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View Full Version : USA/Caribbean Trip Part 1: VA BNE-LAX (Photos)


Brandon Giacomin
20th June 2013, 04:57 PM
Introduction:

I will do this report in parts to make it easier. Part 1 will include my flight from BNE-LAX and what I did whilst in LA.

Well after getting back from New Zealand in December I was looking at going on another trip. Thought about going back to NZ but I thought I’d go somewhere different. Thought about going to SE Asia (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket), or maybe the US and Caribbean (Los Angeles, Seattle and St Maarten). Virgin Australia had a pretty good sale to the US, so we decided on the US. My mate Josh would be joining me.

We would fly with Virgin Australia to LAX on May 26, stay in LA for 6 nights. Then fly Virgin America to Seattle on June 1, stay in Seattle for 2 nights. Then fly American Airlines to St Maarten via Miami on June 3 arriving the following day, stay in St Maarten 6 nights. We would have daytrips to St Barths and Saba whilst in St Maarten. We would then return to Brisbane via Miami and Los Angeles on June 10 with AA and VA. It all worked out well and I was very excited, and finally the day had arrived.

Brisbane Airport:

I arrived at Brisbane International at around 9am for the 11:15 departure. Met up with Josh and said goodbye to my parents. The line for check-in was quite long, after half an hour we made it to the front. We both checked in without any issues, unfortunately for me I had been assigned an aisle seat as all the window seats were already gone, bugger! Josh had been assigned 46K (a window seat) and I was changed to 46G which was only 2 seats away, so it wasn’t too bad.

We passed through security and customs and had a walk around before sitting down at our gate. There wasn’t too much to see. Cathay had a new A333 in, B-LAZ. Other aircraft included an Etihad A332, Qantas B744 (also off to LAX) and two Qantas A333s (one to SIN and one to HKG). And of course my VA B773 was there and it was VH-VPH.

VH-VPH being prepared to take me all the way to LAX
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/8847665391_be62790a95.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847665391/)

Looking good in the VA livery
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5340/8847662707_f38d5e6cc3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847662707/)

Etihad A332 A6-EYL
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/8848277562_d9c3e76ba7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848277562/)

Cathay Pacific A333 B-LAZ
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5337/8848274550_0aa0479acd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848274550/)

Boarding commenced at around 10:30. I was very excited to be going to the US for the first time :D

May 26, 2013
Virgin Australia
VA7
BNE-LAX
VH-VPH B77W
Seat 46G

Got on-board the very nice VA B77W. The interior was very new and looked great. Made my way back to 46G. The seat was quite comfortable and legroom was good too.

Took a quick photo out the window whilst the seats were un-occupied.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5335/8848270672_afd6131652.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848270672/)

Economy Seats
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/8847648409_802b941850.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847648409/)

Boarding finally finished so it was time to go. It appeared to be quite a full flight, I only saw one un-occupied seat in economy. We taxied out to RWY19 and began the 12 and a half hour flight to LAX. We made a nice big right hand turn over Brisbane city before flying back around the airport and out to sea.

I started watching The Hobbit about half an hour into the flight. Lunch was served about an hour later, there were two options, I took the BBQ chicken which was nice, can’t remember the other option. The Hobbit went for 3 hours, about half way through the movie we were over New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

Getting close to New Caledonia
http://l6.yimg.com/so/7435/8848264438_c141dcdca8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848264438/)

Nice mood lighting
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/8847642497_e45685c445.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847642497/)

After the movie I got up to stretch my legs. Didn’t mind having an aisle seat in the end, it was good being able to get straight up and walk around if I wanted to.

Lights off
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/8847637063_14958d4250.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847637063/)

Sat back down and started watching the first Lord of the Rings which was another 3 hours.

Passing the Pacific Islands
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8413/8847634627_de6e36bed2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847634627/)

The crew came through halfway through the flight giving out sandwiches and wraps. I took a chicken sandwich which was very nice.

Near Hawaii
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/8847629373_b9598bcde0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847629373/)

After the movie was over, I got up again and walked around for a bit. Then I sat back down and watched half a dozen episodes of Modern Family. By then we were two hours out of LA. So the cabin crew switched the lights on, I was expecting them to use the mood lighting but they just put the lights straight on haha! For breakfast there was two choices, blueberry crepes or chicken sausage and eggs. I took the crepes which were disgusting! Josh had the sausage and eggs which apparently weren’t that great either.

Time to get up!
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3712/8847626549_da9de796b0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8847626549/)

I played a few games on the IFE. The VA entertainment system was pretty good, kept me entertained the whole way.

Finally we are nearly there!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/8848241316_d563df8ca5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848241316/)

http://l2.yimg.com/sk/3833/8848237182_f681d3fe67.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848237182/)

Josh took a video of the landing which can be viewed here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCf10kYBjbM

Could just see out of the windows on the right side of the aircraft and got my firsts views of the US. We flew past LAX on downwind for RWY24R. We finally touched down at about 07:10 local time, after 12 hours and 35 minutes flying. My longest flight by far! We made the long taxi to Terminal 5 and exited the aircraft.

Brandon Giacomin
20th June 2013, 04:58 PM
A quick shot out the window.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8558/8848232262_2ec39e7b11.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8848232262/)

I had heard lots of stories about customs in LAX being very slow. I just wanted to get to the hotel cause I was exhausted. It took about an hour and a half to get through; it was slow but not too bad. It was only our flight going through at the time, I can imagine with several flights at the same time it would be a nightmare. We finally got out of the terminal and found the shuttle bus pick up area. Shortly a bus came along to take us to the Hilton at the airport.

Overall the flight over was tiring, but very good. I’d definitely fly VA across the Pacific again, and I would on my way back ;)

DAY 1: LOS ANGELES

We were going to do something but neither of us managed to get any sleep on the flight so we just stayed at the hotel and relaxed.

DAY 2: SPOTTING AT LAX

Woke up at about 2am (still wasn’t quite over the jet lag ;)). At 6am we walked to In-N-Out burger which took about 20 minutes. We stayed here the whole day, it sure is a great spot! The constant Southwest 737s did get a bit annoying after a while! Here are a few of my shots.

In-N-Out Burger
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/8898813626_c930fcdf14.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8898813626/)

Qantas A380 VH-OQI arriving from Melbourne
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8271/8898875866_dbbd8a088b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8898875866/)

China Eastern A340-600 B-6055 in Expo 2010 livery
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7304/8902300433_6290b19bec.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8902300433/)

Qantas A380 VH-OQG arriving from Sydney
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/8919665252_c03ac7341f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8919665252/)

Korean Air A380 HL7619 arriving from Seoul
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2867/8919652740_343caacfa5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8919652740/)

British Airways 747, quite a few families were out here because of the Memorial Day public holiday.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/8919997824_5c2497994a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8919997824/)

Air France A380 F-HPJG
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5338/8919360147_a9598c5c3e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8919360147/)

Malaysian 777 arrives from Kuala Lumpur via Tokyo
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7445/8920111012_9d406184a2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8920111012/)

Turkish 777 arriving from Istanbul
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3696/8931698256_b52e91ccb0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931698256/)

Singapore A345 9V-SGC arrives from Singapore, was good to see an SQ A345 for the first time.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7286/8931826848_ed0b1f0da2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931826848/)

American Airlines 777 arriving
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/8931192133_1fd6f8cc95.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931192133/)

British Airways 747 in Oneworld livery arriving from LHR
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8559/8931776520_35907a221c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931776520/)

Brandon Giacomin
20th June 2013, 04:59 PM
Lufthansa A346 from Munich
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/8931286173_dc3f814f1e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931286173/)

All Blacks 777 arrives from LHR
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5349/8931279647_fab09e0568.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8931279647/)

These are just some of my photos from the day, the rest can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633833270093/

DAY 3: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Went to Universal Studios for the day, if anyone is interested the photos can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633992586810/

I will share a couple of photos from Universal Studios, of the 747 crash site from the movie War of the Worlds. It is very impressive, it is a real 747 and flew for ANA, it’s rego was JA8147.

http://l2.yimg.com/sj/2819/8932048480_c5eaa22c9f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8932048480/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7396/8932045160_9f58db28c1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8932045160/)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5452/8932023284_9fea2819fb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8932023284/)

DAY 4: SPOTTING AT LAX

Went spotting at LAX again, this time we went to Imperial Hill and the Proud Bird restaurant later that day. Here are some of the photos.

New American livery :)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3699/8964460826_73d3fa515c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964460826/)

United Boeing 757-300, saw lots of B753s whilst in the US.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/8963250927_232256341f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963250927/)

American Airlines Boeing 767-200ER
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/8963241527_dc9907341a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963241527/)

FedEx DC-10
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3669/8964425150_0f7fc4ffb1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964425150/)

Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ER VH-VPF
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5462/8963217615_5f7851ee3d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963217615/)

American Eagle in the new livery
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/8963208619_b3088cfbdc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963208619/)

FedEx Airbus A300F
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/8963164797_8ea1129e3f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963164797/)

United Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner off to Houston :D
http://l2.yimg.com/sk/3742/8963142387_32a0ea36a3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963142387/)

Brandon Giacomin
20th June 2013, 04:59 PM
Alaskan Boeing 737-900 in Disneyland livery
http://l6.yimg.com/so/7371/8963135393_a0a7766ba4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963135393/)

Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ER VH-VPD arrives from Sydney
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5446/8963124303_bc96c31c37.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963124303/)

Qantas Airbus A380 VH-OQK from Sydney arrived shortly after
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7394/8964317066_b5981df656.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964317066/)

Eva Air Cargo MD-11F
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3791/8963086153_17416a6ff4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963086153/)

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8I D-ABYD arrives from Frankfurt
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/8963037671_a6d3320c03.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8963037671/)

American Airlines MD-82 departs
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/8964217290_513bc1b50f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964217290/)

China Eastern A346 B-6055 again
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8554/8964207586_e6c30ca3a9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964207586/)

Imperial Hill
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/8964180848_390e5a3a69.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964180848/)

ANA Boeing 777-300ER JA731A in Star Alliance livery
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7454/8964169082_9a6bb78b8f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964169082/)

The rest of my photos from Imperial Hill can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633957232849/

Here are some photos from Proud Bird. We had lunch there which was very nice, we then stayed for a little while to do some spotting.

Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKN arrives from Auckland
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/8964156150_8308bb38d6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964156150/)

American Boeing 757-200 arriving
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3800/8964147212_f48459e856.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8964147212/)

More photos can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633959761218/

DAY 5: DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK

Went to Disney California Adventure Park for the day, photos can be found here if anyone is interested. They are after the photos of Universal Studios
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633992586810/

DAY 6: LOS ANGELES TOUR AND LAX SPOTTING

We went on a tour of LA in the morning and then went to In-N-Out for the afternoon. Photos from the tour can be found here, after the photos from Universal Studios and Disney California Adventure Park.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633992586810/

Here are some photos from In-N-Out.

Special Alaskan B734
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/8979297361_158522d90a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979297361/)

Singapore A345 9V-SGE arrives from Singapore
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/8980446596_c2b7abd307.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980446596/)

Asiana Cargo Boeing 747-400F
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5347/8979225559_7ca53543a0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979225559/)

Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKP in The Hobbit livery arrives from LHR
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/8980384552_e780492348.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980384552/)

Brandon Giacomin
20th June 2013, 05:00 PM
British Airways 747 arrives from LHR
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8133/8980368744_4f3c4cdc26.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980368744/)

We stayed for the China Southern A380, unfortunately it always seemed to be an hour late whilst we were there. So it was too dark for decent photos, but I gave it a go.

China Southern A380 B-6137 arrives from Guangzhou
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8979149969_54a9850648.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979149969/)

More photos from the afternoon can be found here, after all the photos from my first day at In-N-Out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633833270093/

Well that was my last day in LA. The following day we were off to Seattle. I had a good time, LA is a dump but spotting there was fantastic and it was good to go to Universal Studios and Hollywood. I’d go back, but only for a few days and I’d just go spotting. Part 2 will include my flight from LAX-SEA with Virgin America and also what I did while in Seattle.

Thanks for reading!

Brandon

NeilP
20th June 2013, 07:02 PM
I cannot begin to tell you how unbelieveably jealous I am...

But, keep 'em coming...

Jacob L
20th June 2013, 08:30 PM
Loving your work Brandon, Would one day love to go there sounds like a great place.

Can't wait for the SXM part

Cheers

Jacob:):)

Tom Lohdan
21st June 2013, 10:59 AM
The War of the Worlds plane is getting rather old, during Halloween Horror Nights you can walk through the set, which is much better than the expensive VIP tour pass.

How did you get to Imperial Hill? I was there on Xmas day and ended up walking from the Hilton due to everything being closed, very long walk, but I had nothing else to do. If you walk pass the dog park up on the hill you get a great view of the fire training pit towards Dockweller beach.

If you are back through LAX on the way home the Observation Deck in the middle of LAX is open on weekends, beefy security, but a quick bag search and passport ID gets you up there. Encounters Restaurant is nothing to write home about during the day, but a good place to grab a beer and watch the planes.

If you are staying near LAX on Century, the Ocean Express bus is worth the $5 round trip to the beach, walk down to Hermosa Beach and drool over some of the houses none of us will ever own.

Edit: The 911 memorial site at LAX is pretty cool, it's in the middle of the lighted pylons with the giant flag, you need to walk pass Terminal 8 in the middle section, pass the control tower and over the road.

Brandon Giacomin
21st June 2013, 01:15 PM
Hey Tom,

We caught a taxi to Imperial Hill. The taxi driver was confused at first and had no idea where he was going, but we eventually got there ;) We walked on the way back, yes it is quite a long walk!

I am already back in Brisbane, got back on June 12. Would have liked to have gone to the observation deck but didn't get around to it. Something to do next time!

Brandon

Tom Lohdan
21st June 2013, 05:02 PM
Guess you know what we are going to ask....

Where are the SXM photos/video?

Heard girls drink free at the bar for being topless ;)

LA has a lot to do part from the tourist stuff, been recently doing the hike up to the Griffith Observatory then on further up Hollywood mountain. Great place for a sunset, but rather dangerous coming back down at night. Have spotted the odd rattle snake and coyote, but they seem harmless.

Brandon Giacomin
21st June 2013, 09:54 PM
Where are the SXM photos/video?

All the photos from SXM will be in the next part. I will try to have that up on Monday. I haven't uploaded any videos yet, I will get around to that next week.

Heard girls drink free at the bar for being topless

Yep that's right, noticed a few whilst I was there ;)

LA has a lot to do part from the tourist stuff, been recently doing the hike up to the Griffith Observatory then on further up Hollywood mountain. Great place for a sunset, but rather dangerous coming back down at night. Have spotted the odd rattle snake and coyote, but they seem harmless.

We mainly just did the touristy stuff and of course lots of plane spotting. Universal Studios was good. Didn't really like Disney California Adventure, nothing that interested me. Theme parks aren't really my thing.

We did a tour of LA. It took us to Venice Beach, Beverley Hills, Farmers Market and Hollywood. Venice Beach was pretty s***, not a nice place at all in my opinion. Beverley Hills was very nice, very fancy and very expensive. Lots of expensive cars too. The Farmers market was good, didn't look around much though.

Hollywood was pretty disappointing, very crowded and people on the streets constantly coming up to you and trying to get you to take CDs. We were warned by the tour guide that they would try and get you take them making you think they are free and as soon as you do they will ask for money.

Would've liked to have gone to Santa Monica and Malibu.

Tom Lohdan
22nd June 2013, 02:45 AM
We mainly just did the touristy stuff and of course lots of plane spotting. Universal Studios was good. Didn't really like Disney California Adventure, nothing that interested me. Theme parks aren't really my thing.

Same here, done Universal so many times, I now only go for events like Halloween Horror Nights. Get the FOL tickets when they go on sale, works out almost the same price as general admission by the time they ramp up prices closer to the date. The designer is on Twitter and does special meet/greet/give aways too ;)

We did a tour of LA. It took us to Venice Beach, Beverley Hills, Farmers Market and Hollywood. Venice Beach was pretty s***, not a nice place at all in my opinion. Beverley Hills was very nice, very fancy and very expensive. Lots of expensive cars too. The Farmers market was good, didn't look around much though.

Venice/SM is not nice and rather dangerous with the homeless, not a place I go after dark, hence I stay South Bay past Del Ray Marina, it's almost like a boarder ;)

Hollywood was pretty disappointing, very crowded and people on the streets constantly coming up to you and trying to get you to take CDs. We were warned by the tour guide that they would try and get you take them making you think they are free and as soon as you do they will ask for money.

The Walk of Fame AKA Hollywood is more than just Hollywood/Highland, it goes for about 2.5km. Very interesting walk when you see the old names/stars and how the area was a high point, now abandon and shuttered.

LA takes a couple of visits to get use to, took me about 5 visits until it sank in, stay away from tourist area's, hence I split LA into 3 parts, South Bay, Hollywood & The Valley, all are different depending on what you want to do.

These days I just spend my time South Bay, go north (Hollywood) for hikes, stay away from the tourist traps and enjoy LA like a local.

Next time you visit will be better, you have done the bucket list, time to explore the city most tourist never see :)

Sarah C
22nd June 2013, 11:35 AM
Great report Brandon

The only downside to the In n Out is the constant Southwest 737s - even the special liveries don't excite me. All I can think to myself when the are approaching is 'Boring' (like Homer Simpson)

Brandon Giacomin
22nd June 2013, 09:41 PM
Thanks Sarah. Yes the constant Southwest 737 arrivals got very boring! The CRJs and ERJs of Delta, United and American Eagle got pretty boring too! But there were lots of good international movements to make up for it.

Joe Frampton
25th June 2013, 03:17 AM
Great report there. I'm a Brisbane local, now living in Portland Oregon for a year or two. LA is an ok place to visit, but after going a few times, yes, there are much nicer places to visit in the US. We go up to Seattle all the time, so Paine Field is becoming a local haunt for me, which is kind of lucky I suppose, although you can spend hours there with hardly a Boeing movement, as you discovered. And your pics of the Air Museum are great, I was kind of shocked how small the seats on the Concorde were, man, that actually didn't look like a comfortable experience. Nice report, it kind of summed up a lot of my time here so far, you did all the right stuff!

Matthew Chisholm
25th June 2013, 12:14 PM
Anyone had one of the In n Out burgers? Any good?

Justin L
25th June 2013, 01:50 PM
Great, simple, true old school style American burgers. Kind of a cult following among fast food burgers here in the West.

Brandon Giacomin
25th June 2013, 02:24 PM
The burgers at In-N-Out were nice, but nothing special.