Your personal travel highs and lows of 2007

[simongr]

Shamelessly stolen from AlphaVictor in this thread I would be interested in see what people's personal travel highlights (and perhaps low-lights) of 2007.

The Highs

1 - My first time in the SYD F lounge - what a new experience for me and what a great lounge.

2 - Booking my AAward with mrssimongr to go around the world in style (and on AA) for a trip that DOES NOT involve work

3 - The Great Hand Luggage challenge - what a great freeing experience

The Lows

1 - whY on KA HKG-PEK - not only whY but two attempts at take off and landing made for a very long night.

2 - The great checked luggage debacle - let us never mention this again.

3 - Leaving my laptop at LHR - what a sickening feeling it was slipping my hand into my bag and not feeling a laptop there...

 

[QF WP]

Mine are simple:

1. Birth of first child (daughter) on 6 March 2007 (that's travel up a different path and a change of lifestyle)
2. Taking her on her first flights (BNE/MEL/BNE) at 10 weeks to attend ozfest and seeing the reaction of FA's and pax's alike at the end of the flight (did you have a baby there, did you??)
3. Having dinner at Hyatt Coolum with IainF and MrsIainF and having diners say the same thing as in 2 above (we didn't hear her at all) [well, she was asleep with a belly full of milk :idea: ]
4. Seeing the A380 land at BNE
5. Flounging at SYD a couple of weeks ago, then seeing the A380 taxiing past as I walked to my J seat.

Lows:

1. Not setting foot on an International flight again this year

 

[NM]

Highs:

• Making AA EXP for the first time
• MEL-LHR in F
• Scoring well with Priority Club Point Break deal at CP Surfers Paradise

Lows:

• Not being home when Mini NM#4 needed a stay in hospital
• Being given 3 hours notice to go on a 2-week international trip
• Only having access to the J lounges for my last Circle Asia trip

 

[serfty]

High: Re-Qualifying WP five days into my New QFF "Year". (I actually had enough SC's by the 4th November, but did not have my 4th Qantas flight until the 5th).

Can only thank AFF & FT for the good oil (about YUP's) on that one!

Low: Not getetting any SC's and points for my V class QF codeshare on JQi from HNL-MEL.

Given my "Low" I've had a pretty good year generally and can't complain!

 

[Dee Thom]

Tis easy
1) Retiring in July.
2) The great staff at Rapid City Airport, S/Dakota, from checkin, security,
and boarding, they were all superb, and fast. N.B. QF
3) Enjoying the herring-bone seating in business class on Air Kiwi, SFO to
AKL, great seats and crew.
4) Watching wifey fly JAL Yclass BNE to NRT in a B744, and not the usual
B742 dinosaur.

The Bad
1) Being hospitalised in the U.S for five days (RAP)
2) Having the choice of DJ or JQ flying from MCY South, I'd rather go QF

Merry Xmas all, and cheers, Dee

 

[Keith009]

Highlights:
- Attending my first ozfest
- Doing my first long-weekend-away FT Do in Kuala Lumpur
- Sampling NZ Business Premier
- Booking and ticketing my first DONE4
- Making SPG Platinum for the first time ever

Lowlights:
- The omg o'clock flights to CBR
- Path to SQ PPS status derailed, and making the hard decision never to fly SQ anymore

 

[Alanslegal]

Some highlights of my travels:----
1) Going to my first ever Full Moon Party at Koh Phang Nan, Thailand =) - totally awesome experience!! plus having twice daily 1hr long massages for $7AUD
2) Eating at the many many many extremely good buffets in Las Vegas, although I gained a kilo or two that was expected from going to 9 different buffets in the space of 6 days!
3) Walking the newly built Grand Canyon glass walk (pity they don't let you use your own cameras & want you to use their professional services!!)

some lowlights:---
1) I just hate turbulence, give me a smooth flight anyday!

 

[Keith009]

Some highlights of my travels:----
1) Going to my first ever Full Moon Party at Koh Phang Nan, Thailand =) - totally awesome experience!!

Very noice - I miss those things! I should go back to southern Thailand some time. Half moon is good too, but the quarter moon ones were a waste of time.

 

[Kendall Roy]

Highs
* Purchasing QC Life Membership before the offer went out the back door.
* Shower in the Cairns QC in January after walking in dripping (humidity was a killer).
* Business Class on MEL-SYD Int Leg (Skybed)
* Being at the SQ A380's First Flight
* Relief after the fail Mac. Bank bid for QF

Lows
* Only flying enough for PS

 

[Hvr]

Highlights
Reaching SG level
Travelling the country for work

Lowlights
The omg o'clock flights from CBR (Thanks QF009)

 

[Homer]

Highs:

• Booking my first DONE4 (and getting it ticketed after much brouhaha)
• Achieving WP
• LHR-SYD in QF F
• JFK-LHR in BA New (New) Club World
• My first trip to Paris
• Using brouhaha in an AFF post

Lows:

• Anywhere on AA except perhaps US transcontinental
• LAX
• LHR - Terminal 4

 

[Mal]

Highs:

• Being persuaded into staying at PC hotels, learning about PointBreaks, and attaining Plat with PC. Probably the single best travel tip I've had this year.
• Stealing the AA Plat Candy, although I won't really use it!
• Finally flying over the Atlantic so I can now say I've flown around the world (at different times).
• The Qantas F lounges in SYD/MEL.
• Being let off with a warning for (allegedly) running a stop sign in the US rather than fine, and not getting a fine in the mail for another (camera enforced) offence I may have committed.
• Visiting the Boeing Factory near Seattle.

Lows:

• Battling the insanity that are the LAG rules when flying.
• Brisbane Airport, Qantas and checking in. Very bad experiences there.
• A bad taxi ride in the US - Ripped off on the meter, and even dropped off at the wrong hotel! Journey ended up costing me about $50US extra in all.

 

[Hawkeye]

Highs

My wife and I spent 9 weeks travelling the world as part of an AONE4. Along the way:

1. We travelled in F for the first time - inc CX F
2. I gained WP PG for the first time, whilst my wife "stole some candy"
3. I gained SPG Platinum having never had any status with a hotel chain. As a
result stayed in some truly amazing suites

Lows

1. That all the above had to eventually come to an end
2. I am now addicted to F ... sigh

 

[StevePER]

Highs

• Purchasing United miles to book PER-AKL-PPT return in business.
• LAN Business Class on their upgraded 767s (using Qantas points).
• Stopping in Bora Bora on the way to South America (Priority Club).
• South America in general.
• Priority Club Point Breaks - meant we could stay in some very nice places (eg Intercontinental Rio) that otherwise we couldn't afford.

Lows

• Getting sick in Chile from eating dodgy Chinese food.
• Leaving my backpack (with camera, passport, tickets, etc) in the back of a taxi in Tahiti. Very stupid. Getting it back 10 minutes later was a highlight.
• LAN economy on non-upgraded 767s (especially GIG-GRU-SCL).
• Significantly less work travel this year, partly due to being on holiday at the wrong time.

 

[Batesy]

Highs

• Honeymoon Done4
• QF first to SFO.
• QF first lounges MEL & SYD
• Wife making QF plat
• NEW BA Club world
• Getting out of Perth and back to Sydney
• Two days at boxing day test seeing Warne take record wickets and last games for Warne, McGrath & Langer

Lows

• Having to live in Perth (Back on east coast now)
• Perth Airport.
• Too much Y travel between Perth & East Coast.
• Delays with QF, too many times this year.

 

[IainF]

Highs

CX First on 3 flights - What a joy.
IC Bangkok - Love the PC points.
Syd F lounge - A massage and a meal before a flight is the only way to go.
AA Explat - Nice to have no fines when booking AAwards
All of the folks at AFF who have helped/offered advice when I needed it. Special mention to Sir DAAve and Lindsay.


Lows
Mandatory whY when travelling for work.
coughpy hotel irons/showers
Bne checkin
BKK taxi drivers
Mandatory whY when travelling for work.

 

[NYCguy]

Highs for the past year:

Opening my Mileage Plus membership pack and finding a Global Services card;

Buying a flat in Paris so I don't have to stay in Hotels anymore;

Discovering AONEX tickets, and how laughably fast one can climb the status ladder using them, and;

United revealing their new F and C cabins, at loooooong last!


Lowlights for the past year:

Airport security goons at JFK;

Airport security goons at CDG;

Airport security goons at SFO;

The international arrivals hall at SYD, and;

The feeling of impending doom I had aboard a UA839 service in February, when the smell of burning electricals filled the cabin when we were still 4 hours out of SYD, sending the crew into a full-scale emergency drill, and me into a full-scale last-will-and-testament drill...

 

[BlacKnox]

Highlights

Finally getting married, the pre and post wedding parties and honeymoon

Lowlights

Funding the highlights

 

[winetraveller]

Highs

• Reaching HON Circle and the associated benefits, including a luxurious bath before taking LH772 to Bangkok (for the 9th time this year). Also the fantastic staff who run the terminal, including the drivers who run you out to the plane.
• Being upgraded to an Uber Suite at the Waldorf Astoria after a disastrous first night, think the size of the average family home, overlooking Park Avenue, and all on points.
• Chatting to, and sleeping next to Scarlett Johansson on a flight from JFK to CDG.
• The wonderful people I’ve met this year, from Estonia, to Dallas, and Maine to Bangkok.

Lows

• Sleeping on the floor of Milwaukee airport after a shutdown, and not being quick enough to secure a room.
• The staff at the Hilton, Fisherman’s Wharf.
• Continental Airlines. Baggage “handlers”, a term loosely applied.
• Sitting on the tarmac in several airports, most often Logan.
• The amount of flying I had to do this year.

 

[Bundy Bear]

High: Spending the new year in Japan and getting an upgrade from JAL on the way home.
Low: Getting pneumonia 2 weeks after my return and taking 3 weeks off work.

High: Attending OzFest
Low: Having to miss half of it due to work.

High: Flying to Western Australia the long way; via NTL-SYD-CBR-MEL-ADL-PER; for work and a quick holiday.
Low: Having to buy a new ticket on Virgin Blue due to a delay with a flight on Rex and missing the chance to fly on O'Connor who sadly no longer fly.

High: Enjoying a bucks party weekend in Cairns with some friends.
Low: Getting sick from it and missing my friends wedding and missing the bonus points on my Priority Club Booking that I had made.

High: Getting a seat on the SQ A380 charity flight from Sydney to Singapore with a return on the first regular SQ A380 flight in business.
Low: Being too sick to enjoy both flights properly.

High: With the help of AFF and Expertflyer booking a cheap RTW business class fare on QF and Finnair.
Low: Being too sick to travel and having to cancel.