[DTM1]

Having read so many trip reports, I thought that I would take the time on this quick trip to try my own hand at a trip report. This is a quick trip, and as I don't have the time to add in any additional legs/trips, the report may well be short and sweet.
I am heading over to BOS via LAX and this is my first trip in F, so I thought it was as good a time as any to prepare a trip report. I am travelling QF to LAX and then switching to Delta, as the AA connection has a 6 hr wait and even the FF points and status could not convince me to wait an extra 3.5hrs for the AA connection. Having never flown Delta, it will be interesting to compare to AA, although my AA experience (even first) has ensured that I am not holding my breath. I expect it to be more or less like domestic J on a 738 in OZ.
Even though I'm a WP, this is my first overseas trip since last May, so I hadn't yet had a chance to take in the First lounge in Mel. I had a 12.20pm departure, so I arranged to be dropped at the airport at around 10am. The concierge was fantastic, and even though there were a number of people checking in at the same time, they asked me to have a seat, and someone came over to take care of me. The express customs pass was great and I bypassed the queues to head straight through to the lounge.
On arriving at the lounge, I found it pretty empty, as there were no flights for the next 2 hours. Even so, the spa was still booked out, so no time for a massage. Next time (if there is a next time in F), I will book in advance (one of the additional luxuries of F over WP). Because the lounge was relatively empty at that point, I headed over to the dining area and ordered some breakfast. I came quickly and was very good – just like a restaurant (which, of course, is the idea). I then relaxed until the flight was called. Too early for champagne (although I know that QF009 would disagree) that any time was too early, so I just had some mineral water and tea. The staff in the F lounge were great. The desk staff remembered my name on the couple of occasions I went to speak to them, and all of the other lounge staff were very polite and professional. The lounge is a huge improvement on the old F lounge. Just before boarding, one of the staff brought my BP over and let me know that I had been moved from 2F to 1K, which was good, as I had asked if any windows were available on checking-in.
I headed down to the plane and boarded without any delay. As it was slightly after 12pm, I thought it was no longer to early for champagne, so out came the Dom '98, and I stuck with that through the meal and on into the flight. The meal was very good and the cabin staff very efficient (although one of them clearly found it challenging to maintain the smile). Cabin was full (which I was told is usual for Saturday and Sunday) and the flight took off on time.
Straight after take off, I changed into the F pyjamas, which were very comfortable, and did some work until lunch. Lunch was very nice, and washed down with some more Dom. Dessert was followed by some more Dom (sensing a theme here…). I watched a couple of movies and then tried to get some sleep. I found it hard to get to sleep, as it was only 7.30pm. However, after a while and a couple of …………..wait for it…………….cognacs (bet you weren't expecting that !) I got to sleep. I managed about 4 hours sleep and woke up pretty refreshed. I wasn't very hungry, which was good, b/c the breakfast was pretty average and overcooked.
I arrived at LAX and cleared immigration in reasonably good time (25 minutes for LAX is pretty good). Baggage recheck was quick and I headed out of terminal 4 to terminal 5 to get my delta boarding pass. Delta, like most (all ?) US airlines, does not automatically give lounge access to domestic F passengers. I had spent some time lurking on the on the Delta board on flyertalk to try and find someone who could guest me, but no luck. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I thought I'd try and see if I could talk my way into lounge access (or, at worst, follow Serfty's suggestion to buy a one-time pass).
I turned up to the lounge and innocently asked whether F pax got lounge access, expecting a "no", but was told that certain domestic flights had lounge access for domestic pax, including LAX-BOS – this was a very pleasant surprise and is definitely not promoted on their website. While the lounge is nothing amazing (a bit like the Cairns QP), there is some food and plenty to drink (full bar service) and unlike Admirals Clubs, it's all free.
I headed down to the plane when it was ready for departure, and that was when everything went pear shaped.
We boarded at 10.30 for a 10am flight. By 12pm, they allowed people off the plane if they wanted, while engineers were still trying to find the source of a mechanical problem. At 1.15, they cancelled the flight. I'm now booked on a 7pm flight from LAX to vegas, followed by a red eye to BOS. However, there is also a chance that a new plane will be able to make the direct flight at 5pm – fingers crossed. In the meantime, I'm sitting in the lounge here at LAX passing the time. So much for not taking the AA flight !
And one guy on our flight has had the last laugh. The flight was oversold, so Delta offered $US450 for someone to hop off and leave at 1.30pm – he got his money and a flight !
More later.

[simongr]

Nice stuff - I have not yet done QF F over the pond - only ever SYD-SIN and SYD-HKG so quite jealous here

The cock up with the Delta flight just proves that chasing miles is always the right option

[QF009]

Great stuff. A most interesting read with sufficient drama to boot!

And glad to see that I scored a mention - and you were right.

[DTM1]

....and the drama continued.

New flight was scheduled for 5.15, but only arrived at 5.30. We boarded at 6pm, but at 6.30pm, they told us that they had another mechanical problem. You could have heard the groans in the terminal. However, they finally resolved it, and we took off at 7.30pm. All of the seats in both F and Y had personal tvs which had a quite nifty satellite tv function, which meant that we could watch live tv right across the country.

However, it had been a long day, so I fell asleep pretty soon after take-off. I woke up a couple of hours later, and watched some tv until we arrived in Boston, shortly after 3.15am, only 8 hours late. At least no queues at the airport and no traffic on the street.

I checked in to the hotel, but it took a while to get to sleep - booked a wake up call for 9.30am as I would have slept all morning.

It was a beutiful day in Boston today. Very cold, but clear skies and snow everywhere (big snow storm on the weekend and more expected tomorrow). Hopefully I'll have some time to check out BOS over the next couple of days

[sr81]

Nice TR and you are correct, didn't see those cognacs coming.

Enjoy Boston.

[DTM1]

well, mt time in BOS is up, and I am now sitting in the crown lounge at Logan airport (terminal A). Delta have several lounges here, each for a different part of the terminal. I am in the lounge near gate 18 and I have to say, I am very pleasantly surprised. The lounge is practically empty, which is always nice, and it is modern and large. Not as nice as AA's lounge in DFW, but probably the next best lounge I have see in the US (excluding flagship lounges).

Each of the last 3 times I have transferred through LAX on my way back to Mel, some of my luggage has been left behind in LAX by AA, so this time, I arranged to only have my luggage tagged through to LAX. The added benefit of that is that I can check it in with QF in LAX and get the F tags - it actually does make a difference when you get back to Mel, as AA and Delta don't have priority tags. In the past, my bags have only come out with all of the other luggage. It may be a pain to collect the bags and walk them over to TBIT at LAX, but I prefer the certainty of knowing the bags have arrived.

will update from LAX if I have time.

[mosanator]

Originally Posted by DTM1

Each of the last 3 times I have transferred through LAX on my way back to Mel, some of my luggage has been left behind in LAX by AA, so this time, I arranged to only have my luggage tagged through to LAX. The added benefit of that is that I can check it in with QF in LAX and get the F tags - it actually does make a difference when you get back to Mel, as AA and Delta don't have priority tags. In the past, my bags have only come out with all of the other luggage. It may be a pain to collect the bags and walk them over to TBIT at LAX, but I prefer the certainty of knowing the bags have arrived.

will update from LAX if I have time.

Thats strange on our recent transit thru LAX from SFO the AA check-in at SFO priority tagged our bags, and they came out nice and early at SYD.

[QF009]

Originally Posted by mosanator

Thats strange on our recent transit thru LAX from SFO the AA check-in at SFO priority tagged our bags, and they came out nice and early at SYD.

Mine were tagged by AA at MSY. I'd managed to convince AA to stick on the priority tags as they could see that I was connecting to QF in J. But my bags still took a while to come out at SYD - not the last ones, but they weren't 'prioritised' either.

[JohnK]

Nice trip report.

Shame about the delayed flights. And it is never too early for alcohol.