KenF

So, a somewhat delayed trip, originally planned for June, but rescheduled for July 2009, hence the title - "Fly Another Day".

The announcement of the "award inflation" for bmi F class awards, and the per-sector surcharge for LH F generated strong pressure from Willard to get a trip booked in at the old rates whilst we could. This would also allow me to fulfill two promises in one, as I'd promised Pat that I'd show her the FCT, and I'd promised Willard back in 2005 that the next time we were in Suvarnabhumi Airport, He'd be in the TG F lounge.

So, with the scene set, we're off once again - you can see the intended itinerary on that fine web site BA97, specifically Here.

I took my hat off to those who do full featured trip reports at the end of my last trip to Vegas, so I can't promise to match the quality of the masters, but Willard will definitely be updating his website with his usual brand of furry wit and photos, and I'll post updates here.

Index to this Trip Report:

Fit the First – MAN-CPH-FRA (Includes MAN-CPH in SK C, CPH-FRA in LH C and Zleep “Airport” Hotel Kastrup)
Fit the Second – FRA-HKG (Including the LH FCT!) (includes Sheraton Offenbach, the FCT and LH F FRA-HKG)
Fit the Third - HKG-BKK (includes Sheraton Towers Hong Kong, Three Days in Hong Kong, TG F HKG-BKK and very little sleep at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit)


Previous Trip Reports:

Willard the Bear in “Gold (Life) Member” MAN-LAS-(PHX)-JFK-(PHX)-LAS-MAN on BD J and US Domestic F

Ken.

Willard the Bear - I knew he'd come through for me! Another trip in real style!

TEX277

Looking forward to it KenF ^

Gaucho100K

+1

KenF

For those unfamiliar with Willard's recent trips, we are travelling using BBC Top Gear Challenge rules (or, at least, our own version of them). For those unfamiliar with this concept, with the exception of the actual flight segments and other “built in” parts of the trip, we are restricted to using public transport except in the following circumstances:

A – There is no feasible public transport option to our destination
B – We consider our personal safety significantly threatened
C – we really want to

So, with that thought in mind, we start our trip with a bus/underground ride to Liverpool Lime Street Station, where we intend to meet Pat, who is travelling separately from Southport. After arriving at Lime Street (known locally, somewhat unfairly, since it's recent refurbishment, as “Slime Street”), and having bought our ticket to Manchester Airport, are somewhat surprised to find that Pat has engaged “rule C” somewhat earlier in the trip than I expected, and has cadged a lift to the station from a neighbour. Anyway, the train leaves on time and, as it's a weekday, gets us efficiently and directly to Manchester Airport (on weekends this train is notorious for ending unexpectedly in Manchester Piccadilly and turning, rather inconveniently, from a direct train service into a rail replacement bus service). I was saddened on arrival to find that Manchester Airport has finally succumbed to paid deposit baggage trolleys (the bane of international travellers the world over) for what reason I know not (it isn't as if the can go anywhere, unless people were trying to wheel them down the motorway!), however this doesn't affect us as we're fully wheeled and prepared to be self propelled with our baggage, and, in any event, the lift was out of service, so a trolley would not have been particularly practical. Though the connecting route to Terminal 3 has been closed in the interests of the ever growing Duty Free shopping area, you can still take the overhead walkway from the station to terminal 1, where our flight leaves from, and so our route was reasonably easy, albeit with two of the travelators in our direction out of service (I think this may well be some kind of Manchester Airport tradition, and I'm sure that one of those things was closed for maintenance on the day they did the grand opening of the connecting walkway, many, many years ago, and at least one of them has been off-line on every single day since!) but we eventually ended up at:

SAS Flight SK542 MAN-CPH

Booked Class: Business (Award) (I) – Flown Class: Business Seat: 1D,F
Scheduled Departure: 19:10

We arrived slightly too early to check-in (SAS check-in opens at 16:00, which seems reasonable) so we wandered around the airport for 15 minutes (all you can do now at MAN is wander, as all of the landside shops have gone, and there is not one single seat in the whole of the main check in hall) and arrived back at the SAS check-in just as the desks opened. Sadly, despite the signage, Servisair (the handling agent for SAS at MAN) has decided to operate a “one class” check-in so we did not get any priority check-in service either (much to the confusion, to be fair, of the economy passengers who were called forward ahead of us, who couldn't understand why they were checking in as business class either). When we got to check-in, we were handed Fast-Track tagged boarding passes – I'm not really sure why though, as Manchester Airport security had decided not to operate the Fast Track lane, and so we queued with everyone else (quite a neat trick, since the airport charges SAS for every sticker they issue, but they didn't actually provide the service the airline paid for). After security, we arrived at “the gauntlet” the new duty free shop interposed between the entrance to T1 airside and, well, pretty much everything else. It's not the existence of the shop we object to, you understand, it's the fact that it is intentionally designed to make it as difficult as possible to progress quickly into the departures area even if you know exactly where you need to go!
So, after running the gauntlet, we made the traditional left turn and took the lift up to the lounge area, and were glad to find that SAS has contracted the “Wilmslow Lounge” rather than the rather hateful and abrasive “Bollin Lounge”, and, as usual we got a friendly and welcoming reception from the staff there (I think I may be banned from the Bollin lounge due to a disagreement last year as a Priority Pass user when I, clearly unreasonably, expected them to stay open until their contracted closing time rather than their normal process of closing 15 minutes early so the staff can catch their earlier bus home...). No such histrionics from the staff here, who are long time Willard fans, and quite enjoy hearing of his travel escapades when he arrives after an extended absence. Luckily, one positive thing I did notice is that I may never need to subject myself to the Bollin lounge again, as the Wilmslow lounge has now joined Priority Pass, and no sane person would select the other lounge if they had the choice! (In fact, being more realistic, I prophecy that the Bollin lounge is not long for this world, as I cannot see where it would get it's customers from now that it isn't the only PP lounge in T1).
Our flight was called quite early, and even though the staff in the lounge helpfully advised that it was unlikely to board on time, we decided to make the trek to the gate and not leave it until the last minute. Manchester T1 has finally completed it's painful conversion to segregated arrivals and departures, and so arriving passengers no longer have to go on a magical mystery tour up and down flights of stairs, however, the “quid pro quo” for this is that there are some gates that use the “mystery tour” route to circumvent the new arrivals corridor, such as ours. True to the form they had shown so far, Servisair did not implement any priority boarding for our flight, and the boarding process, once started, was a sea of elbows, knees and wheeled-bags-brandished-as-weapons that, I'm afraid, we'd become used to as typifying SAS and, sadly, Scandinavia generally.
Arriving onboard was a complete change of pace – staff were friendly and helpful to the point of embarrassment, and our half full cabin was not cramped and had plenty of overhead space (which was just as well as one of our fellow passengers still took it upon themselves to rearrange everyone else's baggage to accommodate her wide and numerous collection of carry on bags).
Sitting as we were on the D,F side of this MD80-something (seat E isn't sold in the business cabin) we couldn't help but feel that the passengers on the A,C side had rather got the raw deal (seat B doesn't exist, as this is a 2-3 seating config) compared to us (thanks Flyertalk!).
Even though our flight pushed back late, extreme slot padding meant that our 90 minute flight time would get us in very early (around 21:30 at the gate by my calculations) at CPH.
In-Flight service continued with drinks and was of the very highest standard for short-haul business, and it really is a shame how the ground handling is undermining the best efforts of the cabin crew in delivering a service people will want to use again.
The meal was a single tray, three course, cold meal (main course was sliced turkey with cous-cous) that could, in my opinion, have been a little larger for this length/time of flight, but, having recently experienced US domestic “First Class” I'm confident that American customers would see the meal as very impressive!
Although we arrived early and were pretty much first off the plane, we again encountered what seems to be characteristic “every man/woman for themselves” behavior at immigration, so the first to arrive quickly ceded their position in the queue to those more willing to elbow their way to the front.
Not a great loss though, as our luggage had only just started to come off as we arrived at the baggage claim, and, predictably, the priority tags on our bags had had the expected effect of ensuring that our bags were amongst the last loaded onto the belt.

Overall Rating
As a bmi “Cash and Miles” business award, the overall experience was acceptable for the price paid, however, I saw no evidence that we were being discriminated against as award travelers, so I'd have to say that if I had paid a business fare for this flight and received that service I would have been ready to throttle someone as I came off the plane. SAS really need to stop complaining that no-one buys premium tickets and start to actually provide a premium service.

Good Points
Wilmslow Lounge
In-Flight crew and service

Bad Points
Ground handling at MAN and CPH
Lack of priority baggage handling
Slightly underwhelming meal

Zleep Hotel Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup)

Oh dear, where do we start!

After waiting for our bags and negotiating buying rail tickets to Tarnby station, we were stood on the platform by about 23:00 local time, and waited for a train for about 7 minutes. As billed, the train took only three minutes to get to the station, one stop from the Airport, but, here it all started to go wrong. It took us the best part of 45 minutes to find the hotel based on the directions on their website, and two telephone calls to the hotel. Strictly speaking, nothing on the website is incorrect – having found the hotel, we can see that, technically it is 100m from the station, and it does have large yellow flags outside, but, unless you are a bird (a homing pigeon perhaps?) with a good sense of direction and the ability to navigate in the dark, neither of these pieces of information are particularly useful. Us non-flying humans cannot take the direct route, and thus must cross a Motorway/Freeway on-ramp and a main road (with our luggage) where we would be able to see the yellow flags if someone had thought to light them at night, since, otherwise they are completely useless as a landmark. Having slogged our luggage to, and across, the hotel car park, we were greeted by the 10 steep steps to the entrance, and the further two sets of steps from the entrance door to the hotel level, and the long corridor to the (unstaffed at this time) check-in desk. So, after a further 15 minute wait we had a key in our hand and were ready for bed.
I've nothing against the hotel per-se, it's a budget hotel in a country and city that has very high hotel rates, and the room itself met my expectations for a hotel charging only DKK 499, though the bathroom was the smallest I've seen anywhere! (and I've stayed in budget hotels in Tokyo and London, you understand!) It being less than 1.5sq.m. with a “wet room” design and a shower curtain separating the WC from the combined washbasin/shower. No, my entire problem with this hotel is that it describes itself as an “Airport Hotel” and, given that most users of Airport hotels are transit passengers or those arriving on late flights or departing on early flights, you know, the kind of passengers that have LUGGAGE!!! Even if I knew exactly how to get to this hotel in the dark, I'd still be pretty concerned about negotiating crossing the roads with cases, much less manhandling my bags up and down the steps to the entrance, and I shudder to think what might happen should a wheelchair user have the bad sense to book here.

Overall Rating
Unless you are traveling hand baggage only, don't mind either a bit of a sprint across the road, or a very long walk to the nearest cross walk, this is not an Airport hotel. Seriously, one word, AVOID

Good Points
It's cheap.

Bad Points
Pretty much everything else.

Copenhagen City

Short section this, as, after the fun and games getting to the hotel, and a similar, if slightly less unnerving (because we knew what we were in for, and because it was in daylight) return trip, we decided that even though we had the best part of 8 hours to our flight, we would give up on our original plan to ditch our bags and take a day trip to Copenhagen. We instead used some of the time to correct some problems with our upcoming Thai Airways sectors, as, at some point during rebooking them Amadeus (the system behind Check My Trip) and the internal TG booking system had got our seat reservations out of sync, and we were concerned that we may not actually have seats booked on the flights. The contracted SAS staff at the Thai check-in desk were not initially very helpful, as they were keen to direct us to the railway station where we could catch a train into Copenhagen thence to locate the Thai Airways city ticket office, but, after a bit of negotiation, they begrudgingly admitted there was a Thai Airways office on the second floor “That Passengers were not normally allowed to use” and we could try our luck there. Said office was staffed by Thai Airways staff who were more than happy to help us (and this was before they saw we were booked into First Class, you understand!) and gave us the confirmation we needed and made us feel like valued customers. This is an object lesson as to why airlines should be cautious about using 3rd party staff as their primary customer interface at outstations, as they are rarely motivated to really represent the airline. At the very least, if I was going to let someone else front my operation, I'd want to keep a very tight control on them and make sure they were every bit as supportive and helpful as my own companies staff would be.

Lufthansa Flight LH3077 CPH-FRA

Booked Class: Business (Award) (I) – Flown Class: Business Seat: 1A,C
Scheduled Departure: 19:25

Impressed that SAS barely missed a beat when we went to check-in for our 19:25 flight at about 11:00, and there was no problem checking our luggage at that time, even though our itinerary showed us overnighting in Frankfurt they initially wanted to check us through to HKG, but had no problems re-tagging the bags just to FRA. We had only managed to reserve 3A,C in advance (I can understand LH restricting the front rows from other airlines *Golds, but limiting access for their own First Class passengers does seem a little excessive!) but we snagged 1A,C with no problems. As non-SAS Business/Star-Gold passengers, we weren't allowed to use the fast track at Copenhagen, but FT had prepared us for this, so we slogged to the normal (and at this time of the day, empty) security channel, and after a quick and efficient security check, slogged pretty much back the way we came, only this time, airside.
It was a shame that when we got to the SAS lounge complex, we were told that the Scandinavian lounge was closed for cleaning, and, though we were informed that the catering in the Business lounge (the downstairs bit) had been upgraded to match the Scandinavian lounge, I'd have to say I'm sceptical unless the standards in the upper lounge had dropped considerably since our last visit. However, the lounge itself was very good, spacious, well-appointed and with a range of different themed zones that seemed to cater for every eventuality. There was also a new relaxation zone with a few laid back chairs (as ably demonstrated by Willard), all in all a well thought out lounge for an airlines hub airport.
Since we had a loooong time in the airport, we went out for a wander, and quickly came to the conclusion that CPH is a very large shopping mall that happens to have an international airport attached to it as an afterthought.
After traversing roughly half of the Terminal 1 Shopping Centre, we decided to stop at the Novia lounge (good old Priority Pass!) for a rest. This appears to be the contracted business class lounge for a brace of non-Star Alliance (and, strangely, a few Star ones too). We found another smaller but still well appointed lounge with good views across both the apron (plane spotters take note) and the terminal.
After completing our circuit of the terminal, we returned to the SAS lounge about two hours before our flight was scheduled to board, and used their free WiFi to check out E-Mail and FT. The staff confirmed our gate was a 10 minute trek from the lounge, so we left early to find that our A321 was D-AIRX that Lufthansa currently has painted in “retro” 60's livery.
Boarding started pretty much on-time, and we were pleased to see that this time (being LH) there was a priority boarding call, and we managed to make it to the gate before the assembled passengers had time to completely ignore it!
We were welcomed and seated with usual LH efficiency, and the purser quickly noticed Willard's VIB* status and converted the B seat from a table back into a seat for him.
I wondered if the announcement that our flight time would be 30 minutes was a translation error, but the German announcement matched, though the actual duration was closer to 60 minutes block-block (still well padded based on a scheduled time of 1:40).
The Business cabin on this flight was about 10 rows, and roughly half full, and given this and the short flight time, the service was very, very well done. SAS had better Champagne (in that it was actually Champagne) to be sure, but the rest of the service, and the meal, was considerably better than SAS, and, indeed, better than most any other short-haul business class for a flight of this length.
No immigration this time, as we were already in the Schengen zone, and the baggage hall in this part of FRA is currently “under redevelopment”. Our bags were out first, but this was marred by the fact that all of the bags were delayed by around 30 minutes, so we still had quite a wait.

Overall Rating
Very good – LH have clearly decided to charge a premium fare, but provide a premium product to match, I very much hope this strategy is working for them.

Good Points
Boarding and onboard service
Priority baggage handling that works

Bad Points
Too restrictive seat blocking algorithm
LH need to talk SAS into letting them use the Fast Track at CPH

You can see the Willard's eye view starting here

* - Very Important Bear, obviously!

TrayflowInUK

I have been a regular user of Manchester Airport since 2004, and I can absolutely confirm this. My theory is that they have something like 16 travelators but only 15 of some key spare part (drive motor perhaps?) so they just keep swapping it around! This partly explains why I generally stick to flying from Humberside, where there has never been a malfunctioning travelator .

FlyingFinn

I stayed one night in this sorry excuse for a hotel in April 2008 - my reasoning was similar to yours: I had maybe 5 hours to spend at the hotel so minimizing cost was my priority. In addition I had to work the next day after the early morning flight so trying to sleep at the airport just wouldn't cut it - I'd need a bed.

I can underwrite everything you said - finding the hotel in the dark was not a trivial task - I resorted to checking through every building within a 200-meter radius of the train stop which worked. Luckily I had only hand luggage so lugging it wasn't too tough.

The room was horrible, and considering 499 DKK isn't exactly cheap it got you very little. Next time I'll spend double that and go for the fab airport Hilton.


As for your crap ground experience at MAN - definitely do complain to SK. They deserve to know that ServisAir (or MAN airport?) is charging them for for services they clearly don't provide.

Unfortunately your priority baggage experience is the SOP with SK in Scandinavia.

celtic_warrior

when is the next instalment , i am loving this report.

KenF

So, a slight delay in updates, and so an explanation is perhaps in order:

In my younger days, as a computer games programmer (no, seriously, that is one of the jobs I did during and just after leaving University!) myself and my colleagues were of the opinion that our work would go a lot quicker (and our deadlines met) if we were sat on the beach, that the sun and the heat, in some real way, would speed up our computers and make everything work quicker. It goes without saying that our employers did not share this view, and would not finance beach holidays in order to allow us to meet our impending deadlines, and, it pains me to say, that here, some 28 years later, I can see that they were right. My little Toshiba NB100 does not seem to like the heat in Hua Hin! After only 30 minutes sat at the Luna Lanai beach bar, it's Intel Atom processor is in severe thermal stress – the fan is whining, and the thermal throttling is making this poor little netbook run like a three-legged Arcturan Mega-donkey. So, I've had to leave writing up the trip report until we have reached somewhat more temperate climes, hence the unavoidable delay.

Sheraton Frankfurt Offenbach

After our experience at the zZleep Hotel, we'd become a little wary of train transfers, and so we decided to invoke a mixture of rules B and C, and took a taxi to the Sheraton Offenbach. Unfortunately, the late arrival of our bags meant that we had kicked into the Frankfurt Taxi “night rate” and, for the first few kilometres of our journey, the taxi meter ticked on at an alarming rate, somewhat akin to a New York rappers night club bar bill. However, we arrived at the Sheraton without having bought a bottle of Cristal (a bottle of Monopole Blue Top, perhaps), and, further investigation the next morning served to vindicate our decision. True, the Sheraton had taken the very sensible decision to place a large visible sign at the exit of the U-Bahn station providing the weary traveller with direction in their quest to locate the hotel, but, the exit to the station did appear to involve a lot of steps, and I do not think we would have made it with our luggage, even with Willard helping.

No complaints as to our arrival at the hotel, where the Starwood recognition met (or exceeded ) that which was required. The room was acceptable, and may possibly have represented an upgrade from our Cash and Points rate. Since we would be leaving early to maximise our stay at the Lufthansa FCT we did not partake of the breakfast buffet, and instead took advantage of a lie-in and a relatively early check-out.

Overall Rating
Very acceptable and workmanlike Sheraton, much more cost effective than the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, and good transport links (if you are handbaggage only). However, if it had been available at a sensible rate, the Le Meridien Frankfurt would have been a better choice for a budget alternative to the horrendously expensive Sheraton FRA (due to the better transport links, especially the lack of huge flights of stairs!)

Good Points
Nothing to complain about

Bad Points
Make sure you know where Offenbach is in relation to your destination
Very few suites if you are SPG Platinum and like your upgrades
Breakfast buffet is a little pricey if you are not booked on a B&B rate.

Lufthansa First Class Terminal – Frankfurt Airport
OK, not really a separate step in the journey, but this is one Lounge option that generates more interest than any other in the entire Star Alliance network, so I think it deserves it's own section!
Given that the service for the FCT is really geared towards passengers arriving by car, I make no apologies for engaging rule C and taking a taxi from the Sheraton Offenbach.
Arrival was, as usual, effortless. A porter arrived to take the bags from our taxi shortly after we pulled up, and, before we knew it, all of our bags were out and on a baggage trolley. After we had identified and retrieved our hand baggage (and Willard!) we arrived in reception, told the staff our flight and relinquished our passports. The private security checkpoint was a welcome change from our experiences of the last two days, and we were quickly through into the lounge, and, since I advised that Pat hadn't visited before, we got a mini-tour of the lounge. We found a deserted spot (the lounge wasn't full, by any means, but we wanted to minimise disruption as we took photos for Willard's website) and grabbed a cup of tea to start the day.
By the time 11:30 came, we decided it was time for a spot of lunch, and we moved to the restaurant area. I have to say it was quite busy at this time, and service was visibly strained, but shortly after we sat down, we were offered initial drinks, and started reading the menu. The level of quality control on the buffet was amazing to watch as someone came out virtually every 5 minutes to check all of the dishes on display. The dishes “to order” were a different matter, and did take some time both to order and to be delivered, but were of very high quality once they arrived. If I were in a hurry, I'd probably want to stick to the buffet, I think! Also, whilst the menu on the table did comprehensively list the options available both on the buffet and to order, it doesn't make it clear which is which, and, together with a lack of any labelling on the buffet items, this can make identifying what you want and how to get it a bit of a hit and miss affair.
After lunch, Pat retired to the bath (no queue, and no problem requesting a bath), whilst I retired, with Willard, to check out the legendary collection of Single Malt Whiskies on the bar (the results of which are documented here). Pat returned from her bath refreshed, but complaining of un-met expectations, as there no longer seem to be any rubber duckies supplied in the bathroom (bad, bad Lufthansa!). We spent the remainder of our time doing the usual FCT things, I visited the Cigar Lounge with Willard, Pat investigated the selection of teas, and about an hour before our flight was due to board, we went back to the dining area and, whilst it was somewhat quieter, had a very light dinner to put us on until the full service started on our flight (and an honourable mention is deserved for the beef fillet, which was very nice).
As always happens in the FCT, all too soon our flight was called, and sadly, even though I'd asked if they could arrange a private transfer since Pat had not experienced this, they put us in the minivan, since another couple were in the FCT and on our flight.

Overall Rating
Way in excess of the service offered by any other Star Alliance airline (and quite possibly any other scheduled flights, the FCT is one of a kind, and this is the way ultra-premium travel should be. Lay one enhancing finger on this service at your peril, Lufthansa, you've set the standard, now you will be forever judged by it!

Good Points
Effortless arrival and check-in
Best stocked airport lounge bar in the world, without a doubt
Understated VIP concierge service

Bad Points
Restaurant service is a little strained when busy
2 Hour vouchers for Wireless Internet are tacky, and unnecessary in this completely isolated, private lounge
Minibus transfers detract from the “private plane” style service, and should be reserved for group travellers.
Where'd the Rubber Duckies go?!

Lufthansa Flight LH738 FRA-HKG

Booked Class: First (Award) (O) – Flown Class: First Seat: 83A,C
Scheduled Departure: 17:55

Since we were FCT passengers, boarding process was, as you might expect, relatively seamless. We had the use of an exterior lift once we left the minivan, and were hustled directly onto the plane with a quick handover to the Purser. Based on my only other experience two years ago, the service with a “group” transfer is not quite as personalised, as there are not enough staff to carry all of the handbaggage (or Willard!) for you, and, inevitably, someone has to be first and someone has to be last. Overall though, it beats standing in a queue any day of the week!
Once we arrived on the upper deck, it became instantly clear that our seat selections (83A,C held universally by the denizens of the M&M board to be the best F seats on an LH747) were a good idea, and that all hell was breaking loose! The F cabin was completely full, even though the seatmap had been showing only 5 seats occupied up until very recently, and the staff were, shall we say, under some pressure. This feeling was confirmed when we found out later that one of the crew in F had been called in from standby, and that the flight had gone from comfortably empty to overbooked in a few hours before departure.
However, for us, in our little enclave of calm, (just Pat, me, Willard and the emergency exit door ) we nevertheless experienced a good pre-departure service, with drinks, amenity kits, pyjamas (finally, LH are providing pyjamas in First, if only I'd have known, I wouldn't have had an MH sleeper suit in my backpack!), slippers and so on. Though we could see chaos around us, none of it seemed to penetrate the little bubble of calm we'd booked for ourselves (except, possibly, the withering looks from the couple we had shared the minivan from the FCT with, who seemed a little miffed we were seated in the exit row, and they weren't).
Of the amenities – the pyjamas were of good quality, in reserved blue with a grey piping. The small size was obviously intended for women, with a jersey-like top, whilst the large was obviously intended for men, and had a button-up front. The kits were colour coded, blue for men and light brown for women, and though both were pretty spartan, the womens kit was definitely the better of the two, with Clairns face care items, as well as the moisturiser and lip balm included in both kits.
Dinner service started shortly after we had completed the climb, and our Purser introduced herself, and, notably, ensured we were amongst the first to be asked our meal preferences (which sort of confirmed earlier suspicions that virtually everyone else in the cabin were op-ups).

So, quite a nice (if a little eclectic) menu then!

I chose the Pork balls, much to the surprise of the FA (“the chinese??”), whilst Pat went for the Catfish (and benefited from our non Op-Up status, as this dish was being refused to 83H,K). The Caviar service was first, with an acceptable portion, though no chance of seconds today, given the full cabin. Whilst the Tri-level plate holders were still in evidence on the trolley, the option of trying all three starters was not being exactly advertised, though I did see one stalwart in the cabin go for it. I'd have to say though, that with the menu selection of very rich starters, you'd have to be seriously starved in order to give it a go! I think I had the soya pastry (but I know I had another glass of champagne !) and Pat had the “Trilogy of Trout”, and pronounced it good but very, very rich. We both went for the sorbet, which was a nice touch, being filled up after serving with champers (though if it were my house, I'd have to say I wouldn't be using the good stuff for that purpose!) and it did indeed provide a nice fresh gap before the main course.
Main courses were served nearly at the same time (Catfish took a little more time) and we both pronounced them very good, well presented meals.
I was very impressed by the extent of the Cheeseboard, as, even in First, in-flight cheese selections are often a bit limited, and Pat tried the Cake. Of course, we both found an appropriate excuse (after the cheese for me) to sample the Dessert wine, always a treat on LH.
After the regulation Coffee and Cognac, and having trawled the IFE and found little of interest, we bedded down and managed a good 4 to 5 hours of sleep, which is not bad for a flight at this time of day. I think it's fair to say that what the LH seats lack in privacy, they seem to make up for in comfort, though I'm really keen to see what the new LH F will be like on the A380.
As is always the way on these flights, breakfast time came all too quickly, about 2.5 hours out of HKG.

A nice touch that they have a separate breakfast menu, rather than it being the back page of the main menu, saves digging out the menu from wherever you hid it after the main meal service.
After the breakfast service, we changed back out of our sleeper suits and looked out of the window (by this time we were passing over mainland China, and the view was impressive), and, before you know it, we were calling 30 minutes to landing, and our flight would soon be over.
Retrieving hand baggage from the rear locker meant we were the last people to leave First, but, true to LH form, they held back the traffic from Business to let us off the plane.
After the fully cosseted service of the FCT, the arrival at Chep Lap Kok was a bit of a jolt, as there was no assistance whatsoever for F passengers, and we quickly found ourselves fighting in a large queue of arrivals bound for the transit train (now somewhat complicated by the flow restrictions that separate departing and arriving passengers). As we exited from the train, there was a laser temperature check station (good old Swine Flu! Last time we were at HKG the Bird Flu panic was in full flow, seems strange to see things working in reverse!) followed by a relatively short queue for immigration.
By the time we had cleared all of this, our bags were already circling the carousel (HON tags appeared to have done their work), and after getting them we made a bee-line for the Airport Express, having already bought discounted tourist passes online (Here, for those interested – it's only a small discount, but every little helps!).

Overall Rating
Very good – Lufthansa's tendency towards a smugly superior attitude about their F service seems sadly very justified, at least if you are originating in FRA or MUC. Even on a “suddenly” full flight, they managed to deliver a high quality service, with no visible glitches.

Good Points
Food and Drink were of high quality
Staff, even under pressure, were professional throughout
Finally! Sleeper Suits in LH First – looks like they're listening!

Bad Points
Seat, though comfortable, is looking decidedly “last millennium” compared to the competition
IFE doesn't stack up for a modern First Class seat (screen too small, too little choice)
They really do need to look at providing some form of arrivals service at outstations

As usual, you can see a bear's eye view starting Here.

ballogie

Excellent so far Ken. I expect a full report on Hau Hin as we are off there in a month. F on the EK 380

KenF

.....but first a word about our Airport Express shuttle bus service: <Expletive Deleted>!

The Airport Express service itself was the usual efficient service we've come to expect, though, with our web-purchased 3-day passes, it was a little strange boarding without a ticket, however, the service worked as advertised, and we were able to get our passes from the Customer Service desk at Kowloon station before exiting the barrier. The helpful staff were on hand on the platform to assist with our heavy luggage, but I have to admit that our fellow passengers beat them to it, much to my shame! We found the shuttle bus terminal, and it all looked very well organised, and when time came to board our bus, a porter came and whisked our luggage into the bus' cavernous luggage bay. Things looked good even as we arrived at the Prince hotel, drove under the canopy, and watched passengers leave and the hotel staff run out and grab their luggage in typical 5 star hotel style. So, we weren't quite so prepared when the bus drove past the vehicle entrance to the Sheraton, round the block, and stopped in the middle of the road behind the Hotel some 150 yards from the (back) entrance (with it's flight of steps). I alighted the bus, and, as the (luckily only Level 2 by now) Typhoon hit me, I also realised I'd have to crawl on my hands and knees into the luggage bay, in the driving rain, to retrieve our luggage, as the porterage service only appears to apply to getting on the bus! So, we went from First Class effortlessness to drowned rats in pretty quick order, and the only saving grace was that the head porter was at the rear entrance and saw us coming, and was very pro-active in getting us out of the rain, and getting a porter over for our luggage, so we didn't have to manhandle it up the steps.
Advice: Don't depend on this great new Shuttle Bus service unless you already know where the bus stops for your hotel, and you don't mind dealing with the above scenario in the worst case.
It's a shame, and very uncharacteristic for Hong Kong, a good idea, very badly implemented!

Sheraton Towers Hong Kong

So, after the debacle with the Airport Express shuttle, the Towers Check-In area was a bit of a haven of tranquillity, and the check-in process, on this Award Stay (the most expensive of the trip, as a Cat 5 + SPEC2 Upgrade to get a confirmed room in the Towers) was faultless, with no problem caused by our relatively early arrival (about 11:45 by the time we got there) and a late check-out offered automatically once they were aware of out flight details (20:50 departure from HKG). The room itself was nominally a city view Towers room, but the corner position gave it a very acceptable harbour view, and as a Gold upgrade from an award, it seemed like a very nice choice. The decision to use a mountain of points to upgrade to the towers was made on the basis that I'd finally lost my SPG Plat status last year, and prior experience was that the Towers at this hotel basically run as a completely separate hotel, and we'd miss them far too much now after all those previous stays where we'd enjoyed them. I'm pleased to report that on an Award, we got access to all of the normal paid Towers benefits, including lounge access, Towers breakfast, free internet access, laundry/pressing allowance and F&B discount in the rest of the hotel, definitely made the expenditure of points seem more worth it.
The room itself was a standard Towers renovated room, with the mahogany furniture and trim, but without the controversial glass window between the bathroom and bedroom (though this may only feature in the official harbour view rooms). One update since our last visit was a Wide screen LCD TV, with the very nice feature that all of the auxiliary inputs (Composite, SVHS, Audio, VGA, HDMI) had been picked up and cabled to an outlet panel next to the desk. Whether you are wanting to trial your latest Powerpoint presentation, or like me, carry a mini HDD video player for entertainment, this really is a very well thought out feature.
Jet lag triggered an early test of the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed, but our built-in alarm clocks woke us in time for the evening “Happy Hour” from 17:30 to 20:00 (and if you spent every night partaking to the maximum in the available free drinks, you'd be very happy indeed!). I know there has been some unpleasantness on Flyertalk about the hotel's decision to create a dedicated Platinum lounge on the 9th Floor, and limit access to the Towers lounge to actual Towers guests, but, in their defence, we've visited this hotel before the refurbishment and the old two-tier Towers lounge used to be regularly rammed solid with people, whilst this smaller one level lounge has always been no more than comfortably full. Given that, under the Ts&Cs the hotel could have legitimately just banned access to Plats and not provided an alternative (Concierge level lounges are excluded from the SPG Platinum lounge access rules), I think the current arrangement is a good compromise (and yes, I've used the other lounge too on a previous visit, and yes, I'm aware it doesn't have any windows!). For those unfamiliar with this lounge, it provides a very good range of drinks (including sparkling wine, which answers to “Champagne” when you order it, but isn't, technically, actually Champers) and a nice selection of buffet items (two random hot items and a selection of dips, cold sandwiches, cheeses and deserts) that the hard-faced guest could probably fashion an evening meal out of, and a panoramic view of the iconic Hong Kong Harbour.
The concierge staff on the desk outside the lounge were almost painfully helpful, making suggestions and restaurant reservations and generally trying to pre-empt what you need before you know you need it. The Towers breakfast up in the Zen Restaurant (what used to be the Oyster bar) on the 18th floor is slightly uprated from our last visit and includes not only the large cold buffet that we remember, and cooked eggs/bacon/sausage to order, but also now has a large a'la carte menu to choose from with a range of more substantial options, such as eggs Benedict, steak and eggs and both Japanese and Chinese breakfast sets, all complimentary to Towers guests. Allegedly, we could also have taken our breakfast in the main restaurant, but, given the choice available on the 18th floor, we never felt the need to try!
We took advantage of the offered late check-out (in fact, I think we availed ourselves of every towers benefit on the list, except use of the boardroom, over our two nights stay) and chose to leave the hotel via taxi, having just seen the shuttle bus still doing it's stop in the middle of the road just before we left!


Overall Rating
Though it can sometimes appear a little overpriced, the Towers section of the Sheraton Hong Kong does deliver a very good service, and if you will gain value from the benefits, and can live with the location on the Kowloon side of the Harbour it is probably the best Starwood option in Hong Kong. Note though, this only applies to the Towers, as you may as well think of the main Sheraton Hong Kong as a different hotel altogether – it's certainly run that way!

Good Points
Concierge Service
Towers Lounge (one of the best at any Sheraton anywhere!)
Wide range of benefits for Towers guests
Recently renovated rooms

Bad Points
Thinks it is competing with the Peninsula next door (and the Mandarin Oriental across the harbour) and this means that prices can sometimes be a little high for what it is. It's good, but not that good!
Rooms (especially Harbour view) are quite small by Sheraton standards – it's all there but sometimes a bit close together.
Though there is now an entrance to Nathan Road MRT station just across the road from the rear of the hotel (courtesy of the new link tunnel to TST-East station) the station hasn't magically got any closer, so it's still a fair walk, albeit now underground, and thus safe from the army of hawkers at the bottom of Nathan road, to get to the MRT. Some of the hotels in Central are more convenient for an MRT station.

Three Days in Hong Kong
Just a quick gazetteer of what we did whilst in Hong Kong, for those who are interested.
We had a walk around the famous Temple Street Night Market (one stop up the MRT to Jordan, then either remember your way, or follow the other tourists until you get to the bottom of Temple Street) which was somewhat quieter than we remembered it, still lots of stalls, but not the crush of people it was back in 2005, and a slight feeling of desperation in some of the stallholders. We then doubled back to the Spring Deer Restaurant (Nathan Road MRT, take the Mody Road Exit and walk down until you see the large neon sign, then either wander round aimlessly, ask someone, or look at one of the websites that show you how to recognise the entrance, because you'll never find it unaided first time!) which was, I'm glad to say, every bit as busy as it normally is, even at 9:00 PM (the Towers had made a reservation for us, thankfully) and was also every bit worth the visit as ever, exceptional food at exceptionally reasonable prices.
We took a morning visit to Stanley (MRT or Star Ferry to Central, then Exchange St. Bus station and either the 6 (scenic), 6X (quicker), or 260 (very quick and not that scenic)) double-decker buses (note that you need to add credit to a tourist MRT pass to use these services, as travel on buses and trams is not included in the 3 day unlimited deal, but the pass does double as an octopus pass and makes these trips a lot easier than fumbling for the exact change). Stanley was pretty dead, even with the coach load of cruise passengers that arrived whilst we were there, and the market was noticeably less busy with some larger shops closed and/or missing. The art section was especially downsized, and the air was of extreme desperation compared to our last visit. Our favourite restaurant in Stanley (Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant) had disappeared from the front, somewhat torpedoing our lunch plans, and the Bayside Brassiere made a somewhat overpriced but acceptable alternative.
For the evening, we opted to go up the Peak Tram, now that the Peak Tower had reopened (Star ferry to Central, then bus 15C From just outside the Central Star Ferry Terminal to the Peak Tram station) and found it surprisingly busy, with two complete tram-fulls of passengers in the queue in front of us. The new design for the top of the Peak Tower (the Sky Terrace) is quite good, but is now an additional cost option, and if you are afraid of heights (like myself and Willard) you may find the open-plan design a bit challenging in the dark! The bad part of the new design for the Peak Observatory is the never-ending escalators that appear to be designed to take you to every shop in the tower as you go up, and the very well hidden (after the third corridor I did wonder if I was actually walking back to Central!) Toilets. As detailed in Willard's Photo Report, we decided to eat at the Peak, and chose the Kyo Hachi Japanese Restaurant, and, after a few hours waiting to be served, desperately wished we hadn't! In all my years of travel across the world, for business and pleasure, this is the only restaurant that has had the audacity to try to demand that I pay my bill before I've actually received our main course (because “we're cashing up now”), and, for the record, I wish now I'd followed through on my threat to simply pay for the food we'd consumed and leave, as we'd have then gone to The Hunan Garden (Central MRT then across the walkway to the Exchange Mall, and follow the signs) and had a better, and less overpriced, meal, and infinitely better service!
Our last day was primarily intended to be a shopping day, and so we started in Star City (the building across the road from the Kowloon side Star Ferry terminal) for a bit of IT shopping (not as good as Mong Kok, I'm sure, but more convenient, and better than the various questionable outlets on Nathan Road), and was absolutely amazed by how many shops were simply closed and boarded up. The positive side is that there is now a walkway (that I don't remember being there before) to the Harbour City mall attached to the cruise ship terminal, but the place looks decimated, and the shops that remain definitely have the air of desperation about them. Nevertheless, I managed to get those things that Hong Kong IT shops are justly famous for (just go into your local PC-World and try to buy a USB-Serial interface, or even find a member of staff who knows what one is!), and we retreated to the Sogo Department store and the mall underneath the Sheraton itself, but, having found how limited that Tokyu store was, we made the trek over to Causeway Bay to the main Sogo store there (MRT to Causeway bay, then follow signs to the dedicated exit directly into the store) and had a much more interesting window shopping experience, before we finally decided to make our way back to the Sheraton. We had intended to have Dim Sum at Spring Moon Restaurant in the Peninsula, but we weren't really hungry yet, and reasoned that we might as well get on our way, and partake of a late lunch in the Thai Airways First Class Lounge.

Thai Airways Flight TG607 HKG-BKK

Booked Class: First (Award) (O) – Flown Class: First Seat: 1A,K
Scheduled Departure: 20:45

So, Airport Express back to Chep Lap Kok, and, now that there are two nominal “terminals” in HKG (bit of a misnomer really as T2 is just a check-in area!) we had a dilemma, as we'd checked in at the Kowloon Airport Express station, but we needed to cash in our MRT passes (there's a HKD 50 deposit on them, and anyway we had some funds left on them) and assumed there would be an Airport Express Customer Service desk on both sides.
So, having exited to the T2 side of the platform and found nothing, we realised we had to get back over to T1, and, not wishing to exit and cross the road, we finally found the underground link, and went the long way back round to the Customer services desk on the T1 side of the platform – lesson learned.
We could have then gone back to T2 and seen if there were any “premium” services for TG First Class passengers, but having now understood that, in any event, we would still end up back on this side of the road, and possibly forced to take the train out to the high-numbered gates, we decided to just clear security in T1, and get the chance to look in the main duty free shops. At this point, we encountered problem number 2, Pat had, at some point, lost the Departure section of her immigration landing form from her passport, and was expressing some concern (in both English and Anglo-Saxon) over the loss of all of that personal information. I got her a replacement form and tried to calm her down (“Calm down dear, it's only a landing card”) and we had a browse round the Nuance duty free shop, with Pat locating a good buy on cosmetics (don't ask me what, the most complex item of cosmetics I ever buy is after shave!). And here we encountered problem number 3, as the staff seemed in the mood to play fast and loose with Pat's credit card, trying (and failing) to process it as a Chip & PIN card, claiming that the transaction had failed but unable to produce the appropriate DECLINED slip, then grabbing the card out of the machine before Pat could stop them, placing it in another till and handing it to a different customer to authorise their transaction, before Pat finally lost the last semblance of calm and grabbed the card back and gave them some graphic suggestions as to where they could stick their cosmetics products, telling them in no uncertain terms that she'd decided not to buy (this was later confirmed to generate not none, not one, but two phantom transactions on the aforementioned credit card, and is now the subject of a fraud investigation). Oh, and by the way, if you are the Flyertalker who came up to me and said hello in the Duty Free shop (last met Willard in Sydney Airport last year), please accept my apologies if I was a little preoccupied, but I was trying to stop Pat climbing up the walls of the shop at the time, I'm sure you understand!

So, at this point it seems sensible to get on the transfer train and over to the Thai Airways lounge near gate 40, my only other option (now under active consideration) was to render Pat unconscious!
After a quite busy train ride, we arrive at the far end of the terminal, and locate the Thai lounge. The magical effect of our First Class lounge invites is quite startling, as no less than three staff appear to prepare the lounge for us (we were the only F passengers at that point), they mill around adjusting the tensabarriers, positioning “First Class Only” placards, and generally acting like Bill Gates had suddenly decided to pop in, unannounced. We were seated and offered the lounge menu (which, quite nicely, included a Dim-Sum selection) and I was only a little crestfallen to be advised that Champagne wasn't on the bar menu! After about 45 minutes relaxing (you know the kind of thing, sipping a nice white wine, sampling the Dim Sum, madly searching every pocket of your partners handbag looking for an immigration form, the usual stuff....), I had an extended explore of the lounge, and decided that there must be some kind of motion sensor near the bar, as every time I stepped towards it, a member of staff appeared to ask if I wanted anything . Time was ticking on by this stage, and we'd noticed our flight coming in from Taipei quite early in any event, so I only did a quick and very perfunctory trip to the United Lounge, basically to confirm that it was open at this time, so I can neither report if my TG F boarding pass would allow me admittance, nor confirm if they were serving Champagne in the United IFL that day. When I returned, we'd gained two more guests in the Thai lounge, but it was still not exactly looking packed, and even the business class section (I sneaked past the barrier when I went to the washrooms!) wasn't looking overly full.
I was about 5 minutes into a massage on the single First Class massage chair when I heard our flight being called, and decided not to wait to see if we would be escorted, and so we gathered our belongings together and made for the (very close) gate. At the gate there were two lanes open, one, for Economy, with a long snaking queue, and another for First/Business Class, with no queue whatsoever – I think you can probably guess which one we used! We walked straight onto the plane (two jetways in use, so we completely bypassed the queue) and were seated in 1A,K and supplied with a pre-departure glass of bolly in very short order. Two other passengers (only one of which looked familiar from the lounge, strangely) arrived to make up our load of 4/10 on this sector.
As you might expect on this short sector, the meal service was started as soon as we levelled out, with menus having been distributed before take-off:
So, not a bad menu for a scheduled 2Hr 40 min flight! I can't help but notice that the TPE-HKG segment doesn't seem to be quite as well catered, though I'd assume very few passengers use this flight to do TPE-HKG only.
The Balik Salmon was really, really nice, and the Deep Fried Pork that I went for was well cooked (vegetables nicely crisp) and very tasty, and Pat seemed to enjoy her Sea Bass Just as much. After demolishing the Cheeseboard and sampling the dessert, we were suddenly not regretting missing our lunch! It seemed no time at all after we'd finished our coffee that the crew were preparing the cabin for landing, and there is no doubt that the excellent First Class meal made the time on this short flight fly by!
Our choice of seating was a subject of discussion when we planned the trip, and the idea was to use this as a test to see if 1A,K “worked” for a couple prior to our long haul return flight. The report back is slightly mixed, though the seats are the same as Malaysian Airways, the cabin configuration is slightly different, so, whereas on MH the Ottomans for 1A,K virtually touch each other at the end of the seats, there is still a closet in the nose of the Thai 747, so they are still a few feet apart. Also, whilst dining face to face does work, the lack of a seat belt on the ottoman does make this a little more precarious, especially if you hit the tail end of a Typhoon like we did at the start of our meal! Overall, we decided that the benefits outweighed the problems, given that the middle seats (2E,F, 3E,F) have no windows, and lack the privacy of the nose. We found that you can still sit on the Ottomans and have a conversation even on the TG configuration, and it's sometimes nice to be able to retreat to your own seat! One dis-honourable mention goes to the panel that sticks out at the front end of 2E,F, presumably to delineate the end of the seat area. It's about 9 inches high, sticks into the aisle (on this plane anyway) and it <expletive deleted> hurts when you stub your toe on it in the dark! Beware when wandering round the cabin in your stocking feet!
Arrivals service on this mid-haul Thai flight really put Lufthansa to shame, as we exited the plane (first, naturally, as Business was being held back for us!) there was a member of staff waiting for us, and we were loaded onto a buggy and taken to Immigration, where we were taken directly to the Diplomatic Arrivals section, and processed completely without delay. We were then handed over to another member of Thai Staff who took us to the baggage claim area, found us a seat and bode us wait whilst he retrieved our luggage, which, with it's First Class tags did indeed come first off the carousel. He then wheeled our bags past Customs and enquired if we had a transfer booked, but missed nary a beat when I explained we had intended to take a public taxi, wheeled us to the Taxi rank, obtained the “magic slip” from the (still, after four years) makeshift desk, wheeled us directly to the head of the queue and started loading our luggage into a taxi and confirming the destination to the driver.
So, without even a half-hearted attempt to bypass the meter from our driver (a miracle in itself for Bangkok Airport!) we were on our way to the Westin about 15 minutes after we'd left the plane, and most of that delay was waiting for the bags to come off!

Overall Rating
A great short/mid haul First Class experience over all. Definitely on a par (apart from the lounge) with our previous experiences with Cathay HKG-BKK, and, apart from a few niggles over seat design and check-in location, what looks to be a very well executed product.

Good Points
New F Seat
First Class catering
First Class Arrivals service in BKK

Bad Points
Thai Lounge is good for the ego in First, but I'd personally like to see them uprate the bar service (a few more premium spirits, Champagne, and a better choice of wine)
Thai used to offer buggy transfers to the lounge in HKG, shame they seem to have stopped this
Ottomans really should have seat belts if you are offering face-face dining as an option
Bits of the seat that stick out and catch you unawares!

Westin Grande Sukhumvit (First Visit)
This was booked on the basis of a Transfer Service that the Sheraton Hua Hin was offering when we booked the stay there, with a Shuttle Bus service running between the WGS and the Sheraton Hua Hin every day, priced at THB 550 per person. We looked at various options, but with the late arrival of our Thai flight from HKG we were pretty limited, and staying at the Airport and travelling to Hua Hin from there was the only other choice, and even with the Shuttle Bus service from there (which was double the cost) the logistics of getting to an Airport hotel, getting back for the shuttle etc. made the WGS-SHHR the best overall option. The idea was that we had booked a paid rate that included an in-room breakfast in the rate, so we could arrive late, get straight to sleep, and have a leisurely breakfast in bed before we caught the 9:30 shuttle the next morning.
Things didn't work out that way, as fully described in this thread, but the edited highlights are that the Hua Hin had cancelled the service just after confirming it to us, and we spent most of the night awake and trying to sort this out. Given that it wasn't in any way their fault, the Westin really were very good in terms of their willingness to get involved any try to help sort things out for us, and, after various levels of escalation, we were assured that transport would be laid on and we would only pay the originally agreed rate for the shuttle bus.
Given this, we didn't see that much of the hotel, other than the front desk, the bar, and our room, and we saw far more of all of those than we would have liked! However, after about 4 hours fitful sleep, our room service breakfast arrived bang on the requested time, and we were led to a Hotel Mercedes for our bargain basement (we hoped!) trip to Hua Hin

I'll reserve ratings for the Westin until we return for our second stay here later on in the trip.

As usual, you can see the trip through a bear's eyes here.