So near yet so far, finally to the USA

[jase05]

It’s been a rough couple of weeks since unfortunately cutting our trip short but now that the dust has settled I thought I’d pen a few notes and tales from our trip.
A bit of background first.
We haven’t visited the US previously and we had booked a 6 week trip when the dreaded Covid hit, fortunately we received all funds back promptly but and we had decided that we would head back some day. About 12 months ago Mrs Jase asked where I’d like to go for my 50th and the US wasn’t really a thought at the time and we had been looking at Europe again for about the 30th time when at that very minute the cricket schedule was released and Australia was scheduled to tour Sri Lanka and the West Indies. I have a mate in the Australian test side and decided that I’d like to go and watch him play in an overseas tour, now to decide where. We had visited Sri Lanka previously and the West Indies was always a bucket list item so decision made. As the months went on we started to piece together an itinerary that would suit us both and allow us to finally get to the US. Next step was to start booking however Cricket Australia didn’t have venues or exact dates finalised however we had a rough idea so the plan was to get US flights booked and then once the schedule was released we would go from there.

 

[jase05]

In the end we went with
ADL-SIN-KUL SQ J booked with Velocity points
2 nights Banyan Tree KL
KUL-DOH-CAI QR J/F revenue fare
2 nights Fairmont Nile City, Cairo
CAI-FRA-IAD MS/LH J booked with Aeroplan
1 night stopover Sheraton Frankfurt Airport
2 nights Fairmont Georgetown Washington DC
DCA-LGA AA J revenue fare
LGA-CLT-MIA-GND AA J revenue fare
1 night stopover Sheraton Charlotte Airport
4 nights Mount Cinnamon resort Grenada, test cricket and sightseeing
GND-ANU S6 Y revenue fare
4 nights Royalton CHIC Antigua, All inclusive, Adults only resort
ANU-MIA-JFK-BOS
1 night stopover Pullman Miami Airport
Pick up rental car at BOS and spend 3 days visiting friends in Mystic, CT.
BOS-PHL-SLC AA J revenue fare
1 night at Springhill Suites Salt Lake City Airport
Pick up rental car
2 nights Bellagio Las Vegas
1 night Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
1 night The View Hotel, Monument Valley
1 night Le Meridien Salt Lake City
SLC-SEA AS J revenue fare
1 night Fairmont Olympic Seattle
10 day Alaskan Cruise with Cunard on Queen Elizabeth
SEA-SNA AS J revenue fare
3 nights Marriott Anaheim
Pick up rental car
2 nights Fairmont Sonoma Mission
3 nights Fairmont San Francisco
SFO-BNE UA J booked with Velocity points
BNE-ADL VA J revenue fare

 

[jase05]

About a month or so from our trip I saw that some award flights for KUL had opened up for 2 days earlier so I figured we would rebook those and head off early. We can both work remotely so decided that we would book 2 nights at the Sofitel KL Damansara and “work” for those 2 days and the. Move over to the Banyan Tree on day 3 and keep all other bookings in order.
Our first flight was at 0910 so decided to stay the night before at the Atura and due to my work contract we get Terminal parking at excellent rates.
Our room at the Atura was tiny but functional and slept well

 

[VPS]

About a month or so from our trip I saw that some award flights for KUL had opened up for 2 days earlier so I figured we would rebook those and head off early. We can both work remotely so decided that we would book 2 nights at the Sofitel KL Damansara and “work” for those 2 days and the. Move over to the Banyan Tree on day 3 and keep all other bookings in order.
Our first flight was at 0910 so decided to stay the night before at the Atura and due to my work contract we get Terminal parking at excellent rates.
Our room at the Atura was tiny but functional and slept well
View attachment 461560View attachment 461561

Tiny is an understatement

 

[jase05]

Next morning we got up early and even though I knew it was pointless checking in before about 0700 I was given the hurry up by she who must be obeyed. For some reason Mrs Jase always wants to stick to the 3hr check in rule for international flights.
We get to check in right on 0600 and they are just opening, no one else in line so checked in by 0610. I know the lounge doesn’t open until 0700 and ABF are known to close down for their break between the two early DPS flights. The check in agent got on the radio and spoke to immigration who confirmed they were open. Security was a breeze and no one in the queue at immigration so straight through. Plaza Premium lounge opened at 0705 so had around 45 minutes to sit and wait. My attempt at humour towards my wife for getting there too early went down like the Hindenburg.
Lounge was very quiet for about and hour and then starting filling up in drinks and drabs but even with SQ and MH passengers in there it was less than half full. Coffee was great but didn’t eat. It’s a nice little lounge

 

[jase05]

SQ278 ADL-SIN B787 0910 departure
Boarding was quick and orderly as normal at ADL and prompt delivery of champers and in what seemed like only a few minutes we were told we are ready to go.
Departure was right on time and shortly after take off we received drinks and warm nuts. Dinner was served around 3hrs into the flight and I had ordered the Beef Ribs via BTC. I’m going to be honest and say they were pretty average and in general I found the food pretty poor on this flight. The beef was chewy and overcooked, the jus was way too salty and accompanied by stone cold brick of garlic bread. Dessert was a single scoop of ice cream that took about 20 minutes to become soft enough to eat. Just a real poor meal all round. Mrs Jase had the burger and said is was ok but not the best. An hour or so before arriving at Singapore a second meal service was offered, Dim sum and fried rice but again the meal disappointed. The seats were comfortable for a day flight and the service was fantastic but still the flight as a whole was a bit lacklustre but sure beats being at the back of the bus
We do alternate between SQ and MH out of ADL dependant on award availability and I do think that SQ is highly overrated

 

[drron]

Looks like the Atura had a Japanese hotel designer!

 

[jase05]

Looks like the Atura had a Japanese hotel designer!

An error by me. We have stayed there many times before and the rooms were far bigger. I think I just clicked on the first room I saw when I booked it. Put that one down as a travel mistake

 

[jase05]

Ended up being a smooth flight and landed in SIN about 5 minutes early. Arrived into T3 and according to my apps SQ126 was departing from T2 and F60 was confirmed on the monitor in the terminal. We had about 4hrs to kill so I do prefer the T3 SilverKris lounge so thought we would head straight there. Lounge was fairly busy and wasn’t really hungry but had a couple of beers. Nice for some plane spotting but the temperature was stifling in there and seemed to be no air circulation so we decided to go for a wander around the airport and get some exercise in. I do love looking at the various displays in the Terminals and stopped at a few shops along the way before we jumped on the skytrain to T2. My phone pinged to alert me to a gate change and sure enough the terminal monitor said T1 now D40.
I really did enjoy the Dreamscape area and could have spent more time there.

 

[jase05]

Bit of a line up at the gate for the secondary inspection but once in boarding was prompt and orderly. Our bird to KUL could use a lick of paint

SQ126 SIN-KUL A350 1830 departure time
Departed on time and only short flight of about an hour of which it seemed like the flight time was shorter than the time it took to taxi in at KUL. Once landed it took an eternity to find a spare bay.
Food options onboard was 2 seafood dishes and a vegetarian dish. I can’t remember exactly what they were but I didn’t partake and just had a coffee. Some nice plane spotting taxiing out and a smooth flight with a beautiful sunset. We seemed to spend most of the flight between two levels of clouds which provided interesting viewing

 

[jase05]

We had filled out our MDAC at the lounge in Singapore and all formalities were lightning quick.
We were there a few days before the Aerotrain was finally operating again and staff were still frantically putting the final touches on it.

Made our way to the J bus and we were the first two on it. Only 4 more people boarded before we were whisked to the terminal


Immigration a breeze and through to baggage collection in no time, now to see if our streak continues. By streak I mean how many consecutive times coming through KUL will our flights baggage be on a carousel completely different to what the board says. Our streak was currently 4 and yep we now have a new record
After waiting at the carousel that was listed for about 15 minutes I decided to go for a wander and lo and behold the carousel about 100m away was now showing our flight!
What made it worse was the original allocated carousel was still showing it and sure enough baggage from our flight came down BOTH carousels.
After that I booked a Grab and headed down to the Grab pick up area for what was about an hour ride to the hotel with a very friendly and talkative driver

 

[I love to travel]

In the end we went with
ADL-SIN-KUL SQ J booked with Velocity points
2 nights Banyan Tree KL
KUL-DOH-CAI QR J/F revenue fare
2 nights Fairmont Nile City, Cairo
CAI-FRA-IAD MS/LH J booked with Aeroplan
1 night stopover Sheraton Frankfurt Airport
2 nights Fairmont Georgetown Washington DC
DCA-LGA AA J revenue fare
LGA-CLT-MIA-GND AA J revenue fare
1 night stopover Sheraton Charlotte Airport
4 nights Mount Cinnamon resort Grenada, test cricket and sightseeing
GND-ANU S6 Y revenue fare
4 nights Royalton CHIC Antigua, All inclusive, Adults only resort
ANU-MIA-JFK-BOS
1 night stopover Pullman Miami Airport
Pick up rental car at BOS and spend 3 days visiting friends in Mystic, CT.
BOS-PHL-SLC AA J revenue fare
1 night at Springhill Suites Salt Lake City Airport
Pick up rental car
2 nights Bellagio Las Vegas
1 night Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
1 night The View Hotel, Monument Valley
1 night Le Meridien Salt Lake City
SLC-SEA AS J revenue fare
1 night Fairmont Olympic Seattle
10 day Alaskan Cruise with Cunard on Queen Elizabeth
SEA-SNA AS J revenue fare
3 nights Marriott Anaheim
Pick up rental car
2 nights Fairmont Sonoma Mission
3 nights Fairmont San Francisco
SFO-BNE UA J booked with Velocity points
BNE-ADL VA J revenue fare

That looked epic - sorry to hear that it had to be cut short and hope all is ok,

 

[jase05]

Arrived at the Sofitel Damansara around 2200 and keen just to check in, have a shower and hit the sack. First time at the property and although it’s a bit out of town from where we normally stay I must say it was a really good stay and I’d happily return.
We had booked a Luxury room at just $155/night and received an upgrade to a Junior suite. Staff were absolutely amazing and status recognition was fantastic. Received a small welcome gift of macaroons and cakes. The suite was spacious and has everything we needed including a comfortable bed and very good temperature controls. We both had plenty of work to do online the following day and I floated between our room, the EL and the pool area and managed a very productive day.

 

[jase05]

We had breakfast both days in the EL and didn’t bother going to the restaurant as it looked fairly busy. A pretty standard buffet plus you could choose from the menu

After breakfast I stayed in the EL and did some work. The EL is open all day for soft drinks and was quiet throughout the time I was there.