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Boarding for LAX-SYD on QF12 is crowded. Its quite organised getting on though with automated gates. Slight anmoyance as I end up two boarding groups further back than I could have been as wouldnt let me flash my IB OWS as I had my QF NB on the boarding pass (for Points Club SCs). Its a long...

And so to LAX. Ive never done an Int-Int connection before. Its a bit of a schemozzle but not terribly slow. After picking up bag, giving your fingerprints to the stony-faced immigration people, you don't check bag at a desk, rather hand it to a staff-member, then traipse off to a theme-park...

AA Y is not something I usually look forward to. Its a Boeing 777-300ER Im not tiny by any means but I do fit in a seat so some of the pax in the boarding area were enough to make one worry But I did OK. Aisle seat of the middle 4 seat and I had a space next to me. Seat was reasonably...

Me today, zero kisses on text messages

Of course, I have plenty of time especially as I'm boarding group 99 or something, but it was nice to sit down at the gate and decompress

Security was mercifully quick and I walked toward the gate. As I approach the QF lounge, I turn in and ask the barman for the largest Gin & Tonic he's allowed to serve me.

Fortunately, the AA man I''d spoken to earlier was still there He knew the situation and fobbed off one of the other agents while he got to work It was a flurry of typing and (I kid you not) at T-61, I'm in. It felt like a Mission Impossible cliffhanger! Both relieved, he tells me not to hang...

So settle in to one of the charging stations. There is a lot of refreshing of the ESTA site. Realise that I dont really want to lose the points if the visa doesn't come through. Call QF. Pretty short wait for an NB but it is the middle of the Australian night. Agent confirms the latest I can...

Fortunately not real time but thanks for the support if I were

Not too long before a train comes for the stop to LHR T2/3. its now about T-90 mins. AA signage points to the kiosks. Try to check-in but no-go presumably due to being ESTA negative. Speak to most experienced AA check-in staff-member I can see. He confirms the issue. Not an uncommon problem...

Alight at H&H and fortunately there is a plug outlet in the little waiting room. Once I had some juice, I was able to get back onto the ESTA site. And I can now reaccess the payment page...hooray I pay by credit card this time... And get -"Thank you for your payment. We are unable to make...

So I board the DLR and change onto the Elizabeth line. At Stratford there is an announcement that due to people on the tracks, the train wont go all the way to LHR but will terminate at Hayes & Harlington. I hadn't noticed my battery bar but en route, my phone conks out. The travel gods are...

I'm still leaning to CX and BA. CX have good availability currently but are hard to top-up so will tilt to them. Avios have other ways of acquiring (eg boost, subscription) and in theory its possible to access QR via VA which is not devaluing.

It would have been but they were obliged to get me to HKG which wouldn't have been for a while given the weather event

Get on the official ESTA site. its not straightforward. As well as the old demographics and questions of turpitude, they now want the details of all held passport numbers (took a trail of my emails to find my expired UK passport details) and Facebook/Linkedin etc usernames. Go to pay. Click...

Now I know you are all disappointed to be missing the Berlin stopover and the QR and CX flight reports. Believe me I was too. But I was feeling relieved that I'd be back home in time for mstrandye3's presentation. I go to the BA desk and tell them I'm a no-show for LCY-BER. Took a couple of...

Not sure. A now-defunct butcher called Kennedy's in East Lane market was considered best when I wss young. But I always had an aversion to the jelly

And then my mobile data crashes. Settle down into a cafe with wifi. FIre up google flights for anything ex-LON or BER. A couple of Y options around $1.5k via Vietnam and Taiwan but maybe not the best idea flying through SE Asia. Anything via Middle East considerably more. Then onto seats.aero...

My internal monologue was resembling Hugh Grant's opening scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral. My previous hire car logistical challenge fades into insignificance (and this isnt my fault). I call an Uber and get onto Alaska (the issuers of the QR award flights). Short wait, helpful agent. But...

I agree paying an inflated fee to get extra points wouldn't stand up as deductible if scrutinised. Deducting the standard fee for the normal points is reasonable IMO as you van argue you are using a portal for convenience, cash-flow whatever There are also some people who genuinely believe that...