LAX to Brisbane

First time user, long time listener. Traveling with my family of 4 to the gold coast Feb 09. Planning on taking CAL (my airline) and then buying an AA and Qantas ZED to Brisbane. Only one flight per day on both and this makes me a little nervous. After Brisbane, I am planning on taking a train down to the Gold Coast and then cab it (?) to the hotel in surfers paradise.

A couple of questions....

There seems to be more options out of Sydney, if i buy the zed fare from Brisbane to LAX, can i use it to go to Sydney first, then on to LAX.

How are the loads typically that time of year.

Any advice would be great, maybe fly into Sydney and take a train to the Gold coast would give me more options or would Sydney be more congested.a

How is Qantas for nonrevs. Coach/first class options.

Thanks...

Kale

Hi there

Well where do i start with this one http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/cool.gif

LAX- Brisbane (BNE), Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MEL) are all in the same zone (just... but get someone in ticketing to confirm this) so a ticket should be accepted to any of these places. BNE has 1 a day, SYD has 2 flights a day, and MEL also has 2 but one is via AKL and is generally a bad idea. Worthy to note the A380 is operating to MEL and SYD, so some extra seats there. Also note AA don't fly here... they codeshare with QF. Only other airline that flies here is United to SYD & MEL, although this is set to change soon with the open skies agreement.

Bear in mind the QF staff in LAX are contractors, and WILL hold you until STD -15mins regardless of whether there are 1 or 200 seats available. And don't be expecting any form of upgrade from them. Even QF staff don't seem to be a fan of these guys, so just bear that in mind. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...R#>/tongue.gif (This is if you are flying out of TBIT, I think BNE flights go out of Terminal 4 though which means you will be checked in by AA staff who are a little more friendly, but I think the waiting and lack of upgrades is same same).

QF have all but given up on the Gold Coast (Coolangatta - OOL) and shifted most (if not all) flights onto their subsidiary, Jetstar - which i dare say you don't have an agreement with. Only option is Jetstar or Virgin out of SYD, or those two and Tiger out of MEL but you would have to buy a ticket. As for a train, that is a long trip my friend and it stops south of the Gold Coast - "Due to a difference in the gauge of the railway between New South Wales and Queensland there are no Interstate direct rail links to the Gold Coast. Trains depart daily from Sydney and terminate at Murwillumbah (around 30 mins south of Coolangatta)" - thanks to http://www.gold-coast.net/goldcoast/gettingthere.html. Note there is a train from SYD-BNE, and it takes 14 hours and you will pass the Gold Coast! (Google Countrylink to find the train info).

Note the train from BNE airport to Gold Coast also takes around 90minutes.

If you buy a ZED ticket BNE/LAX then no you won't be able to go BNE-SYD-LAX. You will need a seperate coupon for this. If it is a transit flight such as LAX-AKL-MEL this is sometimes OK, but even then it is recommended to have separate tickets in case of being bumped. QF allows pax to book MEL-SYD-LAX or BNE-SYD-LAX but the first flight is a seperate domestic sector, it is never a transit/same aircraft so seperate coupons are required.

I'd say loads at that time are relatively heavy, but I have had friends who have made it OK. Bare in mind there is also an SFO-SYD flight. There are some Qantas ppl on here though so i will leave that to them..... http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...IR#>/smile.gif

Thanks for the 'heads up'. I have a ZED ticket on QF tomorrow night, LAX-MEL on the A380..I'm excited but there are not a whole lot of seats open, although I should be ok. Just for clarification: does QF board non-revs by check-in time (excluding their own staff) for other airline empolyees?
Wish me luck....
http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nightice @ Nov 17 2008, 10:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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Thanks for the &#39;heads up&#39;. I have a ZED ticket on QF tomorrow night, LAX-MEL on the A380..I&#39;m excited but there are not a whole lot of seats open, although I should be ok. Just for clarification: does QF board non-revs by check-in time (excluding their own staff) for other airline empolyees?
Wish me luck....
http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif[/b]

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They will board their own, then oneworld carrier staff, then other ZEDS/interlines. Of that last group, i&#39;m not quite sure if it&#39;s based on checkin time sorry! Interesting also to note they open checkin VERY early in the day (i think around 1pm or so, give them a call to find out) as people want to checkout of hotels, check in their bags and then go to LA for the day instead of waiting till midnight at the airport. Also bear in mind this flight rarely departs on time http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif

Glad to see you are coming to Melbourne, most people go to Sydney and forget about our great city http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/cool.gif

If you want any advice on the town feel free to PM me

I&#39;d personally plan for a "diversion" to SYD - more options, but then as Nick said, you&#39;ll have problems getting into OOL as QF mainline don&#39;t fly there at all any more. Limiting yourself to one option (via BNE) reduces the odds somewhat.
Feb is low season ex-AU, but in this day and age what was true in the past isn&#39;t necessarily so any more. Midweek has always been easier in my experiences on trans-Pac than the Thu-Sun spread.

You&#39;re also forgetting the obvious - AirMike into CNS from GUM. As it&#39;s all in-house, you&#39;d be able to get a better idea of loads etc. CNS-OOL options would be QF via BNE then land, or if your own CO flights into GUM and CNS look good, then get in for a cheap web special on Jetstar, QF or VirginBlue.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AL - SYD @ Nov 18 2008, 06:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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You&#39;re also forgetting the obvious - AirMike into CNS from GUM.[/b]

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EWR-IAH-HNL-GUM-CNS-OOL.... should send him over to the "What&#39;s the longest trip you&#39;ve made?" thread http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

The man said he wanted to go to SURFERS PARADISE. Here is my take on it. It&#39;s a neat place, but I suspect CAIRNS, which, by the way is pronounced....SOUNDS LIKE "CANS". Do not pronounce the "R" in CAIRNS. For you non-Aussie folks. As the Aussie here will probably agree. As I mentioned. I suspect CAIRNS has everything surfers paradise would have and more since it lies more in the tropics. I was in SURFERS PARADISE, but now 20 years ago. And let me tell you. I drove from SYDNEY to SURFERS PARADISE and it is not close at all. It&#39;s a very long trip. Try 14 hours on the road, if you don&#39;t get lost on the "Roundabouts". BRISBANE is very close to Surfers Paradise. Like an hour bus ride or so. Brisbane is a neat place. I&#39;d bypass Sydney unless you like the night life and more of a bigger city.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nick @ Nov 17 2008, 08:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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EWR-IAH-HNL-GUM-CNS-OOL.... should send him over to the "What&#39;s the longest trip you&#39;ve made?" thread http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif[/b]

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Oh yeah. Stock up on the PREPARATION H. Especially coach. I still like what the Aussie said. Stay in house with CAL. Go to EWR-HNL-GUM-CAIRNS. UNLESS YOU SURF, Surfers paradise is really NO BIG DEAL. You can find pubs and beaches all over Australia.

I&#39;d have to agree, Surfers Paradise is VERY touristy and the beach isn&#39;t really even that good anymore. If you haven&#39;t booked a hotel yet, i&#39;d seriously be considering some other places.

If i were to recommend anywhere, it would be Cairns/The Great Barrier Reef, or Magnetic Island (off Townsville by short ferry) is VERY worth visiting. Well that&#39;s my 10 cents...

Just a follow-up for the folks on here...
I made my trip last week from LAX-MEL, then on to MNL (final destination)
I made the A380 on QF. It was a nice, smooth quiet ride. Please do not expect to be upgraded on any QF flights. There was a mother and a son (I&#39;m assuming) that 1) were glad they got on, or 2) got upgraded...not sure which but the mother was ecstatic about something when they went to the counter.
However, she and he DID board through the "Premium Economy/Business" line, so who knows...non-rev, status member, I don&#39;t know.

Anyways, once I got to MEL (16 hrs to the minute) I was amazed that the airport was literally in the middle of nowhere. It was a nice, modern airport. Friendly people/staff. I made another QF connection to HKG on the 767. I was seated near the rear of the plane (ugh) but had a window seat. I informed the FA that I had a tight connection once in HKG and he said he would move me in Business Class for the landing portion of the flight. 8 hrs 45 m later, he moved me to business...I think I counted something like 7 people up there....that&#39;s it!!! I purposely wore my airline ID identifying that I am an airline employee but it didn&#39;t matter....coach class it was. I ZED&#39;d PR from HKG to MNL..same thing..window seat but no upgrade to business; however, I was near the front of the aircraft (like row 4 I believe).

PR wasn&#39;t a bad flight, albeit only 1 hr 45 m. My return flight, I flew my own airline, business class all the way...what a difference!

So, long story short, I got to my destination and back home safe and sound but if you are expecting any form of upgrades on int&#39;l carriers, or at least from the ones I have flown, 99.9999% chance you&#39;ll be stuck in coach. I believe DL is the only one (or maybe NWA) are the only US carriers that upgrades other airline employees. Knowing how the foreign carriers operate and do not reciprocate that favor, I will ~never~ upgrade other international airline employees. It&#39;s just the fair thing to do. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nightice @ Nov 26 2008, 01:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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Just a follow-up for the folks on here...
I made my trip last week from LAX-MEL, then on to MNL (final destination)
I made the A380 on QF. It was a nice, smooth quiet ride. Please do not expect to be upgraded on any QF flights. There was a mother and a son (I&#39;m assuming) that 1) were glad they got on, or 2) got upgraded...not sure which but the mother was ecstatic about something when they went to the counter.
However, she and he DID board through the "Premium Economy/Business" line, so who knows...non-rev, status member, I don&#39;t know.

Anyways, once I got to MEL (16 hrs to the minute) I was amazed that the airport was literally in the middle of nowhere. It was a nice, modern airport. Friendly people/staff. I made another QF connection to HKG on the 767. I was seated near the rear of the plane (ugh) but had a window seat. I informed the FA that I had a tight connection once in HKG and he said he would move me in Business Class for the landing portion of the flight. 8 hrs 45 m later, he moved me to business...I think I counted something like 7 people up there....that&#39;s it!!! I purposely wore my airline ID identifying that I am an airline employee but it didn&#39;t matter....coach class it was. I ZED&#39;d PR from HKG to MNL..same thing..window seat but no upgrade to business; however, I was near the front of the aircraft (like row 4 I believe).

PR wasn&#39;t a bad flight, albeit only 1 hr 45 m. My return flight, I flew my own airline, business class all the way...what a difference!

So, long story short, I got to my destination and back home safe and sound but if you are expecting any form of upgrades on int&#39;l carriers, or at least from the ones I have flown, 99.9999% chance you&#39;ll be stuck in coach. I believe DL is the only one (or maybe NWA) are the only US carriers that upgrades other airline employees. Knowing how the foreign carriers operate and do not reciprocate that favor, I will ~never~ upgrade other international airline employees. It&#39;s just the fair thing to do. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif[/b]

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OK now i&#39;m curious! Why did you go LAX-MEL-HKG-MNL? We (CX) have an agreement with you, and you could have gone LAX-HKG-MNL or SFO-HKG-MNL which would have saved some time and money? Or were we full?

I&#39;ve found KLM is another airline that upgrades staff, which was nice.

FYI, here in Australia we don&#39;t wear our IDs when we non rev, it probably helps you less than more and i think it is against most guidelines. The airlines really don&#39;t like people knowing we are non revs and it causes a lot of questions from pax etc etc. Also regarding QF, i am pretty sure they recently installed new check-in software system that makes it near impossible for anyone to upgrade anyone unless it is system generated, and also creates strict rules for check in time cut offs etc.

I&#39;ve never flown DL or NW but I have heard DL are very liberal in their upgrades. I have a friend at CX who used to work for them and he said they were always listed in first/business rather than economy/coach. Shame we only have an ID90 agreement with them, so i doubt i&#39;ll ever use it.

Another curiosity... if you are on the ramp how would you be in the position to upgrade/not upgrade staff? Unless you multi-function? http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nick @ Nov 26 2008, 03:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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OK now i&#39;m curious! Why did you go LAX-MEL-HKG-MNL? We (CX) have an agreement with you, and you could have gone LAX-HKG-MNL or SFO-HKG-MNL which would have saved some time and money? Or were we full?

I&#39;ve found KLM is another airline that upgrades staff, which was nice.

FYI, here in Australia we don&#39;t wear our IDs when we non rev, it probably helps you less than more and i think it is against most guidelines. The airlines really don&#39;t like people knowing we are non revs and it causes a lot of questions from pax etc etc. Also regarding QF, i am pretty sure they recently installed new check-in software system that makes it near impossible for anyone to upgrade anyone unless it is system generated, and also creates strict rules for check in time cut offs etc.

I&#39;ve never flown DL or NW but I have heard DL are very liberal in their upgrades. I have a friend at CX who used to work for them and he said they were always listed in first/business rather than economy/coach. Shame we only have an ID90 agreement with them, so i doubt i&#39;ll ever use it.

Another curiosity... if you are on the ramp how would you be in the position to upgrade/not upgrade staff? Unless you multi-function? http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif[/b]

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I flew that routing as somewhat of a &#39;detour&#39; - just to fly the A380! It flies from LAX-MEL on Mondays and LAX-SYD on Fridays, so I wanted to make my maiden flight on the new Airbus. I had back-ups with you (CX) just in case. Actually, from HKG-MNL on CX, it was "fully booked", according to the CX agents in HKG. Rather or not if &#39;Seatcounter&#39; is very accurate, I looked up the flight (since wifi is now free in the HKG terminal) and it was all "0"&#39;s, so they were probably right. Here in the States, it is very uncommon for airline personnel to NOT be wearing their airline ID. Different cultures/different ideas. To me, it is also a courtesy to the FA&#39;s if we identify ourselves as non-revs - we are all family in a sense. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...IR#>/smile.gif
Yes, we do it all...ticket counter/ramp/ops.... It&#39;s not bad as it seems...unless one is stuck on the morning shifts! http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif
We&#39;re going back to Sydney next month (hoping the flight loads still look really good) on QF for NYE! I&#39;ll probably get back-ups on Air Canada and/or Air Tahiti Nui just in case.
I&#39;ve flown CX as a paying pax and they were a very, very good airline. I have flown on Singapore and Asiana as well....all of them have been outstanding and would definitely fly any of them again...I just wish the ID-75 we have with Singapore was a ZED!

OK now i totally get where you are coming from. I recently did the same thing... i was confirmed in coach on my FOC from MEL-HKG-SFO but i got a ZED on QF MEL-LAX just to try out the A380 (aside from getting there quicker!). What did you think? Was it full? I only got on it on the way to LAX, and there were >200 free seats! I posted some pics in the gallery.

Don&#39;t trust the staff counter at HKG... they are incredibly rude even to their own staff and the amount of times I have been told "no chance" and gotten on a flight is quite high. Just a heads up for next time. Oh and note they like to let you through at around STD-15mins.... which means run run run!

When i worked in the US i wore my badge some of the time, so i see where you are coming from there. I stopped wearing it after a while as the big yellow INTERN label resulted in too many questions http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif It is a different culture entirely, also interesting to note in the US it is generally free to nonrev on your own carrier, whereas here you *always* have to pay something which is frustrating.

I&#39;d love a job where i got to do all those things!

Good luck getting here for NYE, SYD always puts on a great show http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

OK...a few updates since the last time i checked the thread...

CAL, my own airline is out. Loads from GUA-CNS and back are fan-crapptic , so here are yet some more questions.

-what are the procedures for signing up for QF flights. Phone, internet? Does this change when in the US vs. AUS.

-I have a crew id, can i clear as a nonrev via the jumpseat and then sit in the back or will i need a zed fare too. I have zero intention of sitting up front for 16 hours.

I think my plan is as follows. A sanity check from the experts is appreciated.

Nonrev LAX-BNE (one a day on QF)...than a train to surfers paradise.

I will also by some zed fares for SYD-BNE as a back up.

Coming out i&#39;ll get some zeds back into SYD then LAX if need be.

I&#39;m stuck on going to Surfer&#39;s Paradise. Meeting some of my wife&#39;s family there and the condo is already booked. Hey, sun and beaches, it has to be better than weather here in St Louis.

Thanks...Kale

Hey Kale

QF only accepts listings by phone - the US number is 800-227-4500. If calling when in BNE the number is (07) 3238 7920 or SYD is (02) 8303 4444. They typically appreciate you not calling on weekends.

The US number is just QF reservations, which i think is 3rd party. They won&#39;t tell you numbers, just how it looks... might want to post here for someone to check. Local offices (Sydney etc will usually tell you exact availability).

Don&#39;t think the jumpseat will work for you - QF is not a part of CASS as it is a foreign airline. If you flew UA, then maybe. Check this out with QF though to be sure, but i recall a pilot friend of mine saying you usually need a ZED (i think).

As for the trains from BNE to Gold Coast, bear in mind their cost. From memory it was around $18 per person one way, so may be cheaper to arrange a car or cab. The exact fare can be found at www.qr.com.au and more info about other transport options from the airport at www.bne.com.au

Thanks for the help Nick.

Seems the train is the cheapest way to go. Now i just have to figure out the car seat details for my 3 year old....

Kale