Short hair Francis

Introduction

If you read my summer TR, Aren’t you a little young for RTW trips already? You would’ve noticed I used half of my mini-RTW ticket from Aeroplan “SFO-HKG” the longway, and a Circle Pacific ticket to tour Australia and Hawaii.

Well that begs the question, how do I used the return of “HKG-SFO” since I need dates for the ticket back in July 2010 and I don’t tend to have days figured out half a year in advance. That being said, I booked my European stopover in London on the presumption my friend will be in town in January. Now I got HKG-LHR-SFO for this trip then where does the YYZ-SFO-HKG came from.

That part was even more curious, that part of the ticket came from AA miles originally booked in Apr 2010 for July 2010 because I was becoming an EXP too quickly. The 1st routing booked was JFK-YVR-SFO-HKG, when it became that I couldn’t ticket this for 67.5K in First, I had it changed to YVR-SFO-HKG. When June rolled around, I was still requalifying too quickly to the point that I needed to shift more of my flying to reward tickets and thus aeroplan ticket exist for such reasoning. Then what happens to this CX F ticket now I have no use for? Haha many of us would like to say they have no use for a CX F ticket, lol. It became to me that I can use it in December since I would be done EXP by early Sep. The ending result was CX F YYZ-HKG. Now why do I never fly this route, the overnight time sucks if you have people picking you up in HKG, 5:30am! As early Dec rolled around, many of you know that CX opens up more availability closer to the departure date, ah ha, my exams finished on the 17th, there is a CX F SFO-HKG on jumbo jet to boot. Great. Count the amount of ticket changes/exchange I had so far, 3.
The final section of my trip also combined a 3 day Mileage Run.


Route Map



Flights (19 Flights, 34073 Miles)
All Flights flown
Air Canada 714 – Toronto to New York LaGuardia (Business Class)
American Airlines 177 – New York Kennedy to San Francisco (First Class)
Cathay Pacific Airways 879 – San Francisco to Hong Kong (First Class)
Turkish Airlines 71 – Hong Kong to Istanbul Ataturk (First Class)
Turkish Airlines 1587 – Istanbul Ataturk to Frankfurt (Business Class)
Lufthansa 906 – Frankfurt to London Heathrow (Business Class)
Lufthansa 2483 – London Heathrow to Munich (Business Class)
Lufthansa 410 – Munich to New York Kennedy (First Class)
United Airlines 5 – New York Kennedy to San Francisco (First Class)
American Airlines 2282 – San Francisco to Dallas Ft. Worth (First Class)
American Airlines 1626 – Dallas Ft. Worth to Nashville (First Class)
American Airlines 323 – Nashville to Dallas Ft. Worth (First Class)
American Airlines 1461 – Dallas Ft. Worth to San Francisco (First Class)
American Airlines 2282 – San Francisco to Dallas Ft. Worth (First Class)
American Airlines 1826 – Dallas Ft. Worth to Wichita (First Class)
American Airlines 1789 – Wichita to Dallas Ft. Worth (First Class)
American Airlines 1965 – Dallas Ft. Worth to San Francisco (First Class)
American Airlines 2282 – San Francisco to Dallas Ft. Worth (First Class)
American Airlines 420 – Dallas Ft. Worth to Toronto (Business Class)



Trip Parts
Part 1 – Across the coast in 3 Class First (YYZ-LGA/JFK-SFO)
Part 2 - My favorite ride, Cathay Pacific First SFO-HKG
Part 3 - Peek-A-Boo, is that a Turkish Boeing 777-300ER with First Class
Part 4 - The hell that is IST and TK/LH intra-Euro Business Class IST-FRA-LHR
Part 5 – What a “suite/sweet” of events at the Andaz Liverpool Street
Part 6 – Simplicity at its greatest, Lufthansa First LHR-MUC-JFK
Part 7 – What a “Suite/Sweet” Version 2. Andaz Wall Street
Part 8 – Only a ½ year late, United P.S First JFK-SFO
Part 9 – Slaving away at the SlAAveship, 2.5 Mileage Runs of SFO-DFW


Links to Other Written Trip Reports
Click Here for Other Trip Reports

3 months of writing finally finished

Short hair Francis

Part 1 – Across the coast in 3 Class First (YYZ-LGA/JFK-SFO)

To fully understand my situation on this very Friday, I had an exam at school between 9-11am, flight booked was at 1:10pm, the time it takes between school and YYZ is about 1 hr 5 min and 1 hr 20 mins depending on driver, traffic and speed. Checked bag cut-off time is 1 hr on AA. Hmm, too close for comfort.

To combat this situation, I drove out to Pearson and back between 2:45am and 5:00am, to get myself check-in and bag tags since I couldn’t do OLCI due to too many ticket exchanges. The saving grace about driving at that hour, no cops, no traffic, ended up driving back home from Pearson in less than an hour which I consider a record for myself. Just don’t go telling the Ontario Provincial Police, lol.

Back in bed from 5:15-7:30am, woke up and drove to get a breakfast sandwich. A road warriors’ rule, all food you buy is either frozen, canned or dried or even none if you’re rich enough to afford it. A girl I paid came to drive me to the school then drive me to the airport came exactly as planned at 8:30am, so while I was writing my exam, she can use the school internet to keep herself entertained. Wow, that was quick, finished my 2hr exam in less than 45 mins. Left school around 9:55am and got to around YYZ at 11:10am.

Dec 17, 2010 – Friday
<Original Routing>
AA 4646 YYZ-LGA 1:10pm – 2:50pm (CR7/J)
AA 17 JFK-SFO 7:25pm – 11:05pm (762/F)

On the drive out to YYZ, I explained how the road teaches you how to good at managing problems, crisis management in short to my friend.
Just about 5 mins out from YYZ; Ring Ring, American Airlines. When the airline calls you, it’s never good news. “This is American Airlines with a flight update, flight 4646 is cancelled and you have been re-reroute through ORD. Please either accept changes or decline and speak to an agent. Well my first reaction is just because I know I said I’m not too shabby in managing something like this, doesn’t mean I wanted to put it into practice right in front of the girl. 2) Was no way, your not putting me on 2 class first in a 738 when I can fly 3 class First transcon.

Apparently they already re-ticketed the new ORD connection so that had to be cancelled and re-done again, count it up, #4. AA had no more availability on YYZ-NYC, I couldn’t be put on the LA flight YYZ-JFK because it was within MCT so I had to be put on AC. And due to it being a mileage ticket or AA can’t view AC inventory correctly, they couldn’t book me in J.

<New Routing>
AC 714 YYZ-LGA 2:15pm – 3:40pm (E75/J)
AA 17 JFK-SFO 7:25pm – 11:05pm (762/F)

Got to the AC kiosk, the Y line is huge and of course I now had a Y ticket as a non-status, f--- me. Screw it, if AA won’t rebooked me in J then I’ll just pay for the LBFU anyway, expensive at 89 bucks but if it means I don’t have to wait in that huge Y bags line, including J lounge access and priority bags, then so be it.

Re-check at the J line for bags and the agent even said wow, AA sure put a lot of notes into this reservation. I guess this was my first time comparing J service between YYZ-LGA, AA vs. AC. No priority line in T1/US section was a bit of a bummer and I found CBP lines longer in T1. Lounge was obviously better for AC with newer computers, more free drinks with free food and a better environment overall.



Air Canada 714
Toronto to New York LaGuardia
2:15pm – 3:40pm, 1 hr 25 min flight
Business Class, Seat 2D
Food – Light Snack
Equipment – Embraer 175

Air Canada Embraer 175


Air Canada Embraer 175 Business Class Cabin


Air Canada Embraer 175 Business Class Seat


Boarding was awkward for me since AC had that on taped record on both English and French so no one really knew at the start when to board, there also weren’t any some of dividing line between priority and regular passengers. I didn’t care since I wanted to board right away. Ended up boarding 2nd on the plane and the 1st person on the plane is heading back to whY? AA definitely wins in that field.

Nice, newspaper, pillow, bottled water, AVOD all waiting for me at the seat for a 1 hr flight. Guess my investment wasn’t so bad afterall. Again, back to the English/French issue, it just makes everything take twice as long. Take-off and pull-out from YYZ were done very quickly, compared to other American Eagle RJs I tend to fly.

After reaching cruising altitudes, the FAs quickly came around with a small cold plate. Very impressive, I wish AA can sometimes do that but then again, that can’t happen if 99% of us are up in front because of sticker upgrades. Food overwhelmingly is better on AC. Then came the entertainment system, almost anyone would give this to AC but I noticed so many teething problem on YYZ-LGA, me and 2 people had different issue, music video auto cancelled out, frozen screen, booted out of movies. I even had to get my entire system rebooted. It’s great to have AVOD and all but in this situation, 1 hr flight, with so many different issues that popped up. I personally have to put this at a draw between AA and AC here. Landing into LGA was done on 22 and taxiing to the gate was less than 2 or 3 mins.

Air Canada 714 Light Snack


As a mini comparison between Eagle CR7 F and Air Canada E75 F between YYZ-LGA.
Check-in – American Wins, shorter lineup with no AC Super-Elite slowing down the J line
Terminal – Air Canada Wins, way more eatery options in Terminal 1
Security/Immigration – Equal, neither has any difference differentiating the 2.
Lounge – Air Canada Wins, way newer lounge with better lighting, more alcohol options, showers, some food other than the usual AA dog food and newer computers. I will however note that AA lounge tends to have way less people in lounge/per square FT
Boarding – AA by a long shot, clearer instruction, no outright pre-boarding for people that don’t deserve it. No Business Class/All elites combo boarding all at once. Has a divided elite vs. non-elite line
Seating – Equal, I find the Eagle leather F seats slightly more comforting but overall width and pitch felt the same to me
Ambiance – Air Canada, clearly more headroom on the E75, more luggage space for rollaboard, and a lavatory for 1st class instead of walking all the way to the back, and you can actually stand-up inside the lavatory. Me as 5’5” should easily be able to stand up inside any lavatory, CR7 you fail here huge.
Food – Air Canada by a long shot, the chicken was good, and I can only eat so much almonds from Eagle.
Entertainment – Even or Slightly leaning AC, as noted above, great to have AVOD even on a short flight but it doesn’t do squat when it has so much teething problem.
Pricing – American Wins, fares are similar but upgrade prices between the 2 are huge
On AA, EXPs get free upgrade, GLD/PLT 30 dollars, non-elites/LBFU 45 dollars
On AC, elites need to burn voucher or pray for op-up or otherwise play the LBFU, I had a 89 buck increase from a full fare Y??? You do get a way better service on AC including lounge access, something AA doesn’t give you from LBFU, but 89 bucks for 1 hr flight is huge. I can’t see myself doing this very often either.

Here’s my take, AC wins all the flashy stuff, lounge, ambiance, entertainment, and food but if your just looking for a bigger seat as most are on FT especially on AA then it is hard to compared. AA wins at core issues, priority check-in and priority boarding, a thing that is often very under-rated. Some practices especially the boarding process done by AC, that taped boarding message and outright pre-board annoys the crap out of me, a pre-board message is just asking to be abused. If you deserve pre-board, like an old person on a wheelchair or need walking guide, or with a baby under 2, then please go to the gate agent and most are more than willing to accommodate and give you a head start before F/J boarding. Upgrade prices explain itself, AC charges a heavy premium compared to AA but what you paid is what you get. I for one don’t mind the lower premium charge by AA, I upgraded many of my YYZ-LGA back in my AA PLT days. Overall, I give a slight edge for Air Canada, they should have a huge advantage over Eagle really, but what they are good at, they are great, but what they are bad at, they are horrible and become huge glaring issues.

Luggage took only about 5 mins but my bag had no priority tags??? J class/no priority tags, what gives, at least it was E75 and not a 77W. Taxi line out of LGA was less than 5 mins and 30 mins later on the Van Wyck and 35 bucks less, I was over at JFK terminal 8. Check-in was done shiftly, within 30 secs and even got switched onto the earlier AA 177 leaving at 17:59. This was at 16:45, security took about 20 mins due to nude-o-scopes, and the overall amount of travelers in the priority line. It was however Friday afternoon so I can’t complain much about that.

New York JFK AA First Class/Flagship Lounge



Got into the Flagship, cram some food in since I haven’t ate much today, then when I was about to leave to get to outer concourse, flight 177 delayed til 19:00 and flight 85 also delayed to 18:15. Ok, since now I have more time, shower please, 20 min shower then out back again for some more food. Turn on computer, update fb status. Talk to some friends about how they found their exam. Another delay, more ATC/weather delay out of SFO, average time 3 hrs 38 mins, 85 finally left at 18:45, 177 delayed til 20:00, 17 delayed til 20:30. Left the FL around 19:10, hoping to get the AA 762 F cabin shot, get to gate 46, now boarding all groups, ...? It’s 19:15 for a 20:00 flight and it’s boarding all groups? YIKES!!!!



American Airlines 177
New York Kennedy to San Francisco
5:59pm – 9:40pm, 6 h 41 mins flight
First Class, Seat 2B
Food – Dinner
Equipment – Boeing 767-200

American Airlines Boeing 767-200


American Airlines Boeing 767-200 First Class Seat



Didn’t get the cabin shot, got my seat shot at least but not the reclined one. Was very surprised to see 4/10 seats filled by ages under 30, one of the youngest cabin in terms of passengers I’ve ever seen as it was a 762 First. However I was not very happy in that regard, audio for ch 1-ch 8 was not working at my seat, but ch 9-14 was, go figures, the channel I won’t listen to. Got my PDB, closed the door at 20:05, but pushoff wasn’t til 20:20. And then this happened. Other pilot reports in, possible debris on runway. I’m jogging this in the “acts of god” category. Wow, I literally yelled craptastic in the whole F cabin. 3 different delay/cancellation reason in 1 day is rough, Sorry folks, JFK has closed down the departure runway for evaluation, there are 15-20 planes ahead of us. This was rough even for me in a year where I’ve had 4 int’l day of departure ticket re-done issues this year, SFO777 put it as these fine words, remind me never to fly with you on a RTW trip, you are cursed . Take-off was finally at 21:07, I was hoping we weren’t going to hit 3 hrs in terms of delay like AA 85 but that last one did us in. I used gogo for the flight, didn’t care for the entertainment system since I would have the CX system at my disposal tomorrow.

I know I can sound spoiled in saying this but the AA 762 F seat isn’t great for me, the seat bottom is so long that I lose blood circulation due to my height, ended up needing both pillow and duvet for my back so my legs can feel better. I love everything else though. Service was so-so, not the most attentive, the purser screwed up my seatmates drinks twice, 1) sparkling water instead of sparkling wine and 2) sparkling wine instead of red wine.

AA 177 Dinner

To Start
Warm Mixed nuts
Or Marinated Cheese Antipesto

Appetizer
Apple soy marinated beef served with horseradish cream and thin potatoes

Salad Cart
Fresh Seasonal Greens offered with pepper corn dressing or olive oil/balsamic vinegar
With choices of Artichoke, wide mushroom, and pea salad
Sliced chipotle chicken breast

Bread Basket
Assorted gourmet breads

Main Course
Beef Fillet with Grogonzola Mushroom Sauce
Grilled fillet of beef offered with a porcini mushroom and Gorgonzola cheese, accompanied by wax beans and whipped potatoes with turnips

Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Merlot Sauce
Pecan-crusted chicken breast accompanied by pearl barley with pancetta and root vegetables and sautéed mixed vegetables

Stuffed Shells Pomodoro
Pasta Shells filled with a four cheese blend accompanied by a red roasted tomato sauce


Dessert
Ice Cream Sundae
Vanilla Ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped creams and pecans

Grand Marnier Fruit Salad
Fruit and berries with a light grand Marnier syrup

Light Refreshment
Freshly baked on board cookies
(Choc olate Chip or Oatmeal Cranberry)

Pre-Arrival Beverage
Chilled sparkling or still water with fresh citrus garnish

Starter Drinks



Appetizer and Salad


Main Course


Dessert


I did enjoy the appetizer and salad cart since I rarely see many of those in a year, I mostly fly mid-con F more so than anything, main course was an easy choice. No Chicken left, beef or pasta shells. Same idea, I have seen enough pasta shells in my AA flying lifetime. Chose Beef although kinda regretted it since it tasted like baseball glove tonight. The funniest was the sundae, ordering my sundae with a super duper triple light touch of butterscotch. Haha I swear airline meals will be the death of me one day.

After dinner was completed, I was contacting some FTers to see who was in SFO for a possible drink after the flight. Unfortunately, all the AAers I knew were either out of town or soon to be. I still had FT chat that night with demkr, eastbay1k, el chiflero, and FriendlySkies. About halfway through the flight above South Dakota, the video monitors showed a message requested someone with medical knowledge, then demkr reported my flight is kinda indicating a right turn. There I was, praying there wasn’t a medical emergency. Fortunately there wasn’t anything huge but the flight kept slowing its cruising speed. In the meanwhile, because of the JFK runway delay, the later AA 17 actually took off before us, and was flying ahead of us, ugh! Then I started to feel overheated/dehydrated in the last hour of the flight, guess 2hrs of sleep in over 42 hrs would do that do me. Landing into SFO was moderate/heavy rain, I was planning to get a F cabin shot but was simply too tired to outwait for everyone to de-board so there I was, finally into SFO, I want that hotel bed now.



Next Part
Part 2 - My favorite ride, Cathay Pacific First SFO-HKG.

demkr

I remember this night quite well. What a rotten/long day but atleast you were well fed and taken care of =)

Of course, I didn't realize someone else also orders Dr. Pep and vodka...lol

abeyro

Not that I cannot live with it but it hurts my eyes when I read: "didn't you had...", especially in titles.

BeefJerky

Nice start. Wonder why you had the domestic F/three-class J wine glass in AFS F. I would have raged.

demkr

It's probably because it was served with the meal-if the wine was ordered as main beverage it would have been the Flagship glass. That one was probably for water

yycworldtraveler

I'm sure this will be another great TR.

Just an FYI about AC and announcements in English and French. As an officially bilingual country Transport Canada requires all announcements to be in both official languages on our airlines. And yes, I find the number and length of announcements on AC to be annoying...doing it in 2, or sometimes 3 or 4 languages on international flights makes it even more aggravating.

BeefJerky

Also, are the plates on the tray? I didn't think AFS F used a tray. I don't remember one on my flight two weeks ago, but I was really too drunk to remember getting on, let alone the service.

thespeedskater

CX will make you happy again!

malgudi

A girl you paid?

Just kidding ... enjoyed reading the TR!

Short hair Francis

Well my drink was a mixed drink so I don't see the need to give me a wine glass for it.
My seatmate did get the newer 3 class F wine glass.
Now if AA had some decent champagne, maybe I'll try once

It actually looks like being on a tray, I don't remember 100%, too many things were happening, it probably isn't supposed to be trayed.

No worries, she has a higher standard than that and I'm the same way.

Short hair Francis

Part 2 - My favorite ride, Cathay Pacific First SFO-HKG

Got to the baggage claim, AA SFO baggage has repeatedly been playing games lately, this time it was bag claim 14(no), 11(no), 15 finally yes, why they are playing peek-a-boo with the different belts, who knows but it sure just pissed you off when its 1:15pt/4:15et when they are pulling this crap. Had to go back upstairs to get to the Hyatt shuttle and of course got soaked waiting for the shuttle, a crappy day that just won’t end.

Hyatt Regency SFO Airport




Got to the hotel reception, I’m a new Hyatt Diamond and it seems that the status change was reflected. Pre-blocked into a club room facing the inter-courtyard on the 9th floor, declined it for a room bayview room on the 8th floor. I had no use of the club anyway, since the AAA rate included breakfast in the restaurant in the morning, might as well have a view at SFO in the morning.
Get to room, it’s 1:45am. Drop on the bed, just absolutely pass out. And go figures, woke up at 8:15am without a wake-up call. Quick shower then off to downstairs for the usual omelette. Back up to the room and check-out around 10:00am.

Dec 18, 2010 – Saturday
CX 879 SFO-HKG 11:50am – 6:45pm(+1) [Dec 19] (744/F)

San Francisco International Airport



Got back to the shuttle by 10:20am and got to the int’l terminal by 10:35am, due to it being returning student season, the Y line was packed, there were 2 teenage girls in J and there was me in F line The J agent apologies to the girls that she had to check me in first, haha!
Tried to check-in, apparently AA completely screwed up the ticketing and thought I had a baby?????
Ticket change #5! Esh, we know America has loads of teenage parents but I’m not one of them!
Needed a supervisor to clear this mess up.

Security was horrible this morning, full of winter holiday kettles, the int’l A terminal priority took over 25 mins for me to clear, can’t imagine what would happen if I was in the Y line. By the time I clear the security, fortunately with no nude-o-scopes, it was 11am. Went to the gate to get a couple of shots then made by way to the very dull BA terraces lounge

SFO BA Terraces Lounge





The lounge was dull, the First class section had about 5 people inside. I did noticed some differences between F and J section, the F section did have marginally better alcohol but why would I drink BA when I could do so much better on CX. There were also a good amount of kids and teenagers in the J section, this being home return season afterall. Fortunately, none of them were in the F section today. I’ll be hard pressed to find a parent that I know that puts their kids on transpac paid F, paid J yes but hard to find paid F. Lounge Boarding was done at 11:35am which was slightly behind schedule for the 11:50am departure.



Cathay Pacific Airways 879
San Francisco to Hong Kong
11:50am – 6:45pm(+1), 14 h 55 mins flight
First Class, Seat 3K
Food – Lunch, Dinner
Equipment – Boeing 747-400


Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400


Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 First Class





For this flight, I had selected 3K which I thought was perfect for the flight, the seat open into the middle console section that nobody could see me. The F cabin was seated 9/9 with one being an op-up, surprisingly the flight was originally oversold but there were enough no shows to accommodate 2 non-revs? That was very surprising for me.

Pre-departure Beverage, Krug Champagne


The FA’s let me settled in first getting all the shots I wanted to take then offer me a glass of champagne.
Only 2 runways were operational tonight so we had about ½ delay taking off from SFO. The flight time for todays’ flight was 13hr 57 mins. The last time I had California to Hong Kong flight, it was LAX-HKG at 15 hr 20 mins, it felt like I got ADHDed being on that flight so long last time in J.
Take-off was at around 12:20pm, as reported by others that are regularly on the CX 744 F, it kept dripping water from the ventilation at take-off, which was a little annoying to said the least.

Bye Bye San Francisco, see you in 3 weeks


First Class Lavatory, move aside SQ suites, if someone needs to join a special club, this might not be a bad place, hehe!


I count myself as a dual AA/CX frequent flyer, if you were to ask me, I said I do about 55-60K in AA domestic and about the 40-55K in CX transpac travel. This however was outside my usual norm, the junior FA I found was a bit out of shape, something I never noticed from a CX FAs but if their service was alright, not the greatest but definitely passable. She did however got confused on some of my orders which was corrected by the senior FA.

Part 2 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Some of the changes that I noticed since my last time on CX F was that there were now cutbacks on salads, and desserts in particular. There are no more differentiation in terms of offerings for salads and desserts. The portions are significantly bigger in F, but other than that, it is no different. This I thought did annoyed me as a passenger as I do sometimes switched out F and J offerings on occasion especially in the old day when CX J had cheesecake for example.

CX 879 Lunch

Caviar and fine smoked salmon

International favorites
Starters
Corn chowder with crab meat
Mixed salad with tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives and balsamic olive oil dressing

Main Course
Pan-seared premium select petit lamb rack with jus, mushroom couscous and ratatouille

Spaghettini pasta with pomodoro sauce and sliced black truffle

Chinese favorite
Double boiled ginseng with chicken soup

Cold plate - soya beans with preserved vegetables and tofu

Steamed lobster with ginger scallion and imperial soy sauce
Or Braised abalone and chicken
With Steamed rice, kailan with mushrooms and carrots

Cheese and Dessert
Port Salut, Manchego, Stilton, Goat Cheese
Fresh seasonal berries with sweet rose water
Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis
Red beans soup with lotus seeds

Tea and coffee

Pralines











Bedding was same as usual and I as usual was starving within 2 hrs of lunch for in-flight snacks. I guess some airline food does bring out the appetite in me. I finally got to watch Step Up 3 since I never had a chance to watch it in theatre due to being on the road. Had a couple of non-alcoholic drinks on the flight, wasn’t in too much mood to drink after the last 48 hours then I kept spilling drinks so the FA offer her tray to me so I can put my drinks there.

I’m even debating this one, what’s my funniest event of travel that happen to me this year.
1) Walking into the Park Hyatt Zurich in July with a Pink A&F T-Shirts, shorts and flip-flop and have the reception frozen for 5 seconds, debating if I was a hotel guest
2) Meeting another frequent flyer in the LX F ZRH lounge and ended up getting cut off not from boozes but clams!
3) CX F, kept spilling non-alcoholic drinks en-route so the FA offers her tray for me to use.




CX 879 Mid-Flight Snacks

Maryland crab cakes with citrus wasabi sauce

Smoked turkey with whole grain mustard aioli, Cambazola cheese on ciabatta and mesclun salad

Wontons in noodle soup

Häagen-Dazs ice cream

Hot pot rice with Chinese pork, liver sausage and cured meat, served with chicken broth








I did get some rest along the way when it was flying between the date line and Tokyo. Then yet again, it happened as we’re above the Ryukyu Island, we are looking for person with medical training. Not again, really, what kind of luck is getting 2 doctor calls on 2 consecutive flights. I didn’t care too much as I was already on CX F so let them divert me for all I care.

CX 879 Dinner

Starter
Fresh seasonal fruit

Main Courses
Grilled kurobuta pork chop with red wine jus, roasted red bliss potatoes and baby vegetables

Steamed sea bass with preserved vegetable, steamed rice, kailan and carrots

Ricotta cheese agnolotti with roast pepper coulis, asparagus and vegetables julienne

Cheese and Dessert
Camembert, Cheddar, Danish Blue, Herb Goat Cheese
Mango with white chocolate cake and vanilla sauce

Tea and Coffee

Pralines





Nothing too much happen afterwards as the dinner meal began, the FA manage to find me an all-watermelon fruit plate but they ran out of abalone/chicken as the main course and the caviar as a starter plate. So I ended up getting another salad and had the fish as the main course. Landing was relatively on time as we park at gate 66, finally home. And I’m sweating walking out the terminal already.

Next Part
Part 3 - Peek-A-Boo, is that a Turkish Boeing 777-300ER with First Class

lx343

hey francis, once again a superb report. im sooo jealous for all ur first class travelling, have to wait till may for my first, first class flight..

regards,
lx343

tomashi

Great report so far! Nice pictures and very useful infos.

Especially looking forward to the TK/LH parts of the trip! Since Austrian company DO&CO took over the premium-catering at TK the food pictures and descriptions here on FT (no first-hand experience with them so far) are always mouth-watering!

-Tom