My first-class bucketlist trip

[kermatu]

Stayed up late last night with the hope of watching Spurs having a win or draw to beat the goons into 2nd place.

Should have gone to bed ..... the cough they served up in the past 2 games is disappointing

With CL next season they better buy some decent midfielders .. Carroll and Mason arn't good enough and sell Lamela take the loss

Agree with everything you say. And need a 2nd striker. Very disappointing end to what was otherwise a really great year.

 

[Justinf]

So no jogging for me today, my last full day of my wonderful trip. Forecast was for 87 degrees which is a tad over 30 celcius. slept in till 9am and then headed out to explore the famous Riverwalk.
What a beaufitul, majestic creation this is. Happy vibe and very picturesque.


After some lunch, which consisted of this 'chicken salad sandwich' (not sure where the salad was), I decided to head up to the Towers of the Americas for some views of the city.



By the time mid-arvo came around I thought I would actually play the role of a wanker tourist and go on one of the boat tours that give a narrated commentary of the Riverwalk. For $10, it actually ended up being the best-value thing I did all trip. (pics to come)

 

[Justinf]

The boat cruise was actually very decent. Glad I went.



Saw a cormorant catch a fish. Silly bugger couldn't eat it. He/she kept trying to swallow it, but it would come straight back up. Was quite amusing.


Back to my room at around 5.30pm after a really enjoyable day.
Flight back to Dallas in the morning at 10.50am and then a 10-hour gap between my flight to Sydney. What to do? I decided I'd worry about that when I got DFW.

 

[Justinf]

Headed out on the town for my final full night in the US.
Was pretty tired and had a 10.50am flight the next day so just decided to pop out for a few quiet beers. Weather was sensational and the warmth continued into the night.


While enjoying a cold beverage I got a text from Qantas confirming that my upgrade to F had been confirmed. Yay! Travelling home in first.
Had my obligatory burger for dinner.

Not a massive night by any means but took another stroll along the Riverwalk, which really was impressive.

Some Spanish dancing.

Back to the room at around 10pm. Glad to be heading home back to my family, but also sad that the trip had gone so quickly. I was determined to get up early in the morning to go for a run, but decided that whatever would be, would be.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

We enjoyed San Antonio - we stayed on the Riverwalk in 2009 ! - your photos bring back fond memories ! Glad you had a good trip !

 

[AnnaB]

I have to say JustinF, I really enjoy your TR. It is both amazing and inspirational. Keep it coming, kind of got me hooked now

 

[JohnM]

Flight back to Dallas in the morning at 10.50am and then a 10-hour gap between my flight to Sydney. What to do? I decided I'd worry about that when I got DFW.

Check out the Admiral's Club in each terminal if they'd let you in?

 

[mannej]

After a good day looking around town I saw a party bike, where a heap of people pedal (with a driver who steers the things) and while they pedal, they drink and eat. Looked like heaps of fun.
View attachment 70212

Funnily enough - this has just started up in Adelaide - The HandleBar Adelaide

 

[Justinf]

Awake at 4am! What is this?
Laid in bed until 5am and then popped the running shoes on for one final bout of excercise. Run south along the Riverwalk and then ran the 'horsehoe' leg of the Riverwalk in downtown with nobody around. It was sooooo good to be able to og the busy part of the Riverwalk with not a soul in sight. Gave a different perspective of things. I find jogging around an unknown city gives you a great perspective of local life and some of the houses along the Riverwalk once you get out of downtown - well, they are just amazing.
Packed my bags, showered and grabbed some free breakfast from downstairs. If you're staying at the O'Brien Historic, don't expect a great breakfast. Pretty ordinary eggs, some potato thing and some very ordinary sausage things. Still it was free and I just had some eggs and coffee.
Out the door at 8.30am and ordered an Uber on my phone. Got out to San Antonio airport easily enough for $14.
Security wasn't as painful this time around. SAT is a pretty small airport by US standards. I was flying out of terminal B which is the smaller of the two.
I had a 90-minute wait which was pretty painful considering I had no lounge access. But the view was OK.
This morning I would be flying on an American Airlines MD80, similar to the Boeing 717 in that it is a 2-3 configuration and the engines are mounted at the rear of the aircraft.

Seat 25B for this short hop up to DFW. This bird was showing her age. Really dirty inside and in need of a good clean, or perhaps retirement altogether.
Still she got me to DFW in one piece with a flight time of 43 minutes from wheels up to wheels down.
It was noon and with a 10.15pm departure to SYD, I was faced with a dilemma. What to do? Qantas check in wasn't until 7.15pm and I couldn't leave my bags at DFW as there are no baggage storage facilities.
I decided to call the two airport hotels and enquire about day rates. The Grand Hyatt at terminal D didn't have any day rates left and wanted $250 for an overnight stay. No thanks.
The Hyatt Regency at terminal C also didn't have any day rate bookings left and wanted $169 for an overnight. I thought about it for a while and then contemplated ust heading out to Cowboys Stadium for a look, but in the end, just couldn't be bothered and decided to pay the $169 for the Hyatt Regency. I got the shuttle over to the hotel, checked in and given that I would be spending 6 hours here, I decided to just forget about the money I'd just paid for 6 hours of hotel use and just put it to good use.

Nice views over the runways from the miniscule 'balcony'.



Since I'd been up since 4am, I decided to have a nap and managed 90 minutes of on-and-off sleep. Then I hit the gym and watched TV for a while. By now it was around 5pm and my six-hour stay at this decent hotel was fast coming to an end.
I still had $32.17 in US cash on me so I headed down to the bar and grabbed yet another burger and two beers. The service was really ordinary and the total bill came to $28.45. I just left the whole $32.17 on the table and got out of there. I felt bad leaving only what was a 12% tip (by my calculations anway - I was never good at maths), but I felt less bad as I had to ask for a beer three times before it arrived.
Around 6.30pm I showered and changed and decided to check out (all the while trying to forget how many money I'd just spent for six hours of hotel use) and get the shuttle to terminal D. I checked in and went through security which was pretty painless. I then accessed the Qantas Lounge and got ready for the long journey home.

 

[PLANT]

Gee I reckon you could have Uber $169 away but a refresh from 4am.....will make F a more memorable experience.......less sleep on home journey planned?

 

[Justinf]

What a small and depressing place the Qantas lounge is at DFW! I had a small plate of salad, a Miller Lite and at least watched a nice sunset. A family of four with a five-year-old boy and two-year-old girl came in and the wee man must have been a bit excited as he was very loud. They were ushered into a small family room, but he was still very audible. To the parents' credit, they tried hard to keep him quiet but the little fella was excited and fair enough too. I don't bregrudge families travelling. My daughter was a handful at that age too.


In the end, the noise just got too much and the lounge was small and not a place I could see myself being for the next two hours regardless of noise or silence.
So I decided to just walk around the terminal. Honestly, I would have rathered spend $50 on a decent meal and decent craft beer at one of the many bars and pubs in Terminal D, but I just decided to walk around.
In the end I decided to try the Admiral's Club and was let in and given a free drink voucher. I didn't realise you had to pay for anything, but evidently you do.
I perched myself up at the bar and ordered a Samuel Adams. After I'd finished this fine drop, it was 9.15pm and they had announced that boarding had started. As I had no US dollars or coins left, I still felt obliged to tip the barman even though the drink was free. So I quickly ordered another, downed it fast and paid by credit card with enough to tip for two drinks.
I then walked to the gate and boarded and was sitting in 5K. To my surprise, the family that was in the Qantas lounge earlier was also in first class right in front of me.

 

[marki]

Very Popular in Berlin where one often sees these bikes in various forms. Good way to be at the Bar drinking and getting some exercise working off the beer gut. Though some of the contraptions have electric motors for the uphill parts. I have seen the just the drivers pedaling alone along a lengthy road. They would need some help.

Funnily enough - this has just started up in Adelaide - The HandleBar Adelaide

 

[njba]

Exposing my naïveté here, but a lounge that makes (first class) passengers pay for anything is almost a human rights violation. Well done for tipping in that odd circumstance!

 

[Justinf]

Onboard now and I won't go into huge detail about the flight home, but started off with champers and hors d'oeuvres pre-takeoff.
This time I was a seasoned F flyer () and changed into the PJs pre-takeoff.

I can't believe how freaking comfy these babies are.
A nice shiraz and warm nuts after take off.

I wasn't massively hungry, but still had the urge to try a few things. One thing I had on my list was the 'signature steak sandwich' and ordered that pretty straight away.

It was nice. Certainly very decent and I enjoyed it and continued to sip on the Clonakilla shiraz.
The only other thing I had to eat was the fish and the cheese platter. both were very enjoyable.


By now I was halfway through The Revenant and continued to sip on the Clonakilla shiraz and enjoyed the amazing service from Martin and Andrea. Both were outstanding. Martin was such a caring gentleman and Andrea had a calm demeanour to her and couldn't do enough for me.
The kids in front of me were behaving well and were a credit to their parents. The wine was soothing me by now.
By now the FAs had heard of my backstory thanks to the bush telegraph which must have filtered through somehow. Both Andrea and Martin asked me about my parents deaths in a caring way.

 

[marki]

Hope you have heaps of fun!!

 

[marki]

Exposing my naïveté here, but a lounge that makes (first class) passengers pay for anything is almost a human rights violation. Well done for tipping in that odd circumstance!

Firstclass is not what it used to be!!! Your sometimes treated worse than economy Y class. I find this especially when plane is delayed and flights have been moved around. Then it does not matter who or what you are, you still get treated as pond scum. (that's my experience any way)

 

[Justinf]

I had my bed made up and slept well. Was woken once by the two-year-old in the cabin crying which was annoying, but totally understandable. her mum took her out to the galley to soothe her and I managed to drift back to sleep.
I had a good six hours sleep but woke with around six hours of the flight remaining.
I was remarkably alert and awake and decided to watch another movie - Sisters.
By this time I was hungry again, but decided on a perk-me-up flat white coffee and it was served with a lovely biscuit.

I'm a little bit embarrassed, but I actually felt like drinking again. I ordered the Leeuwin Estate reisling and had my bed unmade and settled in to watch the movie.

After a couple of glasses of the riesling, I decided to press the call bell and order the steak sandwich again. I missed out on the flight over (my own fault) so I decided that two on the way back would make up for it.

By now I was quite enjoying the movie and then realised that Dad would be horrified at me for not having at least one beer in first class. So on a trip to the loo I raided the J class bar with the only remaining beer. Andrea saw that I had it and immediately brought me some warm almonds to have with it.

And of course straight from the bottle as Dad would have wanted. The White Rabbit Dark Ale is a decent brew.

With a couple of hours left of the flight, I decided there was no time left to watch another movie and just generally reclined the seat with the massage function on and had another couple of wines.

 

[Justinf]

With breakfast fast aproaching I was again getting hungry. Certainly that tummy bag had well and truly gone that's for sure. Had eggs on toast with smoked salmon and spinach accompanied by a glass of tomato juice and another coffee.

The sun was rising and I had some wonderful views on approach to SYD.



Landed in SYD and off the aircraft. My F journey was over.

 

[JohnM]

And the end of a beautifully told story... Great stuff, Justinf .

 

[Justinf]

Transfer in SYD was pretty painful actually. My bag was one of the last off the conveyor belt and consequently I was way back in the line that had snaked around the corner for the but to the domestic terminal. Eventually after about a 30-minute wait, I was onboard and off the bus. Gee it felt weird to be back on Australian soil. I was having holiday withdrawals already.
Into the J Lounge at SYD. Oh lo and behold, some fruit! Fruit and veg, I had missed you.

Seat 3D on a 738 (what a letdown after the A330 and A380) for the trip from SYD-MEL. Service didn't start until 30 minutes into the flight at 9am takeoff. No pics, but I had a beef and cheesed toasted sandwich, which tasted a lot better than it sounds. As I said, service was slow. 30 minutes into the flight without being asked for a drink or anything was a bit disappointing, but honestly, I wasn't hungry and didn't care too much as I just wanted to be home.
Bloke next to me with a window seat proceeded to drink no less than 12 bottles of water (the small ones) and surf the internet on his phone the whole time. Something weird about him. It was obvious he hadn't put his phone onto flight mode as I saw him on Facebook the whole time and also on Messenger. About 1000ft from touchdown, he was texting and even made a quick call.
I wasn't sure whether to tell anyone or not. One part of me wants to know why he feels he is so special that he can ignore rules but then other part of me told me to tread carefully. Something was not quite right drinking 3 litres of water in an hour so I didn't trust him.
It also made me wonder about how many others on a fully loaded 738 would be doing the same thing or at least not have their phones on flight mode? What percentage? I figured he probably wasn't the only one doing it on this flight and decided to hold my tongue but it was hard.
Eventually we landed and I couldn't get off the plane quickly enough. Finally into my car at 11am and home by 1pm after a bad accident held me up at Fitzgerald Rd. Hope everyone was OK.
In all, it was an incredible trip. Incredible.
Loved Texas and loved the F service and experience. I could feel my parents and especially my best mate Dad with me all the way.
It has been a joy writing this trip report. Thank you everyone for the support and the interest in reading about my little story.
I'm taking my nearly 16-year-old to Uluru next week and may even do a trip report for that as I know Dad always wanted to go there.
As a sidenote, the trip did manage to get me to Silver status with QF and with a status run trip done last week, I ticked over to Gold.