The start of the long journey home

At the Phuket airport lounge
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Today is time to go home. We packed last night, so we just have to pack a few last minute things and we will be ready to leave after breakfast. The hotel stay includes transportation to and from the airport, which the front desk staff arranged, so we didn't have to worry about our driver getting lost on the way here. We got all our stuff packed into the car and headed for the airport.

The Phuket airport isn't that large and all your baggage is xrayed as you walk in the front door. We weren't expecting this so it took a second to free up our hands to put our big bags through. There was no line for business class check in and after checking in, they directed us to the lounge. There is a small restaurant directly upstairs from check in and the lounge is in a corner of it. There were some snack foods and the attended brought up both frozen fruit drinks. We were the only people using the lounge. Before we went to the gate area we cleared emmigration. There weren't that many people in the waiting area and we initially thought that our flight was going to be pretty empty. Once they started boarding for the flight, we figured out that there are two different waiting areas. One for those only taking a domestic flight and the other for those with international itineraries.

Our Plane
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Business class was fairly empty, and again I was surprised at how nice the seats were for such a short flight. The do use the planes for some of their shorter international routes though, so it makes sense. There were some beautiful views of Phuket as we took off and they served a large snack or small meal (depending on your view of such things).

We landed in Bangkok and managed to follow the signs to the international area. Since we were international passengers, we were given a sticker in Phuket to wear so that staff would know where we were headed. We had our passports glanced at once more and we were in the large international area. We headed for the business class lounge and found a nice quiet area to hang out and wait for our flight. We both browsed the duty free stores, but I was shocked at how much everything cost. I did way better at the weekend market in Bangkok! We had a bunch of bhat that we changed before we left as well. There was no departure fee to pay, so expect for some change that I wanted to bring back, we changed all our remaining bhat into US dollars.

Goodbye Phuket!
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For those that remember way back when we arrived, we flew non-stop from JFK to Bangkok. Unfortunately we have to go back through LAX. We are flying on award tickets and sometimes you have to take the routings that you get. The cool thing about flying back through LAX is that when we land back in Pittsburgh, we will have completely circled the globe!

The business class lounge was nicely spread out with comfy chairs and even had a kid's play area that was its own completely enclosed room! The food was the same fare that had been available in the domestic lounge when we flew to Phuket. We both grabbed an extra bottle of water and headed for the flight.

Bangkok Lounge
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At the entry to the gates, you go through security screening and your bags are xrayed. We headed to our gate area and found that our plane wasn't actually at the gate, but it was parked out somewhere and we were being bussed. You would think in a brand new airport that they would have planned well enough that this size plane could be loaded at the gate! Its a lot of people! Before we could be bussed, we went through advanced screening where our bags were manually searched. Our water was confiscated as no liquids at all were allowed on board any planes to the USA. Currently security guidelines in the USA at this time did allow you to carry on any beverages purchased on the sterile side of the airport as well as your little baggie of liquids. I was surprised at this regulation and did mention to the screener it would be helpful if they had signage somewhere. Would save them a lot time! Judging from the huge pile of liquids, we weren't the only ones surprised by this!

Flight Path
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We crammed onto the bus and after a brief ride arrived at the plane and trotted up the stairs. We got all settled in and ready for the long flight. As an added security precaution, the toiletry kit provided in business class was special for flights to the USA and included no liquids or gels (no lotion, mouthwash, or lip balm). It was even different packaging than our toiletry sets had been on the trip over. We pulled away from our parking space, but before long the captain came on and announced that there would be a delay as something had to be replaced. If I remember right, it was some sort of antenna that is only used in communicating with the ground crew. They parked the plane and I don't know what was done for the coach class passengers, but I was impressed in business! The staff wasted no time in coming around with the full beverage cart as well as a hot snack. They also turned on the entertainment system so that you could watch a movie if you wanted. We were on the ground for almost two hours, but they did take good care of us. Finally we got clearance to take off, and we were underway.

This was also a three meal flight and they kept the cabin dark except for food again. Since we were flying over water, mostly in the dark, I never had a desire to open my window shade, so we didn't have the same issues as the trip over. It is an interesting flight with the time changes as you fly for 15 hours leaving Bangkok in the evening and arriving at LAX in the evening. Its a long time to be in the dark!

There was no special line or pass to clear immigration for business class and it felt like it took forever to make it through immigration. Lots of flights had arrived around the same time, so there were a lot of people. The plus is that our bags appeared before we made it through and we didn't have to wait for them. We had made a decision to spend the night in LA (not a stopover, as it was less than 24 hours) before heading the rest of the way home). We continued straight home when we came back from Australia and it was a miserable trip from LAX to Pittsburgh. Once we collected our bags, we found the shuttle for the Radisson and headed to the hotel.

We were quickly checked in at the Radisson and got an updated room with a sleep number bed. They are replacing all their beds with these. It was comfortable! The Radisson boasts being the closest hotel to the airport (and it certainly is!) but the sound proofing was good and we hardly heard a thing as we drifted off to sleep.