- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Posts
- 3,979
[FONT="]A quick trip to New Zealand to go snowboarding in Queenstown, Qantas had some seats available for points redemption at the times I wanted to go flying, with my pending status upgrade to Qantas platinum I thought I should go flying via Sydney and Auckland.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Brisbane - Sydney - Auckland was 18,000 points and Queenstown - Auckland - Brisbane was 18,000 points plus about $169 in tax.
[/FONT] [FONT="]I still needed to get from Auckland down to Queenstown hoping to fly Air New Zealand but in the end I used another 12,000 points to get from Auckland to Queenstown plus $6.00 in tax.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]21 JULY 10 [/FONT]
[FONT="]BNE-SYD QF533 B737-800 VH-VYD Seat 4F[/FONT]
[FONT="]
I left work around 1:00pm to get to the airport soon after, I checked in and got boarding passes for both of todays flights, a flight down to Sydney then a flight across to New Zealand.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]You know the flight is going to be late when the pilots are still waiting to board the plane 5 minutes before boarding was due to commence. Boarding was 25 minutes late.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]With my new Qantas platinum status I was able to select a seat in row 4 which is one of the better seats on the plane. Service on today’s flight down to Sydney was a ginger biscuit with tea/coffee and water. I had a nice chat to the lady in 4E who was from Detroit but had spent the last 40 years in Australia. We landed in Sydney after cruise of 38000 feet and landed at 4:00 and were at the gate 10 at 4:10pm, 20 minutes later than scheduled. I made my way to the international connections bus then through passport control then got lost on the way to the Qantas First lounge it wasn't as though I hadn't been there before. Don't remind me.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]21 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]SYD-AKL QF49 B737-800 ZK-ZQB Seat 4A[/FONT]
[FONT="]
This was my 6th visit to the First Lounge but it was the first time I had been able to access the lounge with my own Qantas Platinum status.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]After spending an hour in the lounge with 2 champagnes and beef burger and dessert I was about ready for a sleep, had a 10 minute nap in the recliners. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
Thought I should take a photo as it was the first time I had been in the lounge at dusk.
[FONT="]I then went in search of the gate which was on the other pier. Boarding commended just after 6:10pm and we didn't get away until 6:35pm 15 minutes late. Row 4 is nice especially with the good leg room and especially good when 4b is empty.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There are 2 dinner choices on trans-Tasman services, Lamb roast or chicken, I had the lamb, and with the meal was a choice of wine or beer. The new Qantas New Zealand registered 737-800s have new IFE with 10 movies, a few short TV programs and a good selection of CDs. I listened to the music then watched the movie Date night, it is kind of weird in the middle but its worth preserving with it as it gets better. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Descent began at 10:47pm(8:47PM AEST) after flying at 37,000 feet on a smooth flight. You know you been to an airport too many times when you can sleep walk through passport control and collect baggage and find the shuttle bus to the hotel. [/FONT]
[FONT="]22 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]AKL-ZQN JQ279 A320-232 VH-VQT Seat 13C[/FONT]
[FONT="]I headed back to the airport around 8:30am, used one of the Jetstar check in machines but still had to present the bag to the check in staff. The check in person asked if I wanted a better seat and I asked if an exit row seat was available, maybe my Qantas platinum card had some influence. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Qantas platinums have access to the Jetstar operated Akarana lounges in New Zealand, these lounges were formerly Qantas domestic lounges but as Jetstar now operate domestic services the lounges are now pay for entry except for Qantas platinum members. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight was called just after 10:00am, push back was a few minutes earlier than the 10:30am departure time. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Service was buy on board; and as I already had breakfast at Mcdonalds and had a drink in the Akarana lounge I listened to some music on the IPhone as Jetstar hadn’t started up the inflight radio. [/FONT]
Another entry for Anat0ls http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/playground/aff-scavenger-hunt-ii-now-23711.html a picture of an Jetstar A320 Safety Card.
[FONT="]Flying time was 82 minutes at 36,000 feet; initial temperature at Queenstown was 0 degrees but had warmed up to a balmy 3 degrees at the top of descent into Queenstown, pilots words not mine. [/FONT]
I caught a taxi into town then walked around town for a bit taking a few photos.
Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables in the background.
I spent 2 days snowboarding.
And then the drive back down The Remarkables was rather interesting; there were very few guard rails.
Nice view of the area and Queenstown Airport.
On the Saturday night JSWong joined us in Queenstown.
Another city to add to the list where I have caught up with Jeff.
[FONT="]
25 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]ZQN-AKL JQ278 A320-232 VH-VQT Seat 4A
[/FONT] [FONT="]I spent 3 nights in Queenstown with 2 of those days snowboarding it was time to head home. It is never fun to wake up at 7:00am after having been out until 2:00am drinking the night before. A rugby match had been playing on TV and rugby is almost a religion in New Zealand even when Australia was playing South Africa. Australia won. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight was due to depart at 9:50am but due to arriving traffic the plane wasn’t backed out until 10:00am. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The service was the same as the flight down and same plane but seat 4A wasn’t as good as an exit row seat. This time Jetstar had turned on the inflight radio so spent most of the time flicking between the 8 Jetstar music channels. [/FONT]
[FONT="]We arrived into Auckland at 11:47am after cruising at 37,000 feet across the New Zealand alps[/FONT]another picture.
[FONT="]25 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]AKL-BNE QF126 737-476 ZK-JTS Seat 12D[/FONT]
[FONT="]Jetstar were kind enough to transfer my baggage from a Jetstar New Zealand domestic flight to a Qantas international flight; one of the few airports in the system that allows this. It saved me having to carry my bag to the Qantas check in. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The 734 plane flies an AKL-BNE-AKL-BNE-AKL daily rotation and the flight was running a few minutes behind time. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I had 4 hours between arriving into Auckland and departing. I spent the 1st hour in the Auckland domestic airport sucking up the free Koru Club wifi; achieved by asking some friends from FT the months password. The password changes monthly and is one of the 27 domestic New Zealand destinations in case you want to take a guess. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I caught up with Serfty, I had last met them in NYC, they had just flown up from Wellington on there way back to Melbourne later in the day, some people think I fly too much. I had lunch in the international terminal before going through airside. [/FONT]
[FONT="]As I had checked in with Qantas First Class area, they have a separate desk where you can fill out your departure form where it can be handed in before you go through security.
Without Serfty advise I may have missed it, another nice benefit of making it to Qantas platinum.
This means that all they have to do is check your passport against your boarding pass, it probably saved me 10 minutes this time but could potentially save over 30 minutes at busy times. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I spent about 20 minutes in the lounge before going to buy some duty free. Duty free in New Zealand is about 10% cheaper than buying the same thing in Australia even with the charges for foreign currency transaction fees. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The flight arrived late so boarding was about 15 minutes late. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
Anyone notice the LAN Chile A340 in the background, very popular flight if you need quick status credits cheaply.
[FONT="]I originally had selected 4A but after check in I noticed that my boarding pass showed 12D an exit row, another person with mobility issues needed the extra legroom that is available in row 4. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight took off and surprising how long 3.5 hours is on a flight. Dinner was served about 1 hour into the flight. The choice was similar to the way over, chicken or lamb. This time I chose the roast chicken which was actually better than the lamb I had on the way to New Zealand.[/FONT] Picture here.
[FONT="]I gave the movie a miss; it was Leap Year, the screen wasn’t in the right location and I wanted really interested. After 2.5 hours of flight with still an hour to go I know I should have paid more attention to the movie as after 2 hours the radio programs have already done a cycle so you are board. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Service on this flight was good ice cream was served after the meal and a drinks run was done just before top of descent. The extra leg room of exit row was good so even though I was board the leg room made for a comfortable flight. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Descent was at 5:27pm and we landed at 5:47pm. Brisbane now has a similar passport scanner to New Zealand so I was through passport control in no time but I still had to wait for the bag to show up. We landed in the middle of a rain shower which meant that bags took about 20 minutes to come off the baggage carousel.
Thanks to Sam and his dad for giving me a place to stay for the 3 days in Queenstown, with the use of some Qantas miles it was a relatively inexpensive holiday. Thanks.
Now if admin could make it 10 pictures to a post then I probably could have displayed a few more boring photos so I included what I thought were the important 6 with links to 3 others.
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Brisbane - Sydney - Auckland was 18,000 points and Queenstown - Auckland - Brisbane was 18,000 points plus about $169 in tax.
[/FONT] [FONT="]I still needed to get from Auckland down to Queenstown hoping to fly Air New Zealand but in the end I used another 12,000 points to get from Auckland to Queenstown plus $6.00 in tax.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]21 JULY 10 [/FONT]
[FONT="]BNE-SYD QF533 B737-800 VH-VYD Seat 4F[/FONT]
[FONT="]
I left work around 1:00pm to get to the airport soon after, I checked in and got boarding passes for both of todays flights, a flight down to Sydney then a flight across to New Zealand.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]You know the flight is going to be late when the pilots are still waiting to board the plane 5 minutes before boarding was due to commence. Boarding was 25 minutes late.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]With my new Qantas platinum status I was able to select a seat in row 4 which is one of the better seats on the plane. Service on today’s flight down to Sydney was a ginger biscuit with tea/coffee and water. I had a nice chat to the lady in 4E who was from Detroit but had spent the last 40 years in Australia. We landed in Sydney after cruise of 38000 feet and landed at 4:00 and were at the gate 10 at 4:10pm, 20 minutes later than scheduled. I made my way to the international connections bus then through passport control then got lost on the way to the Qantas First lounge it wasn't as though I hadn't been there before. Don't remind me.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]21 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]SYD-AKL QF49 B737-800 ZK-ZQB Seat 4A[/FONT]
[FONT="]
This was my 6th visit to the First Lounge but it was the first time I had been able to access the lounge with my own Qantas Platinum status.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]After spending an hour in the lounge with 2 champagnes and beef burger and dessert I was about ready for a sleep, had a 10 minute nap in the recliners. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
Thought I should take a photo as it was the first time I had been in the lounge at dusk.
[FONT="]I then went in search of the gate which was on the other pier. Boarding commended just after 6:10pm and we didn't get away until 6:35pm 15 minutes late. Row 4 is nice especially with the good leg room and especially good when 4b is empty.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There are 2 dinner choices on trans-Tasman services, Lamb roast or chicken, I had the lamb, and with the meal was a choice of wine or beer. The new Qantas New Zealand registered 737-800s have new IFE with 10 movies, a few short TV programs and a good selection of CDs. I listened to the music then watched the movie Date night, it is kind of weird in the middle but its worth preserving with it as it gets better. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Descent began at 10:47pm(8:47PM AEST) after flying at 37,000 feet on a smooth flight. You know you been to an airport too many times when you can sleep walk through passport control and collect baggage and find the shuttle bus to the hotel. [/FONT]
[FONT="]22 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]AKL-ZQN JQ279 A320-232 VH-VQT Seat 13C[/FONT]
[FONT="]I headed back to the airport around 8:30am, used one of the Jetstar check in machines but still had to present the bag to the check in staff. The check in person asked if I wanted a better seat and I asked if an exit row seat was available, maybe my Qantas platinum card had some influence. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Qantas platinums have access to the Jetstar operated Akarana lounges in New Zealand, these lounges were formerly Qantas domestic lounges but as Jetstar now operate domestic services the lounges are now pay for entry except for Qantas platinum members. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight was called just after 10:00am, push back was a few minutes earlier than the 10:30am departure time. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Service was buy on board; and as I already had breakfast at Mcdonalds and had a drink in the Akarana lounge I listened to some music on the IPhone as Jetstar hadn’t started up the inflight radio. [/FONT]
Another entry for Anat0ls http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/playground/aff-scavenger-hunt-ii-now-23711.html a picture of an Jetstar A320 Safety Card.
[FONT="]Flying time was 82 minutes at 36,000 feet; initial temperature at Queenstown was 0 degrees but had warmed up to a balmy 3 degrees at the top of descent into Queenstown, pilots words not mine. [/FONT]
I caught a taxi into town then walked around town for a bit taking a few photos.
Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables in the background.
I spent 2 days snowboarding.
And then the drive back down The Remarkables was rather interesting; there were very few guard rails.
Nice view of the area and Queenstown Airport.
On the Saturday night JSWong joined us in Queenstown.
Another city to add to the list where I have caught up with Jeff.
[FONT="]
25 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]ZQN-AKL JQ278 A320-232 VH-VQT Seat 4A
[/FONT] [FONT="]I spent 3 nights in Queenstown with 2 of those days snowboarding it was time to head home. It is never fun to wake up at 7:00am after having been out until 2:00am drinking the night before. A rugby match had been playing on TV and rugby is almost a religion in New Zealand even when Australia was playing South Africa. Australia won. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight was due to depart at 9:50am but due to arriving traffic the plane wasn’t backed out until 10:00am. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The service was the same as the flight down and same plane but seat 4A wasn’t as good as an exit row seat. This time Jetstar had turned on the inflight radio so spent most of the time flicking between the 8 Jetstar music channels. [/FONT]
[FONT="]We arrived into Auckland at 11:47am after cruising at 37,000 feet across the New Zealand alps[/FONT]another picture.
[FONT="]25 JULY 10[/FONT]
[FONT="]AKL-BNE QF126 737-476 ZK-JTS Seat 12D[/FONT]
[FONT="]Jetstar were kind enough to transfer my baggage from a Jetstar New Zealand domestic flight to a Qantas international flight; one of the few airports in the system that allows this. It saved me having to carry my bag to the Qantas check in. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The 734 plane flies an AKL-BNE-AKL-BNE-AKL daily rotation and the flight was running a few minutes behind time. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I had 4 hours between arriving into Auckland and departing. I spent the 1st hour in the Auckland domestic airport sucking up the free Koru Club wifi; achieved by asking some friends from FT the months password. The password changes monthly and is one of the 27 domestic New Zealand destinations in case you want to take a guess. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I caught up with Serfty, I had last met them in NYC, they had just flown up from Wellington on there way back to Melbourne later in the day, some people think I fly too much. I had lunch in the international terminal before going through airside. [/FONT]
[FONT="]As I had checked in with Qantas First Class area, they have a separate desk where you can fill out your departure form where it can be handed in before you go through security.
Without Serfty advise I may have missed it, another nice benefit of making it to Qantas platinum.
This means that all they have to do is check your passport against your boarding pass, it probably saved me 10 minutes this time but could potentially save over 30 minutes at busy times. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I spent about 20 minutes in the lounge before going to buy some duty free. Duty free in New Zealand is about 10% cheaper than buying the same thing in Australia even with the charges for foreign currency transaction fees. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The flight arrived late so boarding was about 15 minutes late. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
Anyone notice the LAN Chile A340 in the background, very popular flight if you need quick status credits cheaply.
[FONT="]I originally had selected 4A but after check in I noticed that my boarding pass showed 12D an exit row, another person with mobility issues needed the extra legroom that is available in row 4. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Flight took off and surprising how long 3.5 hours is on a flight. Dinner was served about 1 hour into the flight. The choice was similar to the way over, chicken or lamb. This time I chose the roast chicken which was actually better than the lamb I had on the way to New Zealand.[/FONT] Picture here.
[FONT="]I gave the movie a miss; it was Leap Year, the screen wasn’t in the right location and I wanted really interested. After 2.5 hours of flight with still an hour to go I know I should have paid more attention to the movie as after 2 hours the radio programs have already done a cycle so you are board. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Service on this flight was good ice cream was served after the meal and a drinks run was done just before top of descent. The extra leg room of exit row was good so even though I was board the leg room made for a comfortable flight. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Descent was at 5:27pm and we landed at 5:47pm. Brisbane now has a similar passport scanner to New Zealand so I was through passport control in no time but I still had to wait for the bag to show up. We landed in the middle of a rain shower which meant that bags took about 20 minutes to come off the baggage carousel.
Thanks to Sam and his dad for giving me a place to stay for the 3 days in Queenstown, with the use of some Qantas miles it was a relatively inexpensive holiday. Thanks.
Now if admin could make it 10 pictures to a post then I probably could have displayed a few more boring photos so I included what I thought were the important 6 with links to 3 others.
[/FONT]
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