World Traveller 73 
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Qantas First Class, Airbus 380, Los Angeles – Melbourne
“The Qantas First Class Suite is about as sumptuous as you can get for a long night flight over the Pacific Ocean, and easily a first choice amongst the carriers that service Australia from the United States”
We left the lounge at about T-60 and headed down towards the gate. Instantly after leaving the lounge, it was back to the land of screaming children. Dependent on your mood, this was a good or a bad thing.
We wandered through the Bliss cosmetic store where we both picked up a few things and headed down to Gate 154. Both the Qantas A380 flights of the evening (Sydney & Melbourne) were departing from gates side by each. Thankfully, there was a separate line for first class as there were probably over 80 persons in the business class line.
Qantas Airlines
QF 94 – First Class (P)
LAX – MEL (Los Angeles International Airport – Tom Bradley International Terminal – Melbourne International Terminal 2)
July 7, 2019
10:40 PM – 7:30 AM + 2
Booked: Airbus 380-800
Flown: Airbus 380-800
The boarding was a bit of organized chaos as they appeared to start loading some of the lower economy row numbers which clogged up the jet bridges. First Class had it’s own jet bridge tonight, which was again really appreciated.
On Board Qantas First Class on the Airbus A380:
We found our way on board and into suites 2A & 3A. I booked these suites well in advance being on the private side of the cabin. The first class cabin is in a 1-1-1 configuration and makes for a very spacious and private seating area. There are no doors on the suite, but based on the design, there isn’t ever anyone looking into your space at any time.
As we settled in, the flight announcements came from the captain, announcing a 15 and a half hour flight time down to Melbourne, via Honolulu, Vanuatu and Fiji waypoints with a planned arrival on shed-jewel.
A pre-departure beverage was offered. I asked if the good champagne was available and indeed it was. I don’t know if this is the usual course of business but they were loading the terrific Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs from the bottle. It was slightly off cold but I wasn’t complaining with a bottle like this. A small appetizer was also dropped off.
Martin Grant Amenity Kits:
The amenity kits and pyjamas were also dropped off. The pyjamas were Martin Grant, which I actually took with me and used throughout the rest of the trip. The kit was of reasonable quality with some useful items.
The First Class jet bridge was pulled back at about T-30 with a full 14 of us in First tonight.
While we were awaiting the loading of the rest of the aircraft, I ran upstairs to take some lounge photos while it was still lit. I assumed we would be going dark for the rest of the flight given that it was an overnight flight.
Back downstairs, our steward came around to introduce himself in addition the manager Clint who dropped off immigration cards and fast track cards for us for Australia.
We had a very long taxi over to the north runways. The LAX airport was designed before the Boeing 747 so special efforts were made when the A380 started service here. These included escort cars on the taxi-way’s thanks to the wide wing span of this wonderful jet.
The take off was nice and gradual; among the most elegant of the commercial civilian aircraft in the sky.
Food and Beverage on Qantas First Class: A Full Three Course Midnight Meal
I opted for another champagne once we were airborne. Since I had gorged myself in the Qantas LAX lounge, I went with a lighter dinner once airborne which started at about 12 midnight. The Qantas menus are inspired by Australian Celebrity chef Neil Perry, who has now been creating menus for them for more than 20 years.
There were also some reasonable wines. Unfortunately, due to the late hour, it isn’t like you’ll spend a whole lot of time getting through all of them, unless you are an insomniac wine drinker.
I started with Potato and Leek soup with chive crème fraiche, along with mesculin salad with aged balsamic and sourdough bread. I paired this with the “The Lane” Gathering Sauvingon Blanc Semillion 2017 from Adelaide Hills, South Australia.
I closed with a cheese plate with assorted accompaniments. The cheese included cheddar, hard blue cheese and brie.
Qantas First Class Sleep Bedding:
“The bedding was among the highest quality I’ve ever had in the sky and felt much better than fellow One World Member British Airways First Class and of higher quality than the Star Alliance category leader Lufthansa First Class”
I had the bed made up and went to change into the pyjamas. The pjyamas were actually quite comfortable. A Large / Extra Large was one size, and it was just right fitting a 6ft 2 inch frame. I took a Relax and Sleep around 1 AM and slept for a good solid 9 hours. It took me a little while to get to sleep, but once I got accustomed to the environment, I didn’t want to get up. It was probably among the best bedding that I have had in the sky. It was much better than British Airways First Class and probably better than my most recent last Lufthansa First Class.
I woke up as we were over Noumea with still 4 hours to go. I opted for another glass of the Tattinger Champagne, which was now perfectly chilled having been in the fridge for 10 hours.
The Second Service: A Full Breakfast
Around 2 hours before landing, the crew came around to take the breakfast order. I started with Neils Healthy Museli with toasted apple bircher and walnuts, yoghurt, along with poached eggs, irish bacon and baked beans, along with a croissant.
Since we weren’t driving on arrival, we ended up continuing on with the Taittinger champagne until the plane ran out. My guess is that they had loaded 3 bottles since we were among the only ones drinking it with any regularity. We ended up with Duval Leroy champagne for the last glass or two.
We had a slow but direct approach into the Melbourne Airport. It was the first time I touched down in this port of entry into Australia. I’ve always previously arrived to Australia at Sydney Kingford Smith.
There were quite a few international flights arriving at this time and any rushing for the custom’s immigration stamp was met by waves of traffic from other flights. Qantas did offer a fast track card, but the Melbourne airport seemed to be quite disorganized. Having e-passport readers, half the people were queuing for these machines, the line dragon at the express arrivals wasn’t all too interested in allowing us to proceed into Fast Track despite having an “invitation”. We were eventually waved up the Fast Track lane. The Australia Border Police didn’t stamp our passports. That was great that we were able to save valuable passport space but at the same time, there was no souvenir for us despite having to visit at the counter. We had codes printed on our customs cards and MrsWT73 was sent into secondary as they were training dogs in additional to filming the Australian version of Border Security.
We met our Blacklane driver who was able to transfer us to the Westin Melbourne without any issues. It took about 35 minutes by car.
The Bottom Line on Qantas First Class Service to Australia:
“Qantas First Class is easily among the most comfortable ways to get to Australia”
Qantas First Class is an absolutely fantastic way to get to Australia. The highlights were the larger seat, the terrific first class lounges and the great bedding on board that allowed for a solid nights rest. The low points were the late night of the flight, and the slow and outdated in flight entertainment system which is due to be upgraded.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Qantas First Class International Lounge, Tom Bradley International Terminal, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
“While the Qantas First Class Lounge Los Angeles doesn’t command the best real estate unlike other LAX lounges that offer great terrace and concourse views, it’s a pretty nice place that actually has some personality to it.”
We arrived to the Los Angeles Tom Bradley International Terminal. Being the middle of summer, the place was absolutely packed with travelling tourists, families and other groups. Los Angeles Airport isn’t too generous on sidewalk space at the best of times and it was slow going getting through all the throngs of people.
Checking into Qantas First Class:
Once inside, we made our way over to the middle B check in row. Thankfully, Qantas opens it’s check in counters at 6 PM, or just over 4 ½ hours in advance of our flight. This was really appreciated, as there were stacks of people camped out in the terminal just waiting for their flights to check in. We rolled up to the First Class check in lane, where there was no wait at all.
The friendly agent checked us in and asked if we wanted our bags tagged on the same luggage heck. We were then given instructions towards the lounge and directed upstairs. There was no escort given, but instructions were given to use the First / Business security lane. Security took a bit of time given that many families were all together and it took a bit of a wait to get through our lane with the groups of kiddies heading off to far away lands. Unfortunately, despite having a major focus in the USA with multiple flights from JFK, LAX and SFO, Qantas hasn’t bothered or wanted to pay into TSA Pre-Check.
Once on the secure side, we took a quick look at duty free. The pricing was almost retail street level amounts with cashier lines about 10 deep. We ended up foregoing duty free and headed up towards the lounge. We bypassed PJ Changs’ (Priority Pass joke there) and went straight to the Qantas Airlines International First Lounge.
Accessing the Qantas First Class Lounge:
The lounge is located on the 5th floor of the Tom Bradley International Terminal in the older terminal building before the renovation.
Our boarding cards were checked and we were admitted. Access was granted thanks to the International First Class cabin of our ticket. One World Emeralds, the highest One World Tier for having flown between 50,000 and 100,000 qualifying miles on a variety of carriers, are also afforded access.
Inside the Qantas First Class Lounge Los Angeles:
The lounge was particularly empty at 6:30 PM when we arrived. We opted for a large red lounger while we settled in with a glass of Mumm’s Champagne. I asked for the Perrier Jouiett champagne on the menu, but it turns out that they were out tonight. Similar to other proper first class lounges, they had an army of wait staff offering to get drinks, food and other snacks.
Food and Beverage includes a Sit Down A La Carte Dining Restaurant:
At about 7:20 PM, we ended up heading down for a proper dinner service. The summer menu was comprehensive and was full of interesting things to enjoy.
I started with the famous Neil Perry Salt and Pepper Squid with chili sauce, and aioli. It was a healthy portion and most excellent as it was freshly prepared. Our server recommended the red Penfold’s Max Cabernet Sauvingon to go with this; which was a bit of an odd choice combination when I tried it out. MrsWT73 had the tomato and basil soup; which she reported as excellent.
I followed with a minute steak with chipotle butter, chips and lime. For a minute steak, it was perfectly cooked, with just a bit of red in the middle. I went upscale and paired with the other wine on the list which was a Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon.
I followed it with tomatoes with Neil’s Vinaigrette and buffalo mozzarella cheese, which was also very good.
I was pretty stuffed by this point. I was happy to realize that dinner in the lounge actually was able to substitute for a proper meal. I went all out and have a vanilla ice cream sundae with pineapple, coconut and lychee. No doubt a special occasion and it was paired with Jackson Triggs Ice Wine from Niagara Region, Canada. I was totally stuffed by this point and ready to enter into a food coma.
The lounge had gotten much fuller since we had arrived and probably had over 80 persons inside unlike the 5 that were here when we first arrived.
My Thoughts on the Qantas First Class Lounge, Los Angeles:
In summary, a solid lounge that actually had some personality and spirit to it; unlike some of the stodgy Lufthansa or British Airways First Class lounges. I’ll probably never get in here again, but stranger things have happened. Make sure you find time to stop by here before your over night Qantas flight… enjoy a dinner, allow some time to digest before you hop on board for a seven-star snooze. It is highly recommended.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Activity: To Malibu for Lunch, California, United States
After the quick morning “snack” in the lounge. MrsWT73 took a while to get going. We ended up leaving the hotel at around 12 noon and heading up the coast to Malibu. We drove up the coast to Duke’s Malibu. It was a popular spot for brunch; we didn’t have a reservation and there was about a 40 minute wait for Sunday Brunch. We ended up on the pub side where we sat outside while the local fog burned off. An spiked iced tea complimented today’s brunch efforts.
Nice to actually have a drink out of one of these mugs stateside…
Driving the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu:
On our way back, we stopped a few times to take in the shore line from the Pacific Coast Highway. The sun started coming out slowly.
A Walk on the Santa Monica Pier:
We ended up at the Santa Monica Pier. We were lucky enough to find street parking out front of the JW Marriott Le Meridina? We ended up going for a walk down the pier. Being the middle of summer, it was packed with people.
A slow walk out to the end, taking in the sights. It was my first time visiting Santa Monica Beach in the middle of summer. It was quite busier than in my past trips.
We headed down to the boardwalk where the playground and yoga stands were. We passed by the usual patch of grass where several yoga stand poses were on display.
We eventually wandered back to the car and onwards to LAX and the Hertz Rental Return. We experienced the miserable traffic issues around LAX with an extra 15 minutes wait just getting back to the rental car return. After we had returned our vehicle, we had another 20 minutes on the hertz shuttle buss just navigating traffic to get to the terminal.
Our Los Angeles Layover Summarized:
All in all, I was happy we left a little bit of extra time in order to fully enjoy the departure experience. Our brief trip to Malibu was a nice way to kill a layover and a nice change of pace from our usual Los Angeles activities.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Marriott LAX Hotel, Los Angeles, California, United States
I got a little tired of the uninspired the Westin LAX from my pass through on my last Lufthansa First Class adventure in December 2018, so I thought we I would stay somewhere different. The Westin LAX was starting to look pretty run down on my last visit. The well placed Marriott was convenient and close to the Hertz rental car facility. Add in a fairly cheap AAA Hot Rate at $144 USD and it was a cheaper option than staying up in Hollywood, or Santa Monica. Given we were only in town for 28 hours, we didn’t bother with the hassle to stay downtown or down in Long Beach.
We picked up our bags and hopped the Hertz bus over to the Hertz Gold Five Star Aisles where a beautiful 2019 BMW 530i was waiting for us. It was mostly clean and immaculate with only 727 miles on the odometer.
We didn’t get buy on board for dinner tonight so we headed over to the nearby LAX In and Out at 600 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles for Saturday night date night. A couple of in and out burgers with spectacular plane spotting opportunities. I’m a lucky man that MrsWT73 enjoys this as a Saturday night dinner once in a while.
Arriving to the Marriott LAX:
After the late dinner at In and Out, we drove the half mile over to the LAX Marriott. We self parked the car in the stuffed and almost full parking lot. After strolling the bags up to the room, we were almost taken out by an avalanche of Westjet flight crew who were getting dropped off. Thankfully, with about 20 people waiting to check in at the reception, there was a well marked platinum / titanium / ambassador line. Thanks to online check in efforts, we were on our way quite quickly. Some photos from the next morning…
The Room: An M Club Lounge Access, Guest Room – 1 King
We were given a soft upgrade to the top floor of the building in the same category of room booked. We led ourselves up to room #1833.
The property has undergone a major refurbishment and was must cleaner than my Westin experience. The room was in clean shape, having been fully refurbished. Despite the refurbishment, this is an older property which means smaller than average hotel rooms consistent with the seventies era that this building was constructed in.
The room was reasonably well insulated, although the noise of airplanes could still be heard through the windows throughout the night. The curtains offered a reasonably strong blackout to an otherwise uninspiring view.
A Hotel Lounge: The “M” Lounge
We finished off the evening in the “M” Lounge, provided complimentary with our Marriott Platinum level benefits. The lounge is open 24 hours a day. Food and beverage service is limited to certain hours. MrsWT73 had a glass of wine while I had a Tequila Twist drink prepared by a bartender with silver tequila. The M Lounge was a high traffic area with somewhat sticky floors that made our runners squish as we moved around the lounge. At least it featured unobstructed views of the two LAX runways.
The next morning, I got up for a lounge breakfast while MrsWT73 slept in. She had arrived from Germany back to the Pacific Time Zone only 72 hours before this particular trip and was still adjusting to the jetlag. The lounge was against packed for breakfast hour. There were the usual scrambled eggs, german sausages, broken espresso machine, starbucks coffee with cream that wasn’t usually refilled. All in all, about what you’d expect from a busy Club Lounge that is struggling to keep up. The wifi here was particularly slow on our visit, so I wouldn’t plan on getting too much work done if this is in your plans.
Around the Property: A Hotel Pool!
After breakfast, I did a quick walk around the property. There is a small pool here which would be great for entertainment for the kids (if you had any). There are nicer pools out there, but who’s counting if you happen to be staying at an airport property like this?
I checked out the lobby area. There was also a reasonable bar that was deserted in the morning when we checked out.
The Marriott LAX Bottom Line:
Overall, it was a reasonable stay here. It was a little bit nicer than the Westin LAX, but not so much that I’d chose to stay here one over another. I’d likely be back but I’d also be open to staying elsewhere.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Alaska Airlines Premium Class, Airbus 320, Seattle – Los Angeles
We had a brisk walk over to the D7 gate; straight through the main terminal and past Sub Pop records over to the near end of this finger.
Boarding had already started on arrival but we were able to sneak on through the priority lane thanks to MrsWT73’s MVP Gold Status.
Alaska Airlines
AS 1778 – Premium Class (Q)
SEA-LAX (Seattle Tacoma International Airport – Los Angeles Terminal 6)
July 6, 2019
5:45 PM – 8:29 PM
Booked: Airbus 320
Flown: Airbus 320
Today’s plane was an old Virgin America bird; an Airbus A320. I actually like their set up much better than Alaska’s planes with TV monitors in each seat and plenty of leg room in the premium class seats. We were in the bulkhead today thanks to a free premium class upgrade confirmed at the time of booking, courtesy again of MVP Gold status. We missed out on the first class upgrades as there are only 2 rows of first class on these aircraft, meaning that all the seats were well spoken for by the time we arrived to the scene.
There was an interesting disclaimer on the television screens about mature content.
There was No streaming on the personal devices today as the seat back screen was the only entertainment option available. We had a nice departure along with the usual great mountain views leaving Seattle heading southwards.
There was offer for a double Gin and Tonic on the way down with the complimentary drink service that comes with Premium Class. I should have taken her up on the double on it as MrsWT73 tried to set a second drink about 1 hour prior to landing and was told “no” – there was no time left. This certainly didn’t make her happy; especially when they brought out the usual gourmet chocolate bar after the fact to thank her for being an MVP Gold member (laughing).
We arrived into LAX at dusk. We passed by our Qantas flight that we’d be on the next day as we headed over to LAX Terminal 6. Thank fully our bags made it; on the belt in Los Angeles within the 20 minute guarantee.
Alaska Airlines Premium Class Overall:
The Alaska Airlines Premium Class is a slightly better experience. As time goes on, there seems to be less and less to differentiate the Alaska cabin from other economy plus / main cabin extra services. Extra room is always appreciated and this flight was no exception.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Alaska Airlines First Class, Boeing 737-800, Vancouver – Seattle
We had a smooth get away this morning. I entertained WT73 jr for an overnight visit with a comfortable 2 PM departure from the house. Wt73 jr wasn’t traveling with us on this trip; opting for a trip to Ireland and the United Kingdom with his dad later in the summer. Around about 10 AM, I got a text message indicating that our flight to Seattle was going to be delayed until about 4 PM.
We later arrived to the airport and I went and parked the car on the nearby facility access road. It was nice to actually be departing in daylight with pleasant weather instead of my usual walk in the dark through rain and cold Vancouver clouds.
Alaska Airlines
AS 706 – First Class (U)
YVR-SEA (Vancouver International Airport – Seattle Tacoma International Airport)
July 6, 2019
2:50 PM – 4:00 PM (scheduled)
3:59 PM – 4:57 PM (actual)
Booked: Boeing 737-8
Flown: Boeing 737-8
A friendly Alaska agent confirmed an MVP Gold Upgrade for us into the First Class Cabin and re-assured us about our connection. Our 1 hr 45 minute connection had been whittled down to about 40 minutes thanks to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft at YVR.
We had a lunch snack in the international food court – Freshii for MrsWT73 and Wendy’s for myself.
We found our way to the Plaza Premium Lounge in the Transborder area which was absolutely packed today. We ended up at some seats by the glass watching the international arrivals of the European and South Pacific flights while we enjoyed a Red Rooster Pinot Grigo. Hardly top shelf but only slightly better than hanging out in the terminal. I didn’t bother taking any photographs as we’ve all been here several times before.
Boarding time came with the usual crowded gates at the YVR Transborder zone.
On board, we had the usual seat. A pre departure beverage of water or orange juice was offered with the polite explanation that it was going to be it for the flight.
Some interesting aircraft on the apron today, including Omni Air which I believe was substituting for the recent “at the time” Air Canada 737 Max cancellations, and the Air New Zealand airframe for the 4x weekly Vancouver Auckland flight.
Our approach into Seattle had us pass over the Renton Boeing facility where all the Boeing 737 Max’s were parked, awaiting safety certification. They are certainly running out of room.
We arrived to Gate B7 in Seattle; well positioned fo a visit to the American Express Centurion Lounge but we unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity. We arrived at 5:10 pm without next flight departing at 5:45 PM.
Trip Introduction: Melbourne, The Gold Coast & Whitsunday Islands, Australia, via Qantas First Class
This post is one chapter on our trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne with The Great Ocean Road, exploring The Yarra Valley and the beaches of The Gold Coast via Qantas First Class. This trip was booked using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Trip Introduction: Melbourne, The Gold Coast and The Whitsunday Islands – Great Barrier Reef via Qantas First Class
Alaska Mileage Plan continues to impress me as one of the most valuable frequent flier point currencies. The tricky part is being able to use them. Over the recent years, MrsWT73 has been on the circuit from Vancouver to Germany. Since she’s been travelling in paid business class, and since most of our personal travel is using points, getting access to an alliance of lounges in One World or Star Alliance hasn’t been front of mind since reward tickets in business already have lounge access. Under these circumstances, we’ve been crediting to the alliance free Alaska Mileage Plan that offers a generous 250% for British Airways fares, in addition to a 100% MVP Gold status bonus. As a result, the trips to and from Europe from our home of Vancouver have added up quite quickly.
I had been wanting to take advantage of the excellent 70K Qantas First Class award for quite some time with the added bonus of being able to depart Australia through the Qantas First Class lounge in Sydney Australia. I had a difficult time finding availability, but eventually found seats for 2 coming back on the Qantas Sydney to Dallas flight in First Class. We didn’t have a way to get to Australia so we locked in an Air Canada Aeroplan Business award for 80,000 Aeroplans’ and $533 CAD in surcharges on the Air Canada Vancouver Brisbane B787 non stop in business class. About 3 weeks later, the award availability gods were smiling down on us and availability surfaced on the usual Los Angeles – Melbourne flight in First Class. We cancelled our Aeroplan award for $150 and rebooked into Qantas First Class via Alaska Mileage Plan with a tag on flight to Hamilton Island in Business Class using the Alaska stop over. Unfortunately, Alaska never opened up reward space between Vancouver and Los Angeles (or it was already spoken for) so we had to position to Los Angeles on a paid Alaska ticket.
The routing ended up looking like this:
YVR-SEA-LAX (paid)
LAX – MEL – HTI (Alaska Mileage Plan Award)
PPP – BNE (paid)
BNE – SYD – DFW – SEA – YVR (Alaska Mileage Plan Award)
I hope you’ll follow along on another great trip…
Read More From This Trip
- Introduction: Melbourne & Whitsunday Islands, Australia via Qantas First Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Los Angeles
- Marriott LAX, Los Angeles, USA
- To Malibu for Lunch, California, USA
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles, USA
- Qantas First Class: Los Angeles – Melbourne
- Westin Melbourne, Australia
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part I
- City Visit: Melbourne, Australia – Part II
- The Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
- The Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia
- Qantas Business Lounge: Melbourne
- Qantas Business: Melbourne – Hamilton Island
- Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Pebble Beach at Qualia Luxury Resort, Hamilton Island, Australia
- Cruise to The Great Barrier Reef, Hardy’s Reef, Australia
- The Great Barrier Reef via Hamilton Island Air Helicopter
- Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, Australia
- Virgin Australia: Prosperine – Brisbane
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa (Gold Coast), Australia
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part I
- Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia – Part II
- Qantas Business Lounge: Brisbane
- Qantas Business Class: Brisbane – Sydney
- Pier One Sydney by Autograph Collection, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class Lounge: Sydney Kingford Smith, Sydney, Australia
- Qantas First Class: Sydney – Dallas
- American Express Centurion Lounge: Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Dallas – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge: North Satellite – Sea Tac, Seattle, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Vancouver
This post is one chapter on our trip to Park City, Utah, United States on Alaska Airlines. This trip was booked and credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan using a two for one Companion Fare courtesy of the Alaska Airlines credit card. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
- Introduction: Skiing in Park City, Utah, USA via Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- The Club at Seattle – A Concourse – Seattle Tacoma Airport
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Salt Lake City
- Hotel Park City by Autograph Collection, Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at The Canyons Mountain Resort, Park City, USA
- Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Cottonwood Canyon, USA
- Lunch at the St Regis, Deer Valley, USA
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Salt Lake City – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Bellingham
Review: Alaska Airlines Q400, Seattle – Bellingham
The last flight of our short trip was departing from Seattle’s Gate C2E. These gates are usually crowded thanks to Sea-Tac’s small gate areas.
Alaska Airlines
AS 2458 Economy Class (V)
SEA-BLI (Seattle Tacoma International Airport – Bellingham International Airport)
March 21, 2019
9:25 PM – 10:15 PM
Booked: Q400
Flown: Q400
As is usual, Alaska Airlines has both jets and props that run this route. Today’s flight was on the Q400 propellor, the last flight of the day.
It was a quick flight up to Bellingham. With no in flight service on the 26 minute flight, there wasn’t much to report about.
We touched down in Bellingham into the late night and were home quite quickly after we stuffed the car with all the ski equipment.
Park City was a great short getaway and I was glad that we made the most of it. The ski hill’s proximity to the SLC airport can’t be beat anywhere and the wide choices of accommodations can serve almost all travellers. Thanks to the great weather, we were able to see a lot of fabulous mountain views. Definitely a place to return to one day!!
Thanks for following along.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Park City, Utah, United States on Alaska Airlines. This trip was booked and credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan using a two for one Companion Fare courtesy of the Alaska Airlines credit card. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
- Introduction: Skiing in Park City, Utah, USA via Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- The Club at Seattle – A Concourse – Seattle Tacoma Airport
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Salt Lake City
- Hotel Park City by Autograph Collection, Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at The Canyons Mountain Resort, Park City, USA
- Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Cottonwood Canyon, USA
- Lunch at the St Regis, Deer Valley, USA
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Salt Lake City – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Bellingham
Review: Alaska Airlines Premium Class, Embraer 175, Salt Lake City – Seattle
It was an easy drive back down to Salt Lake City airport. Most of the snow that started in the morning had dried up, leaving an easy drive. We gassed up and returned the rental car. Like most major centers, there wasn’t too much inspection done on the car as it was returned, and our contract was closed out within 60 seconds of arriving. There were lots of business travelers through here as the valets took off with the car to turn it around before we’d left the return area.
Alaska Airlines
Operated by SkyWest
AS 3443 Premium Class (V)
SEA-SLC (Salt Lake City International – Seattle Tacoma International Airport)
March 21, 2019
5:40 PM – 6:40 PM
Booked: Embraer 175
Flown: Embraer 175
We walked with our gear over to the Alaska check in area. With one of us being MVP Gold, and me with lapsed MVP status, the friendly agent didn’t charge me for the extra bag.
There wasn’t too much of interest on the secure side as we wandered to the “G” gates area. Today’s flight back was departing from G6. There were no Priority Pass lounges in Salt Lake City airport that we had access to, and we opted not to fly Delta Airlines and get access to the Delta Sky Club (courtesy of American Express Platinum) in order to keep earning points with Alaska Mileage Plan.
We had somewhat of a late arrival of the inbound Embraer aircraft, but it eventually got here.
We missed the upgrade from Premium Class into First Class so we settled for our “paid for” Premium Class seats. We’ve missed many upgrades for most flights longer than 2 hours in length, where as it seems there is always upgrade space on the short 90 minute hops.
The views on take off had the terrific Salt Lake City mountains in the background.
I had a free premium class white wine (chardonnay) while I attempted the in flight enterainment on the Alaska Go Go InFlight entertainment player ( lame and not really worth the trouble unless you have a tablet ).
Followed by Pacific Northwest views on the descent…
Eventually parking at the C gates where we had rolled up stair disembarkation under a grey Seattle evening.
To kill our connection time, we wandered over to the American Express Centurion Lounge where I had a blue gin drink and a New York Times for the road.
Alaska Premium Class summary:
All in the Alaska Embraer aircraft is pretty straight forward. It has the usual small bin space that you’d expect on an Embraer with that fresh new Alaska smell to it since the planes are fairly new to the fleet. While the premium class is a nice touch, it’s value is mostly in the extra space.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Park City, Utah, United States on Alaska Airlines. This trip was booked and credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan using a two for one Companion Fare courtesy of the Alaska Airlines credit card. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
- Introduction: Skiing in Park City, Utah, USA via Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- The Club at Seattle – A Concourse – Seattle Tacoma Airport
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Salt Lake City
- Hotel Park City by Autograph Collection, Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at The Canyons Mountain Resort, Park City, USA
- Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Cottonwood Canyon, USA
- Lunch at the St Regis, Deer Valley, USA
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Salt Lake City – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Bellingham
Activity: Lunch at the St Regis Deer Valley, Deer Valley, Utah, United States
It was get away day today. We woke up to a little snow falling but nothing serious enough to cause any havoc on the highways. It made for some picturesque views from the hotel room as we left the property.
With an early evening flight, and some time to kill, we headed over to Deer Valley Ski Resort for a little look around. It’s known for super luxury skiing and the home of several Olympic Winter Game competition sites including moguls and freestyle for the Winter 2012 Olympics.
With lunch hunger coming on, we wandered next door to the St Regis Deer Valley. The hotel is situated on the hill, but accessible from a funicular located next to the base resort area. There were many people that had the same idea, as the hotel appeared to be a bit of a destination for lunch goers like us.
On the ride up…
Once at the top and the hotel, we self led ourselves into pleasant surroundings. There were a lot of public spaces, which were totally empty in our photos likely because most of the guests were out skiing for the day. There are indeed a lot of rooms here, so I don’t imagine this to be too quiet and peaceful a stay in high winter season.
We wandered over to the St Regis Bar, where we settled in for lunch. I had a signature bloody mary, along with a buffalo chili. MrsWT73 ended up with the snack plate, featuring hummus and pita.
Seventy four dollars poorer, we headed back down and off to the Salt Lake City airport. One last look at the hill from the funicular right down.
The St Regis Deer Valley appears to be a neat but large format hotel. I would love to stay one day, but I wouldn’t expect anything small or boutique oriented having seen the size of this place!
This post is one chapter on our trip to Park City, Utah, United States on Alaska Airlines. This trip was booked and credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan using a two for one Companion Fare courtesy of the Alaska Airlines credit card. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
- Introduction: Skiing in Park City, Utah, USA via Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- The Club at Seattle – A Concourse – Seattle Tacoma Airport
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Salt Lake City
- Hotel Park City by Autograph Collection, Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at The Canyons Mountain Resort, Park City, USA
- Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Cottonwood Canyon, USA
- Lunch at the St Regis, Deer Valley, USA
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Salt Lake City – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Bellingham
Activity: Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, United States
MrsWT73 took today off to rest and catch up on work commitments. I had used my 3 free ski days “at another Epic Resort” courtesy of my 10 day Whistler Blackcomb Edge Card at Park City and had skied pretty much all over the hill. I didn’t fancy paying $199 USD for some mostly intermediate spring skiing at Deer Valley so I decided to check out one of the other ski areas around Salt Lake City. I ended up with old school Brighton, which was situated about 1 hour away from us in Park City in Big Cottonwood Canyon accessible from the Salt Lake City side of the mountains.
With that decision done, I packed up the car and set out on the drive.
Eventually arriving to Brighton, Utah about 1 hour later.
It was old school skiing at Brighton with a lot less people and many more fir trees. I spend the day exploring the place and enjoying all the scenery and fresh air that the place had to offer.
After a full day, it was back to Park City for a dip in the pool at the hotel. It was a great last day of skiing for the trip. We had dinner up the way at Squatters Roadhouse Grill, a place that I had eaten at before but always great quality and perfectly walkable from the Hotel Park City. Other travelers thought so as well as the place as was absolutely packed on our visit; even being a weeknight.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Park City, Utah, United States on Alaska Airlines. This trip was booked and credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan using a two for one Companion Fare courtesy of the Alaska Airlines credit card. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
- Introduction: Skiing in Park City, Utah, USA via Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- The Club at Seattle – A Concourse – Seattle Tacoma Airport
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Seattle – Salt Lake City
- Hotel Park City by Autograph Collection, Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at Park City, Utah, USA
- Skiing at The Canyons Mountain Resort, Park City, USA
- Skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort, Cottonwood Canyon, USA
- Lunch at the St Regis, Deer Valley, USA
- Alaska Airlines Premium Class: Salt Lake City – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Bellingham
Activity: More Skiing at Park City, Utah, United States
On Day Three, we headed back up the hill. MrsWT73 was rested having had a day off and ready to tear up the hill. We wandered over to the Canyons, which is the second part of the ski hill at Park City for a change of scenery. We had more gorgeous weather with bright sun today.
Towards the end of the day, MrsWT73 found herself a comfortable beach chair while I hit up a few extra runs. She was hoping for a bar somewhere, but struck out with only weak beer on tap on offer at the mid mountain cafeterias. I ended up doing some laps on PayDay towards the base while she sacked out.
With another day done, we headed back to the Hotel Park City for a self catered apres on the room patio. It’s tough to beat these views!
We had the fancy dinner of the trip tonight in town. We self drove ourselves into the historic town where the sun was just setting for the evening. Historic Park City is a neat town and an interesting place to explore for a few days.
We had a booking a Tupoelo Park City a restaurant specializing in regional suppliers and ingredients.
I ended up ordering the Rocky Mountain Elk Bolognese, with smoked parmesan and fresh mushrooms with snipped chives. It was a very tasty choice and a good pick for me.
MrsWT73 opted for two starters instead of a main course, settling on Kale Caesar Salad, with sourdough croutons, smoked parmesan with Lemon along with Maine Crab Toast, Grilled Sourdough, Fennel Chilies and Garlic Aioli. I took a little bite of both and they were super tasty.
We washed this down with Willimette Valley Jigsaw Pinot Noir.
After an after dinner walk on Main Street, with the night still young, we hopped over to the No Name Saloon for a last cocktail. We arrived at just the right time as it started to get busy around 10:30 PM.
We headed back to the hotel for a fabulous sleep!
World Traveller 73 
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