Relaxing at LAX

         The United flight was late to Boston due to mechanical problems at the previous stop and instead of leaving at 6:10 pm, it didn't arrive until almost 7:00 and got off the ground just before 8:00.  Even though the pilot did his best to reroute us, and despite literally running from Terminal 7 to Terminal 4, I ended up arriving at the Qantas Counter just as they were locking the doors to the airplane.

      I was given a free night at the Westin (with late checkout included) and a lunch paid for by United, but not without convincing  them the pilot had told us it was mechanical problems--they had down "traffic controller" as the problem and originally were not going to take the blame. It took talking to two different people, and all after midnight (3:00 am East coast time), but  eventually it paid off.   Lesson learned:  be persistant and they will eventually believe you if you are telling the truth.  

 The good news is that I got to take a shower and catch up on booking the rest of the trip, and saved the price of a Thursday night hotel room (which is not cheap in Brisbane).  The sad news is I missed a day in Australia.   Sigh.

   Luckily I was able to get a seat on the next flight out--which was 24 hours later (tonight at 11:20 pm)

--Mike