Ok, it's been a while, but when the story ended the intrepid explorers where in the Qantas First Class lounge waiting for the departure of JQ 3 to Honolulu.
Time to board came, and we headed to he Gate to jump on board our Jetstar flight to paradise.
Jetstar Flight JQ 3 - Sydney to Honolulu (Starclass) Airbus A330
We didn't really know what to expect on this segment, we where booked in StarClass which is variously pitched as Premium Economy or as a Business Class product.We boarded (our seats had been changed to far less desirable ones than we had assigned ourselves on the web), so we had a middle and aisle seat in the centre section of row three, rather than the window and aisle seat we had picked (it had been stolen by a family needing the bassinet position). Sparkling something was served before takeoff, and the rather substantial amenities pack distributed.
Entertainment came on individual hand-held video on demand units, and included a hillarious "Airport" style documentary about Jetstar international.
Dinner was chicken or beef, nothing too exciting but not bad either.
Apart from the fact i was stuck in a middle seat, I was pleasantly surprised at how good this flight was, it is definately closer to business than economy, and by and large a not entirely unpleasant way to spend 9 hours in the air - it will be interesting to see this product develop with the introduction of Jetstar's 787 fleet when Boeing finally get around to delivering them.
We arrived in Honolulu early on the 19th August (will this day never end), and where quickly through immigration and customs - we needed to check in for our American Airlines flights, so had to sit around and wait for the Agricultural inspection counters to open, so we decided to hang out at a Starbucks and enjoy the heat.
Lucky we did really, cause halfway through my frappachino a young Australian girl came up to me and told me that we had accidentally swapped bags through customs - so there was some baggage stuff to sort out. Once that was done, we where able to check in for the American Airlines flights.
American Airlines staff are really some of the more pleasant airline staff you could come across (well the ones manning the first class counters are), so after a pleasant chat with our check in agent and some suggestions about nice plases to spend a couple of hours that are not Honolulu airport, we headed off to have breakfast at the Aloha Towers shopping mall.
Breakfast was nothing special, but we wandered the dock out the back a little bit.
The dock looked out onto Pearl Harbour, so it was interesting to see the flags of many nations on the ships moored at the dock.....
After looking at the shops briefly, and Erica spotting the Honolulu campus of the University of Phoenix we headed back to the airport.
Honolulu Airport is big - American Airlines shares it's lounge with Qantas (it is actually a Qantas Club that American Borrows during the day), and it seemed to be miles away from the gate. After a refreshing shower in the lounge and some loitering up there, we headed to the gate, grabbed a coffee - (Erica would not allow me to purchase the pinapples that where for sale everywhere).
Soon enough, time to leave paradise - think we will have to return and have a better look at some point.
American Airlines Flight AA 284 Honolulu-Los Angeles (First Class) 767-200
The American Airlines service to Los Angeles was very enjoyable, with International Business Class seats and pleasant crew. I mostly read and slept through the flight, enjoyed a good meal, and some good wine. This flight proved that when American tries they can get it right.
We arrived into LA a little late, but with time to spare before our flight to Dallas.
We discovered on arrival that the Admirals Club at Los Angeles closes at midnight, so no lounge for us, but we hung out at the gate waiting for our delayed flight to Dallas.
American Airlines Flight AA 2414 Los Angeles-Dallas (First Class) 737-800
Nothing much to report on this AA flight, it was a red-eye Nuts and Drink flight. We mostly slept through the flight, waking up to discover that we where in Dallas (Late, but none the less in Dallas)
American Airlines Flight AA 1734 Dallas - Orlando (First Class) 757
We raced through Dallas Airport to connect with this flight - well actually we raced to the train, then took a scenic tour of the airport, then raced from the train to the gate, but never the less...
Breakfast was served, the plane landed in Orlando, we got off, our bags made it onto the luggage belt.
So some 30 or so hours after leaving Sydney we were in Orlando, Florida!
After haggling with Alamo (our rental car agency) about whether or not we needed fuel/random bits of insurance/a set of steak knives/a convertable we where out of the airport and onto Florida's toll roads - oh f*&@ does anyone have $1.25 to pay a toll - exact change required right...
But in about 1/2 an hour we had reached the entrance to the most magical place on earth...
No comments:
Post a Comment