777
Established Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2009
- Posts
- 2,780
As many around here might remember I won the Virgin Australia AFF win a Free J class trip to NYC competition. Part of the prize condition was a trip report. I've been back for a week and letting things slip so i thought i'd better make sure i get a start on it sooner rather than later. I've had some issues with photos so my apologies that this is text only for now - i will come back later and post those when i get a chance and i will probably post this over a few posts over the next couple of days/ weeks so that i can do the full trip justice.
This is my first trip report so go easy on me! [Actually, hell this was for a prize, so you guys owe me nothing!]
Background
The prize was promoted as a return Business Class trip to New York but as it transpired that it was actually a little more complicated than that when i went to book it. After talking to Dean, VA's great company rep on this site and getting the details I was informed that as the prizes came from both VA and Delta there really were two separate prizes. Faced with the opportunity I decided to try and build a bigger, mostly work related trip around the offer as i had a lot of leads in the US and Canada to chase up anyway and also - as a prize for one - i couldn't really justify it as a holiday.
In the end I took the prize as a return international Business Class flight from Melbourne to LAX on VA and (as the Delta prize was a trans con in J or F with the possibility of an open jaw) i added in an LAX-ATL-LGA (more on that below) and JFK-SFO connection on Delta. It formed part of a more complicated itinerary which actually went MEL-LAX-ATL-LGA-JFK-YYZ-ATL-AUS-ATL-LGA-JFK-SFO-DEN-LAX-MEL to accomodate a trip to SxSW, talks i was asked to do in Toronto and Denver, and meetings in San Francisco and LA that had been on the agenda for a while. Most legs were on VA or Delta although (somewhat disloyally) i ended up booking the SFO-DEN on United and the DEN-LAX on Southwest due to timing and connection issues (DL don't fly direct and i couldn't really spare the connection times). This trip report really concentrates on the prize legs - i'll spare you the rest of it.
MEL-LAX-ATL-LGA
Saturday 3rd March
VA 11, seat 5H
Aircraft Boeing 77W
Depart: Melbourne (MEL), 12:36 EST (orig dep time: 12:15), terminal 2, gate 10
Arrive: Los Angeles (LAX), 07:50 PST, terminal 5
DL 200, seat 1B
Aircraft Airbus A330-200
Depart: Los Angeles (LAX), 10:40 PST, terminal 5, gate 57
Arrive: Atlanta (ATL), 17:35 EST (orig arr time: 17:50), terminal S, gate T3
DL 1086, seat 2B
Aircraft Boeing 757
Depart: Atlanta (ATL), 19:40 EST, terminal N, gate B23
Arrive: New York (LGA), 21:35 EST (orig arr time: 22:06), terminal D, gate 3
Why the routing? Well, the booking process was a little more complicated than usual due to it being a prize. I had to coordinate separate bookings on VA and Delta and there were some complications created by some of my emails going missing and trying to arrange it all over Xmas. In the end, by the time i'd confirmed the booking with VA (thanks to some help from Dean again - including having to route some of my emails via his personal account due to the VA mail system borking at them) the connecting flight i would have most liked to have got on Delta to NYC (and the one they were selling to paying J passengers) was out of seats in the relevant bucket. Faced with a choice between a long wait (or stopover) at LAX or a connection via somewhere i went the connection and chose the LAX-ATL leg as it was operated by an DL international config A330, gave me a chance to check out Delta's super-mega-hub at ATL, and was the most convenient timing. It seemed a much better bet than the long wait at the airport, the stopover, or the regional jets involved in some of the other options.
The very good news was that once i Rang VA and attached my Velocity number to the booking I was automatically allocated an aisle in row 5 (5H) both ways. Perfect seating option as Row 5 is essentially a mini cabin, isolated from the rest of J. Some people don't like as it is between the bar in PE and the bar in J and can allegedly get noisy although i found it fine and the privacy it affords is as close as i'm likely to get to a private jet experience any time soon.
Check-in in MEL was painless although they weren't able to check my bags through due to it being separate tickets. On check in I was handed the Business class-boarding pass, an express pass for customs, and headed through fairly quickly as I’d said the goodbyes back home. The wait wasn't long but it did appear that the express queue wait was actually longer than the normal queue to get through immigration and customs – so not a lot of advantage to be had on that front - but nothing to do with VA.
The Air NZ lounge which VA use at Melbourne is certainly much better than the MH lounge that they used when i last took this trip. It is pleasant enough place to waste time and was probably about a third to half full on a saturday morning. I'd not been here at breakfast before and they seemed close to lunchtime changeover as I arrived. Personally i think there are great views out the window at the underside of waiting aircraft if you’re into that sort of thing (I actually find it a little fascinating to see the ops at that level rather than from the usual vantage point above) but I had been here before and tried to minimize the time here.
I managed a bit of breakfast and a quick scotch and soda (i'm a nervous flyer settling in for a long flight) and managed to get to board what seemed like pretty quickly. Priority boarding worked pretty much as it should - managed to jump straight through the line and through a small queue at the aircraft door before settling in seat 5H. The only real disappointment was to discover that 5K was occupied as it seemed to be a fairly full flight in J. No luck in scoring the mini cabin to myself (this time) but there are definitely worse problems in the world.
As noted above the flight left Melbourne 20 minutes late, but I can't say i noticed with a glass of Champagne (Lanson Gold Label Brut 2002 for those who take note of such things) in my hand and the excellent VA cabin service. From my experience I think this is pretty much the norm for long haul flights at MEL than any real sense that the flight was running late. We certainly had no problem making our arrival time into LAX. It seemed shortly after boarding that cabin doors closed, those massive 777 engines started to spool up and we were on our way to LA!
The in flight service was excellent despite me throwing in some curly challenges. Pro Tip: when opening the fold out tray table in J be aware that it can drop with something of a thud! As i was preparing for my meal, i managed to drop the tray table on my drink glass, causing it to shatter and leaving me stewing in pool of broken glass and scotch and soda. The staff could not have handled it better - within seconds they were coming from everywhere. One got the glass, another handed me a towel while seemingly another (i lost track of how many there were by this point!) was standing with my VA J pyjamas at the ready for me to change into should i require it. By the time i'd returned from the bathroom (in the pyjamas) my seat was dry (i have no idea how they did that!), a fresh drink was offered, my clothes were promptly taken away and hung up to dry and we continued with the dinner service as though the hiccup hadn't happened.
This was my second international trip in a row where i had been glad i'd packed a spare change of clothes in my carry on luggage. Last year my adorable (then) 11 month old son managed to throw up all over his dad in the VA lounge while saying goodbye as a i went off to Istanbul. As i'd already checked my luggage in i was on my second change of clothes before i'd even gone through security that time. At least i made it to the plane this time.
VA served lunch on board as designed by "celebrity chef" Luke Mangan! [Out of curiosity are there any non-celebrity chefs capable of knocking together a half decent airline meal?]. No complaints about the food though: I went the vegetable and bean soup with olive and parmesan crutons, prawn salad with mango salsa and coriander and vietnamese mint, and the main of braised beef with pumpkin puree, snow peas, turnips and broad beans. All washed down with a Serafino McClaren Vale 2009 Cab Sav. I'm not usually a desert person but i managed to knock off Luke's raspberry Ripple Ice Cream before settling in for a couple of movies and a good night's/ afternoon's sleep.
I woke up about an hour or two out of LAX just in time for breakfast (Tuscan Frittata, Croissant, Cornflakes, fruit and yoghurt) and heart starter coffee or two before we made our final preparations for landing into Melbourne. Just prior to landing my now (mostly) dry clothes were returned to me, i packed everything up and prepared for the long and stupid slog that can be US immigration and LAX.
To date it had been a great if unremarkable in flight experience (exploding scotch glasses not withstanding) but on arrival i really did get to appreciate the value of VA's new tie up with Delta. Unlike my last LA trip when Mrs 777, young .777 and I arrived to TBIT behind what seemed like 7 A380 loads of Koreans and Japanese this time we were delivered to Delta's much less busy Terminal 5. As the first ones off the flight we arrived to what was essentially an empty international arrivals area. J bags were delivered very quickly to a separate priority carousel and within literally minutes i was through US customs and into the USA. Despite having to check in again the combination of a quick arrival, Delta Sky Priority check in and security lines meant that i was sitting in the Delta Sky Club and heading for a much needed shower within half an hour of arrival.
More to come...
This is my first trip report so go easy on me! [Actually, hell this was for a prize, so you guys owe me nothing!]
Background
The prize was promoted as a return Business Class trip to New York but as it transpired that it was actually a little more complicated than that when i went to book it. After talking to Dean, VA's great company rep on this site and getting the details I was informed that as the prizes came from both VA and Delta there really were two separate prizes. Faced with the opportunity I decided to try and build a bigger, mostly work related trip around the offer as i had a lot of leads in the US and Canada to chase up anyway and also - as a prize for one - i couldn't really justify it as a holiday.
In the end I took the prize as a return international Business Class flight from Melbourne to LAX on VA and (as the Delta prize was a trans con in J or F with the possibility of an open jaw) i added in an LAX-ATL-LGA (more on that below) and JFK-SFO connection on Delta. It formed part of a more complicated itinerary which actually went MEL-LAX-ATL-LGA-JFK-YYZ-ATL-AUS-ATL-LGA-JFK-SFO-DEN-LAX-MEL to accomodate a trip to SxSW, talks i was asked to do in Toronto and Denver, and meetings in San Francisco and LA that had been on the agenda for a while. Most legs were on VA or Delta although (somewhat disloyally) i ended up booking the SFO-DEN on United and the DEN-LAX on Southwest due to timing and connection issues (DL don't fly direct and i couldn't really spare the connection times). This trip report really concentrates on the prize legs - i'll spare you the rest of it.
MEL-LAX-ATL-LGA
Saturday 3rd March
VA 11, seat 5H
Aircraft Boeing 77W
Depart: Melbourne (MEL), 12:36 EST (orig dep time: 12:15), terminal 2, gate 10
Arrive: Los Angeles (LAX), 07:50 PST, terminal 5
DL 200, seat 1B
Aircraft Airbus A330-200
Depart: Los Angeles (LAX), 10:40 PST, terminal 5, gate 57
Arrive: Atlanta (ATL), 17:35 EST (orig arr time: 17:50), terminal S, gate T3
DL 1086, seat 2B
Aircraft Boeing 757
Depart: Atlanta (ATL), 19:40 EST, terminal N, gate B23
Arrive: New York (LGA), 21:35 EST (orig arr time: 22:06), terminal D, gate 3
Why the routing? Well, the booking process was a little more complicated than usual due to it being a prize. I had to coordinate separate bookings on VA and Delta and there were some complications created by some of my emails going missing and trying to arrange it all over Xmas. In the end, by the time i'd confirmed the booking with VA (thanks to some help from Dean again - including having to route some of my emails via his personal account due to the VA mail system borking at them) the connecting flight i would have most liked to have got on Delta to NYC (and the one they were selling to paying J passengers) was out of seats in the relevant bucket. Faced with a choice between a long wait (or stopover) at LAX or a connection via somewhere i went the connection and chose the LAX-ATL leg as it was operated by an DL international config A330, gave me a chance to check out Delta's super-mega-hub at ATL, and was the most convenient timing. It seemed a much better bet than the long wait at the airport, the stopover, or the regional jets involved in some of the other options.
The very good news was that once i Rang VA and attached my Velocity number to the booking I was automatically allocated an aisle in row 5 (5H) both ways. Perfect seating option as Row 5 is essentially a mini cabin, isolated from the rest of J. Some people don't like as it is between the bar in PE and the bar in J and can allegedly get noisy although i found it fine and the privacy it affords is as close as i'm likely to get to a private jet experience any time soon.
Check-in in MEL was painless although they weren't able to check my bags through due to it being separate tickets. On check in I was handed the Business class-boarding pass, an express pass for customs, and headed through fairly quickly as I’d said the goodbyes back home. The wait wasn't long but it did appear that the express queue wait was actually longer than the normal queue to get through immigration and customs – so not a lot of advantage to be had on that front - but nothing to do with VA.
The Air NZ lounge which VA use at Melbourne is certainly much better than the MH lounge that they used when i last took this trip. It is pleasant enough place to waste time and was probably about a third to half full on a saturday morning. I'd not been here at breakfast before and they seemed close to lunchtime changeover as I arrived. Personally i think there are great views out the window at the underside of waiting aircraft if you’re into that sort of thing (I actually find it a little fascinating to see the ops at that level rather than from the usual vantage point above) but I had been here before and tried to minimize the time here.
I managed a bit of breakfast and a quick scotch and soda (i'm a nervous flyer settling in for a long flight) and managed to get to board what seemed like pretty quickly. Priority boarding worked pretty much as it should - managed to jump straight through the line and through a small queue at the aircraft door before settling in seat 5H. The only real disappointment was to discover that 5K was occupied as it seemed to be a fairly full flight in J. No luck in scoring the mini cabin to myself (this time) but there are definitely worse problems in the world.
As noted above the flight left Melbourne 20 minutes late, but I can't say i noticed with a glass of Champagne (Lanson Gold Label Brut 2002 for those who take note of such things) in my hand and the excellent VA cabin service. From my experience I think this is pretty much the norm for long haul flights at MEL than any real sense that the flight was running late. We certainly had no problem making our arrival time into LAX. It seemed shortly after boarding that cabin doors closed, those massive 777 engines started to spool up and we were on our way to LA!
The in flight service was excellent despite me throwing in some curly challenges. Pro Tip: when opening the fold out tray table in J be aware that it can drop with something of a thud! As i was preparing for my meal, i managed to drop the tray table on my drink glass, causing it to shatter and leaving me stewing in pool of broken glass and scotch and soda. The staff could not have handled it better - within seconds they were coming from everywhere. One got the glass, another handed me a towel while seemingly another (i lost track of how many there were by this point!) was standing with my VA J pyjamas at the ready for me to change into should i require it. By the time i'd returned from the bathroom (in the pyjamas) my seat was dry (i have no idea how they did that!), a fresh drink was offered, my clothes were promptly taken away and hung up to dry and we continued with the dinner service as though the hiccup hadn't happened.
This was my second international trip in a row where i had been glad i'd packed a spare change of clothes in my carry on luggage. Last year my adorable (then) 11 month old son managed to throw up all over his dad in the VA lounge while saying goodbye as a i went off to Istanbul. As i'd already checked my luggage in i was on my second change of clothes before i'd even gone through security that time. At least i made it to the plane this time.
VA served lunch on board as designed by "celebrity chef" Luke Mangan! [Out of curiosity are there any non-celebrity chefs capable of knocking together a half decent airline meal?]. No complaints about the food though: I went the vegetable and bean soup with olive and parmesan crutons, prawn salad with mango salsa and coriander and vietnamese mint, and the main of braised beef with pumpkin puree, snow peas, turnips and broad beans. All washed down with a Serafino McClaren Vale 2009 Cab Sav. I'm not usually a desert person but i managed to knock off Luke's raspberry Ripple Ice Cream before settling in for a couple of movies and a good night's/ afternoon's sleep.
I woke up about an hour or two out of LAX just in time for breakfast (Tuscan Frittata, Croissant, Cornflakes, fruit and yoghurt) and heart starter coffee or two before we made our final preparations for landing into Melbourne. Just prior to landing my now (mostly) dry clothes were returned to me, i packed everything up and prepared for the long and stupid slog that can be US immigration and LAX.
To date it had been a great if unremarkable in flight experience (exploding scotch glasses not withstanding) but on arrival i really did get to appreciate the value of VA's new tie up with Delta. Unlike my last LA trip when Mrs 777, young .777 and I arrived to TBIT behind what seemed like 7 A380 loads of Koreans and Japanese this time we were delivered to Delta's much less busy Terminal 5. As the first ones off the flight we arrived to what was essentially an empty international arrivals area. J bags were delivered very quickly to a separate priority carousel and within literally minutes i was through US customs and into the USA. Despite having to check in again the combination of a quick arrival, Delta Sky Priority check in and security lines meant that i was sitting in the Delta Sky Club and heading for a much needed shower within half an hour of arrival.
More to come...
)
