Flying the long way to Europe to take the world's slowest express train (plus a wedding) - HCO

[PrezRegan]

Hello friends,

Another one. This time the anchor is a mate's wedding in Tunbridge Wells on 12 Sep - but the actual reason the trip looks like this is the Glacier Express. Everything elsewas built around getting to a train.

Booked as an Oneworld RTW for 365,800 QFF points plus taxes across 11 sectors. HCO again, obviously - 30 days out of my trusty July carry-on, a garment bag, and a backpack. I have cheated slightly because my mate (whose wedding it is) has agreed to take my uniform across but hey - he's the one who wanted a service wedding.


CBR-SYD-LAX-ORD-JFK-LHR // KRK-HEL-LHR-JFK-DFW-SYD-CBR

10 cities — Chicago, London, Tunbridge Wells, Paris, Zermatt, Chur, Vienna, Budapest, Kraków and Dallas on the way home — and 14 hotels. I don't think I'll be slumming it on this one, but I am swapping between a few hotels just to compare them. Mostly Accor but also GHA, Hilton, and Radisson RED as well as some independents.

Some of the highlights:
- The Glacier Express, the Gornergrat cog railway and the UNESCO-listed Albula line, all inside two days
- Afternoon tea at the Ritz
- A day trip to Reims for the cathedral and a couple of the big Champagne houses
- The usual military history — Les Invalides, the coughnal in Vienna, the House of Terror in Budapest, the Polish Aviation Museum

And of course a few decent restaurants along the way. Keen to continue my comparison of Michelin restaurants around the world.

First flight is on a Dash-8 from Canberra... may not review the flight but we'll see how much time I have to kill in the flounge.

 

[PrezRegan]

So I won't bother reviewing the first flight because it was an uneventful 50min hop from CBR-SYD on a Dash 8 (yawn). Pretty much like taking the bus and marginally more comfortable.

On arrival in Sydney I had a grand plan to go to the newly opened gym in the arrivals area of the international airport. Unfortunately that plan was immediately derailed by the fact that I'd coincided my arrival perfectly with when the single staff member was on lunch... and I didn't really want to hang around for an hour waiting for them to return.

So cutting my losses I made my way to the Flounge. It was/is absolutely packed. There was a line almost to the escalators for the dining area.

Thankfully - and a first for me actually - the service I received as P1 was impeccable. As soon as I had presented my boarding pass I was asked if I wanted to be added to the waitlist for the spa, then escorted to a table in the roped off area reserved for First and P1 pax. On the way the agent did mention she would just put me at whatever table was available - which I was fine with given how busy it was - but it turned out there was a great spot free by the windows. So status definitely saved the day here!

See below the special menu (I forgot to take a picture of the spring menu, but tbh it looked a bit average). I've had the Lark whisky before a couple weeks back when I went to Gary's dinner in Hobart and went to the Whisky Festival to kill some time. A great drop, I will definitely be having that later this afternoon. For a change of pace I went for the martini (it's ok) and I've ordered the trout tartare and the short rib. If I'm still hungry I might grab the minute steak as from what I've read online the LAX Flounge is still closed so won't have a chance to try that there


Update - food service is a bit slow (understandably) but have just been booked a spa appointment for 14:00 which is great! But will be in the middle of food so slightly less great... but still, free spa, food can wait!

 

[VPS]

sounds like fun - following along

 

[PrezRegan]

QF11 SYD-LAX
Departed 1750 / Arrived 1430
Airbus A380
Seat 18K, Business
Duration 13h40m

Boarding was a bit of a cluster. We were held up for a while with an engineering issue but it all got sorted in the end and we pushed back not too far behind schedule. Service was excellent. The CSM came by to say hello, and when my IFE screen turned out to be completely unresponsive she had it sorted without any fuss. Managed to get two entrées - the chicken skewers and the mushroom soup - in lieu of the average looking mains and also skipped dessert. I appear to have forgotten to take a picture of the menu but the other entree was a boconccini salad and the mains were the classic Humpty doo Barra, a vego dish, the steak, and some Asian chicken noodles. Desssert I think was cheese or a cheesecake.


Slept a solid 7 hours, which for me on a westbound is about as good as it gets. Breakfast was a casualty of a refrigeration issue, so it was cold options only. Given I knew what was waiting at LAX I skipped it entirely and saved myself for the lounge.

Made it into the USA, so that's a win. MPC was quick - through in 20 minutes - though they did seem to ask a fair few more questions than I've had previously. Now in the oneworld Lounge at TBIT. The Qantas First Lounge is still closed due to flooding, with a sign directing people down to the business lounge - which as I understand it is shared with BA and CX. There is a roped off section which I assume is for First and possibly OWE as well.

The P1 magic touch appears to continue here too. The agent said she had been expecting me, which I still can't quite work out - she initially asked for my passport, but the moment I handed over my boarding pass she knew exactly who I was. Somewhat surprising given I've never set foot in this lounge before, nor would I expect them to be tracking my flight given my onwards flight is domestic. Either way, escorted straight to the roped off area.

Menu options below. I had the ceviche which was quite nice and the pork cutlet which was also solid. Skipping dessert for now. Boarding should be in about 30 mins with an anticipated midnight arrival into Chicago. In anticipation of this I have booked the Hilton ORD which is meant to be in the airport.

 

[PrezRegan]

This update comes live from the air courtesy to AA's now unlimited in-flight and mostly reliable wi-fi.

Food was good, I pre-ordered a salmon dish. Dessert (which I skipped) was an ice cream. Service is good, polite and efficient. Overall AA is a pretty solid product.


Got a glimpse of a beautiful sunset flying over the mountainous centre but didn't snap a pic.

 

[PrezRegan]

Chicago, day one.

Hilton O'Hare was solid. Genuinely in-terminal, so it was a walk off the arrivals level straight to reception at about 1am, which after CBR-SYD-LAX-ORD was worth a great deal more to me than any amount of hotel. Decent room with a view over the runway. Declined upgrade to preserve double bed. Had a good sleep and woke up around 0930. See view:


Slight mix-up with the complimentary breakfast - I was told I'd by the restaurant id have to pay first and get it credited back at checkout, which isn't how it's supposed to work. The reception sorted it out without any drama once I raised it on checkout but it took a bit of back and forth. Breakfast itself came via Gold, so limited options, but more than continental and coffee was included. The breakfast sandwich was decent and normally 20USD.

We then caught a train into the city to the Fairmont for 5USD and took about 1.5h all up. Fairmont was booked through my own travel agent benefits, giving me access to the HERA program, and the perks all landed as advertised - upgraded to a higher room level on the 31st floor, plus breakfast and the dining credit confirmed at check-in. No early check-in (see below) but got a 4pm checkout with no issues.

Room wasn't ready until 4, though that was on me rather than them. They had something available earlier but I needed two beds rather than a king, and that's a smaller pool to draw from. I was told I'd get a text when the room was ready but never received it. When we went back to check at 3 we were told it wouldn't be ready until 4.

So, my mate and I wandered around the city. Millennium Park, a few drinks on the waterfront, then beers in the park watching the jazz festival. Not a bad way to fill an afternoon you hadn't planned to have.

20,000 steps already and it's not dinner yet.

Weather is humid and overcast, and very warm compared to what I've left behind in Canberra.

Now off to Moody Tongue for dinner. Report to follow.