BNE-PER in 9 hours ... on NY07 day!

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anat0l

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Dec 30, 2006
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Location: Home, Brisbane
Date: Sunday, 31 December, 2006
Time: AEST 1000h


Just to set the scene. It was a lazy NYE for me. Had lunch with Dad. Put some more stuff in my suitcase. Cleaned up my room. Boring stuff. Checked in online to my three flights and ended up getting good seats for each. Sequence numbers were 1, 5 and 29. Seems some people are not catching onto online check-in, but it's the best way to guarantee a seat if you're still Bronze.

At night, celebrated part of NY07 before midnight with relatives before going to the city (the Valley for any Brisbanites here) for drinks. Shouted "Happy New Year!", toasted 2007, got home at 2am. Packed last things - final weight 28 kg. Went to airport.

Location: Brisbane Domestic Airport, Brisbane
Date: Monday, 1 January, 2007
Time: AEST 0330h

Airport was almost dead, save for a few poor souls who couldn't get plastered on new year's (viz. the bag drop staff). Dropped bags, said goodbye to family, went through security. Walked the entire length of the terminal before going to gate (exercise). At the gate, it was just as dead as ever. Sun had just barely started to rise. The attention tone in BNE D airport, which can barely be heard at times, was very audible when our boarding call was announced.

Location: QF501 BNE-SYD
Aircraft: 737-800
Departure: AEST 0500h
Seat: 11A

I have to say hats off to the FA who was in our area - her name was Laura - brave of her to celebrate new year and then come to work, alert and perky. With only 30 passengers on the aircraft in total, talking to the FAs was very possible and enjoyable. (The whole row of seats next to me was clear.) Not bad, although you have to wonder if Qantas was breaking even on the flight. Would have been so much more enjoyable if the flight was longer, but oh well. CSO started by congratulating everyone on board for making this flight.

Breakfast was Just Right, juice, tea/coffee, hot pastry and yoghurt. The juice is some 'Free Spirit' concoction which I'd had before - I think it was pineapple, mango and something else juice. A bit thick for some others and definitely not for those who can't tolerate citric bite. I didn't drink it straight away (delved right into the cereal & yoghurt), but later the CSO came through offering a small champagne. I took one and mixed some juice with it - instant Mimosa (well, not quite, but it wasn't a bad taste). The champagne was a Tigress Pinot Noir. All too soon, the flight was over. It would have been nice to have a great chat with the FAs, and I think they would have appreciated it too (an easier time for them on a public holiday!), but such is life.

Location: Sydney Airport Terminal 3
Date: Monday, 1 January, 2007
Time: AEDST 0730h

A small turn about the terminal and it was shortly ready for the next leg of my long journey.

Location: QF739 SYD-ADL
Aircraft: 737-800
Departure: AEDST 0820h
Seat: 22A

Nothing much to be said. Staff were a little quiet but pleasant all the same. The flight this time was slightly more packed but the B seat next to me was unoccupied so that was a bit of breathing room. Was served the same breakfast again, except that the juice was replaced with water and the hot pastry was just a plain bread roll (they included whipped butter). Managed to get about an hour's sleep. Took some photos on ADL approach, since it was my first time in.

Location: Adelaide Airport Terminal 1
Date: Monday, 1 January, 2007
Time: ACDST 1000h

First time in ADL airport. I heard that the terminal was recently renovated; the improvements are absolutely stunning. Thank goodness for ADL airport's sparsely distributed business hubs that allow laptop power and free wireless network (bandwidth limitations apply for free service, but not limiting when I was using it).

Location: QF587 ADL-PER
Aircraft: 737-800
Departure Time: ACDST 1125h
Seat: 22F

CSO seemed a bit impatient to get people on. Can't seem to blame her - the flight was completely sold out and packed out. Not only did every seat get occupied, but it was filled on time - very unlike any full flight I've been on before, let alone on NY day. I had two burly men next to me who were going on vacation in Perth. One of them asked if I would swap seats with their friend (who had booked and checked-in late) so they could be together. Their friend was in 10E - middle seat! The carrot? $50 for me. What could I say? I obliged. After the flight took off and belt signs were off, we swapped. Several nearby passengers and the FA remarked that I was very considerate. Rather odd since there was $50 in it for me.

Only bad thing about my seat was that I managed only to get to the bathroom once during the flight because how do you get past someone who is next to you but is asleep? (As I went down and back up the aisle, the men whose friend I swapped seats with exchanged high-5's and handshakes, respectively, with me.) Moreover, there was a kid behind me who was playing some music device or something. The man next to me had turned around and asked the kid to wear headphones. The mum simply said, "He won't wear them - you can either put up with it or he'll cry all the way." The man simply grumbled as he turned around, "Very well, but turn it down will you..." Moral of the story: don't talk to the guy in seat F.

Lunch was the same as the supper I had on my PER-BNE flight 10 days ago: Italian meatballs with fettucini and bolognaise, or chicken with creamy mushroom and bacon sauce, green vegetables and mashed potato. Having had the latter on the PER-BNE flight, I decided to try the pasta this time around. Wasn't bad. As always with many people, there was too little meat (filling) and too much pasta to match the amount of sauce. Also, trying to eat pasta with a fat fork without knocking out the people on your sides is rather difficult, even after lifting the foil tray up. Apart from the main, there was bread with butter, water and Cadbury mini chocolates. Everyone seemed to have one, but I must have lucked out 'cos I had two. Since alcohol was chargable, I just had a ginger ale.

Got a bit of sleep on the flight before touchdown in Perth.

Location: Perth Airport Terminal 3
Date: Monday, 1 January, 2007
Time: AWDST 1315h

My bag came out last, no doubt because it was transit tagged (last one on the plane, first on the baggage truck and the rest of the luggages pile on top of it, hence last out). Once I got back to my Perth accommodation, I was stuffed. After all, close to 30ish hours with minimal sleep is taxing.

Total flight time: 7 hours
Points Earned: 3318

Status Credits Earned: 45

And that's how I got from Brisbane to Perth the long way on New Year's day. You can imagine how much sympathy I attracted that day. Why did I do it? Points? That's partly the reason. It was one of the last options they had left. There was a BNE-PER direct at a more "rational" time, but that's only 2244 points (20 SC). The small extra I had to pay was worth another 1000+points and 25 extra SC. OK, I was stuffed after that and I wished the flights were a little more pleasant, esp. AFL-PER, but I'm getting closer to Loyalty bonus.

I have some token photos to share from my long-winded trek. They are my baggage tags and QF501 economy breakfast at its best (?!).

Happy travels!
 

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Nice report :D ; a quick question ...what main screen entertainment was available:?:
 
Thanks anat0l for a nice report ^

You aren't the only AFFer to fly indirect routing to get more points and SCs ;)
 
serfty said:
a quick question ...what main screen entertainment was available:?:
The main entertainment on the SYD-ADL and ADL-PER flights was Scoop, featuring Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen (these two just click don't they?)

The rest was just side features - Qantas holidays and destinations, Nine News for Qantas, and an episode of Mythbusters.

Didn't pay much attention to entertainment, as it has to be pretty good to get my attention (I don't usually watch TV and I don't usually pick up a headset because of this).

Oh and here's the last photo - a simple one showing part of the breakfast I had on BNE-SYD. Almost an art photo. Almost... apologies for quality - for some reason my attachment could only be 10KB, which is a travesty for especially a JPEG photo. This one didn't quite make the first post because I lost all battery power before I had a chance to correct it.
 

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The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

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Thanks also for the great report anat0l. I'll try and get myself that organised one day not tooo far away. :oops:
 
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