General Advice Needed

[BNEGirl]

Hi Everyone,

I am a new member here and haven't travelled much in the last 10 years and have only ever been overseas once so I was hoping that by posting my flight itinerary some of you may be able to offer me some expert advice for example, your experiences at any of the airports I will be travelling to, or the airlines I will be flying with, any tips for making the LONG journey as comfortable as possible, whether I've left enough time for customs and immigration etc... Any and all opinions are welcome.

Thanks in advance

Flight 1: Mon 3rd, BNE - SYD
10:25 BNE 13:00 SYD
Qantas Economy

Flight 2: Mon 3rd, SYD - DFW
15:40 SYD 13:45 DFW
Qantas Economy

Flight 3: Mon 3rd, DFW - MIA
17:50 DFW 21:35 MIA
American Airlines Economy

Flight 4: Tue 4th, MIA - MBJ
10:05 MIA 11:40 MBJ
American Airlines Economy

Flight 5: Wed 12th, MBJ-DFW
15:30 MBJ 18:30 DFW
American Airlines Economy

Flight 6: Wed 12th, DFW - BNE
22:00 DFW 06:15 (Fri) BNE
Qantas Economy

 

[Hvr]

Welcome to AFF BNEGirl, one question, are all the flights on the one ticket? If so it should be fine.

Happy travelling and let us know how your trip goes.

 

[BNEGirl]

Thanks for the reply Hvr

Flights 1,2,3 and 6 are ticketed through QF while flights 4 and 5 are through AA.

 

[casanovawa]

Do you have any status with the airline, in terms of access to lounges??

If not an AA 30 day pass for $99 would be a good move as certainly all the airports other than MBJ (which i am not sure of) should have either a Qantas Lounge or AA Admirals Club... So not much to be able to have some drinks and showers and internet access plus a bit of food at some of them...

If you are flying on the A380 across there area few good economy seats to aim for (80A/K or 71D is it), but probably been snapped up by higher status passengers by now, if on 747 i prefer to try and sit down the back where the seats on the outside (i like window seats) go down to just 2 seats instead of the usual 3, but others prize being further up the plane or like aisle seats etc...

All up it looks like a nice itinerary...

PS what month is it in (couldn't see it) as if you look in the thread for that month in 2013 (if its up yet) and find an AFF ont he same flight out of Syd whose a Plat and got some spare guest spots, they might even be able to get you in the F lounge...

 

[BNEGirl]

Thanks for the reply casanovawa!

I don't have enough status points to allow access to lounges so that 30 day pass is a good option and I will definitely check it out! Thanks for the tip.

I'm a fan of window seats because I can sometimes be an anxious flyer so being able to see out a window helps put me at ease. I will look into the seat plans, thanks.

 

[Kangol]

If you are flying on the A380 across there area few good economy seats to aim for (80A/K or 71D is it)

None of those are A380 routes. The only ones to the USA are QF93/94 MEL-LAX return and QF11/12 SYD-LAX return.

BNEGirl, I don't know what status you have (bronze, silver, etc) but you may have to pay to pre-select seats if you really want a specific one (window). If you have lower status you will generally have a reduced range available to you even if you pay.

 

[mella2007]

I've done something similar in the past and agree re getting a AA pass for lounge access. It will be a lot more enjoyable for you throughout the trip.
I also keep a change of clothes, beauty travel kit to freshen up if nothing is available (inc facial mist to hydrate) and some wet ones, IPAD with lots of books on it to distract me if I'm travelling alone.
Have you got your accommodation sorted?

 

[JohnM]

Thanks for the reply casanovawa!

I don't have enough status points to allow access to lounges so that 30 day pass is a good option and I will definitely check it out! Thanks for the tip.

I'm a fan of window seats because I can sometimes be an anxious flyer so being able to see out a window helps put me at ease. I will look into the seat plans, thanks.

If you are unaware of it, check out Seat Guru: Airline Seat Maps, Flights shopping and Flight information- Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru.

 

[BNEGirl]

Have you got your accommodation sorted?

The layover in MIA will probably be at the Miami International Airport Hotel only because of the location, all other accommodation has been arranged

BNEGirl, I don't know what status you have (bronze, silver, etc) but you may have to pay to pre-select seats if you really want a specific one (window). If you have lower status you will generally have a reduced range available to you even if you pay.

I'm bronze at the moment, I've only managed to acquire 70,000 odd points and due to not flying regularly my status points always expire before I get the upgrade to silver.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hi BNEGirl

Boarding passes. You should get all your boarding passes for BNE/SYD/DFW/MIA in BNE then in MBJ make sure you ask them if they can check your bags through to QF8 DRW/BNE which they should be able to do even on separate bookings because both airlines are members of the OneWorld Alliance. If they won't you'll just have to checkin again in DFW but keep in mind you'll have to clear customs in DFW like you did on the way over.

Baggage. Your bags will be tagged BNE/xSYD/xDFW/MIA and although your final destination on Mon 03 Jun(?) in MIA, your bag will come off the carousel in DFW as all pax must clear customs in DFW which is their point of entry into the USA. Once you're through Customs you can then do the bag drop before head to your boarding gate for the DFW/MIA flight.

QF seat allocation. As you're not a Silver f/flyer or above seat allocation on the QF flights would cost AUD25.00 each way however if you really want a window seat it's probably money well spent. Try to get a window seat towards the back of the plane where there's only 2 seats on the side eg 70A or 70K.

AA seat allocation. To be best of my knowledge AA don't charge for pre-seating so I would do this asap. Note that you'll probably have to call QF and ask them for the AA pnr for the DFW/MIA flight which I understand is in the same booking as the QF flights. You would already have the AA pnr for the MIA/MBJ/DFW flights so you should be able to do the seating for both bookings on www.aa.com.

Frequent Flyer membership. Whilst you would already have your QF ff number in your QF booking, double check what booking class your AA economy flights are in eg N, O, Q class etc. QF can tell you this for the DFW/MIA flight they've booked then double check your AA itinerary for the MIA/MBJ/DFW flights.

You will only earn QF 0.50 ff points for AA discount economy booking classes (G,L,M,N,S,V) and 1 point for economy classes (B,H,K,Y). If your flights aren't in one of these classes then sign up for an AA Advantage ff number & credit the AA flights to that so at least you'll earn something.

Travel Insurance. Make sure you take out comprehensive travel insurance that covers you for overseas medical expenses as well as lost luggage etc.

US Visa. Don't forget to apply for your ESTA visa which will be valid for multiple entries to the US for a 2 year period. The official website for this is: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/