Back-Back to the USA

/ Barefootbuell

I’m going home. This time I didn’t want to miss a flight. See my posts from March 5, 2022, to read about missing my connection in LA – called First Two Legs of an Extra Long Flight. Nor did I think it was worth it to travel first or business class. See March 6, 2022 to read why I felt that way. But it is a long way home

This time I booked the flight through American Airlines, but the plane will be flown by their codeshare partner Qantas. It is the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight direct from Melbourne to Dallas Texas.

The review said this plane, has no first class, 42 business class lie flat berths, 28 premium economy seats and 166 economy “perches.” I wondered are we going to be sitting on tree limbs?

As I sat down on my perch I was greeted by a Welcome sign on a bright screen in front of my face. My comfortable seat in economy included a blanket, a pillow and a small felt case with earplugs, and a toothbrush. Earphones were provided too. The crowded space was carefully designed, lines and angles curved in useful ways. But to me the most important thing in this view is the green light over the bathroom, visible from my seat.

In 2022 I was traveling alone and paid a fortune to upgrade to the lie -flat first class seats on Delta. I found I still didn’t sleep and the other passengers were cold. I would rather travel with a friend and squeeze into cattle car seats in economy.

This time I sat on the aisle seat with my friend next to me on the right side and another traveler sat in the window seat. I’d made this trip multiple times, so I didn’t need the window seat. The aisle seat was very convenient, I loved being able to get up without disturbing anyone.

Lots of food was available. They started out by giving us bottled water. Then they came around with cold drinks, followed by hot drinks, and snacks. We had a main meal about 6 hours into the flight. They turned down the lights for us to sleep. I brought an herbal sleep aide, which I took an hour before I wanted to sleep. I listened to an audio book and managed to sleep a little off and on. After we’d been flying for around 12 hours they turned on the lights and fed us breakfast. The plane left the airport almost an hour late, but we were traveling with the trade winds and made it to Dallas Texas in 14 hours. We breezed through customs, and picked up our luggage in the spacious clean Dallas airport.

Now the day after this flight I’m amazed at how little jet lag I am feeling. Maybe it was because we left Sunday at 1:45 and flew for 6 hours before getting our main meal, and arrived in Dallas the Sunday at 1:15. We arrived before we left! I would recommend this flight to anyone coming to the Midwest or the east coast of the USA from Melbourne.

Inside the Dallas airport

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