353 days ago I logged on the the Qantas website and blew an awful lot of Qantas Frequent Flyer points on 2 First Class tickets to Dallas, and I’d been keenly anticipating the flight ever since!
As it turns out it was a real blessing as not only have I been suffering from tendonitis in my upper hamstrings (which makes sitting for any length of time very uncomfortable) but I also managed to pick up a cold which hit me the evening we left.
The trip started on a high note when we checked into the airport Rydges hotel. I’d booked us into the cheapest car-park view room but on arrival we learned we’d been upgraded to a top floor corner room with a view of the runway. Very nice! We kicked off the trip with a bottle of Prossecco in the bar and slept well.
Just around 9 we walked across the road and into the First Class checkin area, which is separated from the hoi polloi by a white marble enclosure. A slight panic on checkin when the clerk couldn’t seem to find our First booking, but cleared up when she realized there were other Andersons traveling on the same flight. Phew!
From there we took the Express path through immigration and made tracks straight for the First Class lounge.
The Qantas First lounges have the reputation of being amongst the best in the world and it certainly was nice to be seated at a window table for a Neil Perry designed breakfast. The coffee was good and the whole place smelled of leather ( so many leather lounges!). At 11 am I wandered into the spa for a wonderful back massage, the therapist had no trouble finding the knots in my back!
Finally it was time to head to the gate and shortly afterwards time to board, the special treatment starting with being personally escorted to the A door. We found our suites and had barely sat down before the flight attendant introduced himself and offered us champagne and nibbles. So much space to spread out and I quickly discovered the massage controls for my seat, the ‘invigorating’ setting for upper legs and bottom was exactly what my sore hamstrings have been crying out for.
Take off was very bumpy and we had to wait a while for the seatbelt lights to go off, but then it was time for more champagne and canapés. In the next half hour we were visited by the customer service officer and the captain who both welcomed us on board and chatted about our travel plans.
The suite is designed so that two people can sit and dine together so Neil came in and joined me for lunch. Definitely a step up from the dinner-pack-in-foil that were accustomed to. It was a long leisurely meal and helped make the time pass quickly. My soup was delicious and the steak was tender.
I watched a couple of movies and then changed into my Qantas PJs while the attendant made up my bed. The sheepskin underlay, crisp white sheets and Doona looked inviting and I settled down to sleep….or to doze. I wish I could say I slept well but I don’t really think I slept any more than I normally would in economy! Although I certainly dozed in much more comfort .
I was glad I had earplugs, as John Newcombe ( tennis player who is looking a lot older these days! ) was seated behind me and he was certainly sleeping well, judging by the snoring!
After about 4 hours I gave it up and ordered a cup of tea , to wash down my cold tablets. Neil joined me for breakfast and it wasn’t long afterwards that the staff were all coming around to say goodbye as we started the descent into Dallas.
One of the best things about being at the pointy end was how fast we were off the plane. The Airport was extremely quiet and we sailed through immigration in no time . That was such a shock for us having become accustomed to the interminable queues at Los Angeles. We were out the door of the terminal 35 minutes after landing and jumped on the bus to the Rental Car Center.
Our Jeep Cherokee seemed just fine as we headed west towards Abilene but it developed a transmission problem within 2 hours! Luckily we were able to arrange a car swap in Abilene but we had to wait to 10 pm to do it which was a stretch for our jet lagged heads. Luckily we had an easy free dinner in the hotel and a comfy bed for the night. On to Carlsbad tomorrow!