"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.
...
When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad."
-- My Favourite Things, Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers
Later this week, I will be continuing my DONE4 which now takes me to NZ, the Middle East and Europe. All part of what-was-then a superb value oneworld 4 continents RTW ticket I'd commenced out of MNL in July, with the exception of the QF F flight which is an AAdvantage redemption to position me back to MEL at the end of the trip to "suspend" the DONE in Europe.
However, due to forseeable time constraints, this TR will unfortunately have to be scaled down and I will not have the time to write up long, rambling prose like the few I did last year. Instead, I'd be selective, and hope to present to you, dear reader, my eagerly anticipated experiences on 2 of my all time favourite carriers: Qantas and British Airways.
Flights:
SYD-(SIN)-LHR, Qantas, Business
LHR-(AUH)-MCT, BA, Club World
MCT-(AUH)-LHR, BA, Club World
LHR-(HKG)-MEL, Qantas, First
The QF A380 experience most unexpected, as I didn't think QF would open up the A380 for RTW ticketing (which isn't the most lucrative source of revenue). I'm holding out for New Generation Club World for the BA 777 flights between London and Muscat, but even then, its predecessor, New New Club World is still an experience to savour. And the QF F experience, a treat to be had after giving up my precious AAdvantage miles, a reward to be cherished after hours of scouring Sabre, qantas.com and ba.com for Award availability in First on QF - F availability was easy, but F availability on QF the whole way through without having to combine with the other oneworld carriers was tough and involved some tweaks to my itinerary.
As always I also hope to provide some insights into some of the accommodation I'd experience along the way.
Hotels:
Starwood:
Westin Auckland
W Istanbul
Sheraton Belgravia, London
Westin Grand Berlin
Le Meridien Munich
Westin Palace Madrid
Sheraton Diana Majestic, Milan
Le Meridien Budapest
Others:
Shangri La Muscat
Hotel Josef, Prague
Look out for these reviews in the appropriate hotel sub-forums.
Next: QF31 SYD-(SIN)-LHR J
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.
...
When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad."
-- My Favourite Things, Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers
Later this week, I will be continuing my DONE4 which now takes me to NZ, the Middle East and Europe. All part of what-was-then a superb value oneworld 4 continents RTW ticket I'd commenced out of MNL in July, with the exception of the QF F flight which is an AAdvantage redemption to position me back to MEL at the end of the trip to "suspend" the DONE in Europe.
However, due to forseeable time constraints, this TR will unfortunately have to be scaled down and I will not have the time to write up long, rambling prose like the few I did last year. Instead, I'd be selective, and hope to present to you, dear reader, my eagerly anticipated experiences on 2 of my all time favourite carriers: Qantas and British Airways.
Flights:
SYD-(SIN)-LHR, Qantas, Business
LHR-(AUH)-MCT, BA, Club World
MCT-(AUH)-LHR, BA, Club World
LHR-(HKG)-MEL, Qantas, First
The QF A380 experience most unexpected, as I didn't think QF would open up the A380 for RTW ticketing (which isn't the most lucrative source of revenue). I'm holding out for New Generation Club World for the BA 777 flights between London and Muscat, but even then, its predecessor, New New Club World is still an experience to savour. And the QF F experience, a treat to be had after giving up my precious AAdvantage miles, a reward to be cherished after hours of scouring Sabre, qantas.com and ba.com for Award availability in First on QF - F availability was easy, but F availability on QF the whole way through without having to combine with the other oneworld carriers was tough and involved some tweaks to my itinerary.
As always I also hope to provide some insights into some of the accommodation I'd experience along the way.
Hotels:
Starwood:
Westin Auckland
W Istanbul
Sheraton Belgravia, London
Westin Grand Berlin
Le Meridien Munich
Westin Palace Madrid
Sheraton Diana Majestic, Milan
Le Meridien Budapest
Others:
Shangri La Muscat
Hotel Josef, Prague
Look out for these reviews in the appropriate hotel sub-forums.
Next: QF31 SYD-(SIN)-LHR J
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