AS F LAX-SEA & OZ J SEA-ICN-HKG
Jul 17, 2003, 11:52 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
AS F LAX-SEA & OZ J SEA-ICN-HKG
Dear all,
Here is the outbound trip report on my summer trip to Hong Kong. The trip involved a short hop to Seattle from LA on Alaska First, and then Asiana business from LA to Hong Kong via Seoul Incheon.
July 13, 2003
AS 237 LAX-SEA Lv1729 Arr1959
McDonald Douglas MD-80 N974AS
Check in line was fairly busy at these evening hours. AS operates a number of flights to Seattle and Portland at this time. The agent was friendly and soon I was on my way to the slow going TSA baggage check in line. The security checkpoint was not too busy but soon I was faced with the first problem – I was not allowed to carry an Eiffel Tower statue on board. I really don’t know why… but things started to go badly. I had to return to the check in line, which was extremely slow due to some passengers requiring many attentions. Then when I approached the bag check line, it was already 5pm. Then I had to wait for the agent to do a physical check. I then informed the security agent my problem and they told me that it was fine and asked me to run to the gate. Fortunately, boarding was slightly delayed, but as expected, my bag did not make it till the next flight to Seattle. But when I checked with bag service desk at Seattle, AS had already posted a message on my bag tag and informed me that my bag was on the next flight. I was impressed, especially most US major airlines have poor customer service at the bag desk.
We pushed back at 5:35pm and LAX was very empty this Sunday evening. We were on runway 24L shortly and took off at 5:42pm. Flying time was a short two hours and ten minutes, and we climbed to 31,000ft. We had a very down to earth and friendly LAX based F/A team this evening. Benjamin was the first class F/A and we were offered topnotch service. Beverage was first served with a bag of mixed nuts, and then dinner was served in three courses. Here is my description of the meal –
Salad
A Romaine lettuce salad with cucumbers and tomato edges and Creamy Cilantro dressing
Foccacia Roll
Entrée choices of
Breaded chicken cutlet with sesame soy sauce
Accompanied by garlic fried rice and carrots & celery
Or
Pan-fried salmon fillet topped with a white cream sauce
Accompanied by stir fry vegetables – asparagus, mushrooms & red pepper strips, and chive & mustard potatoes
Dessert
Caramel Custard Pie
The dinner was extremely nice. Since I was traveling with my sister, I got to taste both entrées. Chicken cutlet was slightly better but salmon was not bad. The dessert was very nice and I had a cup of hot tea. The service was impeccable and soon descent began at 7:29pm. We landed on R/W16R at 7:52pm and soon parked at gate C1. Bags came out twenty-five minutes after arrival.
July 14, 2003
OZ 271 SEA-ICN Lv1330 Arr1650+1
Boeing 777-200ER HL7500
Check in desk was very busy, as expected due to the summer season. Business class line was busy as well and but we were checked in by a fluent bilingual agent (Korean and English). All the bags were tagged with the business class tag. My request to check in a fifth bag (using the Star Alliance gold privilege) was met without questions. Asiana agents obviously have clear ideas about the Star Gold benefits. Soon I was given the boarding passes all the way to Hong Kong and also the lounge pass to the Seattle lounge. We soon headed towards the S gate security checkpoint. It was a nightmare down there since TSA was extremely short of staff this afternoon. It was unacceptable since it was the peak summer season and there were a number of international and domestic flights departing around 1pm. As expected, many passengers got worried. The agent found a NWA manager, but he could not do anything. He just asked folks to write to the Congress. The line was moving very slowly and it took almost forty minutes to an hour, just to get through the checkpoint. For S terminal, please allow an hour for security check. The OZ lounge was shared with EVA and was a fairly basic lounge with a limited selection of beverage and snacks.
Boarding was delayed till 1:11pm because of the late arrival of incoming flight. Business class was first invited to board, but we waited till last minute. Boeing 777 was very spacious and we settled at Row 5AB soon. Noise-canceling headphones and a pair of slippers were already placed at each seat. There is no amenity kit for OZ J class – but eyeshades and earplugs were handed out after lunch, and toothbrush sets, combs, and mouthwashing rinse packs were available in the bathrooms. A full range of Korean and English newspapers were offered then. It is no surprise that the service is oriented towards Korean passengers. A tray of orange juice and champagne in real glasses was passed out after every J class passenger was seated, followed by hot towels after door was closed. Door was closed at 1:38pm and pushed back a minute later. We headed towards Runway 16L and Seattle was not too busy. We took off at 1:52pm and started our ten hours and fifty-six minutes transpacific cross to Seoul. Our routing first climbed to 31,000ft after departing from Washington coast, and then to 35,000ft before crossing Cold Bay, Alaska, and then climbed slowly to 37,000ft and then 39,000ft before entering the Japanese Northeast coast. We passed by North of Sendai, Toyama, Komatsu, and left Japan after passing Oki.
Cabin service began shortly after seat belt sign was turned off at 1:57pm. The inflight entertainment system was turned on soon but the interactive system was not turned on. The system was not functioning too properly. I was a little bit disapointed. Lunch was served fifty minutes after takeoff. Here is the wine list and menu transcript:
Wine List
Champagne
Piper Heidsieck
Red Wine
Le Haut – Medoc De Giscours, Medoc, France
Mercuy, Burgundy, France
Kenwood Zifandel, Sonoma Valley, California
White Wine
Laroche Chablis Premier Cru Cuvee Premiere, Burgundy, France
Kenwood Sonoma Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, California
(Same with ICN-HKG)
Lunch
Western Course
Selection of Canapes
Asparagus on white toast, Smoked salmon on white toast, and smoked trout & cream cheese on brown bread!
Appetizer
Proscuito Ham, Shrimp, Mango
Very nice appetizer with two shrimps, two rolls of ham, and three mango sticks
Seasonal Mixed Salad
Served with Balsamic Dressing
Mesclun greens with cucumber, tomato, yellow & red peper strips, and Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Choices of Sesame seed rolls or sliced white bread
Beef Tenderloin Chasseur
Enhanced by Creamed Chasseur Sauce, accompanied by Chateau Potato, Carrot, Green Beans
My choice of entrée – very nice, although the steak was on the salty side… after flying a number of Asiana flights, the beef entrées are definitely their specialties. They were not overcooked and prepared in the best manner. There was also a full steak condiment tray with steak sauce and Pommery mustard.
Or
Poached Halibut
Flavored with Herbs & Garlic Butter, presented with potato & asparagus
Cheese & Fresh Fruits
Cheddar and Blue cheese, accompanied by grapes, shredded mango, & dried apricot.
Carrot & celery sticks, and a basket of crackers and brown breads, and rolls were offered.
Mixed Berry Cake
Korean Course
“Bi Bim Bab”
A traditional Korean rice dish with fresh vegetable and hot spicy sauce served with Korean Soup
After dessert and tea/coffee service, lights were turned off and most passengers chose to take a nap. One of the weaknesses with Asiana was the lack of mid-flight water patrols. They answered your call button very quickly, but I think refilling passengers’ beverage was important. If not, I will recommend OZ passing out water bottles soon. Well, in the middle of the flight, I decided to give a try to the hot ramen noodle soup, which was very nice. A bowl of noodle with mushroom and egg slice was served, with a side dish of yellow pickles and a dish of more chili pepper.
We are happy to offer you a range of refreshments throughout flight upon your request
Selection of Sandwiches
Seasonal Fruit
Hot Ramen
About two hours prior to arrival, lights were turned on again, and a snack service was then offered. Hot towels were first passed out and then a tray of orange juice, tomato juice, and water was then followed. Linen was placed on tray and the meal cart was pushed out. It was served in three separate courses – one aspect of OZ service that I really liked.
Snack
Appetizer
Lobster Tail, Smoked Chicken Breast
Slices of lobsters and chicken breast – excellent appetizer!
Bread basket includes sesame seed rolls and hard French rolls
Beef Brochette
Accompanied by steamed rice, tomato, broccoli
A lovely entrée with tender beef slices with peppers, onions and mushrooms with rice and vegetable. My only complain was the lack of sauce. I had to use salt to improve the tastes.
Or
Roasted Chicken
Enhanced by orange honey sauce, presented with linguini, broccoli, pepper
Fresh Fruit
A plate of more mango sticks, kiwi, orange and strawberry rounded off this nice snack service. Tea and coffee service was then offered.
Hot towels finished off this light meal service. Descent began at 12:15am Seattle time, and soon we landed on R/W33L at 4:48pm Seoul local time. An Air Kazarstan A310 to Almaty was preparing to takeoff at the parallel 33R as we landed. We followed a NYC arrived Korean Air Boeing 747-400 to our gate, 9, this evening. Our aircraft was going to return to SFO two hours after our arrival. The transit procedure was simply and soon we were back at the departure level.
July 15, 2003
OZ 303 ICN-HKG Lv1940 Arr2235
Boeing 767-300 HL7247
Asiana lounge was nice as usual, and there was a major improvement on the snack offerings – pan fried fish, sweet & sour beef, and mushroom soup were added to the usual sandwiches, sushi (Futomaki rolls), cheese, nuts & crackers basic snack buffet. A salad bar was also offered with sliced fresh bread. You can have a light meal over there. There are more internet stations set up as well. I was impressed!
Boarding began at 7:12pm at gate 7 for this full flight to Hong Kong. The interior of this Boeing 767 is a bit more dated than Boeing 777. There is no personal TV in business class (only HL7595 has personal TV in J class and the aircraft was used on the flight to Taskment that evening) but the seats feature generous recline and reasonable legroom (45inches). It is sufficient for short haul flights. Regular headsets and slippers are once again placed on each seat. Newspapers (only Korean and English, no Chinese), pre-takeoff beverage and hot towels were passed out after everyone was seated. Door was closed at 7:40pm and we pushed back four minutes later. Incheon was fairly quiet this evening and we took off from Runway 33L at 7:52pm. Flying time was only three hours and seven minutes. Our routing first took us over Gunsun, Gwangju and Jeju, before turning West towards Shanghai, PRC, and then Hangzhou, Shaoguan, and Macau, before turning east towards Hong Kong. We climbed to 35,000ft initially, before hitting 35,500 when we entered the Chinese airspace.
For entertainment, CNN News, KBS News, “Just for Laugh,” and “Hong Kong destination guide” were shown, with sky map on throughout the rest of the flight. Dinner began shortly after takeoff and I was disappointed that there is no initial cocktail service. The F/As went straight to dinner. The wine list was exactly the same as Seattle to Seoul, and here is the menu transcript:
Dinner
Appetizer
Mesclun Prawns, Ham & chicken layer with mustard mayonnaise, assorted sauteed vegetables & beef in zucchini cup
A very nice appetizer again!
Mixed Green Salad
Served with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Beef & Mushroom Skewer
Served with Bulgoki sauce, accompanied by grilled tenderloin with oyster mushroom & steamed rice
Another nice entrée selection – I love the tender beef slices and the sauce was much better this time.
Or
Grilled Sea Bass
Served with saffron cream sauce, presented with Chateau potato, green bean and carrot
Or
Stir Fried Chinese Duck
Enhanced by lemon sauce, accompanied by Pimento and fried rice
My sister had this entrée, which was pretty disappointing. It is basically a duck breast piece being deep-fried, and I don’t know why it is called stir fry Chinese duck. The really Chinese stir fried will slices the duck breast into small pieces before stirring. It was a major failure.
Fresh Fruit and Assorted Cheese
Another fruit and cheese plate, but no carrot & celery sticks or bread basket was offered. Fruit selection features some excellent melon (a thick slice), pears and big grapes. There is a slice of Brie cheese and Swiss cheese.
Vanilla Ice Cream
Basically a mini ice cream cake (a very thin slice of sponge cake) and some chocolate sauce.
The meal was fine, especially for a three hours flight. Another round of hot towels was passed out to finish the service, and to my surprise, eyeshades and amenities were passed out as well. Nevertheless, this particular team of F/As is a bit on the lazy side. Last time when I flew OZ on a similar route, there was an initial beverage service with a pack of macadamia nuts and then prior to arrival, there is a water and orange juice service.
Descent soon began at 10:28pm and it was a beautiful night in Southern China. We got spectacular views of Macau, and Hong Kong. Since we were using Runway 25R approach, we circled around Hong Kong once before returning to CLK. The Victoria harbor was beautiful, and soon landing gear came down at 10:56pm and we landed on Runway 25R at 9:59pm (Hong Kong is an hour behind from Seoul), and parked at gate 26 nine minutes later. We were more than thirty minutes early.
Asiana was a decent Asian airline. The service was a bit lacking when compared to the first tier Asian airlines, such as CX or SQ, but it is catching up quickly. The price is also very reasonable and with Asiana joining Star Alliance, I can foresee myself flying OZ more often in the near future.
Thanks for reading this report and the next report will be on Emirates’ economy class service between Hong Kong and Bangkok. Emirates seems to be highly praised these days and I will see if Emirates lives up to its reputation. Carfield has not flown Asian economy for a long while, so it will be interesting as well.
Carfield
Here is the outbound trip report on my summer trip to Hong Kong. The trip involved a short hop to Seattle from LA on Alaska First, and then Asiana business from LA to Hong Kong via Seoul Incheon.
July 13, 2003
AS 237 LAX-SEA Lv1729 Arr1959
McDonald Douglas MD-80 N974AS
Check in line was fairly busy at these evening hours. AS operates a number of flights to Seattle and Portland at this time. The agent was friendly and soon I was on my way to the slow going TSA baggage check in line. The security checkpoint was not too busy but soon I was faced with the first problem – I was not allowed to carry an Eiffel Tower statue on board. I really don’t know why… but things started to go badly. I had to return to the check in line, which was extremely slow due to some passengers requiring many attentions. Then when I approached the bag check line, it was already 5pm. Then I had to wait for the agent to do a physical check. I then informed the security agent my problem and they told me that it was fine and asked me to run to the gate. Fortunately, boarding was slightly delayed, but as expected, my bag did not make it till the next flight to Seattle. But when I checked with bag service desk at Seattle, AS had already posted a message on my bag tag and informed me that my bag was on the next flight. I was impressed, especially most US major airlines have poor customer service at the bag desk.
We pushed back at 5:35pm and LAX was very empty this Sunday evening. We were on runway 24L shortly and took off at 5:42pm. Flying time was a short two hours and ten minutes, and we climbed to 31,000ft. We had a very down to earth and friendly LAX based F/A team this evening. Benjamin was the first class F/A and we were offered topnotch service. Beverage was first served with a bag of mixed nuts, and then dinner was served in three courses. Here is my description of the meal –
Salad
A Romaine lettuce salad with cucumbers and tomato edges and Creamy Cilantro dressing
Foccacia Roll
Entrée choices of
Breaded chicken cutlet with sesame soy sauce
Accompanied by garlic fried rice and carrots & celery
Or
Pan-fried salmon fillet topped with a white cream sauce
Accompanied by stir fry vegetables – asparagus, mushrooms & red pepper strips, and chive & mustard potatoes
Dessert
Caramel Custard Pie
The dinner was extremely nice. Since I was traveling with my sister, I got to taste both entrées. Chicken cutlet was slightly better but salmon was not bad. The dessert was very nice and I had a cup of hot tea. The service was impeccable and soon descent began at 7:29pm. We landed on R/W16R at 7:52pm and soon parked at gate C1. Bags came out twenty-five minutes after arrival.
July 14, 2003
OZ 271 SEA-ICN Lv1330 Arr1650+1
Boeing 777-200ER HL7500
Check in desk was very busy, as expected due to the summer season. Business class line was busy as well and but we were checked in by a fluent bilingual agent (Korean and English). All the bags were tagged with the business class tag. My request to check in a fifth bag (using the Star Alliance gold privilege) was met without questions. Asiana agents obviously have clear ideas about the Star Gold benefits. Soon I was given the boarding passes all the way to Hong Kong and also the lounge pass to the Seattle lounge. We soon headed towards the S gate security checkpoint. It was a nightmare down there since TSA was extremely short of staff this afternoon. It was unacceptable since it was the peak summer season and there were a number of international and domestic flights departing around 1pm. As expected, many passengers got worried. The agent found a NWA manager, but he could not do anything. He just asked folks to write to the Congress. The line was moving very slowly and it took almost forty minutes to an hour, just to get through the checkpoint. For S terminal, please allow an hour for security check. The OZ lounge was shared with EVA and was a fairly basic lounge with a limited selection of beverage and snacks.
Boarding was delayed till 1:11pm because of the late arrival of incoming flight. Business class was first invited to board, but we waited till last minute. Boeing 777 was very spacious and we settled at Row 5AB soon. Noise-canceling headphones and a pair of slippers were already placed at each seat. There is no amenity kit for OZ J class – but eyeshades and earplugs were handed out after lunch, and toothbrush sets, combs, and mouthwashing rinse packs were available in the bathrooms. A full range of Korean and English newspapers were offered then. It is no surprise that the service is oriented towards Korean passengers. A tray of orange juice and champagne in real glasses was passed out after every J class passenger was seated, followed by hot towels after door was closed. Door was closed at 1:38pm and pushed back a minute later. We headed towards Runway 16L and Seattle was not too busy. We took off at 1:52pm and started our ten hours and fifty-six minutes transpacific cross to Seoul. Our routing first climbed to 31,000ft after departing from Washington coast, and then to 35,000ft before crossing Cold Bay, Alaska, and then climbed slowly to 37,000ft and then 39,000ft before entering the Japanese Northeast coast. We passed by North of Sendai, Toyama, Komatsu, and left Japan after passing Oki.
Cabin service began shortly after seat belt sign was turned off at 1:57pm. The inflight entertainment system was turned on soon but the interactive system was not turned on. The system was not functioning too properly. I was a little bit disapointed. Lunch was served fifty minutes after takeoff. Here is the wine list and menu transcript:
Wine List
Champagne
Piper Heidsieck
Red Wine
Le Haut – Medoc De Giscours, Medoc, France
Mercuy, Burgundy, France
Kenwood Zifandel, Sonoma Valley, California
White Wine
Laroche Chablis Premier Cru Cuvee Premiere, Burgundy, France
Kenwood Sonoma Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, California
(Same with ICN-HKG)
Lunch
Western Course
Selection of Canapes
Asparagus on white toast, Smoked salmon on white toast, and smoked trout & cream cheese on brown bread!
Appetizer
Proscuito Ham, Shrimp, Mango
Very nice appetizer with two shrimps, two rolls of ham, and three mango sticks
Seasonal Mixed Salad
Served with Balsamic Dressing
Mesclun greens with cucumber, tomato, yellow & red peper strips, and Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Choices of Sesame seed rolls or sliced white bread
Beef Tenderloin Chasseur
Enhanced by Creamed Chasseur Sauce, accompanied by Chateau Potato, Carrot, Green Beans
My choice of entrée – very nice, although the steak was on the salty side… after flying a number of Asiana flights, the beef entrées are definitely their specialties. They were not overcooked and prepared in the best manner. There was also a full steak condiment tray with steak sauce and Pommery mustard.
Or
Poached Halibut
Flavored with Herbs & Garlic Butter, presented with potato & asparagus
Cheese & Fresh Fruits
Cheddar and Blue cheese, accompanied by grapes, shredded mango, & dried apricot.
Carrot & celery sticks, and a basket of crackers and brown breads, and rolls were offered.
Mixed Berry Cake
Korean Course
“Bi Bim Bab”
A traditional Korean rice dish with fresh vegetable and hot spicy sauce served with Korean Soup
After dessert and tea/coffee service, lights were turned off and most passengers chose to take a nap. One of the weaknesses with Asiana was the lack of mid-flight water patrols. They answered your call button very quickly, but I think refilling passengers’ beverage was important. If not, I will recommend OZ passing out water bottles soon. Well, in the middle of the flight, I decided to give a try to the hot ramen noodle soup, which was very nice. A bowl of noodle with mushroom and egg slice was served, with a side dish of yellow pickles and a dish of more chili pepper.
We are happy to offer you a range of refreshments throughout flight upon your request
Selection of Sandwiches
Seasonal Fruit
Hot Ramen
About two hours prior to arrival, lights were turned on again, and a snack service was then offered. Hot towels were first passed out and then a tray of orange juice, tomato juice, and water was then followed. Linen was placed on tray and the meal cart was pushed out. It was served in three separate courses – one aspect of OZ service that I really liked.
Snack
Appetizer
Lobster Tail, Smoked Chicken Breast
Slices of lobsters and chicken breast – excellent appetizer!
Bread basket includes sesame seed rolls and hard French rolls
Beef Brochette
Accompanied by steamed rice, tomato, broccoli
A lovely entrée with tender beef slices with peppers, onions and mushrooms with rice and vegetable. My only complain was the lack of sauce. I had to use salt to improve the tastes.
Or
Roasted Chicken
Enhanced by orange honey sauce, presented with linguini, broccoli, pepper
Fresh Fruit
A plate of more mango sticks, kiwi, orange and strawberry rounded off this nice snack service. Tea and coffee service was then offered.
Hot towels finished off this light meal service. Descent began at 12:15am Seattle time, and soon we landed on R/W33L at 4:48pm Seoul local time. An Air Kazarstan A310 to Almaty was preparing to takeoff at the parallel 33R as we landed. We followed a NYC arrived Korean Air Boeing 747-400 to our gate, 9, this evening. Our aircraft was going to return to SFO two hours after our arrival. The transit procedure was simply and soon we were back at the departure level.
July 15, 2003
OZ 303 ICN-HKG Lv1940 Arr2235
Boeing 767-300 HL7247
Asiana lounge was nice as usual, and there was a major improvement on the snack offerings – pan fried fish, sweet & sour beef, and mushroom soup were added to the usual sandwiches, sushi (Futomaki rolls), cheese, nuts & crackers basic snack buffet. A salad bar was also offered with sliced fresh bread. You can have a light meal over there. There are more internet stations set up as well. I was impressed!
Boarding began at 7:12pm at gate 7 for this full flight to Hong Kong. The interior of this Boeing 767 is a bit more dated than Boeing 777. There is no personal TV in business class (only HL7595 has personal TV in J class and the aircraft was used on the flight to Taskment that evening) but the seats feature generous recline and reasonable legroom (45inches). It is sufficient for short haul flights. Regular headsets and slippers are once again placed on each seat. Newspapers (only Korean and English, no Chinese), pre-takeoff beverage and hot towels were passed out after everyone was seated. Door was closed at 7:40pm and we pushed back four minutes later. Incheon was fairly quiet this evening and we took off from Runway 33L at 7:52pm. Flying time was only three hours and seven minutes. Our routing first took us over Gunsun, Gwangju and Jeju, before turning West towards Shanghai, PRC, and then Hangzhou, Shaoguan, and Macau, before turning east towards Hong Kong. We climbed to 35,000ft initially, before hitting 35,500 when we entered the Chinese airspace.
For entertainment, CNN News, KBS News, “Just for Laugh,” and “Hong Kong destination guide” were shown, with sky map on throughout the rest of the flight. Dinner began shortly after takeoff and I was disappointed that there is no initial cocktail service. The F/As went straight to dinner. The wine list was exactly the same as Seattle to Seoul, and here is the menu transcript:
Dinner
Appetizer
Mesclun Prawns, Ham & chicken layer with mustard mayonnaise, assorted sauteed vegetables & beef in zucchini cup
A very nice appetizer again!
Mixed Green Salad
Served with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Beef & Mushroom Skewer
Served with Bulgoki sauce, accompanied by grilled tenderloin with oyster mushroom & steamed rice
Another nice entrée selection – I love the tender beef slices and the sauce was much better this time.
Or
Grilled Sea Bass
Served with saffron cream sauce, presented with Chateau potato, green bean and carrot
Or
Stir Fried Chinese Duck
Enhanced by lemon sauce, accompanied by Pimento and fried rice
My sister had this entrée, which was pretty disappointing. It is basically a duck breast piece being deep-fried, and I don’t know why it is called stir fry Chinese duck. The really Chinese stir fried will slices the duck breast into small pieces before stirring. It was a major failure.
Fresh Fruit and Assorted Cheese
Another fruit and cheese plate, but no carrot & celery sticks or bread basket was offered. Fruit selection features some excellent melon (a thick slice), pears and big grapes. There is a slice of Brie cheese and Swiss cheese.
Vanilla Ice Cream
Basically a mini ice cream cake (a very thin slice of sponge cake) and some chocolate sauce.
The meal was fine, especially for a three hours flight. Another round of hot towels was passed out to finish the service, and to my surprise, eyeshades and amenities were passed out as well. Nevertheless, this particular team of F/As is a bit on the lazy side. Last time when I flew OZ on a similar route, there was an initial beverage service with a pack of macadamia nuts and then prior to arrival, there is a water and orange juice service.
Descent soon began at 10:28pm and it was a beautiful night in Southern China. We got spectacular views of Macau, and Hong Kong. Since we were using Runway 25R approach, we circled around Hong Kong once before returning to CLK. The Victoria harbor was beautiful, and soon landing gear came down at 10:56pm and we landed on Runway 25R at 9:59pm (Hong Kong is an hour behind from Seoul), and parked at gate 26 nine minutes later. We were more than thirty minutes early.
Asiana was a decent Asian airline. The service was a bit lacking when compared to the first tier Asian airlines, such as CX or SQ, but it is catching up quickly. The price is also very reasonable and with Asiana joining Star Alliance, I can foresee myself flying OZ more often in the near future.
Thanks for reading this report and the next report will be on Emirates’ economy class service between Hong Kong and Bangkok. Emirates seems to be highly praised these days and I will see if Emirates lives up to its reputation. Carfield has not flown Asian economy for a long while, so it will be interesting as well.
Carfield
Jul 18, 2003, 12:08 am
#2
Join Date: May 2002
Location: SIN; SQ PPS, LH SEN, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 15
Thanks very much, Carfield, for that most interesting and informative trip report on OZ - it made for good lunchtime reading!
I am quite tempted for fly OZ cos they have decent fares out of SIN (SQ to ICN is just so expensive), and now that they have joined *A, I can put those miles on my LH M&M. However, OZ operates 767s to SIN so the planes would not be as spanking new as the TransPac 777s.....
Cheers!
------------------
"That which does not kill me makes me stronger" - Friedrich Nietzsche
I am quite tempted for fly OZ cos they have decent fares out of SIN (SQ to ICN is just so expensive), and now that they have joined *A, I can put those miles on my LH M&M. However, OZ operates 767s to SIN so the planes would not be as spanking new as the TransPac 777s.....
Cheers!
------------------
"That which does not kill me makes me stronger" - Friedrich Nietzsche
Jul 18, 2003, 12:15 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097
Carfield,
as usual, you are my hero! Your report was excellent, but has it ever been anything less then great? Thank you so much!
Couple of minor corrections on the CIS airlines/destinations: Air Kazakhstan (now an almost extinct airline, given way to Air Astana which is backed by the Presidents family), and Tashkent.
Thanks, once again!
as usual, you are my hero! Your report was excellent, but has it ever been anything less then great? Thank you so much!
Couple of minor corrections on the CIS airlines/destinations: Air Kazakhstan (now an almost extinct airline, given way to Air Astana which is backed by the Presidents family), and Tashkent.
Thanks, once again!
Jul 22, 2003, 10:37 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,444
Great report Carfield. I had been wondering about OZ's service - looks like they are worth checking out.
I'm looking forward to hearing your views about EK. I think their Y service is not bad. Premium cabins are pretty poor though. But such a great airline for PR, you would think they are world beaters.
I'm looking forward to hearing your views about EK. I think their Y service is not bad. Premium cabins are pretty poor though. But such a great airline for PR, you would think they are world beaters.
