Adelaide to Los Angeles

Today begins our first overseas holiday since COVID turned the world upside down. Truthfully it has been something I’ve been somewhat apprehensive about since the world has clearly changed, but we are optimistic we will love it again in no time.

We spent part of the morning at home assessing our options as, ideally we would like to fly in either Premium Economy or Business Class for the long flight. Originally we had intended to transfer via Sydney but after further consideration, decided to go via Melbourne instead. Brisbane was actually the better option but with only one flight available there from Adelaide, there wouldn’t have been a Plan B if the flight was cancelled.

We had already taken Snoopy to doggy day care the day before so, after packing up the last few items and locking up the house, we took an UBER to the airport. The check in agent gave us our domestic boarding passes, and checked our bag through for the Los Angeles flight too. I bought something to eat before the flight in case there wasn’t a vegetarian option if we got Economy to Melbourne but fortunately, got Business Class anyway. We then had over six hours to kill and contemplated going into the city to pass the time. When we considered the cost of the transport and the money we’d spend on food, a smarter option was to spend the time in the Marhaba Lounge instead which included all your food, drink, internet and comfort for the one price.

We kept an eye on the passenger loads during this time to see if our chances of an upgrade were likely. I went for a walk to try and find a Customer Service desk and, rather than be assisted by a Qantas staff member, she berated me for having a boarding pass as a standby passenger! I tried to explain that this was given to us by the check-in staff, but decided to end the conversation and find assistance elsewhere. I returned to the lounge, where Ted and I continued our eating marathon to pass the time.

After leaving the lounge, we checked the loads for the flight, which indicated that there were two Business seats available, and we were the highest listed in priority. Yet despite this, we were given seats in Premium Economy instead! We didn’t have time to question this, but I was still grateful to have received an upgrade.

The flight departed about 9:30 pm, so I stayed awake for the dinner service before trying to sleep. Unfortunately, my leg cramped during the night, so I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked! I also passed the time watching the new Top Gun movie, which was worth the time.

We arrived in Los Angeles in the evening, and the customs and immigration process, as well as the baggage collection, was actually very efficient. It took a while for us to remember where the airport shuttles operated from, where we waited about 20 minutes until the shuttle arrived. We had needed to book this hotel at the last minute as we had planned to leave Australia originally on the Saturday. The hotel is the airport Holiday Inn which has definitely seen better days!

There is a McDonald’s just outside the hotel, so we grabbed something small to eat to avoid getting hungry during the night. One thing we have really noticed is the availability of marijuana now - since it has been legalised here, the smell of it is everywhere we go. In our hotel, there was a shower running in the room next door for over an hour, so Ted called the manager who found a tap running whilst no one was there. He apologised for the inconvenience as the noise had been really loud, and offered us a free breakfast tomorrow. Yippee!

We headed to bed around 10 pm, with the hope that the jetlag does not affect us too badly!Read more