Verde goes to Fiji via the east coast capitals

[Verde]

I've commenced the much anticipated (if short) holiday to Fiji (and double SC earning expedition).

Thu 20th
ABX-SYD QF2210 on a Qantas Dash 8 300 (VH-SBI)

Check in went smoothly - as it always seems to in Albury. The plane was running on time (which it mostly does, I've only had one flight out of Albury where it was running an hour late, normally they can make up short delays). Since the VirginBlue jet wasn't due to depart for another two hours or so, security wasn't operating... it always feels weird when I board at Albury with no security check.

I was a little concerned after parking to see in the new car park area a Pay Station. If the car park goes paid I'll have to rethink my flying arrangements (Wagga Wagga isn't much further than Albury for me and hopefully it will keep a free car park if Albury goes paid).

There were several little planes taking off, which I don't usually see. One was a NSW Ambulances plane (it was small rather than little, looked like it would seat a dozen rather than the two seaters) and I noticed another with Country Energy emblazened on the side, so perhaps they run a plane too.

I had a good flight, though you notice the extra noise of the Dash 300s over larger planes. It was a good flight, though we came in from a different approach than I am used to. Came in nice and low past the container loading facilities and the like. I think it was this flight which handed out the ice creams ("Duo"'s, half vanilla, half mango) and was nice enough to offer seconds as well (if it wasn't this one, it was the Brisbane flight following it).

Sydney Terminal 3 Qantas Club

This was my first time using T3 since making Gold, so I was interested to visit the lounge, even if I was only there for ten minutes. It was clearly a notch above the T2 facilities and I saw the pizza people had mentioned before as a benefit from the recent "enhancements", which would have been nice if I'd had time to really stop and try some. I hope they look at bringing T2 up to the same standard.

SYD-BNE QF542 on a 737-400

While there were a few spare seats on my first flight, this flight to Brisbane seemed totally packed (even all Business seats looked full). I found it comfortable enough, though the old CRT TVs are looking very dated. It was a fairly uneventful flight, I had a good look at the Business class seats and they looked pretty comparable to the First seats I flew on in domestic AA flights in 2010. About the most eventful part of the flight was when my pen started leaking and I had to deal with black ink getting over my hands (and a big splotch in the book I record my travel thoughts in).

Got to go now, time for my flight to Melbourne.

 

[Verde]

Verde goes BNE-MEL

Flying this time on a 737-800, QF605 5:55am departure on Fri 21/1/2011.

Brisbane looked shockingly ugly as we took off. It was gray and drizzling, the river was a filthy brown colour from the flooding.

Yet when we broke the clouds, it was amazing. The bright sun was shining into my eyes, the tops of the clouds were white and fluffy and soon we were passing over green and lush looking land.

This flight was a contrast to the previous evenings flight into BNE. It only seemed half full, with 5 of the 12 business class seats occupied and I'm guessing about 50% in Economy. I liked the Business seat - it seemed much the same as the AA First Domestic seats, except with slightly more controls to adjust the seat. Passengers loaded quickly enough that the flight was delayed from departing due to waiting on luggage to load.

The flight had the pop down screens, so only felt a little dated and not as bad as the previous evening's flight. The breakfast tortea was quite nice and even the bacon seemed decent. The attendant seemed to know everyones name and addressed me as Mr Verde etc. I think if I were a millionaire I'd be tempted to fly like this all the time. The view was quite good from the plane and at one stage the pilot suggested people look out the right side windows to see some of the Victorian floods. Sometimes I wish I could setup a video camera and record the scenery, as I do like the view from the plane.

Visiting the toilets I didn't notice any real difference between them and economy, except the ceiling was rounded and my head could brush against it while I was standing up using the toilet (TMI I'm sure). Perhaps a difference was cloth towels for drying your hands with.

Service was well timed and additional refreshments were offered as the journey continued. Inflight entertainment finished at about the same time as I finished reading the newspaper, so I don't know if it only runs for 60 minutes or something along those lines. I was impressed when everyone declined coffee, being an anti-coffee crusader at times, though it was done in a plunger so probably would have satisfied most coffee snobs.

The view of Melbourne certainly made it clear why it can plan on growing at a much faster rate than Sydney. A great deal of flat, accessible land surrounded the city (based on my approach), which Sydney largely lacks - so the suggestions that it will grow at double the rate in the future seems quite realistic.

I had avoided the first row seats because I am wary of bulkheads, though looking at the row before me I think I'd have been fine getting up to access a book etc and putting things away again - though I think I still prefer row 2 to avoid that hassle.

Hrmm, they called boarding early for my flight MEL-SYD when I was only halfway through this write up. I've wrapped it up in Sydney now in the Qantas Lounge, but won't have time to do the MEL-SYD flight until some other time (hopefully while in Fiiji before I return). So far things are very nice and I don't mind the early start to make all this happen... looking forward to arriving in Fiji now.

 

[Verde]

Verde: MEL-SYD QF422 and SYD-NAN

This time I was flying on a 767.

Boarding was called at least five minutes early, so I barely got ten minutes in the Mel business lounge. Strangely the fight felt more crowded despite being a widebody. It was about a five minute walk to the gate, though by the time I arrived there was no queue, so economy must have been fairly empty.

Salmon Tart (thats what I was told it was... it was round, but not what I'd quite expect if I ordered a tart) was smelling fantastic and tasted pretty good when it was eventually served (I was starting to wonder if the delicious smells was the service). Unlike the previous flight, this one just did breakfast followed by tea or coffee (plus the pre departure water/juice) - no offers of additional drinks - presumably due to the shortish duration of the flight.

Business seemed about 75% full, with most single travellers seeming to by themselves and most pairs being couples / colleagues. The flight went quite well and I was soon disembarking at Sydney. The international transfers bus gave a really nice view of the Qantas hangers etc, so that alone made for an interesting part of the journey.

By the time I did a currency purchase (which I don't think I'll do again, the exchange rate was terrible compared to ordering it from my financial institution) I didn't have time for much time in the lounge. While people wearing shorts were a minority, it seems like I could have been fairly casually dressed and not had any issues getting into lounges.

Flight: FJ910 SYD-NAN DQ-FJK 747

The departure was late, so I ended up spending an extra twenty minutes in the lounge before heading to the gate (it still hadn't been called). Even then I still had another ten minutes or so before boarding commenced.

Being in the front row I had tons of room - I'm surprised they didn't have an extra row with just one seat on each side (or two on one, one on the other). Opposite me were a pair of dodgy passengers who I hope were on their honeymoon and first international flight as they seemed oblivious to everything else (including safety announcements and times to wear belts, turn electronic devices off etc).

I enjoyed watching a film on the way over. There were about 4-5 spare business seats, one of which was beside me (giving me three of three for the day). I noticed looking at others who did recline, that it looked like it was fairly good (if nowhere near lay flat) - definitely an asset if on a night flight.

I liked during boarding that they had prams, then those with children under five board first before finally allowing regular passengers to board. I think it is nice to let the children get settled in first before there are crowds and lines etc.

Disembarking I also rather like the way the staff block economy passangers from surging through and ensure business can disembark in a peaceful way.

When I got to Nadi, immigration was a breeze (seemed more about data entry than any concers). They have a nice arrangement where a baggage handler pulls the premium luggage as soon as it appears and puts it to the side. Some people seemed unaware of this and only towards the end of the time "discovered" it sitting there neatly for them.

Thus I waited by the sign and luggage being pulled... premium baggage finished and regular came through (with a few more priority tagged bags for a few more minutes before running out of them). Then the regular baggage only flowed.. then eventually boxes came through. Still no sign of my luggage. When it was clear nothing new was coming I went and spoke to the luggage services desk.

They had me check the oversized luggage but it wasn't there. They really didn't seem too interested, though did get me to fill out a form and suggest I phone them the following morning.

Emerging with no luggage (except my day pack I carried onboard) I couldn't find the shuttle taking me to my hotel. The airport help desk directed me to the ATS Travel office who phoned the InterContinental for me, who contacted the driver, who as it turned out wasn't far away and soon collected me from the office.

More to come in later updates when I get a chance (I'm a few days behind now).

 

[Sprucegoose]

Going well so far Verde, where did you stay in Fiji??

Travelex are criminals in my books, I never use them after they ripped me off and never credited points.

 

[Austman]

Re: Verde: MEL-SYD QF422 and SYD-NAN

By the time I did a currency purchase (which I don't think I'll do again, the exchange rate was terrible compared to ordering it from my financial institution) I didn't have time for much time in the lounge.

Why I use the 28 Degrees MasterCard and an ATM when I arrive.

I couldn't find the shuttle taking me to my hotel. The airport help desk directed me to the ATS Travel office who phoned the InterContinental for me, who contacted the driver, who as it turned out wasn't far away and soon collected me from the office.

I had exactly the same issue, despite confirming the transfer with the IC, yet other passengers were met by the InterContinental shuttle driver OK.

Hope you enjoy the IC!

 

[drron]

Liking the TR.Hope the bag arrives soon.

 

[Major]

Totally agree about Travelex.

I use the post office, they usually have reasonable rates and do not charge commission

 

[samh004]

Re: Verde: MEL-SYD QF422 and SYD-NAN

They have a nice arrangement where a baggage handler pulls the premium luggage as soon as it appears and puts it to the side.

Ahh yes, I forgot about that, but it was really nice of them to do that, it’s a shame similar can’t be done in Australia.

Unfortunate to hear your luggage didn’t make it, but when you have that many connections it’s always a risk checking something in. Also a shame to hear your shuttle wasn’t there.

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

Re: Verde: MEL-SYD QF422 and SYD-NAN

Thus I waited by the sign and luggage being pulled... premium baggage finished and regular came through (with a few more priority tagged bags for a few more minutes before running out of them). Then the regular baggage only flowed.. then eventually boxes came through. Still no sign of my luggage. When it was clear nothing new was coming I went and spoke to the luggage services desk.

They had me check the oversized luggage but it wasn't there. They really didn't seem too interested, though did get me to fill out a form and suggest I phone them the following morning.

Emerging with no luggage (except my day pack I carried onboard) I couldn't find the shuttle taking me to my hotel. The airport help desk directed me to the ATS Travel office who phoned the InterContinental for me, who contacted the driver, who as it turned out wasn't far away and soon collected me from the office.

More to come in later updates when I get a chance (I'm a few days behind now).

Thank you for the trip report Verde!

Funny you mention that you emerged from the terminal without checked luggage. I experienced the same scenario back in March of 2010. I flew BNE-MEL-SYD-NAN and my baggage was left behind in Sydney (cue laughter from Bundy Bear and anat0l!). When the last of the stragglers were leaving the terminal and my baggage was no where to be seen, that dreaded feeling overcame me. Thankfully like you, I always pack sufficient supplies in my hand lugagge to last a few days.

Likewise, I stayed at the InterContinental and had the same issue of the "missing" driver. Ended up finding him eventually and thankfully though, to the Hotel's credit he was fantastic and went out of his way by taking us on a side tour on the way to the Hotel (and I don't mean to some dodgy, secluded place ha).

I hope you enjoyed your stay at the InterContinental. I had a fantastic time, even with bloody Cyclone Thomas causing drama after drama.

Cheers