By the time our 9.30pm departure rolled around we were happy to stretch our legs out to the A17 gate. A good gate with plenty of room for the gate check of carry on luggage. No waiting to board via priority boarding and met enthusiastically by a great crew.
No problem with a pre-departure beverage with them insisting I should have a second glass of bubbles (and a third on offer). Push back was a little delayed & a long taxi meant that quite a few passengers opted for sleep rather than wait for a late dinner. We had both ordered the lobster via Book The Cook & we were very happy with the dish offered. Also enjoyed the garlic bread, satay sticks and the salmon entree. I tried the Singapore Sling and single malt scotch before a short nap. The continental breakfast was a quick serve prior to landing and there was nothing memorable about it.
I doubt I would opt for Row 19 over the 12A, 15A style of seats again in the future. I really enjoy having the space away from the aisle that the A seats provide in the alternate rows. 19D & F don't particularly make for easy eye to eye contact/conversation and on this flight (medium haul version) you are seated right where Y class stream onto the plane. I thought 19K certainly had handy storage forward & to the right of the seat but for the way I sleep I didn't notice a big advantage with the straight on foot well.
Arrival was on time & all looked good for us to beat the Emirates passengers through the terminal. Unfortunately Mrs RB encountered problems with the passport reader (tried several times before being rejected outright) & we had to join a massive line for her to eventually reach a service desk (no apparent reason for the failure and has never failed before). Our bags were already circling by the time we reached the carousel. Things didn’t improve with long lines marching back & forward through the terminal to reach the customs check. We declared some wooden items that had been gifted to us but customs simply waved us through.
We are not regulars through Brisbane & despite sighting the signage we missed the travelator that headed off to the left and down to the public pick-up area. The pick-up area is certainly a bit more orderly than Sydney & we were soon on our way out of the airport & looking forward to a nap to catch up on missed sleep.
Will be back later with a bit of a summary post
The nips are getting bigger
Back to distinctly Aust colours