Cabo San Lucas (SJD) the long way around

[ozbeachbabe]

We are visiting a few places on this trip but I'll name the title of the thread Cabo San Lucas because that's where our longest stay will be of 3 nights. The first 4 legs of the trip is the return portion of our US DM redemption back to GUM. We also have an IHG Big Win Challenge so will hopefully tick all the boxes of that promotion by the end of April. We're then trying our first AV LM award ticket plus our SJD/LAS flights will see us requalify for QF WP by the end of the trip.



QF do the checkin for BR in BNE & we receive both boarding passes for BNE/TPE on BR316 & our connecting flight next day TPE/CTS on BR116. We are also issued with 2 green boarding card invites for lounge access as it's a J class award. In BNE the invite states "Qantas Club" & we have another one for use in TPE.



View from our seats in the Qantas Club looking down at the level 3 departures level & the shops and cafes after you clear outbound customs and immigration.



View within the lounge which wasn't too crowded but there were more people in there than I thought for that time of night however besides our BR316 flight to TPE at 2230 there was also MH134 to KUL at 2320, FJ922 to NAN at 2355 & CX156 to HKG at 0055 which would explain the other pax in the lounge.



Flight departures board for BNE International Airport. We left the lounge just prior to 2200 which was the time stated on our boarding passes & were half way to the gate when we heard the first boarding call.



Our A330-200 registration B-16312 which was boarding from Gate 85. The Gateway Bridge which its blue neon lighting is visible in the background.

 

[robd]

Subscribed - Heading to SJD in late Sept and will be interested in your experiences there.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Grooba]

Looks like a fun trip coming up! Eagerly awaiting updates

 

[Fifa]

Looking forward to this trip report...

 

[cove]

Go for it ozbeachbabe!

 

[zig]

Looking forward to the report. Great to see you combining so many loyalty program perks in one trip.

 

[smit0847]

Looking forward to this report. Such a strange route - the only place BR fly to in Australia and I think its only once or twice a week?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Sat 12 Apr BR316 Brisbane/Taipei 2230/0530+1

Boarding commenced 30 minutes prior to departure from gate 85 which is down the far end of the terminal to the right & was done by at least 3 QF ground staff not EVA F/A’s which appears to be the norm for most international flights in BNE anyway. Boarding was completed extremely quickly as all pax were boarded in 15 minutes & the aerobridge was back 2215 with a pushback ten minutes early at 2220.

We took off on RW01 which is a very short taxi from BNE International Terminal & I think it caught the F/A’s by surprise as they were busy taking peoples dinner & breakfast orders after pushback & while we were taxiing onto the active runway. They went scurrying back to the galley & had to take their seats quickly as the a/c had already commenced its take-off roll.

Normally the pilots give the cabin crew notice if it’s going to be a short taxi so the crew have time to prepare the cabin & take meal requests prior to pushback, so not sure if that was the case & they didn’t realise how quick it would be or whether they weren’t told at all.



A pillow & light quilt were on the seat & in the seat pocket were slippers in a draw string bag, EVA headsets in a black vinyl zippy bag (the brand name of headsets is not displayed anywhere so can’t tell you the manufacturer). The 2x2x2 seating is sloped so not full flat as the only BR a/c that offers that is the B777-300ER. I found despite the seats being on an angle they were still more comfortable than what AA has on a B767-300 in domestic F, however not as comfortable as the full flat beds on TG or QF in J.



The amenity pack is a brown Bulgari bag containing Bulgari body lotion & lip balm, mini tube of Colgate toothpaste & EVA Air toothbrush, folding brush & comb & mini lint remover plus brown flight socks. The toiletry bag has a strap plus a hook so it can be hung up on the back of a bathroom door. The drawstring bag contained slippers.



F/A’s offered juice or water on a tray as a pre-takeoff drink & bring round a trolley with newspaper to choose from. They also hand out arrival forms to Taiwan which we didn’t need as we were in-transit to CTS.



This pic is from the EVA in-flight safety demo which is basically saying please don't stand on the dunny & have a ciggie on the sly thinking that by holding a cup over the smoke detector this angelic looking flight attendant from will not know. She will & you will be busted.



The flight display is always reassuring that your aircraft is heading in the right direction. On the home stretch now with an ETA in TPE about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The meals were served soon after take-off & trays were cleared by 2345. I fell asleep pretty much straight away after than then awoke about 5 hours later at 0445 (0245 TWN time) when the cabin crew turned on the overhead bright fluoro flights to serve breakfast which was 2 hours 15 minutes prior to our early arrival of 0500 into TPE. The bolded options on the menu below is wha I selected & therefore what appears in the photos.


Flight: BR 316　BNE-TPE Sat 12 Apr 2014

Main Course of Supper

Braised Beef Short Ribs, Mixed Vegetables and Steamed Rice

Stir Fried Rice Noodles with BBQ Pork Served with Traditional Delicatessens

Pan Fried Salmon with Hollandaise Sauce, Mixed Vegetables and Polenta

The above entrée was cold sliced duck with pate & vegetables. The bread roll was warm with a crispy outer shell the way it should be not microwaved.


Main course above



Dessert was four pieces of fresh fruit & a tub of Serendipity chocolate ice-cream.

Flight: BR 316　BNE-TPE Sat 12 Apr 2014

Main Course of Breakfast

Plain Congee Served with Cold Delicatessens,Pan Fried Egg with Shrimp ,Stir Fried Pork Julienne with Preserved Vegetable and Soybean

Stir Fried Shanghai Noodles with Prawn and Traditional Delicatessens

Mushroom and Leek Frittata with Veal Chipolata

Cereal with milk already added, Yoplait yoghurt & fresh fruit prior to the main dish. Had a bit of cereal plus the fruit, yoghurt, croissant & jam.



I only ate a bit of the frittata because I found the what I'd already eaten was sufficient and at that time I just wanted to go back & sleep.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

EVA Air provide separate food and beverage menus with hot towels provided before and after each meal which I appreciate.



The flight attendants put on pale pink or pale green aprons when serving meals.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Arrival in Taipei am Sun 13 Apr & TPE lounges


Above arrival at TPE Taoyuen Airport - the a/c on the far left is Hong Kong Air.

We arrived in the C wing in terminal 2 of TPE Taoyuan Airport then needed to find out what gate our next flight was boarding from as it was not assigned at the time we received our TPE/CTS boading pass in BNE. There were BR employees holding transfer signs & when we asked them what gate our next flight was going from they told us to line up in the really long queue at the transfer desk.

I didn't see the point in lining up for such a simple question. It wasn't like we needed to obtain a boarding pass as we could have just got that in the lounge.


An EVA crew at TPE

As our next flight BR116 was about 5 hours away it was not yet appearing on the departure screens so we sat down & used the free Wi-Fi to try and Google the information as it didn't appear on Tripit. We noticed another departure screen closer to the transit security area & lo & behold it showed our flight was departing from gate D2 so we headed off directly to that area. In hindsight we should've just headed for the nearest lounge & asked them but we live and learn.


Transfer sign directing pax to the 'D' gates.

EVA Air have 4 lounges in terminal 2:

The Garden for BR's Infinity Mileagelands Diamond members which is closed at the moment as it's undergoing renovations.

Just opposite The Garden is the Infinity Lounge which is for BR Mileagelands Diamond members, *A airline pax in F & J plus BR Royal Laurel, Premium Laurel or Business Class pax.


Above is the lounge reception for both the Star Lounge (turn left) and Infinity Lounge (turn right)

Next to the Infinity Lounge is the Star Lounge for BR Infinity Mileagelands Diamond or Gold Members, *A pax in F & J plus *A Gold members travelling PE or Y.

Around the corner near Burger King & Starbucks is The Club for Infinity Mileagelands Silver members plus a number of Citibank credit cards but they may only be for cards issued in Taiwan so you would need to double check with BR.


The Club

There's quite a bit of BR lounge info for TPE here for those who need more info re access:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oth...6333-eva-air-tpe-lounges-renamed-again-3.html

 

[ozbeachbabe]

BR Infinity Lounge T2 TPE Taoyuen Airport



The only thing missing from the above picture is Dorothy the Dinosaur!



The Infinity Lounge (in case you hadn't already guessed) is quite psychedelic - kind of like the movie Boogie Nights meets
Star Trek. You don’t want a lounge to be drab, dull & boring however this one was the other extreme to the max.



The above was a self serve area for food & drinks including alcohol. The food on offer had traditional Asian food like congee & green egg type options however there was plenty of Western alternatives such corn chips, salsa, mini sandwiches individually wrapped in cellophane that were in the fridge, a couple of choices of soup, mini donuts that look liked donuts but were hollow.

Tbere was a cappuccino machine, packets of Walkers shortbread biscuits, even four types of Movenpick icecream to choose from so definitely enough to keep hunger pangs at bay & certainly more options than what’s offered by most airline lounges in the US. The bar had spirits like XO Cognac & an NZ Marlborough Sav blanc.



On entering reception you turn right & head down towards the end of the lounge which has TV screens & at the time was broadcasting the US Masters at Augusta. The food & drink area is further down the hall in an alcove off to the right.



Departures board in the lounge displaying all the EVA flights.

 

[boomy]

Good TR, the BR Infinity lounge looks great!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Sun 13 Apr BR116 TPE/CTS 1010/1500

Sun 13 Apr BR116 TPE/CTS 1010/1500



We left the infinity lounge ahead of time so we could grab a Starbucks coffee & have a look around at the shops. We already knew our departure gate & proximity of the gate to where we were so as to avoid any last minute mad dash to the gate. The advertised boarding time was 0940 but we were at the gate well before that.



I looked at the a/c at the gate which was not the scheduled A330-200 but what turned out to be an A321-200 with only 8 J seats & I then realised that was the reason our seats had changed & ended up with split seating when we initially got our boarding passing in BNE. Would've been nice to get a bit more sleep however but not really an option now as no skybed on the A321.



Even though the seats in 321 a/c were numbered AC & HK like the 332 the reason we initially ended up apart was because we had separate pnrs & different surnames so the system wouldn’t have automatically seated us together even if there were two seats available. It wasn’t really a huge deal but we asked when we arrived in the lounge if there was any chance we could get two seats together & they allocated us 1AC so it was all good.



A farewell from the ground crew as we pushback. EVA are quite strict with mobile devices being switched off for take-off and landing so just having a smart phone in flight/airplane mode doesn't cut it.



A China Airlines B744 getting in on themed aircraft although I have no idea what this one is but it looks like it involves an owl, turtle, witch or wizard & someone like Pinocchio slumped over the globe.

 

[Major]

Re: Sun 13 Apr BR116 TPE/CTS 1010/1500

An interesting TR as I am thinking of BR to LAX in Oct. If so, that BNE-TPE flight will be the same

 

[markis10]

Re: Sun 13 Apr BR116 TPE/CTS 1010/1500

A China Airlines B744 getting in on themed aircraft although I have no idea what this one is but it looks like it involves an owl, turtle, witch or wizard & someone like Pinocchio slumped over the globe.

Thats the love and hug plane

China Airlines Unveils ''Love & Hug'' Liveried Airplane

 

[pgsdiver]

Re: Sun 13 Apr BR116 TPE/CTS 1010/1500

Really enjoying this thread and looking forward to the next instalment - thanks for posting!

 

[oldbold]

What route were you on when the Distance flown was 13134 mi and the Distance to destination 899 mi?

 

[sjd]

Great trip report so far. I never knew there was an airport with my initials. This report may help decide if it needs to be added to the travel pail agenda.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What route were you on when the Distance flown was 13134 mi and the Distance to destination 899 mi?

That was actually on the BR316 flight BNE/TPE so I don't know where that mileage came from.

I'd be more worried if the a/c had suddenly done a u-turn however it was still heading towards our anticipated destination so all good.