Flying to Australia

The first day, we flew from Oregon to San Francisco to catch our international flight to Sydney.  The boarding areas were two levels high and there are some interesting art installations above the gate stations.  For this photo we were looking down at this particular artwork. 

We had Premium Plus seats on United for this 15+ hour flight.  There were leg rests that deployed from the seat and the seats reclined for at least 6".  As we were on the bulkhead, our TV's deployed from between our seats. More on that later.  The meals were an upgrade from the Economy fare and we had real flatware to eat it with.  Food was plentiful with two main meals and snacks in between if you weren't sleeping.

When we got on the plane, each seat was provided with an approximately 18" square pillow, a blanket and a comfort kit.  It contained a pair of socks, a face mask, lip balm, lotion, earplugs, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

That little container of toothpaste was so cute.  Here's a size comparison between a regular toothpaste container, the size you get from the dentist and the one from the kit. Only about the size of my little finger. 

OK, we couldn't get the tv to fully deploy.  I twisted on the top part to get the screen to face me but I was unsuccessful.  I didn't want to break it.  The flight attendant just gave it a hard twist and it swiveled right around.  In this photo you can also see the headphones and slippers that were provided.  Since we were on the bulkhead, I could get up and not disturb my sister while she was sleeping. 

Shots of the screen containing the travel information. 

Coming into Sydney. 

Lots of different airlines lined up. 

At Sydney we had to go from the international terminal to the domestic terminal via bus as we were continuing on to Cairns. 

Our flight to Cairns was via Jetstar, an Australian low-cost airline. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by a competing low-cost airline.  So Quantas brand is a full-service airline, and Jetstar is its low-cost counterpart.  Jetstar even weighed our carry-on items since there was a limit on its weight also.