2 Oct 10 – Sydney to San Francisco

By Lou: Fortunately we were all seated together for the 14 hour flight despite the other families checking in from Melbourne and us in Sydney. The first few hours flew by with excited discussions and then a yummy dinner was served. The kids watched some movies and played on their DSs for a few more hours and then we all settled in for a bit of a sleep. I’d say our family got about 4 – 5 hours sleep and then we were up again chatting. Breakfast of eggs was served to a resounding ‘oh gross’ (I suspect they were powdered eggs) and the movie playing at the time was of a bar scene complete with pole dancer. Good morning to you. We had a few more hours of chatting until we landed.

All the crew on United Airlines were American and I was looking forward to some over the top customer service…but it never came. They were really blunt and unhelpful. We got told off for using the buzzer to order a drink as it was expected we had to walk down to the galley and order drinks there. And even there it felt like you were really putting them out. Helen needed some assistance with turning off the air vent above her seat which she couldn’t reach because her daughter Ella was asleep on her lap but the summonsed steward just said she couldn’t reach it and walked away. There was probably one exception and that was when one steward hunted down the results of the AFL grand final replay for us.

By Craig: The flight started well but by the end the skin was crawling and I needed to get out of that little cigar tin. I guess coming out of the Northern Territory with its wide open spaces and into a seat for 14+ hours can do that.
A little red wine helped but I must say the service on US planes is a bit strange or they just don’t get the good old Aussie need for more wine at 3am in the morning.