LH747FTL

15 August 2003
Helsinki Vantaa (HEL/EFHK) – Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD)
Finnair AY 091
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
OH-LGC
2335-1340 (2337-1320)
Business Class, Seat 1D


I made the 2-hour drive to the airport in rainy and miserable conditions and parked my car in the long term remote parking lot. It would spend the next three weeks there. This particular parking lot has a view of the Finnair maintenance hangars, and I noticed three Air Liberte DC10s there as well as one retired Finnair DC9. A bus then promptly took me to the international terminal.

As I walked into the Finnair check-in area, the Asian gate agent for the Bangkok flights said hi, I guess he remembered me from last week… Check-in had no lines whatsoever, but the agent at the business class desk had no clue about anything…. First she browsed through my AA-issued ticket like she never saw one before. Then she tried to find the three-letter code for Cebu Mactan International Airport – I just told her to check my bag to HKG as I’d be spending 22 hours there first.

With boarding pass for seat 1D in hand, I went through security and passport control. No lines anywhere and the airport was deserted as usual at this time of the night. Only the Bangkok flight and the late night Tallinn service would be departing this evening.

Finnair Longhaul Lounge, Helsinki FI

I was looking forward to visiting this lounge again, it was quiet and nice last time. Not quite so this time, there was a large family from Hong Kong… The kids were running around the lounge, playing their gameboys with sounds on, playing around with Microsoft Paint on the only computer in the lounge etc… Meanwhile, the parents and grandparents were shouting to each other as they sat in different parts of the lounge. It was quite a zoo there.

I helped myself to some tasty food from the Bangkok/Hong Kong Buffet – very disappointing to see the exactly same choices as four months earlier though. Had a dry apple cider to go with the meal. Drink choices are surprisingly limited here considering this is the Oneworld Emerald/Finnair Longhaul Business lounge, no Baileys or sparkling wine/champagne for example. The internet connection didn’t work either when I tried it.

Boarding and Inflight

AY 091 started boarding at 11pm at gate 31 – about 20 metres from the lounge. I walked right onboard, and the same Thai guy wished me a pleasant flight. I made my way to 1D, and recognized one of the service chefs from my earlier flight in April. She chatted a little bit and brought me a glass of champagne while apologizing for the newspaper stands in front of my seat. Finnair always serves the pre-departure drinks from small trays individually, in nice Finnish designer glasses. Also the champagne is same as inflight, Joseph Perrier Cuvee Josephine 1997 (called JP later in this report)– very good stuff indeed. She later offered me a refill, excellent. As a comparison, LH gives you sparkling wine on the ground, served from a large tray after most passengers have boarded.

Doors were closed around 11:30pm, and the forward business class cabin had about 20 of the 28 seats occupied. Sennheiser noise-cancelling headsets and amenity kits were then distributed. The amenity kit contains just socks, eyeshade and earplugs, but you can use it as a bag afterwards. Toothbrushes, razors and fragnances are available in the lavatories.

Golf Charlie was pushed back roughly on time and we then taxied to 22L for takeoff. It’s quite bumpy in the nose of the MD11 when rolling, thanks to the nose gear. Still nothing compared to B747s. We lifted off after a rather long 45-second roll and headed over Espoo, then turning towards Estonia. We would continue on the usual route – over Moscow, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Lahore, Delhi, Calcutta, Bay of Bengal, Rangoon and then on to Bangkok.

Service soon started in the business class cabin – hot towels and menus were passed out first. Next, pretzels and your choice of drink were served individually from the galley. I had another glass of JP. A quick look at the menu revealed that they’d be serving the exact same food as back in April. Not too impressed with that. Here’s the menu anyway:

Helsinki – Bangkok

Supper

Lamb terrine and root vegetable cake

***

A lighter alternative/additional choice: seasonal soup

***

Pan fried plaice with orange sauce,
Julienne of carrots, celery and leek

Or

Oriental style chicken with fried rice

***

Swiss roll filled with mascarpone cheese, raspberry compote


Breakfast

Fresh fruit salad

***

Crepe filled with turkey and vegetables, turkey mini sausages

Or

Cold cuts – salted beef, tongue and bread cheese


Bangkok – Singapore/Hong Kong

Lunch

Marinated salmon with grilled zucchini

***

Strawberry sherbet

***

Penang chicken curry with pilau rice

Or

Stir fried beef in oyster sauce

***

Assorted pastries


Trays with the appetizer and dessert were passed out first, plastic covers removed of course. I had another glass of JP and some water. Breads were offered a few times – the warm garlic bread was delicious. I went with the chicken again, it was tasty and the portion was large. Had another glass of champagne and a Baileys with ice afterwards – it was no doubt a double.

I then proceeded to sleep – my seat had the recline broken obviously as it reclined all the way into 2D. Luckily there was nobody in that seat, so I could enjoy very generous recline indeed. Only woke up as we were approaching Burma and breakfast was served. I went with the hot option, quite decent but nothing to write home about. There was also a bowl of dried fruit on the tray. Warmed breads and fresh fruit were offered numerous times.

Descent into Don Muang started soon afterwards, and after the usual approach, we landed on 21L about twenty minutes early. Taxied past the usual mix of aircraft at BKK and I watched a Biman A310 taking off from 21R. KLM ground was waiting for us at gate 43, their own aircraft today was PH-BFK in the new colours. Had a quick chat with the same service chef before deplaning – she said she misses the days when AY crews got to spend a week at Bangkok… I would sure too!

Lufthansa staff were handing transfer cards as I exited the aircraft, and sure enough there was the lady who just upgraded me to business class a week earlier. She was surprised to see me again and said hi. I made my way to the Qantas Club and had a glass of sparkling wine while making a few phone calls.

16 August 2003
Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD) – Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok (HKG/VHHH)
Finnair AY 091
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
OH-LGC
1440-1830 (1435-1820)
Business Class, Seat 1D


I cleared security in a matter of seconds and went to gate 43. They were just starting boarding and I went back onboard OH-LGC a few minutes later. A crew change takes place in Bangkok, so we had a new bunch of service chefs in business class. I was again offered a glass of JP and a refill later. We were pushed back early and headed to 21R for takeoff as usual. The MD-11 took off like a rocket for this short hop to Honk Kong. I swear I have never experienced such a steep climb before.

Service started as soon as we reached 35000ft and was similar to that on the earlier segment. A great crew this time too, and my glass was never empty during the meal. I had the beef as the main course, quite good but very typical airline food as well. The strawberry sherbet was absolutely delicious as were the dessert pastries. I had two Baileys with ice afterwards and one of the ladies commented that she would have chosen the same drinks if she was sitting in my seat. She then persuaded me that there’s plenty of time for one more Baileys… A big glass full of the particular liqueur then arrived – she must have poured at least three of those little bottles there.

The rest of the flight was uneventful with some occasional turbulence. Our routing took us over Surin - Thailand, Laos, Da Nang – Vietnam, near Hainan and then onto Chek Lap Kok international over South China Sea. We landed on 07L about ten minutes ahead of schedule and parked at E18, next to three Qantas jets – a 747-400 (OEB) from Sydney, a 767-300 (OGA) and an Australian 767-300 (OGK) from Cairns.

A Dragonair agent was greeting at the door, informed me of a very long jetway ahead and that bags would come out to belt 10. There was a minor wait at immigration and the agent went through every single page in my passport for some reason. My bag was one of the last off, priority tags showing no effect here… I then took the Airport Express to Kowloon and their free hotel shuttle to the NW Renaissance.

New World Renaissance Hotel, Kowloon HK

The reception is on the second floor, a guy downstairs took care of my bags. The pleasant lady at check-in informed me that the hotel is full tonight and if I would accept a single room, she’ll give me a free buffet breakfast. Sure I accepted her offer, and she gave me room 1616 on the Renaissance Club floor. I’m sure that in a U.S. hotel, I would have been dumped to whatever room with no compensation as I was on a Priceline reservation. But since these reservations are always for a double room, she decided to handle it nicely.

The room itself was indeed small, with one twin bed. The windows of most rooms are blocked at the moment as they are renovating the exterior of the hotel. As this room was on the club floor, there was also a fax machine, VCD player and three phones in my room in addition to a bathrobe and slippers. The bathroom was small as well, but featured a very large shower stall (no bathtub).

Breakfast was served at the Patio on 4th floor – it was the most extensive buffet I have had so far anywhere. Regular price for this affair was HKD 154. Extended checkout was granted until 1pm without problems. This stay was a total steal for about EUR 24.

I then took a taxi to the Airport Express station as the shuttle drives around the city for a while. The driver offered to take me to the airport directly for HKD 200. I didn’t really feel like hauling my luggage at the train station at this point and gladly accepted his offer. The drive to Lantau gives you great views as a bonus. The meter stopped at HKD 248, no idea why he was happy with 200 as usually they try to negotiate higher fares…

17 August 2003
Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok (HKG/VHHH) – Cebu Mactan International (CEB/RPMC)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX 921
Airbus A330-342
B-HLK (2nd A330-300 Prototype)
1615-1855 (1610-1840)
Business Class, Seat 16K


I went to Departures 1, and the whole area was very crowded. Glad to see the business picking up again, Chek Lap Kok was absolutely deserted back in April when I last visited. Cathay Business Class/Marco Polo Club line was rather long as well, but it only took about two minutes before I reached the counter. The agent was a very pleasant one, she was more than happy to give me a window seat with the next seat blocked. My bag was tagged with CX business priority tags and off I went with a boarding pass, lounge invitation and health declaration in hand.

I then changed the rest of my Hong Kong dollars to Philippine Pesos and headed through immigration and security. The Hong Kong officers always have to ask if the photo in my passport is actually mine – and it’s only taken two years ago… I waited about two minutes at security and they insisted on checking the aerosol can in my bag. They always seem to do this at HKG while they don’t really care elsewhere. The guys were friendly and professional.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounges – The Wing and The Pier

I was really looking forward to checking out these famous lounges – in reality they exceeded all my expectations… The Wing is near the CX premium gates and it was quite busy. Both lounges have the same basic setup – The Long Bar (drinks), The Short Bar (different coffees, ice cream), The Noodle Bar (made to order noodle dishes). There are also lots of computers and shower facilities. Both lounges feature very nice design and amazing views over the tarmac.

I just typed some of this trip report in The Wing, and decided to head to The Pier for some snacks as it would be closer to my departure gate 62. I was even more impressed with The Pier – these two lounges are in a league in their own. Anyway, I had a bowl of tasty noodles, some cappuchino and chocolate Hagen Dazs before moving to the Long Bar. Had some champagne and later a Pacific Sunrise – a Cathay Pacific signature cocktail with champagne, Drambuie and some orange stuff. Travelling doesn’t get much better than sipping this cocktail and looking at the beautiful scenary of Hong Kong.

Boarding and Inflight

Gate 62 was just a short two-minute walk from The Pier, and boarding had already commenced as I got there. They were using both lines for economy class, but a cheerful Cathay agent took my blue boarding pass, escorted me right past the lines and wished me a very pleasant flight. Inflight supervisor Susan was greeting me at the door and chatted a bit, and another cheerful lady escorted me to 16K. I later realized that she was actually a first class purser. She then asked if she could bring me a drink and any newspapers – a glass of champagne and South China Morning Post arrived about a minute later. Meanwhile, another lady brought me a pillow and a blanket in case I wanted to use them. Cold towels were offered later – they were very welcome as it was quite hot in the cabin at this point.

The regional two class A330s have exactly the same seats as Finnair MD11s in business class… There’s two inches less pitch and the PTV is smaller, but nevertheless, these are very comfortable seats. The Australian captain soon announced that we are waiting for two last passengers and that the flying time to Cebu Mactan International Airport will be 2h22min this evening. Meanwhile, one of the ladies came back, addressed me by name and offered another glass of champagne. The doors were closed as soon as these two last passengers made it onboard, and HLK was pushed back about five minutes early. We taxied to 07R and I watched a good old 747-100 of Orient Thai taking off before it was our turn. Our takeoff roll was quite long, I believe the A330 was quite heavy with lots of cargo onboard. Business class was practically empty on this flight, just six seats taken.

We flew past Hong Kong Island, and then turned towards South China Sea, then continuing right towards Manila and Cebu. Service started as soon as we reached 25000ft and the seatbelt sign went off. There would be a light refreshment served on this flight. Beverages were served first, I chose another glass of champagne, and it was accompanied by a ramekin of warm cashew nuts. The inflight supervisor then came to say hi and asked if there’s anything she can do to make my flight more enjoyable. This was obviously because of my AA status, as she did this to only one other business class passenger.

The refreshment service then started, another cheerful lady appeared from somewhere, addressed be my name and handed me the tray as well as some breads – I chose the warm garlic bread again. The appetizer was a plate of fresh fruit, quite tasty. There was also a warm snack, pizza with chicken or fried prawns with rice. I took the pizza and it was quite good for a snack. During the meal, my glasses were never empty and service was attentive. I had a Baileys with ice afterwards. Hot towels were given out later, for the passengers to freshen up after the meal.

As the meal service was finished, we were flying over Quezon City and it was getting dark outside. For the rest of the flight, I sampled some of the 25 audio channels available while enjoying another Pacific Sunrise cocktail. Someone from economy was trying to use the business class lavatories – he barely got to row 17 before one of the CX ladies promptly took him back to the economy cabin.

Soon, the lights of the Cebu area came into view and we were descending into Mactan International airport. The approach reminded me somewhat of the San Juan PR approach at night… There were thunderstorms around the area and the lightning looked great from the window. We landed on runway 22 a few minutes early and quickly taxied to the terminal, where a PR A330, Cebu Pacific DC9 and an Air Philippines B737 were parked. Susan thanked us for flying Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines and wished us a nice stay in the Philippines.

I chatted a bit with one of the ladies before disembarking; she said everything is more or less back to normal at CX as far as their schedules etc. go. They were heading right back to Hong Kong and I then made my way to immigration. A grumpy agent stamped my passport in a few seconds – the only thing that I can read off that red spot is 17AUG2003. My bag was the third off, and as I was the first through customs, the guy asked a few questions before letting me go.

My next stop was the Philippine Airlines ticket office – all sorts of taxi drivers, taxi drivers’ friends and friends of taxi drivers’ friends tried to sell me their transportation services naturally. I tried to book the PR ticket to Manila online, but unfortunately the website only lists the three first flights for each day… According to the e-mail that I received, PR has no intentions of changing this. The ticket agent was very friendly, and sold me a C fare on PR858 to MNL two days later. She then gave me a Mabuhay magazine and chatted a little about Cebu. “Just take a taxi near the front entrance, don’t talk to those lowlifes trying to get you to a taxi. Our security guard will take care of them.” Sure enough, as soon as I made it to the taxi, these guys tried to sell me “better taxi” or asked for some small money… The PR guy came and told them to f*ck off and off I went. The taxi ride to the Cebu Marriott cost me PHP 109.

Cebu City Marriott Hotel, Cebu Philippines

The taxi was stopped and completely searched before driving to the front entrance of the hotel. Two guys then greeted me, searched my bags at the door and I was then good to go to the reception. I got my preferences for a king bed, non smoking room without problems, and was handed a key for room 1124. This is a typical Marriott, everything starting from the green carpet are in place. The room was quite nice and of average size. My room had nice views towards some mountains and the Ayala Mall.

Service here was fantastic, the guys downstairs were always willing to give their advice and arrange for anything that I needed. For example an adaptor so that I could use my laptop, arrived within two minutes after I asked for it. Fitness center in the basement was quite nice as well.

I found Cebu itself quite nice and felt quite safe all the time. It kinda reminded me of a smaller Thai city like... Pretty much everybody spoke English here though. I wish could have stayed longer here, but will return one day for sure.

19 August 2003
Cebu Mactan International Airport (CEB/RPMC) – Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’l (MNL/RPLL)
Philippine Airlines PR 858
Airbus A330-301
F-OHZM
1500-1610 – On Time
Mabuhay Class, Seat 14K


I took a taxi back to Mactan Airport about two hours before departure – P140 with a tip. We had to stop at a security checkpoint even before driving to the airport and the car was searched. Check-in at the Mabuhay Class counter was quick and I was assigned seat 14K. I then had to pay the domestic departure fee of P100 and headed through security to the lounge.

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge, Mactan Airport

This lounge was pretty much like TG domestic lounges, quite small. The chairs were comfy and snacks were plenty – some sandwiches, pastries and soup was available. No alcoholic drinks, but plenty of the non-alcoholic ones. There was also a decent selection of newspapers and magazines available.

Boarding and Inflight

Boarding was on time, but no separate line or priority for Business Class. I was greeted by a cheerful young lady at the door and directed to my seat. The seats are quite modern and comfortable, with about 45” pitch I would say. Not quite as comfortable as the AY or CX seats but very nice nevertheless. Pre-departure orange juice was offered and food orders were taken as we sat at the gate. We were then pushed back on time for the 1h05minute hop to Manila.

The big Airbus then followed the 3pm Cebu Pacific DC9 (City of Cebu special colours) to runway 22. We took off without delay, and flew over the city before turning right and heading north towards Manila. It was quite bumpy, but service started soon anyway – a hot meal of beef or chicken would be served in business class. The two ladies started the service in the other aisle and it seemed to take forever before they reached my seat.

The beef came with steamed rice, a roll and some sort of a dessert – it was very tasty for airline food. Hot towels followed later. As soon as I finished the meal, we were on descent into rainy Ninoy Aquino International airport. Landed on time and taxied to the new Centennial Terminal 2 which was quite nice. On this flight, I had stored my laptop bag under the seat in front, and somehow managed to forget my roller in the overhead bin… Felt like an idiot going back onboard to get it.

Baggage came out quickly – priority baggage first as on all Asian airlines that I have flown so far. Due to the strange layout of MNL, I had to take a taxi to International T1 to catch my Qantas flight to Sydney.

19 August 2003
Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’l (MNL/RPLL) – Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD/YSSY)
Qantas Airways QF 020
Boeing 767-338ER
VH-OGP
2010-0620+1 – On Time
Business Class, Seat 2A


There was a security check upon entering the terminal – all bags were x-rayed and I had to go through the usual magnetometer thing after they had checked my documents. Qantas also conducts explosive testing of all checked luggage – this process took another 20 minutes before reaching the check-in counter. TG and CX didn’t seem to do this from what I saw.

Check-in was quick, and my bag was checked right through to Melbourne. I then went to pay the P550 departure fee and cleared immigration. The old T1 is quite miserable, but seemed to have at least a few shops and cafes. I went directly to the Qantas Manila Lounge – it was located beyond another security checkpoint and pat-down search.

Qantas Manila Lounge, Ninoy Aquino Intl, Philippines

The lounge is quite small, but nicely furnished and offers quite good selection of hot and cold snacks as well as a decent selection of drinks. QF doesn’t even serve Manila daily, so I was pleasantly surprised by the lounge. There was one computer with internet access, but you need to buy a Pacific Internet prepaid card, P100 for 9 hours of access. A hint to QF – how about spending the whopping EUR 1.50 or so and they could offer free internet for three nights… The lounge only has a single washroom and no showers.

Boarding and Inflight

The 767 was waiting at the gate right next to the lounge – but there was yet another security check. They completely searched all hand luggage and performed another pat-down search. The 767 boarding process is annoying when you are sitting in the front cabin – everyone needs to board via 1L and pass through the business class cabin. The inflight service manager greeted me by name and I took my seat, 2A on the single seat side.

I was quite disappointed with the seat actually, somehow it was much narrower than the Air Canada one (the only other 5-abreast 767 I have taken), and legroom seemed about the same as on CX regional aircraft. The seats have electronic controls and a small PTV with about 10 channels – one of those early models. The business class cabin was totally full while economy seemed pretty lightly loaded that night. Pre-departure drinks were served; the lady serving them was rather unfriendly and made no effort to offer seconds to anyone.

We were pushed back roughly on time, and started taxiing a few minutes later with rain pouting down in Manila. Golf Papa took off at about 8:30pm, and we headed right back towards Cebu where I had come from earlier. Manila didn’t look that impressive with all the lights on – compared to other cities, the lights were few and far between because of the shanty towns I suppose.

Menus and amenity kits were then distributed and the captain announced a flying time of 7h20min down to Sydney. The amenity kits were quite nice with lots of stuff inside, but the menu was a single sheet of paper and no separate wine lists were available. “The cabin crew will be happy to inform you about our wine selection.” They did indeed – “we have white and red wine sir…” Unfortunately, they’d be serving a light dinner and continental breakfast – i.e. not a single proper meal on this flight… Usually you either get dinner and continental breakfast or light meal and full breakfast. The light meal was then served, no nuts, drinks or hot towels before it.

Light Dinner


Main Courses

Chicken Adobo with Coconut
Sauce and Fragnant Rice

or

Barbecue Prok with Egg Noodles
and Asian Greens

or

Salmon Fillet and Herbed Potatoes
with Roast Capsicum and Lime Salsa


Green Leaf Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

Dessert

Coconut Cake with Cream

Fresh Fruit



Continental Breakfast



Selection of Fruit Juices

Banana and Mango Energiser Drink

Citrus Fruit Salad with Yoghurt

A Choice of Warm Bakery Items

Dinner trays were then given out – there was a small cup of salad and the salad dressing, salt & pepper etc were all in el cheapo plastic containers. Butter was taken straight out of the freezer I guess… CX and AY always make sure the butter isn’t hard as rock. Rolls were then offered – cold ones from a plastic bag, how classy. No other breads were available. As soon as I had started eating the salad, one of the guys was waiting with my choice of entrée next to my seat – how about waiting that you finish the first course….

The salmon was tasty, potatoes disappointing and the portion was tiny. It was however served on a real plate, not an airline style square thing. I even managed to get one drink refill after asking for it – this was no doubt the worst meal service in business class for me. The crew were rather unfriendly as well, busy chatting with their friends in the business cabin.

I then proceeded to watch View from The Top on my PTV and tried to sleep after that. I managed to do so for a few hours, however the seat wasn’t that comfortable in my opinion and the legrest didn’t go high enough. I skipped the continental breakfast (fresh fruit and breads), and was woken up as we were commencing our descent into Sydney. Due to some stupid noise regulations, we couldn’t land before 6am, so we had to circle for about 20 minutes somewhere south of the airport. We then flew past downtown Sydney, and landed on 16L on time.

20 August 2003
Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD/YSSY) – Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL/YMML)
Qantas Airways QF 022
Boeing 747-438
VH-OJI “Longreach” (All QF 744s have the titles but this one is actually named Longreach)
0840-1000 (0920-1030)
Economy Class, Seat 46C (Exit Row)


As Qantas had those AUD 49 fares a while ago, I decided do go to Melbourne for a few hours instead of waiting at Sydney Airport for my friend to pick me up. This would give me access to showers on arrival at SYD as well as some food at the MEL QF Club. Beats waiting five hours at the airport.

I had to go through security to get back to the gates – this was through a special facility for international connections. QF 22 is technically an international flight, continuation of the Tokyo service to be more exact. They still have that stupid rule that you need to remove your laptop from its case at all Australian airports.

The Qantas Club, Sydney International Terminal, Sydney AU

A cheerful lady welcomed me to the lounge and advised to check with the service desk if my AA number was in… I was served with some sort of total moron there, “so you want this number in or what?” he said. Asked if QF 22 would be using any C class seats as Y this morning – he had no clue what I was talking about.

The lounge itself is huge, and had a decent selection of toast, fruit, yoghurt etc for breakfast. I used one of the showers as well, very nice with that rainfall shower thing. Internet was available in the business centre. I also visited MEL domestic/BNE domestic/SYD domestic/PER intl QF clubs later – all were about the same. Very nice with lots of room and decent food.

Boarding and Inflight

Boarding was from gate 10, and started roughly on time. Crew was unfriendly to say the least, most didn’t bother saying a thing when people were boarding the plane. The exit row seats were quite nice, wider than on most other airlines as the PTV controller was mounted sort of on top of the armrest. Legroom was about two metres as usual on the B747s.

We were pushed back 40 minutes late due to some baggage problems, and taxied to 16R for takeoff. The Jumbo then took off right away – no stopping anywhere and no announcements for the crew to be seated. The flight attendant in the jumpseat in front of me was pretty annoyed at this. Economy class on this flight was half empty, with most passengers being Japanese coming from Tokyo.

Breakfast was the usual QF box – a small banana and some pastry. One round of coffee/tea was offered. The guy spilled the tea all over the serving tray and my cup… Service was quite frankly terrible. PTVs were not working, only airshow was available. This was a recently refurbished two-class 747 and looked quite fresh inside. I then snoozed off the rest of the flight, and we landed half an hour late at MEL.

Customs and immigration seemed to pick half of the people for secondary inspection, especially all younger Japanese. After the guy had stamped my passport, some idiot asked the EXACT same questions right behind the booth, and sent me to the red exit… QF made no effort to get priority bags off first, so after waiting for about 15 minutes, I went to that red exit… Five people went through absolutely everything, one of them a total jerk who didn’t want to understand simple things in English. I didn’t like it how they were joking and chatting about things like my LH card, McDonald’s receipts in my wallet etc. These guys were much worse than US Customs people who at least do their jobs instead of joking about things.

20 August 2003
Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL/YMML) – Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD/YSSY)
Qantas Airways QF 438
Boeing 767-238ER
VH-EAL “City of Geelong“
1400-1520 (1520-1630)
Economy Class, Seat 23K (Bulkhead)


I was originally booked on QF444 which was later cancelled… They then rebooked me onto 446 but luckily the agent at domestic ticketing agreed to put me on 438 instead. This was after a really rude lady at the business check in refused to check me in for 446, stating that it was too early. I decided to use the self service machine for QF 438 – I was checked in quickly and a cheerful agent tagged my bag to Sydney.

Needed to remove my laptop from its case here too… Other than that, security was quick and I made my way to the Qantas Club. At around 1pm, they announced that the baggage handlers had walked out and that most flights would be delayed.

Boarding and Inflight

I made it to gate 7 around 2pm as they were supposed to start boarding at 2:05pm. An announcement was then made that boarding will be delayed… I asked if I could go back to the lounge, the agent said yes, but later ran to tell me they’d start boarding in five minutes. I should have just gone anyway, five minutes turned out to be thirty-five minutes.

Once we were finally onboard, the captain announced that some management people were loading the containers, and that he would personally guarantee that all our bags are on board by now. I suppose he needs to go get a pair of glasses, anyone could see that they hadn’t even offloaded the cargo ex-Brisbane yet. Finally, 40 minutes later, they had managed to offload the containers and some idiot dared to announce that all cargo is onboard now and that we’d be pushing back shortly. Anyone with a pair of eyes could have seen that not a single container was loaded onboard the 767.

We then pushed back and taxied to the runway and took off more than an hour late… The old 767 seats are much more comfortable than those hard slimline seats on the 747s IMHO. Another snackbox was served, some inedible cake with water. I then snoozed off for the rest of the flight, and woke up as we were on descent into Sydney and they informed us that indeed no baggage was loaded onto the flight and that we should contact baggage service on arrival… I was pretty much fuming at this point, leaving the baggage at MEL is bad enough, why did they have tell us complete BS at MEL?

At Sydney, we had to wait for a 737-800 to taxi out before we could make it to one of the Cityflyer gates. Luckily I was in front of the economy class cabin, so I made a mad dash to the baggage service counter just to find out that they wouldn’t file a report there… Instead, they gave out some forms to fill and I didn’t even get a tracking number in the end. The agent nicely replied “I have no idea, next one please” as I asked when the bags would arrive.

Sheraton On The Park, Sydney AU

I got this via Priceline for my last night in Sydney for USD 80. Check-in was quick, and I was offered a non-smoking king room with 4pm checkout the next day due to my SPG status. Unfortunately Starwood is doing away with status benefits for Priceline stays by the end of the year… My bags arrived promptly to my room in the sixth floor about five minutes later.

The room was by far the nicest Sheraton room I have stayed in, quite large and stylish. There was also a big sofa, working desk and a walk in closet in the room. Bathroom was large with separate shower and bathtub and upgraded bath amenities. The bed wasn’t up to the Westin Heavenly Bed standard, but very nice anyway. My only complaint would be that they charge for the use of the fitness centre.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Darling harbour for the same price the night before, as Priceline needs 2-day advance booking in Sydney for some reason. The two hotels cost me the same but are not comparable…

23 August 2003
Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD/YSSY) – Perth International (PER/YPPH)
Qantas Airways QF 583
Boeing 767-238ER
VH-EAO “City of Cairns”
1910-2205 – On Time
Business Class, Seat 1F


I took a taxi to Qantas domestic terminal about two hours before departure and checked in quickly at the business class counters. Security wanted to see my laptop again but in a few minutes, I was sitting comfortably in the domestic Qantas Club. Checked my emails and had some snacks before proceeding downstairs to board QF 583 to Perth. This flight was scheduled to be an A330 when I booked, but was switched to a 767-200 later.

I was expecting quite bad seats, but actually they were decent. Legroom looked like a joke for business class in normal rows, but I found row 1 to be quite acceptable for the 4-hour flight. The seats themselves are from the 1980s, completely manual and no PTVs or adjustable headrests. Water and orange juice were offered before pushback.

We were pushed back roughly on time and took off a few minutes later for the rather long 4h30minute flight across the continent. Menus were given out after the seatbelt sign went off, followed by pretzels and drinks. I took some sparkling wine as they didn’t have champagne. My seatmate seemed very annoyed by this. Service was good, my glass was topped up constantly. Dinner followed shortly after the initial drink service and here’s the menu:

Dinner


Entrée

Antipasto


Main Course

Pea and Dill Ravioli with Tomato and Pancetta Sauce

or

Fillet of Beef with Roast Potato, Zucchini and Red Onion Jam

or

Salad of Moroccan Chicken with Marinated
Vegetables and Tzatziki Dressing


Green Leaf Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette


Dessert

Seasonal Cheese, Dried Fruit and Water Crackers

or

Ice Cream with Almond Biscuits


Express Dining

To allow more time for relaxiation or work, choose a quicker meal service:

Salad of Moroccan Chicken with Marinated
Vegetables and Tzatziki Dressing

Green Leaf Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

Seasonal Cheese, Dried Fruit and Water Crackers


The appetizer was quite tasty, and the beef was excellent. I had some ice cream and Baileys for dessert – this one was a great meal over all. After the trays were cleared, I tried to sleep a little and actually managed to snooze off for a few minutes I guess… We landed at Perth International Airport on schedule and taxied to the domestic terminal, where another 767-200 was being prepared for a red-eye to the east coast. My bag was amongst the first on the belt – the purple “Business” tag seemed to work this time. I then took a taxi to my hotel.

Holiday Inn Perth City Centre, Perth WA

One of the nicer holiday inns that I have stayed at, the room was more like a 4* one than 3*. I had a comfortable king bed as well as a sitting area with a sofa etc. Bathroom was simple but featured a separate shower and bathtub. I have never had that at a Holiday Inn before…Overall quite a decent place for AUD 84 – the Holiday Inn advance purchase rate.

24 August 2003
Perth International (PER/YPPH) – Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Int’l (CGK/WIII)
Qantas Airways QF 077
Boeing 767-338ER
VH-OGQ
0900-1220 – On Time
Business Class, Seat 1E


I took a taxi to the airport at around 6:30am – way too early for me… I made it to the Qantas check-in counters around 7am and was quickly checked in by a cheerful lady. Unfortunately, none of the single “A” seats were available, so I was assigned 1E in the centre section of the first row. I then changed the rest of my Aussie dollars to Indonesian Rupiahs at Travelex before proceeding through immigration and security to the Qantas Club.

The Qantas Club, Perth International Airport

This club was much smaller than the rest of the QF clubs that I visited, but offered the exact same fare for breakfast… So, a few slices of toast and a diet coke for me this morning as well. Two internet workstations were available. Overall a very nice lounge, just smaller than other Qantas Clubs. The receptionist would have moved me to a single seat but she couldn’t as all the pax seated there had status with QF/Oneworld…

Boarding and Inflight

Boarding started late, about 15 minutes before departure for some reason. Next to our aircraft was another 767 (VH-OGA) and a Thai MD11 (HS-TME). Row 1 on the 767-300 offered what I would consider poor legroom nowadays in international business class. At least the 767-200 had a cutoff in the bulkhead so that you can stretch your legs, the 763 did not. The business cabin was more or less full, but luckily the seat next to me remained empty.

Pre-departure drinks were offered to me twice, I had a glass of water and later champagne. Unfortunately, the Qantas champagne (Charles Heidsieck Mis En Cave 1997) is not exactly my favourite… OGQ was pushed back more or less on time, and we took off without delay again and headed north, right towards Indonesia.

The crew for this flight was very senior, and the business class flight attendants weren’t particularly friendly or efficient either. Menus and amenity kits were distributed right away, but it took them 45 minutes to start the first drink service. I was somewhat disappointed to see only breakfast offered on this sector as I’m not a great fan of scrambled eggs, sausages and the rest. Thai and SQ used to serve either a breakfast of lunch dish on the early morning BKK-SIN runs in Y. Anyway, here’s the menu:

Breakfast


Selection of Fruit Juices

Peach and Banana Energiser Drink

Fruit Salad with Yoghurt

A Choice of Warm Bakery Items

Toasted Muesli

Breakfast Sausages with Spinach, Feta and Potato Cake,
Braised Beans and Sweet Onion Relish

or

Scrambled Eggs with Roast Vine Ripened Tomato and Bacon


I had some apple juice and water – refills were non-existent unless you asked. The toast was cold and butter hard as rock, but at least the scrambled eggs were quite good. Due to the slow service, we were 2h30 into the flight as the trays were cleared, and I just relaxed with my seat reclined for the rest of the flight and listened to some music channels.

We landed at Soekarno Hatta International airport a few minutes early and quickly taxied to terminal 2 where we parked next to a Singapore Airlines triple seven. Immigration was totally deserted – the agents just walked to the desks as the passengers started to arrive. My passport was stamped by a nice lady who was surprised that I wasn’t afraid of her country after the recent developments there… My bag was amongst the first off again and I took a Silverbird taxi to the Shangri-La.

Shangri-La Jakarta Hotel, Jakarta Indonesia

A security check was conducted before the taxi could proceed to the front doors – one guy chatted with me and apologized for the delay while the rest inspected the vehicle. A security check was conducted at the door as well, and I was then escorted to the front desk. My rate was an el cheapo Zuji Prepaid Rate, but I got an upgrade to a suite without problems for $25 as per the Golden Circle guidelines. I was also presented with a card with various freebies to choose from, I took $25 food and beverage credit. I was also informed that due to the suite upgrade, I would be able to use the Horizons Club lounge.

The suite itself was large with separate living room and bedroom, two bathrooms; and offered fantastic views of the city. It obviously hadn’t been used for a while as they had to call some engineers to switch on the power of the bedroom. Later, a personalized note from the manager arrived – accompanied by flowers and a coupon for a welcome drink in the lobby lounge. This coupon was naturally good for any drink, not something like “you can choose your choice of juice blah blah and pay more for everything else…” I had a very good Singapore Sling.

The lounge offered a wide variety of hot and cold snacks in the evening as well as complimentary cocktails and other drinks. Free internet was available as well. The swimming pool and garden area was very nice as well. B.A.T.S was a great place for a drink or two in the evening. Overall, I had a wonderful stay here and all the staff were exceptional. I will most definitely return to this hotel when I get back to Jakarta.

25 August 2003
Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Int’l (CGK/WIII) – Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX 714
Boeing 777-267 (ex N7771, the first B777)
B-HNL “Working Together”
0740-1020 – On Time
Business Class, Seat 15K


I took a Silverbird back from the Shangri-La at 5.40am, and arrived at Terminal 2 about 40 minutes later. Check-in was a total mess, some guy was trying to check his seven pieces of luggage to Vancouver and they were sorting out his overweight charges at the business class counter. I was then escorted to some extra counter where I received my boarding pass right away, but had to wait for the lounge invitation card as the printer refused to work. I also paid my departure tax of IDR 100,000 there.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge, Jakarta Indonesia

This was not a Cathay-operated lounge, but the name escapes me at the moment. Anyway, it was a big and nice looking lounge with good selection of breakfast. Numerous hot items as well as pastries etc were available. Drink selection was the usual, and they had two computers with internet available.

Boarding and Inflight

Boarding was from D2, and security checks were conducted there. The boarding process was well organized, and they strictly enforced the business class/elites only rule after the first boarding call. I was greeted by a friendly purser and shown to my seat, 15A. The 777s have the same regional business class seats as the A330s, comfortable and nice for the short flights. I was then offered various juices, hot towel and newspapers.

The aircraft was B-HNL, the first Boeing 777 ever built. It was converted from a 777-200 to 777-267 and delivered to Cathay in year 2000. We were pushed back on time for the 1h05min hop to Singapore and taxied past the terminal used mainly by Garuda to the runway. Takeoff was the usual powerful triple seven one and I was able to snap some pictures of the scenery as I had a window seat this time. After the seatbelt sign went off, menus were distributed.

Continental Breakfast


Juice Selection

Fresh Seasonal Fruits

Fruit Yoghurt, Muesli or Corn Flakes

Croissant, Muffin, Danish Pastry or Bread Roll
served with Preserves, Honey and Butter

Tea and Coffee


Service was great again, and the continental breakfast was a good one. The croissants and pastries were hot and delicious and everything on the tray was very nicely presented. However, I’m sure that they used to serve hot breakfast in both classes before the SARS outbreak. After finishing the meal, the inflight supervisor came to say hi as on the earlier flight, a nice touch.

We landed at Changi on time and taxied to terminal 1. Parked next to two Garuda jets- a B747 and 737. After disembarking, I literally walked straight through immigration (the lady took maybe 30 seconds to process me) and as soon as I made it to the baggage claim area, the CX belt started moving and my bag was the first one off. I then took the skytrain to T2 and MRT to Orchard station.

Marriott Singapore Hotel

I had no problems checking in at 11am, but they only had twin rooms available at this point. The room was about the size of my bathroom at the Shangri-la to be honest… Nevertheless, it was nicely furnished, and looked exactly like other Marriott rooms – everything from the comforters to the green carpet. The bathroom was tiny, but featured a separate shower and bathtub and nice amenities. Staff was friendly, but internet in the business center was a total rip-off. Overall, this was a pleasant stay, and a steal for about USD 45 via Priceline.

26 August 2003
Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS) – Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX 712
Boeing 777-267 (ex N7771, the first B777)
B-HNL “Working Together”
1335-1455 – On Time
Business Class, Seat 17A


I took a taxi back to Changi and arrived at the Cathay check-in desks 1h05min before departure. After waiting ten minutes at the business class line, one of the economy class agents waved me over and checked me in. I asked if she could give me a window seat and block the aisle – “I will not guarantee you anything” was her answer. I would expect friendlier service at Singapore as SQ is considered their main competitor…

Cathay Pacific Business Lounge, Singapore Changi

Immigration was a breeze, and I was sitting in this lounge within a few minutes. It’s located upstairs, near gate D41. Quite small and dark lounge, somewhat reminded me of the SIA Premier Lounge. Snack selection was better however, spring rolls, fried chicken, tomato soup, noodles and sandwiches. Drink selection was ok and two computers were available.

Boarding and Inflight

The first ever B777 was parked again at the exact same gate where I had deplaned a day earlier. Business class was very lightly loaded on this flight, nine passengers in total. I had a glass of champagne before departure, no refills were offered this time. Pushback was a few minutes early, and we taxied to 20L for takeoff. Flight time to Don Muang this afternoon was 2h05minutes. After the seatbelt sign went off, menus and wine lists were distributed again:

Lunch


Fresh Seasonal Fruits

Grilled Lamb Loin with Natural Gravy and Pesto Sauce
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ratatouille

or

Stir-fried Noodles with Shrimp and Crabmeat

or

Beef Salami with Roasted Peppers, Fontina Cheese on Toasted Focaccia


Banana Cheesecake

or

Ice Cream


Assorted Bread and Rolls


Tea and Coffee


Champagne: Billecart Salmon Brut Champagne


The starter was fresh fruit in a bowl instead of a plate this time, I wonder why. Various breads were available again; the garlic bread was excellent. I was going to have the lamb, but the purser suggested the noodles, so I tried those. Very tasty indeed and why not try some Asian food while visiting there… I had a few glasses of champagne and a Pacific Sunrise later.

The scenary was beautiful as we flew past some small Thai islands near Phuket and then continued directly onto Bangkok. At this point I realized that I had not tried the other Cathay Signature Drink- namely Cathay Delight. This is a non-alcoholic kiwifruit based juice with coconut juice and fresh mint – excellent indeed.

Soon we commenced our descent from 41000ft into Bangkok International, and landed after a smooth descent on 21R a few minutes ahead of schedule. Don Muang was deserted, and the immigration officers seemed to have some sort of a coffee break going on… Finally one waved me over to the APEC counter and stamped my passport. My bag was again the very first one to appear on the belt, and I was chatting to my friend in the arrivals hall ten minutes after deplaning. We then took a taxi to the Regency Park hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 22.

Regency Park Bangkok, a Mercure Hotel

The only reason for staying here was the rate that I got through Priceline – GBP 6 per night. It’s an ok hotel, but I’m not a great fan of the complimentary pets on the first floor – ants and crockroaches. The rooms are large and their king beds are huge, but the bathrooms are very basic. Location in Soi 22 is not too bad, Phrom Phong BTS station is a five-minute walk away and Emporium shopping centre is nearby.

30 August 2003
Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD) – Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX 713
Boeing 777-367
B-HNH (1st B777-300 Delivered)
1150-1505 – On Time
Economy Class, Seat 30A


I wanted to go with a Thai friend to Singapore, so this trip was booked separately back in June. Otherwise we could have just met in Singapore earlier, but my Finnish friend wanted to go too, so this weekend was chosen. He flew on SQ 63/64 around the same times as these CX flights, as he needed the Star Alliance miles to make LH FTL. He actually got the Auckland tailstrike bird 9V-SMT on SQ63. SMO on the way back – neither had wisemen3000, but at least SQ served hot meals.

Check-in at the business class counters was quick, economy class lines were long. Luckily, the agent made no comment about the first restriction of my ticket- “FOR THAI RESIDENT ONLY”. We then proceeded through immigration and onto the lounge.

Cathay Pacific Business Lounge, Bangkok Thailand

Quite a small lounge, located on the same side of the corridor as the LH Business lounge and the large TG business lounge. It was pretty full this morning, and snacks were just noodles and sandwiches. All internet terminals were broken. Not a particularly pleasant place, but the new Qantas Club is closed at this time of the morning.

Boarding and Inflight

Boarding started early at gate 54 as the flight came in early from Hong Kong, and they wanted to make the ground stop as short as possible. The aircraft was switched from a 747-400 to a 777-300 a few weeks earlier, and was barely half full. We had seats in the first row of economy class, quite decent legroom and the CX 777 Y seats were some of the most tolerable Y seats that I have tried.

We were pushed back a few minutes early and taxied to 21R for takeoff as usual at Bangkok. Flight time was a very short 1h59min this afternoon. Our route took us directly from Bangkok to Singapore, over the Gulf of Thailand. Service on this flight was a total joke; a box with a sandwich, some fruit, some cake and then some ice cream for dessert. I was expecting nothing less than a proper hot meal with two choices.

The flight itself was smooth and passed quickly – soon we were on descent into Changi. The arrival procedures were more or less an exact copy of those a few days earlier – arrived at D42 and we were through immigration in a matter of minutes and my bag was the first one off. We then met my friend at T2 as he flew SQ, and took a taxi to the hotel.

The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore

Having read tons of positive reviews of this property, my expectations were very high. The hotel didn’t live up to my expectations at all. We had both booked a club package online, filling in all possible information. Nevertheless, check-in took twenty minutes and we had to fill in addresses etc again. Not exactly what I would have expected. Our first set of keys didn’t work either, had to get those changed. Nobody ever bothered to explain anything about the lounge (i.e. meal times) to us and the room had no guide either. In Jakarta Shangri-La, everything was explained to me right there.

Baggage arrived after about 20 minutes, not too bad but again, in Jakarta I got mine in two minutes. Our room on the 30th floor offered fabulous views of Singapore, and the bathroom was very nice – the nicest that I have ever seen. I was disappointed with the fact that the bed had the usual brown hotel blanket thing and there was no bedside control panel for lightning and air conditioning.

The Club lounge offered excellent selections of hot and cold snacks throughout the day, and free flow of drinks including champagne. Service there was quite bad however; they clearly didn’t want to serve us as younger guests of the hotel. One of the guys was totally miserable, he never understood any order correctly, so the other one had to come and reconfirm each time. I would like to know how he had got his job. Overall, I found the service totally lacking, probably because of my age. On the other hand, other Asian hotels have always treated me very nicely.

1 September 2003
Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS) – Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX 712
Boeing 777-267
B-HNC
1335-1455 – On Time
Economy Class, Seat 31A


We took a nice Mercedes back to Changi airport – it cost exactly the same as other taxis but was about ten times nicer than the usual Toyotas. Arrived at CX check-in about an hour before departure, and got our allocated seats 31A and B. The 777-200 doesn’t have row 30 on the sides, so 31 was the bulkhead row.

Immigration was a breeze, and we had the Cathay Lounge to ourselves. Nobody else there, and the flight to Bangkok would be half full as well. The offerings were the same as before-I had some fried chicken and checked my emails before we went to gate D42 for boarding. We were the last ones to board, as we had waited in the lounge until the pleasant agent told us to go to the gate.

Seats on this -200 were exactly the same as on the -300 earlier – nice for economy class. I then recognized one of the flight attendants from my earlier CGK-SIN flight as they were pointing at the exit doors during safety demo. November Charlie was pushed back on time again, and we taxied to 20L for takeoff just like the other day. Food on this flight was even worse – it was otherwise the same but the ice cream tub was absent. Service was decent at best. The flight itself was another uneventful SIN-BKK run with nice scenery along the way and light turbulence every now and then.

We landed on 21R again – and just like a week earlier, the trusty Cathay priority tag did the trick again. My bag was the first one to appear. We took a taxi again to the Regency Park. After a few days in Bangkok, we decided to head off to Phuket before I have to return to Finland. The plan was excellent – buy TG Y class with the 10% off discount and then get the JW Marriott for EUR 45 on Priceline… Well it didn’t quite work so well, all morning and afternoon flights to HKT on the 5th of September were full in economy and the Marriott rate ended up being higher due to the APEC meeting. So I booked us on the continuations of the Frankfurt services in C and was hoping for F class seats on the day of departure.

5 September 2003
Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD) – Phuket International (HKT/VTSP)
Thai Airways International TG 921
Boeing 747-4D7
HS-TGL “Theparat”
0800-0920 (0820-0930)
Royal First Class, Seat 1K


We arrived at the domestic terminal only 50 minutes before departure-traffic was awful this morning. I asked whether we could sit in First Class – “How about row 1, sir?” asked the agent. Excellent. The domestic lounge was totally packed – we just had a quick cup of tea both and headed down to gate 9 where boarding was about to start. The area was a total madhouse with a Chiang Mai service boarding from gate 8, but somehow we managed to sneak our way to the front of the masses and got onto the first bus.

I was hoping for one of the Royal Barges, but HS-TGL was ok as I hadn’t flown on this one before. Even though I don’t like the bus transfer thing at BKK, it’s when you walk up the stairs when you realize the huge size of the Boeing 747. We were then escorted to the First Class cabin, the first row to be more exact.

HS-TGL has the old configuration, 18 F seats. Legroom is about 60-70”, and was much more in the first row. The blue velvet seats recline to about 160 degrees and have decent legrests but no adjustable headrests or PTVs. Recline, lumbar support and legrest are electronically controlled. The first row might seem like a good choice for long flights because of the legroom, but there is a pull-down screen right next to row one – might be disturbing at night.

I love sitting in the nose of a 747 – from the first row window you can even see forward little bit. The usual assortment of non-alcoholic drinks and cold towels were offered before pushback along with newspapers. We were pushed back late due to an unknown reason; and taxied to 21R for takeoff. Now that is a real surprise isn’t it...? I don’t ever remember using anything but 21R for takeoffs at BKK. We then rocketed off after a 25-second roll and flew right past downtown Bangkok. I managed to snap some nice shots of Baiyoke and the rest.

The captain then announced a flying time of 1h05min down to Phuket. We would first fly directly to Surat Thani and then onto Phuket International Airport. A breakfast was served this morning – some quite good Thai food. The flight was very enjoyable, in my opinion nothing compares to the good old 747. Even after so many flights on the Jumbos, there’s always something special about flying on these huge airplanes. No matter how advanced a 777 might be, it just lacks the charm of a 747.

The views were absolutely fantastic as we were approaching Phuket – luckily I had a window seat this time and could take some pictures. We landed very smoothly about 10 minutes late, and taxied to gate 4. The Orient Thai Jumbo still in United colours was parked next to us. Thai priority tags worked as usual, and in a few minutes we were in the special Marriott lounge while they arranged a taxi for us.

JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa, Mai Khao Beach

This new Marriott property is located quite close to the airport, about a 15-minute drive towards the north. Security checks were very strict for baggage – due to the JW Jakarta bombing I suppose. The open-air lobby is very spacious and beautiful, and offers views towards the ocean. We were checked in right away and escorted to our room.

The room is clearly the nicest Marriott room I have stayed anywhere. It was very large with a king bed, a balcony, a relaxation area with views towards the garden, huge bathroom with separate shower and tub etc. The bathroom has two little doors that you can open and while in the bathtub, watch the beautiful scenery from your window. There’s also a Sony flatscreen TV and a DVD player.

Outside, the garden area is very beautiful, and there are two big swimming pools. The beach is about 50 metres away from the pools, and feels very private and quiet. We never left the resort during our stay there… We ate at Marriott Café, the Italian restaurant and Linda’s Seafood near the beach, just outside the resort. Food was excellent at the resort’s restaurants and reasonably priced by western standards. Linda’s was recommended as a cheaper alternative by some people – I didn’t like it at all. The open-air place was a dump and the dinner cost more than at the resort – my friend suggested in no uncertain terms that we were ripped off due to lack of customers.

Overall, the resort was fantastic and I can’t wait to return. If you’re looking for nightlife and other activities in Phuket, I would look at other alternatives as the resort is very far from everything else.

7 September 2003
Phuket International (HKT/VTSP) – Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD)
Thai Airways International TG 920
Boeing 747-4D7
HS-TGT “Watthanothai”
2040-2205 – On Time
Royal First Class, Seat 2K


Unfortunately, September 7th came all too soon and I needed to fly back to Finland. We arrived at Phuket Airport about 90 minutes before departure, and First Class seats were available without problems again. My bag was checked right through to Helsinki and went off with three different priority tags. This evening, one of the Royal Barges was doing the earlier TG 220 to Bangkok while we would be flying on HS-TGT, an old friend that I took from FRA to BKK last December.

After some souvenir shopping, we headed to the Thai Royal Orchid Lounge. It was just like 18 months ago – deserted and offered a decent selection of sandwiches and pastries. TG 920 would be full tonight, so it was a zoo outside. When boarding was called, the lines were huge already. However, the blue boarding pass did the trick again- we just walked right to the counter and the agents boarded us and held back the economy class lines. You’re guaranteed to get a few nasty stares however…

A cheerful lady escorted us to seats 2J and K and chatted a bit as we stored our hand luggage. She then came back with drinks, hot towels and newspapers. HS-TGT has the new Thai Royal First Class configuration – 14 sleeper seats with 180 degree recline, privacy dividers, snake lights, adjustable headrests, PTVs and the rest. No doubt these are the most comfortable seats that I have tried so far.

We were pushed back on schedule and took off a few minutes later. Another very short B747 takeoff roll and we took off like a rocket. Our route was the exact same – over Surat Thani and onto Bangkok. No food service was offered on this flight-just drinks and some coconut flavoured pre-packaged snacks. All too soon, we started our descent into Don Muang – I could have sat a bit longer in these First Class seats!

Another smooth as silk landing was performed on 21R – the Thai captains never fail to impress me with their 747 landings. We then taxied to gate 52 of the international terminal as the aircraft would continue onto Frankfurt. Domestic passengers deplaned via stairs on the starboard side and we in the First Class cabin had our own minibus to the domestic terminal. My friend’s bag was the fifth one off, and we then headed to the international terminal as I needed to check in for my Finnair flight…

8 September 2003
Bangkok International [Don Muang] (BKK/VTBD) – Helsinki Vantaa (HEL/EFHK)
Finnair AY 098
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
OH-LGA
0020-0645 (0015-0610)
Business Class, Seat 1D


Check-in was quick, and I got my pre-assigned seat 1D for the flight home. The friendly Lufthansa agent then put in my TG baggage tag number and off to the food court we went. Soon it was time for me to go through immigration. Well, I’d have preferred to stay longer but had to go back to University.

I then made a quick stop at the Qantas Club – had a bottle of water and fired off a few SMSes before heading to gate 41 for boarding. I hate this stupid procedure of boarding transit passengers from Singapore through the business class line –IMHO if they fly Y and want to get off the plane, they should re-board via the Y class line. The last thing that I wanted at this point was to wait in some lengthy line.

Friendly grandmas welcomed me onboard and I made my way to 1D – my favourite seat in the Finnair front cabin along with 1H. Drinks in the nice crystal glasses were soon offered –I had champagne. Another round was offered later. Finnair has changed the wine list this month, and no longer offers my favourite Joseph Perrier Cuvee Josephine 1997… However, I must admit that the new one, Comte Audoin de Dampierre Family Reserve Grand Cru 1996, is very good as well.

We were pushed back early, and took off from 21R around our scheduled departure time. Luckily I didn’t have a window seat this time, I hate looking at the Bangkok lights below and the **** screen saying “Helsinki 7887 km”. Service started soon after the seatbelt sign went off and was top notch throughout the flight. I had a few glasses of champagne before dinner. Here’s the menu:

Bangkok – Helsinki
Supper


Tapas Style Platter


Vegetable Saffron Strudel

or

Chicken Breast with Pesto Sauce


Assorted Pastries


Breakfast


Assorted Fresh Fruit Juices

Seasonal Fresh Fruit

Yoghurt

Cheese and Mushroom Quiche, Grilled Bacon


Dinner was excellent; I had the chicken for main course. Supply of drinks was naturally good - we’re talking about Finnair here after all. I then watched The Recruit on my PTV and proceeded to sleep afterwards. Personally I like the Finnair Business Class seats, especially the row 1 middle seats with very generous legroom. I only woke up as we were descending into Helsinki Vantaa somewhere over the Gulf of Finland.

We landed half an hour early on runway 22, and taxied to gate 32. Another MD11 was sitting at gate 31 – they were just starting boarding of the Beijing flight, only 17 hours late. I was pretty sceptical about my bag making it – but to my surprise, it was the 10th one on the belt and someone had even added a Finnair priority tag at Bangkok.

Best Regards,

LH747


[This message has been edited by LH747FTL (edited 09-15-2003).]

PresRDC

This is a great report, LH747FTL. I have thus far only gotten through your arrival at Cebu, but am very much looking forward to reading the rest later today.

bp888

Great report, LH747FTL! Enjoyed reading all of it including your comments on the hotels you stayed at. A lot of our FT Trip Reporters seem to neglect this part.

What are the 4-letter codes immediately following the 3-letter airport codes, e.g. BKK/VTBD?

LH747FTL

Glad that you enjoyed the report!

BKK = International Air Travel Association (IATA) 3-letter code for Bangkok Int'l Airport
VTBD = International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 4-letter code for Bangkok Int'l Airport

Most of us are familiar with the IATA codes as they pop up everywhere when planning travel etc, but the ICAO codes are used for flight plans etc. as far as I know. I hope that helped.

Edited to add: Some of the ICAO codes actually make sense just like the three letter codes I think... For example

EFHK - Europe Finland Helsinki
ESSA - Europe Sweden Stockholm Arlanda
EHAM - Europe Holland Amsterdam

Regards,

LH747

[This message has been edited by LH747FTL (edited 09-15-2003).]

Happy

Thank you very much for a great trip report - particularly the parts about hotels.

being someone just came back from a 3 week NZ/Australia/Vancouver trip and did a 1 week trip to Phuket last March, i am interested to learn about your use of priceline for your asia and australia hotels. did you use priceline usa or priceline hongkong to bid for your hotels ?

i used http://www.wotif.com for some of our hotel reservations for australia per the recommendations given at FT Travel area. some hotels i booked with them direct as i found their rates were quite competitive, plus they were cancellable. it turned out it was a blessing as we had an unfortunate accident at NZ at the beginning (5 days into our trip) that forced us to cancel/replace some itineraries at Australia, thus cancellations of hotels (some were passed the cancellation window, luckily after pleading our case, all of them were sympathetic and let us cancel).

LH747FTL

I booked on Priceline US/UK/HK. First, I tried to book as many nights as possible with the Priceline UK £10 per night bonus - worked for HKG/SIN/BKK.

Sydney was booked on Priceline US after they added it. I tried to book Phuket on US as well, but ran out of rebids as I started pretty low at last minute - so I used HK as they let you just add HKD 50 per bid. I could have stayed somewhere else in Phuket for half price I suppose, but I absolutely wanted to try the new JW Marriott.

Cebu and Perth didn't work out too well with Priceline HK - I saved USD 5 per night in Cebu. I would gladly pay $5 extra for the miles or Marriott points but luckily they posted anyway. The Perth bid didn't go too well at all - after I checked my winning bid on the Holiday Inn website, I simply paid their 21-day Advance Purchase rate via Priceline. So I lost the processing fee there. Basically I wanted to try my luck for Perth and was secretly hoping for the Sheraton or Hyatt.

I have used wotif once as well - their rates are indeed pretty competitive.

[This message has been edited by LH747FTL (edited 09-15-2003).]

Happy

Thanks a lot, LH747FTL, for the priceline info.

are there boards devoted to priceline UK & priceline HKG a la the similar way for the US site ? i hesitated to use other priceline sites without help from such boards.

we found out holiday inn in australia is very competitive - in many case the cheapest rate is the best available rate on their own site. we spent one night at MEL airport holiday inn because we had a 6am flight to CNS the next day. we got a Huge King suite (a formal living room with full set of sofas and big work table) equipped with a wetbar and 2 full bathrooms - both with separate glass shower stalls - though we wish to have a microwave instead of the wetbar! - all these for AUD125 GST included booked on their website, fully cancellable too.

i wonder the JW Marriott at Phuket a brand new property or a re-branded property at that resort area ? There is a huge resort area just north of airport, that is the earliest developed resort in Phuket. Many nice properties in Phuket are at Kata beach, the smaller beach south of the famous Patong beach. Though the famous Amanpuri is quite close to Patong beach, but it is on its own little peninsula and private beach. Very "Thai-ish" resort, if you may.

did you have much rain during your visit at Phuket ? it is supposedly still the "rainy season" - thus 50% off hotel rate comparing to Oct to Apr period.

LH747FTL

Priceline UK is nowadays more or less the same as the US version, but there is a dedicated message board at

http://www.cleverbidding.co.uk

A message board for Priceline HK/SG can be found at

http://pub143.ezboard.com/bpricelineasiadiscussions

The JW Marriott Resort is definitely brand new, opened in March 2002 I believe. It's in Thalang, Mai Khao Beach, and also has the Marriott Phuket Beach Club timeshare property within the resort. With the big resort area, do you mean the laguna area?

There wasn't much rain actually, just a little bit in the morning of our last day there. I would definitely like to stay at the Amanpuri in the future, but it's out of my price range at the moment.

[This message has been edited by LH747FTL (edited 09-15-2003).]

Happy

Thanks for the PL board info.

yeah, i mean the laguna area in Phuket. i did not know about the new JW Marriott.

i am not sure i would enjoy some of the very "Thai-ish" type resorts. those bungalows and villas dont appeal to me. the only bungalows i would consider would be those over water in polynesia. even that, they look so pretty on the pictures but they are not that impressive in real. we were quite disappointed by our trip to taihiti in 2000.

mad_atta

Great report, LH747FTL. Sorry to hear QF were so lousy - they truly are the world's least consistent airline: sometimes superb, sometimes a disaster.

By the way, the JW Marriott Phuket is not actually a brand new resort, it is a very thorough makeover of an existing property. I forget what it used to be called but I think it was part of the same chain that the Marriott Riverside in Bangkok used to belong to... a search in the Marriott forum/archives will reveal all.

Seat 2A

From airport lounges to menu transcripts to hotel descriptions, this is an excellent all round report that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. Great job and Thank You!

LH747FTL

Seat 2A, I apprecciate your comments a lot. Your detailed reports are the best - you are the true trip-report guru here at Flyertalk. At least I got to sit in Seat 2A once...

LH738

Very informative and detailled report. Thanks. I especially liked your hotel descriptions.