Running for my Disney - Now a PTR!

[PrincessInOz]

Don't quote me on this one. But I'm pretty sure I saw San Antonio to LA flights from SWA on special last year at around $59 or $79 one-way.


But with your AA status, if the price is right, it would probably be better to fly with them.

 

[zanzibar138]

Don't quote me on this one. But I'm pretty sure I saw San Antonio to LA flights from SWA on special last year at around $59 or $79 one-way.


But with your AA status, if the price is right, it would probably be better to fly with them.

Now that is a price that would convince me I'm currently looking at around $200

Having said that, AA flights were $180 last time I looked, so I'm concerned about leaving it too long and having to pay through the roof last minute!

Kicking myself I didn't bother to look at that SWA sale that was on a couple of weeks ago

 

[zanzibar138]

I just bought my last flight! In the end I decided that I wanted to leave from the Austin area instead of San Antonio, as that morning will be my only opportunity to visit the Hamilton Pools Nature Preserve near Austin. One way car rental is expensive, but not ridiculous, and I feel that it's worth the bit of extra expense to go while I'm so close.

Thanks to PIO giving me the heads up about SWA fares, I visited the website to check them out. I also opened up the AA website to compare times etc, and was thrilled to discover that they had a better sale than SWA!

So long story short, I have booked a flight from Killeen (about an hour north of Austin) to LAX via Dallas Fort Worth for USD 150. There were cheaper direct flights AUS-LAX, but they were all either too early or too late. The flight from Killeen leaves at about 4pm, so will give me plenty of time in the morning to explore the nature preserve and city of Austin.

It's a teeny tiny plane that only seats about 40 passengers, with a single seat on one side of the aisle and 2 seats on the other side. I'm kind of nervous and kind of excited to fly on such a small plane! I called AA to make sure I would still get my full luggage allowance before I booked.

I've only got an hour to transit at Dallas, finally arriving in LA at about 7pm. If I happen to miss that flight, there is another one getting into LA at about 8pm, so still in plenty of time for my next flight, which doesn't leave until 11:30pm.

I'm really loving my status privileges at the moment, feeling pretty smug when I can choose ANY seat I want at no extra charge (including Main Cabin Select and any seat reserved for elite status members). Plus I've applied for a free upgrade on the Dallas-LAX segment It's looking less and less likely that we'll be able to re-qualify so I'm trying to make the most of these opportunities while I have them!

 

[zanzibar138]

Ack! Just entered my new flights to my itinerary, and my final day now looks like...

Pick up hire car when shop opens at 8am.

Drive:
San Antonio - Austin (approx 1 1/2 hrs)
Austin - Killeen (approx 1 1/2 hrs)

Fly:
Killeen - Dallas Fort Worth (50 mins)
Dallas Fort Worth - LAX (3 hrs 15 mins)
LAX - Nadi (11 hrs 20 mins)
Nadi - Sydney (4 hrs 45 mins)
Sydney - Melbourne (1 hr 35 mins)

I'm so gonna need a holiday after that

 

[PrincessInOz]

YAY! You're all locked in. Glad that AA flights came through.

I think you're flying in a similar sized plane to the one we flew from Durango to DFW. The only thing to remember is that your carry-on luggage will need to meet their size restriction. DH and I were allowed to take our camera bags on. But the standard cabin sized trolley case for DS was taken by the flight attendant as we were boarding the plane. I think it ended up being tagged and placed in the cargo hold. But when we got down at DFW, it was waiting for us at the airbridge to collect.

 

[zanzibar138]

YAY! You're all locked in. Glad that AA flights came through.

I think you're flying in a similar sized plane to the one we flew from Durango to DFW. The only thing to remember is that your carry-on luggage will need to meet their size restriction. DH and I were allowed to take our camera bags on. But the standard cabin sized trolley case for DS was taken by the flight attendant as we were boarding the plane. I think it ended up being tagged and placed in the cargo hold. But when we got down at DFW, it was waiting for us at the airbridge to collect.

Oh cool! The plane I'll be on is an ER4. How did you find the flight? Was there any noticeable difference in cruising altitude or turbulence? My flight is only 50 minutes, so I'm not expecting it to get to normal cruising altitude. The flight between Phoenix and San Antonio is also pretty small, but it does have 2 seats on each side of the aisle. The tiny business class section only has one seat on one side of the aisle though. If the points from my Fiji Airways flights come through in time, I can apply for a free upgrade for this segment too!

DH was telling me about the restrictions for carry on bags. He read that it would be restricted to a briefcase or 'purse' (handbag ), but the lady I spoke to on the phone confirmed that a small backpack should be ok. She said anything that is unsuitable for the cabin will be checked at no charge anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The flight we had was great. There was a little turbulence for about 5 - 10 minutes but not significantly bad or anything. We also had drinks service on AA. I didn't notice too much difference in cruising altitude as we still got to a decent height.

You've seen my camera backpack. I had no problems taking that on-board.

 

[zanzibar138]

That's great to hear. I don't know if there will be time for drinks service on my flight, but you never know! Coming from WA I'm still wrapping my head around being able to fly for 2 hours and actually arriving somewhere, let alone only 50 minutes

I don't think the carry on luggage will be a problem for me - I don't usually take much on board and usually store it under the seat instead of in the overhead bins.

 

[FireflyFi]

Nice on that is certainly a long last day!! Can you sleep on the plane?

 

[zanzibar138]

Nice on that is certainly a long last day!! Can you sleep on the plane?

Usually no, but the LAX-NAN leg is in business class with lie flat beds, so that will help

 

[FireflyFi]

Niiiice

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Great job finding deals you are happy with.

It does seem like an extra long day, but I agree that the business class flight will make it so much more manageable.

Now just to wait until the trip starts. It's getting so close! I can't believe we're now both under 3 months!

 

[Fairy Floss]

Hooray!
Is everything booked now?

 

[zanzibar138]

Great job finding deals you are happy with.

It does seem like an extra long day, but I agree that the business class flight will make it so much more manageable.

Now just to wait until the trip starts. It's getting so close! I can't believe we're now both under 3 months!

Hmm... I've got a lot more than waiting to do until the trip starts It's coming up so quick!

Hooray!
Is everything booked now?

Not even close! Well ok, I guess close. Here's a snippet of my to-do list:

* Buy personalised tops/sparkle skirts for running costumes
* Book hire car from Anaheim
* Book accommodation in Palm Springs
* Book bike riding activity in Palm Springs
* Book horse riding in San Luis Obispo
* Cancel hotel in Camarillo
* Book hotel in Long Beach
* Schedule and book Disney dining/tours
* Book hotel for last night in Anaheim
* Cancel KOA in San Antonio
* Book hire car from San Antonio
* Book airport shuttles in all destinations
* Apply for ESTAs
* Get international drivers licences (I know this one isn't technically necessary, but Dad is paranoid that our insurance won't pay out if we have a car accident and don't have them)

 

[LizfromOz]

Not sure if you've got anything in mind for your Long Beach hotel, but thought I'd give you my 2c.

We stayed at the Hotel Maya on our last trip to the US. It's an old property that has been remodelled into a Mayan themed hotel (surprise!). It's not in the city, but across the bay with beautiful views of the city. There is a free bus that runs continuously between the Queen Mary and the city.

We loved our stay here, there are beautiful seating areas dotted around the property, with fire pits to sit around at night and watch the city lights twinkle in the distance. The pool area is lovely with bar service, and the onsite restaurant is good too. If we were ever in the area again we would stay there again in a heart beat.

 

[zanzibar138]

Not sure if you've got anything in mind for your Long Beach hotel, but thought I'd give you my 2c.

We stayed at the Hotel Maya on our last trip to the US. It's an old property that has been remodelled into a Mayan themed hotel (surprise!). It's not in the city, but across the bay with beautiful views of the city. There is a free bus that runs continuously between the Queen Mary and the city.

We loved our stay here, there are beautiful seating areas dotted around the property, with fire pits to sit around at night and watch the city lights twinkle in the distance. The pool area is lovely with bar service, and the onsite restaurant is good too. If we were ever in the area again we would stay there again in a heart beat.

Thanks for the recommendation, it looks amazing! It's not really worth us spending a lot of money that night though as we'll be getting there fairly late (after dropping DH off at LAX), and leaving in the morning for Disneyland (maybe via the Queen Mary). The 'hotel' I'm looking at is the Super 8, which gets pretty good reviews and comes to a grand total of about $80 for the 3 of us.

I'll keep it in mind for any future trips though, seems lovely and pretty good value for the area and the views

 

[LizfromOz]

$80 is an awesome price for three people, I don't think you could beat that! I agree, I wouldn't pay $$ for somewhere just to sleep and shower.

 

[BecBennett]

* Buy personalised tops/sparkle skirts for running costumes

Not sure if I've missed something, but when we ran in a Disney run a couple of years ago, they gave you shirts before the race started. You don't have to wear them, but we chose to, because well... When else would we wear them?

However if you're after more of a costume type thing, then that's completely different.

 

[zanzibar138]

Not sure if I've missed something, but when we ran in a Disney run a couple of years ago, they gave you shirts before the race started. You don't have to wear them, but we chose to, because well... When else would we wear them?

However if you're after more of a costume type thing, then that's completely different.

You must have missed the post where I talked about our running outfits. I'm going to order these tops from personalizedgirl.com






Mum and I will get sparkle skirts and accessories. Not sure how much the boys will get into it, but they will be wearing these tops whether they like it or not

Call me crazy, but I plan to wear the race t-shirts to the parks (at least the 10k one which is tech fabric). It will be cool and comfortable and easy to wash and dry without having to use the laundry. When I get home I'll use them for training and going to the gym. I plan to get lots of use out of them

 

[BecBennett]

Hmmm... Must have missed that. Yeah they're pretty cool. My favourite is the Cheshire cat. If you'll wear them again then that makes heaps of sense. I tend to get all excited about this sort of thing, spend heaps of money on tops, then only wear them once