28 January 2004
QF 051 - Sydney - Brisbane
Boeing 747-338 - Nalanji Dreaming

I decided to go to Brisbane as the tickets were $71 each way for the one hour flight, and decided to fly on an International route as it was the cheapest, and I hadn't been on a 747 since 1991.

After the ordeal of waiting in the Economy Class check-in at Sydney International, I scored my window seat (28 or 29K), and got to the gate to see the gorgeous paint work of Nalanji Dreaming sitting at the gate.

We boarded, and then sat on the aircraft for about 15 minutes waiting for a transit passenger. The F/O sounded quite peeved! The bulkhead between Economy and Business has a space in it now to see through! The aircraft I was on had no PTVs (are they going to put them in the -300s?)

Took off, and I got to hear the mighty rumble of the 747s Rolls-Royce engines, which I hadn't heard in so long. For lunch, we had Braised Beef, with Mashed Potato and Peas, bread roll, a bottle of water, and Cadbury's Chocolate. Very nice for a one hour flight.

The flight attendants were very far along in their careers, but they were still happy and very efficient. After the flight, I asked if I could go upstairs to see the layout of the upper deck, and my request was accepted with much smiling and up I went. I'm flying on a OneWorld around-the-world ticket in Business Class in March, so I wanted a peep up there, because that's where I want to sit when I go away. Of course, no Skybeds, but it was interesting all the same.

Qantas need to fix the audio from the cockpit though - I couldn't hear anything that the pilots had to say once we were in the air.

Landed, and had to go through Immigration, we all got sniffed by sniffer dogs, got my luggage and caught the train into the city.

29 January 2005
QF 549 - Brisbane - Sydney
Boeing 737-476 - Maryborough

Breezed through check-in, and the staff member was really quite pleasant. We boarded on time, and the flight was full. Lots of children coming back from holidays, and at least three infants. On Boarding I got a cheery hello from the F/As, made a couple of jokes and seated myself.

We left on schedule, and the Flight Attendants (obviously not too thrilled about the full load) were exemplary. I've never seen 3 Economy Class F/As work so hard.

Dinner was Chicken in some mild curry sauce, rice, water, bread roll and a mini Mars Bar. We could also buy beer for $5, or wine for $6. They offered soft drinks (they give you the whole can), but they missed asking our row because they were so busy with so many people on such a short flight.

Again, I could only hear snippets of words that the pilots had to say over the intercom, which was a shame because he was going on about something for quite a while.

The babies screamed during descent, the kid behind me was kicking my seat from time to time, and the most amusing thing was the ethnic couple beside me crossing themselves as we started our take-off run. Very cute! A lot of the people seemed to be first time/infrequent flyers, because the F/As had a job to get people to keep the window shades up for take-off, get tray tables back up and so on. I have nothing but praise for how they handled it all!

Landed on time and waited for most people to get off. Ran up the aisle and the F/A who had greeted me on boarding thanked me very much for flying with them today and hoped I'd had a great flight. She was extremely sincere, looking me in the eye, smiling - she's an F/A who loves her job!

Got to baggage claim and my bag was one of the first off. I am curious though, the check in agent had drawn a loveheart on my baggage tag. Does this mean he thinks I am a bit alright? Is this why my bag was one of the first on the carousel? I'm very curious - either way, it was really quite sweet to see  

Yet again, the Qantas staff, from check-in through to the flight crew have again made me realise why I continue to fly the airline. Good work!

Trent.