Star Craven TR #2 Corporate networking aka Golf in the USA

[craven morehead]

Righto folks I'll have a crack at a second TR : EMD-BNE-MEL-LAX-PHX drive to LAS drive to LAX-BNE-EMD

So the start of a 2 week trip begins in the tropical paradise of EMD (Central Qld) on my least favourite plane the dirty old Dash 8 - 400 on QF2405. Having been too busy with work to put a lot of thought into this I have booked straight through to PHX. I have attached a couple of photos of the small regional lounge sans toilets. Don't want to encourage people to spend to long in the lounge. The airport is owned and run by the local council but the facilities operator has recently changed and the lounge standard has dropped quite noticeably. Righto so off to BNE we go!

 

[amaroo]

Looking forward to updates... safe travels.

 

[craven morehead]

Looking forward to updates... safe travels.

Cheers amaroo !! Don't wait up all night expecting to see a plethora of gastronomic delights as recently witnessed on your TR lol.

 

[craven morehead]

Landed in BNE and as usual we park in what seems like another suburb well away (slight exaggeration) from the terminal. I am not sure what the MO is but I am convinced 100% that most times one could easily walk to terminal quicker than the BS bus option. No doubt a workplace health and safety turnout. Then once on the bus sit back and relax for the 5km tour of airport prior to disembarking and heading for Dom J QP to kill a few hours (and most likely brain cells) The plane was funnily enough named "Mackay" which is only 3 hours drive from where I reside.







Next stop MEL boarding shortly on QF631 seat 2C

 

[Major]

Have you had any previous problems with golf clubs and do you put a lock on them ? I need to send my Son's clubs to him in Washington DC

 

[carls888]

Following along... as a golf widow...

 

[JohnK]

Finally a trip report on one of the most important passtimes in life.

 

[craven morehead]

Have you had any previous problems with golf clubs and do you put a lock on them ? I need to send my Son's clubs to him in Washington DC

Have travelled OS with clubs about 12 times and never had an issue. I do however put a lock on. Just make sure they are in a proper travel bag ie: with padded top etc.

 

[craven morehead]

Finally a trip report on one of the most important passtimes in life.

Agreed JohnK, I'm not too crash hot at golf but if gives me another excuse to travel !!

 

[craven morehead]

So on the golfing note, with 12 of us on tour for the first week and increasing to 16 for the Vegas leg some time delays on reporting have inexplicably occurred.

 

[JohnK]

Agreed JohnK, I'm not too crash hot at golf but if gives me another excuse to travel !!

That's the good thing about golf. I play golf regularly with people who constantly struggle to break 100 but they still enjoy the game.

I have no doubt that golf is the game they play in heaven. Enjoy your trip. Looking forward to the rest of the trip report.

 

[craven morehead]

Playing catch up !! So boarded QF631 seat 2C for MEL. Good flight with no issues. Had a lovely fish, chips and mushy peas with a few glasses of red. The meal was excellent and the portion size for the trip was spot on. I had had nothing but cheese and crackers in EMD and Pumpkin soup in BNE so I was well pleased with this meal.

 

[craven morehead]

Landed in MEL and was quickly across to INT terminal and decided to check out the new American Express lounge which had by this stage only been open for 3 days. Only had an 1.5 hrs to kill by this stage. First impressions : it's a medium size lounge I guess you would say. The selections of food & beverage were average as was the service. However for people without airline status but with the appropriate Amex card it would be far superior to sitting outside. I had a good look around and relaxed with a few G&T's ( 4 Pillars ) if I remember correctly. Didn't eat here as I was expecting some good tucker on my first B789 flight.
Entrance :

The place was definitely not crowded but you can see my mate waiting to be served




Still 2 more flights to come !

 

[craven morehead]

Boarded QF95 and IIRC we departed 20 odd minutes late. Apparently inbound was late. So first flight on the much hyped Dreamliner.
Tonight's bird " Great Southern Land " the first 787-900 QF purchased I believe. So even though it's been a long day to this point I'm feeling good and expecting some nice F&B during the flight with a few movies (hoping to push myself out till about 3am Oz time) and then get some sleep. Let's see how it pans out.

 

[craven morehead]

So I originally booked 5A but after doing some research the info suggested due to a pillar in the fuselage 5A had no window. Sure there was a pillar between us but that seat did still appear to have full access to a window. Being in 6A I had to lean right over when coming into LAX to get a decent view and I would have most definitely preferred to be closer to the window than the aisle.


PJ's and basic amenities kit.

And we're off !!


I did take a picture of the menu but it turned out poorly. Meal was served IIRC about 2 hours into the flight. So I chose the beef fillet with soft polenta, caramelised onions with sage, slow roasted tomatoes and rocket. The beef was a tad dry if I was being picky but the meal was ok. Cheese platter for dessert was average and quite small. Not even half as good as some other J offerings with other airlines in IMHO.

 

[craven morehead]

Nearly there :

First views

Big joint LA !!


Made it safely. Never managed to make up the lost time from late departure.

So my experience on the B789 was pleasant enough. I believe I could noticed the difference with the higher humidity and as I only managed 3.5 hours sleep potentially the lower cabin pressure may have contributed to me arriving feeling not too bad. The seat was comfortable enough (maybe a little firm) and the IFE was very good.I was a little disappointed with the meals I thought they were average and a little on the small side. I forgot to take a photo of the second meal but it was only a bacon and egg tartlet with salad. Neil Perry must surely be overrated! The service and was very hit and miss certainly not outstanding. I had to wait 20 minutes for both a wine and a coffee at different times. I'm not sure if I'm becoming too critical after 10 years of flying J but I have had much better experiences with other OW airlines. Anyway I made it and now time to transit for the 4th and last flight to PHX

 

[craven morehead]

So I used the electronic kiosks for the first time and they were very easy (don't believe they were there on my last visit 2013) I remember reading on another post that every answer should be NO except the last one being YES so I was on to that it still took an hour and a half from landing before we collected bags / dropped bags and made our way across to Terminal 5 for more screening. I was directed to full body scanner and had to be patted down due to sweating !! I was just keen to get to lounge for a drink lol. Finally found the AA lounge and only had time to use the 2 drink coupons in record time before heading off to gate 53B IIRC. We had located the gate prior to heading for lounge and it was very close so we weren't stressing. I didn't realise however that this gate only took us to a bus for a long ride to a satellite terminal out in the boonies.. anyway made the plane which ended up being delayed 15 minutes. A couple of very rushed Terminal 4 AA lounge photos.





Very hard to pass comment after only spending 10 minutes in here but it appeared all necessary services were offered and plenty of space.

 

[craven morehead]

With 12 lads on tour and 9 games of golf in 12 days including 2 days road tripping PHX-LAS & LAS-SAN with only one down day prior to golf ending it completely stymied any attempt to report in relative real time. It actually became a battle to survive lol my lower back starting to feel it's 50+ years. My normal golf trips are only 4 rounds in a week with break in the middle and no road trips as they are based in one area. ie: Hua Hin / Mission Hills / Queenstown etc.

 

[craven morehead]

So safely on-board flight AA3086 LAX-PHX service provided by SkyWest which I imagine is AA's version of Qantaslink. Seat 2C on the CRJ70 regional jet for the 75 odd minute flight. This plane appears to be an identical size to the Dash 8-400 with only difference being toilet was at the rear instead of up front and vice versa with galley. I wish that QF would offer these at home to at least give regional people a chance to fly domestic J if they wished. So only 6 J seats in a 1-2 set up and seats appeared at a rough guess to be about 2" wider than Y. I wasn't expecting much but was happy enough with what was provided for the price. Comfortable enough for the short flight and due to slight delay with departure the hostess had provided us with 2 drinks before lift off. Still feeling relatively good as 4th flight takes off.



My mate sitting in 1A nervously waiting for @JohnM to come along and kick him out !!


First views of PHX flying in. I also didn't realise the place was so big until the American chap sitting next to me said it was the 5th largest city in the US and had the highest percentage of second home ownership.

4th flight completed and time to see if bags & clubs had made it all the way.

So after pretty much 30 hours on the knocker after leaving EMD I have arrived in PHX in one piece (well I had a slight glow up). More importantly my bag & golf clubs have made it. I was a little nervous checking in at EMD as the lass was very inexperienced. She had however done a great job and even made a phone call during the process to sort out any steps she was unsure of. At the taxi rank and off to our accommodation in Old Town Scottsdale.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just caught up. Always enjoy a new adventure.