USA/Caribbean Trip Part 6: AA/VA SXM-MIA-LAX-BNE (Photos)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Introduction:

Part 1: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9280

Part 2: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9283

Part 3: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9291

Part 4: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9302

Part 5: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9315

Here is the 6th and final part of my USA/Caribbean trip report. It will include the long journey home from SXM-BNE via MIA and LAX.

ST MAARTEN PRINCESS JULIANNA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Well unfortunately our 2 week holiday had come to an end, and it was time to go home. I really didn’t want to leave St Maarten! We caught a taxi to the airport, arriving at about 6:30am for the 8:15am flight. We were checked in for the flight to Miami and also the flight to Los Angeles. But we would have to collect our bags in Miami because it is an international flight. With everything sorted out we went through security and waited at our gate. Our aircraft arrived the night before, and it was N844NN that would be flying us to MIA.

The two Winair Twin Otters I flew on, WIJ and WIS!
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My ride to Miami
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Boarding commenced on-time so it was time to start the 30 hour journey home!

June 10, 2013
American Airlines
AA1369
SXM-MIA
N844NN B738
Seat 20A

My row, the plane was probably 80% full; the middle seat next to me was un-occupied
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My view
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9124317051_63db915a35.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9124317051/)

Pushback
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3771/9129116045_b6e7fd0281.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9129116045/)

We taxied out to RWY10 for departure; I got my last look at Maho Beach. I really SXM!!! Josh took a video of the takeoff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5vFDOUy27c

Big right hand turn to avoid the mountain
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The wingtip
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On our way to Miami
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Just like the MIA-SXM flight, we got awesome views of the Caribbean
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Another flight going the opposite direction
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That water looks amazing!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9131300184_c2d05052b4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131300184/)

WOW!
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I was looking out the window and I noticed an AA B738 not to far from us. It would soon pass under us so I quickly grabbed my bigger lens. I managed to get a couple of shots, but they were a bit blurred. It was a pretty awesome sight.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/9131396520_19ae11f34f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131396520/)

More stunning views
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[Brandon Giacomin]

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Descending into MIA
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Over Southern Florida
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http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/9131376986_85d02d71e4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131376986/)

On finals
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Josh took a video of the landing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws3qeYAo2nk

Was happy to see this beauty just as we were about to land. Etihad Crystal Cargo’s first Boeing 747-8F!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7302/9129160239_d49a76ea90.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9129160239/)

Landing in Miami
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Some freighters, was great to see three Boeing 727s lined up
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It was quite a long taxi to the terminal
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Five AA B738s in the frame
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/9129159719_05060c2464.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9129159719/)

Dreamlifter
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3686/9131354958_1969eca1d7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131354958/)

Monster Cathay Cargo B744F taxiing past
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5470/9129269271_bfdce29b94.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9129269271/)

Two MD-11Fs, an Atlas B744F and a SBA B763
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3777/9131478266_133d4c5b54.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131478266/)

Nice surprise, John Travolta’s Boeing 707! I believe there have been some issues with the aircraft and it has been repaired in Miami.
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Passing a big American Airlines hangar
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[Brandon Giacomin]

And finally coming into the gate
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We arrived on-time, disembarked the plane and made our way to customs.

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The line for customs at MIA was huge! Lucky we got there when we did because it looked like lots more international flights had also just arrived. It took about an hour to clear customs (not that bad I suppose). We then collected our bags and waited another 30 minutes to clear the final customs check. After that we walked to the connecting flights area, had our bags taken and went through security. We now had about 2 hours til our flight to LAX.

Grabbed something to eat and started the long walk to our gate. We would be flying on a Boeing 767 to LAX; this was our last chance to get an AA plane in the new livery. I was also hoping we would get one with winglets! We made it to our gate and there was an AA B763 in the new livery! :D But unfortunately it had no winglets :( Oh well!

N376AN, our plane to LAX
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A B738 in the new livery parked next to our 767
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Finally at 3pm, it was time to board!

June 10, 2013
American Airlines
AA287
MIA-LAX
N376AN B763
Seat 33A

My view
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9131460860_d21835d180.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9131460860/)

The flight to LAX was 100% full, so the cabin crew were constantly saying over the P/A for passengers to put bags under the seat in-front if it will fit! I overheard the passenger next to me on the phone. He was calling AA because he paid for an upgrade to first class, but he showed up for the flight and he was put in economy, bugger! We taxied out and took off (can’t remember which runway we used).

Southwest Florida International Airport
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Leaving Florida
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Over Texas
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Austin International Airport
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Interior, the aircraft was 21 years. Just look at those old overhead screens! And the in seat controls were dials! haha
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Cruising over the desert
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Chandler Municipal Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
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Phoenix Goodyear Airport
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[Brandon Giacomin]

Some nice views as we near California
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3801/9132718357_e4875f6611.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9132718357/)

Palm Springs International Airport
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2840/9132715399_3a31ff184e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9132715399/)

Passing Palm Springs as we start our descent
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March Air Reserve Base
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Back in Los Angeles after landing on RWY25L. The flight was about 5 hours.
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Nice line-up!
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3834/9134921498_6e8a8b11f6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/9134921498/)

Parking next to a new livery AA B772
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Disembarked and went to pick up my bag, that’s when things went bad!

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Ok, so we found the baggage carousel for our flight. The conveyer belt started to move and the first bag came off, it was wrapped in plastic and looked quite badly damaged! Felt sorry for the poor bugger who owned the bag. That’s when I realised it was my bag, S***!!! I grabbed it and I couldn’t believe this had happened! The entire back of the suitcase had been ripped off and it was just taped up. Thankfully I had all my valuables in my carry on! I was pretty p****d off!! I was focused on my suitcase but thankfully Josh heard that I had been paged and was to go to baggage services. After he grabbed his bag we walked over.

I walked in with my suitcase and went up to the counter. I told the lady there that I had just been paged. She started typing on the computer and then went out back. I didn’t say anything because I was quite tired and angry and I just assumed she knew what she was doing. After about 10 minutes she came out did some more typing and said, “I’m sorry it looks like we’ve lost your bag!” Turns out she didn’t know what she was doing! I said to her that I have my bag! I showed her the bag, so now that she knew what was going on, she got me to fill out a form and then went out back to get me a new suitcase!

A few minutes later she came out with a nice new bag! Straight away I went from being rather annoyed to being very happy! I thought it was great that AA replaced the bag without any fuss! So I opened up my old bag and put all the stuff into my new one. I had a laugh as I transferred my stuff, the bag was absolutely buggered!!!! She threw away my old bag, I thanked her and then Josh and I walked out of the terminal. There was a note in my bag but I didn't read it til I got home. It said that for security reasons some bags are searched and mine was chosen! It also said that if your bag has a lock on it (which mine did!) they will be forced to break it open. I understand that they have to check bags, but couldn't they just break the lock rather than rip the back of your suitcase off!!! Oh well, it all worked out in the end!

By then it was just after 7pm. We caught the complimentary transfer bus to terminal 3, which VA uses for departures. There was a small line which moved quite quickly. VA1 to Sydney left before ours, at about 10:30pm. Our flight was due out at 11:55pm. We checked in together, and just like the flight over to LAX, because we booked all our flights separately we were hoping we could get window seats next to each other. I was originally assigned 34K (which would have had a great view!) and Josh was giver 4*K (can’t remember which row exactly). The lady checked and found two window seats together, 49A and 50A. A bit too far back, but I wasn’t bothered because I was tired and just wanted to get home!

So with that sorted out we went through security and went to Burger King for some dinner and then we found a couple of seats, it was very busy at the time. VPD and VPF were in LAX (unlucky for Josh as he has been on both of them), I was hoping for VPF as she is still in the old livery but she was off to Sydney! So we would be on VPD, which Josh got on VA8 in 2011 ;) I was exhausted; I managed to get a little sleep as we waited. Finally at about 11:10pm it was time to board.

June 10, 2013
Virgin Australia
VA8
LAX-BNE
VH-VPD B77W
Seat 50A

Boarding was very un-organised with people crowding around the gate. Finally I step foot onto the plane. I was greeted by a female flight attendant who had a nice Aussie accent; it was great to hear that after hearing pretty much only American accents for the last 2 weeks. It was a great feeling to be going home! Boarding finally finished, I had a couple next to me. Josh had no-one next to him, so the lady next to me moved to 49C so we could all spread out a bit more which was good. I had the occasional chat with the guy next to me. He was an air traffic controller at LAX for a couple of years in the 80’s, he now lives in Toowoomba.

At about midnight we taxied out to RWY25R (so I used all four runway at LAX :)) and at 15 past midnight we took off. Half an hour into the flight the crew came through with dinner. There were three choices, I took the chicken with mash potato (can’t remember the other two choices). It was quite nice but I barely touched it because I lost my appetite, probably from all the travel!

I managed a little bit of sleep, but as we neared Hawaii I didn’t feel that I’d be able to get back to sleep so I decided to watch a movie. I watched Identity Thief, it was alright. It had its funny bits, but it was very annoying! I then watched I give it a Year, again it had its funny bits but it was pretty crap. Then I just relaxed and stared at the time to go on the flight map very slowly go down haha!

Passing Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu
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2 hours out of Brisbane, it was breakfast time. Unlike the flight from BNE-LAX where they just flicked the lights on straight away, they used the mood lighting which was nice. The choices were French toast with something and I forgot the other option haha! I still wasn’t hungry so I just took a glass of orange juice.

Nearly there!!!
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The sun slowly rises over the Pacific
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Finally it was time to start our decent
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[Brandon Giacomin]

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On short finals for RWY19 we had some awesome affects coming off the wings. There was some pretty bad fog in Brisbane, but thankfully we made it in with no problems

Taxiing to the international; can’t see too much outside!
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Parked next to OJU
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We finally got off the aircraft, ending the monster 30 hour trip from SXM! It was tiring, but it actually passed quite quickly, except for the last couple of hours where I was just staring at the time haha! The total flight time was 13 hours 43 minutes. We arrived 10 minutes before our scheduled time of 7am. Customs wasn't too busy, passed through in about 15 minutes. Couldn’t remember what my new bag looked like but I found it! We were lined up with a bunch of other people to have a sniffer dog check us, no problem there so we got out into the arrivals area and found my parents who drove me home. And that was the end of our awesome USA/Caribbean trip!

Conclusion:

Flights:

All my flights were good. Virgin Australia was fantastic as I’ve come to expect from them. The 777s were comfortable and the service was great. Virgin America were also very good, the flight on their A320 was comfortable. American Airlines were fine, I think the interior on their planes is a bit ugly but I'm sure they will improve with their new 777s as well as the other 500 brand new planes they have on order! The seats were comfortable enough, the 737s were fine but the 757 and 767 were really showing their age. But having Wi-Fi on the 757 was good. But I would fly with them again. Winair were great, the flights were only 10-15 minutes but I loved them.

Destinations:

Los Angeles
LA itself isn’t a very nice place, but I am glad I went there and did some of the touristy stuff. Spotting there was the highlight, so many different airlines and aircraft types and the movements are just non-stop!

Seattle
Seattle was a really nice city. Looked pretty clean and I just loved the view from the space needle. It was great to tour the Boeing factory and see the 747, 777 and 787 production lines and seeing all the brand new Boeing planes sitting on the tarmac was great. Boeing Field was good too, was great to see a Concorde and also the first 737 and 747 ever built. Checking out Renton and doing a little spotting at Sea-Tac was good too!

St Maarten
The highlight of the trip without a doubt! I could just chill at the Sunset Bar and Grill all day every day! It is a must visit for all plane spotters! I really want to go back!

St Barths
St Barths is definitely worth a visit, an absolutely beautiful island. And the airport is amazing, that dive approach is awesome! Spotting there is great too; I would go back for sure and probably stay a couple of nights!

Saba
Saba was a nice looking island, but because we stayed at the airport for 5 hours it got very boring. They only get 5 flights a day. It’s definitely worth going there to take off and land on the shortest commercial runway in the world. But I would probably just get the first flight of the day to Saba and then the next flight back, which would give you about 2 hours there.

Well that’s it! Next trip for me is down to Sydney for the day at the end of the month with Tiger Airways, now Tiger Air!

Thanks for reading all my reports for the trip!

Brandon

[Jacob L]

Thanks for posting all that, must have bought some SD cards while you over there, great photos, great report.

Hope you enjoyed it

Jacob

[Justin L]

Great trip reports Brandon. I look forward to future editions from when you next travel.

[Maria M]

Great report. Amazing pics !