spiggy_topes
Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Posts
- 161
Trip report: Barbados (BGI)-Brisbane (BNE), 9th-11th April 2009
An absolute killer flight, this: 36 hours, over 4 flights. Fortunately all in Business or First, also I’d finished up earlier than planned so was going back home to spend at least part of Easter with the family. No photos as I didn’t have a camera, also I feel ridiculous taking pictures of everything!
Taxi from the Bridgetown Hilton at about 5.00 am after shower and coffee, having slept rather better than expected (following a decent meal, some red wine, an amusing but extremely filthy stand-up comedian from Montreal on cable, and half a Stilnox). Still dark in Barbados but a full moon setting in the west. Check-in was straightforward: walked up to the business class queue where there were only a few people in front, issued four boarding passes all the way through to BNE. Airport was pretty quiet at this time of the morning, the only major traffic being my American Airlines flight to Miami. Went up to try to get in the lounge (which I’d visited last year before the same flight) but was politely told AA had stopped using it. So, no free breakfast. Bought a cup of tea instead with my last Barbadian coins and sat in the departure gate doing my paperwork for the US.
AA602: BGI-MIA (757) Business class, seat 5B
Went expecting the worst, as a colleague in Barbados had flown a lot of segments on American Airlines in Y recently and had nothing good to say about them (45-minute flight delayed 2 hours because of a faulty coffee maker, kept thirsty while the plane stopped on the tarmac for 2.5 hours, etc etc). But this flight was fine – on time, 'omelet' with veges, coffee, etc. Lots of Barbadians on the flight, which was full – clearly the recession hasn’t hit yet. Did the Times quick crossword and read a Stephen King novel. Movie was ‘4 Christmases’ on overhead monitors (didn’t watch it).
Arriving into Miami was expected to be the most stressful part of the trip. I always get intimidated by the form-filling, the long queues, the officials in black uniforms and so on - not to mention that you now need to register electronically (like Australia) before travel.
So - Delighted to find my APEC card got me right through the Diplomatic channel in about 5 minutes flat, saving about an hour’s worth of stressful queuing (it’s gate 36 at the far left side). The card was put into some sort of reader and the rest was as usual for the US (fingerprints, photo) – and for once they understood what ‘in transit’ meant. (A colleague who suffered an industrial accident in his youth and has only nine fingers told me he’d been through Miami a few months ago. The fingerprinting software couldn’t understand he was missing a digit and crashed, to the consternation of Homeland Security. I imagine they’ve fixed that now…)
Collect bags, through Customs and hand them back in for onwards flight to LAX. Still a shambles, but not as bad as last time, when I passed a bag for LA under a barrier and saw the TSA woman slowly drag it away by the zipper lanyard… Through security (again), fortunately in the fast channel, where two women were each carrying a pet (one dog, one cat) in carry-on bags – wonder if they’re allowed in the cabin? I’m allergic to cats and would not be happy with one next to me.
An hour to wait, so flashed the QFF card and wandered into the Admiral’s Club. Bit quieter than the main concourse, but it’s a shame you have to pay for everything except basic coffee – we complain about the QP but it’s luxurious compared to the US. Found a PC and checked my email – nothing urgent. Sat for a while charging my laptop and reading, then went down to the gate.
AA203: MIA-LAX (757), business class, seat 5A
Full flight again, but a window seat this time (usually I get an aisle but the gods of the booking system are fickle). 20 minutes late taking off but the pilot says we’ll make up the time. Nice views of Miami as we take off to the east and slowly come round to the west as we gain altitude. Stewardesses clearly ‘experienced’ (nothing compared to BA though) but efficient and friendly, and I sink two bourbons with ice and a glass of red over lunch. Choice of shrimp (prawn) dish with rice, or something called a Reuben Sandwich, which proves to be an enormous toasted sandwich with cheese, a thin layer of coleslaw, and an inch (literally) of sliced beef – I could only eat half of it. The unfortunates in the main cabin have to buy chicken rolls at $10 US each.
I’m seated next to a Japanese gentleman, who shortly after takeoff gets out his personal stereo and starts playing it at such a volume that I can hear it even through my own Ipod earbuds. Not wanting to put up with it all the way to LA, I very politely ask him to turn it down – and he does, with an apology! Full marks to the Japanese for good manners.
Movie is ‘Marley and Me’ – something about a dog. Dozed a bit, looked out the window at one point and saw Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona, very distinctive - it's an impact crater from 50,000 years ago. Amazing.
Arrive at LAX 20 minutes late. Wait…and wait…and wait for luggage. Eventually the carousel stops without a sign of my suitcases, so it’s off to the lost luggage office. After a long wait in the queue the clerk tells me that because I’m going to Brisbane and the bags will have been transferred automatically. This is new to me – last year I had to take the bags to Tom Bradley Terminal by hand. All part of the fun and glamour of international travel…
Quick walk outside to the TBI terminal, past the taxi touts, glad to get some fresh(ish) air. Quite tired now. Up to the security screening queue, which is a disaster area – lots of staff milling around, one machine in operation, poorly designed traffic flow, exit past the metal detector blocked by people putting shoes back on, etc etc. Big dustbin full of discarded 500 ml bottles of water. It all seems positively third world compared to BNE.
Then on to the First lounge, which is pleasant and uncrowded, and has a decent selection of food & free booze and free WiFi – not a bad place to spend 3 hours.
More to follow if anyone finds this worth reading!
An absolute killer flight, this: 36 hours, over 4 flights. Fortunately all in Business or First, also I’d finished up earlier than planned so was going back home to spend at least part of Easter with the family. No photos as I didn’t have a camera, also I feel ridiculous taking pictures of everything!
Taxi from the Bridgetown Hilton at about 5.00 am after shower and coffee, having slept rather better than expected (following a decent meal, some red wine, an amusing but extremely filthy stand-up comedian from Montreal on cable, and half a Stilnox). Still dark in Barbados but a full moon setting in the west. Check-in was straightforward: walked up to the business class queue where there were only a few people in front, issued four boarding passes all the way through to BNE. Airport was pretty quiet at this time of the morning, the only major traffic being my American Airlines flight to Miami. Went up to try to get in the lounge (which I’d visited last year before the same flight) but was politely told AA had stopped using it. So, no free breakfast. Bought a cup of tea instead with my last Barbadian coins and sat in the departure gate doing my paperwork for the US.
AA602: BGI-MIA (757) Business class, seat 5B
Went expecting the worst, as a colleague in Barbados had flown a lot of segments on American Airlines in Y recently and had nothing good to say about them (45-minute flight delayed 2 hours because of a faulty coffee maker, kept thirsty while the plane stopped on the tarmac for 2.5 hours, etc etc). But this flight was fine – on time, 'omelet' with veges, coffee, etc. Lots of Barbadians on the flight, which was full – clearly the recession hasn’t hit yet. Did the Times quick crossword and read a Stephen King novel. Movie was ‘4 Christmases’ on overhead monitors (didn’t watch it).
Arriving into Miami was expected to be the most stressful part of the trip. I always get intimidated by the form-filling, the long queues, the officials in black uniforms and so on - not to mention that you now need to register electronically (like Australia) before travel.
So - Delighted to find my APEC card got me right through the Diplomatic channel in about 5 minutes flat, saving about an hour’s worth of stressful queuing (it’s gate 36 at the far left side). The card was put into some sort of reader and the rest was as usual for the US (fingerprints, photo) – and for once they understood what ‘in transit’ meant. (A colleague who suffered an industrial accident in his youth and has only nine fingers told me he’d been through Miami a few months ago. The fingerprinting software couldn’t understand he was missing a digit and crashed, to the consternation of Homeland Security. I imagine they’ve fixed that now…)
Collect bags, through Customs and hand them back in for onwards flight to LAX. Still a shambles, but not as bad as last time, when I passed a bag for LA under a barrier and saw the TSA woman slowly drag it away by the zipper lanyard… Through security (again), fortunately in the fast channel, where two women were each carrying a pet (one dog, one cat) in carry-on bags – wonder if they’re allowed in the cabin? I’m allergic to cats and would not be happy with one next to me.
An hour to wait, so flashed the QFF card and wandered into the Admiral’s Club. Bit quieter than the main concourse, but it’s a shame you have to pay for everything except basic coffee – we complain about the QP but it’s luxurious compared to the US. Found a PC and checked my email – nothing urgent. Sat for a while charging my laptop and reading, then went down to the gate.
AA203: MIA-LAX (757), business class, seat 5A
Full flight again, but a window seat this time (usually I get an aisle but the gods of the booking system are fickle). 20 minutes late taking off but the pilot says we’ll make up the time. Nice views of Miami as we take off to the east and slowly come round to the west as we gain altitude. Stewardesses clearly ‘experienced’ (nothing compared to BA though) but efficient and friendly, and I sink two bourbons with ice and a glass of red over lunch. Choice of shrimp (prawn) dish with rice, or something called a Reuben Sandwich, which proves to be an enormous toasted sandwich with cheese, a thin layer of coleslaw, and an inch (literally) of sliced beef – I could only eat half of it. The unfortunates in the main cabin have to buy chicken rolls at $10 US each.
I’m seated next to a Japanese gentleman, who shortly after takeoff gets out his personal stereo and starts playing it at such a volume that I can hear it even through my own Ipod earbuds. Not wanting to put up with it all the way to LA, I very politely ask him to turn it down – and he does, with an apology! Full marks to the Japanese for good manners.
Movie is ‘Marley and Me’ – something about a dog. Dozed a bit, looked out the window at one point and saw Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona, very distinctive - it's an impact crater from 50,000 years ago. Amazing.
Arrive at LAX 20 minutes late. Wait…and wait…and wait for luggage. Eventually the carousel stops without a sign of my suitcases, so it’s off to the lost luggage office. After a long wait in the queue the clerk tells me that because I’m going to Brisbane and the bags will have been transferred automatically. This is new to me – last year I had to take the bags to Tom Bradley Terminal by hand. All part of the fun and glamour of international travel…
Quick walk outside to the TBI terminal, past the taxi touts, glad to get some fresh(ish) air. Quite tired now. Up to the security screening queue, which is a disaster area – lots of staff milling around, one machine in operation, poorly designed traffic flow, exit past the metal detector blocked by people putting shoes back on, etc etc. Big dustbin full of discarded 500 ml bottles of water. It all seems positively third world compared to BNE.
Then on to the First lounge, which is pleasant and uncrowded, and has a decent selection of food & free booze and free WiFi – not a bad place to spend 3 hours.
More to follow if anyone finds this worth reading!
