North America - Summer 2023

[NSun]

Well, its time for another trip report. After planning to return to Europe in June I cancelled those plans as soon as I saw the new SYD-AKL-JFK route being launched and was able to snag a reward seat in J on the second flight. That was last August and I spent several months thinking about where else to go. Obviously I'd be in New York, Auckland & Los Angeles (I got a return award seat out of there), but after some thought decided to visit New Orleans, Texas & Las Vegas.

Kicking the report off from the Sydney F Lounge on the Thursday night before the Friday. I booked my SYD-AKL flight separately and caught up with a relative for brunch in Auckland during the day.

Had a Manhattan Spritz coughtail then buffalo mozzarella, stir fried duck and pavlova. I have to say the stir fried duck was one of the best dishes I've had in the F lounge.










Was a standard 737 Trans-Tasman flight. But getting after 12am is never fun anywhere especially in Auckland. It seems a handful of other flights from the South Pacific land at the same time and there consistently tends to be several people who carry all their worldly possessions with them. Hence it always takes at least 20 minutes to get out. I booked a hotel in Manukau and got a taxi only to get ripped off NZ$95 for a 15 minute cab ride. There was nothing I could do but pay the fare as my bag was in the boot. In retrospect I should've just booked the Novotel at the Airport as I would've parted ways with the same amount of money than I did with the taxi and hotel. Or perhaps spent $5 to activate my roaming and book an Uber. Anyway...

Fast forward to Friday at 2pm and I am back at the airport checking in for QF3 to New York. For the first time I got an SSSS on my boarding pass, obviously a punishment for booking a one-way flight (I never got it on any other flight - even the flight back which was one way too). But it wasn't that bad in Auckland - it's done before you enter the gate and its not much worse than having the 'random' explosives scan at domestic security, only they check your electronics are on too (but they don't go looking through them). I went to the gate early because the AKL lounge was so crowded it wasn't funny.

VH-ZND was our chariot. This was only my second flight on her, the first being the Great Southern Land scenic flight in 2020. I allocated myself 5A when I first booked it but 1K opened up 80 hours out and snagged that.





Lining up for takeoff...



And on our way - flight time of 14 hours and 55 minutes.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Novotel at the airport is very good and easy. Stayed there a number of times on Oz Nz trips.

 

[NSun]

We were given special edition Rebecca Vallance PJs and a branded amenity kit for the flight. Other than the colour, the features are essentially the same as the others.



Here's the 'New York-themed' menu



Mushroom vol au vent



Steak with potato - loved having potato as a side.



And New-York style cheesecake. Well, they said it was New York style - I am no expert.



And breakfast...




Overall I slept for about 6.5 hours. It is always harder on the way over to the US than the way back but while it wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've had - even in business class - I'll take it because I was able to adjust into US time seamlessly.

We ended up landing nearly an hour early even though we deviated from course, flying over Atlantic city & Long Island.





And made it. This was the best picture I could get, no tarmac views once outside the plane air or landside.

 

[NSun]

Took 20 minutes to get through US customs. But, But But...no 6 hour flight from LAX awaiting, not even a 4 hour flight from DFW. You are right in New York. And to top it all off, they still stamp passports at JFK!

So straight onto the Airtrain & subway to my hotel. You only pay for the Airtrain once you get to Jamaica station - you pay an 'exit fee'. After staying right in the Financial District last time, I decided to stay in Brooklyn this time. Here are some pics from the ride to the hotel.









My hotel was the Holiday Inn Express on Kosciusko St. Was more than adequate for one night.



View from my room.



The view from the corridor.

 

[NSun]

It was 6ish by this point. Sun was still up but it was overcast and low 20s celcius. I hopped back on the Subway and went to the southern end of Central Park. I walked through the park for a bit, then down to Times Square.

















Ummm...didn't they go bankrupt?

 

[NSun]

What's changed in New York since my previous visit last Thanksgiving? Well, this billboard is $200bn higher than it was back then.



But thankfully this pizza by the slice place that I found last time hadn't gone anywhere.







Grand Central





At this point I caught the subway back to my hotel and went to bed about 9.30pm or so. Woke up at 5.30am and went for a walk around Brooklyn for an hour or so.

 

[NSun]

So today, I was headed to New Orleans. I booked a Delta flight out of LaGuardia. Whilst I could have gone out of JFK, I saw the flight I booked had an A220 and I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, it got swapped to an A319 but more on that shortly. I thought I could catch two subway lines to get to the station where there was a free shuttle bus.

Unfortunately, there was trackwork before the line ended so had to jump on a replacement bus. Was slow, crowded and ended up taking a wrong turn. So hopped out, used Chase Bank's wifi to book an Uber the rest of the way. In the end I made it with plenty of time to spare and saw more of New York that I otherwise wouldn't have seen so it all worked out well in the end.










The Delta terminal at LaGuardia is separate to the American Airlines Terminal, seemingly only transferrable by an landside bus. There was a bit of construction work going on although the airport was servicable.





I wound up on a Delta A319 - N342NB - for this flight. Although it was 21 years old, you hardly could've told it was that old. There were seat back screens and modern mood lighting. Spent the flight watching American Underdog, a film about Kurt Warner. As a Rams fan I knew who he was but didn't know he had all the troubles he had in his personal life prior to his stint in the Greatest Show on Turf offence.

 

[NSun]

Ah New Orleans. An hour behind New York but 10 degrees ahead - it was well over 30 and humid like Singapore. It has a great airport terminal that only opened in 2019. I'll show more pics when I get to the departure - I rushed to meet the cheap shuttle bus to downtown (well, nearly downtown anyway). Spent an hour on the bus and the scenery reminded me of Townsville, or maybe it was just the weather. The bus dropped me at this cemetary that was still 4 miles from downtown. I decided to walk the rest of the way. Obviously this left me sweaty but it was interesting to look around.













And made it to the hotel - Holiday Inn Express again. Took a well-earned shower after that.

 

[NSun]

After catching up with some matters back home, I went out on a walk around town and to the French Quarter. First walked by the Superdome, a venue that'll host the Superbowl after next (edition 59 in February 2025). Couldn't go inside but must be something good about it if it has hosted as many as it has.













No prizes for guessing what song this band was playing. Hint: Name of the football team.

 

[NSun]

I didn't stay out too late, went to bed about 9.30pm. Then went to see the calm after the storm the next morning...

 

[NSun]

The agenda for today: Fly New Orleans to Houston, then bussing it from Houston to San Antonio.

I caught an Uber to MSY and had a Tesla for only the second time ever. The first time was back in Brisbane in 2019.



'

Not many airport bathrooms on this planet have natural light.





I had plenty of options but went with United given Houston is such a hub for them.







It's a United hub indeed.



So there was no humidity here, just dry heat. I ended up missing the downtown shuttle bus after being misled about where it left from and waited half an hour for it. Then another hour towards downtown even though it was a major freeway all the way given it is 35km out.

I'd be spending a lot of time on freeways over the next couple of days. It seems every second ad is some lawyer. To say this guy stood out from the others is an understatement.

 

[NSun]

So made it to downtown Houston. I had about 3 hours to wander around before catching a bus to San Antonio that would take another 3 hours. There was essentially no one around and I didn't know why. The Houston Astros were playing that day but I would've thought that'd be a reason for the city to be crowded rather than for it not to be. I visited Calgary 18 months ago and despite it being below zero, the city was busier there than here (and it was a weekend there too).


















Then hopped on the bus and for some reason I slept the entire way. I had realised earlier the same morning I had no shirts left - I didn't know whether I left them at a hotel or packed too few (turned out to be the latter as there were 3 pairs sitting on my bed at home). So picked up this shirt from a gas station.

 

[NSun]

Eventually, made it to San Antonio. Spoiler Alert: This was my favourite city of the trip. The 39-degree heat couldn't spoil it at all.

 

[I love to travel]

What's changed in New York since my previous visit last Thanksgiving? Well, this billboard is $200bn higher than it was back then.

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But thankfully this pizza by the slice place that I found last time hadn't gone anywhere.

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Grand Central

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At this point I caught the subway back to my hotel and went to bed about 9.30pm or so. Woke up at 5.30am and went for a walk around Brooklyn for an hour or so.

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Just for interest how did you pay for your subway tickets? I understand that they have a new contactless card system now.

 

[NSun]

Just for interest how did you pay for your subway tickets? I understand that they have a new contactless card system now.

Yes, you can tap on with your credit card. And that's what I did except for when I had to pay the Airtrain exit fee when you have to go to a ticket machine, pay and get a ticket to 'get out'.

 

[NSun]

I forgot to take a picture of the hotel room but I had a balcony and took a picture outside at 8.30pm.



More of San Antonio the next morning.

 

[NSun]

Then it was on a bus to Dallas via Austin. Only stopped in Austin briefly (5 minutes to pick up passengers) but I'll have to return someday.

On a side note, with a 6 hour drive set to come I was dreading this bus ride after the experience the previous day being packed like sardines and having a matron-like bus driver. But today was a lot more pleasant as I was with a different company (Flixbus) despite booking with Greyhound again. Not to mention the driver was a lot more friendly.





And made it to Dallas!








Walked to my hotel, the Crowne Plaza Dallas, and the first thing I did was have a swim.

 

[NSun]

So this afternoon I had planned a tour of AT&T Stadium. But first, I went to visit Dealey Plaza which was only a couple of blocks from my hotel. It is one of those things in a city that if you didn't visit it, you didn't go to the city at all.











Then it was in an Uber to AT&T Stadium. I have to say, the roads in Texas were amazing. It took less than half an hour to get 30km.

 

[NSun]

It was a fairdinkum tour - we got taken around areas such as the players' locker rooms, the media box and we even got to ride in the goods lift. Unfortunately, we couldn't go onto the field because it was being 'renovated'.





Here are a couple of interesting facts. There are over 3,000 TV screens across the stadium to ensure you don't miss the action. And the press box (below) is closer to the end zone than the 50-yard line - Jerry made it so to remind them that the fans were at the centre of the action.





There are a couple of rooms under the stadium where all the 'memorabilia' is kept. This was one of them.



So this is where the players run out and the fans in this area can watch them. Post-game, they can also look into the press conference room.



Looks like a good view in principle, but not in practice when you consider how many players, officials and staff are on the sideline and would likely block out your view.

 

[LadyC]

I love the Riverwalk in San Antonio- such a nice way to get around. The heat must have been something else! We were there over New Years and managed a day in shorts and a t-shirt!