whitby_2773
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 2,655
so here we are in Australia - the land of our birth!
we arrived early wednesday morning and 3 days later seem to have acclimated perfectly and be up and running. normally it takes me weeks to get over jet lag (it was 29 hours door to door this trip - new york to sydney), but this time it was almost immediate. and i think it was all due to a little extra space...
i normally dislike flying as i hate being crammed in, and since i can only afford economy, i'm ALWAYS crammed in! but this time i was flying with my husband, who has platinum status on American Airlines/Qantas, and BOY did that make a difference! he booked the tickets for both of us and put in a request for an upgrade on the NY to LA leg. his was confirmed 4 days ahead of time, and his request for me was still pending right till we got to the airport. when we checked in, we found that my name was the first on the upgrade list, and indeed, when they boarded, only ONE person got on upgrade....ME! yay!
so from NY to LA we both flew business class, and had a delightful, roomy, relaxing time - ate, watched a movie, slept for a couple of hours. when we arrived in LA we were met by a good friend of ours who has one of my setters living with him. he brought her to the airport for a visit, but then, because we were so early, asked if we'd like to go back to his house for dinner. tim had some work to do, so went straight to the qantas lounge, and i left the airport, went to my friend's house, spent some time with my dog, Dapple, and had a shower, washed my hair, cleaned my teeth and so on and so on. he dropped me back at LAX, where tim met me, and we both went back to the Qantas lounge and had some dinner - very pleasant and we're both feeling very relaxed and fresh at this point.
but the real struggle is always the LA to Sydney leg - 14 1/2 hours plus time boarding and disembarking - so normally about 16 hours in total. and you're packed in like SARDINES. i'm 5'5" and i cant even cross my legs in a Qantas economy seat. that morning, tim had checked our seats before leaving home, and saw that 2 seats had opened up closer to the front of the plane. if you fly at all you'll know that the general rule of thumb with flying is that the closer to the front of the plane you are, the closer you are to first class/business class/the stewardess stations ie better service, and so on and so on. so he took the newly available seats and moved us 34 rows forward.
so we get on and find our seats and...they just dont seem so cramped. in fact - they dont seem cramped at all! in fact - i have about 8" between my knees and the back of the seat in front! and my seat reclines! and we seem to be in a separate section of about 40 seats, all very comfy, roomy, and new. what's going on??
and then a steward comes and talks to us and says...
"we've recently reconfigured this aircraft to include the new category 'premium economy'. this is this plane's first flight with this new seating, and you've all been upgraded at no expense. enjoy your flight."
well OK! we had plenty of room and, given that it's an overnight flight, we SLEPT. we both got about 6 hours of good sleep - tim perhaps a little more - and got off in Australia feeling waaaay better than normal.
so - this is my 'Great Deal of the Year!'....
business class one way for two people NY to LAX is normally around $2200. i think we each paid $350 and nothing for the upgrade - a saving of around $1850
premium economy seats one way LAX to SYdney are about $1450 each, so $2900 for 2. we bought our tickets on a deep discount Qantas sale and paid, one way, $650 - for BOTH. meaning that we got a freebie of around $2250.
so, all up, we got 4 tickets - 2 NY to LAX, and 2 LAX to SYD, and paid $1000, but received seats which would have cost us $5100 had we paid for what we received! so - a saving of $4100!
and it's completely changed our visit here. since tim is only here for 10 days, being able to hit the ground running is invaluable. we don't mind going home and crashing, but for a limited visit you really want to be able to enjoy from day one.
so here we are in Australia, and it's a gorgeous day here in the Blue Mountains. there's a clear blue sky and the temp should be about 65deg. the home where we're staying (my best girlfriend of 34 years) is set surrounded by National Park on 2 1/2 acres and is a gorgeous log cabin style home. as i type i can hear birds singing and can smell the distinctive Australian bush - aahhhh - home! tomorrow is our 25th wedding anniversary party, and we're in full swing. this is a very special vacation which got off to a GREAT start, and we're having a WONDERFUL time!
the menu for tomorrow is 3 appetizers, just placed at different spots around the room - a smoked salmon platter, home made pate and a wonderful herbed cheese ball - also home made (all the food at this party will be made by us and represents all the foods we love best!). main course is a choice of lasagna, coq au vin, and coconut curry jumbo shrimp with green beans. there will be a selection of veges in platters, and we've hired restaurant chafing dishes to serve things and keep them hot. dessert is a passionfruit cream cake, and then tea and coffee. we're serving red and white wine and strawberry champagne cocktails, plus various fresh juices.
and that's it! tomorrow i restate my vows and exchange our remade wedding rings with tim in front of 35 of my closest friends and family members. we're so happy and just having a wonderful time and i wanted to update anyone interested on how our trip is going so far, as so many people have offered us warm wishes and congratulations. thanks folks - we're having the best vacation ever!
happy anniversary to us and love to all of you.
we arrived early wednesday morning and 3 days later seem to have acclimated perfectly and be up and running. normally it takes me weeks to get over jet lag (it was 29 hours door to door this trip - new york to sydney), but this time it was almost immediate. and i think it was all due to a little extra space...
i normally dislike flying as i hate being crammed in, and since i can only afford economy, i'm ALWAYS crammed in! but this time i was flying with my husband, who has platinum status on American Airlines/Qantas, and BOY did that make a difference! he booked the tickets for both of us and put in a request for an upgrade on the NY to LA leg. his was confirmed 4 days ahead of time, and his request for me was still pending right till we got to the airport. when we checked in, we found that my name was the first on the upgrade list, and indeed, when they boarded, only ONE person got on upgrade....ME! yay!
so from NY to LA we both flew business class, and had a delightful, roomy, relaxing time - ate, watched a movie, slept for a couple of hours. when we arrived in LA we were met by a good friend of ours who has one of my setters living with him. he brought her to the airport for a visit, but then, because we were so early, asked if we'd like to go back to his house for dinner. tim had some work to do, so went straight to the qantas lounge, and i left the airport, went to my friend's house, spent some time with my dog, Dapple, and had a shower, washed my hair, cleaned my teeth and so on and so on. he dropped me back at LAX, where tim met me, and we both went back to the Qantas lounge and had some dinner - very pleasant and we're both feeling very relaxed and fresh at this point.
but the real struggle is always the LA to Sydney leg - 14 1/2 hours plus time boarding and disembarking - so normally about 16 hours in total. and you're packed in like SARDINES. i'm 5'5" and i cant even cross my legs in a Qantas economy seat. that morning, tim had checked our seats before leaving home, and saw that 2 seats had opened up closer to the front of the plane. if you fly at all you'll know that the general rule of thumb with flying is that the closer to the front of the plane you are, the closer you are to first class/business class/the stewardess stations ie better service, and so on and so on. so he took the newly available seats and moved us 34 rows forward.
so we get on and find our seats and...they just dont seem so cramped. in fact - they dont seem cramped at all! in fact - i have about 8" between my knees and the back of the seat in front! and my seat reclines! and we seem to be in a separate section of about 40 seats, all very comfy, roomy, and new. what's going on??
and then a steward comes and talks to us and says...
"we've recently reconfigured this aircraft to include the new category 'premium economy'. this is this plane's first flight with this new seating, and you've all been upgraded at no expense. enjoy your flight."
well OK! we had plenty of room and, given that it's an overnight flight, we SLEPT. we both got about 6 hours of good sleep - tim perhaps a little more - and got off in Australia feeling waaaay better than normal.
so - this is my 'Great Deal of the Year!'....
business class one way for two people NY to LAX is normally around $2200. i think we each paid $350 and nothing for the upgrade - a saving of around $1850
premium economy seats one way LAX to SYdney are about $1450 each, so $2900 for 2. we bought our tickets on a deep discount Qantas sale and paid, one way, $650 - for BOTH. meaning that we got a freebie of around $2250.
so, all up, we got 4 tickets - 2 NY to LAX, and 2 LAX to SYD, and paid $1000, but received seats which would have cost us $5100 had we paid for what we received! so - a saving of $4100!
and it's completely changed our visit here. since tim is only here for 10 days, being able to hit the ground running is invaluable. we don't mind going home and crashing, but for a limited visit you really want to be able to enjoy from day one.
so here we are in Australia, and it's a gorgeous day here in the Blue Mountains. there's a clear blue sky and the temp should be about 65deg. the home where we're staying (my best girlfriend of 34 years) is set surrounded by National Park on 2 1/2 acres and is a gorgeous log cabin style home. as i type i can hear birds singing and can smell the distinctive Australian bush - aahhhh - home! tomorrow is our 25th wedding anniversary party, and we're in full swing. this is a very special vacation which got off to a GREAT start, and we're having a WONDERFUL time!
the menu for tomorrow is 3 appetizers, just placed at different spots around the room - a smoked salmon platter, home made pate and a wonderful herbed cheese ball - also home made (all the food at this party will be made by us and represents all the foods we love best!). main course is a choice of lasagna, coq au vin, and coconut curry jumbo shrimp with green beans. there will be a selection of veges in platters, and we've hired restaurant chafing dishes to serve things and keep them hot. dessert is a passionfruit cream cake, and then tea and coffee. we're serving red and white wine and strawberry champagne cocktails, plus various fresh juices.
and that's it! tomorrow i restate my vows and exchange our remade wedding rings with tim in front of 35 of my closest friends and family members. we're so happy and just having a wonderful time and i wanted to update anyone interested on how our trip is going so far, as so many people have offered us warm wishes and congratulations. thanks folks - we're having the best vacation ever!
happy anniversary to us and love to all of you.
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