QX/CX SEA-YVR-HKG
Jan 2, 2003, 8:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
QX/CX SEA-YVR-HKG
Dear folks,
Happy Holidays! I am writing this trip report from 35,000ft above Japan on my way to Hong Kong. Nothing too special! I flew from Newark to Seattle. Warning about Super Shuttle! I made a reservation and was waiting at my dormitory for their shuttles. Of course, they did not show up and I called them thirty minutes after the scheduled pickup time. The agent asked me, “Can you get a cab instead and we will reimburse the differences?” Thankfully, my friend was waiting with me, and we ran from William Street to Broadway. Of course, all cabs all the sudden went “off duty”! Finally, I caught a cab and agreed to pay him $60 to get me to the airport. Since Super Shuttle would pay for it, why didn’t I make it a happy day for the taxi driver? The driver was a bit hesitate, but drove me there. The traffic was slow until we crossed Holland Tunnel. Fortunately, I arrived at the airport an hour and fifteen minutes prior to departure. I used the MVP desk and got the new style “boarding pass” – no more card boarding passes, only flimsy instant travel sheets. The security line was okay. The inbound flight arrived a little bit early and everything went smooth for the first flight. The aircraft was N619AS, and we arrived forty minutes early at the gate. Wonderful! Since the meals on this flight are exactly the same as the one I flew last week, I am not writing a new report. Same routine! I stayed overnight at Doubletree Seattle Airport hotel and really liked their balconies. I watched a few redeye flights taking off, including Jetblue’s redeye flight back to NYC.
December 22, 2002
QX 2140 SEA-YVR Lv1030 Arr1120
Dash 8-100 N335PH
I checked in at the MVP desk an hour and fifteen minutes prior to takeoff times. The airport was pretty busy, but I guess I sort of missed the morning rush. The QX agent was friendly and checked my bag all the way to Hong Kong. The security line was okay at Gates C area, which could be hellish. I used the express line. My boarding pass said S16 and the check in agent told me to go to take the S shuttles. A very kind NWA agent checked my boarding pass and told me that the YVR flights usually depart from N gates. The QX agent next door checked and reaffirmed S16 as the gate, but the agent still had his doubt. He kindly called some people and told me that the gate was N7 instead. Thank you! Because traveling from S satellite to N Satellite is time consuming. Some people actually missed our flight because of heading off to S gates in mistake.
N gates were quiet and United was running normally. I went to N7 and the aircraft arrived on time from YVR. Boarding began at 10:10am, and as I walked down the jet way, three custom agents were interviewing each passenger. I never saw it on a Vancouver flight because these agents happened to be at the longer haul flights. Anyway, I was surprised that they asked what to do for life and how much money I was carrying. I was pretty shock and I just told the agent, that I might have $200 - $300 dollars. He wished me a good day and I walked towards the aircraft. After flying Jetstream 41 on United Express, I really appreciated the Dash 8 and the nice brown leather seats, my laptop bag fitted nicely under the seats in front of me, and the airy, bright, and clean interior simply made Horizon just a bit better than other regional airlines, even Jazz. The flight was delayed slight due to late connecting passengers. We finally gave up waiting at 10:43pm, and took off from Runway 16R at 10:53am. Flying time was thirty-eight minutes. Full beverage cart was rolled out five minutes after takeoff. Holidays’ biscoff cookies were handed out. We began our descent at 11:10am; wheeled down at 11:28am, and then we landed on R/W8L at 11:31am. We parked at Gate E96 within two minutes. Just a warning – long walk to immigration area!
CX 839 YVR-HKG Lv1405 Arr2030+1
Airbus A340-300X B-HXK (343 with old F and J)
It is my greatest wonder for the day. Due to the post911 terrorist scares, all international connecting passengers are required to go through immigration checks. They previously set up the transfer counters at the arrival area, but now set it up in the upper level, which was more convenient. There were some water fountains decorating these international transfer areas. I was shocked when the agent asked me a series of questions. No hard questions, but why did they need to know this information? It had nothing to do with terrorism. I was a little bit ticked off. What interests did they serve? Anyway, I went to the CX lounge to check in. The lounge was a little bit quieter than normal. The food buffet has dim sum (steamed BBQ pork bun and siu mai), fruit bowls, instant noodles, sandwiches, fruit basket, sliced pound cakes and nuts. The attendants laid out more food after the New York flight departed. In terms of computer facilities, there were two internet-connected computer stations. As I got comfortable in the lounge, my aircraft arrived from Hong Kong early. I spent the next hour making a few phone calls and watching planes landing on Runway 8L. The special spotting plane today was the Korean Air’s Boeing 747-400 with the World cup soccer player livery. It was parked at Gate 52, and was a beautiful sight. Then a Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-300 landed as we were about to push back from gate. LH used a Boeing 747-200 previously. The load was not heavy today, to my surprise. I had both 14D and G to myself. The wonderful F/As greeted passengers and passing out pre-take off beverages, which include cranberry juice, water, and champagne. As usual, local Hong Kong newspapers were passed out, as well as headsets, amenity kits (got the gray one today), and hot towels after door was closed at 1:57pm. However, we did not push back till 2:15pm, due to an ATC restriction. We were given a slot time of 2:30pm. We took off from R/W8R at 2:31pm and our flying time was thirteen hours and forty-nine minutes.
Our flight path too us to 30,000ft after initial climbed out from Vancouver. We headed towards Sandspit and climbed to 32,000ft after entering the Gulf of Alaska and passing Kodiak and Bethel, before heading to the Bering Sea. We climbed to 33,000ft after we passed through the Western ends of the Aleutian Islands and as we approached the Kurile Islands, we reached 34,000ft. Then we entered the Japanese airspace and climbed to 35,000ft before passing Sendai. We passed through Nagoya, Kyoto, and Oita before climbing up to 39,000ft, onto Taipei and Makung and then to Hong Kong. Fairly typical transpacific routing!
Cabin service was pretty standard these days. Beverage order was taken soon after takeoff, and I had a glass of champagne with an amuse bouche, which was a cheese flavored cup with a shrimp and a grilled scallop on top. It was okay but most people did not finish the crispy cups. Then the lunch service began.
Lunch
Savory
I still like the old canapé services better!
Salad
Field Greens with Sun-dried tomato and Mushrooms served with Creamy Dill Cucumber dressing
Nothing much other than a few slices of lettuce and cabbage… nice presentation and I like the mushroom… The dressing was Kraft brand, similar to those used by Air Canada.
Appetizer
Prosciutto Ham and Melon
Very nice appetizer! Three slices of ham with a mixed of cantaloupe and melon sticks, followed by three mozzarella cheese and pesto on tops of tomato slices… fresh!
Main Courses
Prawn Butterfly wrapped with Bean Curd Skin
*Created by Mr. Kinsen Kam of “Yung Kee”
Balsamic Chicken
Porcini Ravioli with Artichoke and Spinach Cream Sauce
Braised Cod Fillet with Preserved Olive and Vegetables
Accompaniments
Egg Fried Rice, Roasted Potatoes, Shanghai Pak Choy, Mixed Vegetables
CX’s unique trolley service – it was like first class and the F/As plated the meals in front of you. I had the prawns, which was nice. Five shrimps with some rice and bak choy and zucchinis on the side… nicely done!
Cheese and Fruit
Cheese Selection with Crackers
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Cheese selections include blue, Cheddar, and Camembert, and fruits include papaya, melon, cantaloupe and strawberry!
Dessert
Coffee Ice cream and Walnut Parfait served with Raspberry Sauce
It was in a log shape and was pretty popular. They ran out of the parfait for the aft section of J class, but they served Haagen Dazs Ice cream bars instead. The parfait was okay!
Or
Sago Coconut Cream with Melon
Bread
Selected Bread and Rolls served with Butter
Wonderful Garlic bread
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
The entertainment system was the earliest version with limited selections of movies and short subjects. I enjoyed Will and Grace, and Absolutely Fabulous. I read some magazines and now am typing this report. As usual, the system was rebooted twice during mid-flight, but everything was okay.
At 9:30pm, the flight attendants rolled out the refreshment cart with noodle soups topped with mushrooms and chicken (instant noodles but some improvements), sandwiches (white and wheat bread with Cheddar and ham), BBQ Pork Buns, almonds, and Japanese snacks. No snack buffet was set up like the newer Airbus aircrafts and no bottled waters were passed out. But the F/As were making rounds as usual. The purser, Jacqueline, introduced herself to me during the earlier stage of the flight. It was nice to get recognized as an OW Emerald member, but she addressed me as “Dr. Carfield.” Very strange!
Refreshment
Your choice of:
Cheese and Ham sandwiches
Chicken-flavored Instant Noodles
Barbecued Pork Bun
Ice Cream
Hot towels were passed out at 1:54am Vancouver time, as the F/As prepared for the dinner service. Beverage was served, followed the fruit plate. Then the entrée trolley was rolled out. The service ended with tea and coffee service, and more hot towels.
Dinner
Appetizer
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
3 orange & grapefruit segments, a slice of pineapple, 1/2 kiwi, and strawberry… very nicely plated and the fruits were fresh and ripe.
Main Courses
Pan-fried Seabass with Fresh Basil Cream Sauce
Stir-fried glass noodles with Beef and Vegetables
Chicken and black mushroom Congee accompanied by Spring Onion Pancake
I chose the congee, which was a traditional Chinese rice soup and one of the most popular choices among passengers. I found it tasteless and had to add much salt to it. China Airlines and even Continental Airlines do a better job in serving this rice soup. Well, the spring onion pancake was pretty nice on the other hand.
Accompaniments
Parsley Potatoes, Green Beans and Vichy carrots
Bread – more garlic breads, with Focaccia bread and raisin rolls…
Tea and Coffee
The flight attendants were very accommodating and served the passengers, who were just waken up quickly. They even pushed the entrée trolley out a second time. The flight was pretty much uneventful for the last hour. We landed on Hong Kong at 8:15pm, and were parked at Gate 69 four minutes later. It was quite a hike to the passport control, even to the underground mover system. 69 is definitely one of the furthest gates from the main terminal. I picked up the bags, but the priority tag did not make it to the bag, like usual. Not a big deal, as the wait for bags are less than ten minutes. I hope you enjoy this report. The next one will be about intra-Asian flights on CX, and possible a few trans-Tasman QF reports. Not too much exotic airlines!
Happy Holidays!
Carfield
Happy Holidays! I am writing this trip report from 35,000ft above Japan on my way to Hong Kong. Nothing too special! I flew from Newark to Seattle. Warning about Super Shuttle! I made a reservation and was waiting at my dormitory for their shuttles. Of course, they did not show up and I called them thirty minutes after the scheduled pickup time. The agent asked me, “Can you get a cab instead and we will reimburse the differences?” Thankfully, my friend was waiting with me, and we ran from William Street to Broadway. Of course, all cabs all the sudden went “off duty”! Finally, I caught a cab and agreed to pay him $60 to get me to the airport. Since Super Shuttle would pay for it, why didn’t I make it a happy day for the taxi driver? The driver was a bit hesitate, but drove me there. The traffic was slow until we crossed Holland Tunnel. Fortunately, I arrived at the airport an hour and fifteen minutes prior to departure. I used the MVP desk and got the new style “boarding pass” – no more card boarding passes, only flimsy instant travel sheets. The security line was okay. The inbound flight arrived a little bit early and everything went smooth for the first flight. The aircraft was N619AS, and we arrived forty minutes early at the gate. Wonderful! Since the meals on this flight are exactly the same as the one I flew last week, I am not writing a new report. Same routine! I stayed overnight at Doubletree Seattle Airport hotel and really liked their balconies. I watched a few redeye flights taking off, including Jetblue’s redeye flight back to NYC.
December 22, 2002
QX 2140 SEA-YVR Lv1030 Arr1120
Dash 8-100 N335PH
I checked in at the MVP desk an hour and fifteen minutes prior to takeoff times. The airport was pretty busy, but I guess I sort of missed the morning rush. The QX agent was friendly and checked my bag all the way to Hong Kong. The security line was okay at Gates C area, which could be hellish. I used the express line. My boarding pass said S16 and the check in agent told me to go to take the S shuttles. A very kind NWA agent checked my boarding pass and told me that the YVR flights usually depart from N gates. The QX agent next door checked and reaffirmed S16 as the gate, but the agent still had his doubt. He kindly called some people and told me that the gate was N7 instead. Thank you! Because traveling from S satellite to N Satellite is time consuming. Some people actually missed our flight because of heading off to S gates in mistake.
N gates were quiet and United was running normally. I went to N7 and the aircraft arrived on time from YVR. Boarding began at 10:10am, and as I walked down the jet way, three custom agents were interviewing each passenger. I never saw it on a Vancouver flight because these agents happened to be at the longer haul flights. Anyway, I was surprised that they asked what to do for life and how much money I was carrying. I was pretty shock and I just told the agent, that I might have $200 - $300 dollars. He wished me a good day and I walked towards the aircraft. After flying Jetstream 41 on United Express, I really appreciated the Dash 8 and the nice brown leather seats, my laptop bag fitted nicely under the seats in front of me, and the airy, bright, and clean interior simply made Horizon just a bit better than other regional airlines, even Jazz. The flight was delayed slight due to late connecting passengers. We finally gave up waiting at 10:43pm, and took off from Runway 16R at 10:53am. Flying time was thirty-eight minutes. Full beverage cart was rolled out five minutes after takeoff. Holidays’ biscoff cookies were handed out. We began our descent at 11:10am; wheeled down at 11:28am, and then we landed on R/W8L at 11:31am. We parked at Gate E96 within two minutes. Just a warning – long walk to immigration area!
CX 839 YVR-HKG Lv1405 Arr2030+1
Airbus A340-300X B-HXK (343 with old F and J)
It is my greatest wonder for the day. Due to the post911 terrorist scares, all international connecting passengers are required to go through immigration checks. They previously set up the transfer counters at the arrival area, but now set it up in the upper level, which was more convenient. There were some water fountains decorating these international transfer areas. I was shocked when the agent asked me a series of questions. No hard questions, but why did they need to know this information? It had nothing to do with terrorism. I was a little bit ticked off. What interests did they serve? Anyway, I went to the CX lounge to check in. The lounge was a little bit quieter than normal. The food buffet has dim sum (steamed BBQ pork bun and siu mai), fruit bowls, instant noodles, sandwiches, fruit basket, sliced pound cakes and nuts. The attendants laid out more food after the New York flight departed. In terms of computer facilities, there were two internet-connected computer stations. As I got comfortable in the lounge, my aircraft arrived from Hong Kong early. I spent the next hour making a few phone calls and watching planes landing on Runway 8L. The special spotting plane today was the Korean Air’s Boeing 747-400 with the World cup soccer player livery. It was parked at Gate 52, and was a beautiful sight. Then a Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-300 landed as we were about to push back from gate. LH used a Boeing 747-200 previously. The load was not heavy today, to my surprise. I had both 14D and G to myself. The wonderful F/As greeted passengers and passing out pre-take off beverages, which include cranberry juice, water, and champagne. As usual, local Hong Kong newspapers were passed out, as well as headsets, amenity kits (got the gray one today), and hot towels after door was closed at 1:57pm. However, we did not push back till 2:15pm, due to an ATC restriction. We were given a slot time of 2:30pm. We took off from R/W8R at 2:31pm and our flying time was thirteen hours and forty-nine minutes.
Our flight path too us to 30,000ft after initial climbed out from Vancouver. We headed towards Sandspit and climbed to 32,000ft after entering the Gulf of Alaska and passing Kodiak and Bethel, before heading to the Bering Sea. We climbed to 33,000ft after we passed through the Western ends of the Aleutian Islands and as we approached the Kurile Islands, we reached 34,000ft. Then we entered the Japanese airspace and climbed to 35,000ft before passing Sendai. We passed through Nagoya, Kyoto, and Oita before climbing up to 39,000ft, onto Taipei and Makung and then to Hong Kong. Fairly typical transpacific routing!
Cabin service was pretty standard these days. Beverage order was taken soon after takeoff, and I had a glass of champagne with an amuse bouche, which was a cheese flavored cup with a shrimp and a grilled scallop on top. It was okay but most people did not finish the crispy cups. Then the lunch service began.
Lunch
Savory
I still like the old canapé services better!
Salad
Field Greens with Sun-dried tomato and Mushrooms served with Creamy Dill Cucumber dressing
Nothing much other than a few slices of lettuce and cabbage… nice presentation and I like the mushroom… The dressing was Kraft brand, similar to those used by Air Canada.
Appetizer
Prosciutto Ham and Melon
Very nice appetizer! Three slices of ham with a mixed of cantaloupe and melon sticks, followed by three mozzarella cheese and pesto on tops of tomato slices… fresh!
Main Courses
Prawn Butterfly wrapped with Bean Curd Skin
*Created by Mr. Kinsen Kam of “Yung Kee”
Balsamic Chicken
Porcini Ravioli with Artichoke and Spinach Cream Sauce
Braised Cod Fillet with Preserved Olive and Vegetables
Accompaniments
Egg Fried Rice, Roasted Potatoes, Shanghai Pak Choy, Mixed Vegetables
CX’s unique trolley service – it was like first class and the F/As plated the meals in front of you. I had the prawns, which was nice. Five shrimps with some rice and bak choy and zucchinis on the side… nicely done!
Cheese and Fruit
Cheese Selection with Crackers
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Cheese selections include blue, Cheddar, and Camembert, and fruits include papaya, melon, cantaloupe and strawberry!
Dessert
Coffee Ice cream and Walnut Parfait served with Raspberry Sauce
It was in a log shape and was pretty popular. They ran out of the parfait for the aft section of J class, but they served Haagen Dazs Ice cream bars instead. The parfait was okay!
Or
Sago Coconut Cream with Melon
Bread
Selected Bread and Rolls served with Butter
Wonderful Garlic bread
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
The entertainment system was the earliest version with limited selections of movies and short subjects. I enjoyed Will and Grace, and Absolutely Fabulous. I read some magazines and now am typing this report. As usual, the system was rebooted twice during mid-flight, but everything was okay.
At 9:30pm, the flight attendants rolled out the refreshment cart with noodle soups topped with mushrooms and chicken (instant noodles but some improvements), sandwiches (white and wheat bread with Cheddar and ham), BBQ Pork Buns, almonds, and Japanese snacks. No snack buffet was set up like the newer Airbus aircrafts and no bottled waters were passed out. But the F/As were making rounds as usual. The purser, Jacqueline, introduced herself to me during the earlier stage of the flight. It was nice to get recognized as an OW Emerald member, but she addressed me as “Dr. Carfield.” Very strange!
Refreshment
Your choice of:
Cheese and Ham sandwiches
Chicken-flavored Instant Noodles
Barbecued Pork Bun
Ice Cream
Hot towels were passed out at 1:54am Vancouver time, as the F/As prepared for the dinner service. Beverage was served, followed the fruit plate. Then the entrée trolley was rolled out. The service ended with tea and coffee service, and more hot towels.
Dinner
Appetizer
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
3 orange & grapefruit segments, a slice of pineapple, 1/2 kiwi, and strawberry… very nicely plated and the fruits were fresh and ripe.
Main Courses
Pan-fried Seabass with Fresh Basil Cream Sauce
Stir-fried glass noodles with Beef and Vegetables
Chicken and black mushroom Congee accompanied by Spring Onion Pancake
I chose the congee, which was a traditional Chinese rice soup and one of the most popular choices among passengers. I found it tasteless and had to add much salt to it. China Airlines and even Continental Airlines do a better job in serving this rice soup. Well, the spring onion pancake was pretty nice on the other hand.
Accompaniments
Parsley Potatoes, Green Beans and Vichy carrots
Bread – more garlic breads, with Focaccia bread and raisin rolls…
Tea and Coffee
The flight attendants were very accommodating and served the passengers, who were just waken up quickly. They even pushed the entrée trolley out a second time. The flight was pretty much uneventful for the last hour. We landed on Hong Kong at 8:15pm, and were parked at Gate 69 four minutes later. It was quite a hike to the passport control, even to the underground mover system. 69 is definitely one of the furthest gates from the main terminal. I picked up the bags, but the priority tag did not make it to the bag, like usual. Not a big deal, as the wait for bags are less than ten minutes. I hope you enjoy this report. The next one will be about intra-Asian flights on CX, and possible a few trans-Tasman QF reports. Not too much exotic airlines!
Happy Holidays!
Carfield
Jan 2, 2003, 9:39 am
#2
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Thanks for the report, Carfield! I always enjoy your reports and look forward to your next one, even if it does cover boring old trans-Tasman flights with QF!