Heading towards the light

[JessicaTam]

So often when I travel I spend a few days here and a few days there. This trip I decided I needed to visit just one place, and really get to know it. So I chose Berlin. Three weeks getting to know the city (with a quick side trip*). Fortunately my leave coincided with AFF 10 in PER so that helped get me on my way. And provided an excuse to claim the ‘longest way home’ from the AFF do.


My itinerary, and how I ‘paid’ for it:

MEL-PER VA J. I transferred flybuys to EY, and then booked VA ‘The Business’ with EY points.
PER-SYD QF J using AA miles earned with HH stays
SYD-xSIN-CDG F/R. Booked with KF miles transferred from VA earned with CC signups x 2.
TXL-xLHR-KEF BA Y revenue fare
KEF-TXL AB Y revenue fare
FRA-xHKG-MEL CX J booked with QF points.

So nine flights on six carriers booked in four different ways - let the fun begin!


* In proper AFF style, I had to go somewhere while I was in one place for a while! And considering the time of year I chose Iceland to see the northern lights. Hence the title.

 

[love_the_life]

Can't wait to read all about it.

 

[TomVexille]

Checking in

 

[mmchow]

Looking forward to this and enjoy the trip

 

[RB]

Looking forward to following along. Good luck with the lights- saw them in Canada & it was a great experience

 

[OATEK]

Love Berlin and will be following with great interest.

 

[Pushka]

One of the first TR's I read was yours JT and it became an inspiration for me. Of course then I found drron, amaroo, and TomCat's reviews in the TR section. I was a little slow to the party.

 

[JessicaTam]

VA685 MEL-PER A330-200 J

My first flight was in VA ‘The Business’ MEL-PER. This is the first time I have flown on VA’s A330 trans-con and I look forward to comparing it with QF’s version.

Before takeoff I was offered a champagne which is certainly a nice touch. They loaded 9 bottles for the return MEL-PER-MEL flights and six were consumed on my flight. So apologies to anyone who was on the flight back. Oh, and before you think anything inappropriate - I had help!

The cabin crew had a quick chat with each pax (only 2 empty seats) and asked if they had flown “The Business” before. A surprising number said no. This led to a quick tour of the seat's features and various storage areas.

There is a whole thread devoted to VA J catering so I will just say that I found the food excellent. There was a catering loading fail, so no biscuits to go with the cheese. The CSM chose not to serve bread with the meals, so they were available to have with the cheese. It worked out fine.

The only issue I (still) have with VA is the inability to set dietary preferences, so it was fortunate that the meals on offer were suitable. It could have been a long hungry flight.

The staff were all very attentive and enthusiastic. They really do seem to be enjoying their job. It is a shame that there is such a difference between the staff in the J cabin on an A330, and the Y cabin on the narrow bodies.

Footnote: I haven't worried about photos for the first couple of flights as there are any number on the forum that do the airlines more justice than me. Don't worry, as I start my trip north, as opposed to west and east, there will be pics (or it never happened)!

 

[JessicaTam]

QF586 PER-SYD A330-200 J

Flight number two had me in the QF red-eye PER-SYD, also in J. It would be unfair to compare the food offerings as one flight was daytime, and the other not. However the food that was offered was pretty poor pickings - and no champagne. My special meal was the same toasted sandwich that I get in Y for lunch, just minus the wrapping and served on a plate. :shock:

I did not recline the VA seat to the bed position but it looked like the footwell would have plenty of room. The QF seat in bed mode was wide enough for me to sleep on my side and curl up slightly. The footwell was plenty big enough for my size 10s. I managed to get a good couple of hours sleep until I was woken by the clanging and banging of breakfast being served. Goodness QF, how hard is it to teach your staff to be considerate of those pax who are still asleep and take a little bit more time and so be a little bit quieter?

The QF PER domestic J lounge

We were about 30 minutes late out of PER due to the incoming plane being late. It gave me a chance to catch up with TheBOSman who was on his way east and home. I do like the feel of the new J lounge in the PER domestic QF terminal. It is quite large, and for a while I was the only guest as I had got to the airport just as the last flights before the red-eyes departed. There is a gap of about 4 or so hours between those blocks of flights.

I tried the pizza and it was yummy. There was also some Moroccan chicken drumsticks with couscous that I had not seen before. I will be looking out for them again.

I got into SYD at about 0700 and so had a few hours in the J lounge just chilling. It is tricky to find a quiet dark spot in that lounge, and I regretted not keeping the eyeshades from my flight.

After my ‘quiet-time’ I went and bought an Opal card for the public transport system, and with Major’s advice in mind headed off for the 400 bus to Mascot. It worked a treat, so I don’t think I will be using the airport railway station again. Total cost for the return trip into Circular Quay was about $6 compared with about $25 if I had suffered the airport train levy.

I met up with Katy in Sydney and we headed to Settlement on Quay for a burger and fries. Good food and good company - just what I needed. And as a bonus I discovered after paying that it was part of the Amex Shop Small program.


It was then back to the airport for my first SQ F flight…

 

[Buzzard]

I may be way down the back of the bus somewhere but I'm now on board the journey.

 

[Major]

I may be way down the back of the bus somewhere but I'm now on board the journey.

Same here...I hope the Northern lights co operate

 

[levelnine]

Looking forward to this.

 

[LadyC]

Sounds great - looking forward to the next installment.

 

[VPS]

always enjoy your TR

 

[Bindibuys]

As JohnM would say.... Boarding pass scanned.

 

[OATEK]

Sorry I missed that lunch or I would have passed this one along in person.

One place I found quite fascinating in Berlin was Schonhausen Palace, near Pankow to the north of Berlin.

This was a palace used by the East German hierarchy to present an affable face to the world. A short but interesting walk from Pankow S-Bahn station (approach along Ossietzsky Str). The "Villas" surrounding the palace and park were for the senior party officials and in stark contrast to what most East Germans enjoyed.

And the Thurman Marktcafe on the corner of Breite Str and Ossietzsky Str (on the way to/from the palace) has some amazing cakes.

 

[blackcat20]

Whoops I'm a little late.

 

[love_the_life]

Whoops I'm a little late.

You have been otherwise occupied

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Looking forward to this one. Boarding pass scanned.

 

[rainbowgirl]

I am fascinated by the northern lights. I'd love to hear first hand observations of them.

Every time I get an email reminder for this thread I start hearing the song "There's a Light" from the Rocky Horror Show.