Another Domestic SC Run (starring Freddie Jr)

[anat0l]

Here we go with another SC run: BNE-MEL-ADL-SYD-CBR-SYD-ADL-MEL-BNE. 100 SC within two days.

This time we have a special guest: Freddie Jr..

You will notice this trip report will be markedly less structured than my previous efforts, but hopefully for those TR buffs out there, you will find it no less interesting to read.

There is an oddity about writing a TR for an SC run, since the only interesting aspects really are any differences to the schedule. SC runs (or MRs for that matter) have nothing of the glamour: no premium lounges (J Lounge a dubious exception - but I have no access anyway), no premium class, no long haul, no amenity kits, etc.

That all being said, if you're still reading this, you obviously haven't tuned out yet. Very well, avid reader... on with the show...

The Flight Schedule

[U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U]
17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   0955  1315  O    73?  4A
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    73?  5A
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    73?  5C
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    73?
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    73?
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    73?
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    73?

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: BNE Dom QP

Due to the change in transport arrangements this morning, I've had to be dropped at BNE D a lot earlier than I would have liked. QF615 isn't departing until 0955, and I arrived at least 3 hours earlier...

Went straight through security - again no fuss and no explosives check! - then into the QP. I tried to switch to an earlier flight but the QP desk agent was sticking to the rules - no changes on a Red e-Deal. Bugger - oh well. At least I still got my cardboard BPs. So it was down to trying to veg for 3 hours+.

Had breakfast of Bircher museli with yoghurt, toast with marmalade and honey, coffee, apple juice and water with lemon. Freddie Jr got a snap in the QP.

Seems like everything is on time today so far. Even the QP is looking fairly quiet-ish for a weekend; in fact, it must have been so quiet that when I got to the QP only half of the breakfast spread was set out (usually the spread is presented twice - but only one spread was there initially). Certainly better to be in here compared to out there in the humidity.

Well, as of writing this sentence, there's still at least an hour before I have to start boarding. I'm quite tired having had only 2 hours sleep, but I think I'm going to do some walking around BNE D for exercise, then perhaps drop by the QP again for a shower.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Don't forget to include the regos for the planes.

I wonder if the DH4 is a new plane type for Freddie Jr.

Hopefully the new car is good, even though the driver wanted to get away so early.

 

[serfty]

Your scheduled equipment update (subject to change):

...

[U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U]
17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   0955  1315  O    [B]734 [/B] 4A
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    [B]73H[/B]  5A
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    [B]73H  [/B]5C
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    [B]DH4[/B]  5C
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    [B]734[/B]
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    [B]73H[/B]
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    [B]73H[/B]
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    [B]73H[/B]

• Aircraft operating 615 is scheduled in from MEL (608) at 9:40am - 25 minutes late so 615's departure has been put back ¼ hour.
• 685's aircraft was scheduled to depart BNE for MEL as 613 as I posted and is the same aircraft taking you to SYD as 766.
• Your CBR flight has just left Albury heading for SYD, it will do a Coffs Harbour and another Albury turnaround before winging you to CBR.

 

[straitman]

Has Freddie Jr been highjacked to this side of the world :?:

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: BNE Dom QP

Next departure: QF615 from Gate 23 (main terminal building concourse)

Took a turn around BNE Dom - down to the DJ wing, around the concourse, ditto for the JQ concourse, ditto for QF concourse, back to QP. Step counter now reads 3215.

It is quite humid outside - the airconditioning must have been turned off in the JQ concourse, because it is so hot there. (Luckily, no flights departing or arriving from that concourse).

Tried to have a shower but the BNE QP showers are absolutely pathetic. I know we are studiously trying to save water but this is a joke. The shower is effective at actually showering you as a 1m downpour in SE Asia is useful to recharging the dams in BNE.

Also have just realised that I forgot to charge my camera, and the battery indicator is starting to show signs of low battery - so camera shots are going to be limited and conserved. Sorry sports fans.

Finally, as confirmed by serfty, QF615 is delayed by 25 mins or so; revised boarding is 0955 (original departure time). With an original transfer window of 55min at MEL, this SC run just got 'interesting' all of the sudden.... :shock:

Revised Flight Schedule (changes are highlighted; completed flights bolded)

[U][B]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/B][/U]
17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   [highlight]1015[/highlight]  [highlight][I]1340[/I][/highlight]  O    [highlight]734[/highlight]  4A    [highlight]Delay 25 min[/highlight]
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    [highlight]73H[/highlight]  5A
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    [highlight]73H[/highlight]  5C
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    [highlight]DH4[/highlight]  5C
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    [highlight]734[/highlight]
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    [highlight]73H[/highlight]
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    [highlight]73H[/highlight]
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    [highlight]73H[/highlight]

 

[serfty]

Has Freddie Jr been highjacked to this side of the world :?:

Temporarily; I'm endeavoring to take him back to the USA early March to handover in time for the April Freddie Awards. (Hope to pick 'im up a the FT AGM in Feb)

 

[serfty]

615 arrived 25minutes late at 13:40; this gave our intrepid traveller ~10 minutes in MEL before boarding commenced for 685. His flight landed 5 minutes early into ADL.

 

[anat0l]

Location: ADL QP

Flight: QF615 Brisbane (BNE D) - Melbourne-Tullamarine (MEL T1)
Depart: 0955h Sched; 1028h Actual
Aircraft: VH-TJU "Currawong" Boeing 737-400
Class: Economy
Seat: 4A

Not much to be said for this flight, although this is the first time I've flown a 734 on this route with the convertible J. I was fretting about my connection time evaporating due to the delay, but I saw fit to settle down for the flight.

I spent most of the time in the flight chatting with 4B. Refreshments were served: choice was chocolate biscuit or cherry and coconut cupcake by sbc, delivered once again with the usual sbc "flair" and curious box.

We had a very bumpy landing into Tulla, with the plane bobbing up and down; nothing like missing my "normal" MEL turbulence but instead the internal organs got a shake up on the way down.

We managed to make up quite a bit of time on the way down, shaving the delay back down to a mere 20 minutes.That gave enough time to get out into the terminal, check the boards and the boarding call wouldn't have been made yet. So disembark at gate 1 and not finding a handy information board with the information I sought I went straight to the service desk opposite the gate. QF685 was on time and docked at gate 22. Lucky that I was going to make this flight, otherwise my whole SC run would have been utterly ruined.

I only had enough time to race up to the QP to use the bathroom. I tried to finagle an ODU with no success, once again as a matter of procedure. Oh well, them's the rules. Snap another of Freddie and it was time to hot-foot it to gate 22.

Flight: QF685 Melbourne-Tullamarine (MEL T1) – Adelaide (ADL T1)
Depart: 1410h Sched; 1410h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXE “Coffs Harbour” Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 5A

I had a woman who needed special assistance in 5C and no space in the bin above, so stash the bag above row 6 and then carefully slip into 5A.

Not much in this short flight - I got a good deal of shut eye after the refreshments were served. Refreshment was a Byron Bay bush honey & lemon cookie. I had to wake up once in a bit because I think my body was telling me to wiggle the fingers and toes a little bit. Regardless, a bit of sleep caught up and we landed into ADL, docking into gate 19. I had to wait a while in my seat since the pax in 5A required special assistance, but I didn't care about the time since I wasn't in any rush.

Headed straight for the QP to grab some lunch and update my TR. Given I've still got about 2 hours before next boarding, I'm probably going to make a turn or two around ADL; step count is only 6085. Just have to finish my sparkling water with lemon and a lovely subtly sweet NV Brut from Stonyfell.

Oh, and I've got to work out how to check-in for tomorrow's flights (OLCI is kicking me on that one - only letting me OLCI for today's flights). But I did manage to get 4C instead of 5C for my next flight...woo hoo.

Next departure: QF766 from Gate 19.

Revised Flight Schedule

[B][U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U][/B]
[B]17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  4A    Arrived 19min late[/B]
[B]17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  5A    Arrived on time[/B]
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  [highlight]4C[/highlight]
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738

P.S. thank you serfty for your vigilance on the flight monitoring

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: SYD T3 QP

Had a good flight over from ADL. After a walk around the terminal it was time to board QF766 at gate 19.

Flight: QF766 Adelaide (ADL T1) - Sydney (SYD T3)
Depart: 1740h Sched; 1740h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXE “Coffs Harbour” Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 4C

Our service onboard was dinner - Stir Fry Chicken with Kung Pao Sauce - the same dish I had when I travelled BNE/PER last August! (Talk about de ja food... ) Surprisingly this time it was not as repulsive compared to the gluggy glop served last time, but I opted to eat only a minimal amount of the rice and didn't touch the bread roll. Gulped down the water and was done with the meal.

The flight was fairly lightly loaded; quite a few spare seats in Y, 4B was empty and only 6 people in J. I spent most of the flight talking to the pax in 4A, who was returning to SYD after tagging along with someone who drove from SYD to ADL. The conversation was great and helped tie over the 2 hour-ish flight. He even said he might check out FT...

Landed in SYD and thankfully not on the third runway so a quick taxi and we pulled up at gate 16. The DH4 taking us to CBR was pulled up at gate 17. Unfortunately with all the gates et al blocking the view, I couldn't get a clear shot of the aircraft, let alone the rego. I'll have to note it when we touch down in CBR.

Went to the SYD QP to snack a bit on some antipasto and sup on lemon water (and write this report). Looking forward to CBR and a rest!

Next Departure: QF1499 from gate 17

Revised Flight Schedule

[B][U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U][/B]
[B]17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  4A    Arrived 19min late
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  5A    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  4C    Arrived on time[/B]
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738

 

[serfty]

QOA is due to depart in 20 minutes ...

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: Diamant Boutique Hotel, Edinburgh Ave, Canberra

Flight: QF1499 Sydney (SYD T3) - Canberra (CBR)
Depart: 2010h Sched; 2010h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOA “Gladstone” Dash 8 Q400
Class: Economy
Seat: 5C

I wandered into gate 17 just in time to hear the boarding call, so I waltzed up first to the gate to be met by Stacy, a FA who I remember very well by flying the Dash 8 routes. A further walk down more steps and out into the air before boarding the aircraft itself to meet another recognisable FA, Claire.

Loading was quite light at the front of the aircraft; of the rows in front of my seat, there were only 3 people sitting. 5D was free so I had a bit of stretch room.

Refreshment on the flight was the sbc's creative Roast Onion Bites with Carrot & Lentil Dip. The better part of proceedings was a complimentery alcohol service.

I selected the white wine with a bottle of water chaser. The bottles have a new "Shuttles" design, where by the plastic wine "glass" is mounted on the cap of the bottle in such a way that the inner part of the cap forms the bottom of the "glass". You twist off the cap/"glass", invert the disconnected component, pour and serve. I'll get photos up soon to explain what I mean.

The white was a Hardy's estate Chardonnay 2007, which wasn't that bad. When Claire came around to clear up for landing, I asked if she could bring me another bottle of white "for the road". When she came back some time later, she proffered a placemat-bag stuffed with four shuttles of the Chardonnay. Score!

We landed in CBR and docked at the most remote of the stand-off bays reserved for the turboprops. I tried to take a photo of the plane but taking a photo at night that is in focus is almost impossible for the run of the mill camera. I tried lots of techniques (except no-flash, which needs a real steady hand or a tripod/stand), but none were really in focus well. More surprising, my camera has stopped complaining about running low on battery...

Went straight out to a taxi and within 20 minutes I was at the Diamant. Paid the driver and gave him a mini-bottle of Chardonnay.

The Diamant Canberra was developed from what appears from the facade to be a heritage building. This explains why the hallways look rather harrowing, especially at night, but the rooms are modern with a nice contrast of old styling mixed with contemporary design. Simple tones (black and white with subtle highlights) contribute to a room that would rival the styles of some of the better chain hotels. Kevin Murphy amenities was a nice seal on the deal. I'll upload photos soon - you can be the judge.

OLCI finally stops throwing up and allows me to check in for my last four flights. Considering that OLCI has been open for these flights for a while, I was pretty lucky to get the seats I was preallocated with, and in some cases had an opportunity to move up slightly.

Revised Flight Schedule

[b][u]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/b][/u]
[b]17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  4A    Arrived 19min late
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  5A    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  4C    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C    Arrived on time[/b]
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734  [highlight]5C[/highlight]
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738  [highlight]4A[/highlight]
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738  [highlight]6C[/highlight]
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738  [highlight]5D[/highlight]

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: SYD T3 QP

A good night's sleep later, it was pack up time and off to the airport.

I went through security and they pulled me up over my can of shaving gel. Screened again, everything OK and the gel was also fine. Of course, since that took a long time I also got the honours of having to be screened for explosives. So swab my bag, Freddie's case, my eeePC pouch and me; chuck into sampling machine.

Red - explosives detected. Not good.

Another guy comes over and they clean the machine over with some alcohol substance (I think). They then do the test again and thankfully the results come out green. As part of the procedure, they have to then do it again (they need two greens for me to pass), so it was done. Green. I was out of there and off the the CBR QP. I used the QP QuickCheck machines to get my BPs for the day. They were the thermal coupon types, but I didn't have the heart to make up an excuse to get cardboard BPs from the front desk.

Museli and skim milk was consumed; Freddie Jr got a shot drinking my apple juice whilst seeing our next aircraft docked at the gate. Originally, my flight was a bit later and was going to be another Dash flight, but it was cancelled about two weeks ago and they shifted me to this earlier QF704 which was on a 734.

I decided to head out to the gate a little earlier. There was very little pax in the waiting area (and CBR really does have a small waiting area: think AKL D for those who may know). Boarding was called and Frances and Liz were at the gate to scan BPs and hand out headsets.

Flight: QF704 Canberra (CBR) - Sydney (SYD T3)
Depart: 0945h Sched; 0945h Actual
Aircraft: VH-TJJ “Heron” Boeing 737-400
Class: Economy
Seat: 5C

The plane was really lightly loaded - plenty of empty seats. Only 3 people in J (with 3 rows reserved for J). Row 4 was completely empty, as was my row (except for myself, of course), but row 4 was completely blocked out for me during OLCI.

The snack for the flight was a museli bar. J didn't look much better - they got basically a continental breakfast (similar to a standard Y service breakfast, except it looks like they had yoghurt). I saved the museli bar and instead polished off a bottle of water.

CSM Jenny came to my row just as I was pulling out Freddie's case and commented on the case itself. It was then I told her about what was inside. Long story short, I introduced Jenny and Freddie to each other and they even got a photo together.

It wasn't long after that when we had to start getting ready to land in SYD. We landed on the third runway and stopped briefly before the turn towards T3. When the plane had stopped, I noticed one of the QF A380s parked at a remote bay (Gate 1-5?). I tried to get a good picture but unfortunately being in 5C rather than 5A didn't help things, and the camera was unable to capture the details of the far away aircraft in good focus.

We docked into gate 1 to find no ground staff there to assist in preparing the aerobridge, so we had to duly wait around 7 minutes before (after advice from the CSM and the captain) the aerobridge was in place and finally everyone was able to disembark.

From gate 1, it was....you guessed it....straight to the QP. Interestingly enough, the QP had both breakfast and all-day offerings (all-day offering was green salad, cheese, ham, bread rolls and relishes). Checked my QF account and was pleasantly surprised to find QF615, QF685 and QF766 credited into my account.

Next departure: QF751 from gate 9

Revised Flight Schedule

[B][U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U][/B]
[B]17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  4A    Arrived 19min late
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  5A    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  4C    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734  5C    Arrived on time[/B]
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738  4A
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738  6C
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738  5D

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: ADL QP

As soon as QF751 was called, I was just about to think about sampling the chicken and corn soup on offer, but I knew there was no time. When I was on my way to gate 9, I passed the same wine promotion stand I've seen several times. The call was a bit too tempting and I stopped briefly to sample a WA white and enter a competition. It didn't seem right to rush the man behind the counter, but I didn't want to leave it until they called my name for boarding.

Flight: QF751 Sydney (SYD T3) - Adelaide (ADL T1)
Depart: 1235h Sched; 1235h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXM “Mount Hotham” Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 4A

This was certain to be a full flight if the loadings as per EF told me days ago. And it was.

I didn't have any trouble finding my seat but a space in the overhead was a different problem. I put my bag up in the row 5 locker and slipped as gracefully as I could into 4A.

The IFE was temporarily kicking itself for the safety demonstration, so CSM Simon saw fit to read out the script himself. The scripts are still the old "subtly, every aircraft is different" type. It's quite funny that when the script is read, when discussing the brace position they still say, "Can you reach the seat in front of you?" It's even more comical when they say the aforementioned question with a falling intonation (which doesn't imply it is a question at all, cf. rising intonation). Also, the FA demonstrating at row 4 couldn't find a safety card to point out the brace position, so seeing her confusion I saw fit to help her by finding her a safety card.

Light lunch was served on this flight, consisting of a choice of either a pesto chicken salad (with greens, cherry tomato and pasta) with lemon dressing, or a beef sandwich. I chose the salad; I know that they always over-butter the sandwiches and at least the salad was a more meaningful combination compared to some other dubious choices (e.g. ham and bean salad). Not a bad little lunch. Polished off with a black tea and a water. I then spent the rest of the flight catching some shut eye.

To be continued... my flight QF690 has just been called!

 

[anat0l]

Current Location: MEL T1 QP

...continuing from where I left off...

We touched down into ADL into gate 21 and I did a little sortie towards the only international flight leaving that day - an MH flight - until I reached the glass walls that blocked access off from the "domestic" section of the airport. Then it was back to the QP.

Another day another of the same old fare. A sparkling water with lemon and some cake served to set me for the afternoon as I wrote the previous post of the TR. I had quite a bit of time conversing with Skoogle before I tucked back into writing my TR. It was at this point that I got called, so quickly posted whatever I had, shut down the PC and off to gate 20 for boarding.

Flight: QF690 Adelaide (ADL T1) - Melbourne-Tullamarine (MEL T1)
Depart: 1540h Sched; 1540h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VYI “Bathurst Island” Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 6C

Another full flight - this one especially of kids. I had a screamy kicky baby behind me for the flight, but eh - what can you do. A pink coated muffin (for breast cancer research) was offered for refreshment.

Before touching down, the pax in 4C was requesting whether if a ground staff member could be made available to her to help her transfer to MEL T2. Whilst the CSM was trying to explain that they'll try their best and that in the worst case getting to T2 is really easy (and it is), I stepped forward and offered to guide the pax to T2. She was obviously very confused about anything about airports.

We touched down and docked into gate 2. I soon set out to help the woman in 4C to get to the passport control. It helped a lot that she was flying QF, her bags were tagged through to AKL and she had a BP for her onward leg. Got her to T2, she was happy (although still looking a bit confused...and of need of glasses), saw her go through the passport control door and then I was off back to T1. Cleared security and up to the QP.

I managed to change my seat on QF634 to an exit row (13D), so should be a more comfortable flight home. Hot food was being proffered in the QP, consisting of mini-spring rolls and mini-pizzas. I took a spot at the long bench just in front of the food, although I'm probably going to need to stop camping the hot food and move away lest I run out of battery power.

Checked QF and it appears my CBR-SYD and SYD-ADL flights today have been credited...odd indeed, since (a) this is the fastest that I've seen flights being credited in a while, and (b) QF1499 from yesterday hasn't been credited yet.

Next departure: QF634 (the final flight!) from gate 1.

Revised Flight Schedule

[B][U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Seat  Remarks        [/U][/B]
[B]17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  4A    Arrived 19min late
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  5A    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  4C    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  5C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734  5C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738  4A    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738  6C    Arrived on time[/B]
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738  [highlight]13D[/highlight]

 

[serfty]

... I took a spot at the long bench just in front of the food, although I'm probably going to need to stop camping the hot food and move away lest I run out of battery power. ...

Them there's plenty power points under the long benches at MEL QP ...

 

[Evan]

QF1499 being a QFlink ? Dash-8, maybe its credited through a different interface to the systems ? nothing would surprise me.

As serfty has correctly pointed out there is power points under the long benches. I dont mind the MEL QP, its not such a bad place to be

 

[anat0l]

Them there's plenty power points under the long benches at MEL QP ...

For the long bench that was right in front of the food bar in the QP, there were no power points; I checked underneath and it was completely clean. Ditto for the chair/table sets on either side of the said bench. I didn't check the end points of the bench, but otherwise nothing to plug in. Only advantage was being near the food.

But that aside, I moved away after I'd had my fill and went to another long bench (higher than the previous one and set with little square lanterns) to check for new messages while supping on a glass of Stonyfell Brut. I didn't have much time left anyway, so a quick dash to the bathroom and QF634 was called.

Flight: QF634 Melbourne-Tullamarine (MEL T1) - Brisbane (BNE D)
Depart: 1905h Sched; 1905h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXO “Kakadu” Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 13D

I was reminded by FA Melissa upon scanning my BP that I was in an exit row and all cabin baggage would need to be put in the overhead lockers. Upon boarding I was greeted by CSM Ray and I went to my seat lucky to find space in the overheads in row 13. It's bad enough boarding and not finding space in the overhead lockers but it's even worse if you can't find space and you're in an exit row. So up went my bag and Freddie Jr. Melissa soon came back after the flight had closed to give us the standard reminder, check-off and emergency procedures necessary for all exit row pax. 13E was free so 13F and myself had a good deal of elbow room to exploit.

The sound port from 13F was apparently cactus so the pax resorted to plugging in his headset into the port for 13E, which worked although that meant I had to be careful with my right arm (don't want to be accidentally diddling with the volume or channel controls for 13E). I resorted to my trusty iPod for the duration of the trip. Dinner was served on this flight, consisting of macaroni pasta with beef and tomato ragu [sic], which was topped with melted cheese and sided with some broccoli and a bread roll that actually was soft enough to appreciably eat. It might have been the effect of SC running and/or eating lounge food beforehand but the pasta and ragout was pretty bland, but then again I don't expect much from a Y meal except for it actually being edible. I only took one bite out of the bread roll but I was stuffed. The square of chocolate went down with a cup of tea, along with quaffing a considerable amount of water.

Some time after the trays were cleared we suddenly saw the seat belt sign turn on and the captain instructing everyone to buckle up. Sure enough, a few minutes after the said announcement we drove through a brief passage of mild turbulence. There was a kid who had unfortunately picked the wrong time to go to the bathroom (she just locked the door to the bathroom only seconds before the seat belt sign came on), but she luckily made her way back to her seat through the turbulence. Once we had surpassed the turbulence and the seat belt sign switched off, I thought it'd be wise for me to go use the bathroom myself, so I trekked up to the J bathroom.

When I got out, I found CSM Ray and enquired about what were the standard procedures for Y pax using the J bathroom. His personal opinion was that of practicality (i.e. illogical for a row 4 person to go all the way down the back to use the bathroom), but he basically was apathetic about the "rule" of J pax only using J bathrooms. He said if there was crowding at the front then he would direct pax away from the J bathroom. On some international flights where the curtain is employed, then clearly it's each class to their own bathrooms, but since on domestic flights curtains are not used (standard operating procedure post-9/11) he doesn't stop Y pax from using the J bathroom (even if they've come from the very back of the aircraft!) unless it was causing a crowding problem. I told him about different people's viewpoints, including those from overseas and other airlines etc., including a discussion of things like operating procedures that allow J pax to disembark completely before Y pax are allowed to move for disembarkation (either by use of drawing the curtain when docked at the gate, or by a FA standing between Y and J), etc. A good conversation which ended just minutes before the cabin had to be prepared for landing.

We landed at BNE without a fuss and taxied to gate 23 for disembarkation. After eight flights in two days, I was pretty tired and hence why I waited until today to put this post through. I'm still pretty tired today and I've had to employ the services of an extra shot coffee to get me through the work I need to do before I go jet-setting again on Thursday.

My QF activity statement has been updated to show every flight credited with the exception of the QantasLink QF1499 SYD-CBR.

The photos from my flight will be posted after this, but apart from that, once again this brings a close to another TR.

Fin.

Final Flight Schedule

[B][U]Date   Flight  Orig  Dest  Dep   Arr   Cls  A/C  Rego  Seat  Remarks           [/U][/B]
17JAN  QF615   BNE   MEL   1015  1340  O    734  TJU   4A    Arrived 19min late
17JAN  QF685   MEL   ADL   1410  1500  O    738  VXE   5A    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF766   ADL   SYD   1740  2005  O    738  VXE   4C    Arrived on time
17JAN  QF1499  SYD   CBR   2110  2200  O    DH4  QOA   5C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF704   CBR   SYD   0945  1040  O    734  TJJ   5C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF751   SYD   ADL   1235  1415  O    738  VXM   4A    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF690   ADL   MEL   1540  1725  O    738  VYI   6C    Arrived on time
18JAN  QF634   MEL   BNE   1905  2015  O    738  VXO   13D   Arrived on time

 

[docjames]

Nice TR anat0l - thanks for writing up.

Your thoughts mirror my recent Dom Y experiences.

You did well - only one flight delayed. Out of curiosity, did the others arrive within 1-2 mins of schedule, or were you using the "industry standard" of <15 min = on time?

Re: J toilet - I havent flown domestic J for ages, but if i'd paid >$1k for a J seat (vs Red e-deals of ~$100), I'd be wanting "my" toilet area, "my" peace and quiet that i'd paid good money for, blocked off. I wouldn't want to be sitting there in a "quiet" cabin of 12 people and having heaps of other Pax coming by me constantly.

I must admit i do find it quite frustrating when the audio doesnt work - Qantas spruik IFE as one of the "benefits" of choosing QF, but the frequency i've found of it being so quiet even at max volume it's useless, or not functional at all, is surprisingly high.

Sorry for the thread hijak - again, a nice, simple, TR . (that's obviously provoked many thoughts in me at least!)

 

[anat0l]

Photos from the SC run

Freddie Jr at BNE Domestic, looking towards the Qantas section from the Jetstar concourse.

Freddie Jr at ADL Gate 19, just about to board QF766.

A QF009-esque shot, sitting in 4C of a 738 (QF766).

Freddie Jr tucks into "Stir Fried Chicken with Kung Pao Sauce". I don't know how they got these names; that or the mind behind this dish knows martial arts.

Freddie Jr at SYD T3 QP, which was dead quiet and was closing soon.