Trip Report: USA - A tale of two coasts

[Mattg]

Wow! Yet again, I love reading this Trip Review!

Alaskan Airlines....from my experience you get free checked bags when flying within the state of Alaska, but not when flying outside of the state of Alaska.... WTF?

SouthWest Airlines...... IMHO.... they are Top Notch!
Unless I'm proven wrong & thing's have changed they are the only Domestic US airline that provides 2 free checked bags up to 50lb to ALL passenger's regards of Status or ticket purchased..... Hello AA did you hear that?

What I particularly love about SouthWest is some of the hub airports they use such as Chicago Medway...... Sure it may not be the largest of the two airports in Chicago.... but Medway is certainly half the distance from the CBD than its larger cousin O'Hare. The Same goes for Southwest's Dallas Love field base too.

Unlike in Europe the location of Secondary airports in the US is often far closer & easier to get to than their larger counterparts.

The Boeing Factory sounded like it's well worth while & Seattle in General is a great city to explore.... so you've convinced me to put it on my bucket list!

I was thrilled to hear that you loved San Fran! It's a fantastic city.....visually a lot prettier than the ugly duckling a few hundred miles south ! (The People are very friendly though in LA I would say)

Alcatraz is amazing! Those Audio Guides have too much information on them as I found out as I lost track of time & spent the entire day on Alcatraz..... what a fascinating place!

Don't mind me asking which hostel you stayed in?

I stayed at Hostels USA.....cant remember their street address off the top of my head, but their pub crawls were legendary!


Which brings me to my next point.....I mean really...... why doesn't Qantas Fly to San Francisco anymore?

Sounds like you had a terrific trip.... thanks for all your hard effort & time !

So when's your next trip planned for North America?

Totally agree. WN>AA.

In San Francisco I stayed at the Green Tortoise Hostel on the corner of Broadway and Kearny - they were pretty good too.

I've wondered for a while why Qantas flies to so few places - I mean really, 4 daily flights to LA but none to SFO? It doesn't seem right; SF was a lot nicer than LA!

I don't have any plans to visit North America again in the immediate future but I suspect I will be back sometime in the next year. And I'll probably visit Canada as well next time.

 

[drron]

Now,now.Having status with AA and a good relationship with them means a totally different experience.

 

[Mattg]

I had only one day in Los Angeles and this was the final day my round-the-world trip before heading back to Australia! There was really only one choice...




The happiest place on Earth


I headed back to Los Angeles Int'l Airport that evening and arrived at around 8.30pm, three hours before my Qantas flight to Melbourne.

There was no queue to check-in and I was processed within five minutes of arriving at Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). Security took a bit longer, but you would expect that at LAX.

I headed up to the Qantas/oneworld lounge on the fifth floor. As others have said, the lounge wasn't the greatest Qantas lounge out there, but it was still better than any other lounge I'd been to in the United States so far. It was pretty full but there was a decent range of food (which was as it should be - free), computers which worked and I was able to get a shower. Apparently Qantas is opening a new lounge next month though (April 2014) so that should be a big improvement.


Flight: QF94 Los Angeles - Melbourne
Airbus A380-800 | VH-OQG
Departure time: 23:30
Arrival time: 09:20 (+ 2 days)

It was so nice to walk onto a Qantas aircraft in Los Angeles and be greeted by a friendly Australian crew. In a way I felt like I was already home!

I had originally requested a points upgrade to business class but decided to cancel that when I realised that these points could be better spent on another round-the-world trip. The upgrade would have cost me 72,000 points, but a round-the-world trip in economy would cost only roughly double that at 140,000 points. As it stands, I wouldn't have enough points for both. With that in mind, I flew home in economy and although business class would have been really nice, this was not a decision I regretted!

A few things have changed since I last flew with Qantas (to Singapore in November). The first and most noticeable thing was the new uniforms. I reckon they look great. Another thing was the new safety video.

I managed to get seat 51K, which was in the front row of economy on the right hand side of the A380 and had a bulkhead in front. The legroom was fantastic and, even better, I got the whole row to myself!


Good legroom in row 51.


I would estimate that the flight was around 50% full in economy, so there were quite a few empty seats spread around the plane.

Like clockwork, QF94 pushed back at the scheduled time of 11.30pm on the dot. We took off over the ocean and the long trip across the Pacific had begun.

Supper and drinks were served about an hour into the flight. Here's the menu:


I chose the chicken over the beef and found it to be very nice. To accompany the meal I got a small bottle of Chardonnay.



After supper there was another round of drinks and those Q Refresh bags were handed out. I asked for a hot chocolate - delicious.

 

[Mattg]

The lights went out and I managed to get five or six hours of sleep. I'm rarely able to sleep in economy so this was great. In fact, I don't think I've ever been able to get so much sleep on a plane (except for the 747 Hostel in Stockholm, but that doesn't count)! And the A380 was so quiet that I didn't even need to use earplugs. The only problem was that I wasn't able to really spread out across the three seats as the armrests had tray tables in them and wouldn't move.

I was feeling peckish when I woke up in the middle of the night somewhere over the Pacific, so I headed right down the back of the plane to the self-service snack bar. There was a range of snacks available including almonds and shortbread biscuits, as well as soft drinks and water. This was seriously fantastic!


The self-serve snack bar on the A380

I enjoyed watching the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean.



A choice of hot or cold breakfast with tea and coffee was served three hours out of Melbourne. I chose the hot breakfast, which was scrambled eggs, a sausage and hash browns. This meal wasn't the highlight of the trip but not bad as far as airplane breakfasts go.



We landed in Melbourne at around 8.55am but had to wait a while for an aircraft to leave our designated gate. The touchdown was so gentle you could barely feel it! When we did finally pull into the gate, it was 9.20am. How's that for on-time performance? The flight departed and arrived on-time to the exact minute!

It was nice to be back in Australia after almost four months overseas, and it was nice to have been brought home in comfort and to arrive feeling refreshed. And I didn't even fly in business class!


The A380 "Charles Ulm" in Melbourne.

To Qantas' credit, this was one of the best flights of my trip and despite being the longest non-stop flight I've ever taken it was pleasant and enjoyable, even in economy! The flight attendants were friendly and professional, the legroom was great, the meals were good, the in-flight entertainment was top-notch, I slept well and the flight was on-time. Full marks for Qantas and this flight just confirmed for me why Qantas is still my favourite airline. I just wish they flew to more places outside of Australia!


Going through Melbourne immigration and customs was a breeze and within no time I was in the Qantas Club. I'm very grateful for my newly acquired gold status. Among other perks, it's so nice to be able to go into the lounge and get a free meal and a shower.

Now I just had one flight left before I was back home. This was one of the most exciting legs of the trip (not!); MEL-CBR.


Flight: QF848 Melbourne - Canberra
Boeing 737-800 | VH-VXJ
Departure time: 12:05
Arrival time: 13:10

This flight was unbelievably empty. I think the flight attendant said that there were 36 people on board (including 5 flight attendants)! In fact, there were so few people that they had to make an announcement reminding people to stay in their allocated seats because of the trim of the aircraft.

The flight was uneventful. The flight attendants couldn't have done more to help as there were so few people to look after. By Qantas standards this was just a normal flight, but if you compare the service to what I've become used to overseas, you realise just how great Qantas really is. The flight attendants were friendly, I got a free sandwich, free drinks and I was able to watch the news and an episode of the Big Bang Theory. Simple but great.

As we approached Canberra Airport from the south I could see my house from the plane for the first time since last November. We arrived at the gate a little bit early and I was finally home, reunited with my family!

 

[Hvr]

Thanks for a great TR, you've given me many good ideas for my forthcoming trip in late May.

 

[Major]

Also thanks...a very enjoyable read for a fantastic trip

 

[drron]

A very well done TR.Congrats.

 

[docjames]

Well done. Nice TR and some nice pics too.

 

[Kangarucci]

Thank you for a most enjoyable TR. Cheers.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

To Qantas' credit, this was one of the best flights of my trip and despite being the longest non-stop flight I've ever taken it was pleasant and enjoyable, even in economy! The flight attendants were friendly and professional, the legroom was great, the meals were good, the in-flight entertainment was top-notch, I slept well and the flight was on-time. Full marks for Qantas and this flight just confirmed for me why Qantas is still my favourite airline. I just wish they flew to more places outside of Australia!


Going through Melbourne immigration and customs was a breeze and within no time I was in the Qantas Club. I'm very grateful for my newly acquired gold status. Among other perks, it's so nice to be able to go into the lounge and get a free meal and a shower.

Now I just had one flight left before I was back home. This was one of the most exciting legs of the trip (not!); MEL-CBR.


Flight: QF848 Melbourne - Canberra
Boeing 737-800 | VH-VXJ
Departure time: 12:05
Arrival time: 13:10

This flight was unbelievably empty. I think the flight attendant said that there were 36 people on board (including 5 flight attendants)! In fact, there were so few people that they had to make an announcement reminding people to stay in their allocated seats because of the trim of the aircraft.

The flight was uneventful. The flight attendants couldn't have done more to help as there were so few people to look after. By Qantas standards this was just a normal flight, but if you compare the service to what I've become used to overseas, you realise just how great Qantas really is. The flight attendants were friendly, I got a free sandwich, free drinks and I was able to watch the news and an episode of the Big Bang Theory. Simple but great.

As we approached Canberra Airport from the south I could see my house from the plane for the first time since last November. We arrived at the gate a little bit early and I was finally home, reunited with my family!

Welcome back!

Great to hear that you made it home safely!

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments regarding flying Qantas..... for the small population of our nation, in comparison to the our larger Western Cousins.... we really do have a Great National Airline, that really does, on the majority of occasions, excel at both the "soft" & "hard" products of the airline.
The F-lounge is an outstanding example, that i myself have only just discovered having recently made QF Platinum/Emerald, which really does set QF apart from many other carriers.

You'll have to come to one of our Melbourne Social Events when your next down in Victoria, such as Monthly Yum Cha..... You'll be most welcome to come along & make a special Guest Apperance & share your Worldly travel stories.

 

[Mattg]

(This will be the final post...)

What an amazing trip this has been... in almost four months I've been to 65 cities in 18 countries and travelled more than 75,000 kilometres!

If you are interested and recognise the airport codes, here was my general routing, excluding day-trips and small towns etc.:
CBR-xSYD-SIN-BKK-PEN-KUL-SIN-xDXB-MUC-NUE-SZG-VIE-xINN-ZRH-MUC-STR-FRA-HAJ-TXL-KRK-ARN-AMS-BRU-CDG-LHR-xORD-EWR-BDL-PHL-DCA-xRDU-MIA-CNF-GRU-LIM-CUZ-JUL-LIM-xMIA-SEA-PDX-xLAX-SFO-LAX-xMEL-CBR.

I've met so many amazing people along the way and had so many great experiences! This trip was quite easily the best thing I've done so far in my life and I hope more people get the chance to see as much of the world as I did. Although I'm a lot poorer now in a monetary sense, the experience has made me a lot richer in other ways.

One of the main things I learnt was just how good life really is in Australia. Our quality of life is excellent, most people earn relatively high wages and live in nice houses, we can afford luxuries that people in developing countries could only dream of, most cities have good public transport, we have world-class health care and education, politics is (relatively) free from corruption... I could go on all day! So next time you're stuck in traffic on the way to work, or experience any other kind of "first world problem", take a step back and be thankful that you have a job, a car, good health and a good life!

Coincidentally or otherwise, one thing I kept seeing in many different places was protests. I was in Bangkok when the ongoing demonstrations against the government began, I saw protests against the government in Vienna, protests against the EU over Syria in both Frankfurt and Brussels, protests against the World Cup, police brutality & corruption in São Paulo and protests against gas prices in Cusco, just to name a few. It made me realise that all is not well in the greater world. In some cases, protestors were threatened or attacked by the police in attempts to stop the protestors' voices being heard. It made me realise that all is not well in the world and served as another reminder of how lucky we are in Australia.

There are a few questions I keep getting asked so in case you're wondering the same thing, I'll answer a few;
1. No, I never felt lonely. There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, I was very lucky to have contacts and friends in various cities along the way and secondly, if I went somewhere where I didn't know anyone, I would usually make friends at hostels, on walking tours or wherever. It made it a much better experience. Thirdly, I maintained contact with family & friends at home.
2. Did I miss home? Only a little bit. It was nice to come home but to be honest I would rather still be overseas. I guess it helps that there was nothing interesting at home (i.e. in Canberra)! In saying that, I met some people on my travels who were dying to get home. One thing that helped was Skype, because if I ever wanted to talk to my family they were just free call away.
3. How did I pay for all this? I paid for the trip myself by working and saving up since I was 13 with this goal in mind.
4. No, I am not sick of flying yet. I still love aeroplanes, but I am sick of waiting around in airports and not going anywhere.

After four months on the road, you might be wondering what's next for me? Well right now I'm back in Australia but I've taken a gap year and don't have plans to go to university until next year. In the meantime, if I can get the relevant visa and a job I am hoping to live and work in my favourite city, Berlin for the rest of the year. In particular I would like to be a tour guide there but I would be happy doing just about anything if it meant I could spend more time in the city I love and do more travelling in Europe. There's still so much more to see!

I hope you've enjoyed following my travels and hopefully I've inspired you to visit some of the amazing places I got to! If you have any questions or would like any advice, feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message.

I'll leave you with a list of some of my favourite things from the trip. Enjoy!

• Favourite countries? Germany, followed by Brazil, Peru, the USA and Malaysia
• Favourite cities? Berlin, followed by New York & Munich. Other favourites include London, San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, Seattle and Lima
• Least favourite cities? There were very few cities I didn't like, but two were Stuttgart and Zurich. I got unlucky in Stuttgart as I was only there for one day and it was a public holiday so everything was closed. It was also raining and to top it off I got stuck in a hostel dorm room with a creepy and incredibly racist old man! And Zurich itself was a beautiful city but I found it hard to like a place where it was normal to pay $30+ for a bowl of soup...
• Favourite foods? I enjoyed most of what I ate overseas, but a few favourites were satay skewers and char kway teow (Malaysia), pork knuckle (Germany), pierogi (Poland), crepes (France), Belgian fries, lox bagels and Philly cheese steaks (USA)
• Favourite eateries? Augustiner am Platzl (Munich), Hard Rock Cafe (Berlin), Le Salonard (Amsterdam), Tian Tian Chicken Rice (Singapore)

Le Salonard in Amsterdam - a gourmet sandwich shop which also sells wine, cheese etc.

The local specialty burger at Hard Rock Berlin - a delicious Currywurst burger

• Favourite drinks? Alcoholic - German beer, Caipirinhas (Brazil) and Pisco Sours (Peru). Non-alcoholic - Inca Kola (Peru)
• Favourite airports? SIN, MUC, SEA, SFO, PDX, MEL

Not something you see at every airport - a giant Spongebob themed playground at Changi Airport

• Least favourite airports? KRK, LHR, RDU, JUL and its hard to go past LAX
• Favourite airlines? Qantas, Southwest, Emirates
• Least favourite airlines? American Airlines, LAN
• Favourite hostels? Jumbo Hostel (Stockholm), Mosquito Hostel (Krakow), Meininger Hotel (Berlin), Mama Brasil Hostel (São Paulo)

Jumbo Hostel, Stockholm

An outdoor courtyard at Mama Brasil Hostel, São Paulo

• Favourite public transport systems? Singapore, Munich, Berlin, London, Stockholm
• Friendliest cities? Bangkok, Munich, Liechtenstein (principality), Stockholm, Seattle, anywhere in South America
• Least friendly cities? Paris, Los Angeles, Singapore
• Most beautiful girls? Germany, Sweden and of course, Brazil.

 

[drron]

What a great summary.Unfortunately gap years were frowned upon in my time and are certainly one of the things that has changed for the better.You perfectly demonstrate this with the knowledge and insights you have gained into the workings of the real world.This is truly priceless and cant be taught in University.
So all the best for the future.hope you can get a job in Berlin and success for your future life.
Once again well done.

 

[kevrosmith]

Great summary and great to have followed along for the ride... unfortunately, I think I only jumped on board from your visit to the Jumbo Hotel onwards... will have to go find the other trip reports when time permits. Certainly sounds like you have had an adventure and has been great to get small tidbits of info: I think that is what I find interesting about trip reports: often its the small details and sometimes seemingly mundane info is what is most useful and helpful when planning my own travel.

 

[Magpie10]

A big thank you Mattg for sharing your wonderful trip, it was great traveling with you, and hope if you do end up in Berlin this year, you send a further TR of that trip.

 

[erkpod]

No In N Out Burger near LAX? LOL


Great TR - I read the American sections on & as someone who spent 2 months away from home January/February, I can identify with your travels.

 

[Mattg]

I just wanted to mention that I finally received a response from American Airlines' customer relations regarding the extensive delays and poor customer service getting from Washington DC to Miami. It only took two emails and a post on facebook. :shock: They said they would send a voucher in the mail but, more importantly, offered an apology. I'm not entirely satisfied but pleased to have finally gotten a response - it only took a month and a half! If I return to the US within the next year I'll probably use the voucher (don't know how much it's worth yet) to fly AA once then fly with Southwest or someone else the rest of the time. Now to try and get a refund for the baggage they incorrectly charged me for as a oneworld sapphire...

You can read their response below:

April 2, 2014

Dear Mattg:

We know you wrote to us some time ago and have been waiting for a reply. Thank you for your patience.

I am sorry that your trip didn't go very smoothly when you traveled in February. It must have been frustrating when your flights did not operate as scheduled. We think we can easily agree that working through severe weather disruptions can be trying for all involved, and we truly regret the difficulties you described.

There is no doubt that we encountered numerous problems: late and canceled flights, long waits for standby accommodations, uncertain or ever-changing information -- and a great deal of frustration. We did all we could to reroute customers who were scheduled on flights that had to be canceled and to provide service as quickly and efficiently as possible. Nevertheless, we should always do everything possible to make such situations a little less frustrating and I'm disappointed that we didn't do so on this particular occasion.

As you may know, European Union Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and Council has established common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellations or long delays of flights. Under this regulation, passengers are entitled to established levels of compensation, depending on the length of delay arriving at your final destination.

However, compensation associated with EC261/2004 does not apply when the interrupted flight is operated by a non-EU carrier (American Airlines) and departs from a non-EU Member State (within the United States). Therefore, there is not any mandated compensation warranted since the interrupted flights all departed from the United States.

That being said, we know you were inconvenienced and as a gesture of goodwill, a transportation voucher has been forwarded to you and should arrive soon, via standard mail. Transportation vouchers issued by American Airlines are valid for one year from the date of issue. Although the value must be applied toward the ticket purchase prior to that date, the travel may extend past that date. The value may be applied toward travel for anyone and may be used toward the purchase of a ticket for future travel on American, American Eagle or any of the airlines in our oneworld® alliance, provided American Airlines is the international carrier (international flights are defined as transatlantic, transpacific and flights to and from South America).

In regard to your mileage credit request, it will be necessary to submit your flight information to the carrier to which the mileage program belongs, which according to your reservation, would be Qantas. Unfortunately, carriers are unable to provide such an adjustment the account of other carrier's program.

We appreciate your contacting us and have documented your concerns in an effort to improve all aspects of our business. We look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon. We will work hard to make your future travel smooth and trouble-free.

For the record, I put in a request for an original routing credit with Qantas about a month ago and the points were credited to my account within a week...

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

At long last AA finally replies.
Not exactly the answers I'm sure you were looking for.