[Platy]

A visit to Boston

It’s time to put together some notes on my first trip to Boston with a few personal observations thrown in for good measure! Of course, the trip would need to be managed to secure QF FF Platinum for another year, whilst enjoying as much comfort as possible without a business or first class level budget.

After much research the plan became simple – get to US soil as cheaply as possible and then use instant upgrade fares to combine value with maximum status credits. Oh yes, also enjoy the trip and get some university work done!

[Platy]

Booking strategy (boring bits)

Thus positioning flights were booked directly online using the QF and JQ websites and single sectors fares booked for SYD-HNL and HNL-SYD on the JQ website to get the benefit of the cheaper inbound fares from the US. A Jetsaver fare was booked outward with a view to an on departure upgrade and a Starclass inbound to allow flexibility in travel arrangements.

Finally, instant upgrade fares were booked online through aa.com with follow up phone calls to the relatively recently launched AA Australian call centre to arrange payment and get my QF FF number entered into the booking. These covered the HNL-BOS-HNL flights and an additional side trip to Trinidad to visit friends on a separate BOS-POS-BOS ticket.

The only minor hitches in the above process were the long waiting times (45-60 minutes) on the AA hotline and the exorbitant CNS-SYD fare ($470 Jetflex) for travel on weekend in school holidays.

Hotel reservations for SYD, HNL, BOS were made directly using the Hilton website choosing flexible rates should travel plans change mid journey.

That created the following itinerary:

Sun 13 July CNS-SYD JQ957 1900-2150 Jetflex Seat 29D
Wynyard Travelodge
Mon 14 July SYD-HNL JQ3 1755-0740 Starclass (ODU) Seat 3F
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Fri 18 July/ HNL-LAX AA162 1250-2110 First Seat 5B
LAX-BOS AA192 2205-0635 First Seat 5B
Hilton Boston Financial District
Private accommodation
Hilton Boston Logan Airport
Fri 1 August BOS-MIA AA1089 0545-0855 First Seat 4B
MIA-POS AA1647 1005-1345 Business Seat 6K
Private accommodation
Thu 7 August POS-BGI BA2152 1650-1745 Club World (business) Seat 3B
Hilton Barbados
Sun 10 August BGI-MIA AA 0715-1055 Business Seat 6E
MIA-BOS AA1506 1250-1605 First Seat 6E
Hilton Boston Back Bay
Wed 13 August BOS-ORD AA1725 0605-0740 First Seat 6E
ORD-HNL AA73 0900-1300 First Seat 6B
Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio
Thu 14 August HNL-SYD JQ4 0915- 1550 (Friday) Starclass Seat 6B
Hilton Sydney
Sat 16 August SYD-CNS QF167 0805-1110 Economy Seat 55D

[Platy]

A journey to the Doggie Hilton (warning: “graphic” content)

A Sunday evening flight to Sydney backed up with a night in Wynyard Travelodge marked the start of a 5 week jaunt from Cairns to Boston with stopovers in Sydney and Honolulu and a side trip to Trinidad. That Sunday needed to be carefully planned to get the pooch to the kennels, finalise packing and double check that the neighbours were fully briefed for their house minding duties.

The old saying goes never work with children and animals! One kindly neighbour turns up in her prestige convertible sports car to run myself and my one year old Basenji pup to the doggie Hilton past Kuranda. Those of you familiar with Cairns may know the 20 km of climbing bends that take you up through the scenic rainforest of the Kuranda Range. But pup isn’t in the mood for scenery and quickly succumbs to the stomach churning ride, not eased by kindly neighbour’s intent on enjoying the limits of accelerator and brake that came standard with her sparkling sports coupe. If truth be told her driving left my own cheeks a little pale, knuckles tense, and bile whisked into a gentle froth at the back of my throat. No sooner had she delighted in a description of the car’s recent detailing, carpet cleaning and wax and polish, that poor Basenji’s delicate digestive tract exhumed multiple boli in volumes that would embarrass the inexhaustible magic pudding and prove overwhelming for the old towels I had taken in case of inclement mishaps. Carpets, seat covers, door pockets and their contents of maps and papers are duly trashed. At least the roof is down so noisome odours can expel discretely.

Back home my schedule is stretched as an hour of patch up cleaning is required amongst embarrassed apologies. Plans for BBQ lunch on the beach with friends are aborted and I grab my one piece of check in size hand luggage and jump a taxi to the Colonial Club Cairns for a relaxing afternoon beer (or two) listening to the Sunday session latin jazz band and briefly enjoy the company of my Brazilian friend, Miss C.

Another friend passes by the Colonial Club at 5.30pm to pick us up for the 5 minute run to the airport on her way back to the beaches from a city appointment. With the school holiday Sunday evening hustle and bustle in full tilt in CNS DOM I am glad to bypass the check in desks and reach the quiet sanctuary of the QF Club where I am greeted by familiar faces on the desk who issue the boarding pass for the 7pm flight giving me time for a supper of limited lounge snacks, a Crownie, a small glass of red and the indiscreet pleasure of......a miniature lamington. Miss C comes for the ride to see me off and enters the hallowed hall of a QP for the first time. The champagne and lamingtons are a hit!

The JQ flight is uneventful although my strategy to sit at the back aisle, where any adjoining empty seats are more likely, is unproductive with the flight full. I pay the extra for the movie machine and watch the Kevin Spacey movie, 21, chuckling to myself over the scenes set in Boston, which seem fatefully apposite given my destination.

[Platy]

Wynyard Travelodge (the travel report bit)

One benefit of traveling into Sydney at 10pm on a Sunday night is that the taxi ride to Wynyard is swift. The rooms in the Travelodge are recently refurbished and quite comfortable, if small, with the necessary clean sheets, towels, etc. This hotel is in an excellent position and can be a lot cheaper than the obvious alternatives, particularly on a Sunday ($105 on this occasion). Apart from being adjacent to Wynyard station for the train ride to the airport and convenience of the subterranean Coles Express mini-supermarket, the hotel is in easy walking distance of the CBD shopping areas, Circular Quay and the The Rocks. On occasions you scam a room with a partial view to the Harbour itself north along York Street.

[Platy]

A lunch in Sydney (or a drink in Sydney with lunch)

I cannot pass through my old stomping ground of Sydney without the level of attendant respect for longstanding mates being measured in schooners shared. This rule seems to apply even at 11am in the morning. Actually I was trying for midday, but friends, Mr C and Mr D, urged even earlier liquid nourishment, as argument tended to the convenience of earlier available ferries from their respective home offices in Neutral Bay. So I stagger down to Wharf 4 at Circular Quay with my weighty bag slung onto my back and no sooner have welcomes been shared that the Ship Inn greets its first customers of the day. We push through crowds of Italian youngsters, who, seemingly enraptured by the imminent arrival of the Pope, are bleating indecipherable litanies.

By midday we have repositioned to the ECQ bar – a second floor mezzanine bar on the south end of the toaster above Quadrant Restaurant with very agreeable views over Circular Quay and beyond to the Harbour Bridge. It is a handy spot for a lunch of succulent salmon, chips and salad and produces one of the better meals that I am to devour during my 5 weeks away.

One bottle of most excellent NZ Sauvignon Blanc becomes two shared amongst three excitable mates. All too soon it is 2pm and I decamp to Circular Quay station ascending the escalator just as an airport bound train pulls into the station. It is a good day on the railways, the train is mostly empty and glides south to SYD INTL in an efficient 20 minutes for a fraction of the associated taxi fare.

[Platy]

Jetstar check in (how to upgrade to Starclass)

I find my traveling companion, an Australian resident Canadian based near Port Macquarie (hereafter named Canuck) who has successfully flown down on the Virgin CRJ earlier that morning and is rapt in laptop tasks in the departure hall. We position ourselves in the Jetstar check in queue for economy in advance of the 3 hour opening with one of us hovering around the service desk intent on securing on departure upgrades.

Staff duly arrives and I immediately enquire about the desired upgrades. No problem! We simply pay our $300 each on credit cards and re-queue into the Starclass line, being sure to check that Starclass is stamped onto the boarding cards in case we need to chase up points and status credits at a later date. The staff tries telling us that we are not entitled to any points or SCs on an upgraded fare, but we just ignore them, being avid readers of The Australian Frequent Flyer. Thus we have secured $1,400 seats for about $1,000.

The downside is that we are assigned to middle seats (within the 2+3+2 configuration) leaving me in the dreaded centre seat in deference to my mate’s 6ft plus height

[Platy]

SYD F lounge (wanton descriptions of food and wine)

Immigration and security queues are slight and I am soon proudly leading my friend to the entrance of the F lounge courtesy of my Platinum status. Up the escalator, a quick check in with desk staff and we settle near the library and computers for a pre-meal drink.

Fortunately I realise, after a few minutes of panic over the limited and emasculated menu in the extremities of the lounge, that the food selection in the actual restaurant area is more extensive and despite recent changes including mysteriously disappearing “entrees” there is more than enough to tempt the palette for a 90 minute feasting of food and wine.

The Chateau Deveaux champagne is a winner, although I switch to a Pinot Noir to enjoy the steak and chips. The steak is extremely tender and most impressive for a simple dish. Canuck has beef rending, which is devoured fitfully and with considerable gastric satisfaction.

There is no doubt that the SYD F lounge is one of the better aspects of the Qantas experience, perhaps the best. I even manage my first glimpse of the Singapore A380 as it lumbers into the sky on runway 34L.

All too soon the flight is called and we slip back down escalators into the incipient hubbub ready for boarding the white and orange Airbus

[Platy]

Starclass to HNL (a forgettable night)

I guess this is where I am supposed to provide insightful information on service delivered, food offered, comfort of seat and so forth, but much detail has been forgotten in what proved to be a somewhat tiring sector of shortened night, but gained day.

Yes, we all know that Starclass isn’t business class, but the airline does market it as such! There is a plastic wrapped kit of throwaway (or keep I guess) light blanket and eye shades dressed in resident Jetstar colours of black and orange. The pack is somehow insubstantial in content and presentation with the satisfaction rating of a cheap umbrella that hopelessly inverts at the first gust of rainy wind.

After take off the portable movie units are handed out. My headphones deliver sound only to one ear and I can’t be bothered to get them changed over. Thereafter drinks and then a meal are passed out, although my sober and teetotal Canuck companion bans me from further drink (to which I benignly resign myself) so I move onto water to swill down some chicken stir fry thingy, one of the two meal choices (sorry I forget the other). Suffice to say the food is adequate, but again, nothing better than old style cooked economy fare and not remotely related to any business class standard. The red wine offered is the Sticks Pinot Noir, which I know from previous experience is pleasantly quaffable and to be found in bottle shops for around $19-$23.

For the 9 hours or so to HNL, I am half asleep and half awake. I am used to aisle seats and wandering around the cabin at least excuse to promote circulation. Within a few hours my legs and knees are aching painfully, an unusual experience for me. The movie tablet offers a few new release (yes “21” was there again) movies and a few Aussie ones aside from the staple TV fare and in my dopey state I can’t now even recall which movies I tried to watch to idle past the hours, so assume I must have actually slept.

Eventually the aircraft speeds towards the oncoming rising sun and as we prepare to re-live the same date courtesy of crossing the international dateline, it is time to fill in the dreaded green visa waiver cards and buckle up for an early morning descent into Hawaii, but not before being offered what was quaintly described as breakfast, but disappointingly turned out to be some sort of warm doughy bacon bun still hiding in a loose and sweating sheath of clear plastic.

[Platy]

US arrivals in HNL (just remember to read the form carefully)

Bags are grabbed from overhead lockers and we are soon striding through the ageing HNL airport. The fast pace to lead the immigration queues proves unnecessary as we are bundled into transfer buses outside the front of the building and after a considerable wait shuttled to the next building for processing. Inside and downstairs we seem to be the only flight being processed and only have to wait for one or two other people ahead in our queue. After reading horror stories of extended waits in LAX and other places it is welcome relief to find many manned lines and experience only a brief wait.

Obvious questions are asked, finger prints taken and mug shot recorded. I am lucky that the officer is in benign mood and forgives my stupidity in failing to sign and date the back of the visa waiver form – he lets me do it there and then without being disgraced into re-queuing and then we are there officially on American soil.

[Platy]

The bus ride (don’t forget the tip)

Canuck’s alcoholic sobriety is outdone by his hatred for spending even a dollar unnecessarily no matter the downside in time, inconvenience or personal discomfort (I was amazed that he agreed to the ODU to Starclass!). The shuttle bus into Waikiki is thus the transport of choice. Luckily a yellow bus is waiting and we board the ancient vehicle $10 notes at the ready. Eventually enough people board the bus for the driver to make a miraculous appearance and the bus to start its journey east along the local highway system. We are reminded constantly that the fare does not include a tip. The sign says so. The welcome speech embraces multiple references to the advisability of adding a tip. The mantra of don’t forget the tip briefly passes into a self absorbed musing on the need for maintaining a wallet full of dollar bills for bar visits before fading paintings on building sides of cavorting humpback whales trigger memories of my last trip to the island some 20 years previously.

In time the bus leaves the highway and weaves through a series of local streets along the edges of Waikiki. Luckily our hotel is one of the first stops and we leave the bus driver, with tip, and seize bags from the bus hold. We have made it to Waikiki!