The hassles we experienced with British Airways and Qantas before we had even left on our round the world trip will sound familiar to those of you who have read 'Penguins Stopped Play' by Harry Thompson. Just a fortnight before our departure from the UK Air Pacific cancelled their Sunday service between Los Angeles and Fiji, leaving us on a Saturday flight due to leave LA more than 10 hours before our first flight left London. Should be routine for Qantas or British Airways, they sell dozens of these tickets every day. Nope, a full week of passing the buck ensued until finally we were booked onto a Saturday flight, albeit with double the layover time in LAX, how were we to fill 8 hours? The hassle did not end there as we were also unable to check-in online which resulted in us being seated a full 15 rows apart, which the check-in and boarding staff could do nothing about. Thankfully the cabin crew were able to fix us seats together. It felt like a charm offensive from the cabin crew, no matter what drink I ordered - Bloody Mary, white wine, red wine - they kept giving me two! Certainly living up to their new slogan 'To Fly, To Serve' and a far cry from their previous reputation (if you are in doubt check out Pam Ann's BA sketches on YouTube). It was just a shame that the seat pitch felt cramped (especially with the couple in front of us spending the entire flight reclined, selfish buggers) and that the service was just one meal and one snack, for an 11 hour flight I was ravenous by the time the snack came around, and I think I only avoided starvation because I had a slipped a couple of packets of Kettle Chips into my hand luggage!
Luckily Los Angeles has a secret gem for those on a short layover, after of course customs and immigration have sucked up a couple of hours. Just 15 minutes walk from the airport, past the old Bob Hope terminal, is a small fast-food place called In-and-Out Burger which just happens to be situated at the end of one of the LAX runways. Still feeling a tad hungry I was happy to sit down outside with a cheeseburger meal. In addition to doing a roaring trade in burgers it is also a plane-spotters paradise. There is a small park opposite full of families playing afternoon games of American football, with guys (and a couple of girls) lurking under trees and in the corners with SLR cameras round their necks, impressive lens weighing them down. They all looked sheepishly furtive, as if partaking in some sort of perverse taboo. We could have spent all day there but were happy with the few hours we had. We have to thank Stepan for letting us in on this secret.
Luckily Los Angeles has a secret gem for those on a short layover, after of course customs and immigration have sucked up a couple of hours. Just 15 minutes walk from the airport, past the old Bob Hope terminal, is a small fast-food place called In-and-Out Burger which just happens to be situated at the end of one of the LAX runways. Still feeling a tad hungry I was happy to sit down outside with a cheeseburger meal. In addition to doing a roaring trade in burgers it is also a plane-spotters paradise. There is a small park opposite full of families playing afternoon games of American football, with guys (and a couple of girls) lurking under trees and in the corners with SLR cameras round their necks, impressive lens weighing them down. They all looked sheepishly furtive, as if partaking in some sort of perverse taboo. We could have spent all day there but were happy with the few hours we had. We have to thank Stepan for letting us in on this secret.
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