Sydney Airport Message Board Sydney Airport Message Board  

Go Back   Sydney Airport Message Board > Technical > Flying and Technical Discussion


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11th July 2009, 12:12 AM
Adam.S Adam.S is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 318
Default 22 hours in Sydney - July 4 & 5 2009

Saturday July 4 2009
Virgin Blue
MEL-SYD
DJ849
737
VH-VBJ
Seat 18F
14:15 departure


As someone who very rarely gets the opportunity to fly, I was very much looking forward to this flight. I had purchased a new digital camera the day before and was also able to score myself a window seat for the trip. This would be my first flight where I was able to have the camera with me and take snaps during the flight.

Check-in was easy enough, boarding was fast enough and we departed on-time.

I was lucky to have what seemed to be one of only a few spare seats next to me for the flight (18E). This worked out great as it provided me with a little extra 'elbow room' when taking photos.

We climbed to 33,000ft, although flights travelling in the opposite direction must have been flying higher as I did not see any pass by during the flight.

I don't have enough spare time to add photos to this thread to go with the text. Rather I have created a photobucket account and have put all of my photos from the weekend there for anyone interested to see.
(link below)


Accommodation:
Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport.
Room: 10th floor looking South over Sydney Airport with 180 degree views.

Being both a railway and plane buff, this hotel was a standout choice.
I don't normally see justification to pay more then $100 a night at any hotel, however given the location and views provided, I was comfortable spending $165 for the night.

From my room on the 10th floor I was:
*0.46 miles or 0.74kms from RWY25
*1.06 miles or 1.70kms from the International Terminal (overlooking RWY 16R and Domestic Terminal)
*2.27miles or 3.36kms from the start of RWY34L
*Freight railway line to/from Port Botany just below my window.

And considering this, still found the room to be sufficiently quiet.
The room was spacious, ready upon my arrival and was clean and seemingly well looked after. Credit to the Hotel's staff there.


Sunday July 5 2009
Tiger Airways
SYD-MEL
TT525
A320
VH-VNF
12:45 departure


I arrived at Check-in with the hope of requesting a window seat for the relatively short flight to Melbourne.
As I began to ask this question, the attendant behind the check-in desk cut me off mid-sentence nodding their head saying "I know what you are going to ask".
I said no more at this stage as the attendant looked through their computer and soon got back to me with "you're in luck I can fit you in a good seat near the front of the aircraft".
"Ok thankyou" I said as my boarding pass was being printed out.

As I walked over to the screening area, I was assuming this kind attendant had done well for me by securing a window seat somewhere close to the front of the aircraft. Unfortunately for me, the attendant and myself were on a different wave-length when it came to the definition of what a 'good' seat actually is. I looked at my boarding pass to see that I had been given a row 'E' seat.
My heart sank as I had been looking forward to the flight and window seat after just purchasing batteries for the camera at one of the terminal's shops.

I thought about going back to check-in to request a different seat (even if it wasn't a window seat, at least an aisle seat with an empty seat next to me), although I was part to blame for not speaking up more during my original check-in, plus the attendant only had good intentions and truely felt they were doing me a favour by seating me near the front of the aircraft.
So in the end I didn't change seats, and being stuck in the middle of the row, I was unable to take any photos during the trip to Melbourne. Which was a shame as we passed at least 4 Sydney bound aircraft enroute, all leaving behind nice contrails.

Other then my given seat, the rest of the flight was fine.
Credit goes to Tiger and its staff as the flight was ontime at both ends of the journey.

Photos can be seen here:
http://photobucket.com/adam_2009_album

(I am new to photobucket, so I am not sure what size the images are presented. Hopefully you can access 'full size' photos if needed.
Photos are not titled, although all have been given 'descriptions' as captions
)
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time now is 11:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © Sydney Airport Message Board 1997-2022
Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Conditions of Use and Privacy Statement