My First TR: 21 Flights in 28 Days

[exceladdict]

Well, to be honest, the full title should be 21 Flights, 16 Airports, 9 Plane Types and 6 Carriers taking 2 pax over 5 Continents in 28 Days. And it's all thanks to the advice gained on this forum - without your expertise, it would not have been possible.


There's a huge number of firsts for me on this trip so please forgive any 'stating the obvious' or inconsistencies!

Depart: PER, QR J to DOH, 11h:25m, 777-3


I haven't been to PER Int'l for quite some time as recent overseas trips have been ex-Mel, but it always brings back pleasant childhood memories and the size of the departures hall still impresses me. That said, PER is beginning to show it's age and the always-ongoing upgrades are becoming more and more needed.


Checking in it was nice to use the premium queue, and we had to request our bags to only be ticketed part of the trip due to a 16hr stopover en route to the 'technical' destination on my itinerary.


We did the usual and passed through security/customs quickly and then on to the Qantas 'Intl J Lounge'. Not much to picture there - to be honest, I prefer the PER QP which is about twice the size. We started with a champagne and Jellybeans.




There was no boarding call, but a QR J attendant was doing strange laps of the lounge so we checked our ticket, which revealed we were 15 mins late for initial boarding, so we made our way all of 30 metres to the gate. No Queue, and almost straight on the plane.

 

[exceladdict]

Plane: 777-3, Seats 2A/B

We were shown to our seats by a smiling flight attendant and were served a nice rosé before take off.

Being our first Intl J flight, we were pleasantly surprised by the pyjamas and Armani amenity kit.


The seats themselves were extremely spacious - neither of us are big, so there was plenty of room to roll around even when horizontal.


Our orders were taken for our first meal, which was served approx 15 minutes after take off. I've been to restaurants with smaller menus. Forgive pictures, my new 35mm DX lens is slightly not wide enough to capture it all!

Appetisers were spiced prawns very nice.


My Wife enjoyed a Salad and another interesting dish. Reports were that they were enjoyable.

 

[opusman]

15 minutes after take-off is impressively fast!

 

[exceladdict]

The salad:

I enjoyed a crumbed chicken with vegetables dish.

I did say that i'd only have one course as I was very full from dinner - perhaps a rookie mistake - we had been to Hippo Creek for a birthday dinner and the 400gm Beef steak-skewer-hybrid-thing was too hard to refuse. However, I was enticed to enjoy a nice ice cream for dessert.


After changing into the (amazing) pyjamas, and putting on that Brad Pitt Tank Movie I was asleep in a matter of minutes. While classed as being completely lie-flat, I'd argue that the seats are closer to 175 degrees, but this was no problem. I enjoyed more sleep in one go than in all flights I have taken in my life to date combined.


Waking up some hours later (too eager to start writing this review), I had a look around the cabin - 3 empty seats in J. An EK/QF flight departed about 20 minutes prior to this one, and I can't help but think that QF's oneworld partner in QR has done a great job competing. I didn't check Y, but it seems PER passengers have no hesitation to fly QR.


And given the service, it's no surpise why. Almost as soon as I turned my reading light on to look at the menu, an attendant was with me in seconds (without me calling) to take a meal order. I've never had a cappuccino, complete with frothy milk, served with chocolate in the middle of the night on a plane before.





Changing back in to regular attire it was time to get some work done and write this first review. I can't promise every leg will have such detail, but for now I'm still on the buzz of what to me is the most luxurious travel experience of my life.


Other Anecdotes:
- I live in a very small apartment, and it was interesting to see that the bathroom on the plane, save for a shower, was almmost bigger than my own home!
- While being my first experience with lie-flat seats, it was hilarious looking around the cabin to see people sleeping face-down. I just don't understand.
- We were given 'premium class' tags for our carry-on and a special wallet to carry around in DOH. I can't wait to see what's waiting for us there.


Next Up: QR J Lounge in DOH

 

[feezable]

Subscribed, looking forward to reading your TR. I love a good mystery, where are we going next

 

[Jimmy124]

Subscribed also, looking forward to being part of this exciting adventure, albeit in spirit reading the TR

 

[Deleted member]

Good start. I look forward to more

 

[ellen10]

Yes signing in to follow your travels.

 

[RooFlyer]

Excellent; I plan to be on this flight later in the year.

 

[TomVexille]

This sounds like fun. Looking forward to following along.

 

[Major]

I am also looking forward to your travels

 

[QF WP]

Now I'm back in the TR territory, time to subscribe and live vicariously. A great start exceladdict, take us along for the ride

 

[stoneman]

Subscribed - this is going to be fun!

 

[smit0847]

Subscribed - please continue!

 

[boomy]

My favourite AFF forum
I hope more members will write their first TR, it's always interesting to read others travel reviews.
Enjoy your trip exceladdict, looking forward to see lots of photos!

 

[sjd]

Great start to the trip report. Keep on posting.

 

[LadyC]

Sounds busy! Also looking forward to the next installment

 

[vitagen]

Sounds like an exciting trip indeed, any chance you can post up your itinerary? So I can follow a bit better?

 

[blackcat20]

That first flight looks pretty darn good.

 

[garee]

Subscribed - please continue