Andrew Yiu
Feb 13, 00, 10:44 am
So here I go with my first trip report:
Claimed this ticket on points two weeks ago as CP have guarantee award seats for Executive Platinum member so I have no problem getting this seat. I originally planned to travel on CX but I wanted to get to HKG earlier so I picked CP.
YYZ - YVR
Thursday, Feb 10
CP 1 - 8:50AM
Alarm went off at 5:30am, I had the taxi waiting for me at the door at 6:00am. I gave it extra time because I heard the radio talking about a winter storm heading in our way with heavy snow to begin in pre dawn. However, that never came until after my flight took off. I was at the airport extra early at 7:00am. Checked in at the exlusive area for Executive Platinum at T3. It is really sad that they are moving back to Terminal 1 and 2 which is old and crappy. Quick and efficient checkin. Headed to the domestic lounge with an hour and a half to kill. I liked the domestic lounge at YYZ better than the international lounge because the international one tends to be crowded in the morning with the London flights and the Asia flights. However, after AC and CP converge to one lounge (which is what i think will happen), it will always be so crowded.
So I headed to the gate at 8:20am hoping to change to the single J class seat on the left side of the aircraft, but those are all gone. I particularly love CP's 767 J class as their configuration is 1-2-2. There were a lot of people crowded around the gate for upgrade, but I know there was only 2 J seats left as I asked about it at check in.
Boarding finally started and all the people seems to board as soon as they started pre-boarding. Took my aisle seat 2F, preflight drinks of OJ or water came around and newspaper were also offered. A lot of Japanese are on board as this flight continues on the Tokyo. I was originally booked on CP 7 that leaves at 8:20am but I changed it because they changed that one from a 767 to a A320 which is a very small aircraft. The concierge came on board with a manifest in her hand to welcome Executive Platinums(EP), there were about 4 or 5 EP on board including me, she talked to 2 EPs, skip me, another 1 or 2 came on board well after she left. So I am the only EP that is onboard but wasn't welcomed. For some reason, when she got to me, she looked at the list, look at me, look at the list, look at me and left then skip me and proceed to the next one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif . The only reasoning I could come up with is that I am travelling on award ticket and my membership number is not on there (which I confirm wasn't true as the manifest does show I am EP). Another reason I could come up with is discrimination which I hope is not true. I know a lot of conceirge at the YYZ airport and they are generally very nice and friendly with the exception of this one (I know her name so if this happen again, I will be very upset...lot more than this time).
The seat next to me was empty (hurrah!!!), NOT... they filled it up with an upgrade to a GOLD member 5 mins prior to departure.
We pushback on time and the pilot decided to go for deicing as this aircraft was sitting at the airport overnight so there was layer of ice on the ground. Flight time to YVR is 4:52 which is a little bit longer than usual. Took off about 30 mins behind schedule.
Breakfast service commenced quickly following takeoff. FA came around with juices (apple, orange, tomato) and coffee and tea. Fresh fruit plate is then served. Finally, hot selections came around with choice of cheese omlette, crepes completed with potatoes and ham. This kind of enhanced business class will probably end by March with them going back to the casserole type meal.
Most people snooze off including me after breakfast service. However, a lot of people got waken up by the loud loud snoring from the guy behind me. Woke up with about 2 hours to go before arrival into YVR. Went up to have a chat with FA. They are apparantly very worried about their job as they couldn't figure out why did AC take all the profitable routes leaving them with crappy routes and why did AC not merge with CP right away. This FA which I talked to worked for 32 years. The Captain said they are very frustrated because they think AC knows what the big picture is yet they only give it to the public and CP but by bit.
We arrived at YVR 25 minutes behind schedule at 11:25am. On to the lounge for 20 minutes then on to HKG.
YVR - HKG
CP 7 - 1215P
Again, a lot of people crowded at the gate for upgraded. Too bad though as this flight is sold out. I am sure there was no show though as there was some last minute boarding who were obviously upgrades. Just like the YYZ - YVR segment, once they call boarding all the people rushed on which seems to tick the gate agent off as he told people who are not J class to back off. I boarded and took my favourite seat 58K. THis is the emergency exit row on the upper deck which probably have 80 inch pitch.
Flight pushed back 15 minutes behind schedule. Someone is watching the takeoff in the flightdeck in the jump seat. The announced flight time was 12 hours which is very short. This turned out to be a mistake as we ended up flew for 13 hours 20 minutes. We took off at 12:50pm. Drinks order were taken before take off and they were served immediately after takeoff with several rounds of nuts refill. I have seen this crew of FA several times before. Captain Bowe made an announcement on the route. I had this captain for at least 5 times. He said that this route we are taking is very unusual. The route took us straight to Anchorage from YVR and then continue futher north there, we then headed across the bearing sea, then over russia, china and into HKG. Most of the trip is over land which is very unusual. He told us we should arrive in HKG on time at 5:30 pm.
Dinner service then came around with 2 kinds of red and white wine. Then the appetizer was served. It was smoked trout with mixed salad with fish sauce. It was excellent. Then came the meal choices of Duck with Plum sauce, Beef with dijon mustard or Chicken with oriental sauce. Side choice are green beans, mixed vegetable, rice or mashed potatoes. I opted for the Duck with potatoes and beans. Dinner service was excellent. It was followed with cheese, fruit, ice cream and tea,coffee service. Overall, an excellent meal.
Lights were then dimmed and snacks trolley were placed in the galley area. The snacks trolley contain sandwich tray (which the First officer took and never returned http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ), chips, cookies and candies. Each seat in J class have personal video but most of the movies I've seen before. I had a lenghly chat with the guy next to me as it was his first trip to Asia. He though I was crazy when I told him I travelled 120K last year http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. I gave him a lot of information about Hong Kong and Singapore. Took a small nap and went up to the flight deck to have a chat with Cap Bob Bowe. I found out how nice it is to be a 747 captain, he works 3 roundtrip YVR - HKG this month and he'll have enough hours for the month. I was in there for about an hour. I was disappointed when he told me someone have already asked to be in the jump seat for landing.
FAs came around with drinks and noodles about half way.
About 2 hours prior to landing, a snack was served. It began with Tea and coffee service. Then a fresh fruit bowl is served. Then a hot meal choice of Chicken noodles or Sticky rice. I choose the sticky rice and it was very good.
About 30 mins prior to the schedule landing time, extra 30 mins are mysteriscally added to the "Time to destination" column of the flight route channel. So we'll now won't be landing til 5:55pm. Turned out we are put in holding pattern for a while. We finally landed at 6:15pm HKG time and tmperature in HKG was a hot 22 degrees celsius. Customs took forever to look at my passport for whatever reason. Waited 20 minutes for my 2 bags as those priority tags are useless as I see them on almost everyone's bags. No problem with bags inspection as they never do it, don't even ask you anything...
Well.... onto Airport Express to the City..
Overall, an excellent trip with CP with the exception of the concierge.
Will be in NRT for a week next week so will be away from Flyertalk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif as phone charges in Japan are crazy. I hope my Flyertalk addiction syndrome will not be affecting me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes as I don't have time to check !!
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 02-13-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 02-13-2000).]
Claimed this ticket on points two weeks ago as CP have guarantee award seats for Executive Platinum member so I have no problem getting this seat. I originally planned to travel on CX but I wanted to get to HKG earlier so I picked CP.
YYZ - YVR
Thursday, Feb 10
CP 1 - 8:50AM
Alarm went off at 5:30am, I had the taxi waiting for me at the door at 6:00am. I gave it extra time because I heard the radio talking about a winter storm heading in our way with heavy snow to begin in pre dawn. However, that never came until after my flight took off. I was at the airport extra early at 7:00am. Checked in at the exlusive area for Executive Platinum at T3. It is really sad that they are moving back to Terminal 1 and 2 which is old and crappy. Quick and efficient checkin. Headed to the domestic lounge with an hour and a half to kill. I liked the domestic lounge at YYZ better than the international lounge because the international one tends to be crowded in the morning with the London flights and the Asia flights. However, after AC and CP converge to one lounge (which is what i think will happen), it will always be so crowded.
So I headed to the gate at 8:20am hoping to change to the single J class seat on the left side of the aircraft, but those are all gone. I particularly love CP's 767 J class as their configuration is 1-2-2. There were a lot of people crowded around the gate for upgrade, but I know there was only 2 J seats left as I asked about it at check in.
Boarding finally started and all the people seems to board as soon as they started pre-boarding. Took my aisle seat 2F, preflight drinks of OJ or water came around and newspaper were also offered. A lot of Japanese are on board as this flight continues on the Tokyo. I was originally booked on CP 7 that leaves at 8:20am but I changed it because they changed that one from a 767 to a A320 which is a very small aircraft. The concierge came on board with a manifest in her hand to welcome Executive Platinums(EP), there were about 4 or 5 EP on board including me, she talked to 2 EPs, skip me, another 1 or 2 came on board well after she left. So I am the only EP that is onboard but wasn't welcomed. For some reason, when she got to me, she looked at the list, look at me, look at the list, look at me and left then skip me and proceed to the next one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif . The only reasoning I could come up with is that I am travelling on award ticket and my membership number is not on there (which I confirm wasn't true as the manifest does show I am EP). Another reason I could come up with is discrimination which I hope is not true. I know a lot of conceirge at the YYZ airport and they are generally very nice and friendly with the exception of this one (I know her name so if this happen again, I will be very upset...lot more than this time).
The seat next to me was empty (hurrah!!!), NOT... they filled it up with an upgrade to a GOLD member 5 mins prior to departure.
We pushback on time and the pilot decided to go for deicing as this aircraft was sitting at the airport overnight so there was layer of ice on the ground. Flight time to YVR is 4:52 which is a little bit longer than usual. Took off about 30 mins behind schedule.
Breakfast service commenced quickly following takeoff. FA came around with juices (apple, orange, tomato) and coffee and tea. Fresh fruit plate is then served. Finally, hot selections came around with choice of cheese omlette, crepes completed with potatoes and ham. This kind of enhanced business class will probably end by March with them going back to the casserole type meal.
Most people snooze off including me after breakfast service. However, a lot of people got waken up by the loud loud snoring from the guy behind me. Woke up with about 2 hours to go before arrival into YVR. Went up to have a chat with FA. They are apparantly very worried about their job as they couldn't figure out why did AC take all the profitable routes leaving them with crappy routes and why did AC not merge with CP right away. This FA which I talked to worked for 32 years. The Captain said they are very frustrated because they think AC knows what the big picture is yet they only give it to the public and CP but by bit.
We arrived at YVR 25 minutes behind schedule at 11:25am. On to the lounge for 20 minutes then on to HKG.
YVR - HKG
CP 7 - 1215P
Again, a lot of people crowded at the gate for upgraded. Too bad though as this flight is sold out. I am sure there was no show though as there was some last minute boarding who were obviously upgrades. Just like the YYZ - YVR segment, once they call boarding all the people rushed on which seems to tick the gate agent off as he told people who are not J class to back off. I boarded and took my favourite seat 58K. THis is the emergency exit row on the upper deck which probably have 80 inch pitch.
Flight pushed back 15 minutes behind schedule. Someone is watching the takeoff in the flightdeck in the jump seat. The announced flight time was 12 hours which is very short. This turned out to be a mistake as we ended up flew for 13 hours 20 minutes. We took off at 12:50pm. Drinks order were taken before take off and they were served immediately after takeoff with several rounds of nuts refill. I have seen this crew of FA several times before. Captain Bowe made an announcement on the route. I had this captain for at least 5 times. He said that this route we are taking is very unusual. The route took us straight to Anchorage from YVR and then continue futher north there, we then headed across the bearing sea, then over russia, china and into HKG. Most of the trip is over land which is very unusual. He told us we should arrive in HKG on time at 5:30 pm.
Dinner service then came around with 2 kinds of red and white wine. Then the appetizer was served. It was smoked trout with mixed salad with fish sauce. It was excellent. Then came the meal choices of Duck with Plum sauce, Beef with dijon mustard or Chicken with oriental sauce. Side choice are green beans, mixed vegetable, rice or mashed potatoes. I opted for the Duck with potatoes and beans. Dinner service was excellent. It was followed with cheese, fruit, ice cream and tea,coffee service. Overall, an excellent meal.
Lights were then dimmed and snacks trolley were placed in the galley area. The snacks trolley contain sandwich tray (which the First officer took and never returned http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ), chips, cookies and candies. Each seat in J class have personal video but most of the movies I've seen before. I had a lenghly chat with the guy next to me as it was his first trip to Asia. He though I was crazy when I told him I travelled 120K last year http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. I gave him a lot of information about Hong Kong and Singapore. Took a small nap and went up to the flight deck to have a chat with Cap Bob Bowe. I found out how nice it is to be a 747 captain, he works 3 roundtrip YVR - HKG this month and he'll have enough hours for the month. I was in there for about an hour. I was disappointed when he told me someone have already asked to be in the jump seat for landing.
FAs came around with drinks and noodles about half way.
About 2 hours prior to landing, a snack was served. It began with Tea and coffee service. Then a fresh fruit bowl is served. Then a hot meal choice of Chicken noodles or Sticky rice. I choose the sticky rice and it was very good.
About 30 mins prior to the schedule landing time, extra 30 mins are mysteriscally added to the "Time to destination" column of the flight route channel. So we'll now won't be landing til 5:55pm. Turned out we are put in holding pattern for a while. We finally landed at 6:15pm HKG time and tmperature in HKG was a hot 22 degrees celsius. Customs took forever to look at my passport for whatever reason. Waited 20 minutes for my 2 bags as those priority tags are useless as I see them on almost everyone's bags. No problem with bags inspection as they never do it, don't even ask you anything...
Well.... onto Airport Express to the City..
Overall, an excellent trip with CP with the exception of the concierge.
Will be in NRT for a week next week so will be away from Flyertalk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif as phone charges in Japan are crazy. I hope my Flyertalk addiction syndrome will not be affecting me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes as I don't have time to check !!
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 02-13-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 02-13-2000).]