V-Flyer

After a few days up in the Blue Mountains (V. nice) its back to the airport & over to Perth for a few days to catch up with some old friends there.

Dropped the hirecar off after playing the 'Catch the Tourist out with the Tolls that don't take money' game on the motorways around Sydney & checked in using the kiosk in the airport. Couple of hours before departure & all the window seats had been taken, so picked an aisle about 2/3rds of the way back guessing that the middle seats would fill from the front if it got really busy. Dropped off my bag - cheaper if you pay up front for this, and they do check the weights quite closely (23 Kg allowed) ! just time for a quick beer (Coopers pale ale) & a phone call to close the e-pass for the hirecar & pay the tolls I managed to pick up by mistake.

We board the plane from either end, so since Im up the back I go down the stairs, across the tarmac & up the back stairs for a change. Note that the inflight telly is fitted, appears to be many channels of strange sports & the Law 'n' Order channel so switch to the map & settle down with a book.

Flight leaves on time, no real drama for the next four-and-a-bit hours. The trolly comes around a couple of times after a small amount of hard-sell on the PA, offering all sorts of things for a small fee - I didn't bother but it seemed quite popular & had pretty much run out of stuff by the time we arrived in Perth. Lots of runs up & down to collect litter which is nice.

Some confusion at Perth about how we get off - in the end only the front doors are available after announcing that the back would be open too but its all good natured & we are all off fairly quickly. Baggage pickup is quick too & its not long before Im in a cab for a quickish trip downtown. Apparently there is a bus that runs to the airport in Perth, but not the nice train like Sydney.

Thanks for the TR, nice to hear about the other V brands.[y]

Thanks for the TR, very useful as doing this route in Nov.
Interesting note on the bags, bit frustrating for us traveling out and back in UC, and being restricted down to 23kg for the internals..

Did you spy the PE product at the front?

quote:Originally posted by northernhenry
Thanks for the TR, very useful as doing this route in Nov.
Interesting note on the bags, bit frustrating for us traveling out and back in UC, and being restricted down to 23kg for the internals..

Did you spy the PE product at the front?


They were being strict on the bags - as were BA flying out from Sydney back to the UK - perhaps the baggage handlers have a good union there !

Can't say I noticed the PE seats at the front - the standard ones are pretty good for space from what I remember

My in-laws use DJ all the time between SYD-BNE and thinks they are great especially with UMNR's.

Hope you had a good time in Perth (my home city!)

Dominic

quote:perhaps the baggage handlers have a good union there

When 'good ole' Maggie had her run in with the unions back in the 80s the hardliners relocated here.

I am amazed how union run this country is.

Just a quick update to note that I've had 510 miles credited to my VS flying club account for this trip & the same for the earlier one in the other direction.