Oshkosh 2011 – Day 1 –Getting there isn’t always the best part

As usual,it seems that there’s never enough time to get everything done before commencing a long journey but,despite an ever increasing “to do”list,we managed to arrive at the airport with just enough time to grab a quick photo at the gate with a phone before boarding. The flight itself went about as well as any other 14 hour slog across the Pacific,passing the time with movies,magazines and chatting. Attempts at sleep were unsuccessful even though we’d not had a lot of sleep lately as our bodies were sure it was still only mid-afternoon. The cabin crew were friendly,service was efficient and everything else about the flight went well except for not being able to sleep through it.

Arrival at LAX provided plenty of views of aircraft from around the world and the chance to experience the “park &tow”arrival at our gate. Surprisingly our transition through customs &immigration was much less of an ordeal than some recent stories we’d heard,taking only an hour to get from the aircraft and out into the Los Angeles summer air. A quick walk through the heat soon returned us to the cooler air of a domestic airline terminal where we checked in almost painlessly via computerised kiosk and a bag drop counter.

Passing through the TSA screening point was surprisingly easy and about on par with going through the scanners at Melbourne’s domestic terminals. The staff were courteous and aside from Grant’s belt buckle triggering a metal detector for the first time ever,it all went smoothly and we were soon walking through the concourse looking for a place to set up a base while we waited for our flight.

Being limited to Starbucks,Burger King or a standard US eatery,we went with . . . →

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Macquarie Airports have lost it Entirely

As if Sydney Airport (YSSY) being voted Australia’s worst airport for the 4th time in a row wasn’t enough of a wake up call for Macquarie Airports and the airport’s management &board,the government is bringing forward their oversite review of YSSY from 2012 to now (admittedly with a pending election,but anyhow…). The ACCC is also going to investigate whether airports are abusing their monopoly positions (if you’ve parked your car at YSSY or YMML,then you probably have a good idea that the answer will be yes).

Unfortunately,Macquaire Airports don’t seem to be listening though and continue to try to milk every last drop they can from YSSY. If it’s not sky high parking or the most expensive “per passenger”fees levied on the airlines,they’re now increasing their aircraft parking rates to the point where it could cost as much to park a SAAB 340 as it costs to park an A380.

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