Aussie Flyer

The recent merger of Continental and United Airlines has created a mega-carrier with over 700 aircraft in the mainline fleet and nearly 90,000 staff. It is an absolutely mammoth operation with a route network covering the entire globe. The airline has so many different aircraft types it is hard to keep up with what's on offer! For my recent trip from the New York area to Japan I booked a flight on an aircraft which was formerly the flagship of the Continental fleet, the Boeing 777-200ER in a two class configuration featuring the airlines 'BusinessFirst' seating. Under the United brand the seating name has stuck and the airline has acquired a new hub in Newark. My flight, UA79, from a very cold New York would be operated by former Continental Airlines crew members. The United B777-200ER operating my flight

I have reviewed UA840 a couple of years back, but with my Star Gold status renewal running a little short this year I directed a bit of business back in United's direction for a trans-pacific run. Here is a quick run down of the flight once more... pretty much the worst option for Trans Pacific flying, but also usually the cheapest!! N174UA parked in front of the new Cafe Vue at Melbourne International I was taking this trip in the Economy Plus section of the Boeing 747-400, which features 34 inch pitch compared to the 31 inches offered in economy. The first leg of the flight is the short hop from Melbourne to Sydney, and today it was being operated by Boeing 747-400 N174UA. This bird first flew in early 1990, making her 21 years old. The now old United livery on the 747-400 I was at the airport about 90 minutes before departure and the check-in desks were already pretty empty. Looks like a light load for the first sector, which seems pretty common. After visiting th...

I am simply putting this next trip report in pictures. I have been running late blogging this stuff so some of the minor details have slipped my mind anyway! This post covers my journey home from New York to Melbourne on United Airlines Flight 28, p.s service Boeing 757-200 (New York JFK to Los Angeles) and United Flight 839 Boeing 747-400 from Los Angeles to Melbourne via Sydney. airtrain arriving at JFK airtrain at JFK approaching JetBlue terminal heading up to the United Red Carpet Club at JFK United RCC at JFK, has a view free wifi onboard today, limited time offer. also you can see the lounge wifi access card N525UA, my ride to LAX. Boeing 757-200 fitted with winglets (and wifi onboard) flight to SFO waiting beside us taxi'ing out I spot a Jet (9W) A330-200 - i think they fly in from India via Brussels? we have liftoff - nice view of JFK wave goodbye to New York, climbing out in cruise o...

I arrived into LAX terminal 7 off a United Airlines flight from Las Vegas and decided to head to the Continental President's Club between flights. I spent a good 10 minutes educating the lounge attendant about Star Alliance Gold lounge access policies and she read and re-read her folders about 10 times before finally agreeing I was allowed into the lounge on a BMI Diamond Club gold card with an onward domestic flight on United. It was worth it though, as the President's Club is much better than the Red Carpet Club, and they have free wi-fi and drinks! Continental President's Club at LAX I settled down with a vodka and orange juice and logged on to my MSN account to chat with friends back home. The fog and mist outside was still quite heavy but gradually improving. I decided to track the Boeing 757 that would be operating my sector on it's inbound flight from the east coast on FlightAware. I even managed to listen to some live air traffic control online which passed...