenger to loose their lunch.

Flight was in a 757 in F class, no IFE, pre flight drink, in flight a bag of pretzels and a drink, no lounge access so next time will go coach.

Only benefit to F class is bypassing the security queues of coach

Arrived at LAX, and just missed the shuttle bus to our hotel, so decided to catch a taxi to our hotel, didn't realise it is $20 minimum.

Staying in a corner suite at Sheraton Gatway





The checkin girl very nicely gave us access to the Sheraton lounge on the 15th floor, made our day after the poor attitude of the taxi driver.

note: the hotel is under renovations, but they appear to be managing it well and keeping the guests in the loop. For example we were told by email yesterday that some rooms would be with out water tomorrow for a few hours and at checkin we were reminded of this.

 

[clazman]

Time to go home, throughly enjoyed my time in the U.S. And Canada

Free shuttle from the Sheraton to Lax, outside the terminal in less than 10 minutes.

Checked in with CX and off to the one world lounge for some quiet time... Found some recliners to the left of entry and had a quiet kip for 90 minutes.

CX 840 LAX to HK, business class full except for three seats, time in transit 14 hr and 20 minutes.

When I do these sort of legs always try and do they in different months, so I get a movie refresh.

The flight includes a lunch and dinner service

Lunch served 30 minutes after take off

Seared ahi tuna with avocado purée and citrus segments and a romaine tomato salad.



And a choice of 4 mains
- ling cod with hot bean sauce, rice, kailan and carrots
- beef tenderloin, mushroom sauce, potato purée, tomato and Brussel sprouts
- pork enchiladas, pinto, rice and peas
- ricotta cheese gnocchi with root vegetables

I went with the beef



Cherry tomatoes were very juicy, one exploded all over my shirt, TV screen and seat in front.

For desert you had biscuit and cheese, seasonal fruit and then some chocolates with TV and coffee

Uneventful flight apart from the normal turbulence near the international dateline

After a few movies, 22 jump street and fury, had dinner serve red about 2.5 hours out of HK

Starter was fresh seasonal fruit ( seems to be the same fruit you get served at every meal)



choice of mains
- stir fried beef, rice, peppers, choy sum and carrot
- jidori chicken breast, leek and Parmesan bread pudding, pumpkin and broccolini
- mushroom and egg plant roulade with peppers and broccolini


The chicken dish didn't look to appetising, but I really enjoyed it


To finish off the meal service, yuzu creme brûlée with mascarpone and orange sauce

 

[clazman]

Just under 3 hours in HK before the flight back to Perth, headed for the QF lounge for a hot shower and a coke zero

CX 137 left from gate 34... A nice 15 minute walk from the QF lounge. Boarded 30 minutes late, once again a full flight, I think QF should be getting a piece of this.

Supper was served 30 minutes after take off

To start with we had some savoury dips with grissini, followed by a choice of
- pork spare ribs, rice and Pakistan choy
- beef and mushroom pie with grilled vegetables

Followed by cheese and biscuits or seasonal berries with rose syrup

Settled down for a few hours kip, slept through the breakfast service, arrived in Perth about 15 minutes behind schedule.

Good to see the renovations are still going on....

Through passport control in 5 minutes, baggage carousel is a different story, priority bags don't mean anything at Perth, so was one of the last through to customs.

Customs is very interesting, one girl at the entrance handing out relevant forms, then as you exit the queue maze another girl checking the forms have been filled in correctly, then another guy 20 m further down the queue sending you straight out or to have your bag checked at the desk ( only one desk open). Pretty poor in my expectations of what our customs should be doing

Either way glad to get out of the airport and home to my own shower, bed

 

[clazman]

Upon getting home and opening my suitcase, found a pamphlet from the TSA advising that they had opened my bag and carried out a physical inspection.

TSA approved locks worked a treat.

I don't have a problem with TSA carrying out a inspection, but from a audit-able perspective I have no idea on who inspected my bag.

There form should be modified to include the agents ID number, so in the event of a item being damaged, stolen or missing it can be tracked through the system

 

[ellen10]

Enjoyed your trip report, we will be flying NYC -HK-SYD in October in J, our first time on CX.
Can I ask why you went to the QF lounge and not the CX lounge. Can you choose?

 

[clazman]

Ellen,

Having been to HK a few times I have been to all the CX lounges and the old QF lounge, I preferred the CX lounge near gate1-2, until i experienced the new QF lounge.

My status with QF is gold so i do get to access the QF lounge, so unsure if that gave me access to QF or the J seat in CX.

Either way, go up and see what they say, or hopefully another AFF with chirp in

CX J is a good product. you will enjoy the flight and service

 

[yohy?!]

Ellen,

Having been to HK a few times I have been to all the CX lounges and the old QF lounge, I preferred the CX lounge near gate1-2, until i experienced the new QF lounge.

My status with QF is gold so i do get to access the QF lounge, so unsure if that gave me access to QF or the J seat in CX.

Either way, go up and see what they say, or hopefully another AFF with chirp in

CX J is a good product. you will enjoy the flight and service

Both QF Gold or Oneworld J Ticket will get you into all CX lounges in HK

 

[ellen10]

Ellen,

Having been to HK a few times I have been to all the CX lounges and the old QF lounge, I preferred the CX lounge near gate1-2, until i experienced the new QF lounge.

My status with QF is gold so i do get to access the QF lounge, so unsure if that gave me access to QF or the J seat in CX.

Either way, go up and see what they say, or hopefully another AFF with chirp in

CX J is a good product. you will enjoy the flight and service

Thanks clazman,
No gold status here. So we may only be able to use the CX lounges, they do sound nice, so I'm sure it will be good.
Looking forward to the flight experience.

 

[JessicaTam]

Both QF Gold or Oneworld J Ticket will get you into all CX lounges in HK

All but the first class lounge in the Wing, and small first class section in the Pier. Still a good range of lounges to try, though.

 

[JohnK]

Very enjoyable trip report clazman.

Love the photos.