I have recently made two day trips to Sydney to take workshops at some Advanced Life Support courses. Both times I flew with Virgin Australia and then took the airport train and a suburban train to within walking distance of my destination.
The first round trip was on a Friday in late October, and turned out to be a bit of a horror story from a flight perspective. I left home at 06:50 and then finally returned home at 22:30 for a very late dinner.
I drove myself to the airport and arrived in plenty of time as I did not have any luggage other than my carry-on backpack. I checked the departures screen on arrival, and was dismayed to see that my 08:30 flight had been cancelled. My blood pressure was already rising, as I had to be at my destination in Sydney no later than 12:30 to set up for the afternoon workshops. I wasn't sure what to do, as the check-in area was crammed with people and I knew from experience that it would take about 45 minutes to get to the front. I rang my colleague in Sydney and he suggested going to the barely populated Priority Check-In desk. I did this, only to be told off as I am a mere Velocity Red member as opposed to a Gold or Platinum member or Business Class flyer who would actually qualify to use this desk. However, fortunately they helped me anyway.
First of all I was told that I had been re-booked on a flight to Cairns at 09:00. Cairns???? It took some time to sort this out as of course I was going to Sydney. I was eventually re-booked on an 09:00 flight to Sydney, but there was further consternation and discussion as the fare class was more expensive than my original fare. Close to 30 minutes later I finally walked away with a new boarding pass in hand. At that stage I noticed that there was a Service Desk nearby, but its existence had been completely obscured by the crowd of people queued up around it and there were no overhead signs to assist in locating it. I went through Security and headed for the Gate Lounge.
Alas my new flight was not running on time either, and in the end was delayed by a further 55 minutes. By this stage it was a long time since I had eaten or drunk anything substantial and I started feeling both mildly hypoglycaemic and caffeine-deprived. By the time the complimentary coffee arrived on the aircraft I had quite a headache. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be given some yoghurt and a muffin as this was included with my new and improved fare class. I scoffed the yoghurt and saved the muffin for later, as I had a feeling that I would be needing it during the afternoon (which proved to be the case).
When I arrived at Sydney Airport the Visitor Help Desk was not manned, and the person I waited to speak to at the city bus counter had not heard of the private hospital that I had to travel to, but helpfully looked it up on his iPhone and made a suggestion as to the nearest train station. I went down to buy an Airport Train ticket, and the service person wasn't sure where I had to get off either, but sold me a ticket to what he thought would be the nearest station. I had to change at Central, and as I still wasn't clear where I was going, I asked the lady in the control booth. Miraculously she was familiar with the hospital and the area and was able to suggest both the nearest train station and how to walk to the hospital from there.
Sydney has marvellous double-decker suburban trains, and it was a bit of a thrill to travel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by train. Eventually I arrived at St Leonards, but the girl in the ticket office had no idea where the Mercy Hospital was, and time was marching on, so I went out the front and took a taxi for the final leg. The hospital was more or less straight down the road, but it was certainly quicker by taxi. I arrived at 12:25, but there was no time for lunch and half a sandwich later it was on with set-up. The workshops were fairly full-on and then we had to pack up all the equipment afterwards. My colleague drove me back to the airport, arriving at 17:20.
This was a day when lightning did indeed strike twice. The flight home was delayed and the gate was also changed without telling anyone until I noticed that my flight had disappeared from the lounge display screen and made an enquiry. I was missing my afternoon coffee and was getting increasingly hungry and headachey, so after consuming the banana muffin I decided to self-medicate with a large cappuccino from the airport McDonalds, this being the best value. After an extremely long wait, the coffee was finally mine. It was actually very nice. It was a dark but smooth roast with depth of flavour. My strength renewed, I approached the gate lounge staff to ask whether it might be possible to change to an earlier flight, but unfortunately it was completely full, so I went back to waiting.
I think that my frustration was made worse as my work colleague had been telling me how nice it was to spend time in the Qantas and Virgin lounges whilst waiting for a flight. These provide a quiet and comfortable environment with free internet access, food and drink. As he travels frequently there is no problem with maintaining enough "status points" to get into the lounges. However, whilst I have a massive number of Velocity points I have nowhere near enough "status points" to gain access to the lounge.
On the fight back complimentary tea, coffee and alcohol were offered, but no food. I felt this was very inappropriate as the flight had been badly delayed and most people would be ravenous and it is never a good idea to drink alcohol on an empty stomach.
My flight departed 65 minutes late and I eventually landed in Melbourne at 21:30. After catching the bus back to the Long Term Car Park I drove home to enjoy my now very soggy fish and ships at about 11pm.
In total I spent 5 hours and 50 minutes waiting around at the airports waiting for delayed flights. It really was a physically draining ordeal on top of all the other travelling time. At the end of it I was actually hesitant at the thought of ever flying Virgin again.
However, as I am trying to accumulate enough Velocity points to get a "reward" flight to travel to an overseas conference next year, I bravely agreed to take another Virgin return trip the following time that I had to go to Sydney for work.
Fortunately the second time went more smoothly. The morning flight ran to time, but as it was a Sunday there were multiple delays due to the infrequency of trains. I took the Airport Train to Central and then travelled to Westmead and walked to the Private Hospital. Amazingly the major road I had to turn down did not have a signpost so for some distance I was not sure that I was actually on the right road! This time I arrived at 12:15 and had a little time to eat before we had to set up for the workshops. The workshops went well, and my colleague dropped me back at Westmead station shortly after 16:30. I had to wait for a train to Central and then wait at Central for the Airport Train. I actually found the stop to get off at a little confusing, as I recalled Mascot being the name of the airport "in the olden days". Wrong! I alighted in confusion at Mascot station and it turned out that this is now a suburban station and the domestic airport was one stop further along. After another fifteen minutes' wait I finally arrived at the airport.
According to the Departures board my 19:00 flight was now scheduled for 19:40. Dismayed I approached the check-in desk shortly before 18:00 and asked if it was possible to take an earlier flight. The lady at the desk very kindly helped me and transferred me to the 18:30 flight. I was in a hurry to get to the gate lounge, but there were delays at the security screening and just as I started to run for the gate I was grabbed by the man with the explosives screening wand and forced to submit to my bag and my shoes being checked, and during this process I was further distressed that my computer was knocked off the small shelf that my bag was on and fell onto the floor. Fortunately it does not appear to be damaged.
Food-wise this time I had planned ahead and had brought a thermos of coffee and a muesli bar. I ate this together with the last few mouthfuls of cold coffee whilst I was waiting at Mascot.
The return flight was mercifully running more or less on time and I arrived home for another late dinner just after 21:00.
Virgin did much better the second time around but both times it was a very long and tiring day. It would have no doubt been a lot easier and more pleasant if it was possible to pop into the Lounge whilst waiting, and I can't imagine doing a regular commute of this nature on any other basis.
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