45789 miles in 3 weeks with Wife & 4 kids + Disney World

[Moindardt]

You flew where???? OMG are you stupid????

That has been the response for the past week to our recent trip. For those who have read some of the "don't fly direct..." type posts, you might have seen some of the insane things I put my family through. However, this one takes the cake. The first part, through to SFO, is the return legs of our trip in January. The YYC-CMB and CMB-BNE (and subsequent return to CMB in January 17) were put together with the wonderful assistance of madrooster. We wouldn't have been able to make the BKK-CMB flight if he hadn't managed to get them all on the same PNR so the baggage got checked through.

/rant on/ Apologies for not having finished the other trip reports or being slow posting photos, but most posts would be done from my iphone/ipad and the stupid app kills everything /rant off/


Our trip of the last 3 weeks for myself, my wife and our 4 kids consisted of the following:

BNE-HKG CX J A330
HKG-LHR CX J B777

2 Days in London. Storms cancelled the flight to OSL so BA put us up in a pretty nasty airport hotel and put us on the 7am flight the next morning (Friday). We requested they change the flight to the last one on Saturday and stayed at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane for the Friday night.

LHR-OSL BA J A319

Overnight in Oslo. Stayed at the Radisson Blue Airport Hotel.

OSL-LHR BA J A319
LHR-JFK BA J B747
JFK-SFO AA F A321T
SFO-ORD AA F B737
ORD-MCO AA F B737

11 Days at Walt Disney World, Orlando. We spent 10nts at WDW Swan (an SPG Westin hotel) on points - a 2 Bedroom Suite and Alcove Room. First night was WDW Caribbean Beach.

MCO-CLT AA Y A321
CLT-YYZ AA Y RJ200 (something real small)
YYZ-YYC AA Y B737 (WestJet)

Overnight in Calgary - Four Points by Sheraton Calgary Airport.

YYC-ORD WS Y B737
ORD-HEL AY J A330
HEL-BKK AY J A350
BKK-CMB UL J B737
CMB-DOH QR J A340
DOH-PER QR J B777
PER-BNE QF J A330

As you can see, we flew a huge variety of planes and carriers and I will try to give a little run down on each. I am trying to collate all the photos onto my computer so I can post it in a logical order. I am also waiting for the QR flights to post so I can provide a full rundown of the points. All flights (except the SFO-ORD-MCO for my wife, our oldest and myself which went to QF) were credited to AA. Predominately, this is because they are more mileage based and have nice bonuses for premium flights and premium pax.

 

[docjames]

Very interesting and looking forward to the reprt.

How old are the kids? Ages 2,4,6,8 a different trip to 12,14,16,18. Or even 22,24,26,28 etc.

 

[EestiTiger]

Wow! How old are your kids? That is awesome

 

[Moindardt]

I will give a detailed break-down of points later on but this is the starting points:

Moindardt AA Executive Platinum EQM: 33101
QF WP SC: 485

MrsMoin AA NB EQM: 14248
QF SG SC: 1285

MissMoin1 AA Plat EQM: 16129
14 Years QF WP SC: 345

MstrMoin1 AA Gold EQM: 32664
12 Years

MissMoin2 AA Gold EQM: 32664
11 Years

MstrMoin2 AA Gold EQM: 32664
9 Years

 

[kermatu]

You flew where???? OMG are you stupid????

How all good TRs should start.

Looking forward to this. Sounds insane.

 

[mmchow]

What a way to plan a family trip. Looking forward to this one.

 

[Major]

An interesting trip...very brave

 

[Hvr]

What wonderful family memories you will all have. Surely it will be a talking point for many, many years and pass into family lore.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

We are taking our grandkids to Disney World next year so I am definitely along for your ride.

 

[sausagefingers]

We are taking our grandkids to Disney World next year so I am definitely along for your ride.

Disneyworld is next level awesome.
We went for in 2014 for 10 days with our two daughters (7&10) we enjoyed it a lot more than we've enjoyed Disneyland, it's just a lot more organised and the four parks are all so different and you'll love them all.

 

[24601]

This sounds great, looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Moindardt]

Wow. Having all sorts of fun with photos disappearing while transferring between all the iphones, icloud and my computer. Was 100x easier when we had an app which worked. I could just post from each device. At least I can get started on the report.

 

[Moindardt]

A bit of a background story to the flights: In Dec/Jan we flew BNE-AUH-JFK on EY via Velocity Rewards points. 2J & 4Y on 789 from BNE-DOH and 2F & 4Y on A380 from DOH-JFK, spending 2 weeks at the Westin Times Square for Christmas and NYC. We then did QF awards 2F & 4J NYC-YVR on Cathay and spent 10 days at Westin Whistler. However, we couldn't get a seat home, on any flight on any carrier from any country. So I was able to get seats during one of the Oslo bargains last August flying SFO-JFK (AA F 321T) JFK-LHR (AA J 773) and LHR-OSL (BA J 320) leaving in January and returning in June. I then connected to the CX special OSL-LHR-HKG-BNE. This is the return journey of that to SFO. We then flew to MCO to go to Disney and then combined a oneway special on Finnair from Canada to Asia with return from CMB to BNE. Sounds messy? Welcome to my world

Please forgive some of the photos, I have no idea what iCloud is doing to them.

BNE-HKG Cathay A330




HKG-LGR Cathay B777


I love Cathay, especially their service and food. Generally I find the seats wonderful, however, this trip I noticed their age and the little things missing compared to the other carriers. Most of these are addressed in their new seat. 3 main things, the leg room around the knees for side sleepers, the lack of storage spaces and the tray table not being able to move. In the grand scheme of things, all very minor, however, they just complete the package.

I packed away all the menu's so I could take photo's later on but they ended up in my wife's luggage which decided it didn't like Disney (more on that later). Suffice to say, the food was fantastic. Even our 2 youngest, who are painful eaters, found heaps to eat and loved it. I generally don't eat seafood, but always end up eating it on CX flights, and never once regretted it. The service was fantastic as always, especially the attention they pay to the kids. The lounges in HKG are always wonderful places too.

 

[Moindardt]

When we landed in London, we checked the board to double check on our flight to Oslo, jumped on the bus to Terminal and walked into chaos. There was people everywhere and the noise was deafening. We went to the transfer area, still not able to find a board to see what was going on. We eventually found someone and they said storms had caused massive delays and cancellations. They already had the French Air Traffic Controller strike to deal with, delays from the storms the previous night and now new storms. As it turns out, ours was one of the flights cancelled. After an hour in the line to schedule (which hadn't moved since we joined), I flagged down a staff member who was able to put us on a flight the following day and directed us to exit and go to the departures area and they would secure hotel accommodation for us. We had landed at 3:15 pm, were rebooked by 4:30 and in the line for the hotel by 4:45. It was about 6:30 before they ticketed the room and sent us to the transit bus and 8pm by the time we got there. I think it was called Premier Inn but not sure. They had included dinner and breakfast with it as well, however the inn was clearly struggling with all the people. There was busload after busload and the checkin line was full when I went to bed at midnight. Both meals were very bad and they had less than half the staff they need. The edible foods on the buffet were empty most of the time and what was there was either undercooked or burnt. The coffee shop and vending machine did a roaring trade until they both broke down too. The rooms were clean and serviceable though. I was later told this was a big noobie mistake on my behalf. If I had have booked the hotel directly, they supposedly would have reimbursed me. Not sure whether this is right or not.

When we booked the flight and return, it ended up with us arriving in Oslo on the Wednesday and flying out on the Sunday. Turns out there is nothing to do in Oslo, so we were going to fly to London on the Wednesday night and back on the Saturday evening. However, a scheduling change in February meant we were now arriving on Thursday. The price for Wed/Sat flights were A$150 and for Thurs/Sat flights were A$580, so that threw a spanner in the works. I had tried repeatedly since to get either a stopover in London or one of our Oslo flights changed. The classic was AA who wanted US$4800 per person to change it. Anyway, it meant we were going to sit in Oslo for a few days with not much to do. While we were sitting in the Airport hotel, I thought "why not turn the frown upside down" . I rang BA back and asked them to changed the flight until Saturday evening because it was their fault. They were more than happy to oblige but we would have to do some stuffing around at the airport to pick up our luggage. *WOOHOO* it gave us one night in London. Now, what SPG hotels had rooms and which musicals had seats!!

As it turned out, there were some major events on, coupled with all the delayed travellers, and there was very few that had 3 rooms. We ended up booking the 3 last rooms (Classics with 2x2bed & 1x king) at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane. On arrival, they upgraded me to a Superior room (the website didn't even have one available). However, the other 2 rooms weren't going to be ready until 7.30pm. I explained that we had tickets and needed to be dressed and gone well before then. They asked us to enjoy afternoon tea while they worked something out.


After we had finished out afternoon tea, they said we have prepared 2 Superior rooms with rollaways and a Classic with a king bed, which was a wonderful result.

 

[Moindardt]

By the time I got to the Superior rooms, they were a disaster They were about 50% larger with excellent bathrooms (walk in shower). So it was off to West End we went. My oldest and I went to "The Book of Mormons" and the other 4 went to "Stomp". OMG I cried for most of the show. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. The others weren't that excited about Stomp as it was all we could get tickets to and they had said no a few times to Broadway. When they got back, the grin was from ear to ear. One of the best shows they have seen. To top it off, there was a 5 Guys just around the corner, the boy's favourite burger joint.



They have renamed the Sheraton to the Sheraton Grand due to a major renovation they have just completed which move it from a 4star to 5star. Was a very nice place but would probably stay at the Le Meridien Piccadilly as it is comparable but closer to the action. The Platinum breakfast was the same as the normal breakfast, being a nice buffet. Not as lavish as one would expect for a 5 star but still very nice.

 

[clipped_wings]

This is just a fabulous recount! We have four kids as well (one is autistic so that's a WHOLE extra complication when flying). We are also Disney nuts and proud to say we've walked through those Hallowed Disney gates over 69 times.

I just love your family photos - beautiful kids with happiness etched all over their faces. These holidays you are experiencing look just amazing - I'm sure they will become cherished memories for your children, who I hope will remember all the efforts you went to in giving them the gift of world travel.

Makes for a better and more tolerant humanity.

 

[Moindardt]

We are also Disney nuts and proud to say we've walked through those Hallowed Disney gates over 69 times.

Wow. I hope that is 69 days not 69 trips Out of curiosity, did you ever look at that Disney timeshare thing?

Our kids' Dance school did the Disneyland trip 2 years ago (and again in September) and we did Disneyland Paris last September. Thankfully American's discovered what an espresso machine is so it is far more easier for us to just sit down and have a coffee. This year they are old enough for us to let them go without needing to hover. We always stay at a Disney hotel so we can use the "Extra Magic Hours". I think we ride more rides in that hour than the rest of the day.