My Son's Trip Home

the final post from my Melbourne trip:

Benefits of arriving at the airport early:

I packed my garment bag Friday night, and placed boxer shorts and dirty socks in the extra pockets in the garment bag (to make room in other bags for purchased items). I set out my other bags and items, and packed them on Saturday morning. I planned to be in a taxi at 8am and arrive at the airport by 9am.

Plan - the best way to sleep on a plane trip is to be tired when you get on it. I went to bed at 2am and woke up at 6am. It also helps to have a light breakfast sans coffee. Minimal food now equals hunger later, and hunger increases tiredness.

I woke up at 6am, ate a light breakfast, packed my bags, and stepped out of my hotel room at 8am (on schedule). The taxi arrived at the airport at 8:35am (ahead of schedule). The Muslim taxi driver from eastern Africa asked me why no Jews were killed in the September 11 attacks in NYC at the WTC. Shocked

Note From the editor: Check out this Book.

I find QANTAS airlines and stand in line. I ask the lady in front of me if this is for QANTAS and for the flight to LA. She says 'yes.' She was on flight QF 93 to LAX, and it was leaving at 10:25am.

That was cool. I thought I was on flight QF 25 which left at 10:50am, so I must have mixed up the flight number. My flight was now leaving 25 minutes early, and I was ahead of schedule. Everything was cool. Flight QF 25 was leaving 3:50pm, or something like that. I didn't pay attention, because it wasn't my flight.

I get to the ticketing counter and give the lady my passport. She told me that I was scheduled for flight QF 25, which had a stopover in Auckland, NZ. (A stop in Auckland was never on my original itinerary.) Did I want to take my original flight (which is delayed) with a stop in Auckland, or did I want to fly on the earlier flight? I wanted the earlier flight.

She found room in a middle seat, and I asked about the Tourist Refund Service (TRS = tax refund). TRS was after Customs, and TRS would need to see my purchases. Eek! My purchases were in the checked bags. The lady told me that there was another Customes office at the bottom of the Movelator (moving sidewalk that goes up/down between floors). She said she'd look for an aisle seat while I went downstairs to Customs. I ran, got the receipts stamped, and ran back. The lady checked my bags and I continued to Customs.

I found a queue for Customs, went to TRS and got my refund (sent to my credit card), and continued. The gate had called for everyone to board, so I brought up the tail of the line on the boarding platform.

I had nice neighbors (young married couple going to the U.S. for the first time - Disneyland). I watched Hoodwinked, Over the Hedge and most of V for Vendetta. I took an Ambien and slept.


LAX
I arrived early, and found some extra flights going to DFW. I put my name on the standby list for a flight at 9:19am (it was already 20 long). I went to the restroom, washed my face and under my arms, applied fresh deodorant, and put on a fresh shirt that I placed in my backpack just for this reason. FRESH!!! I went to Starbucks for a half-caff iced latte. This was a long/slow line. I got my drink and returned to the gate. I looked at the standby list, and it showed 1 PLU/E. Oops. I went to the counter and asked about my standby status. The lady said she'd been calling my name forever. I said I was sorry, and that I couldn't hear her when I was in Starbucks. She made me wait while she checked for an available seat. I was the last person on the plane.

I arrived in Dallas at 2:30pm, seven hours ahead of my bags. My ticket from LAX-DFW was AA 2454, when it should have been AA 2450. My bags arrived on AA 2450 (baggage claim at A-28), as they were supposed to. I went to baggage claim C-15, because that's where AA 2454 was supposed to go. Deborah at C-15 had a line of people looking for their bags that didn't show up, so she passed out the 800 number. I called and asked where my bags were supposed to arrive. My bags were waiting at A-28. YAY!!!


Lesson
It helps to arrive extra early at the airport.