Carfield
Jul 17, 02, 12:23 pm
Dear all,
I have just completed a Canada/USA trip, and as promised, I will write the trip reports, especially on the Asiana Airlines’ segments and the ridiculous AC flights. Asiana Airlines is definitely a good airline, concerning its Business Class service, and the price is definitely good. The J class RT from HKG to SEA via ICN is only HKD$11,000 including tax and various fees. The seats can use a few more gadgets, and the Boeing 747s and Boeing 767s can use a few improvements and PTV in J class. But the Boeing 777 is pretty good, and the new J seats are pretty nice – not full flat and with only 50 inches legroom, but I slept pretty well on them. Air Canada’s Hospitality service has declined a new low and I am not impressed with the new interior (bright green with circles), which reminds me of some Mainland Chinese airlines’ décor. I like the more classy and elegant dark green upholstery better. Here is the full report!
June 29, 2002
OZ 304 HKG-ICN Lv0930 Arr1400
Boeing 767-300ER HL7506
My best friend, Johnson, and I used the Airport Express check in this morning and Dragon Air was the hired agent for Asiana in Hong Kong. The agent was efficient, but due to the new US security rules, the check in procedures were longer and she had to type in much information. Finally, she issued us our boarding passes, invitations to the Dragon Air lounge, and put the priority tags on our checked bags. Then we took the 23 minutes train to the CLK airport and had a nice breakfast at the KA lounge. It is not “the Wing,” but the food is okay with plain congee, various dim sum items, sandwiches, fried eggs with sausages and selection of cereals. Everything is self-served and there are two Internet stations. We read a few magazines and the lounge was okay, and we overlooked our gate, 19. Boarding soon started at 9am and the flight was pretty full.
Once onboard, you could immediately sense that “World Cup” was all around the place. The F/As were all wearing World Cup pins, and the main screen TV was showing “selections” of goals kicked by various teams, and the South Korean team was the stars of course. I was so touched by the South Koreans’ spirits, as I was a big fan of the South Korean team. They did a good job and they proved to the world that “Asians” could play soccer. Enough World Cup… back to the flight – the seats are décor with a selection of dark blue and purple upholstery, and the legroom is around 45 inches with a decent recline. For regional flights, these seats are more than fine – better than US Airlines’ narrow-aisle domestic F seats. Pillows, blankets, and a pair of gray slippers were found in each seat. The F/As immediately offered newspapers, and passed out a tray of orange juice and champagne. Boarding was done in an efficient way and door was closed at 9:21am. Then hot towels were passed out, while we were pushing back at 9:25am. Then the safety video was played and OZ used animation. It was pretty detailed. We wasted no time in heading to R/W25L, which was on the other side of the airport. We took off at 9:38am.
Shortly after takeoff, menus were passed out to each passenger and then the F/As took the beverage and entrée order. Soon, Asiana began to show a series of short subjects, which included KBS Korean news, CNN news, World Cup cartoon, and a UK Soccer documentary. Sky map was shown in between various video. Our flight route today was not the typical Taiwan route, but the new route overflying China. We climbed to 37,500ft, as we flew over Guangzhou, and headed towards Hangzhou. Then we slightly descended to 37,000ft, as we passed the Jeju Islands. Flying time was a quick three hours and there was some moderate turbulence, as we approached Hangzhou. On all OZ segments, the pilots made two announcements on each flight – one after we reached the cruising attitude and one after we started our descent. Both English and Korean announcements were made. The pilots sounded professional and gave out good information. Although the English was full of accents, the pilots’ English was more understood than the F/As. Speaking English is definitely one of the weak points among the F/As, but the great service and beautiful smiles overcomes this weakness. OZ F/As are more than happy to accommodate any needs and bring you any beverage.
Seat belt sign was off at 9:45am, and our choice of beverage was served with a pack of Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts. Then a full lunch service was served, which started with the appetizer and salad, and then a choice of entrées, a cheese and fruit plate, and a dessert to finish off the meal. Here was the transcript!
Brunch
Appetizer
Smoked Pepper Salmon and Chicken
Basically poached salmon, 2 slices of chicken, cherry tomato and peach wedges – I don’t like the salmon, but the chicken was good.
Mixed Green Salad
Served with Italian Dressing
Alfafa Sprouts, spinach, carrots, radish, and red peppers – pretty fresh and fairly large portion. Bread basket was passed out with four kinds of rolls.
Fillet of Beef
Chanterelles Mushroom Cream Sauce served with Savoy Potatoes, Vichy Carrots and Zucchini
Asiana always include a choice of beef at each main meal, and the steaks are pretty good and safe choices. F/As passed out a condiments’ tray, which includes mustards, Korean hot sauce, A1 steak sauce, and various kinds of sauces to enhance your meals. Pretty good idea!
Or
Fried Prawn
With Chilli Sauce Northern Style
Accompany by Steamed Rice and Pakchoy
Or
Pan Fried Chicken Breast
With Mushroom Cream Sauce
Accompanied by Butter Noodles, Carrot, and Snow Pea
This was my choice, which was pretty good.
Selection of Cheese & Fruits
A pre-plated course, with Brie and Swiss cheese, dried apricots, pineapples, walnuts, and white grapes
Coconut Cheese Cake with Almond Flakes
Pretty good cake, and the F/As rolled out the coffee and tea trolley as well. The whole cake was presented and it was sliced in front of you. I was pretty surprise to see OZ using sugar cubes, and for all four segments, I asked for tea with lemon, and the F/As always make the tea in front of passengers, instead of just throwing the tea bags at you.
Coffee, Black Tea, Ginseng Tea, Green Tea, Jasmine Tea, Date Tea
Assorted Petit Fours (Never see them)
The meals are more than elaborate for a three hours flight, and hot towels were passed out after lunch. The service was efficient, timed efficiently, and the meals were pretty good. After the meal, I chatted a bit with my friends and was excited about my three hours transit at Incheon, as I planned to buy a few magazines and some World Cup souvenirs. Descent began at 12:09pm and we landed on Runway 33R at 1:39pm (Seoul was an hour ahead of Hong Kong), and parked at Gate 7. As we landed, you could already feel the “RED” all over the place. As you may remember, June 29 was the day that the Koreans played the Turkey for the third place. Nearly every ground staff, shopkeepers, and agents were wearing various kinds of red T-shirts, and South Korean team jersey. It was quite a scene, even when the bag handlers, drivers of catering trucks, and engineering staff were wearing the red jerseys. I personally think it will be better if the pilots and the F/As can join the “Sea of Red.” Thankfully, I was appropriately dressed in a red shirt.
The Incheon Airport was beautiful but Korean Air, and OZ planes dominate the airports, with a few Japanese airline jets parked around (JAL and JAS). Due to the World Cup, JL and JD ran many charter flights into Korea, especially the winning match was happening the next day. I shopped a bit around the airport, and got the infamous “Be the Red” Korean T-shirts. I was disappointed on not finding the official Nike Korean jersey, but seeing all these “red” made me a happy man. Then I spotted the KE World Cup’s Boeing 747-400 HL7425 heading to LA.
OZ 272 ICN-SEA Lv1735 Arr1130
Boeing 777-200 HL7596
Of course, I paid a visit to the Asiana lounge, as most of the Star Alliance folks want to find out about. First, Asiana had separate lounges for first and business class, and they used different entrances. Second, the receptionist was extremely kind and spoke decent English. They were helpful and would assist with bags and even holding the elevator for you. Third, there are shower rooms and a business center with copy, fax machines and various Internet stations (even headsets and full audio system installed with the computer). The lounge is pretty crowded from 4pm to 8pm, as most USA and Asian flights depart at that time. There are many sets of sofas and a self-serving beverage and snack stations, include cheese, nuts, chips (crisps), cup noodles, waffle crackers, custard pies, and bread rolls. Drinks include fair amounts of liquors, wines, and soft drinks. We stayed there for two hours after walking through the airport duty free shops and took pictures with various World Cup related décors. I listened to HK radio stations through the computer.
Boarding gate was 8 for the Seattle flight, and the Boeing 777 was sparking new, but the load was pretty light this evening. As happening to most US bound flights, there was a secondary screening for every passenger. Prepared to open your bags – although the search was not as detailed as the US secondary screening, the agents were efficient, friendly, and most importantly, know some common sense – not overwhelmingly crazy but know what to look for. Once aboard, the seats used the same upholstery, but there were more gadgets. Electronic controls including a fully recline sleeping position and reset function, legrests, a large PTV (not interactive, but with enough audio, video, and game channels), separate headrests, personal snake lamps, 50inches of legroom… are all featured on the Boeing 777. As similar to other flights, pre-takeoff beverage, slippers, newspapers, “noise-canceling” headsets, and hot towels were passed out. The F/As were all female for this flight, and the English announcements were a bit better on this segment. Boarding began at 5:05pm, and the whole boarding process was completed at 5:35pm.
As I forgot to mention, the welcome announcements were performed in a special Asiana way. After the door was closed, the purser began the usual welcome PA and all the F/As were positioned at various spot, and all bowed at the passengers after the purser said, “Welcome to Asiana.” It was pretty cool and took place at each segment. Soon, we pushed back at 5:40pm and began a quick taxi to R/W33L. We took off at 5:51pm, and the flight plan was fairly typical, as we first climbed to 29,000ft. We took a Southwest course first, as we entered the Japanese airspace and then climbed further to 34,000ft. Then we passed by Tokyo, and then turned west into the Pacific Ocean and climbed to 35,000ft and directly headed towards Seattle. During the cross over the pond, we climbed further to 37,000ft. The pilot announced that our flying time was nine hours and twenty minutes, and during the cross over the Pacific Ocean, we hit a couple rough spots, and my friend, which was on his first “Cross the Pond” flight, found it a bit scary, but then he fell asleep again. After flying this trip with me, he was well qualified as a seasoned traveler.
The routine for dinner happened again… Here was the transcript!
Dinner
Selection of Canapés
Instead of macadamia nuts, a plate of canapé was offered with our choice of beverage. There were three kinds – shrimp on white bread, salmon & cream cheese on toast, and Parma ham with melon.
Appetizer
Smoked Chicken Slice, Salmon Terrine, Carpaccio Salad
Three pieces of chicken… an okay appetizer… can’t remember much… forgot to jog down the content
Mixed Green Salad
Chopped yellow, red, and green peppers, cucumbers, green lettuce, olive, and cherry tomato with L’Olivier French dressing with lemon Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinaigrette. Bread choices include garlic bread, soft roll, poppyseed rolls, and French bread.
Beef Tenderloin Steak served with Chanterelle Mushroom Sauce
Accompanied by Lyonnaise Potato, Broccoli and Chateau Carrot
Pretty good steak with the usual condiment tray
Or
Stir-fried Grouper
Served with Chinese Sweet & Sour Sauce, Presented with Steamed rice and sauteed spinach
Or
Bi Bim Bap
A tradition Korean rice dish with fresh vegetable and hot spicy sauce, served with Korean bean sprout soup
Fresh Fruit and Assorted Cheese
Camembert & Gouda cheese, with melon, apple, pear slices, and grapes, accompanied by a basket of crackers, carrot and celery sticks, and brown breads. Pretty extravagant… Good fruits.
Pistachio Mousse Cake Flavored with Raspberry sauce
Pretty good cake!
Lots of tea and coffee
After dinner and another round of hot towels, I went to sleep directly and the seats were extremely comfortable. As I mentioned, we hit a few rough spots over the ocean, but it was okay. Seasonal fruit, ramen, and cookies were offered as mid-flight snacks, but I did not order any of them. I was pretty full from two good meals. The F/As were pretty good, but compared to other Asian airlines, the F/As were not too active in filling passengers’ glasses with water, and I actually missed the water bottles that various airlines passed out after dinner these days. The call buttons were answered quickly and it would be nice to see F/As walking around.
Asiana did not have amenity kits for its J class passengers, but the bathroom was stocked with toothbrush sets, combs, and mouthwash packets. I was a bit disappointed, but seeing the price tag, I realize that OZ had to cut costs in some ways. I personally think SQ sets up a bad example and I can imagine seeing the US airlines following this particular trend, but the F/As will have to be more active in re-stocking items. Lights were soon turned on at 1:27am Seoul local time. Hot towels and a tray of juices were passed out first, followed by linen and the appetizer tray.
Breakfast
Orange Juice
Assorted Fresh Fruit
Melon, Pear, Apple wedges, kiwi, orange, and 2 large grapes – fruits are unbelievingly sweet and ripe.
Fruit Yogurt (Strawberry flavored)
Abalone Soup
A Famous Korean Style Hot Rice Gruel with Chopped Abalone and Pine Nuts, Served with Soy sauce and Side dish
Or
Pain Omelette
Topped with Ratatouille, presented with Veal sausage and Broccoli
Muffin (Blueberry), Croissant, Danish Roll (Cinnamon Rolls)
Served with Knott’s Berry Farm Strawberry jam and Butter
Pretty good breads…
Another round of tea and coffee finished the hot breakfast service, and hot towels were passed out once again. Descent began at 2:44am Seoul local time, and it was a pretty nice day at Seattle. We landed on R/W16R at 11:11am, and parked at gate S14 quickly. Surprisingly, there was no line at immigration, as we missed the UA morning flight and had yet to meet the Aeroflot and SAS flights. The bags came out at 11:30am, which was a record time, and the priority tags worked this time. However, I was unprepared for the nightmares to come. My friend was unfortunately chosen by the custom to get his bag flipped upside down. The only compensation was that a pretty cute Asian boy checked his bag and he could not find any forbidden objects. Then I realized that the bags had to put on a luggage belt again, which were to be claimed at the main terminal. Then we had to go through the security checkpoint, as we were technically re-entering the secure area, south satellite, and then we had to wait for the world’s slowest underground train system. The main terminal was chaos, as it was filled with cruise passengers and the weekend crowd. Fortunately, the bags came out quickly and we immediately headed to United to check in for our flights to Toronto. What a way to welcome Johnson into the USA.
UA 266 SEA-DEN Lv1345 Arr1714
Boeing 777-200 N225UA (I could only get the 2825 code in the nose…) “Spirit of United”
I am not going to write much about this flight, as it is a fairly typical domestic flight. The check in was efficient and the agent was extremely friendly and helpful. I was checked through to Toronto and got the boarding passes for the DEN-YYZ segment as well (AC operating flight). The security line was long, but the 1K card served the function. I was given the full secondary screening treatment and then the wait for the subway train was too long. The flight attendants on this flight were extremely good. The pre-takeoff beverage tray of OJ, water, and sparkling wine was passed around, and I noticed many employees on this flight, especially F class. We took off from Runway 16L at 2:13pm, and a snack plate including a warm bread roll with deli meats (2 slices of turkey, ham, and pastrami), red onions, pickles, mayonnaise, macaroni salad, and a piece of “Café De Paris” fancy sugar cookie. The meal was pretty good and the bread was warm. The meats were fresh, and I had my cranberry juice as my choice of beverage. There was no linen placed on the tray tables, and no hot towels as well. I missed the hot towel service, but the F/As made another beverage run before we began our descent to Denver. The landing was too bad, as pilots forewarned bumpy landing. Maybe I was used to it. Anyway, we touched down at 5:04pm.
AC 586 DEN-YYZ Lv1820 Arr2327
Airbus A320-200 C-GJTA with new interior but old configuration (not the modified and smaller J cabin)
United handled all the ground operations and the aircraft was sitting idle as we approached the gate, B46. As I could tell, the load was extremely light this evening, two of us occupied the three seats. The F/As had great smiles, but they were also pretty lazy and enjoyed sitting in the last row of Y after the so-called “snack” service. Boarding began at 5:57pm. And we pushed back at 6:17pm, with a takeoff time of 6:28pm. Flying time was a brief two hours and forty-four minutes, and we climbed up to 37,000ft.
The seats featured the ugly bright green seat upholstery with orange swirl patterns. It was not too good. J class seemed to have the new seats with legrest and headrest. Y seats had a legrest installed in the seat in front of you. The pitch seemed to be the same as before – 32”, still better than CO for sure. Unfortunately, we were seated at Row 14 with no recline function, so the flight was that comfortable.
Although I had no expectation on the AC meal service, I could not believe how AC could deteriorate so quickly. A couple years ago, this flight saw a dinner on tray service, and the change on the post-911 was too dramatic. It was a snack flight (but not the mini sandwiches’ boxes with pasta salad and cereal bar served on the old days on the East Coast-USA lunch and dinner flights). I sort of expect the United’s box lunches, which was pretty low. However, AC could go a step lower. Only a single sandwich was offered, and we had a choice of Turkey Pastrami or “Sante Fe Chicken” sandwich, which was described as “Breast of chicken, Santa Fe Sauce, Swiss Cheese on Multigrain Bread Roll.” The sandwich was okay, but looked more processed than UA sandwiches, as the wrapping suggested. Then the F/A pushed out the beverage cart – the only beverage cart service, and we were offered only a single glass of our choice of soft drink. Then the F/As passed out a pack of Yum Yum Chips to each passenger, followed by a single water service. The service was completed at 7:15pm and the F/As disappeared until the descent (they did not even bother to collect headsets). I found it unacceptable that the beverage cart did not make an appearance after the meal, and there was no tea or coffee service. The F/As were as lazy as they could be. I found AC to be extremely stingy. I do not think I am asking much for AC to automatically offer passengers a full can of soft drinks these days, especially with these newly “diet” meals and snacks. AC should at least have the courtesy to board more beverages, and even offer another full beverage service 45 minutes prior to arrival, like AA or CO. (Fortunately, we got another water service at 8:47pm.) During the mid-flight, I finally had to ask for a can of coke in the galley, as the chips were making me thirsty. I was fortunate to catch the J class F/A happened to be walking into the galley. The other two Y F/As were already on their breaks and reading magazines.
Soon the flights arrived on Toronto at 11:12pm at Runway 24R, and the airport was pretty quiet at these times. The bags came out pretty quickly because of the priority tags. Air Canada has reached a new low and I am getting more hesitant to fly AC, especially in Y. I think AA, CO, and UA can do a better job on these flights.
I am pretty exhausted now, and the second part will come out within the new few days.
Go! Korea!
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I have just completed a Canada/USA trip, and as promised, I will write the trip reports, especially on the Asiana Airlines’ segments and the ridiculous AC flights. Asiana Airlines is definitely a good airline, concerning its Business Class service, and the price is definitely good. The J class RT from HKG to SEA via ICN is only HKD$11,000 including tax and various fees. The seats can use a few more gadgets, and the Boeing 747s and Boeing 767s can use a few improvements and PTV in J class. But the Boeing 777 is pretty good, and the new J seats are pretty nice – not full flat and with only 50 inches legroom, but I slept pretty well on them. Air Canada’s Hospitality service has declined a new low and I am not impressed with the new interior (bright green with circles), which reminds me of some Mainland Chinese airlines’ décor. I like the more classy and elegant dark green upholstery better. Here is the full report!
June 29, 2002
OZ 304 HKG-ICN Lv0930 Arr1400
Boeing 767-300ER HL7506
My best friend, Johnson, and I used the Airport Express check in this morning and Dragon Air was the hired agent for Asiana in Hong Kong. The agent was efficient, but due to the new US security rules, the check in procedures were longer and she had to type in much information. Finally, she issued us our boarding passes, invitations to the Dragon Air lounge, and put the priority tags on our checked bags. Then we took the 23 minutes train to the CLK airport and had a nice breakfast at the KA lounge. It is not “the Wing,” but the food is okay with plain congee, various dim sum items, sandwiches, fried eggs with sausages and selection of cereals. Everything is self-served and there are two Internet stations. We read a few magazines and the lounge was okay, and we overlooked our gate, 19. Boarding soon started at 9am and the flight was pretty full.
Once onboard, you could immediately sense that “World Cup” was all around the place. The F/As were all wearing World Cup pins, and the main screen TV was showing “selections” of goals kicked by various teams, and the South Korean team was the stars of course. I was so touched by the South Koreans’ spirits, as I was a big fan of the South Korean team. They did a good job and they proved to the world that “Asians” could play soccer. Enough World Cup… back to the flight – the seats are décor with a selection of dark blue and purple upholstery, and the legroom is around 45 inches with a decent recline. For regional flights, these seats are more than fine – better than US Airlines’ narrow-aisle domestic F seats. Pillows, blankets, and a pair of gray slippers were found in each seat. The F/As immediately offered newspapers, and passed out a tray of orange juice and champagne. Boarding was done in an efficient way and door was closed at 9:21am. Then hot towels were passed out, while we were pushing back at 9:25am. Then the safety video was played and OZ used animation. It was pretty detailed. We wasted no time in heading to R/W25L, which was on the other side of the airport. We took off at 9:38am.
Shortly after takeoff, menus were passed out to each passenger and then the F/As took the beverage and entrée order. Soon, Asiana began to show a series of short subjects, which included KBS Korean news, CNN news, World Cup cartoon, and a UK Soccer documentary. Sky map was shown in between various video. Our flight route today was not the typical Taiwan route, but the new route overflying China. We climbed to 37,500ft, as we flew over Guangzhou, and headed towards Hangzhou. Then we slightly descended to 37,000ft, as we passed the Jeju Islands. Flying time was a quick three hours and there was some moderate turbulence, as we approached Hangzhou. On all OZ segments, the pilots made two announcements on each flight – one after we reached the cruising attitude and one after we started our descent. Both English and Korean announcements were made. The pilots sounded professional and gave out good information. Although the English was full of accents, the pilots’ English was more understood than the F/As. Speaking English is definitely one of the weak points among the F/As, but the great service and beautiful smiles overcomes this weakness. OZ F/As are more than happy to accommodate any needs and bring you any beverage.
Seat belt sign was off at 9:45am, and our choice of beverage was served with a pack of Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts. Then a full lunch service was served, which started with the appetizer and salad, and then a choice of entrées, a cheese and fruit plate, and a dessert to finish off the meal. Here was the transcript!
Brunch
Appetizer
Smoked Pepper Salmon and Chicken
Basically poached salmon, 2 slices of chicken, cherry tomato and peach wedges – I don’t like the salmon, but the chicken was good.
Mixed Green Salad
Served with Italian Dressing
Alfafa Sprouts, spinach, carrots, radish, and red peppers – pretty fresh and fairly large portion. Bread basket was passed out with four kinds of rolls.
Fillet of Beef
Chanterelles Mushroom Cream Sauce served with Savoy Potatoes, Vichy Carrots and Zucchini
Asiana always include a choice of beef at each main meal, and the steaks are pretty good and safe choices. F/As passed out a condiments’ tray, which includes mustards, Korean hot sauce, A1 steak sauce, and various kinds of sauces to enhance your meals. Pretty good idea!
Or
Fried Prawn
With Chilli Sauce Northern Style
Accompany by Steamed Rice and Pakchoy
Or
Pan Fried Chicken Breast
With Mushroom Cream Sauce
Accompanied by Butter Noodles, Carrot, and Snow Pea
This was my choice, which was pretty good.
Selection of Cheese & Fruits
A pre-plated course, with Brie and Swiss cheese, dried apricots, pineapples, walnuts, and white grapes
Coconut Cheese Cake with Almond Flakes
Pretty good cake, and the F/As rolled out the coffee and tea trolley as well. The whole cake was presented and it was sliced in front of you. I was pretty surprise to see OZ using sugar cubes, and for all four segments, I asked for tea with lemon, and the F/As always make the tea in front of passengers, instead of just throwing the tea bags at you.
Coffee, Black Tea, Ginseng Tea, Green Tea, Jasmine Tea, Date Tea
Assorted Petit Fours (Never see them)
The meals are more than elaborate for a three hours flight, and hot towels were passed out after lunch. The service was efficient, timed efficiently, and the meals were pretty good. After the meal, I chatted a bit with my friends and was excited about my three hours transit at Incheon, as I planned to buy a few magazines and some World Cup souvenirs. Descent began at 12:09pm and we landed on Runway 33R at 1:39pm (Seoul was an hour ahead of Hong Kong), and parked at Gate 7. As we landed, you could already feel the “RED” all over the place. As you may remember, June 29 was the day that the Koreans played the Turkey for the third place. Nearly every ground staff, shopkeepers, and agents were wearing various kinds of red T-shirts, and South Korean team jersey. It was quite a scene, even when the bag handlers, drivers of catering trucks, and engineering staff were wearing the red jerseys. I personally think it will be better if the pilots and the F/As can join the “Sea of Red.” Thankfully, I was appropriately dressed in a red shirt.
The Incheon Airport was beautiful but Korean Air, and OZ planes dominate the airports, with a few Japanese airline jets parked around (JAL and JAS). Due to the World Cup, JL and JD ran many charter flights into Korea, especially the winning match was happening the next day. I shopped a bit around the airport, and got the infamous “Be the Red” Korean T-shirts. I was disappointed on not finding the official Nike Korean jersey, but seeing all these “red” made me a happy man. Then I spotted the KE World Cup’s Boeing 747-400 HL7425 heading to LA.
OZ 272 ICN-SEA Lv1735 Arr1130
Boeing 777-200 HL7596
Of course, I paid a visit to the Asiana lounge, as most of the Star Alliance folks want to find out about. First, Asiana had separate lounges for first and business class, and they used different entrances. Second, the receptionist was extremely kind and spoke decent English. They were helpful and would assist with bags and even holding the elevator for you. Third, there are shower rooms and a business center with copy, fax machines and various Internet stations (even headsets and full audio system installed with the computer). The lounge is pretty crowded from 4pm to 8pm, as most USA and Asian flights depart at that time. There are many sets of sofas and a self-serving beverage and snack stations, include cheese, nuts, chips (crisps), cup noodles, waffle crackers, custard pies, and bread rolls. Drinks include fair amounts of liquors, wines, and soft drinks. We stayed there for two hours after walking through the airport duty free shops and took pictures with various World Cup related décors. I listened to HK radio stations through the computer.
Boarding gate was 8 for the Seattle flight, and the Boeing 777 was sparking new, but the load was pretty light this evening. As happening to most US bound flights, there was a secondary screening for every passenger. Prepared to open your bags – although the search was not as detailed as the US secondary screening, the agents were efficient, friendly, and most importantly, know some common sense – not overwhelmingly crazy but know what to look for. Once aboard, the seats used the same upholstery, but there were more gadgets. Electronic controls including a fully recline sleeping position and reset function, legrests, a large PTV (not interactive, but with enough audio, video, and game channels), separate headrests, personal snake lamps, 50inches of legroom… are all featured on the Boeing 777. As similar to other flights, pre-takeoff beverage, slippers, newspapers, “noise-canceling” headsets, and hot towels were passed out. The F/As were all female for this flight, and the English announcements were a bit better on this segment. Boarding began at 5:05pm, and the whole boarding process was completed at 5:35pm.
As I forgot to mention, the welcome announcements were performed in a special Asiana way. After the door was closed, the purser began the usual welcome PA and all the F/As were positioned at various spot, and all bowed at the passengers after the purser said, “Welcome to Asiana.” It was pretty cool and took place at each segment. Soon, we pushed back at 5:40pm and began a quick taxi to R/W33L. We took off at 5:51pm, and the flight plan was fairly typical, as we first climbed to 29,000ft. We took a Southwest course first, as we entered the Japanese airspace and then climbed further to 34,000ft. Then we passed by Tokyo, and then turned west into the Pacific Ocean and climbed to 35,000ft and directly headed towards Seattle. During the cross over the pond, we climbed further to 37,000ft. The pilot announced that our flying time was nine hours and twenty minutes, and during the cross over the Pacific Ocean, we hit a couple rough spots, and my friend, which was on his first “Cross the Pond” flight, found it a bit scary, but then he fell asleep again. After flying this trip with me, he was well qualified as a seasoned traveler.
The routine for dinner happened again… Here was the transcript!
Dinner
Selection of Canapés
Instead of macadamia nuts, a plate of canapé was offered with our choice of beverage. There were three kinds – shrimp on white bread, salmon & cream cheese on toast, and Parma ham with melon.
Appetizer
Smoked Chicken Slice, Salmon Terrine, Carpaccio Salad
Three pieces of chicken… an okay appetizer… can’t remember much… forgot to jog down the content
Mixed Green Salad
Chopped yellow, red, and green peppers, cucumbers, green lettuce, olive, and cherry tomato with L’Olivier French dressing with lemon Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinaigrette. Bread choices include garlic bread, soft roll, poppyseed rolls, and French bread.
Beef Tenderloin Steak served with Chanterelle Mushroom Sauce
Accompanied by Lyonnaise Potato, Broccoli and Chateau Carrot
Pretty good steak with the usual condiment tray
Or
Stir-fried Grouper
Served with Chinese Sweet & Sour Sauce, Presented with Steamed rice and sauteed spinach
Or
Bi Bim Bap
A tradition Korean rice dish with fresh vegetable and hot spicy sauce, served with Korean bean sprout soup
Fresh Fruit and Assorted Cheese
Camembert & Gouda cheese, with melon, apple, pear slices, and grapes, accompanied by a basket of crackers, carrot and celery sticks, and brown breads. Pretty extravagant… Good fruits.
Pistachio Mousse Cake Flavored with Raspberry sauce
Pretty good cake!
Lots of tea and coffee
After dinner and another round of hot towels, I went to sleep directly and the seats were extremely comfortable. As I mentioned, we hit a few rough spots over the ocean, but it was okay. Seasonal fruit, ramen, and cookies were offered as mid-flight snacks, but I did not order any of them. I was pretty full from two good meals. The F/As were pretty good, but compared to other Asian airlines, the F/As were not too active in filling passengers’ glasses with water, and I actually missed the water bottles that various airlines passed out after dinner these days. The call buttons were answered quickly and it would be nice to see F/As walking around.
Asiana did not have amenity kits for its J class passengers, but the bathroom was stocked with toothbrush sets, combs, and mouthwash packets. I was a bit disappointed, but seeing the price tag, I realize that OZ had to cut costs in some ways. I personally think SQ sets up a bad example and I can imagine seeing the US airlines following this particular trend, but the F/As will have to be more active in re-stocking items. Lights were soon turned on at 1:27am Seoul local time. Hot towels and a tray of juices were passed out first, followed by linen and the appetizer tray.
Breakfast
Orange Juice
Assorted Fresh Fruit
Melon, Pear, Apple wedges, kiwi, orange, and 2 large grapes – fruits are unbelievingly sweet and ripe.
Fruit Yogurt (Strawberry flavored)
Abalone Soup
A Famous Korean Style Hot Rice Gruel with Chopped Abalone and Pine Nuts, Served with Soy sauce and Side dish
Or
Pain Omelette
Topped with Ratatouille, presented with Veal sausage and Broccoli
Muffin (Blueberry), Croissant, Danish Roll (Cinnamon Rolls)
Served with Knott’s Berry Farm Strawberry jam and Butter
Pretty good breads…
Another round of tea and coffee finished the hot breakfast service, and hot towels were passed out once again. Descent began at 2:44am Seoul local time, and it was a pretty nice day at Seattle. We landed on R/W16R at 11:11am, and parked at gate S14 quickly. Surprisingly, there was no line at immigration, as we missed the UA morning flight and had yet to meet the Aeroflot and SAS flights. The bags came out at 11:30am, which was a record time, and the priority tags worked this time. However, I was unprepared for the nightmares to come. My friend was unfortunately chosen by the custom to get his bag flipped upside down. The only compensation was that a pretty cute Asian boy checked his bag and he could not find any forbidden objects. Then I realized that the bags had to put on a luggage belt again, which were to be claimed at the main terminal. Then we had to go through the security checkpoint, as we were technically re-entering the secure area, south satellite, and then we had to wait for the world’s slowest underground train system. The main terminal was chaos, as it was filled with cruise passengers and the weekend crowd. Fortunately, the bags came out quickly and we immediately headed to United to check in for our flights to Toronto. What a way to welcome Johnson into the USA.
UA 266 SEA-DEN Lv1345 Arr1714
Boeing 777-200 N225UA (I could only get the 2825 code in the nose…) “Spirit of United”
I am not going to write much about this flight, as it is a fairly typical domestic flight. The check in was efficient and the agent was extremely friendly and helpful. I was checked through to Toronto and got the boarding passes for the DEN-YYZ segment as well (AC operating flight). The security line was long, but the 1K card served the function. I was given the full secondary screening treatment and then the wait for the subway train was too long. The flight attendants on this flight were extremely good. The pre-takeoff beverage tray of OJ, water, and sparkling wine was passed around, and I noticed many employees on this flight, especially F class. We took off from Runway 16L at 2:13pm, and a snack plate including a warm bread roll with deli meats (2 slices of turkey, ham, and pastrami), red onions, pickles, mayonnaise, macaroni salad, and a piece of “Café De Paris” fancy sugar cookie. The meal was pretty good and the bread was warm. The meats were fresh, and I had my cranberry juice as my choice of beverage. There was no linen placed on the tray tables, and no hot towels as well. I missed the hot towel service, but the F/As made another beverage run before we began our descent to Denver. The landing was too bad, as pilots forewarned bumpy landing. Maybe I was used to it. Anyway, we touched down at 5:04pm.
AC 586 DEN-YYZ Lv1820 Arr2327
Airbus A320-200 C-GJTA with new interior but old configuration (not the modified and smaller J cabin)
United handled all the ground operations and the aircraft was sitting idle as we approached the gate, B46. As I could tell, the load was extremely light this evening, two of us occupied the three seats. The F/As had great smiles, but they were also pretty lazy and enjoyed sitting in the last row of Y after the so-called “snack” service. Boarding began at 5:57pm. And we pushed back at 6:17pm, with a takeoff time of 6:28pm. Flying time was a brief two hours and forty-four minutes, and we climbed up to 37,000ft.
The seats featured the ugly bright green seat upholstery with orange swirl patterns. It was not too good. J class seemed to have the new seats with legrest and headrest. Y seats had a legrest installed in the seat in front of you. The pitch seemed to be the same as before – 32”, still better than CO for sure. Unfortunately, we were seated at Row 14 with no recline function, so the flight was that comfortable.
Although I had no expectation on the AC meal service, I could not believe how AC could deteriorate so quickly. A couple years ago, this flight saw a dinner on tray service, and the change on the post-911 was too dramatic. It was a snack flight (but not the mini sandwiches’ boxes with pasta salad and cereal bar served on the old days on the East Coast-USA lunch and dinner flights). I sort of expect the United’s box lunches, which was pretty low. However, AC could go a step lower. Only a single sandwich was offered, and we had a choice of Turkey Pastrami or “Sante Fe Chicken” sandwich, which was described as “Breast of chicken, Santa Fe Sauce, Swiss Cheese on Multigrain Bread Roll.” The sandwich was okay, but looked more processed than UA sandwiches, as the wrapping suggested. Then the F/A pushed out the beverage cart – the only beverage cart service, and we were offered only a single glass of our choice of soft drink. Then the F/As passed out a pack of Yum Yum Chips to each passenger, followed by a single water service. The service was completed at 7:15pm and the F/As disappeared until the descent (they did not even bother to collect headsets). I found it unacceptable that the beverage cart did not make an appearance after the meal, and there was no tea or coffee service. The F/As were as lazy as they could be. I found AC to be extremely stingy. I do not think I am asking much for AC to automatically offer passengers a full can of soft drinks these days, especially with these newly “diet” meals and snacks. AC should at least have the courtesy to board more beverages, and even offer another full beverage service 45 minutes prior to arrival, like AA or CO. (Fortunately, we got another water service at 8:47pm.) During the mid-flight, I finally had to ask for a can of coke in the galley, as the chips were making me thirsty. I was fortunate to catch the J class F/A happened to be walking into the galley. The other two Y F/As were already on their breaks and reading magazines.
Soon the flights arrived on Toronto at 11:12pm at Runway 24R, and the airport was pretty quiet at these times. The bags came out pretty quickly because of the priority tags. Air Canada has reached a new low and I am getting more hesitant to fly AC, especially in Y. I think AA, CO, and UA can do a better job on these flights.
I am pretty exhausted now, and the second part will come out within the new few days.
Go! Korea!
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif