andrzej
Mar 8, 04, 9:09 pm
Friday FEB13 2004
The day is here. New worlds, new experiences and that is the highlight of this trip, but also, for any airplane enthusiast, this is a dream come true. 8 different planes on 3 different airlines. AA, CX, and BA (Regional) will fly me around on the following: MD80, 763, 346, 744, 732, 773, 334, 738. It will be a mix of F and J. Hope you enjoy this personal observation report, a report that will be centered around the flights, airports, airport clubs and the hotels. I may include a comment or 2 about some particular experiences along the way, but mostly this will be a true flights/hotels trip report. I don’t think I will do the detail menus, but if somebody wants to know, just e-mail. I do keep all the menus when flying. Come along for the ride. Enjoy!!!
Warning: I wrote this report as I traveled. Some of it is in past tense, some in present and some in future. If there are any mistakes, so be it. On many occasions I had a chance to write down my thoughts and observations right after, but many other times I had to wait hours or even days before I had a chance to report. Enjoy it for what it is, a personal journal, not a best selling novel.
TPA - As usual, the TPA TA was great. I had to re-ticket since I had some changes made on the original paper ticket issued. The TA was a little surprised about my routing, TPA-DFW-HKG-JNB, but it took her about 5 minutes to complete the task and issue all 4 BPs and check my suitcase to JNB. Security took another 10 minutes and I was having a drink at Chilies Bar in Terminal F in about 25 minutes total. Great AA ground crew (as always), and great airport. I love this place.
American Airlines Flight #569
TPA-DFW
Distance 929 miles
MD-80
First Class - Seat 3E
Scheduled:
Departure at 12:45pm
Arrival at 2:33pm
Actual:
Departure at 12:40pm
Arrival at 2:30pm
Boarded on time. Typical AA MD-80. Jackets were hung, but no pre-flight drinks offered. Uncharacteristic of TPA we were #5 in line and the control tower was doing one arrival, one departure, so it took about 20 minutes for take-off after leaving the gate. Service improved after take-off. Actually it was very attentive. Lunch was chicken or turkey (however it was served). I passed on it. The FA did come around every 15 minutes or so to re-fill the glasses or take a new order if needed. My seat partner ordered Champaign the first time out. He was not happy (no kidding), and he asked for red wine next. The FA served the glass and came back in 5 minutes to ask if it was satisfactory. Impressive for AA MD-80 service, considering that she didn’t have much to work with to begin with. Anyway, it looks like we will be on time at DFW.
DFW - Walked over to the C terminal lounge. We arrived at C4 and my connecting flight WAS suppose to be at C2. As all the experts know the AC lounge is at C20, but all in all not a bad setup. I had to ask for drink coupons, got 2. Bought a round for visiting US Army guys, and left about 35 minutes before the next flight.
American Airlines Flight #2459
DFW-LAX
Distance 1235 miles
Boeing 763
First - Seat 3D
Scheduled:
Departure at 4:20pm
Arrival at 5:35pm
Actual:
Departure at 4:45pm
Arrival at 5:45pm
Well, this is AA and it is DFW. The gate changed to A25. Flagged one of the golf carts. Took about 5 minutes. At the end it didn‘t make any difference, since the flight did not board till 20 minutes after scheduled boarding. Again, jackets hung, but no pre-flight drinks offered. Once up, the drink and dinner/supper orders were taken. I believe it was a choice between cheese pizza and ??? I don’t remember, sorry. I had the pizza and it was fine. My white wine glass got refilled all the time. Had some water as well. Tried to watch a movie on my laptop, but I fell asleep about ½ way there. Woke up and watched the last ½ hour and it was time for landing.
LAX -
AA Flagship Lounge/Admirals Lounges. Met PresRDC at AC and invited him over to the FL. We talked for about ½ hour till he had to leave to catch his flight. Very nice and QUIET lounge. There are about 5 guests at this moment. Had to ask for admission the first time in. The gate keeper looked at my CX F BP and my AA EP/OW Emerald card and still missed it. No big deal, but to others it may be. About 9:30pm walked over to the TB International. What a busy place at that time of the evening. Although AA checked me in all the way through, I did go to CX first desk and made sure everything was in order. The nice TA confirmed that CX did have my suitcase and also issued lounge invitations for LAX and HKG. The security line did look long but amazingly only took about 15 minutes to get through. Took the elevator to 5th floor where the majority if not all the lounges are. Some FT posts warned me about the CX lounge and recommended the BA/QF lounge. I walk in, pull out my CX F BP and my card and the agent tells me NO. She tells me that CX has a lounge and I should go there. I invoke the OneWorld rules and she finally gives in and tells me, go ahead but don’t expect any seats or quiet areas. I looked around and she was correct, so I kept on going. What I was little miffed about is the way she tried to get rid of me, claiming I’m not allowed to use the lounge/CX has a lounge, etc… If she just told me that they were full, it would have done the trick. Anyway, life goes on. Walked over to the CX lounge, and it was getting busy as well, but the gate keeper gave me a pass to the AirFrance lounge down the hall, explaining that it will be quiet and comfortable there. It was, although all the lounges in that building are nothing to scream about. Sat around for about 45 minutes when the call came for CX881 boarding.
Cathay Pacific Flight #881
LAX-HKG
Distance 7260 miles
Airbus346
First - Seat 1K
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:55pm
Arrival at 7:40am (Sunday 2/15)
Actual:
Departure at 12:00am
Arrival at 7:15am (Sunday 2/15)
The boarding was somewhat disappointing. They called first/business and elites to board. Well, in this case it was about ½ of the plane, and as we all know, it’s a HUGE plane. We were all sardined onto the bus and driven to the satellite gate. Once there we walked up the ramp and everything came to a halt. Stood there for about 20-25 minutes, till finally we started to board. It was a little chaotic at best. I do understand that is partly the fault of the airport and it’s 60’s or 70’s type set-up, but I believe that CX should have a separate van waiting for F and J paxs only and they should not start boarding till the plane is ready. It did not feel very special standing there with about 150 people with me being about the 100th person on the ramp. Did not get walked to the seat as reported here many times. No big deal, just details. The suite is all that and more. The CX Studio entertainment has everything available under the sun at any given moment. 29 movies, many TV shows, games, flight map, CX stuff, audio on demand as well as pre selected audio. Simply amazing. Menus were handed out and drinks offered. I ordered the soup and Penne Paste with mushrooms and tomato sauce. What I got, was the soup and Noodles in Soup with Wantan and Shui Gaw?. It was exceptionally good so I stuck with it. The FA came around 20 or so minutes later and started to apologize. I stopped her as I was enjoying the dish I got. It did make me think that a full fare F passenger may look at this mishap differently. Slept very comfortably on the full flat seat for about 4/5 hours. The pillow is nice size and the pajamas and duvet are just so fine. We’re about ½ way there. The flight is fine but not the exquisite service that I‘ve been hearing about. The ISM never came around, when ordering a drink, it seems like I’m asking for gold from the FA, but other than that I’m having a wonderfully relaxing time, or as good of a time as one could have on a 15+ hour flight. There were many mishaps though and I hope that’s not the way CX operates on other flights. As I always said, everybody could have a bad day, but when a pax is paying serious money for the F seat, the company has to make sure those kind of days don’t happen too often.
HKG - CX Wing/Pier F/J Lounges.
It was little confusing for this first timer at HKG in the early morning. I really wanted to take a nice bath and have breakfast in the Wing Lounge. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out what’s what, but finally found the train to gates 1-20 and after a short walk, the Wing Lounge. I immediately asked for a Cabana. Took a nice long hot bath, followed by a short refreshing cold shower,. Had a light breakfast, hooked up my laptop, checked e-mail. Sat around for about an hour, at which point I decided to catch the train to Hong Kong. After few hours of doing an investigative work on some purchases that I plan to make on the way back, I went back to the airport. AA in TPA printed all 4 BPs for me on AA stock. For some reason, the passport control officer had a problem with the BP, but after few minutes, he did let me through. My suggestion is to have CX print out new ones when the opportunity presents itself. I also had to explain the BP at the Duty-Free shop. Many of these folks never saw one or don’t even know who/what AA is. Everything worked out at the end and this time I decided to check out the Pier Lounge. It was much easier to find the lounge now, as the airport was becoming very easy to navigate at this point. As soon as I got there, I asked for one of the Daybreak Rooms. These are small private rooms with a nice comfy chair and ottoman and a flat screen TV with audio on demand as well. You could buzz for drink service and also set up an alarm clock. There is a switch to close the shade on the opaque window to make the room dark. No problem getting the room. Tried to watch some TV, but fell asleep. Slept like a baby in the seat. Woke up around 8pm, took a quick shower, had a nice light supper at the Heaven Restaurant. Went back to the J Lounge and sat and read some magazines at the Long Bar while enjoying some nice wine. Finally it was getting time to start walking to the gate. With my luck the gate was 39. It’s exactly in the middle between the train stations, so that option becomes useless. Walking or maybe requesting a cart are the only other 2 options as far as I know. I decided to walk as I wanted to get a bottle of booze to take with me from the Duty-Free. It was around 11pm at this time, and to my surprise many of the shops were closed or getting ready to close. Just a warning to others if you have a late night flight out of HKG, you may want to purchase that special gift earlier as it may not be possible later.
The CX lounges were all that and more. I was/still am very impressed. It made the long stay over in HKG very comfortable. I will get another chance to explore more of them in couple of weeks on my way back. Looking forward to have another few pleasant hours in either one. Also met another FTer. This time it was headinclouds, and this time I was the one to notice his tag. 2 FTers in as many days. Who knows who I’ll run into on the Safari?
Sunday FEB15 2004
Cathay Pacific Flight #749
HKG-JNB
Distance 6631 miles
Boeing 744
First - Seat 1A (ended up in 2K)
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:45pm
Arrival at 6:35am (Monday 2/16)
Actual:
Departure at 11:45pm
Arrival at 6:45am (Monday 2/16)
This time the boarding process was smoother. Walking through the front door I was greeted by the ISM and after seeing my 1A BP, she had one of the assistants walk me to the seat. Took few minutes to get organized, and since this was my first time on a CX 747 F, I looked around and decided to side with the folks that prefer 2 A/K over 1 A/K. The later seats are close to each other, whereas row 2 gives you nice space between the seats, and has more of a private feel. My opinion only and you don’t have to agree. Just as I was thinking about the seats a couple walks in and they had 1 and 2 K. Female partner tells her male partner to grab 1K and she’ll sit in 2 K. It look like he had the same ideas as me and he really wanted to sit in first row. At that moment I saw a great opportunity and offered to switch with her, make them happy and I would get the seat that from now I will prefer. They had a surprised look on their faces, as if I was giving them money or valuables. The kept on thanking me for some time, not realizing that maybe I should have thanked them. Anyway, everybody got what they wanted, but at the end it didn’t really matter. The cabin had 6 open seats, including the 4 in the middle, which for a couple would be even a better option IMHO, unless you want to get away from your partner for few hours. They did stay in row 1 and I stayed in 2K. I decided to take a short nap first, so told the FA to serve supper in about 4 hours. Had a short 2 hour nap, woke up, watched a movie and exactly 4 hours later, the FA appeared, asking if I’m ready. That’s what I call service. Fabulous meal presentation with some nice wines. Watched another movie after supper, and now I’m writing this flight’s report. We have about 4 hours to go. This one was a great improvement over the first flight, but still some questions. Nothing significant, but few hiccups. The FAs are very attentive without being intrusive. I have this “theory” that maybe they have little cameras installed next to video screens so they could see your face and they could tell if you’re in need of something. Before anybody takes this seriously, stop now, I really don’t believe that, but it does feel like it. This 747 has AVOD, which again, on a long journey like this, makes all the difference in the world.
If anybody is questioning my sleep patterns, you have to remember I have not been in a real bed since Friday morning. I believe it’s Sunday evening back at home now and early Monday morning at the destination. As comfortable as the flatbeds and the lounges are, and I did get some sound sleep for few hours here and there, it still takes a toll on your body. My inner clock has to be totally confused by now, but I really don’t feel bad, it’s just that I get these urges to catch short naps here and there. CX makes it very possible and very comfortable, or as comfortable as planes and airports could make it. I can’t imagine making this trip sitting in the back of the bus and no lounge access.
JNB
Hilton Sandton
Check-in 2/16
Check-out 2/17
After a looong taxi drive from JNB (traffic in the morning appears to be a total joke), I arrived at what seems to be a little sanctuary, or is it just me looking for a real bed? Anyway it was around 9:15am when I walked in and within 10 minutes I was going up to the Executive Level room without asking for it and HHonors paying for it. I’m only Gold and this is an award stay. The young lady at the front desk had a hard time reading my Hilton.Com printout of the res at first, but it seemed like her eyes opened wide when she finally pulled up the res. Like I said, I’m only Gold and in most cases I do get treated nice, but she seemed to be extra impressed with my status. I could only hope that rest of the trip is exactly like this. Got a room on the top floor. The Lounge looks wonderful, but I’m just not in the mood to go for breakfast now, although I could. I did walk in there to ask the Executive Lounge Manger. to confirm my BA(Regional) flight tomorrow. For now I will reserve my comments to the room itself. A very nice size room with all the amenities one would expect, except, internet connection seems to be a problem. I don’t think it’s only a Hilton problem, I believe the country is still little behind. The only thing Hilton is offering in the rooms is dial-up with charges for calls, and when I investigated further, I found the same to be true every other place. I called the Business Center, and was told that they do offer Internet computers, but first you have to pay for their access (not much), but more importantly, the phone charges as well. I could do the same in my room. Later on, I will try little harder to locate an internet café. Anyway, back to the room. Very nice. The bathroom is good size, with glassed door shower, separate tub, and all the amenities. The room has a safe, mini-bar, nice little bar area, TV loaded with some free stations and pay-per-view. On the negative side, I did request a King got 2 doubles and no view to speak of , but no complains, since I did get Executive floor and VERY early check-in, I’ll take free drinks and breakfast over a view anytime, especially on a 1 night stay.
Tuesday FEB17 2004
BA JNB Lounge - The lounge is nice, but unfortunately my flight is late. Initially 2 hours late, but turned into almost a 4 hour delay. It‘s a regular Terraces Lounge. It has the same furniture and set up. Sitting here and no place to go. 2 computers with 56K dial up connection. I will never ***** about any Internet connection in hotels and airports after trying this one. Still, better than nothing I suppose.
British Airways (op by Regional Air)
JNB-NBO
Distance 1802 miles
Boeing 732
Business - Seat 4A
Scheduled:
Departure at 12:15pm
Arrival at 5:30pm
Actual:
Departure at 4:00pm
Arrival at 8:05pm
We started to board around 3pm. We did not actually depart till 4pm. The J seats on this Regional airline remind me of AA 757 F, but about 20 years older. It has 8 seats total. 2x2 in 2 rows. The Y was 2/3 empty and we had 4 in J with 2 being non-rev(2 pilots going home from training in JNB. The chief of Regional Air pilots was sitting in the back because he had his wife and 3 kids with him. This made it an interesting flight. The cockpit door was open most of the time. The chief, and the working pilots were talking for a very long time while flying. Out of the 2 pilots sitting in J with me, one was a beautiful young lady and the other was a very friendly and drunk older guy. I LOVE to drink, and I’m on vacation, buy this guy out performed me on this 4 hour flight. They were white Kenyans, and they let me know that, as if I couldn’t tell they were white. I really don’t know the protocol around this part of the world, so I’m just reporting what I was told. I thought it was kind of weird that they had to say that, but other than that, they made a possible loooong 4 hour flight into an entertaining one. Smooth flight on this OLD 737-200. There was a dinner, but I passed as I ate in JNB, but it did look delicious and plenty of it. My initial reaction was somewhat reserved. After boarding, my first thought was “what the hell was I thinking?”, but that was all forgotten after the very friendly and professional service by the beautiful FAs and a very smooth flight. I was also told by my new friends that 2 out of the 3 planes RA owns, have the 767 type J seats. I will find out if I should visit a casino after my return flight next Monday. 2 out of 3, so, if I don’t get the 767 style seats, I will be staying out of the casinos in J’burg. We landed around 8pm
NBO - Quiet, almost deserted, but it did make for a quick exit. Paid the $50 visa fee, and walked through customs, BUT customs were stopping many people, in fact the guy in front of me and about 3 others were opening their suitcases as I walked by. There were about 5 customs officers, 4 doing the actual checking and 1 tough, big lady questioning and pulling people from my flight to the side. Somehow, I picked the right moment to walk by her. I was met by a driver arranged by HHonors. I was surprised, because I thought it will be my safari driver, but it was a regular limo driver with a newer model MB. It took about 20 minutes or so to get to the hotel.
Wednesday FEB17 2004
Nairobi Hilton
Check-in 12/17
Check-out 12/18
I was little drunk (read above) and tired at this time. All I wanted was to get to my room, take a shower and sleep. To my surprise I did get the 2 room suite mentioned by others doing the same award trip. I guess the 250K HHonors points is worth something. The suite on 16th floor had 2 bathrooms, a living room with couch and 2 seats with a dining area with a table for 4, and a separate bedroom. The suite did look a little tired, but very roomy and comfortable. Too bad I did not get to enjoy it more as I did take a quick shower and passed out almost immediately after. Woke up very early. Went downstairs to the Travelers restaurant for my free breakfast at 6:30am since the Exec lounge was not opened yet. Nice buffet spread. I did catch up on my food intake and proceeded to the front desk. As I was about to ask what the deal was, I saw a van pull up to the front door with a safari-something? sign on the side. It turned out to be my driver, David, for the 4 night safari at the Salt Lick Lodge.
Thursday FEB18 2004
Salt Lick Lodge
Check-in 12/18
Check-out 12/22
The drive is looong and tiring. We left at about 7:15am and arrived at the lodge around 1pm. The roads varied from 1st class smooth 2 lane highways to VERY rough, 3rd world dirt roads. No ice to be found anywhere. We stopped at 2 very nicely equipped gas stations with mini-marts and still no ice for our cooler. At that point I realized that I should just forget about ice till I get back to Nairobi on Sunday. Finally arrived and checked-in. The room is bare but it does have adequate furnishings and facilities, and also A GREAT VIEW OF THE water hole. No A/C, not that I expected it, just reporting, and I just confirmed that for the next few days, no ice. The lodge is sufficient, but for a city guy, it takes some getting use to. Buffet breakfast with eggs cooked to order, menu lunch and dinner. The meals are surprisingly good to very good, but be prepared for Kenyan cuisine only. No burgers around here. GREAT soups. The problem is drinks, and that includes water. It’s not like you could drive to a local mini-mart and the lodge knows it. It’s pretty much around $2.50-3.00 for water or beer. Wine and cocktails are more. At the minimum for me, it’s 2 bottles of water and at least 3-4 beers per day. It’s about $20 per day per person for liquids. Planning on bringing your own? No ice, remember? The beers and water will be very warm within few hours. No big deal, just part of the experience.
On the plus side. Within an hour I saw a family of elephants walking down from the hills to get water. There are 2 water holes about 100 yards out from the property and one right under the open air restaurant. 3 of the elephants stayed at one of the away water holes, while the other 3 came right up to the property. I was snapping pictures of these 3 giants, standing just few feet away. There were many antelopes, zebras and wildebeests out on the plain throughout the day. It was interesting to watch them try to stay in the shade. They would follow the shade of the trees. I guess they can’t afford suntan lotion. I chose not to do a game drive last evening, after the grueling 6 hour drive from Nairobi, but I will hit the trails this morning. More to come. Wednesday morning, had a nice breakfast and went on my first game drive. We left little late, at 7:30am, but we still had many good sightings. Buffalos, gazelles, antelopes, jackal, giraffes, wildebeests, ostriches, and finally a pair of lions, although they were about 200 yards away, I was able to get couple of quick shots before they disappeared into the bush. We drove around for about 3.5 hours. I believe we did good on the first day. I will skip the afternoon drive and sign up for the night drive. Hopefully I will get to see the predators in action. According to the naturalist, that’s the best time to possibly witness the big game moving around. We’ll see. The night drive was cancelled due to lack of interest. Gave me a chance to really kick back and do some reading. This morning we got an early start. We left the lodge around 6:30am. It was very foggy. For about 1 hour we did not see anything, but then amazingly we saw the outline of a very tall giraffe in the distance, and from that point on the day just got better and better, till finally my guide saw 2 lions sitting on the ground with just their head above the tall grass. We stopped and I started snapping pictures. One of the lions lost interest in us almost immediately She disappeared into the tall grass, which made me think she went back to sleep. The other one was looking around, but again not moving, and no plans to in the near future. After few pictures we left and made our way to the lodge for breakfast. We left again around 10am, and this was the best yet. We tracked 3 lions, a big male with 2 females. The male just loved posing, while the females hid in the bush within minutes of our arrival. This time I got tons of full body pictures and even a short video that my amateur digital camera allows.
So far I have seen 3 out of the 5 big ones. Not bad for a first timer on his second full day. Elephants, buffalos, and lions. Will not get to see the rhino, as there are no reports of any in the park, but we’re still looking for leopards and cheetahs. Many species of antelopes, gazelles, wildebeests, baboons, giraffes, zebras, some other monkeys, monitor lizard, many species of birds and probably others that I can’t remember at this moment.
Just when I thought everything was fine, well, as fine as it could be in the middle of nowhere, my ceiling fan in the room came crashing down. It was a little shocker, as I was just about to take an afternoon nap, but hey, **** happens, right? You have to understand that in the middle of the day, the room gets extremely hot during the day. The only thing that’s saving it, is the ceiling fan. I climbed out of the netted bed , dressed and went to the front desk to report the problem. To their credit, there was a knock on my door in less than 10 minutes. 2 guys came in and looked around, shook their head, talk to each other in local lingo, collected the broken pieces, told me they will fix it and left. About 30 minutes later, still no sign of anybody and at this point the room is getting unbearably hot. Decided to walk to the front desk again and ask if it’s possible to “use” a different room for whatever amount of time it will take to fix the fan in my room. I got this look as if I was asking for the young ladies mother or something. I got the message that no room will be given for now. The place is ¾ empty. They are only using 1 wing, so what’s the problem? I don’t know, but here I’m sitting in the restaurant and typing away this little story. It’s very much cooler in here.
I was just informed (it’s about another 30 minutes), that YES, I could get a room to relax, while the ceiling fan is being fixed. All is well that ends well. I want everybody reading this report to know I’m NOT the complaining type but the situation in this case needed immediate action on the hotel part, because it’s impossible to relax in a room that’s about 100DEG. as soon as the only cooling possibility is out of action. I’m scheduled for an afternoon drive in less than an hour now, and I was hoping to catch a 2 hour nap after a wonderful lunch. Ok, I will try again, even an hour is better than nothing. See Ya!!!
Took the last morning drive with David. Right outside the lodge, we ran into 2 male lions with 2 females and 2 cubs. It was the most amazing sight. The lions were very shy, I imagine that’s to do with having the cubs around. On the other hand, the cubs were very curious and really wanted to check us out. Only because of one of the male lions we did not get a closer look at the innocent looking cubs. Ran into a group of about 50 elephants, some more giraffes, as well as assorted other animals. I will finally get a chance to do a night drive. Tomorrow morning we will do the 6 hour drive to Nairobi. I can’t hardly wait, but it has to be done. One more night at the Nairobi Hilton, and South Africa, here I come.
My final thoughts on this place. If I had another chance, I would do no more than 3 nights here and move on to a different park. I truly believe that’s sufficient for any park, unless it’s during migration season when one gets to see lots of action. Thank God I had some movies downloaded on my laptop from www.movielink.com, (http://www.movielink.com,) as that allowed me to enjoy an hour or 2 of entertainment after 9-10 pm when everybody disappears into their rooms. No TV, no newspapers, no telephones to speak of. It is very relaxing, but it’s so hard to just give up everything in one day. Looking forward to my return to civilization on Sunday, although I did have a wonderful time. The only problem? The drive back…….
As much as I may seemed like *****ing and moaning, the honest truth is that sitting here on the last evening I realized what a wonderful place this is. The people are extremely helpful, nice, sincere. The scenery is always changing, and the peacefulness grows on you. And I believe with little more time even this city boy could get use to staying here for a longer time. I’m still scheduled for a night drive after supper tonight, so I’m hoping to experience something new and exciting again. What I have learned on these game drives, is that you have to be vary patient. There could be a span of time that you will see nothing but few common birds and maybe some antelopes (hear the game expert in that sentence). But then, what seems to be out of nowhere, you come upon a family of lions, 2 bull elephants fighting for dominance, another deciding to charge at your car, eagles snatching little critters off the ground, etc… I could very easily see how one could get addicted to this. In some amateurish way, on the second and third day of the drives I felt like a great hunter in the old days. I‘m not sure if the guide just let me ‘spot‘ some animals first, but I did. Every photo I got felt like a kill on the great plains of Africa. I have to admit that I, like many people I’m sure, envisioned Africa the way that PBS programs wanted us to, but now I realize that it’s no different than a bear hunter here back at home. It is not a 5 minute track. In all probability it takes hours and even days. I witnessed lions with cubs just few hundred yards away from different game, but I also witnessed the game being very much aware of the lions in their midst and not one was very worried about them. I’m sure the kill comes quick and unexpected, but from what I’ve learned it does not happen every minute/hour or even day. When it does happen, it’s a great feast and in some ways a trophy as well as survival for the predator, which makes this natural world so much like ours, but for some reason, seems healthier and more fair. It was a great learning experience and I will recommend this to everybody.
Sunday FEB22 2004
Nairobi Hilton
Check-in 2/22
Check-out 2/23
Another great surprise. Checking in I was given room 809. Since my first suite few days earlier was on the 16th floor, I just assumed I was getting a regular room for the last night of the package. You should have seen my face when I saw the front door to the suite, “The Presidential Suite”. It was twice the size of the one I had on my first night. Bedroom, sitting room, living room, reception room and dining room with a wet bar. I’m happy to report that Randy Peterson stayed there as well. The guest book on the secretary’s desk was full of known and not so known people. Now it has my name in it as well. I’ll have to say the Hilton package is well worth the 250K points. You do get treated like a royalty throughout the whole stay. The Lodge is missing some of the modern amenities, but makes up for it in experience, the drive to and from is grueling, and the Nairobi Hilton, although somewhat tired looking, does take care of you in the best possible way. If you are looking for some different experience, do this package.
Monday FEB23 2004
British Airways (op by Regional Air)
NBO-JNB
Distance 1802 miles
Boeing 732
Business - Seat 2A
Scheduled:
Departure at 8:00am
Arrival at 11:15 am
Actual:
Departure at 8:20am
Arrival at 11:25am
The Nairobi airport security is a total joke. I’m surprised that nothing has happened here just yet. My flight out was scheduled at 8am, so I arrived at the airport from the Hilton, by a chauffeured Benz, at around 6am. There was a big line outside, consisting of what seemed like a huge family/tribe (the whole group had similar traits, they were all very skinny, and extremely tall, as well as very good looking in the exotic type way, the females all looked very much like the supermodel Iman, so that‘s why I wasn‘t sure if this was a huge family, or maybe just from the same tribe) . As I was just about ready to get behind them, to get through the security at the front door, a young lady with a security jacket grabbed me and walked me to the front of the line. I threw my suitcase and hand luggage on the scanner belt, but I don’t know if there was any need for that. NOBODY was watching the monitor. Walked right through the metal scanner, with some personal jewelry, coins, etc. without any beeps. Collected my luggage and proceeded to the BA/Regional Air First Class check-in. The desks were not opened just yet, so as I stood there I looked around, and saw the same family/tribe (around 40 people) being put through a separate BA security check. They had to open their suitcases, and I mean all of them. I thought that maybe I should do the same, so I asked, because every suitcase that was checked got a BA security check sticker attached to it, but the man in charge told me not to worry about. At this time I started to think that it may be a racial thing again. I did notice it throughout the trip and the only explanation I have up to this point is that it must be. I was able to walk through many checkpoints and security checks in Africa, while black pax/customers had to endure all the nasty stuff. It got me thinking that a white man could easily blow up the hotels/airplanes if that’s the criteria used around here. Enough about that. So, I check in, and when I ask about lounge access, I’m told that the BA Lounge is not opened yet, but I’m welcomed to use the Kenya Air Lounge. The lounge is located past the passport check. It’s nothing special, but it does have an open bar, one computer with internet access, no food to speak of, many papers and magazines. Hung out for about an hour, and it was time to board my BA/Regional Air flight back to J’Burg. This time I did get a nicer plane. The seats up front were the AA 767 type, but with only about 45” pitch. The flight seemed to be on time, but the same family/tribe that I talked about earlier were missing. They finally located them by 8am and since everybody does go through secondary personal luggage security check at the gate, it took some time to get them through. One other security feature, all the checked luggage was lined up in front of the plane so, as we were walking to board the plane we had to identify our suitcase before they would put it on the plane. The flight was uneventful, nice service, and the same drunk pilot that I chatted with on the way out (he was not drunk today), was flying the plane. I actually go to sit in the cockpit for the takeoff. It was a new experience. The cockpit door was opened for most of the flight again. Much better comfort on this flight.
Hilton Sandton
Check-in 2/23
Check-out 2/26
I was told at the front desk to go up to the executive club to check-in. Once again, on this award stay, I was given a full access executive floor room. Better view this time and a nice stay. It is a VERY nice Hilton, with one little problem. From the different windows you could see the side of the walls of the four wings. At first I thought it was a designed feature, but soon I realized that it was not. There are cracks in the walls all over. Looks to me like a huge structural problem. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the hotel will fall down any time soon, but it does look like they got screwed by the builders. Nice lounge with great breakfast spread as well as cooked to order eggs. Free bar from 11am till 10pm. Afternoon tea and finger food. Very close to some nice nightlife. The Blues Room is just across the street at the Village Walk which has many great restaurants and some other nightclubs as well. Had a great time there. The Sandton City and the Square (a shopping center) is also just a walking distance, but the hotel does have a shuttle every ½ hour. The only problem with J’Burg is the crime problem. It is real and it’s not something that could or should be taken lightly. There are actual street signs that warn of carjacking areas, and there are a great number of muggings done by guys with weapons. From what I have been reading, if you do give up your stuff when it happens, you will live, but the criminals have been known to use the weapons when the victim resists. The reason I mention this is that if you want to look around the city, it will cost you dearly. I’m not even sure what the public transportation situation is like, but I will just assume that’s not for the tourist to use anyway. To take taxis here for any significant distance will be expensive. Renting a car is a possibility, but what if you take the wrong turn? Again, I’m not the scary type, but after everybody at the hotel tells you over and over that is not even safe to walk across the street, you start to think. When leaving the airport car park, the driver is required to stop, shut-off the car in front of the security guys that have a spiked chain across the exit lane and only then is allowed to start and leave. That’s to prevent stealing cars at the airport, so imagine what’s going on in the city. I did walk to the Blues Room and back and nothing happened, but the thought is there after everybody warns you, especially in the evening,. The choices from the airport to the Hilton are as follows: MagicBus at R$95 per, taxi about R$225 and a private car, usually a BMW or a MB for about R$300. It is about a 45min to an hour drive in the taxi/private car. Today the R$ is trading at about R$6.5 to US$1. So even the Shuttle will cost around $15 each way and it does stop at few other hotels on the way so it takes about an hour to hour and ½, depending on the traffic, which could be really bad at some times of the day. I did the Soweto tour, and supposedly some of the money goes to help the people living there, but I felt somewhat awkward looking in on peoples lives. This could very well just be me, but I was glad when we started to head back to the hotel.
Thursday 2/26 2004
CX JNB Lounge - During check-in I get to meet another FT regular, YYZC2. He is also flying up front. We both check-in, go through passport control and then decide to try a different lounge besides the one we were invited to use, BA. We both have read here that the SA Lounge is a very nice one. CX has it listed on their web site as the lounge that F and J passengers could use in Johannesburg. We walk in, but it's a no go. YYZC2 tries a little diffrent approach. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Tries to tell the gate keeper that possibly there will be some serious business shifted to SA and it's partners in the near future, so if it's possible, can we at least just take a quick look and a tour of the lounge. Again a friendly but stern NO! realizing that nothing will work with this gatekeeper we walk over to the ONLY lounge we both could use when flying out on CX, the BA Terraces. For some odd reason I forgot that I just used the same lounge few days earlier. That's the one with the slowest, if any internet connection. We hang out for couple of hours. Finally it was time to board.
Cathay Pacific Flight #748
JNB-HKG
Distance 6631 miles
Boeing 744
First - Seat 2A
Scheduled:
Departure at 1:10pm
Arrival at 7:40am (Friday 2/27)
Actual:
Departure at 1:20pm
Arrival at 7:10am (Friday 2/27)
This was by far the best CX F experience for me. The crew was very accommodating and so warm. Everything was done with a big smile. The flight itself was very uneventful. As soon as we took off I changed into my PJs, and started to watch a movie. Lunch/dinner was served about 2 hours into the flight. An hour later I took off into my own little dream land. Woke up about 3 hours before landing. Had one more cocktail, watched another movie and it was time for breakfast. I’m happy to report that eggs cooked to order are still available on CX. As you may remember from my earlier reports, they were not available on the outbound flights. At that time I did not know if his was across the board, of if I just got stuck with 2 bad flights. Great flight, if for no other reason, it is the fact that after 12 hours in the air you don’t feel like you have been flying. Totally rested, I walked off the plane and decided that is the way to travel on long distance flights. Walked over to the Wing lounge for about an hour. Took a nice bath, e-mailed and I was ready to experience the CX J on a local route (HKG-SIN).
Friday FEB27 2004
Cathay Pacific Flight #735
HKG-SIN
Distance 1588 miles
Boeing773
Business - Seat 14K
Scheduled:
Departure at 9:25am
Arrival at 12:45pm
Actual:
Departure at 9:30am
Arrival at 1:10pm
This was kind of disappointing. The service actually sucked IMHO. The FAs served brunch, and basically disappeared into the galleys for the rest of the flight. Originally I had 14K on this 772, but the first middle row was wide open so I moved there as soon as they closed the door. I had a full view of the galley throughout the flight. After brunch, the FAs all came to the front, pulled the curtain and were having a little party there for about 2 hours. If one needed a drink or whatever you had to ring, as not one came around to check on the paxs. The entertainment was basic just like AA. What I mean is that it ran many of the same movies that were available on the long hauls but it was not on demand. The movies started about 30 minutes into the flight.
There was something else that I need to report about. In JNB checking-in yesterday. I wanted to route my luggage as well as get my BP for the HKG-SIN flight. The HKG-SIN was a separate electronic ticket. I was told that they can’t do that in JNB. They only checked my luggage and gave me a BP to HKG. I thought it was kind of odd. Anyway, once I got to HKG, CX shined again. Walked over to the transfer desk and the gentleman informed me that I will not have to do anything. CX will collect and transfer my luggage to the new flight. It worked great. It is strange for the same airline not able to check you in all the way through,.
SIN - I really did not pay attention too much. It does seem like a nice place, but, and maybe I just did not see the right ways, there are some instances that you need to go up or down regular stairs to get to MRT (train), and when you have heavy luggage, it’s not a pleasant experience. Again, maybe I just missed the “other” ways, but I will have another shot on Sunday so I will report little more.
Singapore Conrad
Check-in 2/27
Check-out 2/29
Did not get the executive floor. I did not ask, but I was told that under “normal” circumstances they would upgrade me (I’m Gold and this is an award stay), but they were full??? Maybe it’s true, maybe not, but the room I did get is nice enough for the 2 nights stay. Good size, with a king size bed, a nice desk, high speed internet (for about SIN$28 per day), and a nice bathroom but it did have some mildew(?), not the usual for a Conrad. I was told I will get free breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. I really don’t care too much as I’m only here for 2 nights. Hopefully The HKG Conrad will treat me better. I will report more on this place after my stay. Time to hit the town. Part 2 of the SIN Conrad report. As soon as I got settled in, I did go on-line and checked Executive rooms availability. They were BSing, as rooms were available for both nights. Oh well, so be it. I could have gone back to the desk or up to the lounge, but decided not to. I’m only here for 2 nights and I did get breakfast, so I will let it go for now. What irks me, is not the fact that I did not get upgraded when there is availability, but the fact that they make the front desk staff lie to their guests. There is no guarantee of an upgrade to Executive floor for Golds, as far as I know, so why not just leave it alone and offer breakfast? Why tell me that they would if they could, when they could but didn’t? Anyway, the hotel is a typical, very rich looking Conrad. The service is nice enough, but not what I would call very warm and friendly. Good location, but so is just about anything in central Singapore.
edited to add the following - Another minus for this property. All the other stays were posted to my HHonors account. The Nairobi Hilton, the Sandton Hilton and The Hong Kong Conrad 7 night stay which was after the SIN stay posted couple of days ago. I e-mailed the SIN Conrad 2 days ago and still no reply.
Sunday FEB29 2004
CX SIN Lounge - Nice place, nothing like the flagship lounges in HKG, but still very relaxing and enjoyable for about an hour or 2 at most. 2 internet stations as well as wireless, but the later has a charge. I think it was S$6 for 30 minutes. I decided against it and just used the free machines. Had a snack and it was just about the time to walk over to gate. With my luck it was the last gate in Terminal 1, gate 49D. There was no announcement at the lounge, so basically you had to pay attention to the time. Also most people there where on the same morning flight to HKG, so place started to empty up around 9:50am.
Cathay Pacific Flight #736
SIN-HKG
Distance 1588 miles
Airbus334
Business - Seat 15A (changed to 12D so I would have both seats to myself)
Scheduled:
Departure at 10:25am
Arrival at 2:15pm
Actual:
Departure at 10:35am
Arrival at 2:20pm
WOW, what a difference in service on this flight, compared to the outbound to SIN. Great service with a smile throughout the entire flight. The ISM came with a short list and personally greeted all the OW Emeralds and I guess the top AsiaMiles paxs as well. Very nice touch. The plane had the same entertainment option as the 777 on the outbound. Good selection but not on demand. This is what one expects when flying up front on CX, but I guess not all CX flights are made equal. This one together with the one from JNB to HKG were by far the most enjoyable and top notch service, while the LAX-HKG and the HKG-SIN were totally not what CX is suppose to be. The HKG-JNB was above average, but still not top shelf. I will do one more segment, so we will see. Again, if somebody wants to know the menu, please contact me.
Hong Kong Conrad
Check-in 2/29
Check-out 3/7
Different Conrad and a totally different treatment. Walked in around 2pm, my luggage grabbed without me knowing where it went. Greeted at the front desk with a huge smile. After few punches on the keyboard, I was told to follow the young lady to the elevator to the 59th floor Executive Lounge to check in. The young lady came around the desk and led me to the elevator. She joined me in the lift and started to explain some of the features of the hotel on the way up to the lounge. As soon as we stepped off the lift, we were greeted by another young lady who basically took over. She led me to the lounge where the paper work was all set for me to sign. As I was looking for my reading glasses, she politely asked if I perhaps would like something to drink. I swear, as soon as I said a glass of Champaign, the waiter came running around the corner with a Champaign flute full of some fine liquid. I signed the papers and I was asked if possibly I wanted to finish the drink and enjoy the view from the lounge (FABULOUS view of the Kowloon side), or if I did want to retire to my room. I did want to get into the room to take a refreshing shower, so the young lady noticing that I had my computer case and some duty free purchases with me, grabbed my glass and asked me to follow. As my room was on the 58th floor, I thought we had to take the lift, but nooooo! There is a circular marble staircase leading directly from the lounge to the floor below. Short walk later we entered the room that for the next week will be my home. Very nice, and better equipped than the SIN Conrad. To top it off, a great harbor view. Beautiful marble tiled bathroom with a separate glassed shower and an oversized deep tub. A separate little room with a toilet. 2 sinks. The room has a huge closet, TV stand, a beautiful desk and a separate smaller one with a full featured FAX machine. High speed internet if you have your laptop. It’s HK$120 per day (about US$15). The only problem is that it’s on a 12pm-12pm clock not a 24 hour depending on when you started. Can’t have everything. King sized bed with the most luxurious pillows, duvet and sheets I’ve ever had in any hotel. 2 nightstands with light controls for the entire room. There is also a nice high chair with an ottoman and a side glass table, on which I found a welcoming letter from the manager with a fruit plate (2 oranges yesterday and 2 apples today) and a small basket of luxury chocolates, which gets replenished every day as well. I forgot to mention a small bar area with a mini-bar (not used very much because of the free bar upstairs). The full wall window with the view is just out of this world. I almost forgot to mention the little Conrad teddy bear and a rubber ducky that will be joining the other pair from the SIN Conrad in my luggage. I refuse to give the teddy bears away, although I had some lady friends beg me for the Bangkok Conrad Teddy Bear. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember the Bangkok bear to be somewhat bigger than these two, but nevertheless these two will be joining the lonely one at home soon. So far it’s a great stay. This is my first full day, so I will report some more, but at this at time I will say this. The SIN Conrad should learn few tricks from the HKG Conrad. Oh BTW, the way the Bell boys knows about your luggage is by your airline tag. It was delivered as the young lady was explaining some of the features of the room. Just brilliant. So far 10 out of 10 possible points for the HKG Conrad. The location is great as well. The hotel sits on top of the Pacific Place Shopping mall which is connected to the MTR Admiralty subway station. I could go straight from my room on the 58th floor to the subway station just by taking the lift down to the mall, taking another lift down to the main floor of the mall and finally taking the escalator to the station. I could be anywhere in HKG in minutes and not even know what the weather is like till I get to the destination.
I was just informed that if I don’t mind, the staff will move me to a suite on Friday for the last 2 nights. I really wanted to tell them that I do mind, but since I’m not paying for it I decided to cooperate. WOULD I MIND? Are they crazy? Will report on the suite later.
Having a great time in Hong Kong. Did all the required markets. The Stanley Market bus ride is an experience in itself. After about the 3rd or 4th outdoor market , I realized that they’re all are pretty much the same. Some may have more electronics, some may have little more clothes, but overall after the 25th stall in each one, they start to look the same. The high end malls are just packed with designer boutiques. The streets are packed with stores with anything from cheap stuff to very expensive jewelry and watches and electronics and everything in between plus many streets also have stalls in front of the storefronts as well as many alleys have miniature outdoor markets. To be honest with you, I really don’t know who buys all this stuff. The population of this city seems to be split into 2 groups between the sellers and the buyers. Every shopping area is busy throughout the whole day. I’ve never seen anything like this. It does seem like the buyers never work, but basically it’s just a congested city that must seem like ant farm from above. It’s a city full of life and it is truly the freest economy in the world. Singapore has many of the same shopping opportunities, but the street vendors are nowhere near the numbers of HK. Here it seems like anybody anywhere could set up shop. As long as you have something to sell, you are allowed to go for it. The restaurants are plentiful as well. Anything from a back alley little dive that surprisingly serves a mean dish for next to nothing to a very expensive and extremely good top shelf places. Throughout the week I had some outstanding Thai, Nepalese, Chinese, Russian, Mexican and a good ‘ole American steak at Morton’s of Chicago. The transportation is very cheap and easy to use. My problem with any new city has always been the bus system. It usually takes me few days to get the “feel” for it. Not here. I was hopping on and off different bus routes on the very same day. The subways are always easy, but they do get tiresome and boring, unless you just want to get to the destination as quickly as possible. The old trams on the Hong Kong side are very cheap way to take a basic tour of the island. You could also get some nice shots of the city while sitting on top The Star ferry is best in the evening when the whole Hong Kong side comes alive in the magical light show. It only lasts for about 20 minutes and it starts at 8pm, but worth every minute of it. Last evening was magical as we were sitting on the Star ferry taking some pictures of the HK side and the light show, a cruise ship was leaving the harbor all lit up and playing some music, which added to the whole experience. The night life is just as great. Anything from quiet neighborhood bars to very chic and almost impossible to get into nightclubs. There is also a lot of history here as well. Great museums that will help you relive some of the history. Great art museums as well as art galleries. It’s an exiting, vibrant, very safe city that I recommend to anybody at least once in their lifetime. It has something for everybody, and enough of it to satisfy anybody for some time.
I was moved around noon Friday to what amounts to be a bigger room with a nice view of the Kowloon side. I wouldn’t exactly call this a suite, but it is nicer than the regular room. It does have a dining room table with 4 chairs with a nice wet bar. That’s about the only difference. Since the bell boy did all the moving I didn’t mind, but I’m not sure I would have moved if I had to do all the work. I had a better view of the harbor in the regular room. Anyway, no big deal. Still it’s a marvelous stay. The lounge is wonderful. The hotel is just superb with outstanding service. Today (Saturday) is my last full day, so I will try to enjoy the city to the fullest. Tomorrow I do have a late check-out (8pm), so I still have a nice day to look forward to, but without the nightlife. Today is what I like to call the final blowout day. Taste some more local food, maybe do some little last minute shopping and get stupid in the evening,. I’ve met some wonderful people, made new friends for life, and had a romantic dinner with a beautiful native. She promised to show me some spots that the usual tourist doesn’t get to see, especially during their first visit. Wonderful week long stay in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Great people, great food, great hotel, great shopping, great this, great that, etc………… Thank You Hong Kong!
Sunday MAR7 2004
CX Wing/Pier F/J Lounges - Nothing new here. They are just wonderful.
Cathay Pacific Flight #880
HKG-LAX
Distance 7260 miles
Airbus346
First - Seat #1A
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:35pm
Arrival at 8:25pm
Actual:
Departure at 11:35pm
Arrival at 8:10pm
This was a flight full of “firsts”. I was #2 in line for boarding for the F and J and I got pulled to the side for a secondary full security check. I did not know that’s still done outside of US so it was little surprising. It took about 10-15 minutes, no big deal, but just enough time for the first bus with F and J paxs to leave, and the second bus pulled up to the Y stairs. I got yelled at when I started to walk over to the front stairs, but a quick read of my boarding pass resulted in a quick apology and a huge “welcome Mr.andrzej on this CX flight“. This secondary security thing was a first for me. This is the second "first" and it may shock the CX purists, but I’m just reporting the actual event. There were only 4 seats occupied in F out of the possible 8. The FA took the meal orders from 1A, 2A and 2D(?) and finally came around to me in 1K. Guess what? My first choice for the main meal was NOT available. Shocking, unthinkable??? but true. Leah, the wonderful FA, apologized profusely, but told me that my choice was gone as CX catering only loaded 2 of the meals and the other paxs took it. She saw the disappointment on my face and after I told her that the soup will be my only main course, she must have felt sorry for me. 5 minutes later she came back and asked me if something very similar from the business class menu will be satisfactory? It was and it was delicious. BUT, I don’t ever want to hear that CX loads enough dishes to satisfy all the F paxs needs and wants. In this case they obviously did not. This one little hiccup did not spoil the wonderful flight. Leah, was just a doll. I slept for about 6 hours out of the 12, but she made the other 6 just so very enjoyable. Out of all the segments on CX, she was the most friendly, warm, funny, talkative CX FA I have encountered. And did I mention that she was extremely good looking. Anyway, maybe this was becoming a routine, but if there is any better way of spending 12 hours in the air, on a commercial jet, then I’ll be surprised. When CX works, it has to be up there with the best. The problem is when it does not. It sounds stupid, but just because they are so good when they are so good, it really shows when they are not. My final thoughts on CX F. You will enjoy some of the best service, comfort on a long haul flight, that’s humanly possible on a plane at 35,000ft., but like anything else in life, be prepared that on occasion, even the best have their bad days.
American Airlines Flight #276
LAX-MIA
Distance 2342 miles
Boeing 738
First - Seat 3B
Scheduled:
Departure at 10:25pm
Arrival at 6:10am (Monday 3/8)
Actual:
Departure at 10:15pm
Arrival at 6:00am
Back to reality. No pre-drinks and it took some time for the jackets to be hung while the FA was chatting with the catering guy, GA, the pilot and whoever else wanted to talk. Once we took off the service did improve. She actually turned out to be very friendly, service orientated and on the ball, FA. There was a choice of a late night snack meal, some kind of a strange pizza or a turkey sandwich. I should have gone for the turkey sandwich. Oh well. There was a movie but I did not pay attention. It was a typical AA 4 hour flight on a 738.
MIA - I guess I was lucky to be there VERY early in the morning. The place actually looked civil. Even the gates were not that far apart. B12 to A16. BA has a lounge just above A16, so with about 20 minutes to spare I decided to check it out. No dice. What’s with the BA gate keepers? She was wrong. I was coming off a OW segment that was part of an international flight and connecting on my final segment to get home. She just said NO WAY. I pleaded with her from another point of view. I’m OW Emerald and my flight is 20 minutes away from boarding. NO WAY!!!! I really wasn’t sure about the rules at that point so left, took the elevator down to the gate and decided to pull out my Executive Platinum guide. She was wrong and I could have gone back to argue, but with boarding just about ready to start, f**k it!. I think OW should have a talk with BA and their attitude heavy Terraces gate keepers. I do like their lounges, but loose the attitude PLEASE!!!!
Monday MAR8 2004
American Airlines Flight #1724
MIA-TPA
Distance 204 miles
MD-80
First - Seat 3E
Scheduled:
Departure at 7:10am
Arrival at 8:10am
Actual:
Departure at 7:15am
Arrival at 8:00am
Nothing to report here other than the fact the very nice FA found enough time to serve a round of drinks/coffee or whatever you desired at this ungodly hour of the morning. I’ve been on about 10 of these short flights and it’s a guessing game as to whether they will/will not serve something. I would say it’s about 50/50.
Some final thoughts: Luggage handling. Very impressed with the outbound. AA TPA checked it in for the long journey, TPA-DFW(2 hour layover)-LAX(6 hour layover and transfer to CX)-HKG(16 hour layover) and finally JNB. It was one of the very first to come out in JNB. VERY IMPRESSED. Nothing was broken, touched or missing. VERY IMPRESSED.
Same experience on the way back, At LAX my luggage was the 3rd or 4th piece on the belt. Immigration and customs were a cake walk. Re-checked my luggage with AA and again it was one of the first ones in TPA.
All, except the BA Regional flights were on time or early. Some did have service problems, but nothing that will change, effect anybodies life. I just reported it as part of the trip journal, but in reality, I have nothing but good memories.
Thank You AA, CX, BA and Hilton!
Also, a big THANK YOU to the FT members that helped in making this trip possible.
It’s good to be home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Many places are beautiful, exotic, adventurous, exciting, BUT there is nothing like HOME!
[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited Mar 15, 2004).]
The day is here. New worlds, new experiences and that is the highlight of this trip, but also, for any airplane enthusiast, this is a dream come true. 8 different planes on 3 different airlines. AA, CX, and BA (Regional) will fly me around on the following: MD80, 763, 346, 744, 732, 773, 334, 738. It will be a mix of F and J. Hope you enjoy this personal observation report, a report that will be centered around the flights, airports, airport clubs and the hotels. I may include a comment or 2 about some particular experiences along the way, but mostly this will be a true flights/hotels trip report. I don’t think I will do the detail menus, but if somebody wants to know, just e-mail. I do keep all the menus when flying. Come along for the ride. Enjoy!!!
Warning: I wrote this report as I traveled. Some of it is in past tense, some in present and some in future. If there are any mistakes, so be it. On many occasions I had a chance to write down my thoughts and observations right after, but many other times I had to wait hours or even days before I had a chance to report. Enjoy it for what it is, a personal journal, not a best selling novel.
TPA - As usual, the TPA TA was great. I had to re-ticket since I had some changes made on the original paper ticket issued. The TA was a little surprised about my routing, TPA-DFW-HKG-JNB, but it took her about 5 minutes to complete the task and issue all 4 BPs and check my suitcase to JNB. Security took another 10 minutes and I was having a drink at Chilies Bar in Terminal F in about 25 minutes total. Great AA ground crew (as always), and great airport. I love this place.
American Airlines Flight #569
TPA-DFW
Distance 929 miles
MD-80
First Class - Seat 3E
Scheduled:
Departure at 12:45pm
Arrival at 2:33pm
Actual:
Departure at 12:40pm
Arrival at 2:30pm
Boarded on time. Typical AA MD-80. Jackets were hung, but no pre-flight drinks offered. Uncharacteristic of TPA we were #5 in line and the control tower was doing one arrival, one departure, so it took about 20 minutes for take-off after leaving the gate. Service improved after take-off. Actually it was very attentive. Lunch was chicken or turkey (however it was served). I passed on it. The FA did come around every 15 minutes or so to re-fill the glasses or take a new order if needed. My seat partner ordered Champaign the first time out. He was not happy (no kidding), and he asked for red wine next. The FA served the glass and came back in 5 minutes to ask if it was satisfactory. Impressive for AA MD-80 service, considering that she didn’t have much to work with to begin with. Anyway, it looks like we will be on time at DFW.
DFW - Walked over to the C terminal lounge. We arrived at C4 and my connecting flight WAS suppose to be at C2. As all the experts know the AC lounge is at C20, but all in all not a bad setup. I had to ask for drink coupons, got 2. Bought a round for visiting US Army guys, and left about 35 minutes before the next flight.
American Airlines Flight #2459
DFW-LAX
Distance 1235 miles
Boeing 763
First - Seat 3D
Scheduled:
Departure at 4:20pm
Arrival at 5:35pm
Actual:
Departure at 4:45pm
Arrival at 5:45pm
Well, this is AA and it is DFW. The gate changed to A25. Flagged one of the golf carts. Took about 5 minutes. At the end it didn‘t make any difference, since the flight did not board till 20 minutes after scheduled boarding. Again, jackets hung, but no pre-flight drinks offered. Once up, the drink and dinner/supper orders were taken. I believe it was a choice between cheese pizza and ??? I don’t remember, sorry. I had the pizza and it was fine. My white wine glass got refilled all the time. Had some water as well. Tried to watch a movie on my laptop, but I fell asleep about ½ way there. Woke up and watched the last ½ hour and it was time for landing.
LAX -
AA Flagship Lounge/Admirals Lounges. Met PresRDC at AC and invited him over to the FL. We talked for about ½ hour till he had to leave to catch his flight. Very nice and QUIET lounge. There are about 5 guests at this moment. Had to ask for admission the first time in. The gate keeper looked at my CX F BP and my AA EP/OW Emerald card and still missed it. No big deal, but to others it may be. About 9:30pm walked over to the TB International. What a busy place at that time of the evening. Although AA checked me in all the way through, I did go to CX first desk and made sure everything was in order. The nice TA confirmed that CX did have my suitcase and also issued lounge invitations for LAX and HKG. The security line did look long but amazingly only took about 15 minutes to get through. Took the elevator to 5th floor where the majority if not all the lounges are. Some FT posts warned me about the CX lounge and recommended the BA/QF lounge. I walk in, pull out my CX F BP and my card and the agent tells me NO. She tells me that CX has a lounge and I should go there. I invoke the OneWorld rules and she finally gives in and tells me, go ahead but don’t expect any seats or quiet areas. I looked around and she was correct, so I kept on going. What I was little miffed about is the way she tried to get rid of me, claiming I’m not allowed to use the lounge/CX has a lounge, etc… If she just told me that they were full, it would have done the trick. Anyway, life goes on. Walked over to the CX lounge, and it was getting busy as well, but the gate keeper gave me a pass to the AirFrance lounge down the hall, explaining that it will be quiet and comfortable there. It was, although all the lounges in that building are nothing to scream about. Sat around for about 45 minutes when the call came for CX881 boarding.
Cathay Pacific Flight #881
LAX-HKG
Distance 7260 miles
Airbus346
First - Seat 1K
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:55pm
Arrival at 7:40am (Sunday 2/15)
Actual:
Departure at 12:00am
Arrival at 7:15am (Sunday 2/15)
The boarding was somewhat disappointing. They called first/business and elites to board. Well, in this case it was about ½ of the plane, and as we all know, it’s a HUGE plane. We were all sardined onto the bus and driven to the satellite gate. Once there we walked up the ramp and everything came to a halt. Stood there for about 20-25 minutes, till finally we started to board. It was a little chaotic at best. I do understand that is partly the fault of the airport and it’s 60’s or 70’s type set-up, but I believe that CX should have a separate van waiting for F and J paxs only and they should not start boarding till the plane is ready. It did not feel very special standing there with about 150 people with me being about the 100th person on the ramp. Did not get walked to the seat as reported here many times. No big deal, just details. The suite is all that and more. The CX Studio entertainment has everything available under the sun at any given moment. 29 movies, many TV shows, games, flight map, CX stuff, audio on demand as well as pre selected audio. Simply amazing. Menus were handed out and drinks offered. I ordered the soup and Penne Paste with mushrooms and tomato sauce. What I got, was the soup and Noodles in Soup with Wantan and Shui Gaw?. It was exceptionally good so I stuck with it. The FA came around 20 or so minutes later and started to apologize. I stopped her as I was enjoying the dish I got. It did make me think that a full fare F passenger may look at this mishap differently. Slept very comfortably on the full flat seat for about 4/5 hours. The pillow is nice size and the pajamas and duvet are just so fine. We’re about ½ way there. The flight is fine but not the exquisite service that I‘ve been hearing about. The ISM never came around, when ordering a drink, it seems like I’m asking for gold from the FA, but other than that I’m having a wonderfully relaxing time, or as good of a time as one could have on a 15+ hour flight. There were many mishaps though and I hope that’s not the way CX operates on other flights. As I always said, everybody could have a bad day, but when a pax is paying serious money for the F seat, the company has to make sure those kind of days don’t happen too often.
HKG - CX Wing/Pier F/J Lounges.
It was little confusing for this first timer at HKG in the early morning. I really wanted to take a nice bath and have breakfast in the Wing Lounge. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out what’s what, but finally found the train to gates 1-20 and after a short walk, the Wing Lounge. I immediately asked for a Cabana. Took a nice long hot bath, followed by a short refreshing cold shower,. Had a light breakfast, hooked up my laptop, checked e-mail. Sat around for about an hour, at which point I decided to catch the train to Hong Kong. After few hours of doing an investigative work on some purchases that I plan to make on the way back, I went back to the airport. AA in TPA printed all 4 BPs for me on AA stock. For some reason, the passport control officer had a problem with the BP, but after few minutes, he did let me through. My suggestion is to have CX print out new ones when the opportunity presents itself. I also had to explain the BP at the Duty-Free shop. Many of these folks never saw one or don’t even know who/what AA is. Everything worked out at the end and this time I decided to check out the Pier Lounge. It was much easier to find the lounge now, as the airport was becoming very easy to navigate at this point. As soon as I got there, I asked for one of the Daybreak Rooms. These are small private rooms with a nice comfy chair and ottoman and a flat screen TV with audio on demand as well. You could buzz for drink service and also set up an alarm clock. There is a switch to close the shade on the opaque window to make the room dark. No problem getting the room. Tried to watch some TV, but fell asleep. Slept like a baby in the seat. Woke up around 8pm, took a quick shower, had a nice light supper at the Heaven Restaurant. Went back to the J Lounge and sat and read some magazines at the Long Bar while enjoying some nice wine. Finally it was getting time to start walking to the gate. With my luck the gate was 39. It’s exactly in the middle between the train stations, so that option becomes useless. Walking or maybe requesting a cart are the only other 2 options as far as I know. I decided to walk as I wanted to get a bottle of booze to take with me from the Duty-Free. It was around 11pm at this time, and to my surprise many of the shops were closed or getting ready to close. Just a warning to others if you have a late night flight out of HKG, you may want to purchase that special gift earlier as it may not be possible later.
The CX lounges were all that and more. I was/still am very impressed. It made the long stay over in HKG very comfortable. I will get another chance to explore more of them in couple of weeks on my way back. Looking forward to have another few pleasant hours in either one. Also met another FTer. This time it was headinclouds, and this time I was the one to notice his tag. 2 FTers in as many days. Who knows who I’ll run into on the Safari?
Sunday FEB15 2004
Cathay Pacific Flight #749
HKG-JNB
Distance 6631 miles
Boeing 744
First - Seat 1A (ended up in 2K)
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:45pm
Arrival at 6:35am (Monday 2/16)
Actual:
Departure at 11:45pm
Arrival at 6:45am (Monday 2/16)
This time the boarding process was smoother. Walking through the front door I was greeted by the ISM and after seeing my 1A BP, she had one of the assistants walk me to the seat. Took few minutes to get organized, and since this was my first time on a CX 747 F, I looked around and decided to side with the folks that prefer 2 A/K over 1 A/K. The later seats are close to each other, whereas row 2 gives you nice space between the seats, and has more of a private feel. My opinion only and you don’t have to agree. Just as I was thinking about the seats a couple walks in and they had 1 and 2 K. Female partner tells her male partner to grab 1K and she’ll sit in 2 K. It look like he had the same ideas as me and he really wanted to sit in first row. At that moment I saw a great opportunity and offered to switch with her, make them happy and I would get the seat that from now I will prefer. They had a surprised look on their faces, as if I was giving them money or valuables. The kept on thanking me for some time, not realizing that maybe I should have thanked them. Anyway, everybody got what they wanted, but at the end it didn’t really matter. The cabin had 6 open seats, including the 4 in the middle, which for a couple would be even a better option IMHO, unless you want to get away from your partner for few hours. They did stay in row 1 and I stayed in 2K. I decided to take a short nap first, so told the FA to serve supper in about 4 hours. Had a short 2 hour nap, woke up, watched a movie and exactly 4 hours later, the FA appeared, asking if I’m ready. That’s what I call service. Fabulous meal presentation with some nice wines. Watched another movie after supper, and now I’m writing this flight’s report. We have about 4 hours to go. This one was a great improvement over the first flight, but still some questions. Nothing significant, but few hiccups. The FAs are very attentive without being intrusive. I have this “theory” that maybe they have little cameras installed next to video screens so they could see your face and they could tell if you’re in need of something. Before anybody takes this seriously, stop now, I really don’t believe that, but it does feel like it. This 747 has AVOD, which again, on a long journey like this, makes all the difference in the world.
If anybody is questioning my sleep patterns, you have to remember I have not been in a real bed since Friday morning. I believe it’s Sunday evening back at home now and early Monday morning at the destination. As comfortable as the flatbeds and the lounges are, and I did get some sound sleep for few hours here and there, it still takes a toll on your body. My inner clock has to be totally confused by now, but I really don’t feel bad, it’s just that I get these urges to catch short naps here and there. CX makes it very possible and very comfortable, or as comfortable as planes and airports could make it. I can’t imagine making this trip sitting in the back of the bus and no lounge access.
JNB
Hilton Sandton
Check-in 2/16
Check-out 2/17
After a looong taxi drive from JNB (traffic in the morning appears to be a total joke), I arrived at what seems to be a little sanctuary, or is it just me looking for a real bed? Anyway it was around 9:15am when I walked in and within 10 minutes I was going up to the Executive Level room without asking for it and HHonors paying for it. I’m only Gold and this is an award stay. The young lady at the front desk had a hard time reading my Hilton.Com printout of the res at first, but it seemed like her eyes opened wide when she finally pulled up the res. Like I said, I’m only Gold and in most cases I do get treated nice, but she seemed to be extra impressed with my status. I could only hope that rest of the trip is exactly like this. Got a room on the top floor. The Lounge looks wonderful, but I’m just not in the mood to go for breakfast now, although I could. I did walk in there to ask the Executive Lounge Manger. to confirm my BA(Regional) flight tomorrow. For now I will reserve my comments to the room itself. A very nice size room with all the amenities one would expect, except, internet connection seems to be a problem. I don’t think it’s only a Hilton problem, I believe the country is still little behind. The only thing Hilton is offering in the rooms is dial-up with charges for calls, and when I investigated further, I found the same to be true every other place. I called the Business Center, and was told that they do offer Internet computers, but first you have to pay for their access (not much), but more importantly, the phone charges as well. I could do the same in my room. Later on, I will try little harder to locate an internet café. Anyway, back to the room. Very nice. The bathroom is good size, with glassed door shower, separate tub, and all the amenities. The room has a safe, mini-bar, nice little bar area, TV loaded with some free stations and pay-per-view. On the negative side, I did request a King got 2 doubles and no view to speak of , but no complains, since I did get Executive floor and VERY early check-in, I’ll take free drinks and breakfast over a view anytime, especially on a 1 night stay.
Tuesday FEB17 2004
BA JNB Lounge - The lounge is nice, but unfortunately my flight is late. Initially 2 hours late, but turned into almost a 4 hour delay. It‘s a regular Terraces Lounge. It has the same furniture and set up. Sitting here and no place to go. 2 computers with 56K dial up connection. I will never ***** about any Internet connection in hotels and airports after trying this one. Still, better than nothing I suppose.
British Airways (op by Regional Air)
JNB-NBO
Distance 1802 miles
Boeing 732
Business - Seat 4A
Scheduled:
Departure at 12:15pm
Arrival at 5:30pm
Actual:
Departure at 4:00pm
Arrival at 8:05pm
We started to board around 3pm. We did not actually depart till 4pm. The J seats on this Regional airline remind me of AA 757 F, but about 20 years older. It has 8 seats total. 2x2 in 2 rows. The Y was 2/3 empty and we had 4 in J with 2 being non-rev(2 pilots going home from training in JNB. The chief of Regional Air pilots was sitting in the back because he had his wife and 3 kids with him. This made it an interesting flight. The cockpit door was open most of the time. The chief, and the working pilots were talking for a very long time while flying. Out of the 2 pilots sitting in J with me, one was a beautiful young lady and the other was a very friendly and drunk older guy. I LOVE to drink, and I’m on vacation, buy this guy out performed me on this 4 hour flight. They were white Kenyans, and they let me know that, as if I couldn’t tell they were white. I really don’t know the protocol around this part of the world, so I’m just reporting what I was told. I thought it was kind of weird that they had to say that, but other than that, they made a possible loooong 4 hour flight into an entertaining one. Smooth flight on this OLD 737-200. There was a dinner, but I passed as I ate in JNB, but it did look delicious and plenty of it. My initial reaction was somewhat reserved. After boarding, my first thought was “what the hell was I thinking?”, but that was all forgotten after the very friendly and professional service by the beautiful FAs and a very smooth flight. I was also told by my new friends that 2 out of the 3 planes RA owns, have the 767 type J seats. I will find out if I should visit a casino after my return flight next Monday. 2 out of 3, so, if I don’t get the 767 style seats, I will be staying out of the casinos in J’burg. We landed around 8pm
NBO - Quiet, almost deserted, but it did make for a quick exit. Paid the $50 visa fee, and walked through customs, BUT customs were stopping many people, in fact the guy in front of me and about 3 others were opening their suitcases as I walked by. There were about 5 customs officers, 4 doing the actual checking and 1 tough, big lady questioning and pulling people from my flight to the side. Somehow, I picked the right moment to walk by her. I was met by a driver arranged by HHonors. I was surprised, because I thought it will be my safari driver, but it was a regular limo driver with a newer model MB. It took about 20 minutes or so to get to the hotel.
Wednesday FEB17 2004
Nairobi Hilton
Check-in 12/17
Check-out 12/18
I was little drunk (read above) and tired at this time. All I wanted was to get to my room, take a shower and sleep. To my surprise I did get the 2 room suite mentioned by others doing the same award trip. I guess the 250K HHonors points is worth something. The suite on 16th floor had 2 bathrooms, a living room with couch and 2 seats with a dining area with a table for 4, and a separate bedroom. The suite did look a little tired, but very roomy and comfortable. Too bad I did not get to enjoy it more as I did take a quick shower and passed out almost immediately after. Woke up very early. Went downstairs to the Travelers restaurant for my free breakfast at 6:30am since the Exec lounge was not opened yet. Nice buffet spread. I did catch up on my food intake and proceeded to the front desk. As I was about to ask what the deal was, I saw a van pull up to the front door with a safari-something? sign on the side. It turned out to be my driver, David, for the 4 night safari at the Salt Lick Lodge.
Thursday FEB18 2004
Salt Lick Lodge
Check-in 12/18
Check-out 12/22
The drive is looong and tiring. We left at about 7:15am and arrived at the lodge around 1pm. The roads varied from 1st class smooth 2 lane highways to VERY rough, 3rd world dirt roads. No ice to be found anywhere. We stopped at 2 very nicely equipped gas stations with mini-marts and still no ice for our cooler. At that point I realized that I should just forget about ice till I get back to Nairobi on Sunday. Finally arrived and checked-in. The room is bare but it does have adequate furnishings and facilities, and also A GREAT VIEW OF THE water hole. No A/C, not that I expected it, just reporting, and I just confirmed that for the next few days, no ice. The lodge is sufficient, but for a city guy, it takes some getting use to. Buffet breakfast with eggs cooked to order, menu lunch and dinner. The meals are surprisingly good to very good, but be prepared for Kenyan cuisine only. No burgers around here. GREAT soups. The problem is drinks, and that includes water. It’s not like you could drive to a local mini-mart and the lodge knows it. It’s pretty much around $2.50-3.00 for water or beer. Wine and cocktails are more. At the minimum for me, it’s 2 bottles of water and at least 3-4 beers per day. It’s about $20 per day per person for liquids. Planning on bringing your own? No ice, remember? The beers and water will be very warm within few hours. No big deal, just part of the experience.
On the plus side. Within an hour I saw a family of elephants walking down from the hills to get water. There are 2 water holes about 100 yards out from the property and one right under the open air restaurant. 3 of the elephants stayed at one of the away water holes, while the other 3 came right up to the property. I was snapping pictures of these 3 giants, standing just few feet away. There were many antelopes, zebras and wildebeests out on the plain throughout the day. It was interesting to watch them try to stay in the shade. They would follow the shade of the trees. I guess they can’t afford suntan lotion. I chose not to do a game drive last evening, after the grueling 6 hour drive from Nairobi, but I will hit the trails this morning. More to come. Wednesday morning, had a nice breakfast and went on my first game drive. We left little late, at 7:30am, but we still had many good sightings. Buffalos, gazelles, antelopes, jackal, giraffes, wildebeests, ostriches, and finally a pair of lions, although they were about 200 yards away, I was able to get couple of quick shots before they disappeared into the bush. We drove around for about 3.5 hours. I believe we did good on the first day. I will skip the afternoon drive and sign up for the night drive. Hopefully I will get to see the predators in action. According to the naturalist, that’s the best time to possibly witness the big game moving around. We’ll see. The night drive was cancelled due to lack of interest. Gave me a chance to really kick back and do some reading. This morning we got an early start. We left the lodge around 6:30am. It was very foggy. For about 1 hour we did not see anything, but then amazingly we saw the outline of a very tall giraffe in the distance, and from that point on the day just got better and better, till finally my guide saw 2 lions sitting on the ground with just their head above the tall grass. We stopped and I started snapping pictures. One of the lions lost interest in us almost immediately She disappeared into the tall grass, which made me think she went back to sleep. The other one was looking around, but again not moving, and no plans to in the near future. After few pictures we left and made our way to the lodge for breakfast. We left again around 10am, and this was the best yet. We tracked 3 lions, a big male with 2 females. The male just loved posing, while the females hid in the bush within minutes of our arrival. This time I got tons of full body pictures and even a short video that my amateur digital camera allows.
So far I have seen 3 out of the 5 big ones. Not bad for a first timer on his second full day. Elephants, buffalos, and lions. Will not get to see the rhino, as there are no reports of any in the park, but we’re still looking for leopards and cheetahs. Many species of antelopes, gazelles, wildebeests, baboons, giraffes, zebras, some other monkeys, monitor lizard, many species of birds and probably others that I can’t remember at this moment.
Just when I thought everything was fine, well, as fine as it could be in the middle of nowhere, my ceiling fan in the room came crashing down. It was a little shocker, as I was just about to take an afternoon nap, but hey, **** happens, right? You have to understand that in the middle of the day, the room gets extremely hot during the day. The only thing that’s saving it, is the ceiling fan. I climbed out of the netted bed , dressed and went to the front desk to report the problem. To their credit, there was a knock on my door in less than 10 minutes. 2 guys came in and looked around, shook their head, talk to each other in local lingo, collected the broken pieces, told me they will fix it and left. About 30 minutes later, still no sign of anybody and at this point the room is getting unbearably hot. Decided to walk to the front desk again and ask if it’s possible to “use” a different room for whatever amount of time it will take to fix the fan in my room. I got this look as if I was asking for the young ladies mother or something. I got the message that no room will be given for now. The place is ¾ empty. They are only using 1 wing, so what’s the problem? I don’t know, but here I’m sitting in the restaurant and typing away this little story. It’s very much cooler in here.
I was just informed (it’s about another 30 minutes), that YES, I could get a room to relax, while the ceiling fan is being fixed. All is well that ends well. I want everybody reading this report to know I’m NOT the complaining type but the situation in this case needed immediate action on the hotel part, because it’s impossible to relax in a room that’s about 100DEG. as soon as the only cooling possibility is out of action. I’m scheduled for an afternoon drive in less than an hour now, and I was hoping to catch a 2 hour nap after a wonderful lunch. Ok, I will try again, even an hour is better than nothing. See Ya!!!
Took the last morning drive with David. Right outside the lodge, we ran into 2 male lions with 2 females and 2 cubs. It was the most amazing sight. The lions were very shy, I imagine that’s to do with having the cubs around. On the other hand, the cubs were very curious and really wanted to check us out. Only because of one of the male lions we did not get a closer look at the innocent looking cubs. Ran into a group of about 50 elephants, some more giraffes, as well as assorted other animals. I will finally get a chance to do a night drive. Tomorrow morning we will do the 6 hour drive to Nairobi. I can’t hardly wait, but it has to be done. One more night at the Nairobi Hilton, and South Africa, here I come.
My final thoughts on this place. If I had another chance, I would do no more than 3 nights here and move on to a different park. I truly believe that’s sufficient for any park, unless it’s during migration season when one gets to see lots of action. Thank God I had some movies downloaded on my laptop from www.movielink.com, (http://www.movielink.com,) as that allowed me to enjoy an hour or 2 of entertainment after 9-10 pm when everybody disappears into their rooms. No TV, no newspapers, no telephones to speak of. It is very relaxing, but it’s so hard to just give up everything in one day. Looking forward to my return to civilization on Sunday, although I did have a wonderful time. The only problem? The drive back…….
As much as I may seemed like *****ing and moaning, the honest truth is that sitting here on the last evening I realized what a wonderful place this is. The people are extremely helpful, nice, sincere. The scenery is always changing, and the peacefulness grows on you. And I believe with little more time even this city boy could get use to staying here for a longer time. I’m still scheduled for a night drive after supper tonight, so I’m hoping to experience something new and exciting again. What I have learned on these game drives, is that you have to be vary patient. There could be a span of time that you will see nothing but few common birds and maybe some antelopes (hear the game expert in that sentence). But then, what seems to be out of nowhere, you come upon a family of lions, 2 bull elephants fighting for dominance, another deciding to charge at your car, eagles snatching little critters off the ground, etc… I could very easily see how one could get addicted to this. In some amateurish way, on the second and third day of the drives I felt like a great hunter in the old days. I‘m not sure if the guide just let me ‘spot‘ some animals first, but I did. Every photo I got felt like a kill on the great plains of Africa. I have to admit that I, like many people I’m sure, envisioned Africa the way that PBS programs wanted us to, but now I realize that it’s no different than a bear hunter here back at home. It is not a 5 minute track. In all probability it takes hours and even days. I witnessed lions with cubs just few hundred yards away from different game, but I also witnessed the game being very much aware of the lions in their midst and not one was very worried about them. I’m sure the kill comes quick and unexpected, but from what I’ve learned it does not happen every minute/hour or even day. When it does happen, it’s a great feast and in some ways a trophy as well as survival for the predator, which makes this natural world so much like ours, but for some reason, seems healthier and more fair. It was a great learning experience and I will recommend this to everybody.
Sunday FEB22 2004
Nairobi Hilton
Check-in 2/22
Check-out 2/23
Another great surprise. Checking in I was given room 809. Since my first suite few days earlier was on the 16th floor, I just assumed I was getting a regular room for the last night of the package. You should have seen my face when I saw the front door to the suite, “The Presidential Suite”. It was twice the size of the one I had on my first night. Bedroom, sitting room, living room, reception room and dining room with a wet bar. I’m happy to report that Randy Peterson stayed there as well. The guest book on the secretary’s desk was full of known and not so known people. Now it has my name in it as well. I’ll have to say the Hilton package is well worth the 250K points. You do get treated like a royalty throughout the whole stay. The Lodge is missing some of the modern amenities, but makes up for it in experience, the drive to and from is grueling, and the Nairobi Hilton, although somewhat tired looking, does take care of you in the best possible way. If you are looking for some different experience, do this package.
Monday FEB23 2004
British Airways (op by Regional Air)
NBO-JNB
Distance 1802 miles
Boeing 732
Business - Seat 2A
Scheduled:
Departure at 8:00am
Arrival at 11:15 am
Actual:
Departure at 8:20am
Arrival at 11:25am
The Nairobi airport security is a total joke. I’m surprised that nothing has happened here just yet. My flight out was scheduled at 8am, so I arrived at the airport from the Hilton, by a chauffeured Benz, at around 6am. There was a big line outside, consisting of what seemed like a huge family/tribe (the whole group had similar traits, they were all very skinny, and extremely tall, as well as very good looking in the exotic type way, the females all looked very much like the supermodel Iman, so that‘s why I wasn‘t sure if this was a huge family, or maybe just from the same tribe) . As I was just about ready to get behind them, to get through the security at the front door, a young lady with a security jacket grabbed me and walked me to the front of the line. I threw my suitcase and hand luggage on the scanner belt, but I don’t know if there was any need for that. NOBODY was watching the monitor. Walked right through the metal scanner, with some personal jewelry, coins, etc. without any beeps. Collected my luggage and proceeded to the BA/Regional Air First Class check-in. The desks were not opened just yet, so as I stood there I looked around, and saw the same family/tribe (around 40 people) being put through a separate BA security check. They had to open their suitcases, and I mean all of them. I thought that maybe I should do the same, so I asked, because every suitcase that was checked got a BA security check sticker attached to it, but the man in charge told me not to worry about. At this time I started to think that it may be a racial thing again. I did notice it throughout the trip and the only explanation I have up to this point is that it must be. I was able to walk through many checkpoints and security checks in Africa, while black pax/customers had to endure all the nasty stuff. It got me thinking that a white man could easily blow up the hotels/airplanes if that’s the criteria used around here. Enough about that. So, I check in, and when I ask about lounge access, I’m told that the BA Lounge is not opened yet, but I’m welcomed to use the Kenya Air Lounge. The lounge is located past the passport check. It’s nothing special, but it does have an open bar, one computer with internet access, no food to speak of, many papers and magazines. Hung out for about an hour, and it was time to board my BA/Regional Air flight back to J’Burg. This time I did get a nicer plane. The seats up front were the AA 767 type, but with only about 45” pitch. The flight seemed to be on time, but the same family/tribe that I talked about earlier were missing. They finally located them by 8am and since everybody does go through secondary personal luggage security check at the gate, it took some time to get them through. One other security feature, all the checked luggage was lined up in front of the plane so, as we were walking to board the plane we had to identify our suitcase before they would put it on the plane. The flight was uneventful, nice service, and the same drunk pilot that I chatted with on the way out (he was not drunk today), was flying the plane. I actually go to sit in the cockpit for the takeoff. It was a new experience. The cockpit door was opened for most of the flight again. Much better comfort on this flight.
Hilton Sandton
Check-in 2/23
Check-out 2/26
I was told at the front desk to go up to the executive club to check-in. Once again, on this award stay, I was given a full access executive floor room. Better view this time and a nice stay. It is a VERY nice Hilton, with one little problem. From the different windows you could see the side of the walls of the four wings. At first I thought it was a designed feature, but soon I realized that it was not. There are cracks in the walls all over. Looks to me like a huge structural problem. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the hotel will fall down any time soon, but it does look like they got screwed by the builders. Nice lounge with great breakfast spread as well as cooked to order eggs. Free bar from 11am till 10pm. Afternoon tea and finger food. Very close to some nice nightlife. The Blues Room is just across the street at the Village Walk which has many great restaurants and some other nightclubs as well. Had a great time there. The Sandton City and the Square (a shopping center) is also just a walking distance, but the hotel does have a shuttle every ½ hour. The only problem with J’Burg is the crime problem. It is real and it’s not something that could or should be taken lightly. There are actual street signs that warn of carjacking areas, and there are a great number of muggings done by guys with weapons. From what I have been reading, if you do give up your stuff when it happens, you will live, but the criminals have been known to use the weapons when the victim resists. The reason I mention this is that if you want to look around the city, it will cost you dearly. I’m not even sure what the public transportation situation is like, but I will just assume that’s not for the tourist to use anyway. To take taxis here for any significant distance will be expensive. Renting a car is a possibility, but what if you take the wrong turn? Again, I’m not the scary type, but after everybody at the hotel tells you over and over that is not even safe to walk across the street, you start to think. When leaving the airport car park, the driver is required to stop, shut-off the car in front of the security guys that have a spiked chain across the exit lane and only then is allowed to start and leave. That’s to prevent stealing cars at the airport, so imagine what’s going on in the city. I did walk to the Blues Room and back and nothing happened, but the thought is there after everybody warns you, especially in the evening,. The choices from the airport to the Hilton are as follows: MagicBus at R$95 per, taxi about R$225 and a private car, usually a BMW or a MB for about R$300. It is about a 45min to an hour drive in the taxi/private car. Today the R$ is trading at about R$6.5 to US$1. So even the Shuttle will cost around $15 each way and it does stop at few other hotels on the way so it takes about an hour to hour and ½, depending on the traffic, which could be really bad at some times of the day. I did the Soweto tour, and supposedly some of the money goes to help the people living there, but I felt somewhat awkward looking in on peoples lives. This could very well just be me, but I was glad when we started to head back to the hotel.
Thursday 2/26 2004
CX JNB Lounge - During check-in I get to meet another FT regular, YYZC2. He is also flying up front. We both check-in, go through passport control and then decide to try a different lounge besides the one we were invited to use, BA. We both have read here that the SA Lounge is a very nice one. CX has it listed on their web site as the lounge that F and J passengers could use in Johannesburg. We walk in, but it's a no go. YYZC2 tries a little diffrent approach. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Tries to tell the gate keeper that possibly there will be some serious business shifted to SA and it's partners in the near future, so if it's possible, can we at least just take a quick look and a tour of the lounge. Again a friendly but stern NO! realizing that nothing will work with this gatekeeper we walk over to the ONLY lounge we both could use when flying out on CX, the BA Terraces. For some odd reason I forgot that I just used the same lounge few days earlier. That's the one with the slowest, if any internet connection. We hang out for couple of hours. Finally it was time to board.
Cathay Pacific Flight #748
JNB-HKG
Distance 6631 miles
Boeing 744
First - Seat 2A
Scheduled:
Departure at 1:10pm
Arrival at 7:40am (Friday 2/27)
Actual:
Departure at 1:20pm
Arrival at 7:10am (Friday 2/27)
This was by far the best CX F experience for me. The crew was very accommodating and so warm. Everything was done with a big smile. The flight itself was very uneventful. As soon as we took off I changed into my PJs, and started to watch a movie. Lunch/dinner was served about 2 hours into the flight. An hour later I took off into my own little dream land. Woke up about 3 hours before landing. Had one more cocktail, watched another movie and it was time for breakfast. I’m happy to report that eggs cooked to order are still available on CX. As you may remember from my earlier reports, they were not available on the outbound flights. At that time I did not know if his was across the board, of if I just got stuck with 2 bad flights. Great flight, if for no other reason, it is the fact that after 12 hours in the air you don’t feel like you have been flying. Totally rested, I walked off the plane and decided that is the way to travel on long distance flights. Walked over to the Wing lounge for about an hour. Took a nice bath, e-mailed and I was ready to experience the CX J on a local route (HKG-SIN).
Friday FEB27 2004
Cathay Pacific Flight #735
HKG-SIN
Distance 1588 miles
Boeing773
Business - Seat 14K
Scheduled:
Departure at 9:25am
Arrival at 12:45pm
Actual:
Departure at 9:30am
Arrival at 1:10pm
This was kind of disappointing. The service actually sucked IMHO. The FAs served brunch, and basically disappeared into the galleys for the rest of the flight. Originally I had 14K on this 772, but the first middle row was wide open so I moved there as soon as they closed the door. I had a full view of the galley throughout the flight. After brunch, the FAs all came to the front, pulled the curtain and were having a little party there for about 2 hours. If one needed a drink or whatever you had to ring, as not one came around to check on the paxs. The entertainment was basic just like AA. What I mean is that it ran many of the same movies that were available on the long hauls but it was not on demand. The movies started about 30 minutes into the flight.
There was something else that I need to report about. In JNB checking-in yesterday. I wanted to route my luggage as well as get my BP for the HKG-SIN flight. The HKG-SIN was a separate electronic ticket. I was told that they can’t do that in JNB. They only checked my luggage and gave me a BP to HKG. I thought it was kind of odd. Anyway, once I got to HKG, CX shined again. Walked over to the transfer desk and the gentleman informed me that I will not have to do anything. CX will collect and transfer my luggage to the new flight. It worked great. It is strange for the same airline not able to check you in all the way through,.
SIN - I really did not pay attention too much. It does seem like a nice place, but, and maybe I just did not see the right ways, there are some instances that you need to go up or down regular stairs to get to MRT (train), and when you have heavy luggage, it’s not a pleasant experience. Again, maybe I just missed the “other” ways, but I will have another shot on Sunday so I will report little more.
Singapore Conrad
Check-in 2/27
Check-out 2/29
Did not get the executive floor. I did not ask, but I was told that under “normal” circumstances they would upgrade me (I’m Gold and this is an award stay), but they were full??? Maybe it’s true, maybe not, but the room I did get is nice enough for the 2 nights stay. Good size, with a king size bed, a nice desk, high speed internet (for about SIN$28 per day), and a nice bathroom but it did have some mildew(?), not the usual for a Conrad. I was told I will get free breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. I really don’t care too much as I’m only here for 2 nights. Hopefully The HKG Conrad will treat me better. I will report more on this place after my stay. Time to hit the town. Part 2 of the SIN Conrad report. As soon as I got settled in, I did go on-line and checked Executive rooms availability. They were BSing, as rooms were available for both nights. Oh well, so be it. I could have gone back to the desk or up to the lounge, but decided not to. I’m only here for 2 nights and I did get breakfast, so I will let it go for now. What irks me, is not the fact that I did not get upgraded when there is availability, but the fact that they make the front desk staff lie to their guests. There is no guarantee of an upgrade to Executive floor for Golds, as far as I know, so why not just leave it alone and offer breakfast? Why tell me that they would if they could, when they could but didn’t? Anyway, the hotel is a typical, very rich looking Conrad. The service is nice enough, but not what I would call very warm and friendly. Good location, but so is just about anything in central Singapore.
edited to add the following - Another minus for this property. All the other stays were posted to my HHonors account. The Nairobi Hilton, the Sandton Hilton and The Hong Kong Conrad 7 night stay which was after the SIN stay posted couple of days ago. I e-mailed the SIN Conrad 2 days ago and still no reply.
Sunday FEB29 2004
CX SIN Lounge - Nice place, nothing like the flagship lounges in HKG, but still very relaxing and enjoyable for about an hour or 2 at most. 2 internet stations as well as wireless, but the later has a charge. I think it was S$6 for 30 minutes. I decided against it and just used the free machines. Had a snack and it was just about the time to walk over to gate. With my luck it was the last gate in Terminal 1, gate 49D. There was no announcement at the lounge, so basically you had to pay attention to the time. Also most people there where on the same morning flight to HKG, so place started to empty up around 9:50am.
Cathay Pacific Flight #736
SIN-HKG
Distance 1588 miles
Airbus334
Business - Seat 15A (changed to 12D so I would have both seats to myself)
Scheduled:
Departure at 10:25am
Arrival at 2:15pm
Actual:
Departure at 10:35am
Arrival at 2:20pm
WOW, what a difference in service on this flight, compared to the outbound to SIN. Great service with a smile throughout the entire flight. The ISM came with a short list and personally greeted all the OW Emeralds and I guess the top AsiaMiles paxs as well. Very nice touch. The plane had the same entertainment option as the 777 on the outbound. Good selection but not on demand. This is what one expects when flying up front on CX, but I guess not all CX flights are made equal. This one together with the one from JNB to HKG were by far the most enjoyable and top notch service, while the LAX-HKG and the HKG-SIN were totally not what CX is suppose to be. The HKG-JNB was above average, but still not top shelf. I will do one more segment, so we will see. Again, if somebody wants to know the menu, please contact me.
Hong Kong Conrad
Check-in 2/29
Check-out 3/7
Different Conrad and a totally different treatment. Walked in around 2pm, my luggage grabbed without me knowing where it went. Greeted at the front desk with a huge smile. After few punches on the keyboard, I was told to follow the young lady to the elevator to the 59th floor Executive Lounge to check in. The young lady came around the desk and led me to the elevator. She joined me in the lift and started to explain some of the features of the hotel on the way up to the lounge. As soon as we stepped off the lift, we were greeted by another young lady who basically took over. She led me to the lounge where the paper work was all set for me to sign. As I was looking for my reading glasses, she politely asked if I perhaps would like something to drink. I swear, as soon as I said a glass of Champaign, the waiter came running around the corner with a Champaign flute full of some fine liquid. I signed the papers and I was asked if possibly I wanted to finish the drink and enjoy the view from the lounge (FABULOUS view of the Kowloon side), or if I did want to retire to my room. I did want to get into the room to take a refreshing shower, so the young lady noticing that I had my computer case and some duty free purchases with me, grabbed my glass and asked me to follow. As my room was on the 58th floor, I thought we had to take the lift, but nooooo! There is a circular marble staircase leading directly from the lounge to the floor below. Short walk later we entered the room that for the next week will be my home. Very nice, and better equipped than the SIN Conrad. To top it off, a great harbor view. Beautiful marble tiled bathroom with a separate glassed shower and an oversized deep tub. A separate little room with a toilet. 2 sinks. The room has a huge closet, TV stand, a beautiful desk and a separate smaller one with a full featured FAX machine. High speed internet if you have your laptop. It’s HK$120 per day (about US$15). The only problem is that it’s on a 12pm-12pm clock not a 24 hour depending on when you started. Can’t have everything. King sized bed with the most luxurious pillows, duvet and sheets I’ve ever had in any hotel. 2 nightstands with light controls for the entire room. There is also a nice high chair with an ottoman and a side glass table, on which I found a welcoming letter from the manager with a fruit plate (2 oranges yesterday and 2 apples today) and a small basket of luxury chocolates, which gets replenished every day as well. I forgot to mention a small bar area with a mini-bar (not used very much because of the free bar upstairs). The full wall window with the view is just out of this world. I almost forgot to mention the little Conrad teddy bear and a rubber ducky that will be joining the other pair from the SIN Conrad in my luggage. I refuse to give the teddy bears away, although I had some lady friends beg me for the Bangkok Conrad Teddy Bear. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember the Bangkok bear to be somewhat bigger than these two, but nevertheless these two will be joining the lonely one at home soon. So far it’s a great stay. This is my first full day, so I will report some more, but at this at time I will say this. The SIN Conrad should learn few tricks from the HKG Conrad. Oh BTW, the way the Bell boys knows about your luggage is by your airline tag. It was delivered as the young lady was explaining some of the features of the room. Just brilliant. So far 10 out of 10 possible points for the HKG Conrad. The location is great as well. The hotel sits on top of the Pacific Place Shopping mall which is connected to the MTR Admiralty subway station. I could go straight from my room on the 58th floor to the subway station just by taking the lift down to the mall, taking another lift down to the main floor of the mall and finally taking the escalator to the station. I could be anywhere in HKG in minutes and not even know what the weather is like till I get to the destination.
I was just informed that if I don’t mind, the staff will move me to a suite on Friday for the last 2 nights. I really wanted to tell them that I do mind, but since I’m not paying for it I decided to cooperate. WOULD I MIND? Are they crazy? Will report on the suite later.
Having a great time in Hong Kong. Did all the required markets. The Stanley Market bus ride is an experience in itself. After about the 3rd or 4th outdoor market , I realized that they’re all are pretty much the same. Some may have more electronics, some may have little more clothes, but overall after the 25th stall in each one, they start to look the same. The high end malls are just packed with designer boutiques. The streets are packed with stores with anything from cheap stuff to very expensive jewelry and watches and electronics and everything in between plus many streets also have stalls in front of the storefronts as well as many alleys have miniature outdoor markets. To be honest with you, I really don’t know who buys all this stuff. The population of this city seems to be split into 2 groups between the sellers and the buyers. Every shopping area is busy throughout the whole day. I’ve never seen anything like this. It does seem like the buyers never work, but basically it’s just a congested city that must seem like ant farm from above. It’s a city full of life and it is truly the freest economy in the world. Singapore has many of the same shopping opportunities, but the street vendors are nowhere near the numbers of HK. Here it seems like anybody anywhere could set up shop. As long as you have something to sell, you are allowed to go for it. The restaurants are plentiful as well. Anything from a back alley little dive that surprisingly serves a mean dish for next to nothing to a very expensive and extremely good top shelf places. Throughout the week I had some outstanding Thai, Nepalese, Chinese, Russian, Mexican and a good ‘ole American steak at Morton’s of Chicago. The transportation is very cheap and easy to use. My problem with any new city has always been the bus system. It usually takes me few days to get the “feel” for it. Not here. I was hopping on and off different bus routes on the very same day. The subways are always easy, but they do get tiresome and boring, unless you just want to get to the destination as quickly as possible. The old trams on the Hong Kong side are very cheap way to take a basic tour of the island. You could also get some nice shots of the city while sitting on top The Star ferry is best in the evening when the whole Hong Kong side comes alive in the magical light show. It only lasts for about 20 minutes and it starts at 8pm, but worth every minute of it. Last evening was magical as we were sitting on the Star ferry taking some pictures of the HK side and the light show, a cruise ship was leaving the harbor all lit up and playing some music, which added to the whole experience. The night life is just as great. Anything from quiet neighborhood bars to very chic and almost impossible to get into nightclubs. There is also a lot of history here as well. Great museums that will help you relive some of the history. Great art museums as well as art galleries. It’s an exiting, vibrant, very safe city that I recommend to anybody at least once in their lifetime. It has something for everybody, and enough of it to satisfy anybody for some time.
I was moved around noon Friday to what amounts to be a bigger room with a nice view of the Kowloon side. I wouldn’t exactly call this a suite, but it is nicer than the regular room. It does have a dining room table with 4 chairs with a nice wet bar. That’s about the only difference. Since the bell boy did all the moving I didn’t mind, but I’m not sure I would have moved if I had to do all the work. I had a better view of the harbor in the regular room. Anyway, no big deal. Still it’s a marvelous stay. The lounge is wonderful. The hotel is just superb with outstanding service. Today (Saturday) is my last full day, so I will try to enjoy the city to the fullest. Tomorrow I do have a late check-out (8pm), so I still have a nice day to look forward to, but without the nightlife. Today is what I like to call the final blowout day. Taste some more local food, maybe do some little last minute shopping and get stupid in the evening,. I’ve met some wonderful people, made new friends for life, and had a romantic dinner with a beautiful native. She promised to show me some spots that the usual tourist doesn’t get to see, especially during their first visit. Wonderful week long stay in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Great people, great food, great hotel, great shopping, great this, great that, etc………… Thank You Hong Kong!
Sunday MAR7 2004
CX Wing/Pier F/J Lounges - Nothing new here. They are just wonderful.
Cathay Pacific Flight #880
HKG-LAX
Distance 7260 miles
Airbus346
First - Seat #1A
Scheduled:
Departure at 11:35pm
Arrival at 8:25pm
Actual:
Departure at 11:35pm
Arrival at 8:10pm
This was a flight full of “firsts”. I was #2 in line for boarding for the F and J and I got pulled to the side for a secondary full security check. I did not know that’s still done outside of US so it was little surprising. It took about 10-15 minutes, no big deal, but just enough time for the first bus with F and J paxs to leave, and the second bus pulled up to the Y stairs. I got yelled at when I started to walk over to the front stairs, but a quick read of my boarding pass resulted in a quick apology and a huge “welcome Mr.andrzej on this CX flight“. This secondary security thing was a first for me. This is the second "first" and it may shock the CX purists, but I’m just reporting the actual event. There were only 4 seats occupied in F out of the possible 8. The FA took the meal orders from 1A, 2A and 2D(?) and finally came around to me in 1K. Guess what? My first choice for the main meal was NOT available. Shocking, unthinkable??? but true. Leah, the wonderful FA, apologized profusely, but told me that my choice was gone as CX catering only loaded 2 of the meals and the other paxs took it. She saw the disappointment on my face and after I told her that the soup will be my only main course, she must have felt sorry for me. 5 minutes later she came back and asked me if something very similar from the business class menu will be satisfactory? It was and it was delicious. BUT, I don’t ever want to hear that CX loads enough dishes to satisfy all the F paxs needs and wants. In this case they obviously did not. This one little hiccup did not spoil the wonderful flight. Leah, was just a doll. I slept for about 6 hours out of the 12, but she made the other 6 just so very enjoyable. Out of all the segments on CX, she was the most friendly, warm, funny, talkative CX FA I have encountered. And did I mention that she was extremely good looking. Anyway, maybe this was becoming a routine, but if there is any better way of spending 12 hours in the air, on a commercial jet, then I’ll be surprised. When CX works, it has to be up there with the best. The problem is when it does not. It sounds stupid, but just because they are so good when they are so good, it really shows when they are not. My final thoughts on CX F. You will enjoy some of the best service, comfort on a long haul flight, that’s humanly possible on a plane at 35,000ft., but like anything else in life, be prepared that on occasion, even the best have their bad days.
American Airlines Flight #276
LAX-MIA
Distance 2342 miles
Boeing 738
First - Seat 3B
Scheduled:
Departure at 10:25pm
Arrival at 6:10am (Monday 3/8)
Actual:
Departure at 10:15pm
Arrival at 6:00am
Back to reality. No pre-drinks and it took some time for the jackets to be hung while the FA was chatting with the catering guy, GA, the pilot and whoever else wanted to talk. Once we took off the service did improve. She actually turned out to be very friendly, service orientated and on the ball, FA. There was a choice of a late night snack meal, some kind of a strange pizza or a turkey sandwich. I should have gone for the turkey sandwich. Oh well. There was a movie but I did not pay attention. It was a typical AA 4 hour flight on a 738.
MIA - I guess I was lucky to be there VERY early in the morning. The place actually looked civil. Even the gates were not that far apart. B12 to A16. BA has a lounge just above A16, so with about 20 minutes to spare I decided to check it out. No dice. What’s with the BA gate keepers? She was wrong. I was coming off a OW segment that was part of an international flight and connecting on my final segment to get home. She just said NO WAY. I pleaded with her from another point of view. I’m OW Emerald and my flight is 20 minutes away from boarding. NO WAY!!!! I really wasn’t sure about the rules at that point so left, took the elevator down to the gate and decided to pull out my Executive Platinum guide. She was wrong and I could have gone back to argue, but with boarding just about ready to start, f**k it!. I think OW should have a talk with BA and their attitude heavy Terraces gate keepers. I do like their lounges, but loose the attitude PLEASE!!!!
Monday MAR8 2004
American Airlines Flight #1724
MIA-TPA
Distance 204 miles
MD-80
First - Seat 3E
Scheduled:
Departure at 7:10am
Arrival at 8:10am
Actual:
Departure at 7:15am
Arrival at 8:00am
Nothing to report here other than the fact the very nice FA found enough time to serve a round of drinks/coffee or whatever you desired at this ungodly hour of the morning. I’ve been on about 10 of these short flights and it’s a guessing game as to whether they will/will not serve something. I would say it’s about 50/50.
Some final thoughts: Luggage handling. Very impressed with the outbound. AA TPA checked it in for the long journey, TPA-DFW(2 hour layover)-LAX(6 hour layover and transfer to CX)-HKG(16 hour layover) and finally JNB. It was one of the very first to come out in JNB. VERY IMPRESSED. Nothing was broken, touched or missing. VERY IMPRESSED.
Same experience on the way back, At LAX my luggage was the 3rd or 4th piece on the belt. Immigration and customs were a cake walk. Re-checked my luggage with AA and again it was one of the first ones in TPA.
All, except the BA Regional flights were on time or early. Some did have service problems, but nothing that will change, effect anybodies life. I just reported it as part of the trip journal, but in reality, I have nothing but good memories.
Thank You AA, CX, BA and Hilton!
Also, a big THANK YOU to the FT members that helped in making this trip possible.
It’s good to be home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Many places are beautiful, exotic, adventurous, exciting, BUT there is nothing like HOME!
[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited Mar 15, 2004).]