I finally finished packing about 7.50am and weighed my case. I am allowed up to a total of 32 kg in two suitcases on the Qantas flight to Los Angeles but the internal flight with US Airways from LA to Covington via Charlotte, North Carolina is a domestic flight and only allows 20 kg per case.
When I weighed my case it was 21.4 kg so I put some of the flat items from the case to my computer bag and it got to the 20 kg limit. They also charge you per case, you do not get the first case free like on my previous flights with them and South West Airlines. Seems that this year the rules changed at US Airways.
Some interesting observations.
- I am flying US Airways this trip because South West do not fly into Cincinnati,Ohio.
- Cincinnati Airport is in Covington, Kentucky not in Cincinnati, Ohio. The official title is Cincinnati - North Kentucky Airport.
- To fly to the airport from LA you need to make a minimum of one stop along the way, there is no direct flight. To only have one stop you have to fly via Charlotte, North Carolina,which is on the east coast of the USA and then fly back north west 1 hour 30 minutes to Cincinnati.
Back to the trip. I arranged for a shuttle bus to pick me up from home and drop me at the airport. It arrived right on time at 8.30am. They will again bring me home when I return from the trip in September. This costs $110 return. ($60 one way) On shorter vacations I will drive and park at the long term car park, which as I saw on an ad on the back of a taxi is currently having a sale, book 5 days parking and get up to another 10 days free up till the 22nd of September - the long term parking business must be pretty slow to make that offer. Funnily if you just go straight to their web page to book they don't tell you about it you need to press the promotions button to find the deal
I got to the airport about 4 hours before the flight and was able to check my bags straight away. The was able to sit and place all my printed A4 reservation bookings into my travel folder, this is one thing that I run out of time to do before leaving, I normally have it done weeks in advance. Three other things I forgot were my Business cards with all my collecting details on them, the card with the PUK number of my international SIM card and some DVD's of Aussie Rules I had taped for an American collecting friend who is a Collingwood supporter. So hopefully I will not need the PUK number and I can get some cheap business cards printed here over the next couple of weeks before the conference starts.
The Qantas Flight QF11 was a A380 airbus named the Bert Hinkler after our famous aviator. It was a problem free flight, as good as the Emirates A380 flights I had in May. The seating was more comfortable than I found the VAustralia seating last year and the food and staff service was top notch.
The entertainment package for the screens on the seat backs in front of you was not as wide ranged or as easy to work as the Emirates flights though. I watched three movies Big Mummys Boy - an Australian movie about a 25 year old Greek man who lives with his mother and his exploits to try to get out from under her apron. Water For Elephants which was good and Cedar Rapids which is a funny movie about a very straight up man who attends an insurance brokers conference for the first time.
The rest of the time I listened to some music or slept. The couple next to me on the plane were going to Canada to meet up with his brother and travel around the east side of Canada by car.
Landing in LA at 9.30 on Wednesday morning (with crossing the international date line I landed 3 and a half hours before I took off) it was a breeze to get through Immigration Control as we must have been the only plane that landed at that time at Terminal B. It only took about 10 minutes and I then had to wait about another 15 for my luggage to come through and there was a line of only 4 people in front of me to get the customs check, and I got waved straight through without having to stop.
I then had to walk around to Terminal 1 to US Airways check in for my connecting flight. It is about a 15 minute undercover walk past terminals 4, 3, and 2. I checked my luggage and of course paid the $25 fee for doing so. and went through another security check to get through into the departure area. Had my first full body security scan in the new machines that are in use. Then had over an hour and a half to wait for my flight.
I was in the last group called to get onto the plane and by then there was no room for any overhead luggage on the plane so I had to check my carry on bag through to Covington. I carried my lap top onto the plane and had to stow it under the seat in front of me.
The flight to Charlotte was uneventful, there is no flight entertainment available on the plane so I tried to get some sleep and also did the Suduko puzzles that were in the in flight magazine. At Charlotte airport I grabbed some food and had to wait about 1 hour for the connecting flight to Covington.
The plane was a commuter jet only two seats either side of the aisle and only about 25 rows of seats. I sat next to a lady from Cincinnati who was very helpful telling me a lot about the local area and all the places to go and see. The Ohio river goes between Cincinnati and Covington and there is some good boardwalks and tourist spots to check put apparently.
The flight was only 1 and a half hours and I slept most of the way arriving in Covington at midnight the terminal was empty and all the shops shut. You have to go via overhead walkway to the baggage claim and I only had to wait a few minutes for my luggage.
I am staying at the airport in the DoubleTree Hilton Cincinnati Airport. When I knew I was arriving at midnight I checked out the Airport Hotels as I did not want to have to travel to far to get to a room. This hotel had a list of room rates about 50 rates long and they were starting at $125 and then upwards. Then I saw one room rate of $50 dollars only amongst all the rest. That was a no brainer so I booked it straight away.
I rang for the shuttle bus after getting the luggage and once again being the middle of the night it was only 5 minutes before it turned up and only another 5 minutes and I was at the hotel. When I arrived I was given room 239, it has a King Sized bed and flat screen t.v. It is a large room with plenty of space in it and the shower was great after the long series of flights.
I rang home and checked on my mother, she has a sore hip at the moment and it is slowly getting better. My sister arrives from Cairns on Saturday morning to spend 10 days with her before Mum is going to have a break in a respite home at Ryde for 4 weeks. We checked out the facility before I left home and I hope she has a good time there and gets plenty of attention from all the staff who seem very friendly. Hopefully the hip will be back to normal by then.
So that was Day 1 of my trip, it was a long first day being 32 hours from waking up till getting to my room in Covington. So lets wait and see what the rest of the trip brings.
Hope you enjoy reading about the journey.
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