Vancouver - Chennai
This has been my first write up for a journey I took as a university student. I thought it would be best to include this as this provided for me one of the most memorable trips I had undertaken on a journey to the south of India. The routing on this one was certainly unique. Hope you enjoy the write up!
Trip Planning
Well I’m going to start off by saying I’m a huge Aviation buff, amongst the likes of you, and I’ve been quite a lurker in the Trip Reports section. I think I’ve posted a report once quite a while back, but I’m going to say this is my first real TR in terms of a proper write up, photos, etc. I’m based out of YVR currently. Let me just quickly rant, YVR is the most inconveniently connected airports for anyone trying to get to the Indian subcontinent. Though, I can’t complain on the quality of the airport itself. But I’ve digressed. A quick background of myself, I’m coming to the end of my University studies and I usually travel home to Chennai in India to see family twice a year. This year has been different and it’s been a year since I’ve seen anyone. My eagerness to surround myself with those I love most certainly did raise my enthusiasm and more importantly, my expectations for my travel plans ahead. Interestingly enough, Qatar Airways conveniently decided to inform me that a portion of my miles would be expiring at the end of the year. This was from a journey I took but on the opposite leg from the one I was about to take (YVR-MAA).
While it took a bit of research and lots of calling to the airline and partners to figure out what I could do with the miles, I found out QR have quite a reasonable offer for privilege club members called Easy Deals. For those who have not heard of it, it’s simply a way for Qatar to promote new routes or to fill up seats on some of their existing routes, by using your Qmiles. Like I said, I’ve been quite out of touch with flying for the last year so this was news to me, forgive me for my ignorance. I also found out through the Easy Deals. There was a fantastic offer on one of their newer routes, Philadelphia. Deal was at 60K Qmiles from PHL to MAA! One of the only things that I could complain about was the terrible connection times to the Indian subcontinent, particularly Chennai. Roughly 12 Hours I think. But, I told myself I hadn’t seen Doha so why not. Not to mention the acclaimed Al Mourjan Lounge at Hamad International Airport was also on offer.
I decided on my dates in early December and used the online reservation tool to try and make my booking. At the end, QR had many technical faults when it came time to making payments, so things became a little complicated. While you attempt to book an award seat, the seat is blocked off for you even if you’ve not made a payment and thus, every time QR had faults with their web tool, the seat no longer was available for me to book when I started over. This led me on numerous calls to the QR privilege club office in Qatar to get them to constantly re-release (cancel the existing booking) the seat so I could try again. Towards the end I got my ticket confirmed, but not without a hassle.
So tickets were booked from PHL-DOH-MAA, but as I’d mentioned earlier, I’m based out of YVR. Did some searching and found airfare at $550, which is not what I’d particularly call a deal, given it wasn’t even a non-stop. Additionally, my return ticket on QR would be to Dallas to visit a friend of mine, so my outbound on United was YVR-SFO-PHL and inbound would be DFW-SFO-YVR. I chose the red-eye out of SFO which would give me roughly 3 or so hours in PHL, since I needed to change terminals, re-check in bags, and get new boarding passes. I know what you’re thinking, yes I’m crazy, but it would be worth it in my opinion, or so I thought. My itinerary now looked like this: YVR-SFO-PHL-DOH-MAA, costing me 60K Qmiles and $600.
The Travel
As I’d only booked my flight home less than a week before travel, I had quite a lot of things to get done. I’m not one to take home multiple bags just because the allowance exists, as per normal on many people travelling half way around the world. Though in fairness, it’s almost a custom to take home gifts to your entire extended family and such. Given it was Christmas time, Vancouver was abuzz and getting my regular travel things for an opposite climate was a bit tricky. Regardless, the 2nd of December quickly rolled around and I had a friend help me pack some bags. Let’s call him Bob. Bob was not really the most organized person I know, and he certainly seemed to match the memory of a goldfish that day. What I mean by this is in the hurry he and I was in, he managed to misplace the Christmas cards I wrote to his family and to him and his girlfriend. So I spent the remaining time I had in the cab going to the airport re-writing these cards. Though in fairness, Bob did do me a favor by shipping out a special package to a friend of mine in Europe, so thanks bud!
Arrival into YVR was a breeze, the taxi driver didn’t move a muscle while me and Bob unloaded the cab. We were dropped right in front of the United counters. Scheduled flights for me were United 1747 to SFO and United 1550 to PHL. Check-in kiosks and me have a terrible relationship, they almost never work for me. I’d already checked in online and paid the baggage fees of $25 so I didn’t even know why I had to use the kiosk. The attendant barked at me to keep trying so I did and after no availability, she pointed me towards the line. Luckily no one was in it so the first agent helped me. This chap was truly cheerful and seemed to care on how I was doing. He apologized for the machine’s inability to be efficient. Then things went downward. He told me that UA1747 was delayed for a few hours and that by the time it would land in SFO, my next flight to PHL would have taken off. Not only would this mean I would be stuck in SFO, but United would not be responsible for my rebooking of my QR flight or any connection for that matter since it was on a separate itinerary. I asked him what my options were and he told me that an Air Canada Rouge flight to SFO that had been sitting around since 2PM and was scheduled to take off in a bit, earlier than UA1747. I told him to get me on it and he did so quickly. He refunded my checked baggage fees and pointed me towards the Air Canada counters where I had to start the check-in process again. Nervously, I walked over there and got into line and spotted a check-in agent who looked vexed. Obviously, she was the one I was going to be attended by. She didn’t seem to love her job that day and this was only made worse by a Photographer who refused to check in a carry on because it housed thousands of dollars worth of lenses. He summoned the manager and the check-in lady pushed him aside to help me out.
Relatively Empty Transborder Check-in Hall at YVR
So the clock was ticking and she told me this flight was delayed and it had the potential to be delayed even further, how right she was. It seemed there was dense fog, meaning low visibility in SFO. Many flights were cancelled or delayed. I asked her if there were any other options like alternative routing, but without even checking she just waived me off saying no. Zero points to AC. I resigned to my fate and asked her to check me in. She did so and asked me to pay for my bag. I obliged. I then asked her to give me an isle or a window at which point she told me she could not access my itinerary anymore because it was less than an hour before departure. I was puzzled but not worried since I could check again at the gate. Just before I left though, I saw my baggage tag and saw that it was only checked into SFO. By taking this flight I would already be cutting it short, roughly 55 minutes to make my connection, so the baggage rechecking process would have been borderline impossible, though it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I asked for her to check it into PHL, to which she already started waiving to the next person in line to come by and told me she was unable to access my itinerary. I just stared at her and she pointed me towards another manager and he made a couple calls and managed to print out new tags to PHL. I’d never travelled on Air Canada Rouge, but the ground product didn’t leave the best impression in my mind.
Bob was just checking his phone and was somewhat puzzled and worried during the whole process, occasionally mumbling the, “you should have left earlier bro.” This prompted a few glares from me and the profound utterance along the lines of, “thanks Capt. Hindsight.” Anyways, we walked past the check-in counters towards to the baggage drop and US Customs clearance. We exchanged goodbyes and I dropped my bags off. Right before they scanned my boarding pass, they asked me if I was carrying any sporting equipment, to which I acknowledged that I was taking two tennis racquets. This prompted a moment of confusion but I was waived on by. I exchanged goodbyes with Bob and I was off. I sped through to the security clearance and I have to say, TSA could learn a thing or two with the efficiency of YVR’s security. I was in and through in about 5 minutes. I thanked them and headed for the newly appointed US Customs and Declarations Electronic Kiosks. The scanner failed at reading my documents at first, but upon the 3rd try, I was successful. An officer then asked me the usual security and history questions and I headed for the gate. Gate 83 wasn’t the closest gate so I began to think I was cutting it close, but upon arrival to the gate I saw big red block letters saying Delayed.
So I had mixed feelings at this point, I could finally grab a bite to eat as I was famished, but I may now miss my flight to PHL from SFO. I got a sandwich and a Dark Roast from Tim Horton’s and settled in to charge my laptop and my phone so I could do some work and reading on the plane. A guy next to me found a unique way to pass on his time while we waited. 30 minutes later an announcement came on saying a further delay would be likely. This prompted me to question what was going on and to find out if there was still a possibility of being routed through the East Coast, but apparently all flights had already departed or all remaining flights would get me to Philly a bit too late. SFO tower seemed to keep delaying our departure slot, which amounted to the delay.
Finally, pre-boarding and then general boarding were announced to which a very tired gate full of passengers very orderly followed. Today’s flight was operated by an A320-200, the cabin was different, but not brand new. I ended up having an entire row of seats to myself, much to my delight. Seats did not have any power or entertainment options. The captain came on and profusely apologized for all delays and told us we had a time slot of just 10 minutes to take off and if didn’t take off then, we’d be delayed further. The jet-ways pulled back and we were stopped from pushing back while we were de-iced. We then taxied and pulled onto the runway and right as we were going to spool and take off, the pilots came on saying a warning light had went off and that they needed to sort that out. The whole cabin sort of chuckled as if we all knew that we were going to be sitting in YVR for a very long time. 15 minutes passed and then we started moving again, people had their fingers crossed and not until we were rocketing down the runway and lifted off did people let out an unquenchable “Yes” or “Hell yeah.” The trip had truly turned into an adventure
Views out of Vancouver were beautiful. If you haven’t ever visited, you definitely should. Anyways, service consisted of Coffees, Teas, juice, and Soft Drinks. Food on offer was out of the Air Canada Café Menu that was in every seat pocket, but at this point I was too tired and already full from the sandwich I had earlier. Not much could be said about this flight since it was so short. The captain did mention that he’s flown this route hundreds of times and ground controllers and computers had never told him it would be bumpy until today. This turned out to be only partially true. I slept through most of it so whatever bumps that may have occurred, didn’t manage to wake me and the ones I had felt were relatively short and not the ones that evoke screaming, gulping, or the occasional praying. I woke up during descent and the cloud layer was very low in the Bay so views of the city were only seen during Final. Landing was smooth and we taxied into the gate shortly. Announcements were made for passengers who were connecting to Sydney to be let off first since they had just 15 minutes to make their flight. Despite this, some people blocked their way, which was just silly.
Once I got off the jet-way, a lady asked for what connection I had, and I told her United 1550, she told me to take a right and hurry. So I did, I sped walk all the way to the furthest gate in the concourse only to see another city being displayed on the board. My flight was delayed. What a relief that was. I grabbed a water bottle, caught up on some reading, and toured the airport in the time I had. I have to say, this is my 3rd time to SFO, and I love the airport. Beautiful design and so clean.
A bit over an hour later, boarding was finally announced and done so in United’s group ordering system. Once we settled in our Boeing 737-800 we pushed back relatively shortly and were behind two B77Ws and a B744. You can only truly see how large these planes are when you are sitting in a small one. Not to mention, you could tell how powerful the GE engines on the B77Ws were from the spray that came off the ground. Take off was a bit long but powerful with an immediate bank to the left towards Oakland and then towards the East Coast. Service was again quick and apt. I asked for another water before my planned sleep during the red-eye flight. I woke up mid flight a few times due to turbulence but quickly got back to my beauty sleep. Our descent into PHL was quite bumpy when clearing the clouds. Lots of wrists were gripping the armrests and many had their eyes closed. I had thought about my QR flight and how much time I would have, but the worry only really hit me as we taxied off the runway, when I saw the massive B77LR sitting at the gate with catering trucks loading the plane already. After de-boarding I sped to baggage control, which is strangely not in the main terminal building but over the tunnel and into the next building which was mainly the multi-story parking lot. My bag came off quickly and I asked for directions for the Qatar Airways flight departure terminal, or international terminal. No one had a clue on what Qatar Airways was so I did some googling and asked where British Airways left from and I was pointed in the general direction of the opposite end of the airport. I grabbed a cart and walked for ages until I finally saw a sign for QR and BA.
I got into the Business line and noticed only a few passengers in the economy class line, meaning I was definitely coming close to the closure of check-in. I was told that I didn’t have much time left so I should proceed straight to the gate. I still asked for a lounge pass. QR uses the BA Galleries Lounge at PHL. I walked up the escalator to find a line that stretched from the TSA security clearance to half way down the tunnel towards the parking lot. Fast track did not exist and I asked if there was another security entrance point. I was pointed towards the parallel tunnel. I quickly made my way over. There was a bit of a line over there too. It took me roughly 30 minutes to clear security and I made my way to the lounge. The lounge itself wasn’t very large. Reasonable alcohol was on offer and the lounge was stocked with Elemis products. It had basic breakfast fare. I wasn’t really interested, besides there was feasting to be done onboard shortly. I freshened up in the bathroom and grabbed an orange juice while I relaxed and waited for the lounge dragon to call me for boarding. Eventually I left the lounge and saw the mammoth aircraft that the 777LR is. Four boarding agents welcomed me and they thanked me for choosing QR. The LR aircraft, which was only recently replaced the B777W on the same route, has two J cabins, a larger one towards the front of the aircraft and a mini J cabin. I chose the mini J cabin as I see it as being more private since it does have fewer seats. I was the only person on the right side of the Aircraft in the rear J cabin, seated in 5K. The forward J cabin was quite full but the mini J only had 4 other passengers so I was hoping service would be sublime, and was it ever.
The Philadelphia airport doesn’t see too many heavies, or at least from what I saw, so even airport workers were staring in awe at the size of our plane. A welcome drink was offered and I asked for some orange juice. Next came the newspapers and I went for the New York Times and some tech magazine that was mildly interesting. The safety video began while we were still at the gate; maybe we had a short taxi. I do have to say the models that QR uses for its safety video is almost comical. They look like they belong in a GQ magazine and not an airline. With the doors closed, we began our pushback. Now I was seated literally right next engine 1 on this GE90 and the sheer noise it makes during startup is just sobering.
A wave goodbye from the ground crew and we began what indeed was a short taxi. The flight crew on the flight were very diverse, though I didn’t see too many of them as most were helping the forward cabin. The Mumbai based flight attendant, who was responsible for me and one other passenger, ended being so attentive and sweet. She was almost incredibly nervous because right after serving me my refreshments, she had to tell me that they had run out the S/M sized PJs and I had to settle for the L/XL. I didn’t really mind then, but I realized my mistake later. Amenity kits from Salvatore Ferragamo consisted of the usual toothbrush, earplugs, eyeshades, socks, and lip balm. QR uses a brand of noise cancelling headphones I didn’t really fancy. Luckily I brought my own QC15s. The FA came around and showed me the menu and asked me what I would like to have and when. I told her right away and made my choices of food and wine pairings. I put away my belongings and was as excited as a 10 year old kid who’s never been on a plane before. My eyes were glued to the massive wings on the planes. It indeed was a short taxi. We quickly lined up and spooled, and the massive thrust glued me to my seat as we thundered forward. A long takeoff roll later, we lifted into the Philadelphia skies. We quickly cleared the main cloud layer and began our slow ascent to 32,000 feet. Our aircraft today, A7-BBF, was one of the newer B777s in the Qatari fleet. The plane itself still had a fresh smell. Crew got to work while we were still ascending and in no time my first alcoholic beverage was delivered.
Right before my meal, I decided to move back so that I didn’t have my entertainment system on the bulkhead but in the seat in front of me. I moved two rows back to 7K. My drinking revolved around the Tattinger and the chardonnay, though I did sample their selection and was pleasantly surprised at how extensive the wine menu was and how fantastically it paired with the food. The Indian FA told me I was free to dine whenever I liked but my stomach was already grumbled so I asked for a meal after takeoff. What I really like about QR is the meticulous presentation and the pure precision of the way things are set up. The way the knives face away, the way the table clothes are laid, and the crescendo of glassware that finds its way over. And so the meal service and mood lighting show began. First the Brut was brought out along with glasses for water, breadbasket or bowl, and the other usual condiments. I began the symphony with the palate cleanser. Let me tell you, I don’t eat lamb often, but this Tikka along with the risotto cake was some of the most flavourful foods I’ve ever eaten. It definitely set the tone for the meal. The Mint soup followed this, which too, was absolutely sublime. My choice of main was the Arabic Prawns. Though this did not come close to the first two parts of my meal, it was still good. The Sauvignon Blanc Babich perfectly complimented this dish. To finish, I had the Panna Cotta. I’ve certainly had better, but the mascarpone cream was delightful. I certainly did feel bad for my FA, as I was taking my own sweet time between dishes. It was as if she had a 6th sense for when my glass was being emptied, coming out holding bottles of whatever I was having.
The pictures speak for themselves. The wonderful FAs came by and left me a small box of Godiva Chocolates, which was a nice touch. I enjoyed dinner and drinks while watching ‘A Fault in Our Stars’, a good but sad film. The book is a fun read too. As I went to change into my PJs, a male FA stopped me and asked if he could make the bed for me. I asked if it was possible if he could make the bed in the middle row, and he was more than happy to oblige. He also encouraged me to try seat 7A for some beautiful views when the sun rises. So now I had a bed and two seats, is this paradise? I went to change into my PJs and the pants were quite oversized, though the string allowed for a better fit. However, I was definitely wearing a bedspread for my top, it was absolutely massive, this was certainly not an L or XL, maybe three times as much. I joked to the FA about it but I said it was not a problem. I climbed into an extremely comfortable bed; it had very soft cushioning and a very comfortable pillow. So then, it was my rosé, the Godiva chocolates, an extensive movie collection, and a completely blacked out sky with millions of brightly shining stars, and I. Its feelings like this that makes me enjoy what flying really is, being removed from your everyday life and giving oneself time to reflect and enjoy what they have and what they hope to achieve. Soon after putting on some music, I drifted into a very comfortable 5-hour sleep.
I woke up in a blur, with the flight attendants smiling telling me they had tried to wake me, since I had asked them to, but apparently I was out cold. Slightly embarrassed I thanked them for trying. They asked if I wanted a coffee, to which I nodded. I climbed back and checked the moving map, looks like we still had some ways to go, flying over Kazakhstan, approaching the Caspian Sea. I ran over to the left side of the plane to get the first glimpse of the rising sun near Baku. After staring into the window for some time, I decided to play with the inflight entertainment some more. My love for tennis shone brightly as I began to play an inflight tennis game, which consumed a good 45 minutes of my life, though quite enjoyable over another glass of rose ;) The rest of the flight I spent time writing this trip report and working away for a new project of mine based in India. Before I knew it, the FA was back and asked if I was ready for another meal. I certainly was and I told her to surprise me with the choices.
I started off with the beetroot salmon gravlax, which was pleasantly refreshing and tasty. Next came the wild mushroom gnocchi. Now here’s a dish I wouldn’t normally order anywhere, but I was happy I got to try it because it satisfied my craving, a little bit dry though the portions were generous. I ended with a cheese plate, I remember only liking the Brie, the other two were a bit strong and sharp for my taste. The shiraz washed down the cheese quite well. Annoyingly, while I was enjoying the inflight map, the IFE just flicked off. I’m not sure if it was just the two seats I had or the entire aircraft. After this, I got the MS-DOS start up messages. Eventually, once the system booted back up, the IFE seemed to think we took off from the point of restart and apparently our total flying time was only 3-4 hours. Technology can truly be frustrating at times, but nothing to really brood over.
The cabin service director and two FAs ended sitting near me and we all shared a nice long conversation about the direction QR was headed, their views on Doha, the new Hamad airport, and what their future with the airline was like. A motif that seemed to exist throughout this trip was many FA’s expressing their love for being an FA and not a Cabin Services Director, since they had so much more responsibilities. The new PHL flight also was an interesting destination for them because of the timing of the flights, I think it’s one of only two oddly timed arrivals into Doha, with connections to the Indian subcontinent and beyond averaging 12 hours or more. But the introduction of QR into the One-World alliance almost deemed this connection necessary. No matter to me though, I was finding this flight generally uneventful and very comfortable with the rather open J cabin.
Before I knew it, crew from the rest area returned and joined those already working and the captain began his ‘prepare for landing’ announcement. Our pilots, one from Qatar and one from Spain seemed to take great pride in the aircraft they were flying, and rightly so. The CSD came around and thanked us for flying with Qatar. What followed next were some of the most breathtaking views of the desert and cyan colored waters I had seen in some time. Even my fellow seat-mates left the middle rows to afford a view of our aircraft banking over the gulf. Our descent was steady and rarely was affected by turbulence. I attached a GoPro to the window to capture our landing, though sadly it malfunctioned. We glided to the new Hamad airport and landed on 16L. A relatively short taxi later, we turned into our gate with a massive crowd gathering to see our bird line up to the gate. Business was allowed off the plane first and we were given a warm send off, before walking into the massive airport that Hamad is.
One of the FA’s on board did mention that it was a beautiful new airport but the use of grey tone was a bit excessive. He also mentioned that the lighting from the massive LED screens shone so brightly, that also reflect off the floor, sort of hurts your eyes and you want to face away from it. I agreed with both of these points. Apart from those issues, the airport was absolutely massive, with high ceiling, massive inlets for sunlight and a plethora of duty free shops and fashion brands ranging from around the world. Business class and First Class for QR has their own lounges, though the First class lounge is still under construction and is closely guarded so no one gets a peak. Instead all premium passengers get to use the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge. Some are already calling it the stairway of heaven, as its entrance is on the main floor of the terminal and it bypasses the 2nd floor and goes straight to the 3rd floor where a lavish yet subtle entrance awaits you.
I have nothing but praise for this lounge. It’s beautifully decorated, apparently done so by a French interior designer. A vast amount of seating is available on the main floor of the lounge, each featuring some traditional Arabic sweets, water and drinks, and a screen that resembles an iPad but is far from it. Instead it just displays flight timings and other relevant information. If you’re seated in any of these chairs, an attendant will come and cater to your needs. Towards the back of the lounge is a beautifully appointed salad-like bar with bar seating and regular dining tables and a cold bar with light bites and refreshments. Still behind this is a hidden sleeping room and shower room. The middle of the lounge features an elevated platform with interesting cabana like seating with accents of wood and other curvaceous furniture. The lounge also features a beautifully laid fountain with spurts of water shooting one after the other. Adjacent to it is the grandiose stairwell that takes you to the dining hall, with plenty of comfortable seating. Also featured in the lounge is a baggage room to store your belongings.
After quickly exploring the lounge, I made my way to the shower room and freshened up. I utilized the baggage room and left for the tour bus with nothing more than my passport, wallet, and phone. The tour was provided for by the airline and I should have seen through their ploy. I did do some research prior to my trip and I knew where the tourist traps were, and that’s exactly where we headed. Regardless, I found the culture to be very relaxed and the weather to be somewhat moderate, though I was travelling there during the winter. While I was hopping between various parts of the city, I noticed how extravagant the wealth was dispersed throughout Doha. How they have the highest per capita income for any country in the world, how vast the preparations were for the national day, and other interesting facts. I made stops at Souq Waqif, which featured many cafes and shisha stalls, gold shops, and other such cultural paraphernalia. Also on the tour was the man made island or the Pearl Qatar, which featured lavish hotels, cafes, restaurants, fashion boutiques, and super car showrooms. The sheer amount of yachts that were floating over the mesmerizing cyan waters created picturesque views. One should note the lack of uniformity in architecture throughout the city; there were vast arrays of skyscrapers of different designs and colors. Sadly, I didn’t get to visit the Islamic Museum of Art; it was closed for the day. One thing I didn’t really enjoy, was the horrible pace of traffic in the city, despite there being 3-5 lanes on almost all roads that were travelled upon.
Soon after we were dropped at the entrance of the Premium side of the terminal. I took a few moments to enjoy the views of the new airport, though there was very little activity at the time. The entrance to the terminal is impressive, with a massive carpet and backboard that displays signage for First and Business. I headed straight through security and right back to the lounge where I decided to catch up on some more work.
After a bit of rest, I headed to the restaurant for a few glasses of Krug and some food. The food could have been better, but not bad at all compared to most business class lounges you see. Before my flight, I did a lot of exploring to get the blood flowing from the laziness the lounge instills in you. I headed from one end to the edge of the terminal, where A380 gates were under construction. There was little to stop you from proceeding, though there was a lot of construction going on. There were some very lavish and interestingly decorated restaurants on the way too. The Giant teddy bear donated by the royal family of Qatar certainly looked quite sad. I went back to the lounge to collect my belongings and the call was made for final boarding for the nonstop QR service to Chennai.
I quickly left the lounge and was at the gate within 5 minutes, only to find a massive line of over a hundred passengers outside of the gate security. I went to an agent and asked what was going on, he mentioned that there was a delay but not one to warrant a return to the lounge. So I passed time by continuing to tour the terminal and walked through some Duty Free. When I returned, the line had regressed, but everyone was boxed into the seemingly small gate, with tons of people standing around, easily enough to make one claustrophobic. Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary for a flight to the Indian subcontinent. Thankfully, the boarding process started and I made my way onto the Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
I was welcomed by name and shown to my seat, 1D, which wasn’t as pleasant as SeatGuru had made it out to be. J was at 80% occupancy on our flight, with many upgrades from an oversold economy cabin. The Pilot and cabin crew made their announcements, newspapers were passed out, doors closed, and refreshments made their way to those that asked for them. I was personally thanked and welcomed on board our CSD, with the usual ‘thank you for being a privilege club member’ articulation. After a relatively short taxi, we lined up and rocketed towards the Persian Gulf, before banking towards the Indian subcontinent. For some reason this entire flight seemed to be rushed to me. It was either this or Seat 1D is a terrible place to sit, the constant fluttering of curtains as FA’s entered and exited the galley and the constant clatter of metallic sounds in preparation for meal service didn’t help either.
The passengers to the left of my row didn’t seem well and the ones on my right didn’t care for anything except sleep. I decided I’d grab a quick bite, as it had been some time since my last meal. The friendly FA recommended Vineet Bhatia’s delicacies so I decided to go by his recommendation. I began with the creamy tomato soup that was leaving me wanting more. The main, which was a mix of a lamb, chicken, and fish kebabs were just upping the ante. Finally, I finished off the meal with a Ladureé desert and some Brie. I was about to burst at this point, so I reclined my seat and put on some classical tunes and did some reading. Even the meal service seemed rushed for some reason; maybe the FA’s were trying to get everyone to sleep for the remainder of the leg ;) I again had another brief conversation with some of the FAs told me that during the winter schedule, the flight to Chennai is not a layover for them, but that they had to prepare the cabin and fly back the same day. Is this the case for most Indian subcontinent flights in the winter? They did voice their pleasure at Chennai being one of their favorite destinations too.
After returning to my seat, I began to do some reading to help pass the time. About an hour out of Chennai, as we were cruising somewhere between Mumbai and Goa, immigration forms and interesting Ebola virus forms were distributed. I hadn’t seen this one before; I wonder what awaited me at MAA. We began our descent before the captain had even informed us and FA’s began the laps up and down the aisles to prepare for landing. FA’s wished me personally for our conversation and for flying QR and wished me a happy journey going home after some time. The descent into MAA for me is always in the darkness so it’s quite difficult to make out landmarks and locality until you’re really on final. We glided next to St. Thomas Mt and touched down in a very humid Chennai. The gate quickly attached and we were allowed to de-board soon after. As soon as I said goodbye to the FAs, a brick of hot air hit me, a huge temperature change from the aircraft. As I walked off the jet-way, I realized I was home when I saw hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at you for no apparent reason. A sort of dash began towards immigration, which was a bit funny because none of them realized that they had a massive wait downstairs. All passengers were first channeled through a desk where two men wore masks and collected Ebola forms, but made no attempt to neither read the forms nor possess machines to observe passenger’s temperatures as they walked by. What fazes me about the MAA airport is even though they’ve spent millions redesigning, rebuilding, and renovating, they still re-route you towards the old airport where you clear immigration on old shabby counters and use egregiously slow baggage belts. Luckily I was one of the first few in line at immigration so I quickly cleared it and made my way to the baggage belts. Now I have to stress this, this was the first time out of 10 or so times flying in and out of this airport where I had seen premium tagged bags come out before any other bag, which was quite amazing actually. This was one of the few times I flew J and it paid off, my bags were off the belt within 5 minutes and I met my overjoyed parents. I’ll include some photos of my stay. :)
Inbound
After a considerable time of spending time with family, my trip’s length was quickly running out. As a person who hasn’t seen his family in a year, it was an uncomfortable sinking feeling in the stomach, but as is life, one must get back to reality. I make it a point to never say goodbye to anyone in Chennai’s airport because of the lack of organization in the drop off section. It always seems chaotic and you have to say goodbye before check in, so I had a friend pick me up and drop me off. Although I have to say Chennai’s new international and domestic terminals have improved, though still far from international standards. Flying in J means I didn’t need to get to the airport 3 hours before. Though I decided to play it safe and give myself 2 and a half hours and boy what a good decision that was. Chennai’s international traffic is all late night/ early morning flights, between 11 PM- 5 AM. Problems arose right away when we pulled up to the departure area. The signage was so minute you had to guess which of the two entrances to park at. Secondly, airport trolleys were an extremely rare resource. A German expat in front of me travelling in Business had 4 suitcases on him and had a delegation including a guard, an airport official, and driver all scour the terminal side to look for carts. Though I only had one bag, I needed one too. It took me a good 15 minutes to find them, and I ended up finding one before the German fellow. I ended up donating mine to him, and to see the absolute bliss on his face was comical but understandable.
Chennai has military guard at the entranceways and they expect to be shown Government ID and Paper itineraries to be let in. I remembered reading that paper documentation was no longer required so I only carried an email on my iPhone. This seemed to baffle the female guard and it took some pinching and scrolling before I was let on through. A quick wave and goodbye to my friend Aravind and I proceeded to the Qatar Check in on the opposite side of the terminal. Describing the scene as being unorganized would definitely be an understatement. Nearly everyone had huge amounts of baggage and there were Y class passengers in the business lines whom were being refused by the check-in agents. That did little to faze them to move. Standing behind all of them, I was literally being yelled to from the counter, a good 10 meters back from where I was. “BUSINESS CLASS OR ECONOMY CLASS?” I answered correctly and the red sea seemed to part. I moved up and handed them my passport and my boarding pass on my iPhone. There wasn’t a hello or how are you. Clearly these agents were fatigued or they weren’t used to people being friendly enough. She just handed me printed boarding passes and pointed me towards the security checkpoint without saying a word. I had to ask her for my lounge passes at which point she just stared at me. I didn’t understand why, but she wrote me a pass designating me to one of two lounges in the airport. Before I left I asked how full J was and she said about a third full and I asked if it was okay if I had an empty seat next to me, to which she said not a problem as no one was sitting there anyways. To those who are not familiar with the new MAA international terminal, the lounges are run by some lounge company and the new lounge does not have a liquor license, thus, they’ve kept open the old clipper lounge open, which does carry its licensure. I thanked her for her help.
Then the real nightmare started. Given the number of international passengers that fly through this terminal, especially in the time frame, a lack of a separate line for J and F passengers is pretty ludicrous. Nearly 500 passengers were in one line that stretched like a snake in strange patterns around the terminal. I resigned to my fate and got in the line and called family and friends, whom definitely helped pass the time. The line ended up being for immigration and customs and not security. I only realized this half way into the line because I couldn’t see the front. I approached the customs officer after 40 minutes. The officer gave me a quick hello, looked at my documents, and without another word, stamped my documents allowing me to proceed to security. Indian security always separates individuals by gender. I went to the shortest line I could find and took my laptop out of my belongings and put all my valuables in my bag. While waiting, an officer from a distant security checkpoint grabbed like 5 of us and told us to move. I refused saying my belongings were already in the scanner. He wasn’t too pleased and told me to do as he says and he made me clear security elsewhere. This was a tad bit annoying since I couldn’t keep an eye on my things as they passed through the scanner. I quickly cleared the checkpoint and went back and to my annoyance I found someone looking into my bag and touching my things. I asserted myself and told the stranger to not touch my things, to which I got some stares. As I proceeded towards the lounge, which was in between security and my gate, I had someone run up to me looking at my boarding pass, saying hello sir, please proceed to the gate. I told them I was going to the lounge, but he said, “sorry sir, you don’t have time, boarding has started.” To be honest I wasn’t missing much, I know a meal was awaiting me on the plane and I wanted to stay awake during the flight to acclimatize to the west coast time zone.
But allow me to explain my gripe with the functionality of the airport situation in Chennai. It’s absolutely useless to ask passengers to come to the airport 3-4 hours prior to their flight. Mainly because once you’re checked in for your flight and stand in the security you’re essentially guaranteed to get on your flight. This is true because no matter where you are in line, when it comes time to about 45 minutes before departure, when boarding starts for most flights at MAA, two to three airline officials will comb immigration and security lines escorting those passengers to the front and then get them on the plane. This has definitely led to regular passengers taking advantage of the situation meaning longer wait times for the general population. I’d imagine I wasn’t the only J passenger who got held up in the chaos and didn’t have any lounge time prior to boarding.
At the gate, there was another boarding pass check by the Indian Military. Afterwards, I was welcomed by name by an agent at the gate and again by the cabin service director onboard our A330-200 aircraft. I turned left and saw an almost completely full J class. I looked back at the CSD and I said this was almost empty while I was checking in and he told me almost everyone except 4 passengers were Op-Ups. Now I’m not one to complain about upgrades, because I’ve been upgraded on the MAA-DOH segment before but QR and many other airlines that fly to and from MAA have a habit of overbooking economy to a point where many passengers get upgraded. I can see why rev passengers wouldn’t be too happy about paying 4-5x the airfare when they were likely to be on the upgrade list to begin with. I was seated in 5A, a decision I regretted because of the relative closeness to the galley (not the first time that happened either).
I was offered a welcome drink of water or orange juice. I opted for the latter, and it was sensational. Doors were promptly shut and the safety video played while we were still stationary at the gate (MAA has a very short taxi to the active from all gates). I overheard something very interesting while the galley was being prepared for takeoff. The CSD gathered all attendants working the J cabin and went over all upgraded passengers by seat numbers and all original J passengers by seat numbers. I wondered what the point of annunciating that was but realized only later that original J passengers were given priority for food and drink orders. Though this was a little bit awkward because my seat-mate was skipped while my order was taken. Speaking of which, he didn’t utter a single word to me from the moment I sat down till the moment I got off. However, he had a comical habit of staring at rather everything I was doing, from playing with the IFE remote to typing this report on my laptop. I didn’t want to engage in an ‘I caught you looking’ game, but it was difficult to not look to the right of my seat. Oh boy was that enjoyable. The usual pilot announcements were made, the cabin was prepared for pushback, and a short while later we were thundering down the runway for takeoff. A long left bank pointing us in the northwesterly direction and we began our uninterrupted ascent to cruise altitude.
As we passed through 10,000 ft, there was the usual smell of food being heated that filled the cabin. Soon a sparking champagne glass was brought to me along with a bowl of warm mixed nuts. Champagne on offer today were the Billecart-Salmon and Pol Roger Rose. I tried the rose and was pleasantly surprised, so I stuck with it for the remainder of the flight. Soon the plating sequence began, all very attentive and done with a smile. I started with the chicken and pistachio mortadella. It tasted only as good as it looked. For my main I chose the kuthu paratha, classic South Indian and Sri Lankan street food. I didn’t expect much, but it was bursting with flavor and spice. I had the Riesling to accompany my main, and I highly recommend it. Sadly no desserts were provided, since this was QR’s breakfast service. No matter, I continued my choice of champagne through the rest of the flight. The service to DOH is 4.5 hours in length. My medley of champagne, South Indian food, and special guest Denzel Washington in the equalizer set the tone for a very enjoyable flight. On a side note, Denzel has so much charisma in the film! I had a very informative and enjoyable conversation with the CSD about the airline, his job, how much he enjoys travelling, and life in Doha. He seemed like a very enthusiastic individual. It’s always great to see people who genuinely enjoy their job. Before I knew it, we began our descent into an awakening Doha. Touchdown was a bit bumpy and there was heavy application of thrusters and brakes. A short taxi to the stand and two stairway carts were used for disembarkation. J passengers had a dedicated bus to ferry them to the terminal. The AV Geek in me awoke as I descended the stairs. It is only when you’re on the ground do you appreciate the sheer size and the marvel of engineering of an aircraft. A short walk into the terminal and a quick clearance of security using the fast track lane and I was taking the stairway to heaven to the Al Mourjan business class lounge.
First impressions showed a relatively bustling lounge so I avoided the front of the lounge headed straight to the back to the rear shower rooms, next to the sleeping area, where I immediately got a room booked. Shower rooms were well appointed and quite spacious. I took my own sweet time in there and prepared for one of the longest commercial flights in the world (at the time). I hit the bar in the dining area for some KRUG where I met a fellow aviation enthusiast. We chatted for a bit but not before a woman approached me telling me that my flight was boarding and that I should head to the gate. So I promptly grabbed my things and left the lounge. As I walked to the gate, a man came running towards me in the general terminal walkway area saying, “Dallas, Dallas, Dallas!!??” I responded with a yes and he looked at my boarding pass and he said, sir we’ve been looking for you. Uh oh, the lounge dragon just told me the gate had just started boarding. That was a slip up on my part as I should have checked the signage. Luckily they hadn’t offloaded my bags. I was again welcomed by name and escorted to my seat and was immediately asked if I wanted a warm or cold towel. I wanted a warm one and I got a glass of Tattinger Rose to go with it.
Glasses were cleared right before takeoff by a very functional, attentive, and smiling crew. Take off roll was long and our ascent was slow, affording some phenomenal views of the desert in the distance and downtown Doha in the foreground. Captain announcements regarding our cruise, initially 32,000 feet, and our route were made along with the customary ‘keep your seatbelts on at all times.’ My neighbour ended up being a pilot who works for a private airline in the Middle East and he was telling me that the flights have just been completely full and that was the first day he got a confirmed ticket for him and his companion. Crew did come and say sorry about the slightly late departure. Again all original J passengers were given priority on food and drink orders. As you will see through the rest of this trip, I managed to sample quite a variety of food and drinks on this flight to Dallas.
I put on the classic, 500 days of summer. If you’ve not seen it, it’s a very interesting take on Gordon Levitt’s crush and the reality of love. I decided that I would start with a peach and honey smoothie before my meal. I decided to try out Chef Nobu and Vineet Bhatia’s delicacies onboard today. I started with the palate cleanser, the soup, the smoked salmon, and the chili prawns for my main. I finished that up with the Ladureé chocolate biscuit. Palate cleanser isn’t worth mentioning. The soup on the other hand was delectable, light, and very tasty. The smoked salmon tasted very fresh and the horseradish cream cheese went with it quite well. The mango chili prawns was okay at best, the dal it came with was quite bland and I left the paneer. The Ladureé was phenomenal, as always, from my experiences. QR’s saviour here was their alcohol. I was well into the movie now and I got up to go for a change into my PJs. The attentive FA’s cleared my table and by the time I came back to my seat, a very comfortable looking flat bed with cushioned mattress and a fluffy pillow were awaiting me along with a very comfortable quilt. I began drifting in and out of sleep over the Iranian mountain range.
I awoke flying over the Icelandic mountains and ice sheets, meaning I got around 5-6 hours of sleep. I decided to take a break from all the drinking so I freshened up. By the way, the lotions that QR supplies in the bathrooms are awesome. They are freshening and have a great scent. I came back to my seat where I was given a towel and asked if I would like something to drink. I opted for a cappuccino. I didn’t expect much from this, because we were in the air, but wow, probably one of the best hot drinks I’ve had, ever. Almost wanted another one, but then who was going to help QR finish all those bottles that were stocked. ;) Next I asked the FA’s for their recommendation on a light breakfast and they told me to try the Mezze platter. The tabouleh was good, the hummus very good, and the Muhammara my absolute favorite. I’m definitely going to try and make that at home. If you get the chance to try this on board or somewhere in the Middle East, do not hesitate. At this point I began sipping on some more Rose. This really did get me going. It also gave me the will to begin and grind through hours of solid work. To be fair I did not really browse through the audio selection on offer in the Oryx system. I instead listened to one of my own playlists and some of my preferred playlists on my own system. I must say, I really like the airplane mapping system on the Oryx system, some great views and very interesting cockpit angles as well. After I powered through work, I began to get hungry again. I really am not human.
I went through the massive collection and decided on Man on Fire, another great Denzel movie. I selected the lamb loin with pistachio and mint crust. It was a bit well done but still tasty. The portions that QR gives is quite appropriate, more airlines should really take a look. I tried the chardonnay but it wasn’t too my liking and I switched to what became my drink of choice for the rest of the flight, or at least I thought so. That was the Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen. This was absolutely spectacular with my cheese platter, which I went for after my main. I only fancied two of three cuts, but still spot on. I had to undo a few buckles off my belt after that so I went and socialized with some of the crew. I have to say they really were an enjoyable bunch. They had some great stories of their lives in Doha and their experiences with Qatar. They told me some of their favorite destinations but also told me that the timing of some of their flights really made it difficult for them to enjoy their destinations. Rome seemed to top the most beautiful destinations. That’s still on my bucket list. A few more glasses down and I was really feeling it. The crew kept insisting on topping me off. I told them about my passion for flying and they really encouraged me to pursue flight, said its one of the most fabulous lifestyles one can live. You really did get to see the world but certainly with some difficult circumstances.
I decided I’d change out of my PJs for the last couple hours of the flight and did some reading. That was a welcome change from all the movie watching and laptop gazing I did on this flight. A few hours later we were now over the Midwest of the United States and only a couple hours remained on the flight. The FAs decided that I hadn’t had enough so they kept offering me more champagne and encouraged me to eat something. I told them that I only wanted something light and that they could surprise me with whatever was good. They didn’t seem to pick that up and brought me not one but two light meals at once. They presented the cured salmon and hot Arabic plate. Both meals consisted of a few bite sized portions, which for once, made me happy, as I wouldn’t be wasting any food. The mood lighting also came on during the plating, which was very soothing after such a long flight. The crew really did seem to like me since without even me asking, they brought over the white champagne and apologized since the rose ran out, and as a token of their apology they brought over the Ladureé tart. I just glared at them for this, I really was a Michelin tire at this point, but hell its not everyday I get to enjoy myself so I let it sit for another hour before I even took a bite. Before I knew it, we began our descent and the captain came on telling us about our flight and the path we were taking and thanking us for flying with QR. Meanwhile, I was in my own world, the FA told me that I should really try out the desert as it was her pick, so I did, and it hit the spot, but only for the 14th time on this flight. Immigration forms were handed out, and that was the point where I really realized the greatness was about to end.
The mighty GE90 engines slowly started to power down and the front of the aircraft pitched downwards. Some Godiva Chocolates were distributed and the chief flight pursuer came around, again in the order of actual J passengers and then upgrades, and personally thanked us for choosing QR on this journey, as they knew we had other options. In the daze I was in I had forgotten to put up my laptop bag in the overhead bin so he asked me if he could do it for me. Slightly embarrassed, I obliged. Crew had their uniforms back on and prepared the cabin for landing, tying up curtains, checking bins, and making sure all seats were upright, as per normal. What followed was a very steady and eventless decent and soon after we were right over one of the most beautiful cloud layers I had seen in sometime. Dallas was marked with overcast skies, a bit gloomy but still warm. It always amazes me when I take a look at the inflight map of how far the B77LR can take someone; it really is a marvel of modern engineering. Our significantly lighter aircraft finally touched down to a bumpy landing but nothing too significant.
As we taxied to the gate I caught ahold of the Qantas A388, which I think is the flight which currently holds the record for the longest commercial flight at 16:45 hours flight time. A short taxi later, we pulled into the gate, engines powered down and the bridge attached to the aircraft. Economy class was held back for all business passengers and all the flight attendants wished me a happy time in Dallas and personally told me it was great meeting me. Truly a wonderful gesture, something you can’t ask of an airline. I breezed past immigration thanks to the fact that Americans and Canadians had their own queue. There was a bit of a bag mix-up with them coming off two belts simultaneously. Luckily, my bag was one of the first off the aircraft, thank you Premium tags! The customs check was longer than immigration, with all passengers squeezing into a line that stretched half way around the entire baggage claim arena. After having multiple people cut me, I began to wonder what country I really was in. Having the patience, I waited and eventually I was waived on through and my high school friend greeted me. Without saying another word, he just stared at me and he asked me how much I had to drink. I guess it really was obvious. Welcome to Dallas. I won’t be including photos of my final hop from Dallas to Vancouver as it was relatively uneventful and I thoroughly slept through the journey. Enjoy the rest of the photos below.
Short clip of our descent