This adventure started out as a trip to Hong Kong to visit relatives, as I have not been back in nearly 7 years. In the old days, I would have simply fired up any old search engine find the cheapest available flight. It would have been a bonus if I was able to accrue miles. But I’m a FlyerTalker now and I know better. I have opened a checking account here, signed up for a credit card there, and charged everything and anything to those cards. Toss in a few mileage runs in addition to my work travel, and voila I can now travel in style. Of course, this kind of lifestyle does come with scrutiny and ridicule from family and friends, alike.
Friend, “Want to do something tonight?”
Me, “Sure, I land a little before 10. I’m in San Francisco right now”
Friend, “What are you doing in San Francisco?”
Me, “Lunch.”
Friend, “You’re crazy.”
Or
Me, “Wait, don’t use that credit card.”
Another Friend, “Why?”
Me, “Because you only earn X points/miles. Use this card, it earns 3X points points/miles.”
Another Friend *rolls eyes in exasperation* “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re[bleep] insane”
Or
Dad, “You’re in your mid twenties now. If you don’t settle down in one place, you’ll never find a nice girl.”
Me, “I have, they’re just in different area codes, that’s all.”
Dad, “They?”
Me, “Never mind.”
In the words of [b]eightblack, “or something like that.”
Although I have been fortunate enough to fly in domestic premium cabins on a regular basis, I have only been in an international premium cabin twice. Both times were in business class. Business class is nice, but after reading many trip reports about First Class services on many airlines here on FT, I developed a bit of yearning….ok ok obsession…to make that last leap into the true pointy end of the plane. So satisfy my yearning, I decided to book both my outbound and return in First. Scratch 1 item off my bucket list.
I began planning my trip in early February for a departure in December. Since I am based in Dallas, my airline of choice is the airline proud to bear the name American. My tidy pile of AAdvantage miles grew a bit larger after the wonderful DEQM promotions of earlier this year. So naturally I looked to Cathay Pacific to get me to Hong Kong. Using the clunky British Airways award tool, I found a First seat on CX 889 (JFK-HKG) on December 1st. As I was meeting my parents in Florida after my trip and then returning with them to Houston for Christmas, I decided to start my trip in Houston to make the overall logistics a little easier. I was able to easily find availability on AA from IAH to JFK. But why stop at just Hong Kong? Why not explore another country I’ve never been to before. Hong Kong is located in the Asia 2 award zone, which encompasses all of Southeast Asia. No matter where you go in Asia 2, the 67,500 miles are required for a First Class redemption. After some thinking, I decided to go to Bali, as I have never been to Indonesia before and I wouldn’t mind relaxing on the beach for a few days. There was plenty of availability between Hong Kong and Bali, so it's easy to tack the additional segment on. Unfortunately, AA does not allow international stopovers on award tickets so I used an additional 22,500 miles to get back Hong Kong after my time in Bali.
For my return segment, I decided to dip into my Mileage Plus account to experience the best Star Alliance has to offer. Additionally, I would be able to scratch another item off my bucket list: circumnavigate the world on one trip, as United allows crossing the Atlantic to reach Asia on award tickets. I did a good bit of homework on the “new” United’s award booking engine and found award availability on Swiss from Tokyo to Zurich. I was really hoping to find Lufthansa First availability on the transatlantic leg, but Lufthansa had adopted a policy of not releasing award seats to partners until a few weeks before departure. So I had booked Swiss’ Zurich to Montreal service, which was available in First, to hold the award and bide my time until Lufthansa opens up availability. Two flights in Swiss First, a real bummer. ;) Finding flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo and Montreal to Orlando (where I would meet my family) was a breeze. Unfortunately, booking this award ticket wasn’t a breeze as I booked around the infamous date of March 3, 2012. Here is one of the indignities I suffered through:
Yep, true story. But I finally I was able to book it and 70,000 miles and $97 in taxes and fees later I had confirmed my return leg. So I was all set, or so I thought.
In the beginning of June, I received word that one of my uncles had passed away from lung cancer and one of my grand aunts was in and out of the hospital due to colon cancer. I talked it over with my parents and decided to move my trip up as soon as possible so I could so I could spend some time with my grand aunt. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave until July due to a major assignment at work during June and I would have cut out my jaunt to Bali, as it was high season and everything was ridiculously priced. But family is family. I can visit Bali another time.
Once again, I fired up the BA award booking engine to look for Cathay First availability. But I was unable to find anything. The best option I found was flying AA in business from Dallas to Tokyo connecting to Cathay to Hong Kong. I have seen quite a few TRs lately on both AA international First and Business recently, and I thought it had improved and actually looked pretty good, but it’s still definitely a few notches below Cathay. At that point, I accepted my fate and decided to still depart out of Houston and keep the segment to Bali to avoid the $150 change fee due to a different origination/destination.
So I rang the AAdvantage award desk, and explained the situation to a wonderful AAgent named Kelly. She did a little tapping and said, “Hmmm…Mr. Harrison, I don’t think you really want to lose this Cathay First seat, right? Let me see if I can find something for you in July.” After 5 minutes of tapping, Kelly managed to find one seat on CX 873 (SFO-HKG) that I had apparently missed. Boom! Flights from Houston to San Francisco were found with relative ease, to my surprise, as July is in the middle of the busy summer travel season. At that point, she posed another question to me, “Are you really planning to continue to Bali or will you be terminating in Hong Kong.” That was a bit of d’oh moment for me. I had planned to throw away that Bali segment, to avoid the fee, since it was the last segment of a one way award. But I had mentioned to Kelly at the beginning of the call that my relatives were in Hong Kong. I sheepishly answered it was the latter. She then told me she’d be right back and put me on hold. After 7 minutes, Kelly came back and told me she had talked to her supervisor, who agreed to waive the change fee for changing my destination in light of my loyalty to American and the circumstances that necessitated that change. After a few more minutes, everything was set and sent to ticketing queue. I thanked Kelly profusely and hung up.
I know this is a little off topic, but employees like Kelly are the reason I’m loyal to American. Obviously, there are a few bad apples, but I’ve have significantly more interactions with great employees than I have with the bad apples. Maybe I’m just lucky. Anyways, AApologist hat off. Back to the TR at hand.
Changing my return trip was another chore. Both Swiss and Lufthansa had no availability on the dates I needed. So I settled on Thai Airways First from HKG-ZRH-FRA. Then I would connect to Lufthansa to LHR, where I would have a 23 hour layover before continuing on to IAH on United BusinessFirst. It wasn’t optimal, in terms of maximizing what I could get out of my miles, but I was pleased given the circumstances. So everything was set. Or so I thought. Again. More on that later.
Just like my trip last year, I needed get back to Houston to catch my flight. Independence Day (July 4th in the US) fell on the Wednesday before my departure date. I had planned to go to Houston to spend the holiday with my family and friends, so I requested that Thursday and Friday off. That way, I could just spend the weekend down there and catch my flight on the following Monday. Unfortunately, I got into a little accident in mid-June and my car wouldn’t be ready to be picked up from the body shop (in Dallas) until July 6th. Therefore, I made a run back to Dallas from Houston on July 5th to pick up my car and return the rental and went to work on 6th to tie up a few loose ends. Unfortunately, my car wasn’t ready on 6th. Needless to say, I was pretty ticked off as there was no communication whatsoever. Mais, c’est la vie. I made arrangements to return my rental at IAH and pick up another car on my way back. Crisis averted.
After spending Saturday preparing my place in Dallas for my trip, I drove down to Houston late Saturday night and arrived at my parents’ place just before 2AM, Sunday morning. I was exhausted and fell asleep immediately after I washed up a bit. I woke up around 8 and decided to fire up my laptop to check on a few things. Somehow I ended up on FlyerTalk as well as Lucky’s blog, and my jaw just dropped after I noticed the Singapore Airlines "Award Gate" Threads here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1364187-quick-heads-up-sq-releasing-almost-all-f-award-o.html) and here (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/07/07/act-fast-all-singapore-airlines-award-space-available-to-star-alliance-partners/). After reading through a few pages on both sites, I decided to bite the bullet and pay the redeposit fee (to cancel my original award ticket) and close in booking fee. After all, Singapore F award space doesn’t come along very often and downing a few bottles of Dom would already make for the additional cost. Besides, London will still be there next year and I could take the time for a proper visit then. I gave the Mileage Plus desk a call, and after my credit card endured a $150 hit, 70,000 miles were immediately credited back to my account. Afterwards, I immediately did a quick search on united.com and found I could route HKG-SIN-DME-IAH all in SQ F. After thinking about it for a second, I decided add on one segment to terminate the award in Dallas to save me the drive from Houston to Dallas. That decision turned out to be a huge boon. Anyways, I entered DFW as my final destination instead of IAH. United.com was able to replicate the same itinerary with an additional IAH-DFW leg in UA F. I went ahead and purchased the reservation with the 70,000 miles that were just redeposited into my account and $128 in taxes and fees, and it ticketed within minutes. Finally, everything was completely set.
As far as hotels go, I will talk about that in individual posts.
So my final itinerary looked a little like this:
7/9 AA 3653 IAH-LAX CR7 F
7/9 AA 1798 LAX-SFO 738 F
7/10 CX 873 SFO-HKG 77W F
7/16 SQ 865 HKG-SIN 77W F
7/17 SQ 62 SIN-DME 77W F
7/17 SQ 62 DME-IAH 77W F
7/17 UA 391 IAH-DFW 319 F
Before I decided to move my big adventure up, I had a couple of little domestic trips planned in mid-July and in early August. I decided include those little trips within this report, since 29,000 miles sounds sexier than 21,000. Just a little heads up for y’all who don’t care to read about domestic travel in the United States. Those of you still with me, thank you for reading so far. I promise I’ll get to the good stuff next.
18 flights and 29,061 miles in 4 weeks, here we geaux
Previous Trip Report
Everybody look at me because I'm sailing on a boat (KL J and DL Y) (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1316735-everybody-look-me-because-im-sailing-boat-kl-j-dl-y.html)
dat4life
Jul 19, 12, 5:27 pm
I spent the rest of Sunday hanging out with some friends, whom I haven’t seen in a while, and relaxing by the pool. After retiring rather early that night, I woke up rather early Monday morning and took a good long run, as I needed to keep in shape for my race in Chicago in a few weeks. After showering and getting dressed, I was ready to go by 9AM for my 12:30PM flight. It takes about 35 minutes from my parents’ house to IAH. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t dream of leaving for the airport more than two hours before departure, but I needed to run to the bank to grab some cash and I wanted to give some extra time to return my rental in case I ran into complications from my unexpected one way drop off. On my way to the bank, I received a call from a 210 (San Antonio) number, which I picked up halfway expecting it to be a political pollster.
“Hi Mr. harrison1186, this is Pam from the American Airlines Executive Platinum Desk. How are you today?’
Umm EXP? I just barely made PLT for the first time this year. Whatever, I can roll with this.
“Hi Pam. I’m doing well.”
“Glad to hear that sir. I’m calling because there has been a significant schedule change for your DFW-DCA flight in a few weeks. Orginally you were scheduled to depart at 9:25 AM, but we have you on the 11:25 now. Is that ok?”
“Ummmmm, yeah that works.”
Needless to say, I was impressed and really appreciated the call. I don’t know if it’s because of status, but I have never received this type of call beforehand. Sadly, my account is still showing as a PLT, though I’m not really complaining. Anyways, I grabbed cash, got gas for the rental, and made it to the rental car center by 10AM. Returning the car took a little longer than usual due to some additional calls made by the Enterprise agent about some formalities, but I was able to return it without incident. Afterwards, I waited a few minutes for a shuttle to the terminal and I was deposited at IAH’s terminal A by 10:30. The shuttle dropped me at the lower level of the terminal, so I had to hoof through baggage claim and take an escalator to the ticketing counter. After a very short wait, I was beckoned to come forward by an AAgent.
The AAgents at IAH are a bit of a mixed bag. Some are very friendly, the others are just blah. I got a blah agent that morning. Though, she got the job done. My bags were tagged all the way to Hong Kong and I received boarding passes for all three of my flights. I then made my way to the priority security lane, which was a bit unnecessary that day since both lines were empty, although there was a bit of a wait at the metal detector/imaging machines. I don’t know why, but the TSOs at IAH terminal A tends to play the “name game” more than any other checkpoint I’ve been to in the country. I played along with the agent and got a nice prize: going through the metal detector instead of the imagers. While putting on my belt and shoes back on, I was entertained by father yelling at his son to shut up and just do what agent asks. You gotta love summer travel. I then made the short walk over to my departure gate, A28.
The gate area was rather crowded due to the DFW, ORD, and my LAX flight leaving pretty close to each other.
Eventually, the LAX flight posted a 20 minute delay, so I escaped to the relative calm of the nearby gate A26 to kill time by playing around on Facebook and calling a few friends. The inbound flight arrived at 12:10. At that time, the gate agents combed the gate area and handing out valet tags to those passengers with larger carry-ons. Boarding began about 12:40, about 10 minutes after our scheduled departure. I marched up to the Priority AAccess lane, as First Class boarding was called and handed over my boarding pass to the gate agent. She scanned it and wished me pleasant flight and I was making my down the jet bridge.
AA 3653 (Operated by American Eagle)
Houston (IAH)-Los Angeles (LAX)
Monday July 09, 2012
Depart: 12:30 PM
Arrive: 1:40 PM
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-700 (N509AE)
Seat: 2A (First Class)
As I entered the aircraft, I was greeted by one of our friendly flight attendants, Mariah, whom ended up working the First Class cabin. I settled into seat 2A, which I picked due to American’s FEBO practice. This was my first flight in First Class on a regional jet. I found the seat to be comfortable and legroom to be more than adequate. Mariah then came around with a tray of pre-departure beverages consisting of orange juice or water. We then pushed packed from the gate and began our taxi to Runway 15R. After the manual safety demo, the other flight attendant, Chris, came around to pick up the PDB cups. The flight deck added their welcome, as we reached the runway threshold, and announced that a ground stop was now effect due to thunderstorms that were moving from north to south. The estimated hold time was about 15 minutes, so the engines were shut down to save fuel. 10 minutes later, an announcement was made that the ground stop would be lifted in a few minutes. At that point, the engines roared back to life and we taxied into position on runway 15R. Soon after, the flight crew applied take off thrust and we lifted off after a 5,000 feet roll out.
We made a climbing turn to a northeasterly heading to avoid the line of thunderstorms still to the south and west of the airport before setting course to LAX. Despite the storms, we only experienced a few bumps during the climb out. The flight attendants got out of their jump seats to begin service after the 10,000 feet “ding”. After helping set up the coach beverage cart, the Mariah came around the first class cabin greeting passenger by name and taking drink and lunch orders. Choices were a roast beef sandwich and chicken salad. As expected with CRJ flights, meals are cold as those aircraft lack ovens. I chose the roast beef sandwich and ordered an orange juice to wash it down. However, I had second thoughts about my drink choice and cheekily asked if it’s too early to order a Jack and Coke. Mariah smiled and answered, “Of course not. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” Of course it is, Mariah. Of course, it is.
Drinks were delivered with a ramekin of mixed nuts.
After I finished my ramekin of nuts, my roast beef sandwich was served with potato salad, topped with bacon bits, and packaged brownie for dessert. Mariah offered a drink top off as she delivered my lunch tray; however, I ordered a glass of water instead.
The roast beef sandwich, which was topped with a slice of cheddar cheese, was pretty good with provided dijionnaise, aside from the fact the bread was a bit dry. The potato salad was very tasty, especially with the bacon bits, and the brownie was alright. The only disappointing aspect of the meal service was the “enhanced” polyester napkin, which has been discussed in the AAdvantage meal thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/1287192-2012-aa-domestic-meals-menus-menu-photos-etc-consolidated-19.html#post18421867). Trays were cleared as each passenger finished up, with the offer of more drinks, which I declined. I watched a couple more episodes of the Big Bang Theory on my iPad and then took a little 40 minute nap. When I woke up, both flight attendants were finishing up another drink run down in coach. As they came back up, I was offered something to drink so I ordered an orange juice. I passed the last 30 minutes of the flight sipping juice and watching the desert terrain of the American Southwest pass by.
Soon, we began our decent and the flight crew made the typical pre-arrival announcements. As Chris was in coach collecting cups, Mariah came around the First Class cabin with a tray of mints and Biscoff cookies, which was a nice way to round out service. One last pass was made to collect glasses and trash in First Class, and we soon touched down Runway 25R at LAX. The taxi to remote gate 44B was quick. The standard connecting gate announcements were made during taxi. I was the second person off the aircraft, thanking the great crew on the way out, and made my way to the main terminal shuttle bus. The ride to main terminal was fun as we got up close and personal with the aircraft on the tarmac. The bus dropped us off in the main terminal near gate 43 and I made my way to the Admiral’s Club across from gate 40 (where the Flagship Lounge is located).
gpeso8
Jul 19, 12, 5:44 pm
I'm so excited for your SQ F report! Great work so far!
dat4life
Jul 19, 12, 6:40 pm
It was a short walk from the bus gate to the Admiral’s Club. I walked in the double frosted doors and handed my LAX-SFO and SFO-HKG boarding passes to the friendly AAgent, who scanned both boarding passes and handed me a white electronic key to the Flagship Lounge. As an AA Platinum (OneWorld Sapphire), I had access to the Admiral’s Club on my international itinerary. My international First Class segment on Cathay granted me access into the Flagship Lounge.
The Flagship Lounge is located across from the Admiral’s Club. The entrance is an inconspicuous sliding glass door to the right of the concierge desk on the second floor. After entering the FL, I returned the key to an AAgent who asked if I had been to the lounge before. I said I had no, and she offered me a tour of lounge. After the tour was finished, she told me to let them know if needed assistance with anything and left me to my own devices.
I was quite impressed by FL. It was definitely the nicest lounge I’ve been to in North America. There were quite a few passengers when I arrived (around 2PM), but the lounge emptied out as the afternoon and evening progressed. But even then, the lounge did not feel crowded at all. The lounge is fairly spacious and airy, with moderately sized sitting and dining areas as well as nice views of the tarmac. A quiet zone equipped with Bose QC2 headsets and easy chairs is located in the sitting area near the restrooms and shower rooms. Furnishings are of good quality and are in relatively good repair.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8024/7606085518_675002986d.jpg
View from seating area toward dining area
Foot options were very good, for a North American Lounge. When I arrived, Flagship Tea was being served. Food options included hot soup (vegetarian chili), basil turkey wraps and sandwiches, salad, sliced fresh fruit, cheeses, and assorted desserts. The offerings were rather tasty and fresh, although there wasn’t anything special. A wide variety of drinks (alcoholic and soft drinks) and packaged snacks (chips, etc.) were also on offer. The specialty iced chai tea on offer was absolutely FANTASTIC. I had several glasses of the chai tea along in my five hours in the lounge.
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A little fruit, dessert, and chai tea.
Around 6PM, the spread for Flagship Supper was set out. Hot offerings included Cornish hen, sautéed green beans and parsnips, soup, along with the cold offerings of Flagship tea. The food was good, although the green beans were a bit rubbery.
At around 7, I left the lounge to take a walk around the terminal. But the terminal was rather crowded with the evening bank of flights boarding nearly simultaneously. So I returned to the sanctuary of the lounge; however, I did not get a key to Flagship Lounge this time around. It really wasn’t a big deal as I only had 30 minutes before boarding. I haven’t been in the LAX AC since late 2010, so I didn’t mind taking a little peek there. This time around the furnishings and carpeting appear to be rather worn down. However, the view from the lounge is fantastic, as it faces the TBIT.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/7606064954_1a2f192199.jpg
QF 388 preparing for an evening run back to the land of Oz with an AA 772 preparing for run to LHR in the foreground
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Admiral’s Club. View from dining area.
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Meager snack offering of the AC. Sorry for the blurry shot.
During my short stay, I grabbed a bottle of water with my drink chit and settled in a comfortable chair in the TV room and watched the tail end of Home Run Derby. The last time I was in the room, I watched the Packers pound the Cowboys as my flight back to Dallas was delayed significantly. Ironically, I learned Wade Phillips (Cowboys Head Coach at the time) was fired after we arrived in Dallas around 2AM the next morning. Anyhow, I headed down to my gate after watching Prince Fielder really belt it out in the last round of the Derby.
dat4life
Jul 19, 12, 7:44 pm
AA 1798
Los Angeles (LAX)-San Francisco (SFO)
Monday July 09, 2012
Depart: 8:20 PM
Arrive: 9:35 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (N932AN)
Seat: 4A (First Class)
My flight was departing out of gate 40, which was conveniently located directly across from the lounge entrance. I exited the lounge into a sea of gate lice, just as boarding for AAdvantage Platinum was called. After fighting my way through, I made it to the Priority AAccess lane, where there were five people in front of me. The gate agent turned away all of them as they were in Group 4. When I reached podium, I gave the agent a smile as I handed over my boarding pass. She returned the smile after she saw my boarding pass and thanked me for my loyalty and wished me a pleasant flight. After a short wait in the jet bridge, I made it on board the aircraft.
Just as I could tell my IAH-LAX flight was going to be a good one as soon as I boarded, I could tell this flight was not going to be a good one. There was no greeting from either flight attendant in the forward galley. They were happily chatting amongst themselves. I’m all for camaraderie in the workplace. I used to work in retail for an extensive period of time while I was in college. In fact, I met some of my best friends during that time period. But when it came time to face a customer, I like to think that we served each one professionally, with few exceptions. The moment a customer walks into a place of business, in this case an aircraft, how they are treated at that moment sets the tone for the transaction. I’m not asking to be fawned over and escorted to my seat (a la SQ), but a simple “hello” and/or “welcome aboard” does wonders. Fortunately for me, flights like this are the exception rather than the norm.
My seatmate was already seated and on a phone call when I arrived. After she got up and let me in, I settled my comfortable standard AA 738 First Class seat, with ample storage and leg room.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7606057044_2fd1bc45b2.jpg
View of tarmac.
As boarding progressed, the aforementioned flight attendants in forward galley continue their conversation until a passenger asked for assistance with a carry on. Only then, did they break off their conversation. Ok…deep breath. Last flight until you’re aboard CX First. The rest of the boarding process was uneventful. We pushed back a minute or two ahead of schedule and the safety video began playing. At that point, I assume the flight attendant realize he forgot about the PDB service and came around with a tray of ice water. He offered them to passengers by wordlessly passing the tray in front of their faces. Cups were collected a few minutes afterwards. We were number 3 for take off when we reached the threshold of the departure runway, 25R. After lining up with centerline, the distinctive growl of CFM 56 engines grew progressively louder and we were soon airborne and flying into the gorgeous California sunset.
Our flight path took us due west for an extensive period of time before turning north toward San Francisco. I specifically chose an “A” seat, hoping to catch some great views of the California coastline. I was certainly rewarded for my efforts. I do apologize in advance for the blurriness of some of the photos. I had forgotten to bring my camera, so I used my iPhone 4S for all of my pictures.
About 15 minutes after take off, flight attendants came around with a drink service and passed out AA’s premium snack mix. I went with water and declined the snack mix. Refills were offered, but I declined.
We were soon descending in to San Francisco. However, the sun had set, so I wasn’t able to get any good views of the Bay Area as we approached SFO. The approach to Runway 28L was very familiar, as I had gone through SFO numerous time earlier this ear on MRs during the DEQM promos. Touchdown was a bit rough, teeth chattering even, as remarked by my seatmate. Taxi was quick to a very familiar gate 56B. I quickly deplaned and headed off to the great SFO AC for a few minutes, just for giggles, before heading to the international terminal.
goodeats21
Jul 19, 12, 8:00 pm
Great TR so far. Really looking forward to your Cathay segment.
Thanks for posting....
amolkold
Jul 19, 12, 8:00 pm
I keep clicking refresh but the SQ F can't be posted quickly enough! :D
dat4life
Jul 19, 12, 10:30 pm
After my quick visit to the SFO AC, I left the secure area and took an escalator to the upper level to catch the Air Train to the international terminal. As I exited terminal, I was greeted by the cool crisp air, which was a stark contrast to the triple digit temperatures I had left behind in Dallas. The Air Train is located on a platform above the terminal; thus, requiring the ascension of another escalator. A train arrived just as I reached the platform, and I quickly hopped on. During the day, the tarmac views from the train can be absolutely fantastic. But obviously the view is a bit more limited at night. I arrived at the international terminal with minutes and went down two floors to get to the ticketing counters. Cathay Pacific’s counters are located on row 7. I arrived to the find the check in area to be relatively empty.
As I approached the counter, an agent greeted me and came forward to get my passport. She confirmed Cathay had possession of both bags I had checked with AA and proceeded to print my boarding pass. I then asked if she minded printing another copy as a keepsake. At first the agent refused, citing FAA security regulations. Really? I could print 100 copies from the internet at home, if I really wanted to. I remained polite, citing this was my first trip on Cathay. At that statement, she relented and printed me another copy, she had to tear an inch off top for security reasons. This snafu aside, the interaction was very pleasant. To top it all off, the agent came around the counter to personally hand me my boarding passes and lounge invitations and shake my hand. She then gave me directions to lounge and wished me a pleasant flight.
Saying the security checkpoint was a zoo would be a compliment. The line was long due to the several long haul flights that were leaving at approximately the same time. No worries, because I can use the priority lane, right? Wrong. Despite showing my boarding pass the line dragon, she insisted that I enter into the regular line, which was a few hundred people deep. A few hundred people, judging by their behavior, fly every few years and are unfamiliar with the current security process. This really ticked me off. One of my primary motivations for maintaining at least AAdvantage Gold is to avoid having to wait in lines like this. And the fact I was denied access to priority lane on a First Class ticket probably made me a little angrier. Again, deep breaths. It will all be over soon.
You might ask how I came to the conclusion about these families only flying once every few years. The primary reason for the slow down was liquids. From full size toiletries to a thermos of soup, you name a type of liquid, they tried to carry it on. Anyways, I finally got to the ID checker, who eyed me up and down, and asked if I had other carry-on except for my laptop bag and if I was traveling with anyone else. I replied no and no. He called his colleague who ushered me to front of the line, and I was through within a few minutes. I was pretty thankful for this, as the process was extremely slow going. I gathered my shoes and belt made a beeline for the Cathay lounge, thankful to leave the commotion of the terminal. Oh man, see how spoiled I’m getting already…
Although the location absolutely sucks, the lounge itself is pretty pleasant. And the historical photographs decorating the hallway leading to the lounge is certainly a nice touch. As I entered the lounge, I was greeted by another friendly CX agent who asked for my lounge invite and boarding pass. Upon seeing my torn boarding pass, she frowned and asked what happened. Instead of giving the lovely agent the cold hard facts, I told her it was torn when my ID was checked. Hey, it seemed like a great idea at the time. The agent wouldn’t have any of it. She ripped the boarding pass in half and told me with a smile that this was unacceptable for Cathay Pacific First. A new CLEAN boarding pass was printed and presented to me in the same manner as at the ticket counter. FAA regs, my alpha romeo sierra echo. But no harm, no foul. I just slipped my fresh boarding pass into a protected compartment of my bag and used my original marked up copy to board.
The lounge itself is of good size, although it did get full as the evening progressed. However, it didn’t feel crowded despite the plane being full in F and 95 percent full in J. Food offerings were decent with a noodle bar and some curry and rice on the spread. Although not terribly hungry, I decided to order dan dan noodles and grabbed some of the great fruit tarts to round out the meal. My noodles were ready for pick up with a few minutes and were very tasty. I washed it all down with some water. Craving sated, I headed back to reception to get a key to a shower room, for which I traded my boarding pass for. I thought I had taken some pics of the lounge, but I can’t quite locate them. But I did take a few shots of shower room, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before here on FT. There are some very comprehensive reviews of the rest of the lounge in other trip reports.
Shower rooms are located in the far end of the lounge. I believe there are a total of three shower rooms. The usual amenities (toothbrushes, etc.) were available in the room. Water pressure and temperature were great. I truly think that showers are one of the greatest benefits of premium travel. To be able to get on a long haul flight clean refreshed, and have the ability to freshen up afterwards is nearly invaluable in my book. Trust me, I have plenty of long haul non-premium travel under my belt!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7606047358_25d2d3d9b7.jpg
Shower with “rainfall” head
Not pictured, is a long wooden bench opposite to the sink to store things and help change. Anyways, I emerged from my shower feeling like great. I went back to the reception to retrieve my boarding passes and then settled on an open Mac, to check email, etc. To reduce weight, I decided bring my iPad with me instead of my MacBook. But it is nice to be able to use a keyboard and mouse once in a while. At this point, an elderly couple had entered the lounge and took up residence in the easy chairs close to the computer area. This all fine and dandy, but the gentleman kept on wheezing loudly every few minutes, as if he was having difficulty breathing. This continued for the next hour or so, and got to the point where I wondering if he should be denied boarding as it seemed he was medical diversion waiting to happen. In the end, I never saw if he actually boarded or not. At about 12:20, I packed up and headed to gate thanking the lounge dragon on the way out. She expressed concern that I had not fully enjoyed the lounge. I reassured her I did and I just wanted stretch my legs before the flight. As I made my way to the gate, I noticed the lovely, lovely, lovely, did I mention lovely CI cabin crew making their way to their gate for a departure to Taipei.
When I reached our gate, A5, I found pure pandemonium, as Philippine Airline’s 744 service was departing to Manila, from adjacent gate, A6. Both flights appeared to be nearly fully, judging by the number of people in the gate area. Boarding began smack dab at 12:40 for our 1:10AM departure, beginning with pre-boards. Naturally, the entire gate area swarmed the poor agents, attempting to board the aircraft but they were beaten back. First and Business Class passengers were called moments later; however, it was nearly impossible fight through crowd. Hell, Eddie George would have trouble blasting through the crowd. Luckily a gate agent spotted me with my beautiful First boarding pass in hand and motioned for me to follow him as he opened a hole in the crowd. Old ladies may have been pushed out of the way. Babies may have been tossed, but by golly he made sure he got me to the podium. I kid, of course. Or am I…
My boarding pass was scanned and I was on my way down the jet bridge away from all of the commotion.
The real (flying) fun was about to begin…
dat4life
Jul 19, 12, 10:34 pm
Thanks for encouragement guys. I'll get SQ F up hopefully next week. I'm kind of swamped with work in addition to jaunts to Chicago this weekend and So Cal next week. Go figure, right?
But I will go out on limb and promise a bit of teaser may be up sometime this weekend.
dat4life
Jul 20, 12, 7:43 pm
CX 873
San Francisco (SFO)- Hong Kong (HKG)
Tuesday July 10, 2012
Depart: 1:10 AM
Arrive: 6:15 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (B-KPB)
Seat: 1A (First Class)
The closer I got to the aircraft, the bigger the grin on my face grew. I was greeted by the purser at the door and shown to my seat, 1A. She then wished me a pleasant flight and returned to the doorway. My first impressions of the seat were good. It was very spacious, well provided, and most important of all: private. I could hardly notice any of the other passengers while seated. Storage space was ample with a personal closet as well as space underneath the “buddy seat”. I’m a little shutter shy on board planes, but I did manage to get a few shots of the suite.
I did try out the buddy seat, just because, and found it to be decently comfortable, although I wouldn’t want to spend too much time there.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7607246738_cd3c5b1f18.jpg
Seat and IFE controls. Noise canceling headphones are stored in the compartment visible to the left
A few moments later, my flight attendant, Penny, came to introduce herself and inquired about my language preference. I indicated I could speak Cantonese, but it did not matter to me which language is used. She then offered to fetch me a selection of reading material and a beverage. I declined the reading material, citing the late hour, and asked for a glass of champagne. The request was met with a smile and a “Of course”. As soon as Penny left, the Cabin Service Director came to welcome me aboard and to exchange pleasantries. She left after saying Penny and Desmond (the other First Class flight attendant) would take good care of me. You bet they did.
Penny soon returned with a tray containing a champagne flute and a bottle of Krug. She set the flute down on my cupholder, properly presented the bottle to me, and poured the first of many glasses of Krug on this flight. As sipped my wonderfully chilled champagne and enjoyed the blissfully quiet cabin, I reflected on my journey to the pointy end of the plane, completed in just a few short years. It wasn’t long ago when I thought such a trip would be impossible and the closest I would get to the forward cabin is by living vicariously through trip reports. Boy, what a turn of events.
Pajamas, amenity kits, and menus were distributed next. At about 1AM, 10 minutes before scheduled departure, an announcement was made for all ground personnel to leave the aircraft. I overheard the FAs chat about the flight’s load, which was full in F, 95 percent full in J, and a full house down in economy. Wait, let me get this straight, United needs a full hour to board a domestic 757, while Cathay can board a fully 777 in less than half an hour. Hmm…
Just before the cabin doors were closed, our Australian Captain came on the PA to welcome us aboard and announced a flight time of just over 13 hours. The safety video was played as we pushed back and we were soon taxiing to the departure runway. I entertained myself by watching the belly camera through the IFE system. After a rather quick taxi, we hurtled down Runway 28R and lifted off after a rather long take off roll.
The seatbelt sign was turned off after we climbed through 10,000 feet, and the flight attendants sprang into action. Penny came around taking orders for post take off drinks. I ordered another glass of Krug, which was delivered with a dish of warm almonds and macadamia nuts.
Port
Barrios Pinto Quinta da Ervannoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port
Aperitifs and Cocktails
Campari
Martini Russo
Martini Extra Dry
Tio Pepe Sherry
Harveys Bristol Cream Sweet Sherry
Tanquerary Ten Gin
Bacardi Rum
Belvedere Vodka
Bloody Mary
Screwdriver
Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Canadian Club
Gentleman Jack Bourbon
MaCallan 17 Fine Oak Single Malt Whisky
Cognac
Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition
Beer
International Selection
Signature Drinks
Oriental Breeze
A sour plum tea and cranberry juice based non-alcoholic drink with honey and fresh lemon juice and a hint of rose water.
Cloud Nine
A refreshing combination of Vodka, Cointreau and Sprite with a refreshing touch of lemon flavour.
Decisions, decisions… I decided to go with the Western options as I would be eating a ton of Chinese food while in Hong Kong. Ten minutes later, Penny dropped by with the lovely bottle of Krug in hand to top off my drink and take my order. Caviar? Yes. Soup? You betcha. Salad? Yep. I chose the lamp chops for my main, which turned out to be a great decision. As for cheese and dessert, we’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. She then recommended the promotional wine, which was the Lynch Bages, be paired with the lamb chops, to which I agreed to. And she was off to prepare dinner.
As I was finishing up my latest glass of champagne, Penny came by to set up my table. The tray table is recessed in the side wall of the suite, and appeared to be very sturdy and heavy duty. Linen was then laid, followed by a bread plate, butter dish, lemon for the caviar service, salt and pepper shakers, water glass, and finally silverware and the Cathay’s signature bon appetite card. For some reason, she appeared to be a bit rushed. Although the cabin was full, it appeared that only half of us wanted the meal immediately post take off.
This was followed by another top off of my drink. My caviar starter was delivered a few minutes later by the other flight attendant Desmond, who greeted me by name and took the opportunity to introduce himself.
The caviar and smoked salmon were tasty and went well with the garnishes. Penny came to clear my plate a few minutes after I finished. Noticing the plate was picked clean, she asked if I would like another serving of caviar. Is the Pope Catholic? The second plate was delivered a few minutes later, along with another refill. I polished off the second plate in no time.
My soup was delivered next. It too was tasty, with large chunks on mushrooms. However, it was lukewarm, but I’ll attribute that to my second plate of caviar. A bread basket, which included garlic bread, was delivered with the soup.
After my soup had been cleared, the salad was delivered. It too was delicious. The prawns were tasty and tender. Here’s where I ran into my only true gripe about the meal service. The knife provided was ridiculous dull. Although the prawns were tender, it took some serious sawing to cut them into manageable bites.
My main course was brought out a few minutes after my salad plate was cleared along with a mint sauce and hot mustard. The lamb chops were restaurant quality in terms of flavor, quality, and presentation. The Lynch Bages wine went down well with the lamb chops. The mashed potatoes and vegetables were equally as fresh and tasty. I had the same unfortunate problem with cutting into the lamb chops as I did with the prawns.
Cheese and dessert were offered, as my main course was cleared. Since I don’t ever eat like this on the ground, I figured why the hell not. The cheeses on offer were brought out on a cutting board for inspection. I chose a sample of each of the cheeses on offer and order a glass of Port to go with it. The cheese was delivered a few moments later, accompanied by the crackers and some fruit.
Dessert, Mr. Harrison? Well if you insist, Penny. I decided to order the chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream with raspberry coulis. As I was waiting for my dessert, the cabin lights were dimmed as all the other passengers had already finished eating. The ice cream was a bit too frozen to eat initially, but it melted enough in a few minutes. It was really good.
Dishes were cleared soon after I finished. I declined offers of coffee, tea, and pralines. Penny then asked if I would like to take advantage of the turn down service, to which I answered yes. I then headed to the lavatory to change into my pajamas. The Shanghai Tang branded pajamas are very comfortable, but I’m not a fan of its dark brown with red trim color scheme. After I changed, I returned to my seat to find my bed already made up. Cathay uses a thin mattress pad laid over the seat in a flat position. Although it doesn’t look like much, it does help smooth the uneven sections of seat quite a bit. Additionally, the seat is well padded enough to be able to pull this off. A fluffy pillow and duvet completed my bed in the sky.
At this point, there were a little over 11 hours off flying time remaining. I crawled under the covers hoping to get about 6 hours of sleep to mitigate the effects of jet lag. The bed is comfortable; however, I found the foot compartment, which doubles as the buddy seat, to be a bit narrow and restrictive, making it hard to change sleeping positions. Just for comparison sake, I’m 5’9.
I figured the late hour departure would help me fall asleep rather quickly. Unfortunately, I just dozed in and out for 2 hours and woke up for good after a patch of rough air with 9 hours to go. I once again fired up Cathay’s great on demand IFE system, Studio CX, to help pass the time. I had watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close during dinner. It was a rather intense movie, so I decided to go with something a little more light hearted: The Big Bang Theory. 17 episodes of the past season were loaded. I had missed the majority of the season due to work and other obligations, and I can’t imagine a better place to catch up on the show than in a comfortable bed cruising in excess of 500 mph at FL380 over the Pacific Ocean. I ordered a tasty Oriental Breeze to sip while watching the show.
The only drawback of Studio CX is that it is defaulted play nearly over a minute of same commercials before each and every TV show episode. Although, I will admit I really didn’t mind the Scotts Tower Commercial for some unknown reason. Anyways, back on topic.The next thing I know, 5 hours of flight are left and I was feeling a bit peckish for no apparent reason. Time to take a look at that snack menu:
SNACKS
Maryland crab cakes with tartar sauce
Roasted beef with sun-dried tomato horseradish mayonnaise on sour dough bread and mesclun salad
Shui gaw in noodle soup
Hot pot rice with steamed chicken and black mushroom, served with chicken broth
Ice cream
I decided to go with crab cakes, as I’ve heard good things about them. After ringing the call bell, Desmond appeared at my seat within seconds. After I informed him of my selection, he advised me that it would take about 10 minutes to prepare and asked if I wanted something to drink with that. I elected to go with another Oriental Breeze. Desmond reappeared within a few minutes with a hot towel and brought the tray with my snack and drink a little while after that. The crab cakes were delicious and the quantity was sufficient.
When he came to clear my tray, Desmond brought another glass of Oriental Breeze and a fresh bottle of water. I decided to watch Hunger Games after finishing up the last of The Big Bang Theory episodes. It was a pretty interesting movie, to say the least. As I was finishing up the movie, Penny came to ask what I wanted for breakfast.
Starters
Orange or apple juice
Strawberry smoothie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Natural or fruit yoghurt
Assorted cereals
Main Courses
Free range eggs-freshly scrambled, fried, or boiled
served with Canadian back bacon, grilled pork sausage, Lyonnaise potatoes, grilled tomato or sautéed mushrooms
Dim sum with chili sauce
Shrimp dumpling, siu mai, mini chicken glutinous rice wrapped with lotus leaf, chiu chow dumpling
Abalone and black mushroom congee, served with pan fried pork bun
Bread Basket
Assorted breakfast bread and fresh toast
served with Mrs. Bridges Scottish preserves. Tasmanian meadow honey and butter
Tea and Coffee
I ordered orange juice, the fruit starter, fruit yoghurt, and the dim sum main course to be served as late as possible. At that time, my empty glass and water bottle was sitting on my console; however, these were not removed until my table was cleared after the breakfast service.
At about 90 minutes until landing, she returned with a hot towel, glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, and proceeded to set up my table for breakfast. The fruit plate was delivered first along with the bread basket, which contained a croissant, bagel, and cinnamon roll. That fruit was without a doubt the best I’ve ever had on a plane (including my later SQ flights). It was fresh, sweet, and well chilled. The bread basket and the assorted jams and honey were another highlight of the breakfast service. Both the croissant and bagel were fantastic and were made even better by the aforementioned jams.
Strawberry yoghurt was brought next. I know some people have complained about how cheap it was serving yoghurt still in the carton. But it really didn’t bother me. After that was cleared, my dim sum was delivered accompanied by a small dish of chili sauce. The dim sum was pretty close to restaurant quality.
After my table was cleared, I waited about ten minutes for the seatbelt sign to be turned off after a patch of rough air. Only then did I head to lavatory to change. Soon we were descending into beautiful Hong Kong. The CSD came around the First cabin to thank everyone again and wish them well. I activated the belly cam again to gain a pilots perspective of the approach. The approach itself was beautiful as we descended just as the sun was rising. Touchdown was smooth and we reached out gate after a lengthy taxi. Thus endeth my first international First flight.
amolkold
Jul 20, 12, 10:22 pm
Great report on CX F. It never fails to disappoint.
The only drawback of CX Studio is that it is defaulted play nearly over a minute of same commercials before each and every TV show episode. Although, I will admit I really didn’t mind the Scotts Tower Commercial for some unknown reason.
CX also shows that ad? I thought it was just SQ ... though I agree, for some reason, I don't mind that one.
dat4life
Jul 21, 12, 6:52 am
CX also shows that ad? I thought it was just SQ ... though I agree, for some reason, I don't mind that one.
They show that and the incredibly realistic Bank of Singapore commercial.
RussianTexan
Jul 21, 12, 4:26 pm
Great stuff! Don't be shutter shy on board a plane, you're brightening everyone's day here! Literally, if you use flash.
Very much looking forward to hearing about SQ62 F, since that's what I'm saving my miles for at the moment.
gpeso8
Jul 21, 12, 11:54 pm
Now that I have read the teaser on lucky's blog of your SQ flights, i'm even more looking forward to the SQ portion of this report!
ok2uselane
Jul 22, 12, 12:24 am
Thanks for sharing. I can hardly wait to hear more!
Moomba
Jul 22, 12, 3:13 am
Excellent report harrison1186.
I am looking forward to the return trip.
dat4life
Jul 22, 12, 4:52 am
I'm going to be a little behind in updating this TR due to work and my little escapades this weekend, but I hope to finish sometime in the next week.
For those of you who can't wait for the SQ F installments here's a little teaser (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/07/21/my-favorite-singapore-airlines-flight-attendant-spotted-in-the-wild/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boardingarea%2Fonemileatatime +%28One+Mile+at+a+Time%29). Long story short, toward the end of my DME-IAH flight, I realized I was flying with Ben's (aka lucky9876coins here on FT) SQ flight attendant (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/04/30/the-power-of-a-flight-attendant-to-change-your-mood%E2%80%A6/). I mentioned it to him, and he asked if I wouldn't mind chronicling the experience. So I did just that on my DFW-ORD flight yesterday morning.
So, enjoy!
If you're wondering why I'm up so early, no I'm stumbling back in right now. I wish I were. But more on that later.
utpharmdoc
Jul 22, 12, 3:15 pm
Great so far. Love the report. Can't wait for SQ F! I'm flying it in less than 2 weeks!
wfb
Jul 23, 12, 8:33 pm
During the SQ glitch I booked F on SIN-DME-IAH, for a trip in 2013. Later I read it's jolting to go from SQ F to a Soviet prison.
Please tell us about your DME experience. Was it a buzzkill that ruined the trip?
concorde02
Jul 24, 12, 12:00 am
So looking forward to SQ F part!
hktramz
Jul 25, 12, 12:07 pm
Really looking forward to the epic SQ62!!
This route seems always having good avaiability for Aeroplan redemption.
I have been interested in taking this route if I have sufficient time to spend in the air :)
FPRob
Jul 25, 12, 12:32 pm
Penny and Desmond? Any LOST fans out there? That would have freaked me out a bit.
amolkold
Jul 25, 12, 1:20 pm
Penny and Desmond? Any LOST fans out there? That would have freaked me out a bit.
I hope when harrison1186 was deboarding the aircraft, Desmond said, "I'll see you on another flight, brotha." :D
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 10:23 am
Excellent report harrison1186.
I am looking forward to the return trip.
Thanks Moomba! Your trip reports and as well as those of Seat 2A got me hooked on FT a few years ago!
@utpharmdoc
Thanks! You're in for a real treat. Enjoy your trip!
@wfb
The DME ground experience was definitely undewhelming.
@amolkold and FPRob
Should I be glad I never got into Lost?
Sorry, i got a little behind on my writing. Next installments will be up in a little bit.
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 10:44 am
I handed my invitation to agent who welcomed me into the lounge. Another agent came to take my luggage for storage and inquired if I wanted to be placed in the shower queue. I said I did. He fetched me a few minutes later and brought me to an open room. After a refreshing shower, I went back into to the lounge and made a bee line to an open computer, as I wanted to check on my SQ reservation. So far, so good. The Arrivals is much smaller and darker version of the SFO lounge. Thus, it can get crowded very quickly. That being said, it does serve its purpose, which is to give passenger a place to freshen up before heading into town. The lounge is equipped with 8 shower rooms, so the wait wasn’t very long for an open room. Food spread is pretty good with hot Western and Asian options as well as some fruit, yoghurt, and cereal.
I left the Arrivals after about 40 minutes and headed to the Airport Express platform. I purchased a ticket to Kowloon station for $90 HKD, as I was staying at the Intercontinental Hong Kong for my first night. Public transportation is one of my favorite aspects of Hong Kong. It’s plentiful, efficient, and very clean. The Airport Express is no exception. Trains run every few minutes and it takes just 25 minutes to arrive at the Hong Kong station. After a few minute wait, I stepped on train and noted it was just a clean as the last time I was on an Airport Express train in 2005.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/7617762800_3571d72f7d.jpg
A little taste of home.
I arrived at the Kowloon station after a little under 20 minutes. I attempted to find taxi queue, but in my sleep deprived state I missed the signs and went down the escalator. I should have just turned left after I left the train platform. There was no wait for a taxi and I was pulling up to the Intercontinental Hong Kong in 10 minutes.
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 12:06 pm
Because of the nature of my work, I travel to many small towns across North Texas. Thus, the vast majority of the hotels I stay in are of the Fairfield Inn/Holiday Inn Express/Hampton Inn variety. So when I was looking for places to stay for this trip, I was determined to stretch my points to stay in as nice of accommodations as possible. For my first night, I booked a room at the Intercontinental Hong Kong for 50,000 Priority Club points. Although I do have Platinum Ambassador status, Priority Club properties do not generally honor elite benefits, especially upgrades, on award stays. The IC Hong Kong takes it one step further and does not even upgrade Royal Ambassadors to Harbour View rooms on paid stays, if the original reservation was not made for a Harbour View room. In light of this, I emailed the hotel in advance inquiring about the possibility of a paid upgrade to a Harbour View room. I received a reply quickly, offering an upgrade to a Superior View Room for $800 HKD, which I accepted.
When I arrived at the hotel, the lobby was buzzing with activity, with quite a few people checking in/out. An agent was soon free, and beckoned me over. He welcomed me to the hotel as I handed over my passport and credit card. My status was acknowledged and upgrade confirmed. The agent then offered me club access for $960HKD. After a some deliberation, I accepted as the revenue rate for the room with club access was close to $5,500 HKD, so it was still a good deal to me. A few minutes later, I was escorted to my room, 542. The agent left after making sure I was satisfied with the room. Although some on this site have found the rooms to be dated, I found the accommodations to be quite nice.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8282/7617812904_46653cd94c.jpg
Entry way
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7617809774_ce43e68f86.jpg
Bed
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7617797520_d0935ec17f.jpg
The room was equipped with an iPod docking station and Bose sound system; however, the dock didn’t work
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7617793768_14d316779a.jpg
Welcome gift
One the reasons I wanted to stay at this property was due to the famous views of the Hong Kong Skyline. The hotel is located in Kowloon, which is across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7617760516_0d274ff37d.jpg
View from my room
I headed off to meet my uncle for lunch on Hong Kong Island, after taking a few pictures and settling in. Unfortunately, I found myself feeling the effect of my sleepless flight after a few hours, so I headed back to the hotel. After a bit of a break, I decided to check out the hotel amenities.
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Entry to gym, spa, and pool area
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8156/7617737168_a0dc7bdd70.jpg
Stairwell to pool area
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/7617744672_0017b91976.jpg
Pool
The pool area was very well kept. There were quite a few attendants milling around. Each time a guest arrived at the pool, and attendant came to offer a cold towel, “refreshing mist”, large towel, and a drink from the bar located near the pool. They were very attentive without being obtrusive. After a few laps, I headed to the famous infinity spa.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7617739306_94bc09e065.jpg
Seating area near the spa.
It’s needless to say, the view from the spa is gorgeous and very relaxing. There are actually three different sections of the spa, each with a different temperature. I had planned to watch the Symphony of Lights from the spa area, but sadly, I was asleep a little before 8 PM and missed it.
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 1:39 pm
As I mentioned earlier, I had paid an extra supplement for club access. I figured the evening drinks and snacks, breakfast, and internet access (which was around $200HKD per day alone) was worth the extra $960 HKD. I wasn’t in the mood to go out and find a restaurant in my jet lagged state. Besides, room service and the hotel restaurant would also be a bit pricy. After verifying my club privileges on my first visit, I welcomed into the club by name. This set the tone for the rest of my stay, as I was greeted by name at each interaction at the club.
The club is located on the 2nd floor, directly above the lobby. It was rather large; however, I never noticed more than handful of guests there. There are plenty of seats and tables available.
My first visit to the club was at about 5 PM, just before evening snacks and cocktails were about to be served. After being shown to a table, I was offered a drink while I waited for the evening spread to be set up. I chose orange juice, which was definitely fresh squeezed. An attendant came to collect my glass, a few minutes after I finished and informed me the buffet was ready. She also asked if I wanted something a little stronger to drink. Normally, I’m a G&T and rum and coke kind of guy. But I’m also a sucker for fresh squeezed orange juice, so I ordered a screwdriver and added that they could keep ‘em coming. The attendant laughed and said no problem. And boy did she ever do that.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7617749714_3eb678858c.jpg
Evening snacks with my first of many screwdrivers
The evening spread was extensive with a good selection of both Western and Asian dishes. I lost count of how many screwdrivers I had, but I finally retired to my room at around 7:30, feeling pretty happy.
One of the services touted by the hotel is its 24 hour butler service. I had no idea what that entitled, before I got there. Each time I left my room, I noticed something was a little different each time I return. Didn’t I toss this here? Or, didn’t I leave this there? It took me a little while, but I realized housekeeping had come. Whether it’s folding or hanging up a shirt I haphazardly tossed in the room, replacing used bath towels, or straightening up my bed, they did a little something each time I left my room. Too, bad I can’t get this at home! One of the more interesting things they did was replace the original Elemis bath amenities with L'Occitane amenities, after I had showered.
Anyways, I fell asleep soon after I returned to my room, and woke up the next morning just before 6. Feeling thoroughly refreshed, I decided to go on a run along the harbour front. My iPhone says I ran 5 miles. It felt like I ran double that distance. Though I grew in an incredibly humid place, Hong Kong was an entirely different beast. The humidity there definitely sapped my will to run, and thus, this would be the first and last outdoor run while I was in Hong Kong. I returned to the hotel at about 7:30, thoroughly drenched in sweat. The doorman greeted me suspiciously as I approached the entrance, but warmly welcomed me back into the blissfully cold air conditioning of the hotel upon spotting my key. I ran up to my room to shower and headed down for one last soak in the spa. Might as well enjoy it while I can.
After another shower, I headed back to club for breakfast. I was greeted by an attendant and shown to the same table I had the night before. Somehow, this attendant knew of my fondness of screwdrivers and offered to start me off with one. I politely declined and ordered a coffee and an orange juice to start. In addition to the buffet, club guest can order off an extensive a la carte menu, but I chose to indulge in the buffet. Again, the buffet featured an excellent selection of Western items (eggs, breakfast meats, muesli, yoghurt, breads) and Asian items (dim sum, etc.).
After I finished, I remained in the lounge to enjoy another glass of orange juice with a copy of the Financial Times. I headed back to my room a little before 10 to finish packing up. Check out was swift and I was soon on my way to my next hotel, the Crowne Plaza Causeway Bay.
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 3:18 pm
I could have definitely stayed at IC Hong Kong for my entire time in Hong Kong, but its location was a bit disadvantageous for me, as I was there to visit relatives, all of whom live on Hong Kong Island. The IC is located near the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, but getting anywhere on Hong Kong Island would require a transfer at Admiralty station. I chose the Crowne Plaza due to its proximity to the Causeway Bay MTR station. Additionally, the street where it was located had some sentimental value to me. The hotel is located on Leighton Road, which is the same street where my maternal grandmother had lived. I had lived with her there for several years, before returning to the States at the age of 4. I didn’t know this at the time of booking, but the hotel is actually located two buildings down from where my grandmother had lived. The last time I was in Hong Kong in 2005, this hotel was definitely not built yet. There were a few older buildings in its place. I later confirmed with the hotel staff the property was built in 2009.
The taxi ride took a bit longer than expected as there was a bit of congestion at the harbour tunnel. But I was soon hopping out at the hotel. A porter took charge of my bags for me and another escorted me to the front desk, where I again handed over my passport and credit card to the friendly agent. After some frantic tapping, she turned to me and told me due to my status, I would be checking in at the Priority Club desk. She then escorted me across the lobby, which was small but nicely furnished with ‘modern style’ furniture, to the Priority Club desk, where Megan took charge. Megan acknowledged my status and informed me I had been upgraded; however, it would be 30 minutes before my room would be ready. She offered me a drink while I waited, but I declined and said I preferred to take a walk around the area. Man, a lot has changed in 7 years. However, the same newspaper lady, who had known my grandmother for years, was still in business. After a nice chat with her, I returned to the hotel to find my room ready.
Before handing me keys, Megan explained I would be receiving the Crowne Privileges benefits. This included:
-Complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant
-Evening drinks and snacks at the hotel bar, located on the roof top
-Complimentary coffee, tea, soft drinks, and juices all day at the hotel bar
-Complimentary internet access
-Complimentary local, AT&T, and toll free calls
-15 percent off dining at the hotel restaurant
-15 percent off all laundering services
Given the fact I was using 35,000 Priority Club points per night for my stay, this was impressive. Heck, I wouldn’t even get these benefits on most Intercontinental revenue stays. As a point of comparison, the revenue rate for the length of my stays was in excess of $300 USD per night.
I was assigned a room on the 24th floor, overlooking the Hong Kong Jockey club. The room was certainly a standard room, though it was much larger than most rooms you’ll find in Hong Kong. So I assume the upgrade referred to the Crowne Privileges benefits package, as well as the view. The room itself was well appointed and very comfortable.
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There is a partition you can close, if you don’t consider showering to be a spectator sport.
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View from the room
The bed and bedding was easily the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in, in a hotel. And yes, that includes the Westin heavenly bed. Another neat feature of the room is the surround sound system, complete with a WORKING iPod dock.
Breakfast was served in the hotel restaurant located on the 1st (really second) floor. The spread was excellent with an extensive variety of hot and cold Western and Asian items. One of the things I really zeroed in on was the salty soy bean milk, which is something I can’t readily find in restaurants in Dallas. The pool is located on the 28th floor next to the bar.
The view from the pool area is quite nice, though it isn’t as spectacular as the view at the IC Hong Kong. As I was out with relatives during most of the time I was there, I did not partake in evening snacks. But I did have a few drinks at the bar. Overall, I loved my stay at the Crowne Plaza. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The property is centrally located, and combined with the great benefits, this is definitely my hotel of choice in Hong Kong from now on.
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 4:15 pm
Since I had switched from my Thai/United flights to Singapore, I now had an extra night in Hong Kong. It was definitely a boon, as I now had an extra night and half a day to spend with family. I would have loved to stay at the Crowne Plaza for one more night; however, they were sold out that night. None of the other Priority Club options looked too appealing, so I looked across my spectrum of programs to find an award night. I settled on the Conrad Hong Kong for 50,000 HHonors points. I had booked a standard king room, but when I logged on to Hilton.com the night before, I saw that I had been upgraded to a Executive Floor Harbour View room.
The cab ride from Crowne Plaza took about 15 minutes. Again, I was greeted by a porter who took my bags and directed me toward the front desk. The lobby was a bit dark, but at the same time had a very old school elegance to it. At the front desk, I was greeted by an agent who then escorted to me to Executive Lounge, which was located on the 59th floor to complete check in. I was greeted by name as I entered the Lounge. Check in was quick and I was informed my room was ready despite the early hour. I inquired about the possibility of a late check out, as my flight was not until 6:30 the next evening. This was granted.
My room was on the 58th floor. I found it to be a bit dated and worn, compared to the IC and CP, though it was perfectly adequate.
The Executive Lounge was quite nice with breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails served. Drinks and minor snacks were available through out the day. Internet was free, thanks to my HHonors Gold status.
After a late dinner, I returned to my room to find turndown service performed, complete with a Conrad Bear.
The duck and the bear may have found their way into the hands of my little cousin. Overall, it was a perfectly pleasant stay. I would be willing to return to the property on award stay; however, I would be hard pressed to choose it for a revenue stay as there are better choices out there.
Next up: a little glimpse of Hong Kong and the long awaited SQ F segments!
dat4life
Jul 29, 12, 8:10 pm
A Glimpse of Hong Kong
Rather than boring y’all with a bunch of family pics, I decided post a few random shots around Hong Kong.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7265/7695364238_caabc7b33a.jpg
One of these buildings used to house the Victoria Hotel, where I stayed waayyyy back in 1993, which incidentally was the last time I flew on SQ, albeit, it was in economy. Now, it’s an office building. But the mall and entertainment area on the lower floors are still intact.
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I’m still hanging on for dear life every time I’m one of these things, despite this “limit”.
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I had worked at Bux while I was in college, so I was pretty interested to see how the menu differed, as this was the first time I had been to a store outside the U.S. and Canada since I’ve worked there. The Green Tea and Red Bean Frap was pretty tasty, and it is a nice twist to the drink. Interestingly, though not surprising, the matcha powder (used to make the green tea frap) is a lot stronger than what we get stateside. The pastries looked pretty appealing, but I didn’t have time to any of them, unfortunately.
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GREAT place for wonton noodle soup
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Neither of those markets would pass an American health inspection, but you still don't hear of rampant cases food poisoning.
Ok…SQ F coming next!
utpharmdoc
Jul 29, 12, 9:01 pm
Waiting in anticipation... my SQ F trip starts in 4 days! ;)
GetSetJetSet
Jul 30, 12, 3:54 am
Great stuff! Don't be shutter shy on board a plane, you're brightening everyone's day here! Literally, if you use flash.
Very much looking forward to hearing about SQ62 F, since that's what I'm saving my miles for at the moment.
I hope they are KF miles or AMEX points that can be moved to KF...I wouldn't expect another glitch that allows a *A redemption bonanza like the one we just saw.
dat4life
Aug 3, 12, 4:25 pm
My few days in Hong Kong passed way too quickly. I had a great time visiting with all of my relatives; though, it was sprinkled with a few somber moments.
One of the hardest things to do while on the road is maintaining a decent diet and exercise routine. My diet while on the road for work consists of a lot of horribly delicious chicken fried steak, burgers, and biscuits and gravy, all the while praying there’s a decent gym and/or jogging trail near the hotel. While I was in Hong Kong, it seems as if my relatives were hell bent on keeping me on my road diet, albeit with the multitude of fantastic restaurants found in Hong Kong. Additionally, my workout routine essentially shot to pieces with so many people to see, sans the aforementioned run along the Avenue of Stars. I definitely was feeling a few pounds heavier.
And of course, flying in premium cabins certainly did not help my cause. After my fantastic feast on board Cathay, I was definitely looking forward to see what Singapore has to offer. Speaking of Singapore, I was still feeling pretty antsy, as there were no confirmed reports of tickets being honored, until the last full day of my trip. So like a good OCD FTer, the first thing I did each morning was log in on united.com and singaporeair.com to check on my reservation. Everything looked good on the United side, sans their ability to tell time, as you can see below.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7705801306_87b25290a6.jpg
I’m sure Boeing wants to know what modifications SQ made;)
On the SQ side, I could never get my reservation to pull up desktop site, but it showed just perfectly on the mobile site. The night before my flight, I checked in online for my flight just before dinner, and I was able to choose seats at that time.
The next morning I stupidly headed to the Conrad Executive Lounge for breakfast, which was quite nice. I say stupidly because I knew I had nothing to do but eat and get hammered over the next 40 hours or so. After breakfast, I packed and then headed out for mid-morning tea with my uncle. Yes I know, more food. My cousin dropped by a little while after to check out my room at the Conrad. Afterwards, we went for a delicious late lunch with my grand aunt. Over lunch, my cousin told me about an express bus that runs from Tai Koo, where we were, to the Airport with only few addition stops. The cost of the bus was $45 HKD, nearly 1/3 of the cost of the taxi and Airport Express combo. Although the cost wasn’t a big deal for me, I did end up choosing the bus as it would save me the transfer at the Airport Express station. I managed to catch the 3:20 bus, which deposited me in front of Terminal 1, a little over an hour later.
After entering the ridiculously cavernous terminal, I quickly located the SQ check in desks, which are located in Row 7. There was a substantial line for Economy, and a few people in the Business Class line. However, the First Class desk was wide open. Ok, this is the moment of truth. With my heart pounding, I approached the desk with my passport in hand and mustering the most dazzling smile I was capable of, all the while trying to look as first class as possible. Just before I reached the podium, the agent asked, “Are you on SQ 865?” I answered yes, and she then took my passport. I actually expected a comment about how I got my ticket, given how stingy SQ is with award space, but the agent didn’t bat an eyelash. Boarding passes were printed and baggage tags were affixed to my bags along with First Class priority tags. Unlike CX, SQ does not issue separate lounge invites. Instead, the lounge invite is printed on the boarding pass itself. Directions to lounge were only given after I asked. Though she was efficient, the agent was not particularly friendly. She did attempt to start small talk several times, but it seemed forced, even unnatural. It wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, though it was an underwhelming reintroduction to what is billed as one of the world’s best airlines.
I arrived at immigration only to find literally a few hundred people queuing in the visitor lines. Despite this, I was through immigration under 10 minutes. Then off to security, which is huge contrast to what is experienced in the US. Agents are polite and friendly. Shoes, belts, and jackets stay on. All we need is the laptop. Again despite the large volume of passengers, I was through very quickly. After picking up a souvenir for a friend, I made my way over to SQ SilverKris Lounge, which is located near Gate 17. I was admitted by a friendly agent after my boarding pass was scanned.
Although the lounge is large, it was rather dark, as there are no windows in the lounge. There is a separate First Class section, which was empty when I visited, but there seemed to be no controls preventing crossing over without the appropriate boarding pass. A decent buffet was on offer, but it was located all the way on the other side of lounge from the First Class section. Perhaps the biggest negative is that there are no restrooms, let alone shower rooms, in the lounge. After snapping a few pictures, I left and headed off to United’s Global First Lounge.
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Entry way
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7705800752_040c998213.jpg
Business center
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8287/7705801092_4c3cbaf343.jpg
Empty first class section
After hearing many good things about the GFL at HKG, I really wanted to check it out. The GFL is located near Gate 40, which is a bit of haul from the SilverKris lounge. The lounge is actually located above the gate area, requiring an elevator or escalator to access it. After the lounge dragon entered some of the details of my boarding pass into the computer, and escorted me to the GFL. The lounge was small, but nice and airy. There are a decent number of seats, and unlike the SilverKris lounge, the GFL has showers. Additionally, large windows allow for great views of the tarmac and runway. I was the only in the lounge during my entire visit.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7631524094_aca769f648.jpg
My SQ 77W arriving
There was a small but decent buffet, with both and hot and cold items, as well as an a la carte menu. The hard and soft drink selection was quite extensive.
After grabbing a little chicken satay and some fruit, I had about 30 minutes before boarding time. So I broke camp and headed to the Thai Royal Orchid Lounge. Many people say that the Thai Lounge is directly across from the United Club/GFL. In reality, you follow the hallway leading away from the United Club for a couple hundred feet. I was admitted by an agent after photocopying my boarding pass. After some debate, I was escorted to First Class side of the lounge which was just cordoned off by a rope barrier. I was offered a menu as I sat down, but I declined all offers of food and just went with water. After perusing the Wall Street Journal for a bit, I left the lounge, thanking the agents on the way out, and headed to my departure gate, ten minutes before boarding.
I knew this would be a great TR the moment I read your snippets of conversations with friends/ family. Something to relate to :p
Great report and great pictures - CX F looks like something I need to try out. I was in CX Y a few weeks back to HKG, and while the hard product is quite poor (on those 'new' seats), the service was impressive. My IFE didn't work, and after the FA couldn't sort it out, the Y cabin purser came over, and when she couldn't do anything, the Inflight Manager eventually helped sort it out.
As for check in at HKG - I don't think it is specific to any airline, but the airport in general. Having checked in on Thai (in F) and with a friend checking in on China Eastern (in J), I found the staff to be quite blunt in general.
And I also thought the UA lounge was much nicer than the SilverKris lounge in HKG - at least in terms of food and beverage. I'm not a big fan of SQ (in J), so I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say about the F experience.
NYBanker
Aug 3, 12, 10:48 pm
Enjoying the read...
dat4life
Aug 3, 12, 11:16 pm
SQ 865 HKG-SIN
It was a bit of a walk from the Royal Orchid Lounge to my departure gate, Gate 20. But it passed quickly, as I was busy admiring some of the traffic outside.
I arrived at the gate just as an agent announced boarding would be delayed about 10 minutes, though an on time departure is still expected. Judging by the gate area, it did not appear as if the flight would be full. My excitement increased as boarding drew nearer. As I mentioned before, the last time I flew Singapore was in 1993, on SQ 2. It was also on that flight I realized there was something a little better than economy, as I took a peek at Business Class, as we deplaned. My desire to fly up front festered for years, until I flew China Airlines in Business Class on my way back from Hong Kong in 2003. But it was on that flight I discovered the existence of international First Class, and vowed to one day truly fly “up front”. When Singapore first took delivery of their A380s in 2007, I spent quite a bit of time on their website reading about the Suites and the new First Class. The few trip reports I’ve read on SQ F over the last few years only stoked the fire even more. And now, almost exactly 19 years later from when I first started to dream, I’ve come full circle, on SQ F.
Finally, an announcement was made for persons who needing assistance for boarding to approach the jet bridge. At that time other passengers began rushing to line up in both the Economy and First/Business/Elite boarding lanes. Not wanting fight my way through throng, I just went to the end of the line. I got to the end of the line just before a middle aged American gentleman, who was yakking on Blackberry about “sealing some deal”. When I looked out the window, I could see him glare at me out of the corner of my eye. I had absolutely no idea why. Anyways, I got to the agent who scanned my boarding pass and wished me a pleasant flight. About halfway down the jet bridge, I hear “Hey, Buddy.” I stopped and turned around, and saw it was the guy behind me. “You’re in the wrong line” Huh? “The Economy line is over there,” he said pointing toward to the other side of the jet bridge. “Use the right line next time.” Oh, that’s why he was glaring at me. I was dressed pretty decently, so I assume it’s because of my age. I resisted the temptation to flash my boarding pass at him right there. I’ll get my revenge a little later. “No, I’m pretty sure I’m in the right line,” I said as I started walking again.
SQ 865
Hong Kong (HKG)-Singapore (SIN)
Monday July 16, 2012
Depart: 6:30 PM
Arrive: 10:10 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWG)
Seat: 1A (First Class)
I was greeted by one of the First Class flight attendants at the door, who then glanced at my boarding pass. “Good evening Mr. Harrison, and welcome aboard. Please follow me to your seat.” Now, this is more like it! I had chosen Seat 1A, which was just around the corner. The FA then proceeded to introduce himself and asked if I’d care for a drink. At that moment, the guy behind me trudged by on his way back to Business Class. I had noticed his blue boarding pass when he was “admonishing” me, thus I held my tongue. I guess he didn’t see my boarding pass when I handed it to the gate agent and missed it again in the jet bridge, as I kept it tucked in my passport. Making eye contact with him, I replied to the FA, “ Champagne, please,” with just a hint of a smirk. The guy looked away and kept on walking. Man, that was sweet.
Now it was the FA’s turn to smirk and ask a question, that you will only hear on one other airline. (Please correct me if I’m wrong) “Dom Perignon or Krug, sir?”. Since I had my fill of Krug on CX, I decided on Dom. As the kids say nowadays, YOLO. Although I do cringe every time I hear anyone say that, it did seem appropriate for this occasion. Besides, I might as well get started on my Macabus challenge (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1074418-8-bottles-dom-lax-bkk-sq-f.html). Not long after, I heard a cork pop in galley and the FA returned with the lovely dark green bottle and a glass. On CX, a glass is set at your table before the champagne is poured. On SQ, champagne is poured with a bit more flair, as it is poured into the glass, which is still on tray. No biggie, but again it’s the details.
It was wide and very comfortable, and I definitely loved the “armrest cushion” (visible in the first seat pic) which definitely made things a little more comfortable while in the seated position. The feature for me that really sets SQ apart from CX, is the soft brown leather covering the seats. Even on my SQ longer flights, I was never “stuck” to my seat. But one area CX definitely has SQ beat is privacy, due to their 1-1-1 configuration.
As I sat in my comfortable seat, sipping what would be my first of many glasses of champagne, I made a silent toast to Jeff (aka SMI/J) and the poor guy in SQ revenue management who made this trip possible. Thanks guys, this one is for you. Not long after my champagne arrived, the other First Class FA came by to introduce herself and to offer me selection of reading materials as well as slippers. I chose the Financial Times, but declined the slippers. As my glass was just a ¼ full when she first came by, she reappeared a few minutes later with the bottle to top my glass off. In fact, by the time we pushed back I just drained my fourth glass by the time we pushed back, smack dab on time. The male FA came by, with the bottle in hand, to give me, in his words, “something to enjoy while we taxi.” He then proceeded to pour me the rest of the bottle. The load tonight up front was 4/8, with all of the window seats taken. In 1A, I have a great vantage point over the entire cabin, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, I was the only one in the cabin drinking bubbly. We’re not even off the ground yet, and I’m already one bottle of Dom in. Oh, yeah. This is going to be a great flight.
We had a rather long taxi to the runway, followed by waiting in the lengthy take of queue. Finally, we were holding short of the runway waiting for a landing CX A330, and the FA came really quickly to collect my glass. We lined up on the runway, after the A330 had cleared the runway. Take-off thrust, 80 knots, V1, rotate and we were airborne. The landing gear was retracted with a resounding thump, and our rate of climb noticeably increased due to the decreased drag. Soon we were punching through the low level clouds that had formed in the past hour. As the aircraft climbed through 10,000 feet, a chime sounded and the FAs sprang into action. The usual announcements were made about electronics, etc. Interestingly, they announced that cell phones were to be turned off for the entire flight. Airplane mode was not acceptable. I was worried, since I was using my iPhone for pictures. I decided use my phone unless FA asked me to turn it off, which didn’t happen on any on my SQ flights.
I had been asked what I wanted to drink after take off, while we were still on the ground. I ordered a Singapore Sling for the novelty. Though, I couldn’t imagine a much better place to have one for the first time. The drink was served with warm nuts.
Sorbet of mango, lemon and raspberry with citrus fruit salad and mint
CHEESES
Selection of Camembert, Teleggio, Red Leicestor and Bleu d’Auverge cheese served with garnishes
FRUITS
Fresh Fruits in Season
FINALE
A selection of gourmet coffees & fine teas served with pralines
Unfortunately, I forgot to snap pics of the wine list on this flight, but I did get the SQ62 wine list, which I will post later. But I will say that the wine list is quite extensive and impressive.
A few minutes later, the lovely Indian Singapore Girl serving my side came back with a hot towel and to take my order. She returned again soon after to set up my table. SQ’s tray table is located under the IFE screen, making it much easier to deploy than CX’s, which is located in the side of the seat. This was followed by the male FA coming by with the bread basket.
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Marinated lobster and celeriac apple remoulade garnished with cherry tomatoes and mesclun
The lobster was served chilled. It was tender and tasty, though I wasn’t a fan of the apple remoulade. Garlic bread was good. I washed it down with more Dom. Next up was soup. It was…for the lack of a better word, blah.
If you guessed champagne, you’re a winner! My salad plate was cleared a few minutes after I finished. And my main course was delivered a little while later.
The snapper was very good. It was perfectly cooked and the caper relish gave just the right amount of zest. The green rice was tasty as well, though I really couldn’t bring myself to eat the “edible” flowers. Service during the meal service was very personalized and I never felt rushed during the meal service. Courses were cleared as I finished, and the next course was always delivered after a nice lull. This was impressive, as all 4 passengers in first were eating at different paces on a relatively short flight. As far as I could tell, myself and 2F wanted to eat immediately, while 1F and 2A didn’t begin eating until nearly midway through the flight.
I declined the cheese course but asked for the warm caramel chocolate cake for dessert. It was served a little while later. It was delicious. I declined the offer of port and decided to stick with Dom.
After I finished dessert, my table was cleared and I settled down to watch a couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother. About half an hour later, the female FA came to pour me the rest of the bottle of Dom I had started. Again, I was the only one in the cabin drinking. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 2 bottles destroyed on my first flight. The rest of the flight passed all too quickly and we were soon descending into Singapore. We touched down on Runway 25C and made it to the gate smack dab on time.
How as my first SQ F experience? Absolutely great! The distance Singapore and Hong Kong is 1,588 miles, about the same as the distance between DFW and SFO. If only all 3 hour flights can be as good as this one. I can dream, right?
Now off to The Private Room for my 4 hour layover.
dat4life
Aug 3, 12, 11:19 pm
I knew this would be a great TR the moment I read your snippets of conversations with friends/ family. Something to relate to :p
Great report and great pictures - CX F looks like something I need to try out. I was in CX Y a few weeks back to HKG, and while the hard product is quite poor (on those 'new' seats), the service was impressive. My IFE didn't work, and after the FA couldn't sort it out, the Y cabin purser came over, and when she couldn't do anything, the Inflight Manager eventually helped sort it out.
As for check in at HKG - I don't think it is specific to any airline, but the airport in general. Having checked in on Thai (in F) and with a friend checking in on China Eastern (in J), I found the staff to be quite blunt in general.
And I also thought the UA lounge was much nicer than the SilverKris lounge in HKG - at least in terms of food and beverage. I'm not a big fan of SQ (in J), so I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say about the F experience.
Thanks ung1. Y is where I usually am, and I look forward to hearing more about your CX experience.
fevercity
Aug 4, 12, 1:54 am
Great TR, "Mr. Harrison"!
Just wanted to say thanks for all the effort you put into writing this up.
If I had 3 thumbs, this is when I'd use 'em. ^^^
BingBongBoy
Aug 4, 12, 4:37 am
Great TR!!! I am really enjoying it...
Thanks for the details and pics of the CP Hong Kong... I am staying there on my next trip, and I think it looks a wonderful hotel! ^
stu1985
Aug 4, 12, 5:27 am
What an excellent report! Thanks for sharing. The pics are really good. Loved the details of the IHG hotels in HKG - a city I fancy visiting!
ung1
Aug 4, 12, 8:31 am
Thanks ung1. Y is where I usually am, and I look forward to hearing more about your CX experience.
The rest of the CX experience was nothing extraordinary. Check in at SIN was good, I'd prepaid for an exit row so the leg room was comfortable, and I got my first meal preference. Not much else one can expect in Y. On the way back the flight was delayed three hours, so I drank till I passed out. Boarding in both cases was chaotic.
Re SQ it's great that they managed to refill your pre departure beverage before take off. My biggest gripe with them is that they completely ignore my empty glass of champagne (when in J) and I don't like having to keep asking for it to be refilled.
LH738
Aug 4, 12, 10:43 am
Great report. I'm looking forward to the next parts.
hktramz
Aug 4, 12, 5:30 pm
Great report!!!!
You are so lucky that you've experienced the best products in the sky in this trip.
Earning miles through business trip is fantastic, LOL
dat4life
Aug 12, 12, 2:12 pm
Waiting in anticipation... my SQ F trip starts in 4 days!
Sorry I didn't get all my SQ segments up in time. Hope you enjoyed your trip!
Enjoying the read...
Thanks NYBanker. Glad to be able to contribute after your TRs.
Great TR, "Mr. Harrison"!
Just wanted to say thanks for all the effort you put into writing this up.
If I had 3 thumbs, this is when I'd use 'em. ^^^
Thanks for the compliment fevercity!
Great TR!!! I am really enjoying it...
Thanks for the details and pics of the CP Hong Kong... I am staying there on my next trip, and I think it looks a wonderful hotel!
Thanks BBB! Again, I'm glad to contribute after reading your TRs! You'll definitely enjoy the CPHK. If you're PC Plat/AMB/RA, you really will be treated like royalty. It's definitely my new favorite property in HK.
SQ it's great that they managed to refill your pre departure beverage before take off. My biggest gripe with them is that they completely ignore my empty glass of champagne (when in J) and I don't like having to keep asking for it to be refilled.
I had the exact same problem on my next leg, as you will see. I guess it just depends on the crew, but I would but them a little slack as it was 2:30 in the morning, when we departed.
Great report. I'm looking forward to the next parts.
Thanks, LH738.
Great report!!!!
You are so lucky that you've experienced the best products in the sky in this trip.
Earning miles through business trip is fantastic, LOL
Thanks hktramz. I'm certainly not complaining about it;)
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but again I got caught with some training for work and a little weekend run to NYC where I spent 2.5 days walking around in the same clothes. More on that later. Next installments up in a bit.
dat4life
Aug 12, 12, 3:42 pm
The dual jet bridges were attached to the aircraft as soon as the engines were shut down. One great benefit of sitting in 1A is being first off the plane. I thanked the cabin crew as I exited the aircraft. Just like its counterpart in Hong Kong, Singapore’s airport is very large and modern. We had parked at Gate 44, which was ALL the way at the far end of Terminal 3, so it was a bit of a haul from the lounge, which was located at the other end of the terminal. It took me about 15 minutes to reach the lounge, after stopping to confirm at the SQ desk, located at the midpoint of the terminal, that I was headed in the right direction. As mentioned previously, my lounge invite was printed on my boarding pass. According to that, I only had access the Silver Kris First Lounge, which wasn’t a big deal after several huge meals that day. I was greeted at the entry way by a very attractive SQ agent, to whom I presented my boarding pass. After confirming my flight details, she asked me to follow her. We went on a little journey through the Silver Kris and Silver Kris First Lounges and into The Private Room.
Now, I didn’t get any pictures of the TPR as I was tired, but SFO777 kindly gave me permission to link to the pictures he took during his visit to the TPR.
The Private Room Photos (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14774421-post53.html)
On the way, the agent had asked if I was my first time first time in the TPR, to which I answered yes. When we arrived, she gave me a quick tour of the lounge and found me an empty set seats where I could settle down. At the time the lounge was a bit full due to the bank of midnight flights; however, the lounge didn’t feel crowded. A waiter appeared a few moments after the agent had left, greeting me by name. He offered me a menu, which I declined for the time being, but I did order a water. A bottle of Evian quickly materialized with a glass, and poured with the same flair as a FA pouring wine. After reporting in the SQ Award Thread on my successful first flight, I settled down to catch up on a little work. I worked for a little over an hour and a half before feeling a little peckish, despite my numerous meals the last the 24 hours. So I headed over to the very nice dining room.
I was immediately greeted by a waiter, who invited me to sit anywhere I liked. After I sat down, he was by my side with a menu and offered me something to drink. I decided to go with a G&T. I settled for an order of the satay with rice cubes, after viewing the buffet options. The buffet options included fried rice, curry, and several more hot an cold dishes. As appetizing as the curry looked, I decided against it as I thought it was too heavy. The waiter took my order when he returned with my G&T and another glass of water. As promised, the satay was delivered 10 minutes later, and it was delicious. After eating, I went back to my original seat in the sitting area to finish up some more work. At about 1 hour prior to departure, I packed up and headed to a shower room, as I knew this would be my last shower before I arrived in Dallas, over 24 hours later. After I emerged from the shower/bathroom, I was greeted by an agent who informed me that boarding was about to begin. I thanked her and headed to the gate.
What did I think of the TPR? It was absolutely fantastic and certainly lives up to its name in terms of privacy. The staff was incredibly attentive without being overbearing. While it’s not quite up to par with the FRA FCT in terms of all of the bells and whistles, but it’s still a very worthy First Class lounge.
dat4life
Aug 13, 12, 2:22 pm
Luckily, my flight was departing out of Gate 4, which is a short walk from the SQ lounges. Security was performed prior to entering the gate area. Just like my experience in Hong Kong, the screeners were very polite and shoes and jackets stayed on. I was approached by one of the screeners, after I passed through the metal detector, who apologetically asked if I minded removing my iPad and running it through the x-ray machine by itself. Oh well, if you must. This was done quickly. Although the gate was crowded due to a nearly full load, the crowd was relatively subdued, as it was nearly 2AM. I sat down for maybe two minutes, before pre-boarding was called. Naturally, nearly everyone got up and began crowding the boarding lanes. First and Business Class boarding was announced a few minutes later. Many economy passengers tried to board at this time, but they were turned away one-by-one. I reached the scanner in a few minutes, and after a quick scan and (sadly) tear of my boarding pass, I was strolling down the jet bridge toward the sanctum that is SQ’s First Class cabin.
SQ 62
Singapore (SIN) –Moscow (DME)
Tuesday July 17, 2012
Depart: 2:30 AM
Arrive: 9:10 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWA)
Seat: 1F (First Class)
Waiting for me at the end of the jet bridge, was the gorgeous 9V-SWA, the sister ship of the 77W that brought me to Singapore. Both aircraft were delivered to SQ straight from the Boeing Factory in Everett, Washington in later 2006. Tonight (or this morning) she was going to winging me and 2 other incredibly fortunate people seated in the forward cabin to Mother Russia. Oh, there maybe a few hundred fortunate souls behind us, as well. I say fortunate, because…well, would you rather be boarding UA’s flight to Tokyo, which was boarding not too far from us.
I was greeted by the purser at the door. After glancing at my boarding pass, he immediately showed me to my seat. SQ does not have any overhead bins in the First Class, so I placed my bag under the storage shelf beneath the entertainment system. A lovely SQ girl soon came by my seat to introduce herself as Connie and to inquire if she could fetch me a drink before takeoff. As tired as I was, I decided to stay on my course, so I ordered a glass of Dom. Connie soon returned with a lovely green bottle and glass at hand.
Not long after, the other 2 First Class passengers trickled in separately, and took up residence in 2A and 2F. In between greeting the other passengers and serving PDBs, Connie managed to find time to distribute pajamas, amenity kits, and presented menus, all the while having a brief chat with each passenger. Orders were taken a few minutes later. At this point, I was dead tired and really wanted to go to sleep. But to avoid excommunication from the TR forum, I decided to at least sample an appetizer and main course. Now that I am sitting in the JFK T2 SkyClub, writing this and snacking on carrots and celery with hummus (post trip diet), I really regret not at least getting the soup. You all know what they say about hindsight…
Our British captain came on the horn, a few minutes after our scheduled departure time, to extend a greeting and explained our delay was due to some last minute cargo being loaded onto the aircraft. After our final weight and balance numbers were checked we would be underway. Flight time has announced as 9 hours and 59 minutes. I took this opportunity to duck into lavatory and change into the provided pajamas. SQ uses Givenchy branded pajamas, with a “half zipped pull over” type top. The pajamas were in a dark gray color, which I liked a lot better than the brown and red scheme of the Shanghai Tang PJs CX uses; however, I do prefer CX pajamas in terms of comfort as they are made of a more light weight cotton.
When I returned to my seat, my empty champagne glass still sat on my console. Despite several crew members passing through the cabin, I wasn’t offered a refill, like on my HKG-SIN flight, nor did anyone offer to clear the glass. Though, I’ll cut the crew a bit of slack as it was fairly late at night. Connie returned a few minutes later with hangers to hang my street clothes and to finally clear my PDB glass. We ended pushing back about 30 minutes late, began quick taxi to runway 25C. Not surprisingly, there was no takeoff queue and we were airborne in no time, climbing out over the twinkling lights of the ships in the harbor. The cabin crew dimmed the cabin lights and began preparing for the meal service immediately after they were released from their seats as we climbed through 10,000 feet.
SQ offers an abbreviated supper service on all late night departures. The only big difference I noticed was the lack of a salad and dessert courses. I was expecting the main courses to be pared down as well, but I ended being impressed with the choices offered.
Supper From Singapore to Moscow
APPETIZERS
Iberico ham with poached quail egg, spinach, rocket, and fresh strawberries
SOUP
Chicken and sweetcorn consommé with smoked chicken dumpling
Chinese style seafood soup
MAIN COURSES
Ocean trout with miso crust in sesame dressing, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms and fettuccine
Seared tournedos of beef with rosemary jus, roasted asparagus, bell peppers and sautéed spinach
Udon noodles coups with crab claw and chicken dumplings, sliced mushrooms and leafy greens
Singapore fried carrot cake
A hearty traditional dish of fried savoury radish-rice pudding with prawns and pickled turnip
CHEESES
Selection of emmenthal, caprice des dieux, walnut and boursault cheeses served with garnishes
FRUITS
Fresh Fruits in Season
FINALE
A selection of gourmet coffees & fine teas
For those of you interested in liquid nutrition, here’s the drink menu
CHAMPAGNES
Dom Perignon 2000
Krug Grande Cuvee
WHITES
Piesporter Goldtropichen Riesling Kabinett 2007
Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt
Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2007 William Fevre
RED
2004 Chateau Leoville-Poyferre Saint-Julien Bordeaux, France
Clos Vougeot 2006 Louis Jadot
Mitolo Revier 2006 Shiraz Barossa, Australia
SWEET WHITE
Chateau Filhot 2009 Sauternes
PORT
Taylor’s Twenty-Year-Old Port, Douro, Portugal
Cocktails
SINGAPORE AIRLINES UNIQUE CREATIONS
Silver Kris Sling
Sunrise Breezer
Bloody Mary
Rumba
Skyhigh
Sweetness in Darkness
Apple Bliss
Awaiting the Golden Dawn
Orange Cooler
ALL-TIME FAVOURITES
Singapore Sling
Solitaire Dreams
Fruit Spritzer
Tropical Fizz
APPETISING APERITIFS
Campari
Dry Vermouth
SPIRITS
Macallan 12-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky
Cognac XO-Hennessy
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whisky
Bombay Sapphire GIN
Beivedere Vodka
Bacardi Superior
LIQUEURS
Cointreau
Bailey’s Original Irish Cream
Choya Umeshu
BEER
Tiger
Carlsberg
GOURMET COFFEES
Brazil Santos Bourbon
Columbian Supremo
Jamaican Blue Mountain
Kenyan AA ‘Killmanjaro’
SPECIALTY COFFEES
Brewed Coffee
Café Royal
Espresso
Cappuccino
Café Latte
Café au Lait
Decaffeinated Coffee
Mocha
OTHER BEVERAGES
Hot Chocolate
Ovaltine
Milo
Soya Bean Milk
INTERNATIONAL TEAS
Royal Darjeeling
Muwara Ellya OP Ceylon
Earl Grey
English Breakfast Tea
Singapore Breakfast Tea
Paris-Singapore Tea
Alfonso Fruit Tea
Moroccan Mint Tea
Chamomile
Decaffeinated Earl Grey
Rooibos Red Tea
IN-HOUSE TEA SELECTION
ASIAN TEAS
Indian Masala Tea
Sencha
CHINESE TEAS
Jasmine
Oolong
Pu-Erh
MINERAL WATER
Sparkling
Still
FRUIT JUICES
Apple
Orange
Pineapple
Tomato
Cranberry
SOFT DRINKS
Bitter Lemon
Coke
Coke Light/Coke Zero
Ginger Ale
MILK
Full Cream
Low Fat
My post take off drink of Dom was soon presented along with a dish of macadamia nuts by the purser, as Connie was making the bed for the passenger in 2A. Just like on my HKG-SIN flight, I was the only one drinking the good stuff. Two glasses later, Connie came by to setup my table and returned a moment the bread basket. Again, I chose the delicious garlic bread and a bread stick. Why mess with a good thing? My lobster appetizer was presented a few minutes later.
I was really hoping for caviar service, as I really enjoyed it on CX, but lobster is just as good to me. Apparently, caviar service is only available on dinner flights now. This appetizer was much tastier than the one served on my previous flight. The caviar added a nice salty kick to the lobster and the Russian salad was very tasty. I didn’t care much for the quail egg, as it was pretty bland. My plate was cleared as soon as finished and my main course was brought out 10 minutes later, which was a nice pace.
Despite its name, the Singapore carrot cake is actually very similar to the Chinese radish cakes, which you can get at dim sum restaurants. If had I actually read the menu carefully, I would have known this and gotten something else. Though radish cake is one of my favorite dishes, I can easily get it anywhere and my mom makes a pretty mean radish cake too. However, it was very good and served piping hot. The serving of prawns was rather generous. The spicy paste that came with the dish provided a nice amount of heat to the dish. Overall, I really did enjoy the dish along with the remnants of the bottle of Dom I had started. That was bottle number 3 for those of you keeping track at home.
I skipped the cheese and declined the offers for coffee; however, I did accept the offer of fruit. A basket of fruit was presented and I picked a few things. Quite honestly, I don’t remember what I picked or what the selections were, but I do remember it was pretty tasty. After my table was cleared, I went into the lavatory to brush my teeth. While I was waiting for my main course, Connie came to ask if I wanted the turndown service after my meal. I answered affirmative and asked if she could make it in the empty 1D. That wasn’t a problem. I went across the aisle to find my bed made, complete with a bottle of water and some pralines. I fell asleep within minutes of sliding under the duvet and buckling in. I found the SQ’s bed to be a little more comfortable as the foot well was substantially roomier. Although the SQ suite is a little less private than the CX suite, I actually liked it better because I felt a little less enclosed. SQ’s bedding was equally as good, and I really appreciated the extra pillow provided.
We did hit a good bit of turbulence, but I managed to sleep through most of it. I woke up for good after about 4 hours of sleep, with about 5 hours of flight to go. After I moved over to 1F, I decided to fire up the entertainment system, dubbed Kris World. The offerings were the same as my HKG-SIN flight. Compared to CX Studio, Kris World has a lot more variety, especially with TV shows. However, unlike CX, they only had a few episodes of each show, so it’s more or less a draw. The noise canceling headphones were on par with what CX offers. I did enjoy the larger screen though (23 inches vs 15.4 inches). I ended up watching Act Of Valor, which finished up as we were passing Islamabad.
SNACKS
Cashew nuts, honeyed walnuts or macadamia nuts
Snickers chocolate bar
Dried cranberry
Lay’s potato chips
Assorted walkers biscuit
Assorted cheeses with garnishes
As far the variety and quality of food goes, I would say CX and SQ are about neck and neck; however, SQ clearly takes the cake when we’re talking about the beverage menu. But at the same time, CX’s snack menu blows Singapore’s out of the water. I would expect a bit better in First Class, especially on one of the world’s best airlines. Anyways, I ordered the roast duck sandwich and an orange juice. It was pretty good.
I ended up watching Top Gun, since I thought it was pretty cool watching it on a plane. But when the movie finished, I ended up with same thought I always have: who the hell thought this movie was any good?
At this point we were less than less than 2 hours from Moscow, so it was time to peruse the menu once again for breakfast. Seriously, what have I done besides eat the last week or so? Oy.
Breakfast FROM SINGAPORE TO MOSCOW
TO START WITH
A choice of apple, tomato or freshly squeezed orange juice
FRUITS
Fresh fruit plate
STARTERs
Choice of cereals or yoghurt
Cornflakes with milk or Birchermuesli
Plain or fruit yoghurt
WHOLESOME BEGINNINGS
Teochew fish porridge
Rice porridge with sliced white pomfret fillet and condiments
A popular Singaporean dish
Selection of dim sum
Glutinous rice parcel with chicken and mushroom, scallop and leek har kow, prawn shew mai, vegetable dumpling and lobster chive dumpling
Warm Belgium waffles with fresh strawberries, maple syrup, and mascarpone cream
Fresh eggs prepared on board (baked, boiled or scrambled)
With your choice of ham, bacon, veal sausage, gruyere cheese and mesclun
FROM THE BAKERY
Assorted breakfast pastries and bread with butter, jam, marmalade or honey
FINALE
A selection of gourmet coffees & fine teas
Shortly after taking my order, Connie returned to begin the now familiar tradition of setting up my table. A little while later, my orange juice and fruit starter were delivered.
The fruit were ripe and nicely chilled. The purser came around the cabin offering the bread basket. I chose a croissant accompanied by orange marmalade. The croissant was warm and flaky and the marmalade was good, but not quite as good as the Scottish preserves I had on CX. Next up was birchermueslli and my Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.
Birchermueslli was good, although it’s hard to screw that up. The coffee was among the best I’ve ever had. It had just the right amount of acidity, at the same time it was quite bold as well. The menu does describe it to be just mildly acidic, but I thought it was a shade more than that. As far as truly memorable cups of coffees go, this was in my top 5. Next up was my main course. I had chosen the porridge, as it sounded good and it would be difficult for me to find in Dallas.
It was absolutely freaking awesome. The broth was light but incredibly flavorful at the same time. There were quite a few chunks of fish, which were very tender. The porridge was served with peanuts and dried little fish(I’m not sure how else to describe them but they were good) and a side of hot sauce. I literally drained the entire bowl. After breakfast, I went into the lavatory to change back into street clothes. As soon as locked the lavatory door, the seatbelt sign came on and we hit a good patch of turbulence. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it was a bit of an adventure.
Of course, the ride smoothed out as I exited the lavatory. Soon we began to descend and the flight attendants began tidying up the cabin for landing As we broke through the high level overcast clouds, I saw the lush green country Russian countryside for the first time. I didn’t quite expect to see as much foliage as I did. The purser came around the cabin thanking each of us individually and explained the transiting process. As we turned to line up with the runway, a triple bong sounded and the flight attendants took their seats. Touchdown was smooth, and after a long roll out we turned toward the terminal.
ok2uselane
Aug 13, 12, 7:48 pm
A. For those of you interested in liquid nutrition, here’s the drink menu
B. As soon as locked the lavatory door, the seatbelt sign came on and we hit a good patch of turbulence. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it was a bit of an adventure.
Of course, the ride smoothed out as I exited the lavatory.
A. Guilty! :D
B. Murphy's Law... LOL! :p
dat4life
Aug 17, 12, 11:27 pm
DME Transit
Plane spotting was interesting on the way to the gate was interesting, as there were many types of aircraft we don’t see in the states. The ones I could identify were the IL-62 and the AN-142, which were parked in far remote positions. Given the spotty safety record of Russian built aircraft, perhaps it was a good thing none were parked at a gate, although aviation geek in me wants just one flight on one of them. One flight can’t hurt, right?
The taxi itself was relatively short, but we ended up holding for a few minutes just short of the gate as an El Al 767-300 was being pushed back. FAs headed toward the exit to do a curtain block as soon the plane came to a stop, since the gate was only equipped with a single jet bridge. I thanked the crew, and went on my merry way.
As I stepped into the jet bridge, I was hit by a wall of cool crisp air, a welcome reprieve from the scorching Texas summer and hot and humid Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the relief was short lived as I entered into the hot and stuffy terminal of Domodedovo Airport. After walking through a bit of maze, I finally reached the transit point. The first stop was at a podium manned by a guy around the age of 20. Wordlessly, he motioned for me to hand over my passport and boarding pass stub. He handed them back to me along with a card he had scribbled something on, and I moved on to the next station, where an equally as personable woman examined my passport. I should probably note at this time, I’m not one of those Americans who expect everyone in the world to speak English. A smile and polite nod would have gone a long way.
In contrast to the first two, the security screeners were far more personable. Just like their American comrades, they were jovially making announcements about shoes, laptops, jackets, etc. But on the positive side, there weren’t any imaging machines. Since I was one of the first passengers to arrive at the check point, I was through quickly, but not before an extra special pat down by one of the agents. Unlike the US, there were no calls for “male assist”. The nice Russian lady told me step aside and assume the position, and sent on my way after she was satisfied.
Seeing how crowded the terminal was, I immediately set off in search of the lounge. Ok, I’m really getting spoiled now. Just wait until you have to fly whY again, I thought. Oh well, I’ll worry about it then. Anyways, no directions were given to the lounge while I was on board by the purser, so I set out to find it by myself. I spotted the Swiss lounge not too far from the SQ gate, so naturally I thought “I’m on a Star Alliance First Flight, that’s a Star Alliance lounge, that’s where I belong.” Oh man was I wrong. As soon I set foot and the lounge and showed my boarding pass, the dragon started yelling no, repeatedly, all the while doing a lot of arm waving. So I asked the dragon if she knew where the SQ lounge was and she replied “up”. Ok…
I did the whole walk of shame thing, which was all of 6 feet, but I still felt the burn from the eyes of the HONs and Senators for disturbing their sanctuary. For that I am truly sorry. But think of it as a little excitement in the otherwise small and boring lounge;)
I did notice a set of stairs leading to the second level across from the gate, but at that point I was a bit tired and wanted to board as soon as possible. So I decided to stretch my legs a bit to wait for the gate to open. It was a bit of chore given the sheer volume of people, all of whom had the same idea as me as well as crap load of carry ons.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7631513166_5479a9ba7a.jpg
The crowds at DME
The gate finally opened about 50 minutes before departure. I must have looked pretty shady, as the one of the guardians of the gate ordered me to follow an agent for secondary screening. The agent, a chap who looked no older than twenty, led me to this partitioned off area of the gate and proceeded to unpack a device that had an uncanny resemblance to a Geiger counter. With a thin smile and a very apologetic look, he motioned for me remain standing, attached this gauze looking pad to a plastic wand, and proceeded to “swab” me. While this wasn’t the most pleasant interaction in the world in addition to obvious language barrier, the smile did go a long way in mollifying my annoyance. It can’t be pleasant for him, either. After determining I was a good guy, I was free to go.
I headed over to the partitioned area marked for First and Business Class and presented my boarding pass stub and presented my boarding pass stub to the SQ agent at the entrance. After a glance, he looked puzzled and asked if I received a lounge invitation. Huh? I had my passport in my hand at the time in which I had tucked the card given to me at the transit checkpoint. The agent spotted it and explained it was my lounge invite. D’oh! That’s why two different people “checked” my passport. Since it was getting close to boarding time, I decided to chill at the departure lounge.
The partition was actually quite nice, as it was close to the boarding door and the agents did a good job of allowing only eligible passengers, so it was kinda sorta private. Soon, our crew arrived and headed to aircraft to make the final preparations for departure.
You can see from the above picture that it was just me and crew for a while in the First/Business Class section, until an American family arrived shortly after the crew boarded. I took advantage of this time on the ground to catch on Facebook, emails, and texts. Soon, the gate agents were calling for preboards followed by First and Business Class passengers. After glancing at my boarding pass stub, the lovely blonde agent smiled and wished me pleasant flight and I was on my way.
lucky9876coins
Aug 17, 12, 11:54 pm
Awesome report! And I recognize a couple of people in that last picture.:D
gba
Aug 18, 12, 12:14 am
Great report! I look forward to the (epic?) conclusion
Abidjan
Aug 18, 12, 9:25 am
Agreed, well done! Loved every section. Keep it up.
byroshi
Aug 18, 12, 7:20 pm
Awesome report! Thank you for putting in the time and efforts...I've enjoyed every segment.
Jinxy
Aug 19, 12, 11:59 am
One of best reports I've read ever. Lucky you!
dat4life
Aug 19, 12, 3:19 pm
SQ 62
Moscow (DME)-Houston(IAH)
Tuesday July 17, 2012
Depart: 10:40 AM
Arrive: 2:05 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWA)
Seat: 1F (First Class)
I slowly made my way down the jet bridge, determined to savor every last moment, as this would most likely be my last international first class flight for at least a year. I was greeted at the door by one of the flight attendants, who directed me to turn in left. While my experience in international First Class is very limited, the brown and tan colors of the SQ First Class cabin makes it one of the most elegant and attractive cabins in the sky. After a slow walk down the aisle, I found my now familiar 1F. As I stowed my laptop bag, a lovely SQ girl, Janesis, came to introduce herself and offered me something to drink. Well, I’m coming down the home stretch in my Macabus challenge, so it was time to get serious. Janesis soon returned with a bottle of Dom and a glass to pour it in. As I slowly sipped my champagne, I couldn’t help but reflect on how incredibly fortunate I was to be sitting there. To think I was supposed to be on United BusinessFirst for this leg of the trip…
Pajamas were presented next. Unlike my previous flight, the pajamas had been removed from the plastic wrap and presented with the logo facing up and toward me. I realize this isn’t the biggest deal, but its little details that make difference. Amenity kits, socks, and slippers were distributed next. A little while later, the in-flight service manager, Ivy, drop by to introduce herself and to wish me a pleasant flight. The other two First Class passengers arrived not long after, taking up residence in 2A and 2F. The passenger in 2A was also continuing from Singapore. The same preflight rituals were performed for each of them.
Two refills later, the boarding door had closed and we were pushing back. The massive GE90 engines rumbled to life one by one, and we began taxiing toward the runway. The captain added his welcome during the taxi and announced a flight time of approximately 11 hours, which would put us in Houston nearly an hour early. I might have appreciated if I was flying in Economy, but my thinking that day were more along the lines of, Um, dude can we dial it back a couple of notches. I assure you, dear readers, my concern was purely in the interest of saving fuel.
After a S7 A320 had taken off, we hurtled down the runway and were airborne after a lengthy take off roll. Like clockwork, flight attendants got up from their jump seats and immediately closed the curtains to prepare for, as Lucky coined, “their performance”, at the 10,000 feet chime. First up, the hot towel service which was followed by post take off drinks and warm nuts. I decided to catch up on more work, as I was supposed to be back in the office the next day. Soon, the smells of the impending meal service began to fill the cabin. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the menu.
Lunch
CANAPES
Satay
With onion, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce
APPETISERS
Marinated prawns with salmon caviar and fennel potato salad
Pickled salmon with dill and Greek style vegetables
SOUP
Veloute of roasted pumpkin and whipped cream
Chicken broth with vegetables
SALAD
Mesclun with fennel, sundried berry, bell pepper, mozzarella cheese and pistachio herb vinaigrette dressing
Thousand Island dressing
MAIN COURSES
Combination of grilled lamb chop and stuffed cabbage with lamb fondue, served with glazed carrots and fondant potato
Braised chicken with mushroom in oyster sauce, vegetables and fried rice
Salmon fillet in white wine sauce with sautéed spinach, glazed carrot and mushroom
Beef noodle soup
Rice noodle in rich chicken stock with sliced beef and leafy greens
DESSERTS
Warm chocolate cake served with rum infused raisin and espresso ice cream
Vanilla mousse with chocolate mocca sauce
CHEESES
Selection of smoked edam, paladin bavarian blue, tilziter and camembent cheeses served with grapes, nuts and crackers
FRUITS
Fresh Fruits in Season
FINALE
A selection of gourmet coffees & fine teas served with pralines
The drink menu was the same as the SIN-DME segment, but I’ll repost it for your convenience.
CHAMPAGNES
Dom Perignon 2000
Krug Grande Cuvee
WHITES
Piesporter Goldtropichen Riesling Kabinett 2007
Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt
Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2007 William Fevre
RED
2004 Chateau Leoville-Poyferre Saint-Julien Bordeaux, France
Clos Vougeot 2006 Louis Jadot
Mitolo Revier 2006 Shiraz Barossa, Australia
SWEET WHITE
Chateau Filhot 2009 Sauternes
PORT
Taylor’s Twenty-Year-Old Port, Douro, Portugal
Cocktails
SINGAPORE AIRLINES UNIQUE CREATIONS
Silver Kris Sling
Sunrise Breezer
Bloody Mary
Rumba
Skyhigh
Sweetness in Darkness
Apple Bliss
Awaiting the Golden Dawn
Orange Cooler
ALL-TIME FAVOURITES
Singapore Sling
Solitaire Dreams
Fruit Spritzer
Tropical Fizz
APPETISING APERITIFS
Campari
Dry Vermouth
SPIRITS
Macallan 12-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky
Cognac XO-Hennessy
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whisky
Bombay Sapphire GIN
Beivedere Vodka
Bacardi Superior
LIQUEURS
Cointreau
Bailey’s Original Irish Cream
Choya Umeshu
BEER
Tiger
Carlsberg
GOURMET COFFEES
Brazil Santos Bourbon
Columbian Supremo
Jamaican Blue Mountain
Kenyan AA ‘Killmanjaro’
SPECIALTY COFFEES
Brewed Coffee
Café Royal
Espresso
Cappuccino
Café Latte
Café au Lait
Decaffeinated Coffee
Mocha
OTHER BEVERAGES
Hot Chocolate
Ovaltine
Milo
Soya Bean Milk
INTERNATIONAL TEAS
Royal Darjeeling
Muwara Ellya OP Ceylon
Earl Grey
English Breakfast Tea
Singapore Breakfast Tea
Paris-Singapore Tea
Alfonso Fruit Tea
Moroccan Mint Tea
Chamomile
Decaffeinated Earl Grey
Rooibos Red Tea
IN-HOUSE TEA SELECTION
ASIAN TEAS
Indian Masala Tea
Sencha
CHINESE TEAS
Jasmine
Oolong
Pu-Erh
MINERAL WATER
Sparkling
Still
FRUIT JUICES
Apple
Orange
Pineapple
Tomato
Cranberry
SOFT DRINKS
Bitter Lemon
Coke
Coke Light/Coke Zero
Ginger Ale
MILK
Full Cream
Low Fat
I decided to go all the way. with canapés, appetizer, soup, salad, main course, and dessert. YOLO, right? Man, I hate that accronym. Anyways...
After a refill of Dom, Janesis returned with my satay a little while later.
Satay, free flowing champagne, and a little work… Why can’t work always be this much fun? Oh speaking of champagne, I was on glass number 5 on the flight, i.e. bottle number 4, destroyed. I had to measure by glasses on this flight because my fellow passenger in 2F was drinking Dom as well. So much for being the only drunk (I don’t go to meetings) on board.
Anyways, I polished off the delicious satay in no time. Janesis returned to setup my table, soon after my satay plate was cleared. Unlike my other two SQ flights, silverware was laid on the table for me and not just delivered in the wrapped napkin. Another nice touch was the napkin service (placing it on your lap for you). It was totally unnecessary, but really nice. Ivy followed Janesis with the bread basket. I chose a piece of garlic bread and a roll. My appetizer arrived a few minutes later.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7631512216_2ec8d0f778.jpg
Marinated prawns with salmon caviar and fennel potato salad
I was actually a bit disappointed in the menu for this leg of the trip. While I under the main courses may not be as exciting given the fact it was a remote out station, but come on SQ we’re leaving Russia. Where’s the caviar service? That being said, the appetizer was very tasty and it did hit the spot. The shrimp were well marinated and the salmon caviar (ok who are we kidding, it’s ikura, i.e. salmon roe) gave it a nice salty tang. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine, I just expected better from SQ. This was more along the lines of what I expect to find on American’s Flagship First.
Anyways, the meal service was again very personalized. As far as I could tell, each one of us was eating at different paces. For example, I was just wolfing down what was put it front of me while the others were slowly enjoying their food. The cabin crew was able to adjust to it, with no issues. It was quite impressive, but I venture to guess it may be a little more difficult with a full cabin. My plate was cleared as soon as I finished, and I waited for a few minutes for my soup course to arrive.
The soup was alright, but looking back on it now, I really wonder why the hell I didn’t go for the pumpkin soup. My salad was delivered soon after my soup was cleared.
After I finished the salad, I had about a 15 minute wait before my main course was served. During the interlude, Janesis came by to ask if I wanted to switch to a wine for my main course. I’m pretty unsophisticated guy. I like beer and I like liquor. And I guess you can toss champagne into that now…Ok maybe I’m not that unsophisticated, but I digress. Wine is usually not my thing but I don’t mind a glass now and then. I had really enjoyed a glass of Lynch Bages with my lamb on my CX flight, so I decided to go with the French red that was on offer, 2004 Chateau Leoville-Poyferre Saint-Julien. In the meantime, I was tired of staring at work so I decided to peruse the offerings on Kris World. I settled on Batman Begins, since The Dark Knight Rises was hitting theatres later that week. But I got a bit side tracked after I glanced out the window and saw we were passing near the beautiful coast of Finland.
My main course arrived soon after, along with my wine.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7631511024_d3a456030c.jpg
Combination of grilled lamb chop and stuffed cabbage with lamb fondue, served with glazed carrots and fondant potato
The lamb and the accompaniments were quite good. The wine was absolutely fantastic and went very well with the lamb dish. I polished it off in no time. When she came to collect my plate, Janesis inquired if I had changed my mind about cheese course. I politely said no, and with a smile, she replied I’d be in for real treat when dessert came and I should get my camera ready. 10 minutes later, she returned with my dessert and a glass of port.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7631510794_caa6a08768.jpg
Warm chocolate cake served with rum infused raisin and espresso ice cream
If I were to pick one word to describe that dessert, it would be perfect. It was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. The dry ice show and napkin art were very nice touches. And most important of all, the ice cream wasn’t frozen solid (SFO-HKG) or melting (HKG-SIN), it was just perfect: soft enough to eat, but frozen enough to maintain nice a presentation. I finished it in no time. My table was cleared soon, and another hot towel service commenced. Coffee and pralines were delivered afterwards.
I had chosen the Kenyan AA ‘Killmanjaro’. It was good though not quite as good as the Jamaican Blue Mountain I had from SIN-DME. After coffee, I went into the lavatory to change into my pajamas. When I exited the lavatory, Janesis was there with hangers to hang my street clothes. She went on to explain that she had taken the liberty of converting 1D into a bed for me and to feel free to have a lie down whenever I wished. While the same thing was done on my last flight, it was nice to see she had taken a proactive approach to it, instead of asking me first. Again, it’s the little things.
I was not quite ready to sleep at that point so I asked for a Johnny Walker Blue, on the rocks, and settled down to finish watching the Batman begins. But not long after, I was feeling a bit sleepy. So I crossed the aisle and slid under the covers. I managed to get about 2.5 hours of solid sleep. While it wasn’t a lot of sleep, it was just enough to keep me going until I made it to Houston.
I woke up with a little over 6 hours of flight time remaining. After lying around for awhile I went back to 1F, in hoping to get a little more work done. As soon as I put on my seat belt and extended the tray table, Janesis was at my seat with a hot towel asking if I needed something to drink. It took me a second to comprehend what was going on, I can’t imagine why… Anyways, she suggested some Jasmine tea. That sounded really good so I just went with that. She returned with the tea a few minutes later, just as I was settling down to read a few docs. At that time I noticed that immigration forms along with some airline goodies (pen, deck of cards, writing kit, and post cards) were artfully arranged on the shelf just under the IFE screen complete with a couple of flowers. Again, another very nice touch. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but the cabin was too dark for my iPhone to be of any use.
I managed to get a good bit done. During that time, my tea was constantly being refilled, though I hardly noticed it was being done. I guess that shows you how incredibly exciting my work is…not. I had run to the lavatory once during that time period and returned to find my bed in 1D remade, my tea refilled, headphones straightened up, and another SQ pen placed next to my highlighter and the crappy pen I was using. You’ve probably noticed I’ve commented more about the service on this flight than on any other flight in this TR. That’s because the service was flawless. The entire crew from Janesis, to Lim, and all of the other FAs I encountered was fantastic. They were all very proactive, friendly, and personable. I had thought the crews on my other flights were very good, but this crew had taken service to a whole new level. I truly felt like a king for a day.
After about 2 hours, I was pretty much finished with work so I packed up and turned on Kris World once again, and decided continue with my Batman marathon with The Dark Knight. Not long after I put on my headphones, the male FA, who had been working the galley, came to ask if I wanted something more fun to drink. “Some Dom, perhaps,” he said with a smirk. Hells to the yeah. He returned with a bottle and a glass a minute or two. Oh yeah, this is the stuff. He then asked if I wanted something to eat. I responded, “Dude, did you see how much food you fed me a couple hours ago?” We shared a good laugh, and he left me to my own devices.
After 2 more glasses of champagne, we were in Canadian airspace with about 2.5 hours to go. Janesis dropped by to ask what I wanted for the pre-arrival meal. With great sadness, I took a glance at the menu one last time. And sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the menu, so y’all are just going have to live with my ineloquent descriptions. I told Janesis I could eat anytime, and to just bring it as whenever it was most convenient for them. Hey, it was the least I could do after such a fantastic flight.
A little over 2 hours out, Janesis came to set my table one last time. Again, Ivy followed her with bread basket and inquired if I had enjoyed the flight, to which I replied I definitely did. I chose a piece of the delicious garlic bread again. Another flight attendant came by with a bottle of Dom and fresh glass. My soup arrived a minute or two later.
The beef was ok, but not particularly good. However, the vegetables were cooked just right and were rather fresh. I ended up finishing the vegetables and leaving most of the beef. As she cleared my plate, Janesis once again told me to get my camera ready for dessert.
I was treated to another dry ice show with my raspberry sorbet, which was very light and refreshing. Afterwards, I declined all offers for coffee and tea, and headed to the lavatory to change back to my street clothes. After I returned to my seat, the male FA came to ask if I wanted to finish off the bottle of Dom I had started, as there was just enough for another glass. After some thought, I answered yes. That would put another 5 glasses in the books and bring my final tally to 5 bottles killed. Macabus, your record is still intact, despite my efforts.
After I finished that glass, with about an hour and 20 minutes to go. The cabin crew began tidying up the cabin at that point, and I resorted to drinking water to somewhat rehydrate before we landed. I passed the time by watching a couple episodes of Come Fly With Me, which was stupid, but entertaining. I noticed Janesis coming around the cabin to have a final chat with each passenger. She got to me last, saving the best for last no doubt, as we began our descent at Louisiana/Texas border, near Natchitoches, LA. Not surprisingly, she started off by asking about how I enjoyed the flight. There may have been a bit more adjectives and superlatives thrown in there, but the gist of my reply was that this was most fantastic flight I’ve ever experienced. Janesis was humble and said they try to please. Offhandedly, she mentioned another passenger who was very pleased with her service on a recent Singapore to Tokyo flight. That statement clicked for me, even in my Dom soaked state. So I asked if this passenger’s name was Ben. She laughed and said, “ Yes, how did you know?” I laughed and said, “So you’re the famous Wong Chin.” She then explained that she did not have her English name tag on that flight, thus that’s why she was identified as Wong Chin. We shared a good laugh and chatted for a while little about FT (why I was taking pictures) and the airline industry in general, especially about SQ’s U.S. based competition. At the end, Janesis asked me if I’d be willing to email SQ customer service email instead. Of course, I was willing.
The 20 minutes to landing announcement was soon made by our captain, and the cabin crew began making their final preparations. Ivy, the in-flight service supervisor, then dropped by to say farewell. Janesis had told her about our conversation, so I reiterated some of what I said to Janesis and chatted about a few other things. If there was ever a flight I didn’t want to end, it was this one. So I wasn’t complaining if we had to go around. Heck, I was halfway considering marching up to flight deck to ask if they minded turning to the north and dropping me off in Dallas. But something tells me that wouldn’t be the smartest idea… Soon we were making our final descent into Houston from the east, flying straight in toward runway 9R. Touchdown was smooth, and I was back in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
dat4life
Aug 19, 12, 3:29 pm
Awesome report! And I recognize a couple of people in that last picture.:D
Thanks Lucky. I learned from some of the best;)
Great report! I look forward to the (epic?) conclusion
Thanks gba! I've enjoyed your reports, as well. Conclusion? What conclusion? This is going to be the TR that never ends...
Agreed, well done! Loved every section. Keep it up.
Thanks Abidjan!
Awesome report! Thank you for putting in the time and efforts...I've enjoyed every segment.
Thanks byroshi. Glad you enjoyed it!
One of best reports I've read ever. Lucky you!
Thanks Jinxy! But I'm just a humble rookie trying to make it in the land of giants:)
lucky9876coins
Aug 19, 12, 5:06 pm
Awesome, awesome, awesome!
dat4life
Aug 19, 12, 5:45 pm
After we parked at the gate, the single jet bridge was attach to door 2L. The Business Class FAs quickly went to perform the curtain block. As I was gathering my things, Janesis asked if I wanted to take a picture with the crew, which I did. I bid the great crew a final farewell after a few snapshots. The FAs doing the curtain block had already started allowing Business Class passengers to deplane, but stopped the flow to let me pass. As soon as I got off the plane, I hurried to immigration to avoid the lines. Fortunately, we were the only flight arriving at the time, so lines were rather short. I was directed to an immigration officer by someone directing queue. But lane I was directed to wasn’t quite open yet, so that resulted in me being yelled at by the officer. I was pissed, but I bit my tongue. I was beckoned to come forward after couple minutes, after the officer finished a conversation with a fellow employee. Go figure. Anyways, I was through after a few cursory questions.
I headed down the escalators toward baggage claim. After a 10 minute wait, bags began hitting the belt and my bags were among the first out. Customs was a breeze. The only question I was asked was if I had any agricultural products. I then headed to the United transfer desk to recheck my bags. Though the agent in Hong Kong assured me my bags were checked through to Dallas, they were actually only checked through to Houston. Not a big deal since I had to claim them for customs anyways. When I got to the transfer desk, I found the Premier Access line blocked off, but there was only a short line anyways. A friendly agent, checked me in and tagged my bags to Dallas. He then handed me the ugliest boarding pass I’ve seen. Other than a small “F” by the flight number, there is nothing to indicate that what cabin you’re in.
I headed to the security checkpoint just in front of the transfer desks. Ah yes, nothing says you’re back in the good ole U.S. of A. like a TSA checkpoint. The TSA: Where efficiency is not a goal. Just like the transfer desk, the Premier Access line was closed but the regular line was pretty short. But unfortunately the line moved at glacial speeds. I was through in about 20 minutes, despite having just 10 people in front of me. Yes, I counted.
After I dressed, I made a beeline toward the United Club located in between terminal C and E. Now, as a proud United Kettle I know I don’t have access to lounges on an international itinerary. But I was hoping I’d be allowed in due to my inbound SQ flight, because I was desperate for a shower. I know Star Alliance rules don’t permit use of lounge use upon arrival, but I was technically connecting. Unfortunately, the lounge dragon wouldn’t budge, claiming there was no way they could charge SQ for my visit. So, I made my second walk of shame that day. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Though IAH was my home airport for a number of years, I hate it with a passion. It’s dirty, horribly laid out, and devoid of any type of personality. I had absolutely no interest in walking around, so I headed to my gate. By now I was really feeling the effects of my alcohol assumption over the last 30 hours or so, and I really needed to sit down. Unfortunately, my flight was leaving out of gat C-19, one of the worse gates at IAH. It’s located in one of the corners of the terminal, crammed together with 3 other gates. And usually, there are flights leaving from all three gates. Thus, it would be very crowded and seating would be inadequate. My fears were confirmed once I reached the gate.
I did manage to find a seat, but I got up after getting a bit claustrophobic. Besides, there was only 30 minutes left until boarding. While taking a stroll around the terminal, I spotted MY SQ 77W sitting across the tarmac at Terminal D.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7631508898_259e9cf934.jpg
OH, PLEASE TAKE ME BACK
The boarding process was incredibly confusing, as the flights to LAX and ORD were departing from the neighboring were beginning to board almost simultaneously. So the gate agents were constantly making announcements to make sure people got on the correct aircraft. The gate agent working my flight was rather soft spoken, so I had to strain to hear her. But as soon as I heard the words Dallas, First, and boarding I ran to the gate with my boarding pass in hand, eager to get out of the commotion of the terminal. My boarding pass was scanned, and I was finally on my way home.
UA 391
Houston (IAH)-Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Tuesday July 17, 2012
Depart: 3:43 PM
Arrive: 4:59 PM
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A319
Seat: 1F (First Class)
I was greeted by the friendly purser as I entered the aircraft and settled into 1F. This was my first time in United First, so I was interested to see how it compared to AA First. As far as the hard product goes, I found the seats to be equally comfortable, but I would give the nod to UA since they have leather seating surfaces. I dozed off nearly immediately, but I woke up when the purser came around taking orders for PDBs. I ordered an orange juice, and fell asleep almost immediately after I drank it. 20 minutes later, I woke up only to find that we were still at the gate, since the airport had been closed due to thunderstorms in the area. We ended up pushing back about 40 minutes late. To their credit, the FAs constantly made passes in the full First Class cabin offering refills and doing a water service in the full economy cabin, while we were still at the gate.
While we were taxiing to the runway, I continued to doze in out. It felt like hours, but in reality we were only an hour late. The takeoff queue was rather long, due to the back log from the storm. We taxied into position after a Delta Mad Dog had taken off. A minute or so later, our pilots put the pedal to metal, our little V2500 engines began screaming their little guts out, and we were finally out of Houston. Unfortunately, Channel 9 was off the entire flight. After we leveled off, drinks were offered in First Class and the snack basket was passed around twice. In my opinion, I think the weakest part of AA’s F offering are short haul non-meal flights. On flights shorter than 500 miles, all AA offers is the “Premium Snack Mix”. It’s ok but it gets old after a while. A snack basket is a nice (and seemingly inexpensive way) to fill the gap. But what do I know.
Our crew was attentive and constantly passing through the cabin for refills. They certainly were comparable to a good AA cabin crew. The captain made an announcement apologizing for the delay again along with some pre-arrival information as we began to descent into the Metroplex. We touched down on runway 35R and quickly taxied to gate E5. I thanked the good crew on my way out and made it to baggage claim in a few minutes. While I was on the jet bridge, I heard the passenger in 1A tell the crew, they were the best he’s ever had. While they were good, if that was the best crew he’s had, I’d hate to see what some bad crews look like on United. Bags came out after a 10 minute wait, and I was in a taxi within 20 minutes, and made it home within an hour of deplaning. Not too shabby.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8433/7818773646_e1e22f774b.jpg
Nice additions to my boarding pass collection
That concludes the international portion of this TR.
luv_flying
Aug 20, 12, 1:04 am
You did not 'overflow' us with many photos , instead you gave us an in-dept report on every airlines service. It's so enjoyable reading them (esp on the SQ flight) that I came to realize I don't need photos at all.
Definitely one of the best trip report out there! ^
ung1
Aug 20, 12, 7:45 am
Very interesting to read the post about the last SQ flight, the little touches do make a difference.
I was on an SQ flight in J yesterday, and small touches like being escorted to my seat by the Purser, seat belt being tied for me while I was asleep (had forgotten to latch it and we'd hit some turbulence) were appreciated. That said, the pesky regional J seat did still ruin my night!
CX828
Aug 20, 12, 10:22 am
[b]
The only drawback of Studio CX is that it is defaulted play nearly over a minute of same commercials before each and every TV show episode. Although, I will admit I really didn’t mind the Scotts Tower Commercial for some unknown reason.
Great TR!!! and thanks for the pics.
Just to let you know you can fast forward the ads in a matter of seconds. Do that on your next CX flight, just press FF twice wait for roughly 3 or 4 seconds, then press play and it will start at beginning of movie.
concorde02
Aug 20, 12, 12:53 pm
It's interesting to see that most of the reports on SQ 77W F lately do not feature Caviar!!
LH may be the only carrier in Europe to serve Caviar but in Asia/Gulf, there are TG, OZ, NH, CX, EK, JL, etc that still do.. Just wondering why SQ stops it... at least on 77W
BrewerSEA
Aug 20, 12, 6:26 pm
It's interesting to see that most of the reports on SQ 77W F lately do not feature Caviar!!
LH may be the only carrier in Europe to serve Caviar but in Asia/Gulf, there are TG, OZ, NH, CX, EK, JL, etc that still do.. Just wondering why SQ stops it... at least on 77W
SQ does still serve caviar in F, but I believe only on longhaul dinner flights?
davewho??
Aug 20, 12, 7:40 pm
Great TR. Thanks for posting.^^
gba
Aug 20, 12, 8:15 pm
Thanks gba! I've enjoyed your reports, as well. Conclusion? What conclusion? This is going to be the TR that never ends...
I think when it gets down to IAH-DFW, even Yogi Berra would say it's over :)
But it was a great journey!
dat4life
Aug 20, 12, 9:14 pm
You did not 'overflow' us with many photos , instead you gave us an in-dept report on every airlines service. It's so enjoyable reading them (esp on the SQ flight) that I came to realize I don't need photos at all.
Definitely one of the best trip report out there! ^
Glad to be of service luv_flying!
the pesky regional J seat did still ruin my night!
That seat looks pretty bad, but new regional seats looks pretty good. But still it's hard to beat a SQ flight!
Just to let you know you can fast forward the ads in a matter of seconds. Do that on your next CX flight, just press FF twice wait for roughly 3 or 4 seconds, then press play and it will start at beginning of movie.
Thanks CX828! I will certainly keep that in mind.
It's interesting to see that most of the reports on SQ 77W F lately do not feature Caviar!!
SQ does still serve caviar in F, but I believe only on longhaul dinner flights?
Yes, I believe it has to be coded as a Dinner flight for the caviar service.
Great TR. Thanks for posting.
Thanks davewho??. I enjoyed writing it.
I think when it gets down to IAH-DFW, even Yogi Berra would say it's over
This is true, but I just may have a few more tricks up my sleave. I'm back to my normal life, i.e. on the road for work in BFE Texas... I just may be bored enough bang out a few more posts;)
dat4life
Aug 20, 12, 11:12 pm
My next couple of installments will be the “From Sea to Shining Sea” part of my trip report.
WARNING: The next series of post will cover domestic travel in the U.S., including a few segments in economy and a low cost carrier. Reader discretion is advised.
Rocking Chicago: Introduction
In 2011, one of my friends talked me into running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas. Naturally, the first thing on my mind when he invited me was, “I wonder how I can turn this into a mileage run.” Go figure, right? I managed to find a nice Delta fare which netted me just under 4 cpm, since I was routing through ATL on the outbound and the return. But then came the training, which quite frankly sucked. However on race day, it really wasn’t that bad, and I actually had a great time running, as well as great time afterwards.
Like most FTers, I’m addicted to shiny metals. One of the cool things about the Rock and Roll Series races are the heavy medals (http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/heavy-medals), which are awarded for completing more than one race. After the Vegas race, I was hooked. If I run a few of these things, I get a bunch of shiny medals and turn the travel to race into mileage runs to help with elite qualification. And it was good excuse to spend more time with friends and get in shape. How much better can it get?
In 2012, I decided to aim for the Grand Slam medal, which is awarded after completing 4 races. To reach this goal, I decided to run the races in New Orleans(my hometown), Dallas (my current town), Chicago, and San Jose. The New Orleans and Dallas races were in March. The Chicago race fell on July 22nd, the Sunday after I returned from Hong Kong. Obviously, I didn’t know I was going to Hong Kong when I planned for the race. But I was determined to run it, despite how closely timed both events were. I figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem, provided I could avoid jet lag on the way home, which I managed to do.
All of the Rock and Roll series races do not allow for race packet pickup on race day. Runners must go the day before to pick up the race packet at the Fitness Expo. Thus, I booked a flight to Chicago on Saturday and returning Sunday night, after the race. Unfortunately, I was unable to turn my trip into a mileage run, but I did book my flight using an VDB voucher I got on one of my DFW-SFO runs. So my cost was essentially zero. My upgrade cleared at exactly 72 hours out.
After a few days catching up with things at work after a week off, I was pretty exhausted on Friday night and went to bed early. I woke up just before 6AM, after 10 hours of much needed sleep. I had already packed the night before, so I was able to get out the door by 6:20, after freshening up. Knowing traffic would be really light early Saturday morning, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to grab a latte. Parking was a bit of a pain at the DFW Remote North Lot, as it was very full due to summer travel. Not surprisingly, it was a bit crowded on the terminal bus, which deposited me at Terminal C a little more than an hour before my flight.
I was greeted by a large crowd at the check in counters and kiosks. But luckily, the Priority AAccess lane empty. After the family already at counter had finished checking in their cat and said good bye to Fifi, I was beckoned to come forward to the counter. The friendly AAgent quickly printed out my boarding pass, and I was off to security. The regular security line snaked around the check in counters, but again the Priority AAccess lane was pretty empty and I was through security in 10 minutes, after playing the name game and posing for an inappropriate picture, that’s for TSA eyes only.
I arrived at my gate, C-28, about 10 minutes before boarding began. Two middle age ladies provided entertainment before boarding, as they were loudly speculating on big the time difference between Dallas and Seattle, which was departing from the adjoining gate. One of them reasoned that it was at least 4 hours, as California was 3 hours behind, and Seattle is further away. I was wondering if I should point out the gate information screens to them (the information is on it), but they were too entertaining, so let I it slide. Boarding was called at exactly 30 minutes before departure. I walked briskly into the jet bridge after my boarding pass was scanned.
AA 2330
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)-Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Saturday July 21, 2012
Depart: 8:20 AM
Arrive: 10:40 AM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (N579AA)
Seat: 4F (First Class)
I settled into my favorite first class seat on the Mad Dog, 4F. Unlike many people, I actually really like the MD-80/83s. They’re quiet, if you’re sitting in front of row 20. And 2-3 configuration makes flying coach a little more palatable, as there are fewer middle seats. That being said, I will be glad to see them leave fleet in the name of reduced fuel consumption. Although the flight appeared to be wide open on the day before, the flight was completely full up front and economy was announced to be full. Our friendly purser came through the cabin with a tray of water and orange juice for PDBs.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7826714474_ea9b938c6b.jpg
Just in case you forgot what a cup of airline orange juice looked like
The captain came on the PA welcoming us aboard and announcing a flight time of 1 hour and 59 minutes. We pushed back right on time and began our lengthy taxi to runway 17R. After take off, we flew on an easterly course for awhile before turning back to the north and setting course to Chicago. Beverage service commenced soon after we climbed above 10,000 feet. I was going to just stick with water or OJ, since it was less than 24 hours before the race, but the gentleman seated in 3F ordered a mimosa. Well, that sounds really good… So that’s what I went with.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7139/7826715174_caff101507.jpg
Post take-off mimosa
Next up was the continental breakfast, with a choice of a biscuit or cinnamon raisin bagel. I chose the bagel.
While it doesn’t look like much, the breakfast was actually very filling. It’s hard to screw up cereal. The bagel was soft and warm, accented nicely by the provided cream cheese. The fruit was ripe and fresh. Overall, it was a very nice breakfast, though it’s not much different than what I usually eat at home. The FAs were very good, clearing trays as passengers finished and coming by on regular basis for refills. I worked on my aforementioned SQ teaser after I finished breakfast, and managed to finish it before our descent. We had a nice view of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan just before we turned into the short final. Touchdown was smooth and we quickly taxied to gate H12. Overall this was a very nice flight, and certainly made up for my crappy LAX-SFO flight of the week before.
After deplaning, I headed to Blue Line station, spent $2.50 for a ticket, and made it to downtown in a little over 40 minutes.
Coming up next: Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and Rock and Roll Chicago.
ung1
Aug 21, 12, 9:52 am
That seat looks pretty bad, but new regional seats looks pretty good. But still it's hard to beat a SQ flight!
I did mean the 'new' SQ regional J seat - it is pretty awful in my opinion!
dat4life
Aug 21, 12, 7:42 pm
After I arrived downtown, it took me 10 minutes to walk from the subway station to the Intercontinental. The weather was pleasant as the air temperature at the time was in the mid 80s, which is a little lower than what I left behind in Texas. The exterior of the Intercontinental was quite nice. I decided to stay at the IC since I found a pretty decent weekend rate of $155 per night. Not too bad for a one night stay on a busy weekend. Besides, I might as well put my Ambassador status to good use.
There was quite a crowd in the lobby as many people were checking out, including a VS crew, and people like me trying to check in early. The lobby itself was airy and nicely appointed. An interesting feature of the lobby is the large screen, running the length or the front desk, which shows a real time video of Michigan Avenue in front of the hotel. The line at the front desk was quite long, but there was only a short wait at the Ambassador/Royal Ambassador desk, which was staffed by a very attractive agent. I handed her my ID and credit card, but we hit a snag checking in. Being the idiot that I am, I had inadvertently canceled this reservation when I meant to cancel my reservation at IC New Orleans for a month later. Fortunately, she was able to reinstate my reservation and I soon was on my way to my “upgraded” room, 2114.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7826726196_8df0d36169_z.jpg
I think I had originally booked a superior room, and my upgrade was to a deluxe room. Overall, I was pleased with my room as it was pretty spacious and comfortable. But it was a bit of a let down compared to my fantastic rooms in Hong Kong. And besides, I’d expect a little more out of an Intercontinental. The view from the room was of the building next door, so I didn’t bother to take a picture. After I settled in, I got a text from a friend, whom I was running with, saying he had just checked in. I met him up in his room after he had settled in. He’s an Ambassador too and booked a superior room as well, but his upgrade was to a superior room in the historic tower, which was about 1/3 smaller than my room.
We headed down to lobby to catch a cab to the expo, which was held at the Hyatt McCormick Place, a 15 minute ride away.
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That’s some useful information to know before a night out.
A day or two before each Rock and Roll race, they hold a fitness expo where many different vendors come to demonstrate their products, of course to entice people to buy them. Runners are required to pick up race packets and swag bags at the expo, as well. The expos are fun, though it can get expensive if you start buying a few things.
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Nice view of the Chicago skyline from the McCormick Center.
When I ran the Dallas race back in March, I went out the night before the race since it was another friend’s birthday. About midnight (Keep in mind start time was at 7:30 the next morning), I ordered another round of tequila shots for all of us and called it a night. I figured a few drinks and a few shots wouldn’t a big deal at all, since it was a lot less than a normal night out and I had a few hours to sleep it off. Man, was I wrong. I woke up feeling fine, but it was a different story when I started running. I ended up getting dehydrated and cramping up. To make a long story short, the race was a fiasco.
This time around, I decided to take it easy on the night before the race. So I went with my friend to see The Dark Knight Rises, at a theatre near the hotel. And then we grabbed a quick dinner at Michael Jordan’s steakhouse, located in the lobby of the IC. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had and the mashed potato trio was absolutely fantastic. I got back to my room at around 10:30 and fell asleep the night almost immediately. It would be a long day tomorrow.
dat4life
Aug 21, 12, 7:44 pm
My alarm went off at 5:30 the next morning. Why the hell am I up so early on a Sunday morning? Because some genius sitting in an office somewhere decided on a 6:30 start time. I had put my race number on the night before to snatch a few extra minutes of sleep. After a breakfast of Gatorade and a couple of granola bars, I “laced up” and went down to lobby to meet my friend, about 15 minutes after I woke up. We were feeling pretty lazy, so we decided to cab it to the start line, which was near Millennium Park. Unfortunately, many roads were already blocked off for the race, so our cabbie dropped us off two blocks away, where we joined a thousand other people groggily stumbling to the start line.
After a 10 minute walk, I split from my friend as my corral was a little farther back. It was really pleasant and cool morning in Chicago. The rising sun made for some beautiful views.
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Boeing Headquarters
One of the best things about the Rock and Roll series are the concerts along the race route. There’s band every mile or so. It keeps me distracted, which keeps me running. The bands are pretty good, for the most part.
And also, they pay people to cheer for you. In Dallas, they brought in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. I didn’t know if I should slow down and enjoy the view or haul alpha sierra sierra, as they were stationed close to the finish line.
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Chicago Board of Trade
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Soldier Field
I was making pretty good time, for me at least, averaging about a just under 11 minutes a mile. Unfortunately, I began cramping up badly at mile 9, despite drinking as much water I could on the way and not touching alcohol along the night before. The only thing I could think of that caused the cramps was the weather, which was a lot more humid than what I’m used to in Dallas. So the last 4.1 miles took a good bit longer and were painful, but I powered through it.
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So close, but yet so far.
Literally 10 feet from the finish line, my cramps got so bad that I could barely even walk. So I ended up hopping across the finish line, and collapsing in heap just after I crossed it. The medical staff dragged me over to the nearby medical tent and massaged my calves until I could finally walk without much pain. I didn’t quite finish the way I wanted, but I still got what I came for.
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Medal
Since the traffic on Michigan Avenue was bad, I decided walk back to the hotel, making it back at around 11. I took a good long shower after I got back to my room and took a nice refreshing nap. I got up around 2 in the afternoon and grabbed a late lunch and pounded a few well deserved beers with my friend. We got back to the hotel at close to 4PM, and I grabbed my bags and checked out. I bade farewell to my friend who was staying another night.
Feeling incredibly lazy, I decided to take cab to O’Hare. It was a hair raising ride, as the driver was making that poor Prius do things that it was never meant to do, like doing 90 mph in the narrow HOV lane. I made it to the airport at about 5PM for my 6:30 flight. As expected, my upgrade did not clear as this was a peak hour elite heavy flight. I dozed off most of the way, despite my talkative seatmate. Not a thing in the world to report. I finally made it home around 9:30 that night and went to bed almost immediately.
I would spend the next few days grounded before I made it back out to the West Coast the next weekend. Thankfully, I was working from home the next week so I was able to rest up.
Coming up… So Cal and a FT first!
BingBongBoy
Aug 23, 12, 4:25 pm
Thanks BBB! Again, I'm glad to contribute after reading your TRs! You'll definitely enjoy the CPHK. If you're PC Plat/AMB/RA, you really will be treated like royalty. It's definitely my new favorite property in HK.
Just read the rest of this report... Absolutely wonderful... Well written, whit and charm, as well as humble writing on well received service... Lovely, absolutely lovely.
I am IC Royal Ambassador, so looking forward to it a lot! What makes it even better, is that I have been planning this trip for some time, and managed to get the reservation for the pre-increased price of 25K a night! Bargain! :D
Dr. HFH
Aug 23, 12, 8:06 pm
At that moment, the guy behind me trudged by on his way back to Business Class. I had noticed his blue boarding pass when he was “admonishing” me, thus I held my tongue. I guess he didn’t see my boarding pass when I handed it to the gate agent and missed it again in the jet bridge, as I kept it tucked in my passport. Making eye contact with him, I replied to the FA, “ Champagne, please,” with just a hint of a smirk. The guy looked away and kept on walking. Man, that was sweet.
+1. I know exactly how you feel. Virtually identical thing happened to me flying AA 136 in F LAX-LHR. Waiting in line at a crowded gate for a late flight. Guy barged by me, shoving me aside, saying "I'm in first class." I said nothing, but did manage to catch his eye. When I boarded, I saw him in 3G, and the look on his face when he saw me settle into 2J (my favorite seat on that a/c with AA) was priceless. I wonder if either of the incidents taught these people some manners.
Omar84
Aug 28, 12, 5:44 am
Great Report Harrison, really enjoyed it. Glad you enjoyed your time upfront with all the DOM, something I have still yet to do.
One question, in Hong Kong you had quote a few close family members and yet you decided to stay in hotels? I dont understand why because I would personally see it as a waste of money or points. There are hotels in different locations around the world where those points could go towads where you would not have family preset. Apologies in advance if you explained why you did choose hotels over family and I just missed it.
dat4life
Aug 28, 12, 9:14 pm
Just read the rest of this report... Absolutely wonderful... Well written, whit and charm, as well as humble writing on well received service... Lovely, absolutely lovely.
I am IC Royal Ambassador, so looking forward to it a lot! What makes it even better, is that I have been planning this trip for some time, and managed to get the reservation for the pre-increased price of 25K a night! Bargain! :D
Thanks BBB! 25,000 points is a steal for this property!
+1. I know exactly how you feel. Virtually identical thing happened to me flying AA 136 in F LAX-LHR. Waiting in line at a crowded gate for a late flight. Guy barged by me, shoving me aside, saying "I'm in first class." I said nothing, but did manage to catch his eye. When I boarded, I saw him in 3G, and the look on his face when he saw me settle into 2J (my favorite seat on that a/c with AA) was priceless. I wonder if either of the incidents taught these people some manners.
Amen! Though I wouldn't hold my breath on that haha.
Great Report Harrison, really enjoyed it. Glad you enjoyed your time upfront with all the DOM, something I have still yet to do.
One question, in Hong Kong you had quote a few close family members and yet you decided to stay in hotels? I dont understand why because I would personally see it as a waste of money or points. There are hotels in different locations around the world where those points could go towads where you would not have family preset. Apologies in advance if you explained why you did choose hotels over family and I just missed it.
Thanks Omar. That is a fair question. For me it's a matter of personal preference. I prefer to have a little more personal space. And besides, it can get a little awkward you want to spend a little more time with one person over another, etc. I think the points and cash I burned were well spent, if it helped buy me a little peace.
dat4life
Aug 28, 12, 9:16 pm
The next week passed quite quickly, as I buried myself in work. As I was still experiencing the afterglow of recent international First flights, I mustered up the courage to ask my boss for a raise to fund my newly acquired addiction.
Me: “Hey boss, look I just got off some fantastic flights in international first class. Mileage running isn’t quite as lucrative as it used to be, and I don’t think I can fly coach again on a long haul flight. So how about…I don’t know…a 25 percent raise to help fund my addiction.”
Boss: “Of course. That’s not a problem at all.”
If only it were so easy… At lunch that day, one of my co-workers proudly mentioned he saved a of bunch money redeeming some of his AAdvantage miles too. Upon further prodding, he had redeemed 25,000 miles for an AAnytime Award. On a domestic flight. From El Paso to Dallas. A sub 500 mile flight. All to save $150 dollars. To quote him, “I got to use those miles sometimes, right.” I nearly burst into tears. Man, I would have bought you that ticket if you would be willing to… Never mind. @AmericanAir, if you’re reading this, I would never make an offer like that. After all, I am an AAngel of an AAdvantage member.
To me, that was nearly as bad when another coworker told me her family flies paid EK F all the time, but didn’t have Skywards accounts. But I digress. As the week progressed, I was itching to get back on a plane. There’s just something incredibly exciting about someone ordering me to fasten my seatbelt and make sure my seat back and tray table are in the upright and locked position. TMI?
Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled TR.
I’ve been to Southern California every year since 2009, with the highlight being my 6 week assignment in Irvine in 2010, and I’ve grown rather fond of it. So when my parents offered me a chance to join them for a weekend in So Cal, I jumped on it. Of course with any great deal, there’s a catch: I had to fly Southwest. Yes, that Southwest, reviled by many a FTer. Here’s your FT first: name another TR with CX F, SQ F, AND WN. Exactly. There are none!
Why must it be on Southwest? To make a long story, I blame it on my dad. He started flying them back in 2000, for his weekly New Orleans to Houston runs. Ironically, after we moved to Houston in 2006, he’s been making the exact opposite trip on a regular basis. In the old credit based program, he earned 8-10 round trips each year, on average. We’ve redeemed more than 100 awards, between family and friends, over an 11 year period. Heck, I flew Southwest for more than 5 years before I’ve ever purchased a revenue ticket. But this gravy train ended once the second points based reiteration of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards was rolled out in early 2011. After the conversion to the new system, Southwest still allowed holders to use the old awards up to two years after they’re issued.
After burning 15 awards for travel in 2011 and 2012, we had one stray award left, which would get me to So Cal. As the standard award seats are now capacity control, I had to book early to take advantage of award space. I was going to fly into San Diego, to meet my family, and then we were going to drive up to LA to meet up with my cousin, who just got married. Thus, I would be flying home from LAX.
I woke up at 5:30AM on the day of departure. As I had packed the night before, I was out the door in less than half an hour. Southwest operates out of Love Field in Dallas, which is located near downtown. I live out by DFW, so it took a little over 30 minutes to make it there. Parking was easy and cheap at Best Parking ($6 per day for covered parking). The shuttle bus pulled up to my spot as soon I got my bag out of my car, and I was on my way to the terminal. The bus was halfway to the terminal, when I realized I had made a terrible mistake: I forgot to check in the day before.
I like to say that Southwest is one of the more pleasant US domestic experiences, if you know how the system works. For those of you unfamiliar with the Southwest system, their boarding process places passengers in boarding groups A, B, and C. Within the groups, passengers are ordered numerically, up to 60 in each boarding group. So if had the boarding number A1, you would be the first person to board after the pre-boards. A1 through A15 are reserved for Business Select (WN’s premium passengers). Next up are elites (A-List and A-List Preferred), followed by passengers who purchased Early Bird Check In (checks you in automatically to ensure you have a good boarding position). The remaining boarding positions are allocated by the order passengers check in, i.e. the earlier you check in, the better. I knew the system, but it just completely slipped my mind. It’s been a few months since I’ve flown WN, and the last couple times I bought a Business Select ticket, so I didn’t need to check in ahead of time.
There was already a long line at the check in counters when I arrived, around 6:45. A priority lane was available for Business Select passengers and elites, though I wasn’t eligible to use it. There was a dragon guarding the line, but it was still pointless as the check in agents ignored the priority lane and called people up from the regular line. Though the regular line was long, it moved quickly due WN’s efficient process. I made it to the counter in 15 minutes, despite the long line. The counter isn’t quite the check in counter in the traditional sense. There are two kiosks at each “counter position”. You just punch in your Rapid Rewards number or PNR, just answer if you need to check bags, and it spits out your boarding passes. All the agents have to do are direct the lines, check IDs, tag bags, and provide assistance if needed. This makes for a very efficient process.
With my bag checked (at no extra charge!) and boarding passes in hand, I made my way to long security line. I looked longingly toward the guarded priority security entrance, which I wasn’t eligible to use that day, on my way to the peon line. Man, it’s been a while since I’ve flown without some sort of priority privileges. But I can deal with this… I think.
A minute or two after getting in line for security, I got a text message from Southwest notifying me of a 45 minute delay. This would shrink my Albuquerque layover down to 40 minutes, but it was still doable. In my opinion, TSA at Dallas Love Field are among the worse I’ve ever encountered. They’re generally rude, inflexible, and arrogant. The ID checker I drew that day was no exception to the rule. As I got to the front of the line, she screamed, “Next”. I greeted her with a "Morning". The agent grunted in reply, stared at me for a minute, glanced at my ID, scribbled something on my boarding pass and sent me on my way to stand in the long line for the imaging/x ray machine. The line was slow because of the many families traveling were unable to figure out what they needed to take out/off before going through the machines. Of course, the screaming agents really don’t help. It was another 10 minutes before I finally cleared security.
After I got dressed, I made a beeline for the lounge… Lounge? Oh man, I’m really hallucinating now. We don’t need no stinking lounge here at Southwest. Instead, we get a plethora of fine dining options in the terminal, so you can choose what you want to eat. Feeling pretty hungry after not eating the night before, I headed to the Chili’s located across from Gate 4, which happened to be my departure gate. I ended paying $17 for way too salty bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast tacos, accompanied by tasteless hash browns, with a choice of freshly mixed Minute Maid apple juice or orange juice. This little breakfast almost made me long for the stale muffins at the Admirals Club. Just as I finished picking through my food, I got another text from Southwest. Uh oh, this can’t be good.
As it turns out, it wasn’t. My flight was now delayed for 1.5 hours, causing me to misconnect. Though I’ve flown WN many times, I’ve never experienced a major IRROPS before. From what I’ve heard here on FT, this could get interesting. I quickly paid my bill and hurried over to my gate, where a couple of people were already in line. There were several agents working the gate, so I was called up by a friendly agent in a few minutes. After explaining the situation to her, she rebooked me with no questions asked. She even called down to the rampers to make sure my bag got rerouted to my new flight. This took all of 5 minutes and I was on my way to my new gate, after thanking her. So far, so good.
I was rebooked on the 8:40AM direct flight to San Diego, with a stop in San Antonio. One positive that came out of this situation was that I ended up with a B6 boarding pass, since the first segment was lightly loaded. I arrived at the gate just as they began preboarding. Afterwards, the A group boarded and the B group was called to line up. I found my spot in line, and the B1-30 group was called to board a few moments later. I handed my boarding pass to the friendly gate agent, who wished me a good day. And I was off.
WN 934
Dallas Love Field (DAL)-San Antonio (SAT)
Depart: 8:40 AM
Arrive: 9:30 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N774SW)
Seat: Economy 4A
After a quick walk down the jet bridge, I was greeted by a friendly flight attendant as I turned right into a very familiar cabin. The all economy cabin was clean, bright, and adorned with attractive blue and tan leather seats. One of the unique features, if you want to call it that, of Southwest is open seating, i.e. seats are not assigned ahead of time and you sit where you want. Hence, why it’s critical to make sure you do check in early: to ensure a good seat. While many on FT loath this, it actually makes things easier on agents in case of rebooking as well as streamline boarding process, as people aren’t looking for a particular seat.
There was another passenger seated in aisle seat when I arrived. He willingly got up to let me through when I arrived. I kept my carry on with me, as I intended to do some work. I find Southwest’s seats to be very comfortable. They’re well-padded and the leather seating surfaces are of surprisingly good quality. As an added bonus, seat pitch is 32 inches, a little more than the 30-31 inches offered by other major carriers. It doesn’t seem like much but it does wonders in terms of comfort. However, this advantage will soon be eliminated, since Southwest is enhancing seats, with one inch less pitch, as part of their new “Evolve” interior.
Boarding was completed quickly, and we pushed back from the gate a couple of minutes early. The FAs began their manual safety demo, since WN does not equip any of their planes with A/V equipment. After waiting for the planes in front of us to take off, we rocketed down runway 13R and climbed into the wild blue yonder over downtown Dallas. At that point, I completely dosed off and didn’t wake up until we were descending into San Antonio. It took me a few moments to remember where I was going after I woke up. But I finally figured it out. A FA had noticed I had woken up while she was collecting trash, and offered to get me a drink, but I declined. We landed and parked at the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule.
As I was continuing on to San Diego, I remained seated until all terminating passengers deplaned and the FAs got the through count correct. I was pretty satisfied with my seat so I decided to stay put.
Parked right next to us was N759GS, a WN 737-700 equipped with wifi, as indicated by the conspicuous “hump” near the base of its vertical stabilizer.
While I’ve flown quite a few wifi equipped WN flights in the past 2 years, none of my longer flights (over 2.5 hours) were operated by wifi equipped aircraft. This was a bit maddening, but I can still pass time with my iPod and a good book.
After just a few minutes on the ground, passengers began boarding the aircraft.
WN 934
San Antonio (SAT)-San Diego (SAN)
Depart: 10:15 AM
Arrive: 10:50 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N774SW)
Seat: Economy 4A
Midway through the boarding process, FAs made an announcement for passengers still boarding that the only available seats were middle seats and passengers without a seat should just take the closest available seat and “get to know your 2 new best friends”. The seat next to me remained empty right up to the point the when the cabin door was about to close. And then someone else shows up… And this someone, to put it politely, was a big guy. Now, I’m not small by any stretch of the imagination, but I fit very comfortably in an economy seat. Not to sound judgmental, but this guy obviously would not fit well at all.
You know how you approach some random girl at a bar at 1AM, and obviously you know she’s not interested? But yet, you press on. As you continue your approach, she avoids eye contact and concentrates really hard on that fruity little drink. Of course I know this from observation, and not experience, of course. This situation was kind of like this. As soon as I saw the gentleman turn right, I immediately buried myself in a game of Angry Birds, while praying he walks pass my row. Alas, this was not meant to be. He stopped at my row, and the passenger seated in the aisle seat let him in. It was a bit of squeeze, but I can manage for sub 3 hour flight.
The boarding door closed on time and we pushed back not a minute later. We took off after landing exactly 46 minutes beforehand, which is quite impressive. FAs were up and about to prepare for the drink and snack service after we reached cruising altitude. Unless you’re on one of the new 737-800s, there are no carts on Southwest, presumably to save weight. Drink service is done the old fashioned way: via notepad and delivered from a tray. While you won’t get a full can most of the time, refills are offered liberally.
After drink orders were taken, FAs came down the aisle with baskets of peanuts and Cheese Nips. Nothing fancy, but it’s more than you get on most legacy carriers. Drinks were delivered a few minutes later.
I washed the salty snacks down with a ginger ale, and got cracking on a little work. After I got bored, my seatmate chatted me up and we talked about travel and a little economics. Space issues aside, he was a perfectly pleasant seatmate. Time passed rather quickly as we cruised above the American southwest (pun intended).
We were soon descending into beautiful San Diego, and our friendly crew was tidying up the cabin for landing. As usual, the landing runway was Runway 27. This is certainly one of my favorite approaches, right behind John Wayne airport (just up I-5 in Santa Ana) and the River Visual 19 approach into Reagan National Airport. The approach took us over I-5, flying next to the sky scrapers of downtown, and screaming over the famous parking garage. Touchdown, spoilers up, reverse thrust, hit the brakes and then we slowed down enough to make a left turn toward the terminal, 3/4 of the way down the runway. We parked at gate 5. I was off the plane a few minutes after the jet bridge was attached and headed toward baggage claim. After a 10 minute wait, bags hit the belt and I happy to see that my bag was rerouted in time. I then headed to Hertz to pick up my car and headed to meet my family at the Marriot Gas Lamp Quarter.
All in all, it was another typical performance from Southwest. The plane was clean and comfortable. Drinks and snacks were adequate. All of the staff I encountered were friendly and eager to help. My bag and I made it one piece. All things considered, this is actually better than flying some of the legacy carriers. While they certainly aren’t the greatest airline on the planet, I don’t think Southwest deserves a lot of the grief they get on FT and other forums. Though, I do understand that the lack of upgrades and truly usable points/miles are a turn off to many people (including myself), I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them on most domestic hops.
dat4life
Aug 28, 12, 9:18 pm
My dad actually had a conference in San Diego, so my mom and my little sisters tagged along, thanks to the aforementioned award tickets and Rapid Rewards Companion Pass. To make it worthwhile for my sisters, my parents decided to turn it into a PAC-10 (Yes I know it’s the PAC-12 now, but it just sounds weird) college run. As one of my friends says, “Typical FOB life.”
Anyways, as there are no PAC-10 schools in San Diego, I was called upon to drive them up to Los Angeles, so they could visit UCLA. My dad can barely make it from their house to the mall, which is 10 miles away, without falling asleep. My mom…well…she’s a typical case of DWA. There’s always some truth to stereotypes…
But again, I didn’t mind as I like So Cal and I really don’t mind driving, until of course I hit traffic. More on that later. Besides, we could see my cousin in LA, who just got married. Not a terrible weekend with the fam, if you ask me.
Again, to avoid boring y’all with family pics, here are some shots of Southern California.
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Downtown San Diego
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San Diego Harbor
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PetCo Park
As I was only with them one day in San Diego, I can’t claim credit for the above pictures. But I did go a sunset harbor cruise with them that night and I was able to take a few shots. I apologize in advance for the blurriness due to the lack of light.
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Well, I sure hope have ton of that if you have that boat.”
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Unidentified nuclear powered carrier. This is probably the closest I’ll get to one without being hauled away in cuffs.
dat4life
Aug 28, 12, 9:19 pm
The next morning, we woke up early and hit the road. I had reserved a Chevy Equinox, but I ended up with a 2011 Mitsubishi Endeavor. To say it was a disappointment is an understatement. The Endeavor was underpowered, yet had horrific fuel economy. Steering was not very responsive, with little feedback. With over 31,000 miles on the odometer, it has the highest mileage of any vehicle I’ve ever rented from Hertz. But it did get the job done, getting us to LA intact. After taking care business (i.e. visiting UCLA and dinner with relatives), I took my sisters out to show them some of the touristy stuff since this was their first time to LA.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/7884107250_4e50bb3ea0_z.jpg
Never heard of it…
We stayed at the Residence Inn Long Beach Downtown, since it was close to where our relatives lived and we could burn the last of my Mega Bonus Certificates from last year. It was a fairly nice property, as far as Residence Inns go. And the property was only 40 minutes away from most of tourist attractions in Los Angeles, without traffic of course.
On Sunday, we slept in a bit and checked out a little after 10AM. We headed to Monterrey Park for lunch at the New Lucky Restaurant. While the reviews on Yelp weren’t favorable, I found the food to be fresh and very authentic, and I just got back from Hong Kong. After lunch, we headed straight to LAX as my flight was at 3PM. That would give me a little time to return the car, check my bag, and clear security. I managed to avoid a couple of traffic snags thanks to the traffic information from Google Maps, and arrived at the Hertz lot just before 1PM. After returning the car, we hopped on the terminal bus which dropped us off at the terminal 15 minutes later. We managed to avoid the long line in at check in counters by checking in with sky cap. Security was surprisingly quick and we were in the terminal by 1:45.
I passed time by plane spotting with my sisters, who were surprisingly receptive to me rambling on and on. Soon it was time for me to board. I bade farewell to my parents and sisters, who were waiting for their 3:30 flight to San Francisco, to check out Stanford and UC Berkley. #FOB life
I managed to get an A21 boarding pass by shelling out $10 for Early Bird Check In. After the Business Select passengers boarded, A16-30 were called to board. I made my way down the jet bridge once again, after handing my boarding pass to the gate agent.
WN 2636
Los Angeles (LAX) – Albuquerque (ABQ)
Depart: 2:50 PM
Arrive: 5:40 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N784SW)
Seat: Economy 1A
I don’t usually pick bulkhead seats on WN flights, since leg room is restricted and there are no tray tables. For some reason, I did pick one on this flight and remembered why I hated these seats the second I sat down. But I decided not to move, as I didn’t want to disrupt the steady stream of boarding passengers. The flight was only an hour and a half anyways. Midway through the boarding, a middle aged man, with a copy of Conde Nast magazine in hand, took up residence in the aisle seat. The cabin door was soon shut, with the middle seat empty. Woot! We pushed back smack dab on time, and quickly taxied to Runway 25R. We ended up holding short of the runway to allow a CX 77W to land. Oh the memories…
After the CX plane had cleared the runway, we taxied onto the runway and began rolling immediately. We flew the runway heading for a few minutes before turning south, flying parallel to the coast. After passing by Long Beach, our capable pilots turned the aircraft east, setting course for Albuquerque.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7864639924_c902fdcb3b_z.jpg
Long Beach. Where I laid my head the last couple of nights. You can see the Residence Inn as well as the Queen Mary in the pic
The climb out to cruising altitude was rather fast, presumably due to the light load. At that time, FAs began the drink and snack service, which consisted of just roasted peanuts today since this flight is under 1,000 miles. I passed on the peanuts but ordered a water. My seatmate began to talk to me. He was an interesting fellow, and very passionate about his state, New Mexico. We chatted about things to do in our respective home states, which would be Louisiana for me. I only claim Texas if it’s advantageous to me. And of course, our conversation turned to travel and I educated him on a few finer points of the frequent traveling. He doesn’t travel much for business, though he expected travel to pick up soon.
All the while, FAs constantly roamed the aisle collecting trash and offering refills, all the while regularly checking up on the unaccompanied minors seated in row 2. About 30 minutes out, our captain came on the PA asking the cabin crew to prepare the cabin for landing immediately because it would get really bumpy on our descent. He was definitely right. The aircraft was tossed around a good bit over the next 20 minutes, although it did smooth out a few minutes before we made our final approach. During the descent, my seatmate heartily recommended me try the green chili, which is apparently a New Mexico staple, during my layover.
Touchdown was smooth, and we pulled into the gate 5 minutes early. I followed my new friend into the terminal, and he led me to the green chili place in the food court. I order a bowl of it, which would serve as dinner. It was delicious. This was my first time in the ABQ airport. It was small, but very nice and clean. The rest of my layover was eventful, as was my flight to Love Field. We left and arrived on time. The flight was full. Standard drink and snack service was conducted. The only thing of note was the aircraft operating the flight, N697SW.
The 737-300 was delivered to TACA, straight from the Boeing factory in 1988. It’s original registration was N75356. After two months of service, N75356 operated TACA flight 110 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110), from Belize City to New Orleans. As it neared New Orleans, the aircraft suffered a dual engine flameout and was forced to make a dead stick landing on a levee in New Orleans East, near where my family lived at the time. I learned about the incident on an episode of Air Crash Investigation. Afterwards, I researched the registration number and learned that the aircraft had been repaired and put back into service within a few months. In the years after the incident, N75356 wore the colors of America West and Morris Air, before being acquired by Southwest in 1995. It was reregistered N697SW, and still wears the Canyon River Blue livery today. I had wanted to fly this particular aircraft due to the connection with MY city, and I finally got to do so after a year and a half.
Bags hit the belt after 15 minutes after we arrived in Dallas. I got home a little before 11PM.
One week in Dallas, and then I'm off on the final leg of my big adventure.
Waldofriend
Aug 29, 12, 6:56 pm
Thanks for the great trip reports - I've enjoyed reading them very much - from F on CX and SQ to WN! That's what I call a range. You've got them all covered. :)
jmj9905
Aug 30, 12, 1:50 pm
Spectacular trip report! I have flown CX F but not SQ. I do hope to do so in the future.
dat4life
Sep 4, 12, 5:37 pm
After another busy week at work, it was time to hit the road again. Luckily, I wasn’t leaving until Sunday, so I had some time to catch up with friends and take care of few chores around the house to please my homeowners association. This is the last jaunt of my epic 4 week adventure, and it came courtesy of work. I had been scheduled for a one week training session in Washington DC, something I do several times a year. I have been fortunate to be able to attend these training sessions with the same group of people, who are all a lot of fun. So while the training can be a bit grueling (Seriously, who likes to sit in the classroom for 8 hours a day), it’s always a great time in DC.
For some time now, one of my best friends from high school and I had been plotting a trip to DC and New York City, since he hasn't been to either city other than connecting at their respective airports. This training session happen to fall on one of his weeks off, so it seemed to be the perfect time for us to go. So I began planning how I could make this into a cost effective side trip. I managed to find Delta flights from DCA to JFK and JFK to DFW for $160 all in, about $100 less than our contract fare from DCA to DFW, so I would not incur any extra cost as far as transportation goes. Score! And besides, I might well put my Delta Silver Medallion status to some use…ok stop laughing. It actually really did come in handy during this trip. As for my friend, he was departing out of New Orleans, so he was on a separate itinerary. He would meet me in DC on Wednesday of that week, and we would head up to New York on Friday after I finished work. With our transportation booked, I then looked for a hotel in New York. Needless to say, rates were outrageous since it prime tourist season. I finally settled on the Intercontinental Barclay. While the all in rate was still expensive ($345 per night all in), I could use my Ambassador BOGO certificate, which would break it down to about $86 per night for each us.
My flight to DCA would be on AA, since they are our contract carrier out of DFW. As I wrote about earlier in this TR, AA had called me to notify me of schedule change in early July. I had originally booked the 9:25 AM departure, but due to a change in schedule I had been rebooked on the 11:25 departure. On the Friday before the trip, I realized my beloved Saints would be kicking off the Hall of Fame Game at 7PM. Although it is a preseason game and it doesn’t count, I was yearning for any semblance of live action after the living hell of an off season we had endured. The 11:25 departure would get into DCA close to 3:30 in the afternoon, plenty of time before the game. But I wanted to have plenty of time to settle in to my hotel room, do some pre-course work, and workout before the game. So I consulted Expert Flyer and saw a few seats available on the 9:00 AM departure to DCA. After a quick call to AA, I was rebooked on the earlier flight, which would arrive at DCA at 1 PM. After I arrived in DC, I realized the game was actually at 8PM Eastern time, after I arrived in DC. Stupid me. Anyways, better safe than sorry.
At 6:30 AM on the dot, my trusty iPhone woke me up with a nice piano riff. I had been out late the night before, and ended up staggering home close to 1:30AM. With some difficulty, I dragged myself out of bed and made myself semi-presentable before the Super Shuttle arrived at 7:15. I even managed to squeeze in a quick breakfast of Nutella with toast, yogurt, and milk. Super Shuttle arrived on time and I was dropped off at DFW’s Terminal C after a 20 minute or so ride.
The terminal was busy, though not at the same level as when I departed for Chicago a few weeks early. There was only one person ahead of me in the Priority AAccess line, and I was called to a counter by an AAgent after a short wait. Though he was efficient, this AAgent wasn’t particularly friendly. But I was able to get my boarding pass and my bag checked after less than 2 minutes at the counter. I then made way to security, and cleared that after the usual imaging routine. But when I went to the belt to retrieve my laptop bag, a TSO asked if I minded if he tested my laptop. Well, can I really say no? After the TSO determined my laptop wasn’t a threat, I was sent on my way.
My flight had originally been scheduled to depart out of gate C24. I arrived at that gate to find our gate had been changed to C16, just a couple of gates down. After making that short trek, I settled in a quiet corner and finished up a few things for work. Just as I shut down my computer after I finished what I needed to do, the gate agent invited the First Cabin to board. As DFW-DCA is another EXP heavy route, I usually don’t even bother to request an upgrade, though I did this time. Expert Flyer showed this flight zeroed out at 24 hours out, so not surprisingly I did not clear, putting me at 8/10 on the year for upgrades. After EXPs and OneWorld Emeralds boarded, I marched up to the podium just as the gate agent uttered the word “Platinum”.
I was pretty excited about this flight, as it was my first time flying to DCA as a Platinum. When I was a lowly Gold, I boarded with the rest of the Priority AAccess passengers, and there are a lot of them on any AA flight to DCA since government YCA fares book into Y class, giving all of those passengers Priority AAccess privileges. Thus, boarding was always a bit of scrum with so many people boarding at the same time. This time around, the boarding lane was wide open and it was a nice leisurely walk down the jet bridge and into the aircraft.
AA 1600
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)-Washington-Reagan National (DCA)
Sunday August 5, 2012
Depart: 9:00 AM
Arrive: 12:59 AM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (N577AA)
Seat: 14F (Economy)
I was greeted by a cheery FA, who was preparing for PDB service, as I entered the aircraft and did the walk of shame through the first class. My seat today was 14F. AA’s Mad Dog coach cabins are configured in 2-3 setup , with the A-B seats on the “2” side. I like the A seats, since it feels a little roomier without the pesky middle seat. Unfortunately, all of the A seats in front of the exit rows were taken, and I refuse to sit anywhere behind the exit rows, since it gets noisy due to the rear mounted engines. Yes, I know I’m spoiled. So, I ended up in 14F. It was only a 3 hour flight anyways, so it wasn’t a big deal. Since most of y’all here are EXPs, here’s what the coach cabin looks like, in case you forgot.
I stowed my laptop bag into the overhead, and settled down in 14F to finish up a book I was reading on my iPad. The stream of boarding passengers soon turned from a steady trickle to a full on raging river. Of course, there were a few battles over overhead space, but no flying fists…yet. Although the seat map showed quite a few available seats the day before, it was quickly apparent this was would be a full flight. The middle seat next to me showed as empty when I checked in, but someone ended up taking it midway through boarding. Teenagers from a church group took up residence in the two rows in front of me. Other than an amusing conversation about the use of the word “bomb” on a plane while we were parked at the gate, they were very well behaved.
All of the hatches were buttoned up a few minutes before the scheduled departure time, and we pushed back exactly on time. The weather that day was absolutely beautiful with clear blue skies, though it was going to be another Texas scorcher. The temperature was already pushing the upper 80s at 9AM. After we pushed back, the Captain made his welcome aboard announcement and added our APU was inoperative so we would have to wait a few minutes for the air cart to get the engines cranking. As there was no air conditioning without the APU or engines running, it did get a little stuffy in the cabin, but an air cart did materialize rather quickly. The cabin cooled down immediately after the engines were started. There was no one in the take off queue, so we lined up, raced down Runway 17R, and were airborne after a rather lengthy take off roll.
We had taken off toward the south, so I got a nice a view of Rangers Ball Park in Arlington and Jerry World as we made a turn toward the northeast. FAs began their drink/buy on board service not long after we climbed through 10,000 feet. I ordered a ginger ale, which was served as a full can with cup of ice. Again, it’s the little things. I hate being served just a cup on longer flights, which I find many subpar crews do. I sipped on that while reading and intermittently watching the beautiful green landscape and rivers of the southeastern U.S. pass by. It’s quite a contrast to the desert and mountains of the southwest.
The rest of the flight was uneventful. FAs went on a second drink run. Trash was collected No bumps were hit. I managed to finish the book I was reading. We began descending over southern Virginia. About 15 minutes from landing, FA came around to collect trash again, and give their usual spiel about seat backs, tray tables, seat belts and electronics. We had descended to about 3,000 feet and leveled off and I could see we were flying along the Potomac River. Normally, we would turn to line up with the river and continue our descent into Runway 1. It didn’t seem like we were in a holding pattern since we were continuing on the same course, and not circling. Could it be… A few minutes later we passed to the west of Reagan National Airport, and I knew it was. RIVER VISUAL 19!
As I mentioned earlier, my two favorite approaches in the U.S. are in San Diego and Santa Ana (might as well toss in taking off at Santa Ana as well). San Francisco is definitely up there are far as views go. The River Visual 19 approach into DCA runs from north to south along the Potomac, offering great views of all of the monuments in DC on the left side and the Pentagon on the right. Also, there a few tighter than usual turns given the large amount restricted air space in the area. Despite my regular flights to DC, I had not flown this particular approach as the wind dictated using Runway 1 each time, so I was pretty excited.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in my usual “A” seat on the left side, but I was able to get nice view of the Pentagon. Not a bad consolation prize. Touchdown was a bit firm, and we pulled up to gate 40 after a quick taxi. After deplaning, I hit up an ATM for some cash and headed down to baggage claim. The airport was very crowded due to summer traffic, so I had to fight my way to exit the terminal. One nice touch AA has at DCA is specific area for priority tagged luggage. It’s manned by one or two employees who take the orange tagged bags off the belt for you. Not a big deal, but again, it’s the little things. There was no one in the taxi line, and I was in a taxi headed to Arlington 20 minutes after I stepped off the plane.
Although this was a business trip, it doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun. As I mentioned earlier, I attend these training sessions with the same group of people, so I’ve become good friends with all of them. We all work hard during the day listening to some guy droning about derivatives and interest rate risk models during the day and then doing whatever exercise they come up with. But when class is over, we’re ready to paint the town red. Though, we’re certainly a lot tamer than when we first started two years ago. It just so happens one of my friend’s birthday was during the week. She had wanted to go on a night cruise on the Potomac. It turned out to be a fantastic dea. At $14 a head, it wasn’t cheap for an hour long cruise, but it was a lot of fun and the views were great. We went to dinner at Founding Farmers in Foggy Bottom beforehand, and it was very good.
My high school friend from New Orleans had arrived during the middle of the week. He had gone sightseeing while we were in class so I’d thought I’d share a few of his pictures.
We’ve definitely calmed down over the past two years, but when you get a bunch of twenty something year olds together… Well, certain things just naturally happen. And besides, we couldn’t let our friend go home without celebrating her birthday properly.
We were all in class bright and early Friday morning and wrapped up around 11. I said my good byes to my work friends, most of who were scheduled to leave on early afternoon flights. I headed back to my room to finish packing and then checked out. I stored my bag and my friend’s bag at the hotel. Since our flight wasn’t until 5, we decided to go have lunch and do a little last minute sightseeing. We ended just having a quick look see at the White House and had lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill, which was good. It took us just half an hour to take the Metro back to the hotel to grab our bags. Another 20 minutes later, we were getting out of the taxi at the airport at around 3:00PM.
I got a text from Delta notifying of a one hour delay, as we approached Reagan. Not one minute later, I got another one showing a 2 hour delay to 7:10PM. I had kind of expected this, as there had been bad weather up and down the East Coast that. Anyways, we entered the terminal after paying the cabbie and found a short line at the Delta desks.
Thanks to my Silver Medallion status, we were able to skip the line via the Sky Priority lane. One of the nice things about flying from out stations is the ability for Silver Medallions, or FO in Delta speak, to use the Sky Priority lane, since it’s not technically part of the FO benefits package. FOs aren’t allowed to use the Sky Priority lane in most hubs, unless they are upgraded. That never happens, right? We were quickly checked in by a friendly agent and our bags were tagged to JFK. I inquired about the delay and the agent told me not to worry about it, since it was probably not going to be delayed further. Mollified, we headed down to TGI Friday’s near the US/AA gates (Fate perhaps?) for a few beers. Not surprisingly, I ran into a couple of my work friends who were delayed. It’s kind of our traditional to pound a few pre-flight beers there before we go home.
They ended up leaving just before 5PM to clear security. A few minutes after that, I got another notification from Delta informing our flight was delayed until 9PM now. I can understand weather is an issue, but the weather was fine in DCA. Besides both the US Airways and American Eagle flights were departing to JFK/LGA without a delay, so weather must be fine there too. So it must be a system backlog from earlier today, but a 4 hour delay was a bit much. I told my friend to stay put and to be ready to leave at any time, while I tried to get us an earlier flight.
I ran back up to the ticket counters. By this time, there was already a long line in both the regular lane and the Sky Priority lane. Luckily, a lady marched up and told everyone in the Sky Priority line that there was another line downstairs. A number of people took her up on it and I ended up being number 2 line. I was called up by an exhausted looking Red Coat named Carol. She came off as a bit gruff at first, but quickly warmed up to me. I approached the counter with a sympathetic smile and asked,” Long day?” She smiled and said, “Yeah, what can I do for you?” I explained our situation and Carol got to work. She couldn’t find anything to JFK, but she was able to find two seats on the 6PM shuttle flight to La Guardia. Carol was able to rebook me with no problems, but she had trouble with getting my friend’s ticket reissued. “I just can’t get the computer to do what I want it do,” she said. I laughed and said “It could be worse, you could be working over there.”, while gesturing toward the United counters. She got a kick out of it and replied she’s heard many stories. Finally, she issued a paper ticket for my friend and told me she had sent a note down to rampers to reroute our bags on the new flight. I thanked her profusely, and ran down to grab my friend.
It was around 5:25 by the time I got back to TGI Fridays. I found my friend and told him that we needed to leave NOW since we still needed to clear security. But he had ordered a cheeseburger and told me to chill out. We could just wait until original flight if we missed. Dude, do you know how many hoops I had to jump through to get us on this flight. Ok…not really, but it did take some effort. Oy, the joys of traveling with infrequent travelers. Besides, we can find much better eating places when we get to New York. Finally, I was able to convince him to take the cheeseburger to go. We paid our tabs and headed to security. I spotted a sign listing FOs as eligible to use the priority lane and headed there. We cleared security within minutes, and made it to the gate area, 15 minutes before departure.
Except…we were delayed. Just by 45 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. As this was a shared gate area with 4-5 other gates, it was a complete mad house due to the numerous delayed flights. Also, gate agents at each gate were making simultaneous announcements, so you really had to strain hear what they were saying. My friend was slightly pissed off at me for making him hurry to the gate for nothing, but hey if we missed this flight we wouldn’t get in until midnight. He soon found an empty seat and settled down to eat his prized cheeseburger, while I took a little walk around the terminal. During my stroll, I got this an email that would bring a smile to any FTer’s face.
Given the light load I had observed in recent on Expert Flyer, I had expected my upgrade to clear. But for it to clear more than 24 hours out was a real bonus. As soon as the delayed 5PM shuttle flight departed, our aircraft pulled into the gate. 10 minutes after the arriving passengers had deplaned, the gate agent began boarding our flight. However, after First Class had boarded, it was just a free for all. I grabbed a copy of Financial Times from the rack by the boarding door. All of the reading materials were complimentary for shuttle passengers. We finally made it up to the podium. I hurried to join my friend after the gate agent scanned my boarding pass, but the gate agent told me stay put for a second. He wordlessly handed me with a little slip of receipt paper with a F on it. What does it mean? It took me a second, but I finally realized my upgrade had cleared. Delta Shuttle flights have open seating so the only thing on the boarding passes to indicate what class you’re in is a Y or F on your boarding pass. I confirmed this with the gate agent and went on my merry way. My friend saw me grinning and asked what that was all about. So I told him, and he remarked, “Must be nice.” Oh yeah, it is. A First Class trip for $165 a/i…only on Delta. At least United makes you pay a little extra. ;)
DL 5924 (Operated by Shuttle America)
Washington-Reagan National (DCA)-New York LaGuardia (LGA)
Friday August 10, 2012
Depart: 6:58 PM (Delayed 58 minutes)
Arrive: 8:05 PM
Aircraft: Embraer E175 (N212JQ)
Seat: 3D (First)
I had offered to switch seats with my friend, but he declined. By the time we boarded, the majority of passengers had already been seated. I stowed my bag in the overhead, and the gentleman seated in 3C let me in. In typical Delta fashion, bottles of water had been placed at each seat. Our purser seemed a bit frazzled, and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the gate agent complaining that we had not been properly catered. Good for her. The carts were finally loaded after a few calls
Boarding began wrapping up soon after. Just before the door was closed, a young guy emerged from coach telling the purser there were no more open seats in coach. The FA working the rear confirmed this. After consulting with the gate agent, he was told to just take the open first class seat, which was 4D. Talk about a lucky break. The boarding door was closed soon afterwards, and the FAs began their manual safety demo as we pushed back. The purser then came around the F cabin to take post take off drink orders. While we were waiting to take off, the captain made his welcome aboard announcement and apologized profusely for the delay. He also added that we should be able to make up about 15 minutes in the air.
This was my first flight on an Embraer “E” Jet. While I absolutely loath the ERJ-145 series, I thought the E175 was very comfortable and quiet. In fact, it was quite comparable to most, if not all, mainline aircraft. Though, I wouldn’t want one on a transcon flight.
We took off on Runway 1 and flew south for a good 5 minutes before heading back to the north, giving DC a wide berth in our turn. FAs went into action as soon as we climbed through 10,000 feet. The FA working the coach cabin came around with the snack basket in First Class before beginning the drink service in the back. I chose a bag of Garden Salsa Sun Chips and packet of Craisins, enough to tide me over until a late dinner in NYC.
I passed time by reading the Financial Times and gazing out the window at the coast line. The flight was quick, and we were soon descending into the New York area. The FAs began tidying up the cabin for landing. As my seatmate was still sipping his red wine, the purser allowed him a few more minutes to finish it. However, she never came back to collect the glass, and he finally returned it as we were deplaning. Strangely, he didn’t take another sip of the wine after that interaction. Our final approach took us over Manhattan and we had great views all the way in. Touchdown was smooth and taxi was very quick. During the taxi, our purser thanked us for our business on this “difficult day for the entire aviation industry.” We parked at gate A5. The jet bridge was quickly attached and I was in the terminal within minutes.
I waited for my friend before heading to baggage claim. Not surprisingly, our bags didn’t make the flight. We filed a claim with the baggage office, and were provided with amenity kits to get us through the night. I had emphasized the point that we were leaving NYC on Sunday, so it was imperative our bags be delivered soon. The agent promised us the bags would be delivered to our hotel tomorrow. Satisfied, we hailed a cab to our hotel. Little did we know, how bad our baggage situation would become.
dat4life
Sep 5, 12, 9:32 am
We arrived at the Intercontinental New York Barclay after a 30 minute cab ride. The hotel is located on the corner of 48th Avenue and Lexington. It is housed in an older building, with matching period décor in the lobby. While a bit older, the hotel was rather elegant. We were greeted by a bellman, who was puzzled by our lack of luggage. Believe me, it’s not by choice, sir. At the front desk, we were checked in by a rather disinterested front desk agent. He did, however, acknowledge my status and asked if we needed a late check out, which we did. Before we headed up to our room, I dropped by the Bell Desk to inform them of the impending delivery from Delta.
The elevators were quite old, but were in good condition. While in good repair and elegantly decorated, the corridors were not air conditioned, amplifying the musty smell that all older buildings seem to have. We were assigned to room 1461.
The room was quite large by Manhattan standards. Furnishings, just like the rest of the hotel, were older but in good condition. My welcome gift, a nice selection of fruit along with a chocolate and a bottle of mineral water, was already in the room. We were both thankful that the air conditioning was quite good in the room, and cranked it down as soon as we found the thermostat.
I unpacked the amenity kit given to us by Delta. The contents were actually pretty useful, and included the usual toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, comb, and a Sky Team t-shirt. Unfortunately, the t-shirt was of rather poor quality and was only good for say a wet t-shirt contest. It did, however, serve its purpose in giving me something clean to sleep in the next two nights.
After we settled in and I plugged my phone in to the charger, we headed out to find a place to eat. We found this great little Japanese place located in the basement of an office building a few blocks away, though I can’t remember the name of it. After eating, exhaustion set in and we somehow found our way back to the hotel. After a long hot shower, I went to bed, which wasn’t very comfortable as the mattress pad was way too thick and soft. Despite this, I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. Tomorrow would be a long day.
I awaken by the sound of my phone going off. Squinting groggily, I was able to make out a New York number was calling me. “Who the hell is calling me this early from New York”, I thought. I answered and it was the Delta JFK baggage office. Our bags had arrived on our original flight, which ended up getting in at 11:30 the previous night. It was a good thing we got on that earlier flight. The agent on the other end sounded very cheery and friendly especially for 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning. She informed me that she would try to get out bags out for delivery by 11AM, and worse case they would be delivered by 2 in the afternoon. After confirming the hotel’s address, I thanked the agent and hung up. All the commotion had woken up my friend. After a short discussion, we decided to just head out to make the most of our day. Besides, our bags would be here by the time we got back, right?
We hit up the deli across the street for bagels with lox, and headed toward Mid Town to do some sightseeing. Though I hadn’t been to New York in 10 years, I still felt I could still be a pretty good tour guide especially with the aid of my iPhone.
After a couple of hours of walking around, we were getting a little thirsty so we headed to an Irish Pub, Tir Na Nog, located on 34th Street near Madison Square Gardens to get something to drink and watch the men’s soccer Gold Medal match.
The barkeep there was absolutely fantastic. He was personable and kept the drinks coming. We had a great conversation about soccer and the bloody New York Jets and their idiot Head Coach. As 11 o’clock rolled around, the kitchen opened and we ended up eating lunch there. I had the bangers and mash, which was good, and my friend got the Sheppard’s pie, which looked very good. The Gold Medal match was great, with the Mexicans out playing and out hustling the Brazilians. They managed to hang on for a victory, despite Brazil’s late surge. We paid up soon after the game was over, and headed back to the hotel and hopefully our bags.
We got back around 2:30, and made a beeline for the bell desk hoping to hear good news. But no dice. A little disappointed, we headed back to the room to call Delta. The agent who answered my call was able to confirm that the bags had been handed off to the courier. After some back and forth, she told me that the bags were on the van and should be delivered by 6 PM. They were just back logged due to the large number of mishandled bags. Not exactly comforting words, but I ok I’ll trust you. So we headed back out to do a little more sightseeing.
We spent a good bit of time browsing at the shops at Rockefeller Center. Though we could have gotten reimbursed, we decided to hold off on buying clothes as I was feeling pretty confident our bags would arrive soon.
Afterwards, we wanted to go visit the 9/11 Memorial, so I entered that into my iPhone. It showed the memorial was a mile away. Not close, but certainly walkable. Following the instructions given by Google, we ended somewhere on 33rd Street with no memorial in sight. In fact, we were near the Empire State Building, which is in the total opposite direction of the World Trade Center site. Grrr, some tour guide I am. I ended up deciding to hail a taxi to bring us to the memorial, since I was pissed off and feeling pretty lazy.
The cab was nicely air conditioned, a nice reprieve from the heat and humidity outside. The ride itself was surprisingly cheap, as I was only $15 poorer. After arriving at the memorial, I realized I made a second mistake. Tickets were needed to visit the memorial, as they were trying to limit the amount traffic due to the construction all around. I was pretty ticked off at myself, but my friend got a real kick out of it. Though, he banned me from being his tour guide ever again. We did make the best of situation and walked around lower Manhattan and hung around for a while in Battery Park. We even helped out with a little fund raiser for a boys basketball team, at least I hope it was legitimate.
At around 5:45, we decided to head back to hotel once again. This time our mode of transportation would be the subway, as it was much cheaper than a cab. It only cost us $2.50 each to get back to the hotel. We headed to the bell desk only to be disappointed once again. I called Delta and unfortunately drew a disinterested agent. Without looking up my tracking number, she told me unequivocally the bags would be delivered by 9 PM. Fine…I’ll take your word for it. After running through the shower only to put on the same clothes again, we went to meet my friend’s aunt and uncle for dinner. We ended up at another Japanese restaurant near the hotel. They had 3 course pre fix menu which was reasonably priced. I chose the chicken katsu with a sashimi salad appetizer. It came with pickles, rice, miso soup, and ice cream for dessert. The meal was delicious and we were all completely stuffed. Again, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it’s located on 49th Street just past Park Avenue, going toward Mid Town.
After eating, it past 9 PM so we bade our dinner mates farewell and made the short walk back to the Intercontinental. Again, we were met with disappointment. By this time I was seething and absolute sick of the run around. I called the JFK baggage office again to give them a piece of my mind. My pissed off attitude got the agent on the other end moving to do some digging. She confirmed yet again my bags were with the courier, and the delay was due to the back log. Since we were in a hotel the courier would be willing to do a night drop. She then said, “Trust me, the bags will arrive tonight.” We have this saying in Texas, fool me once shame on you… Fool me twice…
But the Delta app seemed to confirm what she was saying, so I did felt a bit better.
We went back to the hotel a little after midnight, and of course our bags weren’t there. So we went to our room to get some rest. I woke up for good at 6:30 AM after a restless, and went downstairs to check for the bags, which still hadn’t arrived. So I called Delta. Again. I remained calm and explained the situation and emphasized we were leaving today to the friendly agent, named Krystal. She immediately grasped the severity of the situation, and contacted the courier. The courier dispatcher was unable to reach the driver, so she promised to call me as soon as she found anything out. Despite the broken promises of the day before, I decided to trust Krystal as she seemed so friendly and helpful.
This time I wasn’t disappointed, as Krystal called me about 2 hours later saying she was working on something and assured me they would ship the bags to our final destinations, in the absolutely worst case scenario. However she guaranteed it wouldn’t come down to that. Okay, I trust you. As we stepped out of the hotel a little while later to go to lunch with our friend and his wife at their Mid Town apartment, still wearing the same clothes we wore departing from DC on Friday, I got another call from Krystal. She had located the bags, which got lost in the shuffle so they were still in the courier’s warehouse. She said she would personally go to retrieve them and have them waiting for us within an hour. I thanked her profusely, and promised to write in to Delta for her, as she was absolutely great. Unfortunately, her shift ended by the time we got to the airport, so we weren’t able to thank her personally. But I did write in, so I really hope that at least adds some positive points on her record.
I was hoping to finish brunch by 11:30, but we ended up talking for quite some time so we didn’t leave until almost 12:45. And we still had to run back to hotel to grab what little belongings we had at the moment and check out. The hotel was only 4 blocks away, which we managed to cover in 10 minutes. Check out was swift, and we were in a cab a little before 1 o’clock. Unfortunately, we hit some serious traffic and didn’t make it to JFK until 2:10. We still had to grab our bags and get my friend’s boarding pass before his flight left at 3:30 PM. The cab dropped us off at the departure level of Terminal 2. I ran into the terminal to print a boarding pass for my friend, while he took care of the cab. We then headed down to baggage office, which was naturally near the baggage claim.
Unfortunately, the cabbie had dropped us off at the international area. Our bags were located in the domestic baggage office, which was a good distance way in Terminal 3. Luckily, there was a Delta employee on a smoke break outside of Terminal 2. We asked him for directions and he directed us through short cut that did save us a few minutes. The new route did require us to play a game of Frogger with the line of passing taxis. Fortunately, we won. Even with the short cut, it still took about 10 minutes of walking to reach Terminal 3.
Finally, we reached the entrance into baggage claim and made a beeline for the baggage office. We were both sweating profusely at that point, and I’m sure people were wondering why these two bums were in the terminal. Though Krystal had left already, she had informed the employees on duty we were coming. After showing our IDs, we got FINALLY got our bags back, after two nearly days.
dat4life
Sep 5, 12, 9:56 am
By the time we got our bags back, it was past 2:30 and my friend had yet to clear security. We took the elevator up to departure level. The terminal was a complete mess, with the regular security line snaking around the check in area. I would never do this in a normal situation, but my friend really needed to make this flight as he had to be back at work early the next morning. This was the only non-stop JFK-MSY flight, and per Expert Flyer, there wasn’t anything available to New Orleans even with connections until the afternoon of the following day. So I used my mobile boarding pass, which showed Sky Priority due to my upgrade, and talked the line dragon into sneaking him in the priority line. A minute or so later, I sneaked back out to check my bag, since I had liquids and I had used the expansion feature of my bag, technically making it an “illegal carry-on”. I circled back and used the empty Sky Priority lane to check in.
The counter was womanned by a very cute agent, who seemed to be about my age. I approached the counter with a big smile and as much confidence as I could muster after wearing the same clothes for a few days. She was a pretty big flirt, and we ended having a pleasant conversation for a few minutes before I headed back toward the priority security lane. The line dragon looked puzzled as I was entering the lane for the second time, but let me pass without a question.
I made through security very quickly, so I was able to go say good bye to my friend before he left. His flight was departing out of gate 18, which is just past security. It was certainly memorable trip for both of us, and we have to this again soon.
After he boarded, I was left to figure out what to do for the next 3 hours before my flight left. I was in a desperate need of a shower, and feeling pretty charitable at the moment, so I decided to spring for a Sky Club one day pass. I headed to the club in Terminal 2, as I was departing out of there. On the way, I stopped at kiosk to buy my pass, and was pleased to find a discounted price of $39. Pass procured, I headed to the club which was located above the fast food establishments in the center of the terminal. I presented my pass to the agent who promptly admitted me. She gave me a tour of the lounge, before leading me to the shower room as I requested.
I then realized I had made yet another mistake. Since I was too busy chatting with agent while checking my bag, I had forgotten to grab fresh clothes, like I planned Oh, well. At least the shower will do me some good. Besides, my clothes passed the sniff test. And no one seemed to be shying away from me… Anyways, after a good long shower I nearly flooded the room due the funky drainage patterns in the shower cubicle. It was a bit embarrassing to say the least, I cleaned up my mess as best I could with the available towels, and hurriedly got dressed and hustled out of there.
Feeling like a new person, I headed to the bar to grab a drink and some carrots and celery with hummus and settled down and got some work done for the following week. I picked a quiet corner with some tables and chairs, located in a seemingly older area of the club. While bar and reception areas seemed fresh and new, the shower room and the other seating areas of the club were a bit tired and in need of a makeover. But the club did serve my needs: a quiet comfortable place to sit with access to showers, drinks, and snacks.
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Rear seating area of the JFK T2 Sky Club
A little while later, I headed back to the bar for a refill of my scotch and ginger. I was entertained by the bar tender trying hustle away a clearly drunk 30ish guy who was about to fall off his bar stool. The guy couldn’t even answer where he was going. Talk about lushes…though I probably don’t have a lot of room to talk. On the way back, I grabbed some of delicious lemon cookies covered with powder sugar. I really had to control myself, or I would have wiped out the entire jar.
After another hour and a half of work, it was time to go back to hustle and bustle of the terminal. I got to my gate, 23, to find the gate agent looking for volunteers as my flight was oversold. How the flight went from Y7 to oversold in less than 24 hours was beyond me. The offer was for a $300 voucher, hotel for the night, and a non-stop from LGA the next morning. I was tempted as there was one seat in first class available on the LGA flight. But I would miss half a day of work, so I decided against it since I’ve been gone for so long already.
Soon enough, 3 volunteers were found and the boarding process began. First class was called after the pre-boarding. My boarding pass was scanned and I was on my way for the final flight of my big adventure.
DL 3325
New York Kennedy (JFK) – Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
Sunday August 12, 2012
Depart: 6:35 PM
Arrive: 9:30 PM
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-900 (N927XJ)
Seat: 1D (First)
Gate 23 at JFK is designed specifically for regional jet flights. It has several different doorways, with a RJ at each, so make sure you pay attention to which door your aircraft is departing from. For me that night, our aircraft was parked at the very last doorway, which was J.
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My ride: N927XJ
My relationship with the CRJs is the same as my relationship with the rival Brazilian family, I hate the little brothers (CRJ-100/200s) but I love the big brothers (CRJ-700/900s). A friendly flight attendant welcomed me on board after I climbed stairs into the aircraft. I quickly stowed my laptop bag in the overhead, and settled into 1D. A few minutes later, a woman, with the worse body odor I have ever smelled, entered the aircraft. I had passed earlier her in the gate area, but I had hoped she was on a different flight. So my next hope was that she would saunter back into coach. Alas, she took up residence in 2D. I had to laugh at the irony of my situation. Here I was wearing the exact same clothes on a Sunday evening that I had worn to work on Friday morning, yet I wasn’t the smelliest person on the plane. Boarding proceeded quickly. It was rather amusing watching each person scrunch up their face as they walked into the cabin. PDBs were anything you wanted. I ordered an orange juice, as it was about time my liver got a little break after the past 4 weeks.
We pushed back a few minutes late. Surprisingly, we were number one for take off without any sort of a wait. After a short take off roll, we were airborne and turning toward the southwest. Our friendly purser came around, after we had leveled taking dinner and drink orders from front to back, without any sort of priority for status. The choices tonight were a Thai chicken salad and a turkey sandwich. I went with the salad, while my seatmate went with the turkey sandwich. It looked a lot worse than my roast beef sandwich I got on my American Eagle flight in July. He just ate the tomatoes off the sandwich and the fruit cup and called it a meal. My chicken salad, on the other hand, was a different story.
The presentation obviously sucked. Seriously, is it really that difficult to unwrap the salad and put the chicken on it before it’s served? It would definitely make it seem more premium. Despite the shoddy presentation, the salad was very good. The dressing was just right: tangy with a hint of spiciness. Carrots and cabbage comprising the salad were fresh and crisp. The chicken was tender, though it tasted a bit process. With the breadsticks, fruit cup, and brownie, it was a very tasty and filling meal. Trays were cleared as soon as each passenger finished, and then I fired up my laptop to work on this TR, while admiring the gorgeous sunset
At that time most of the cabin had finished their meals, and the smell of flatulence began filling the air. Everyone was looking around trying to identify the source, which soon revealed herself: it was the aforementioned lady in 2D. She constantly had to the lavatory, to put it politely, to make a deposit. This continued for the remainder of the flight. Each time she got up, she made it point to grab my seatback, which annoyed me to no end. But I definitely had it much better than the poor chap in 2C. The man had the patience of a saint. He always let the lady get out and had to put up with the offensive odors at close range. I kid you not, the odor got so bad the FAs holed up in the galley to get some relief. To their credit, they did try to make passes in both cabins. You could definitely see the strained smiles on their faces each time they made a pass. Though it wasn’t a pleasant situation, I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. And besides, it was kind of a fitting ending to the weekend I just had.
The closer we got to Dallas, the darker the clouds outside got. And soon I could feel the pilots making several course adjustments as lightning streaked through the clouds on both sides of the aircraft. Both our flight crew and ATC did a great job navigating around those large thunderheads, as we didn’t even hit a bump until we were well into our descent. The FA made one last pass through the cabin to collect trash and glasses when we were 20 minutes away from DFW. The lady in 2D made one last dash to the lavatory just before we descended below 10,000 feet. A few minutes after she returned to her seat, a lady and her 5ish year old daughter, whom were seated in the first couple rows of coach, headed into lavatory. They pause for a moment to decide whether or not their situation was bad enough to warrant entering that smelly pit. Strangely, the FAs made no attempt to stop them even though the seatbelt sign was on and were minutes away from landing. The mother and daughter duo did not return to their seats until well after the landing gear was down and locked. Moments later we touched down smoothly on a wet Runway 17R, the same one I had taken off on a week earlier.
We taxied for the next 5 minutes or so and parked at gate E5. There were several other Delta flights arriving at the same time, so we ended up waiting 10 minutes for the jet bridge to be attached, much to chagrin of all of us seated row 1, as we were jockeying for position to be first off to be off the plane. Finally the jet bridge operator showed up and the cabin door was opened, giving us some relief. As soon as the flight attendant gave us the go ahead, the guy sitting in 1C and 1 hauled alpha sierra sierra off the plane, leaving the lady seated in 1A in our wake and nearly running over our captain on the way out. Oh man, did I feel better after I got off the plane.
Baggage claim was just a short walk away. Bags didn’t hit the belt until 30 minutes after we arrived, due to the number of flights arriving at the same time. To make matters worse, Delta only uses one baggage claim at DFW. Talk about a model of inefficiency. When the bags from my flight did finally arrive, I was relieved to see my bag, and as an added bonus it was the first one out. For once, priority tags work on Delta!
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MY BAG!
I went out and hailed a cab, and I was finally on my way home, where I would remain grounded until early October. On the ride back, I reflected on the amazing past 4 weeks. I reunited with old friends, made some new friends, and met many interesting people on the way. Quite a few of my aviation geek milestones had been reached, though I still had many more to achieve and even added some new ones along the way. I had set a new monthly BIS record of 29,061 miles and finally circled the globe, on two of the world’s finest airlines to boot. It has been a fantastic journey, but like all good things, it must come to end. I would have never been able to achieve all of this without the help and wisdom of many here on FT. And I thank sincerely thank each one of you.
Well folks, you’ve finally reached the end of nearly 41,000 words of my rambling. If you’re still with me, you deserve a huge pat on the back. Thanks to all of you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this report as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Now it’s time for me to go back to my real life. Speaking of which, I’ll leave you with a few pics from my real life. Till next time, I wish you all happy trails.
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Chicken fried French fries. Yep. True story.
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Welcome back to sky high gas prices.
tropicsplendor
Sep 6, 12, 10:56 pm
Bula from Fiji! Thank you so much for the interesting TR of your around the world adventure! Loved the photos and drooled over some of your food photos. I have gotten spoiled flying BC from Fiji to LAX altho it's not as nice as those little cubicles you slept in.....one of these days! Air Pacific is bringing in new A330s next year so maybe they'll offer FC and I can finally try it! My dream is to fly FC on an A380. One of these days maybe our paths will cross....let me know if you ever head over to our beautiful South Pacific! And keep up the interesting TRs! Happy trails!
Concerto
Sep 16, 12, 3:03 am
Here’s your FT first: name another TR with CX F, SQ F, AND WN. Exactly. There are none!
I managed to an interesting one a couple of years ago:
YVR-DEN UA 1st
DEN-BOS UA 1st
BOS-LGA US 1st
JFK-ZRH LX 1st
ZRH-LUG LX (0D) Business
LUG-GVA car over the Alps
GVA-AMS DS
AMS-EDI KL
GLA-PIK FR
PIK-BSL FR
So, I had a mixture of United and US First, followed by the amazing SWISS First product with the new cabin design from JFK to Zurich. This was followed by a short hop across the Alps on Darwin Airline, which has aircraft small enough permitted to land at Lugano. Crossing the Alps was by car, and a few days later I went from Geneva to Edinburgh via Amsterdam on a mixture of easyJet Switzerland and KLM. Then Glasgow Prestwick to Stansted on Ryanair, 3 hour layover in STN, and Stansted to Basel on Ryanair. The latter two tickets cost 1 penny each, plus the credit card fee, so a total of GBP12.02. Weird!
I loved this trip report, sprinkled with references to reality (such as what you had for breakfast), which help to anchor the whole thing into something that everyone could relate to!
Seat 2A
Sep 16, 12, 12:32 pm
Took me a while to get to this, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed both the text and photos. Thanks for this nicely done trip report! ^^
dat4life
Sep 17, 12, 2:20 pm
Bula from Fiji! Thank you so much for the interesting TR of your around the world adventure! Loved the photos and drooled over some of your food photos. I have gotten spoiled flying BC from Fiji to LAX altho it's not as nice as those little cubicles you slept in.....one of these days! Air Pacific is bringing in new A330s next year so maybe they'll offer FC and I can finally try it! My dream is to fly FC on an A380. One of these days maybe our paths will cross....let me know if you ever head over to our beautiful South Pacific! And keep up the interesting TRs! Happy trails!
Thanks tropicsplendor. Believe me, the South Pacific is on my "list". I'll get there one of these days!
I loved this trip report, sprinkled with references to reality (such as what you had for breakfast), which help to anchor the whole thing into something that everyone could relate to!
Thanks concerto. Sounds like you had a really interesting trip too! Ryanair and Swiss First is definitely another interesting polar opposite combination. You got a fantastic deal out of it too!
Took me a while to get to this, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed both the text and photos. Thanks for this nicely done trip report!