Platinum One Experience - John Travolta 707 Flight [Trip Report]

[trippin_the_rift]

Last week was all very exciting - I had soo much fun catching up with AFF'ers at the P1 launch reception.
This has to be the photo of the evening... AJ & AFF together at last



With soo much excitement (no, it wasn't the wine), no-one had a clear shot!!!


November 17

The morning after the wonderful P1 launch reception at Blue in Sydney there was exclusive event was for a select group of Platinum One members - only 8 other P1's + their guests.

A very special joyflight on N707JT around Sydney for an hour was planned.

Being fortunate to receive a platinum ticket from QFF early last week; I asked fellow frequent flyer - Storyteller (another Plat1 member) from AFF to be my guest.



Pre-Flight/Lounge

Departing from a VIP lounge in the general aviation area of Sydney airport, we were greeted by name by Simon & Stephanie from QF customer loyalty, as well as Margaret, Juliet & Lauren from the P1 team.

Boarding passes were distributed as guests arrived with Platinum One heavily marked for the DYKWIA's.



We enjoyed drinks and nibbles while we waited for our Captain & host for the day - John Travolta - to arrive.
After a meet & greet with JT and a few short words for the cameras, we were itching to get onboard his 707.





Boarding/Pre-Flight

From the lounge, after priority security, we jumped on a Qantas bus which took all passengers to the departure area where our crew were smiling and waiting for us to board. Unfortunately I couldn't find the priorty boarding line... so we boarded at our convenience via the forward stairs.



On board QF had Simon, Rob, Margaret & Juliet along to assist with things and they helped with onward transfers following our late arrival back into SYD when the 1 hour joy flight turned into nearly 2!! .

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Departure

Seated in the rear of Awesome Class to be near the galley, the seats appeared to be a mix between the old QF Dreamtime and the AA domestic first class seats.



So comfortable, but we spent most of the time in the main saloon being social..



After a brief safety instruction from the head flight attendant, we heard a familiar "G'day folks this is your Captain speaking." Today, strangely, we didn't hear the "well, maybe not today..." !



Takeoff was a short taxi to main runway in Sydney, heading towards the South over the bay. From inside (and behind the engines), takeoff was extremely smooth and very quiet. Reminded me of the MD-80 sounds on takeoff. A friend at the observation tower reported that wonderful distinctive 707 roar.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Inflight & Food
The day's flightpath took us over... a lot of places... (ok ok.. so I didn't quite get a pic of the flightpath), but we did stay along the coastline for the ~ 90minute flight. It was generally overcast, but we were all standing and walking around socialising anyway!
Here's a few pics:



And as well as John's own wonderful Chief Steward and CSM, QF supplemented the staff with 2 of their top notch Flight Attendants. Just in case we needed anything.

The menu was very understated. Food was top notch - fruit platters, chicken skewers and spring rolls -

 

[trippin_the_rift]

And understated doesn't even come close to describing the offerings on the beverage list, merely describing the drinks of the day, the 1999 Comte de Taittinger as "French Champagne", and the Penfolds RTW as "red wine"!! :thumbsup:

We did enjoy the delicious catering!







Trippin (photo fail) & Storyteller

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Passengers

Of the other passengers on this flight, there were 8 other Platinum One's with their partners.
Curious as to how much others fly I did ask a few how many SC they have racked up this year.
One gentleman will be up near the 9,000 SC point just from this year.

Mostly only one of each couple was the flyer. Our combined SC total must have been nice


The Plane

John's Plane 'Jett Clipper Ella' was built in 1964, making it 46 years old with around 30,000 hours on the clock. In comparision, some Qantas 767/747's are in the high 20K hour regions. I feel slightly safer on those big birds now ;-)



The plane was very much like a first class train or luxury yacht inside. Think Orient Express or Blue train. Lovely master stateroom flowing onto bathroom with shower, then to another stateroom with a few seats & table that folds down into a bed.
The elegant main lounge area is very open and seats 12 in style. Another private cabin is beyond the main room, and the galley at the rear. There were 4 heads on board, conveniently located throughout the plane.

The seats we were in fold down to 2 beds for the kids.



One thing we did notice was these metal things stuck on the wing. Took the question to the man himself, and John explained that they disturb the airflow over the wing so that the plane won't stall at low or high speeds. Modern aircraft have these built into the wing in a new way that makes them less obvious on the wing.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

John Travolta

John is such a lovely fellow, he spent a lot of time with each and every one of the passengers onboard. Really taking the time to chat, pose for photos and answer anything about anything. He was extremely open, genuine and a delight to fly with. The perfect host.
He just glowed when he spoke about what started his interest in planes. I thought "he's one of us!!!"




Finally...

Having had a small taste of Platinum One - Storyteller & I agree it sure is something that is appreciated after a lot of flying.

Speaking with tens of other P1's the evening prior at the P1 Reception, & on the flight - we spend soo much time away from family & friends -
that being part of genuine 'money can't buy' experiences is a sure set way that QF is making P1's feel good about spending hundreds of hours in the air each year. (One lovely lady is starting the POW Club - Plat1 Widow Club).

While there were many behind the joyflight experience - We'd like to make special mention to Simon, Steph, Margaret, Juliet and the Plat1 team for truly showing Qantas' most important frequent flyers just how valued they are, and look forward to many more events like this in the future

 

[smit0847]

I really do shudder to think how much Qantas pays John Travolta to be their Ambassador. I know he is a flying nut but he is also an incredibly wealthy, succesfull and busy actor.

Perhaps thats where their international profits are going?


Great pics though!

 

[Isochronous]

That's an amazing experience. Thanks for posting and for the photos!

 

[tuapekastar]

Terrific report trippin_the_rift ! Thanks for posting/sharing. Had dinner in ADL with Storyteller, straitman and Mal on Saturday night and got a rundown and a look at some pix in the camera. I saw JT's beast parked at MEL yesterday afternoon, brings back memories as I'm old enough to have flown on QF 707s a bunch of times. It was parked next to an A380 - 4 engines is where the similarities end.

PS. You could have asked me along! I think I look quite fetching in a little off-the-shoulder black number. Well, maybe not.

 

[haydensydney]

Awesome! Thanks for the report!

 

[nlagalle]

Great TR trippin'!!

Awesome experience I bet you won't forget!!

 

[Storyteller]

And the trip report is just a mere summary of how great it all really was... Thanks again Trippin.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Great pics you lucky things , thankyou for sharing.

 

[Mal]

Great tr. I've also attached a better version of shot #1



Sent from my GT-I9100 using AustFreqFly

 

[Storyteller]

Great tr. I've also attached a better version of shot #1

View attachment 4683

Sent from my GT-I9100 using AustFreqFly

Strangely it comes into better focus if I hold my glasses in front of the screen.

The smiles say it all ....

 

[kpc]

one word "Jealous":evil: comes to mind....











...seriously, great photos, closest I will get to inside JTs plane.

 

[bugayev]

Words can't express how lucky you are to have experienced that, nor how JEALOUS I am in reading it! Many, many, many, many congratulations!!

 

[dk4]

Fantastic trip report!

Thanks for sharing.

I thought "he's one of us!!!"

And given the way both AJ & JT firmly planted their rights hands aound someone's waist, methinks they thought the same. Enjoy the journey!

 

[Kendall Roy]

WOW, I was pretty stoked meeting the big fella after the inaugural QF7 into DFW, but this really takes the cake!

 

[Paddy55]

Must have been a fantastic experience!

Green with envy :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Paddy