Trip Reports - Pek, bkk, hkt, ua (f, j, y+), tg (f, j), nh (j)

This trip is the 3rd trip of my winter (Oct 2011-March 2012) as follow:
1) SEA-LAX-ORD-IST-ORD-LAX-SEA (UA F, Y+ / TK Y/AS Y)
2) YVR-SFO-HNL-GUM-NRT-TPE-NRT-LAX-YVR (UA F, Y+)
3) SEA-SFO-PEK-BKK-HKT-BKK-NRT-PEK-SFO-SEA (UA F, J, Y+ / TG F, J / NH J) [* This Report*]
4) SEA-SFO-JFK-MIA-LIR-MIA-JFK-SFO-SEA (AA F, J / AS F) Report Here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1354480-costa-rica-long-way-aa-f-j-f-pics.html)
5) YVR-JFK-GVA-ZRH-JFK-SFO-SEA (UA F, J / LX Y / CX F) Report Here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1354090-cathay-first-yvr-jfk-switzerland-pics.html#post18712883)
6) PDX-SEA-MIA-LGA/EWR-DFW-SEA-PDX (AA F, Y / AS Y)
7) SEA-LAX-SFO-FRA-IST-AMM-CAI-ZRH-CPH-IST-ZRH-IAD-LAX-SEA (AS Y / UA Y+ / TK Y, J / SK J / LX J / MS Y) Report Here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1354484-petra-cairo-swiss-business-class.html)
8) SEA-ORD-IAH-ORD-SEA (AA F)
9) SEA-LAX-SFO-SEA (AS Y / AA F)
10) SEA-LAX-JFK-IST-LHR-DXB-VIE-MUC-TLV-IST-JFK-LAX-SEA (AS Y / UA J / TK Y, J / VS J / OS J / LH J / AA J) Report Here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1354990-london-dubai-tel-aviv-1-weekend-vs-upper-class-lh-os-tk-c.html)
11) YVR-JFK-LHR-JNB-CPT-JNB-FRA-FCO-FRA-SIN-BKK-CNX-BKK-HKG-HND/NRT-ORD-SEA (CX F, J / BA F, J / SA J / LH F, J / SQ J / TG J / JL J / AA F) [Report to come]
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/7101/7334176852_ef068d7b27_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boeing747-8/7334176852/)
Total of 180272 Miles in 6 months


Background:
One day my friend texted me and told me about the deal on Flyertalk from SEA to PEK for only $405. My friend and I decided to jump on it right away. Some other friends kept waiting for a few hours and the deal was gone. We picked the Friday prior to thanksgiving week so we could have a 10 days trips. I have been to Beijing once and it was actually not my favorite, so I decided to make the trip a trip home (BKK) to visit my family using UA miles for PEK-BKK-HKT in F and back. The plan is to stay in Beijing for 3 nights, then off to Thailand for 4 nights and back to Beijing again for 1 night, while my friend will be in Beijing the whole time.

1. SEA-SFO (Nov-18, 2011) UA294 B757-200 (Domestic First: 5F)
Nothing to say much about this flight. Everything is on time. The flight time was 1.40 hrs. It’s long enough to serve a breakfast (if it’s in Asia it’s way too long for that), as Alaska serve breakfast on the same route, but UA does not. Only drinks were served and around 40 minutes before landing, a scone was served.
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2. SFO-PEK (Nov-18, 2011) UA889 B747-400 [N199UA] (Economy Plus: 20K)
The flight time was 12.11 hrs. We left SFO around noon time and arrive in Beijing in late afternoon.
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view from the seat
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The food on the flight was terrible. There was Pasta with Chicken or Veggie with Rice! Come on! this is a flight to Asia, not Seattle nor India. Maybe very few people are vegetarian, and vegetarian people could request the Veggie meal anyway. I normally do not prefer western choice on the plane, but I rather have Chicken instead of a small tasteless veggie with rice they had to offer. The service on the flight was not very good, they did not run around with some water every hour, only once in the middle of the flight. Prior to landing, a sandwich was served. I flew UA First class on the way to Shanghai before and, the meal prior to landing was not that much better, so I came into having a low expectation from UA.
Pics from Beijing:
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3. PEK-BKK (Nov-22, 2011) TG615 B747-400 [HS-TGT] (First: 2A)
I arrived at PEK by train and proceed to the check-in counter. Got my BP within a minute. I took the train to the international concourse and went right to CA-First Lounge. The Lounge was not anything to write home about. It’s actually identical to CA-Business class Lounge, just less people. I used the shower room which was quite tiny and has no toilet inside.
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Upon arriving into the plane (around 5pm), I was greeted by 2 FAs with “Sawasdee”, and then we start chatting in Thai. In Thai culture, we do not address by the last name, we say “Khun” followed by your first name. So that was used during the whole flight. I was the only F passenger, so I have got the whole 10 seat to myself. This is during the end of the flood crisis, people are still scared of going to Thailand, and flights to BKK from various airlines were reduced.
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A glass of Dom Pérignon and a plate of mixed nuts were offered and I asked to try on Veuve Clicquot Rosé as well. The FAs were very nice and polite. We delayed at the gate for over 45 minutes due to air traffic congestion at PEK. The FAs came to talk to me to make sure I am not bored.

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After took off, dinner was served. I’ll let the picture speak. As many people have reported, the PEK catering isn’t good, regardless of class you are flown on and I tend to agree with it.
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The flight time was 4.50 hrs. The meal took about 1.30hrs into the flight. After the meal I took a nap for around 2 hrs and walked around chatting with the FAs a bit then it was time for descent.
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After we docked at the gate, I asked to go into the cockpit, which they let me in there but the pilot and first officer were not friendly at all, they did not speak to me a word! So I took one picture and left. The experience was so different from other times when I asked to go into the cockpit: CX 77W, AA 772, BA 744, SQ 388, KL M11, they were all nice and chatted with me a bit. Well but that is not part of the service so I can not criticize TG on that.
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Once I came down to the main deck, the ground people were waiting for me and carry my bag for me and put into the golf card that drove me to the fast-track lane of immigration. There I met with the personal butler who carried my bag all the way out until I met with my mom. I tried to tell him that I can carry the bag myself since it is rather light weight. My mom saw me and was surprised that I had a butler carry a bag for me. He insisted on carrying it all the way to my car but I said it’s Ok…
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4. BKK-HKT (Nov-23, 2011) TG203 B747-400 [HS-TGM] (Business on First seat: 3K)
The next morning, I came back to the airport by taxi. I request the check in agent to put me on F seat even it was a domestic flight that was sold as 2 classes. TG mostly put people with Star Gold on the F cabin in domestic. I went to the Royal Silk Lounge on the domestic section of the airport. It isn’t bad, there were some foods and snacks to offer.
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The flight time was 1.15 hrs. After we took off, the FAs came into action right away and the breakfast was served. I was disappointed that it’s western breakfast. I remembered seeing some reports that have Thai breakfast like congee or some rice soup with shrimp. However, it makes more sense on the route to HKT that are mostly foreign tourists. (but last month I was on BKK-CNX, the same meal was served, now it is different cuz CNX flights have more Thai passengers than foreigners)
I was expected to see a beautiful view over Phang-nga bay but we did not fly over that this time. We went over the west coast over Andaman Sea and landed from the west side of the island.
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Everything in Phuket was expensive as usual (as compare to other parts of Thailand), I went to a few beaches and got bored since the sun hadn’t come out much. I decided to head back to the airport and standby for the earlier flights.

5. HKT-BKK (Nov-23, 2011) TG208 A330-300 [HS-TEU] (Economy 64D)
I was cleared from the standby list, hence the bad seat: last row aisle seat. I sat next to LY employee that flew on Non-rev. The service on the flight was just a drink and a piece of banana cake. They cited the flood issue was the reason that stopped them from serving a normal meal in Y cabin. This is BS since they can cater J pax along with International flights normally, why can’t they cater a nicer snack (like usual) in Domestic Y? Oh well… but the service on the flight was very good as usual. The FAs were very friendly. One chatted with me for quite a long time.
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6. BKK-NRT (Nov-26, 2011) TG676 B777-300ER [HS-TKH] (First: 2A)
The flight was at 8.30am. I went out the night before and only slept for 1 hour. I woke up since 4am and tried to get to the airport as early as possible so I could enjoy the famous “Thai Royal First Lounge”. I arrived at the airport around 5am. Nobody was outside at the drop off area to help F passengerss like the day-time. I walked right into the F check in area. The juice and cold towel were brought to me within a second. I was asked to wait on the couch while they checked me in. Minutes after that, the butler came to carry my bag. The security and immigration went through in a minute and the golf car drove me through the Royal Silk Lounge and dropped me off in front of First Class Lounge.
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Once inside, the cold towel and water were delivered instantly, the lady asked if I wanted to book an hour long massage at the Spa. I answered yes. I checked out the Lounge’s private living rooms, the bar, and the dining area. I ordered fish rice soup (one of 100+ choices that Thai people would eat for breakfast), but the portion was not big enough, so I asked for pork congee with eggs along with Guava juice. The taste/quality of Thai food in the Lounge was very good, just like what you would find in a nice restaurant in BKK. I did not try the western meal there so can't say. As a Thai person who grew up in BKK, I can say most stuffs (food) there were designed to fit with Thai pax's tastes. Compare with EK Lounge in BKK (and EK on-board food out of BKK), EK Asian food tastes like westernized Asian food you could find in Asian restaurants in the US or EU.
At 6am, it was time to go into the Spa, again, the cold towel and some juice were delivered again! The massage was from 6.30-7.30am and it was ok, average, I was not that impressed, it may just depend on the masseur personal techniques. I had time to shower in the massage room. The room was very nice and I felt very relaxed and forgot that I was at the airport!
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8am, the golf car drove me to the plane HS-TKH (B777-300ER – jet airways version). Again, I was the only passenger in F cabin. The suite looked so nice and spacious. Dom was served. I kept changing the seat between 2A and 2D trough out the flight.
The breakfast menu was full of nice choices: Japanese Style, Thai Style, Chinese Style, and Western Style. I had pre-ordered some Thai food but when I saw the menu, I really wanna try the Japanese breakfast that even had some lobster in it! However, they told me that they did not load other main course since I had the pre-ordered meal. I was a bit disappointed since I like to try more than 1 main course.
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The flight time was 5.10 hrs. The first course was a fruit plate that was nicely presented, followed by some cereal and yogurt. The main course was Shrimp Panang Curry with Rice, Thai sausage, and salty duck egg. I asked for some Thai spice with lime and fish sauce (every Thai people put this on various things). The food was truly amazing. I had Guava juice and Pineapple juice along with the meal and they were always topped up. I have not seen other airlines serve juice other than Orange, Apple, or Tomato, but I like the fact that TG has many variety of choice on the juice. After the meal, I asked the FA to make the bed for me and it was done in a minute. I took a nap for a full 3 hours since I was tired from partying until 2 and only slept for 1 hour.
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When I woke up, we were flying over Kagoshima, and the second meal was served. I opted for Yakisoba Seafood! I was amazed that they served 2 meals on a 5-hour flight. That was so nice! I really did not want the flight to end so soon. After we landed and docked, the ANA agent came to pick me up and escort me through the security and drop me off at ANA Business Lounge. I had been to the Lounge a number of times. It’s better than what we have in the US…. But not by much: 2-3 choice of sushi rolls, miso, and noodle bar. The choices in the noodle bar were all cheap (without meat in it)… JL Business Lounges (both HND and NRT) are better (more choice of food).
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7. NRT-PEK (Nov-26, 2011) NH955 B767-300 [JA612A] (Business: 5A)
It’s the first time for me to fly on NH. The seat was like US domestic First class, maybe a bit bigger and recline more. Oh and the seat pitch is.. much better than Domestic F in the US. The flight time was 3.45 hrs, quite long! There were 3 choices of entrée. 2 were Asians 1 western.. yay! I had both of Asian meals. The load in J cabin was very light, I think around 6 seat was taken (out of 35). The food was very nice (for J class), and was better than JL Business meals I had… even compare to JL long-haul J meal. I had a few glass of Sake and Scotch so I was knocked out until 30 we landed in Beijing.

One thing I am wondering, NH left the cabin light on (not dim) during take off and landing, which is weird. This is my only experience that I had this happened. Has anybody recall they do the same on your flight?

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I decided to take a taxi into Beijing this time, cuz it took quite a long time to get into town by train and subway (from the earlier experience of the trip). The taxi cost was only 100 Yuan. Not bad.
I went out with my friend a bit at night and went to the temple of heaven in the morning. Then it was time to go back to the airport. While in taxi, I looked up on the phone and it showed as Business class! Yeah? We were opted up to Business on a long haul flight while paid only $405 for the whole trip! Wow and my friend (who were on the same booking as me and did not have status with UA) also got upgraded! Awesome!

8. PEK-SFO (Nov-27, 2011) UA888 B747-400 [N105UA] (Business: 7H)
We went to CA Business class Lounge which is exactly the same as First class lounge. The food offering were the same, while drinks maybe a bit different.
Pics from Air China Business Lounge:
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It’s my friend’s first time to fly international anything other than Y so he enjoyed it. The FAs were all nice and attentive, much better than the inbound UA flight. I flew on PEK-SFO on United Business before (in 2008) and had the worst experience of flying! (the FAs were very rude and all), but on this flight it was an “unusual” experience of UA… that everything was great.
The flight time was 10.20 hrs and we arrived on-time.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/7078/7332088570_9ce9f9f2cc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boeing747-8/7332088570/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/7100/7332088412_e58a30d776_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boeing747-8/7332088412/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/7245/7332088244_52fdbaf4dc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boeing747-8/7332088244/)

9. SFO-SEA (Nov-27, 2011) UA322 A320-200 [N435UA] (Economy Plus: 11A)
We did not get upgraded on this flight, well it’s thanksgiving Sunday and it’s A320, so I expected to sit in coach. Just a usual UA domestic flight, nothing to write about.

Conclusion:
Thai: TG F service is very good, if you read other reports, it maybe hit or miss, but my experience was all great. The Lounge experience was one of the best. The Lounge food was better than any other Lounge (compare to LH FCT, BA Concorde room, TK at IST, SQ in SIN, etc), and of course, Thai food was amazing. The in-flight service was great, nothing to criticize. F Seats on B747 may be a bit behind some competitors but not by much, the ambient is still good. F seats on B77W are very good.
ANA: Lounges need a lot of improvements. I did not use their F on this report… but it’s not that much better. The food offering is the first easy fix they need to consider. In flight food was great. The seat on this flight was a short-haul business so I did not have high expectation.
UA: I have low expectation on them. Everything meets my expectation. Well.. higher than expect with that op. upgrades on PEK-SFO…. So… Thanks to UA!

Great report and photos ^

Thank you.. Excellent. photos!!

Having flown TG F earlier this year I agree with your assessment.

Great report and photos!

Wonderful report. Thanks for sharing!

Makes me want to hit the road. But how do you afford all this? Do you use miles or find great deals?

Great report! Thanks.

One of theh BEST reports....

Did I miss the total expense (flights only ) and use of mikles ?

Makes me want to hit the road. But how do you afford all this? Do you use miles or find great deals?

Great report! Thanks.

One of theh BEST reports....

Did I miss the total expense (flights only ) and use of mikles ?

Thanks for the nice comments.

The cost of the trip was $405 (for UA SEA to PEK and back) and $35 + 65k miles (PEK-BKK-HKT and back using UA Miles). Not bad right? Have to thank flyertalk that serves as a mean to find this deal.

Jealous much!

Were you at BKK airport yesterday evening? If not you, it was a close lookalike!

Jealous much!

Were you at BKK airport yesterday evening? If not you, it was a close lookalike!

No I won't be back to BKK until Oct. Just did a SEA-DFW-BOS-DFW-SEA AA run today (with DEQM promotion)... tired. You are based in BKK? We should meet next time I am there, PM me.

Nice photos. It seems you enjoyed your trip and kodos to you for wearing a suit to First Class. Very classy.

Thanks for the nice comments.

The cost of the trip was $405 (for UA SEA to PEK and back) and $35 + 65k miles (PEK-BKK-HKT and back using UA Miles). Not bad right? Have to thank flyertalk that serves as a mean to find this deal.

Very nice report. With such a low fare, how were you able to sit in Business on the return from PEK to SFO?

Just as an aside. I love the way you put your photos in your posts. I've been trying to figure out how to do that. Can you give me some info on how you do that? Thanks!

Nice! Your trip to BKK was a bit nicer than mine (in a middle coach seat on an old, non-reconfigured DL 747-400, and then next to some male slob hitting on my friend and I from NRT - BKK). Awesome pictures, too!

Nice photos. It seems you enjoyed your trip and kodos to you for wearing a suit to First Class. Very classy.

Nice! Your trip to BKK was a bit nicer than mine (in a middle coach seat on an old, non-reconfigured DL 747-400, and then next to some male slob hitting on my friend and I from NRT - BKK). Awesome pictures, too!

Thanks for the nice comment!, English is not my first language and I am an engineer so I am not good with writing. I tried to have the pictures speak :)

Very nice report. With such a low fare, how were you able to sit in Business on the return from PEK to SFO?

I think it was oversold in coach! Good for me (and my friend) :)

Just as an aside. I love the way you put your photos in your posts. I've been trying to figure out how to do that. Can you give me some info on how you do that? Thanks!

As the flyertalker amolkold pointed out to me earlier this week, you can check out: How to embed pictures in the trip report (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/8596109-post3.html) Hope that helps :)

Enjoy the trip reports. Love the photos. What a deal you got on the flight to PEK. Going to view all your other reports. Thanks for sharing.

Okay I have to ask.

Why are you wearing your suit to bed?

Also who is taking all of these photos of yourself? ha ha

Wow - you really do get around! That is quite an ambitious winter itinerary, and this small bit of it was most enjoyable to view. All the best in your future travels ~

Enjoy the trip reports. Love the photos. What a deal you got on the flight to PEK. Going to view all your other reports. Thanks for sharing.

Glad you enjoyed it :) I am in a process of writing 2 other reports. Should finish soon. Yeah, this deal was one of the lowest cpm I flew on International trips.

Okay I have to ask.

Why are you wearing your suit to bed?

Also who is taking all of these photos of yourself? ha ha

Both flights I was the only passenger in the whole cabin, so basically I did not have to care about bothering other passengers. I also spoke to the FA in Thai so it was easy to ask them to take pictures. They said it's common that F pax take photos.

on PEK-BKK I did not really sleep, just wanted to see how the seat reclined so I did not take the jacket off. On BKK-NRT, after closed the door I took the jacket off and nap for almost 3 hours :) it was a very nice sleep.

Wow - you really do get around! That is quite an ambitious winter itinerary, and this small bit of it was most enjoyable to view. All the best in your future travels ~

Thanks :) I have read some of your reports too, yours were great and your plans were ambitious as well.

Thanks for all your trip reports!

I am also surprised that TG uses the new Boeing 747-400s on the PEK flights now. I like the amenity kit offered on these flights, and the Rimowa amenity kits look very classy.

About United, I give up on them years ago and any good flight with United is a bonus.

Look forward to more reports in the future!

Thanks,
Carfield

Thanks for all your trip reports!

I am also surprised that TG uses the new Boeing 747-400s on the PEK flights now. I like the amenity kit offered on these flights, and the Rimowa amenity kits look very classy.

About United, I give up on them years ago and any good flight with United is a bonus.

Look forward to more reports in the future!

Thanks,
Carfield

Actually the 747-400 that runs on BKK-PEK route are random!... some day is new some day is old.... bad!

Fully agree catering out of Beijing, and out of Chinese airports in general, are substandard especially for the premium classes!

Great reports.

Excellent report, thanks for sharing!

Love this picture with the smiling FA as you are boarding. Great report. Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boeing747-8/7332092476