royng

I spent a week in two great cities of the world - Toronto and New York - in September 2015. Although I was taking merely BR's premium economy aka "Elite Class", I hope my little trip report would be of some reference value to fellow FTers.

Table of Content:
1. Hong Kong Airport Express In-town Check-in service (Post 2)
2. HKG Singapore SilverKris Lounge (Post 3)
3. BR828 HKG-TPE (see post 3)
4. Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel and Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Post 4)
5. BR lounge - The Star (Early Dinner service) (Post 5)
6. BR36 TPE-YYZ (Post 6)
7. Porter Airlines YTZ – EWR (Post 7)
8. JFK Air France lounge and BR31 JFK-TPE (Post 8)
9. BR lounge - The Star (Breakfast service) (Post 9)
10. BR891 TPE-HKG (Post 12)

royng

Part 1 - Airport Express In-town Check-in service (25 Sep 2015)
I took BR828 20:55 flight from HKG to TPE. However it would be rather tight if I'd checked in my luggage after finishing work 6-ish. So I decided to make use of the in-town check-in service of the Airport Express before I went to work.




(Background information: Hong Kong's Airport Express airport rail service has two stations with in-town check-in service. Most airlines (read: not all; an notorious example is GK vs 3K vs BL flights which are all "Jetstar", but not all can be checked in in-town) are represented at both stations. One can complete the check-in formality, get boarding pass and spend the day in city without worrying about luggage. Moreover, some airlines offer the-day-before advance check-in service for some routes as well. Discount coupons can be purchased from travel agencies for redeeming actual tickets.)



I reached Hong Kong station at 8:23 am. BR has its own dedicated counter. The queue was short and I was the 3rd in line when I got there. In contrast, CI which is the next counter with the same ground handling agency, had ~10 people waiting.

I have used Airport Express in-town check-in too many times to be counted. Most of the time it was an easy affair and this was no exception. I completed check in at 8:33am. Ground agent was very efficient. I requested short checking my luggage to TPE (as I was overnighting in TPE airport hotel) and the ground agent happily arranged.

I also inquired about cash upgrading the TPE-YYZ leg to Premium Laurel (business class). USD3,000 one-way was too exorbitant!


(photo taken at HKG airport)

I only realized it was a Hello Kitty flight I received the boarding pass. I feel embarrassed to say that although I flew BR HKG-TPE rather often I still couldn't remember that BR828 was a Hello Kitty Flight! I had flown this Kitty flight a few times and consistently found it a little bit unpleasant to start a journey because of the repetitive and monotonic boarding music and other passengers being overtly hysterical because of the cat. I was hoping the coming Kitty flight would be more bearable. I'm not a fan of the Kitty.

[Later edit: no worries...BR828 is no longer a Hello Kitty flight]

royng

Part 2 - Singapore SilverKris Lounge (25 Sep 2015)
After work I took the 19:10 Airport Express to airport and arrived at airport terminal at 19:34. In 15 minutes I briskly walked across airport T1 check in hall, cleared security and reached air-side. I'm a HK resident so immigration cleared in no time. Being *G I had access to 3 *A business class lounges in HKG: TG, UA and SQ (also see Note 1). Separately, BR contracted VA for lounge, so on this trip I could theoretically visit all 4 lounges. Unfortunately as I left office late (thanks to my boss giving out urgent assignment at 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon. What a sin!), I had time to visit only one lounge for a shower and quick meal.

(Note 1: I have never tried CA's CNAC VIP Lounge. It is a contracted lounge. It was not listed on Star Alliance's Lounge Finder website (for HKG-TPE BR's flight that is) but the signage says Star Gold so I presume I have access to CA's CNAB lounge. Neverrtheless I am not interesting in trying.)

So the question was which lounge? VA has no shower so it was out of question. These 3 *A lounges have been reviewed elsewhere so I am not repeating here. I just report my experience at SQ's lounge, which I think overall speaking is the best *A lounge in HKG, while TG comes last (poor shower facility, few food choices). At least UA didn't win the race to the bottom this time.








For the business class lounge, besides buffet you can order laksa noodles (and another noodle dish to be cooked to order)(both not shown). Usually they also have choices of dim sum, but this time only steamed buns (bummer…).






I had a shower. Toiletries were spartan but sufficient for the purpose.
Suddenly it's almost time for boarding so it was either a long dash from gate 15 (where SQ lounge is located) to gate 62 by walking quickly on long escalators, or an automated people mover trip and then a short walk.

(Trivia: I once have a “competition” with FAs of my another OZ flight to see who reach the gate first from immigration, which they strolled down elegantly and took the people mover, while I made the mad dash all the way from immigration desk to the 60’s gate (which was the furthest one of HKG T1). I only reached the gate earlier than them by two minutes, so I guess taking the people mover is a fine option despite the hassle taking escalators up and down and waiting for a mover. I could identify the FAs of my flight because of their uniform and their single flight out that time during MERS.)

Part 3 - BR828 HKG-TPE (25 Sep 2015)
It's an A332 flight and Elite class was seated in economy cabin. Boarding commenced at 20:40. Economy was 99% full (while business class appeared rather full as well). Boarding by group (*G so priority boarding) was implemented smoothly and boarding was a breeze. Push back was at around 21:19.





(AV equipment boxes are located underneath seats C and D. I am sure it's symmetric on the other side of aisle.)


(Boarding video and music did become annoying to me...)





Unfortunately, there's lengthy tarmac delay despite the fine, clear weather. It appeared there was a long queue of planes waiting for takeoff slots. I could not believe that it took off only at 21:53. That’s one hour delay from scheduled departure time. No explanation was given during the entire flight.


I did not have normal meal, since I tried not to eat too much before sleep, so I planned to have the meal at lounge instead, and in advance I ordered fruit platter on this flight.

The variety of fruits was consistent among previous fruit platters I had before. I thought the fruit was fresh.

Except the departure delay the flight was uneventful. On this short flight with full meal service FAs had to be quick. Nevertheless service was attentive. As I had the simple special meal of fruit platter I finished the set before the distribution of ordinary meals by trolley. I left my seat for a trip to toilet before everyone else. On my way returning to my seat a FA asked if I had missed the distribution of meal and proactively offered one. That's very nice of her.



A glimpse of ordinary hot meal (looked like either some kind of meat in sour and sweet sauce or tomato sauce). Looked not bad from a distance.

My plane landed at TPE at 23:18, and parked at gate at 23:23. The line for immigration line wasn’t long and it took 15 minutes for me to wait for my turn. When I reached carousel my luggage was waiting for me and it appeared most of the luggage hadn't come out yet. So, the verdict is that the priority tag worked.

I thought I missed the last hotel shuttle bus for 'Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel', as I reached hotel shuttle stop around 23:50, so I took a taxi instead (taxi stop just nearby). Taxi line was short and I was the third person in the queue. Taxis were plentiful and essentially there was no waiting time. It cost somewhere around NTD120.

royng

Part 4 - Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel (25-26 Sep 2015) & Taipei Fine Arts Museum



(Hotel Shuttle stop at TPE. Timetable is shown.)



I don’t normally review hotel. But with the closure of air-side Evergreen Transit Hotel, I though it may be nice to describe concisely this overnighting option.

I had an Executive Suite room at TWD6,100. The hotel was nice for an overnight. I had a room overlooking T2 and two runways. The sound insulation wasn’t perfect and aircraft take off noise can be heard fairly easily in room, day and night. The noise did not discern me though.

I quickly visited the gym. Equipment was plentiful and I believe people can enjoy a good workout.

I think the hotel tired to please western, Chinese, Korean, Japanese tourists with buffet breakfast food from these regions (kimchi, miso soups, etc. so to speak).














With my next flight departing 7pm-ish, I could spend ~4 hours in the city and return to airport in relaxed pace (with buffer for potential traffic jam). So I went to Taipei Arts Museum in time for a few new thematic exhibitions opened right on that day!




(The following educational truck was not an exhibit of Taipei Fine Arts Museum.)



Traffic (both ways to and from TPE) was smooth on this Saturday afternoon. I wish airport rail could complete ASAP so that people can take traffic out of their questions when planning.

royng

Part 5 - BR lounge - The Star Early Dinner service (26 Sep 2015)
I took the 2:35pm airport bus from Taipei West station to hotel to retrieve luggage. The bus reached hotel at 3:18pm when was serendipitously perfectly timed for the 3:30pm shuttle returning to TPE.

Hotel shuttle took 7 minutes to reach TPE T2. I could use the *G check-in desk but I headed to Elite Class check-in counter instead. The two Elite class counter agents were busy serving passengers but the idle economy agent next desk was happy to serve me right away.

Check in was a short and easy affair. I seldom had much interaction with check-in agents but this time I had a friendly chat with the agent regarding my A3 *G membership. Security and immigration also cleared quickly (in 15 minutes if I recall correctly). After clearing security I thought I was having good luck with immigration so was hopeful that the immigration in Toronto would also clear quickly.

I have access to BR’s “The Star” lounge. It was quiet without much people using it. Later, it got a little busy around 5pm but seats were still widely available.








Dinner available that day-
















I used to shower to freshen myself as Taipei was a bit hot and humid that day.

royng

Part 6- BR36 TPE-YYZ (26 Sep 2015)
I was wondering if I had the chance to fly the newer B773 as I was looking forward to using Wifi on board but unfortunately not. When I was selecting seats online it showed Elite Class cabin up to row 27, which meant it was the older Elite class cabin.





Reg number was B-16707 which was an older B773ER plane of BR fleet. When I was selecting seat online before, I could not locate any information regarding location of IFE equipment boxes for Elite class cabin. So, for readers’ benefit the answer regarding box location of older BR's B77N is---



I actually prefer the old Elite class seats over the ones on the newer B773ER (as I experienced over JFK-TPE route, more to cover later). This is because I prefer the leg rest of the older seats over the pedestal of the newer seats, as well as more storage space under the center armrest where one can place the bottle of water or mobile phones during charging. Moreover, there is less structural obstacle to feet if seat is chosen correctly.

People may however like the newer Panasonic IFE (larger and clearer screen, much more responsive touch screen). In any way there is really no choice as EVA allot planes to particular routes.

For those who would like to know about time (precisely, that is): boarding commenced at 18:16, slightly behind scheduled time printed on boarding pass due to “ground operation reason” as explained at gate. The plane was pushed back at 18:38 and took off at 19:10 from 23L/05R runway. Dinner served at one-hour after took off with desert given out at 20:40 (TPE time). The first meal service took around 1.75 hrs from take off to complete.




So what’s on the nicely printed menu?
First meal:
Appetizer: smoked fish with cheese, olive;
Salad with vinegar dressing in glass bottle;
Main Course, a choice of beef sukiyakai or sautéed seafood in herb tomato sauce
Seasonal fruit; and
Haagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate ice-cream



I had beef which was rubbery. Rice and side dish were fine though.

For unknown reason this gentlemen while seated in Elite class did not have Elite class dinner-


Mid-flight snack
Pepper ham with cheese ciabatta sandwich


I slept when the snack was distributed. It was available in the galley. I had one and it was very ordinary. The sandwiches in galley were cold.

Other snacks were available in economy galley-




Landing Refresher
Chinese style
Konnyaku vegetable delight;
Fish with seaweed salad in Thai style;
Savoury Porridge with minced pork, lotus seed and barley; and
Seasonal fruit

Western style
Pepper ham with berry flavoured apple and celery salad;
Yoghurt;
Plain omelette topped with creamy parsley sauce served with chicken sausage; and
Seasonal fruit



I had western style. It tasted very good. Omelette was of large portion and I found it fulfilling enough to end a journey with good memory.

Generally BR FAs are nice, but I found the FAs of this flight particularly cheerful.

To conclude, I think Elite class is a pleasant way to fly longhaul. Generally speaking, Elite is only slightly more expensive than economy if ticket is purchased early enough and I would definitely pay more to fly Elite class over BR’s economy for long-haul.

My other premium economy experience was only with NZ’s older product (B772 before refab) back in early 2013 flying HKG-LHR-HKG. I think the two products are very different which NZ was downgrading its business class product to create premium economy whereas BR was upgrading its economy product in a few areas (more spacious seats, better meals, slightly higher luggage allowance and priority luggage). I definitely say “yes” to BR’s economy due to consistent smaller price difference to economy while for NZ I would take premium economy only if the price is right, even for longhaul flights.

royng

Part 7 - Porter YTZ – EWR (1 Oct)
Originally I bought ticket for 10:30am flight to EWR. However, on this route (and YTZ-YUL) Porter offers complimentary standby service for earlier flight even for the lowest fare. I would like to get to NYC early for a short trip to the Statue of Liberty in the afternoon (as weather was worsening in the days after), I decided to try my luck and went to airport ASAP to switch flight.




I missed the first TTC subway by a slight margin. Anyway, I reached I Union Station at 6:18am to miss once again shuttle bus to the YTZ. To my delight the subsequent shuttle bus was ready open for boarding. I left Front Street at 6:29am and arrived at pier at 6:38am. This time I chose to use the newly opened tunnel to cross the channel of water.





Check-in agents were very cheerful and welcoming. I guess this helped Porter earn its respect despite its fleet and limited in-flight service. When I asked for standing by earliest flight, no question was asked and in a split second a new boarding pass for 7:55am flight was ready. I can only wish switching flight is this easy on every airline! Check-in completed at 6:50am.



Security cleared quickly and there was no nonsense millimeter detector.








The lounge was airy and modernist. More vacuuming of the carpet floor would be needed though.





Time passed quickly as I enjoyed the sunrise over the horizon waiting in the lounge. I agree that there is really no point arriving at this city airport earlier than necessary. (Ok, with some leeway for the unexpected.)

Boarding was a breeze. It was a full flight. Push-back was at 7:59am. We only had to wait for one aircraft to land and another one to take off.




Flight took off from runway 08. I was sitting port side and so had a nice and brief view of Toronto city.

Flight was mostly smooth with very mild turbulence. Cabin service commenced once seat-belt sign was off and it was delivered promptly. The two-person crew were working great as a team and the purser was especially cheerful all the way.



The flight was pleasantly short. We landed at 9:21am. The line at US immigration wasn’t bad and I was cleared at 9:55am. Unfortunately I could not make it for the 10:15am NJ Transit train and so had to take the 10:26am train instead which arrived on time.

royng

Part 8 - BR31 JFK-TPE (4 Oct)

For JFK, I took the JFK Airporter Bus from NYC Penn Station. Unfortunately there was significant delay and the 8:55pm bus only arrived at 9:28pm. This was my first time using Airporter and I was very annoyed by this delay (my local friend offered to drive me to JFK and in hindsight I should have accepted it). Driver didn't say the reason for the delay. Traffic appeared smooth to and from JFK so I believed the delay was due to something else. Traveler planning to use Airporter should be aware of there unreliability.

After ticketing matters which were handled on the bus at the Grand Central Station stop, the bus started the journey to JFK at 10:00pm and arrived at JFK T1 at 10:35pm. At the end, from waiting for the Airporter to arrival at JFK took almost 2 hours. Check-in was a breeze and I cleared security in short time.







There wasn't much to review Air France lounge, because there wasn't much available for me to review. Hot dishes were all gone and only snacks were available. Upstairs was not open and downstairs was crowded as a zoo. I was the second one in the queue for shower (sorry no time for photos of the shower). The lounge experience wasn't pleasant at all.



Boarding commenced at 00:55 as scheduled (indicated on boarding pass), and completed at 01:12. The aircraft was pushed back at 01:20am and took off at 01:40am.

Elite class was around 80% full while economy was 90%+ full. I have an empty window seat next to me. That made the journey extra comfortable.

Regarding the Elite class seats of newer B77A-





(Advice: dun work on confidential materials in Elite class cabin! Your peeping Tom next row can easily see what's on your paper!)



Meal service commenced at 02:30am. So, what's on the menu this time?
Dinner:
Appetizer: duck breast and pickled cucumber;
Salad with vinegar dressing in glass bottle;
Main Course: a choice of Chicken Stroganoff or Stir Fried Seafood with Ginger and Green Onion
Seasonal fruit; and
Red Velvet Cake



Mid-flight snack
Ciabatta with Ham, Turkey and Cheese



Other snacks were available at gallery.



Landing Refresher
Chinese style
Pan Fried Egg with Corn
Braised Tofu with Peanut
Fish Foss
Savoury Congee with Pumpkin and Pork; and
Seasonal Fruit

Western style
Turkey and Cheese
Yoghurt
Tomato and Cheese Frittata; and
Seasonal fruit


The flight was smooth. I was able to work on my laptop comfortably. Onboard Wifi was relatively fast as well. I haven't tried watching YouTube, but it was good enough for email, browsing websites with some photos and searching for information to get presentation slides done.




Mind you, it was a polar flight and Wifi wasn't available over the North Pole region.

royng

Part 9. BR lounge - The Star (Breakfast service)

Off from JFK-TPE I headed to The Star lounge for shower and breakfast. The lounge got busier as more morning arrivals reached TPE, but at any time there were enough seats for everyone. There was no queue for shower.

I have reviewed the facilities already. So I only post photos here for those who are curious about the breakfast offering-













(Congee was available, but no photo was taken.)

mad_atta

Interesting report, thanks - I was just wondering what BR's premium economy service was like these days.

So do the new elite class seats have no legrest at all? The ones on the old seats look pretty comfortable.

royng

An additional angle of new Elite seats:



No legrest.

In terms of seat comfort, I prefer the old seats, but anyway I have no problem with the new ones.

royng

Part 10. BR891 TPE-HKG (5 Oct 2015)




BR's A321-200 is unexciting. Fine for this short flight but for longer routes operated by this bird, keep yourself entertained with your device! Not much to write (and I forgot to log the details...boarding time, push back time, etc.)

Always appreciate hot meal even for this short flight. HKG-TPE is an extremely competitive route and airlines are looking for various ways to cut cost. Glad BR was still making the effort to be "full service"-



------------------------------

Thank you for reading this series of trip report. Let me know what you want to see in my trip report (my next trip is always happening soon...God permitting).

flyertalker00156

Great trip report thanks for sharing, maybe just find a way to use a different camera/image touch up to help with the darkness to the photos...however in general great report!

injian

thanks for sharing

arlflyer

omg it's like someone handed you the keys to a 7-Eleven. I would be in serious trouble here.