sftrvlr

10 airplanes in 10 days. 21,246 actual flight miles. And not a single glitch (at least on the airline side!)

I needed to get to Colombo to start a return trip to the US in order to requalify for 1K status on United this year, so I crossed my fingers and called the United Mileage Plus award desk. I wanted to fly first class. Departure date needed to be between February 25th and 27th, with a return between November 20th and 27th (preferably the 26th.)

"Well, Mr. sftrvlr, I have some good news. I have the outbound available on February 27th as follows: United in first class from San Francisco to Incheon, then Thai Airways in business class to Bangkok, then Singapore Airlines in economy class from Bangkok to Singapore to Colombo."

"Um, is there anything better? I'd rather not trade in all those miles for first class and only be able to sit in first class for one leg of the journey."

"Let me check and see. Hold on please."

"Sure."

"Mr. sftrvlr? Thanks for holding. That's the best I can see unless you can be a bit more flexible."

"OK. How flexible?"

"Well I could book you on United in first class from San Francisco to Narita to Singapore on March 3rd, then Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Colombo in business class. You'd have to overnight in Singapore for one night. Would that work?"

"Um, no. I can't be THAT flexible." (looking at the world map on my office wall) "Let's try something else. There is limited Star Alliance service into Colombo, so how about we try somewhere close by? Like India?"

"Certainly, Mr. sftrvlr," (probably rolling her eyes now) "which city in India?"

"Well, let's see ..." (studying map) "How about Chennai, since it's the closest to Colombo?"

"Sure. Let me check for you. Can you hold on for me?"

"Sure."

"Mr. sftrvlr? Thanks for holding. Would this work for you? You can fly San Francisco to Los Angeles on United in first class. Then connect to Asiana from Los Angeles to Incheon in first class, then connect to Singapore Airlines from Incheon to Singapore to Chennai in first class. I can do that on February 25th. Quite a few plane changes, but I can get you first class the entire way"

"Are you kidding?! Yes, yes, yes! How about the return?"

"Did you say NOVEMBER 20th to 27th for the return, Mr. sftrvlr? You realize that once you begin travel on an award ticket that there are absolutely no changes, right?"

"Yes. I understand."

"What's you preference for a return date?"

"November 26th."

"Well, Mr. sftrvlr, you're in luck. I can bring you home on November 26th in first class on Lufthansa. Chennai-Frankfurt-San Francisco."

"Excellent! Book it!"

"Oh. Just a moment. If I bring you back over the Atlantic, that this would be an around-the-world award, rather than a roundtrip from North America to Central Asia. Do you REALLY want to trade in 400,000 miles rather than 160,000 miles?"

"Um, no."

"Didn't think so. Let's look at that return again."

"Let's do that."

"Mr. sftrvlr? Thanks for holding. How about this? I can take you Chennai-Singapore-Incheon-San Francisco on November 24th. It would be in first class from Chennai to Incheon on Singapore Airlines, then business class to San Francisco on Asiana."

"Not to push my luck, but ... is there first class from Incheon if I go through Los Angeles?"

"You'd have to stay overnight at Incheon, then continue the next day. It would be Asiana to Los Angeles, then United up to San Francisco. I have first class available."

"Done!"

And so it began. Thanks to a superb agent at the award desk, I managed first class all the way to and from Chennai, only a short 400 or so miles from where I needed to be, and did it using Asian carriers, which is my preference when possible. Now all I had to do was book a "nested ticket" from Chennai to Colombo, then home, with a return back to Chennai in November to hook up with the return portion of my award ticket. Having never visited Chennai before, I decided to spend a couple of days, then head to Colombo to pick up the ticket to the USA. United published a business class fare from Colombo to San Francisco for around US$1600 round trip. You can use any carrier from Colombo to a United gateway in Asia, then United across the Pacific. It's booked in D class, so you can upgrade to first class using systemwide upgrades. Generally, you cannot make a stop for more than 24 hours along the way, or you'll be hit with a higher fare. Whilst putting together my itinerary from Colombo to San Francisco, I thought I'd just see how much a stop in Bangkok would cost. I booked the flights I wanted, with the Thailand stop ... priced the itinerary ... and ... no charge for the stopover! Excellent.

Not wanting to stay in Bangkok the entire time, I looked for hotel rates at a beach destination. Hotels in the southern areas that had been hit by the tsunami in December were offering superb deals to lure back tourists, and I booked the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort for US$39/night. Many articles I'd read had said that one of the best ways to help would be to visit the area and spend some money, so that's what I planned to do. Three nights in Krabi, then a night at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok for free using Starwood points, and I was all set.

sftrvlr

UA865 SFO-LAX
Seat 2D / First Class / A319
Scheduled: 2125-2243
Actual: 2120-2251

Not much to report, really. Had to check in with a human since I had a paper ticket. Agent was unable to through check me for reasons she couldn't figure out. Since I had no baggage to check, I said it was not a problem. With almost 2 hours at LAX and a pretty good chance that we'd be on time from SFO at that time of night, I'd just wander over to Asiana and check in once I arrived in LA.

There were only 3 of us in first class, and around 20 in economy. We were off the gate 5 minutes early in SFO, but had to wait for a wheels up time of 2140 due to flow control into Los Angeles. One gin and tonic and a bag of nasty snack mix later, we touched down in LAX. 53 minutes in the air. We had to wait about 10 minutes at LAX for someone to open the gate for us! A cool and pleasant evening stroll from terminal 7 to the Tom Bradley International Terminal took about 10 minutes.

What can I say? The TBIT simply needs to be imploded. It just wasn't designed for the number of passengers it handles today. A seething, seemingly unorganized mass of humanity and luggage. Of course, it's not alone in this regard as there are many other airports under the same constraints. Asiana only had 4 agents checking in a 747. The area in front of the first class counter had been turned into an impromptu nursery for several children and their families, and the lone agent at the business class counter was being screamed at by a customer because he was unable to upgrade. The flight was full, but being a super duper, high profile, top of the top, invaluable elite member, he was "entitled" to the upgrade, and simply had to be accommodated. A manager (I think) finally appeared from the back office and moved the customer off to the side, so that check in could proceed. There was one person in front of me and 9 people behind me at this point, and it was now 1130PM. One hour before departure.

Once I reached the desk, the agent asked if Chennai was in China ( ) and said I needed a visa if it was. I assured her that Chennai was still in India, despite a fairly recent name change, and that I did have a visa somewhere in the myriad of passport pages. She looked and looked for it, but couldn't find it, so I helped her out to keep the line moving. A few minutes of typing and out pops a boarding pass for Los Angeles-Incheon. Again, for reasons unbeknown to the agent, she could not through check me to Chennai. So much for the "seamless" Star Alliance travel experience.

I cleared security quickly and decided to take a peek at the premium lounge just to ensure that it was as much of a let down as people say it is. It was. Packed to the gills. The first class section is behind a partition and has it's own TV. No need to stay. Anyway, the flight was boarding in 5 minutes.

OZ203 LAX-ICN
Seat 2K / First Class / 747-400 Combi
Scheduled: 1230-0700+1
Actual: 1245-0650+1

A pre-boarding announcement was made for families with small children, then first class was called to board. Boarding was down the single jetway (another TBIT drawback) through door 2L. I was greeted by a flight attendant and shown to seat 2K. The 747-400 Combi has three rows of first class in the nose cone, followed by 2 cabins of economy class on the main deck. The upper deck is business class. My first impression of the first class cabin was that I'd entered some sort of time warp, and had arrived on board a Hawaiian Airlines DC8 circa 1975. The seats were a sort of yellowy-beige color with what appeared to be a tropical print fabric. Three rows of two-by-two seating for a total of 12 seats, with a console/table in the center of the cabin. The pull-down movie screen at the front of the cabin was pulled down and Airshow was being projected onto it. Appearances can be deceiving, and the seat turned out to be one of the most comfortable I've flown in, despite being of the "older" first class variety. The personal video monitor was the smallest I've ever seen (5 inches across?) and the movie selection was horrible. I didn't watch anything. I imagine Asiana will be coming out with an updated product soon.

Water or soft drinks were offerred as a pre-departure beverage. No alcohol until after takeoff. The captain announced that we would be a few minutes late departing waiting for some last minute customers (no doubt due to Mr. Super-Duper's hissy fit at the check in counter) but that our flying time would be a little shorter than usual, and that we would be arriving into Incheon ahead of schedule.

Service began almost immediately after takeoff with drinks orders, presentation of menus, slippers, headsets and a very nice Givenchy amenity kit. Kits are tailored for male or female. The male version contained shave gel, aftershave balm, face and body lotion and lip balm. Toothbrushes, combs and razors were available in the lavatories. The flight attendant asked if I would like to eat dinner now, or be served at my convenience any time during the flight. If you wanted to eat now, you could have an express meal served all at once, or partake of the full first class service, course by course. They also asked if you would like to be awakened for breakfast 2 hours prior to arrival (if you said no, they put a little red sticker on the armrest of your seat so as not to disturb you.) The menu was as follows:

HEAVY SNACK
Los Angeles-Seoul

Appetizer
Oriental Chicken Salad
Lobster Medallion
Proscuitto Ham and Melon Wedge

Soup
Cream of Broccoli
or
Clear Beef Consomme

Main Course
Beef Filet, served with Green Peppercorn Sauce
or
Seafood Festival, featuring shrimp and scallops, served with Scampi Sauce

To complement your meal choice
Chateau Potato, Williams Potato, Pesto Filled Borrsettino Pasta, Banana Squash, Asparagus, Kailan, Daikon, Celery, Carrot, Black Mushrooms

or

Korean Royal Cuisine 'Bul-Gal-Bi'
A traditional Korean cuisine Beef Short Rib, served with Sweet Soy Sauce
Accompanied by Steamed Rice and various kinds of side dishes
Served with Korean Bean Paste Soup

Dessert
Cassis Cake and Fresh Fruit

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
Asiana Tea Garden

The wine list included 1995 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, 1999 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, 1998 Vougeot Premier Cru Domaine Bertagna and 2001 Chablis Permier Cru Fourchaume.

Refreshments available anytime during the flight included Korean Rice Soup, Hot Ramen noodles, assorted sandwiches, fresh fruit and cookies.

Breakfast consisted of a choice of freshly squeezed fruit juices, fresh fruit, cereal and yogurt. Choice of main course was "cheesy" eggs, cranberry pancakes or a spinach crepe. Accompaniments included Egg Fried Rice, sauteed tomatoes, button mushrooms, Nurenberger Sausage and grilled ham. Muffins, croissants and pastries were offered as well as coffee and tea.

I had the delicious Royal Korean meal for dinner, and was too full to eat breakfast. The middle of the night departure from Los Angeles, with a two hour dinner service, meant I slept like a baby until they switched on the cabin lights a couple of hours before landing at Incheon. A comfy seat and superb service made this a most enjoyable flight.

To be contnued ...

SanDiego1K

I'm waiting for more installations! I wholeheartedly concur with this statement:

TBIT is a nasty introduction and farewell to the US. I've been transiting it all too often recently. As much as I gripe about the pathetic departure lounges, arrival is even worse. You're dumped off into the masses of people arriiving from around the world. Even with no checked baggage, you have to join the queue of people pushing entire households on their baggage carts to clear customs. Dreadful.

I look forward to further delights on reading your report. On your November return to the States, when you have to overnight in Seoul, consider the airport Hyatt. The rooms are plain vanilla, but the restaurants and spa are first class.

sftrvlr

I booked the Hyatt per your advice. Thanks! I have a little over 24 hours there. Looking forward to the spa and some more fine Korean food.

mad_atta

A promising start to what sounds like it should be a great trip. Looking forward to more...

SK AAR

Where did you book the Sheraton Krabi to this amazingly cheap rate?

I agree the best way to help the local people in the areas hit by the Tsunamies is to go there and spend money as a tourist. I consider doing it my self, but would be grateful for any comments about the current sitaution at Phuket, Krabi etc. Are these places deserted or are they back in business?

tomashi

Very nice report so far! Very interesting route and some interesting places as well. Looking forward to further installments.

Have a nice trip!

sftrvlr

I got a travel agent rate since I'm a travel agent, but they were offering a "general public" room rate of US$79, which is also a fantastic deal. It's a lovely hotel. I also saw all sorts of packages in the Bangkok newspapers that were incredibly cheap. Thai had R/T air plus 2 nights hotel w/ transfers and breakfast starting at 4500 Baht, which is about US$120! There is a major public relations campaign going on to try to let people know that close to 90% of the hotels and resorts are up and running in the provinces that were hit by the waves. The Sheraton Krabi was only at 35% occupancy when I was there. It should be at 100% this time of year. And that was UP from 20% in February and 10% in January.

If you can make it to Thailand any time soon, I would highly recommend a trip to that region.

djjaguar64

Waiting for more delightful reading, come on we can hardly wait..................... ^

onedog

Waiting for the rest....^

sftrvlr

Let's see. Where were we?

After an early arrival into a very chilly (-4 Celsius) Incheon, I was forced to leave my comfy cocoon, although I must say I didn't want to. Asiana first class had been one of the most pleasant flight experiences I've ever had. Prior to landing, each customer was presented with a gift from Asiana. I'm not sure if they were all the same, but mine contained a rather nice piece of Versace Rosenthal china. A little note inside the box thanks you for flying Asiana, and contains a certificate of authenticity from Versace.

The curtain to Economy class was closed so that first class could disembark. This was my second visit to the lovely new Incheon airport. It's modern, light and airy with lots of windows, and well signposted. HOWEVER, they fail MISERABLY when it comes to security screening for transit passengers. We were luck in that our flight was one of the first arrivals of the day. They only had one security check point open, and it took me almost 20 minutes to get to the front of the line since there were about 30 people ahead of me. By the time I got there, people were screaming bloody murder at the screeners. The line must have been 200 deep by that time since another 747 and a 777 had just arrived as well. There was no way these people were going to make their connections. The check point I went through was at the far left of the terminal (by gate 5, I believe) so I wonder if there was another check point somewhere else that people could have used. Asiana or the airport authority should have made someone available to direct people.

After clearing security and proceeding upstairs, I checked the monitor for my Singapore Airlines flight. It was on time, but leaving from practically the other end of the airport. Not a problem, though, since it was good to stretch my legs. SQ has a dedicated gate at Incheon, and the Silverkris Lounge is located adjacent. It straddles the concourse, with Raffles Class on one side and First Class on the other. I thought I would be able to obtain my connecting boarding pass in the lounge, but I was mistaken, and was directed back out to the Korean Air transfer desk, where it took 2 minutes for them to print up Incheon-Singapore as well as Singapore-Chennai for me. Both 747-400 aircraft for my long awaited ride in a Singapore Airlines sky throne!

Back to the Silverkris Lounge. The first class section is accessed by an elevator. I think the attendant downstairs must have called upstairs because I was greeted by name as the elevator door opened, and escorted from there. Nice touch. There was a sizeable buffet area with assorted dim sum, as well as various Western breakfast items (scrambled eggs, etc.) and an open self-serve bar with mid-shelf liquors and wines. I was offered a menu for my upcoming flight in case I wanted to eat more (or less) in the lounge. I made myself a little plate of dim sum, and poured myself a glass of cava brut, the sparkling wine that was on offer that morning. Then I used the internet to check email for a few minutes. The entire time I was in the lounge, there were only 3 other passengers, which boded well for a nearly empty cabin to Singapore. And I was right. Thirty minutes before departure, the attendant came around to each customer and said that boarding had commenced.

SQ883 ICN-SIN
Seat 2F / First Class / 747-400
Scheduled: 0900-1435
Actual: 0915-1505

First and Raffles Class customers boarded via door 1L. I was greeted and shown to seat 2K. And what a fabulous seat it was! As one would expect from Singapore Airlines, the cabin was spotless and the seats were in good condition (as opposed to United First Suite, which we'll get to later.) I practically had to wrestle the 5 foot 5 inch, 110 pound Leading Stewardess to stop her from trying to lift my thirty pound roll-aboard into the overhead bin. It somehow didn't seem right when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself. Especially when I'm a foot taller, and weigh twice as much.

"May I offer you something to drink before we leave, Mr. sftrvlr? How about some champagne?"

"That would be lovely, thank you."

"Dom Perignon or Krug, Mr. sftrvlr?"

"Whatever's open. Doesn't matter to me."

"Either one, Mr. sftrvlr. Whatever you prefer."

"Dom it is, then."

Dom Perignon and cashews in hand, I explored the seat and perused the guide for Krisworld. What to watch first? "Alfie" or "Sideways"? I'll decide after breakfast. The seat feels like a really big armchair and is just a comfortable. The whole leather, wood panelling thing really works, and the seat gives you a felling of utter privacy. The video monitor is enormous, and the drawer contains Singapore Airlines stationary and a pen. The cabin filled up with all of two additional passengers, one of whom was a Singapore Airlines pilot in uniform. Fantastic! A one-to-one passenger, flight attendant ratio. Menus, headsets (noise cancelling) and a small amenity kit containing slippers were presented. Immediately after take-off, I went to the bathroom to change out of my khakis and into some more comfortable sweatpants, in case I wanted to sleep. When I opened the door, the flight attendant was waiting with a hanger for my trousers, and hung them in the forward closet. After she hung them up, she returned back to the bathroom, put on some plastic throw-away gloves, and made sure I hadn't made a mess (which I hadn't.) What service!

LUNCH
Seoul to Singapore

Appetizer
Anti Pasto
Olive oil marinated prawns, parma ham, sauteed mushrooms, roasted capsicums, and mixed fine lettuces

Salad
Assorted seasonal greens
Thousand Island dressing, or herb vinaigrette

Main Course
Seabass fillet with old style mustard seeds, white wine sauce, baby seasonal vegetables and potatoes
or
Seol Lung Tang
Korean style milky beef soup served with steamed rice and kimchi
or
Stir fried jumbo scallops and king prawns in XO sauce, served with fried noodles and vegetables
or
Roasted chicken, served with creamy rosemary sauce, sauteed cepe mushrooms, asparagus and linguine pasta

Cheese
A selection of cheese with garnishes

Fresh Fruit
A selection of seasonal fresh fruit

Dessert
Citrus vanilla panna cotta, served with persimmon pear salad, and sesame tuile

From the Bakery
Oven fresh rolls and garlic bread, with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter

REFRESHMENT
Seoul to Singapore

Light Bites
Focaccia with smoked chicken, Jack cheese and tomato, with warm tomato soup
or
Naeng Myeon
Korean style cold noodles with seafood and vegetables

The wine list included Dom Perignon 1996, Krug Grande Cuvee, Dr. Loosen 2000 Urziger Wurzgarten Reisling, 1999 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Premier Cru, 1996 Laboure-Roi Nuites Saint Georges Premier Cru and 1998 Chateau Gruaud Larose Saint Julien. The port was Warre's Twenty Year Old Tawny.

Is this possible? All this food on a six hour flight? I was impressed! The flight attendant suggested that we reverse the menu since it was early in the morning. Seemed like a good idea to me. I chose the cold noodles as a post take-off snack, then the stir fried scallops and prawns for lunch, which would be served at around 1230PM Singapore time. The soup had a nice light vegetable flavor, but the noodles seemed rather tasteless and were all stuck together in a clump at the bottom. Not entirely sure what "seafood" was in the soup. I couldn't find any. I wasn't particularly hungry, anyway. Lunch was very good, indeed. The prawns and scallops were perfectly cooked, and went well with a dab of the addictive Kris Chili Sauce. Can you buy that stuff? After the cheese selection and a glass of 20 year old port, I couldn't manage dessert.

Krisworld is a fabulous product. I watched "Alfie" then "Lavender Ladies." I was feeling a little tired, but was enjoying my seat/food/entertainment too much to sleep. That could wait for my six hour layover in Singapore. We had to circle for about 20 minutes prior to landing in Singapore due to thunderstorms around the airport, and landed about half an hour late. Again, I didn't want to leave my seat! A second enjoyable flight with wonderful service.

To be continued ...

ORDnHKG

2K ? where it is ?
I know there is 2A, 2D and 2F on the 744 on SQ
A and F are windows, D is middle

sftrvlr

I had a six hour layover in Singapore, so I booked a room at the Transit Hotel in Terminal Two. I could have taken a nap in the Silverkris First Class lounge, but preferred to have a hotel room, and it only costs about US$35. I checked into the hotel and napped for about three hours, then showered and made my way to the Silverkris Lounge, via Duty Free. For some reason, I don't find this lounge as impressive as some others in Asia. It's certainly nice enough, but it always seems so crowded whenever I seem to be there. Or maybe it's just always crowded. I can't remember what was on offer at the buffet. I just fixed myself a gin and tonic and grabbed a couple of smoked salmon sandwiches. Didn't they used to have Bombay Sapphire gin in that lounge? It was Gordon's, which I'm not particularly fond of. I knew from past experience that the monitors at Changi always start flashing FINAL CALL about an hour before departure, so wasn't worried when I left the Silverkris lounge at 8PM for my 835PM flight.

SQ410 SIN-MAA
Seat 2F / First Class / 747-400
Scheduled: 2035-2205
Actual: 2035-2140

The gate area was a mob scene, and it looked like the flight would be completely full. It was. There were 5 people in front of me for security, then about 25 people in line to enter the lounge area. They only had one agent pulling boarding passes. They checked my India visa again, and directed me to go right on board the aircraft as they were just about to call for economy boarding. Again, First and Raffles Class customers boarded through door 1L, and I was escorted to seat 2F. I was the last one to board in first class. The cabin crew were much busier this time with a full load, but service was efficient, and offered with a smile.

The gentleman (?) behind me was making a big scene because he wanted to leave his oversized carryon on the floor in front of his seat. The first class seat has a storage area under the desk/dining table/TV monitor where you can fit a pretty big bag. His bag was too big, which means it was HUGE. I'm not sure how he managed to get it through the xray machines, but apparently he had, and now he expected to be able to break the rules and just leave it laying half way into the aisle . I must say, the crew handled it with aplomb, and convinced him that it MUST be put in the forward closet for take-off and landing, but that he was free to keep it at his feet during the flight. Another 5 foot 5 inch, 110 pound Leading Stewardess struggled to drag it up the aisle, where she and another flight attendant squeezed it into the closet. I asked if they needed help, and they said no. After that debacle, she turned around, walked back to Mr. Big Bag, smiled, and offered a pre-departure beverage. What class. He yelled something about Johnnie Walker Black. Lots of ice. I hope she spat in it.

Menus, headphones and amenity sock kit were again offered. I notice that on Singapore Airlines, things are always done in the same order, and I must say I like the consistency. I know some on the SQ board say they find it too robotic, etc., but I'd rather have a consistent, well delivered, quality product, over the crapshoot we call United Airlines (or any other US carrier, for that matter.) The captain came on to announce we would be leaving right on time, and would be about half an hour early into Chennai due to favorable winds. But the flight would be bumpy, and that the seatbelt sign would probably be on for most of it. After takeoff, I selected "Sideways" from Krisworld, and watched it during dinner.

DINNER
Singapore to Chennai

Appetizer
Puding mirch ke scallops
Scallops in mint chili masala

Main Courses
Baked stuffed chicken breast with shiitake mushrooms, roasted vegetables and polenta
or
Indian style lamb shank korma with peas, carrots, spinach and Basmati rice
or
Chilean seabass in XO sauce with seasonal vegetables and fried rice
or
Gobi panir ka shai kofta
Cauliflower dumplings with stuffed pepper, black eye beans masala, and split chick pea dill pilaf

Fresh Fruit
A selection of seasonal fresh fruit

Dessert
Warm banana strudel with green tea ice cream and citrus salad

From the Bakery
Oven fresh rolls and garlic bread, with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter

The wine list was the same as the Incheon to Singapore flight.

I had the cauliflower dumplings, which were delicious, especially dabbed with a touch of Kris Chili Sauce. And the dessert, which was also good. I stuck with Dom Perignon for the entire flight.

We landed in Chennai 25 minutes ahead of schedule. I was pleasantly surprised to find the airport well air conditioned, and the line for immigration relatively short. One nice thing was that the immigration officers who were stationed at the "Indian Nationals", "VIP" and "Staff" lines helped out the "All Others" lines when they weren't busy, and kept everybody moving. I've experienced many an airport where that doesn't happen (Colombo and Denpasar to name a couple) and it makes a huge difference. I had no checked baggage, so I was through immigration and customs in about 15 minutes, and out the exit from the peaceful, cool terminal, into the complete and utter chaos that is the meet and greet area outside the terminal in Chennai. I'd arranged a car and driver from the hotel since I knew I wouldn't be up to haggling for a cab after my long journey, and found him without too much difficulty. Into an air conditioned Mercedes, and whisked away to the ITC Park Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

The first couple of times I went to India, I was much younger, and much poorer, so I've experienced both ends of the spectrum when it comes to travelling there. I rather prefer the way I can afford to travel now! Not that it wasn't fun and exciting the other way, it's just that I've "been there, done that" and the little luxuries in life are something I look forward to now. I arrived at the hotel to find that my US$39 travel agent rate had gotten me an upgrade to the Towers Level, which included a larger room in the newer wing, breakfast daily and a complimentary car back to the airport. My room looked as if it had just been refurbished, and had all the amenities. It seemed like a celebration was in order since I'd travelled half way around the world in true luxury, without a hitch. I ordered a bucket of ice and large bottle of fizzy water from Room Service, popped open the rather tasty bottle of Scotch from Singapore Duty Free, and commemorated my return to India. It had been about 10 years since my last visit.

I wasn't sure how well I'd sleep, so hadn't booked myself for anything (car and driver, tour, etc.) in Chennai. I planned to play it by ear. I slept soundly, and woke up at about 10AM the next morning. Feeling lazy, I wandered down to the barber shop and had a shave and a haircut. Then booked myself a massage at the spa for later that afternoon. Then booked a table for dinner at what looked to be a very promising restaurant in the hotel. Went for a wander around the neighborhood, but there wasn't much to see. Found a restaurant for lunch and enjoyed a Kingfisher and a very good, but very spicy lamb curry. Sat by the swimming pool for an hour or two, then relaxed with a massage. Upstairs to change for dinner, then down to the bar for a drink, followed by dinner. The tax on imported liquor in India is 73% so my 2 Bombay Sapphire and tonics came to almost as much as my hotel room! Dinner was one of the best Indian meals I've ever had.

I got another good nights sleep, and went down to the Concierge desk the next morning to ask what to do in Chennai. She suggested a wander along the waterfront and beach area, and having lunch at one of the seafood restaurants there. It turned out to be a very good suggestion. A pleasant stroll so as not to sweat too much in the midday sun, then a few beers and some fantastic spicy grilled prawns for lunch. I felt that another massage was in order, so I grabbed a cab back to the hotel, and was lucky enough to walk right in to the spa and lay down on the table. Ah, the life! I had a 10PM flight to Colombo that evening, so booked my hotel car for 745PM. An uneventful ride back to the airport took 20 minutes, and I was checked in, through immigration and in the lounge within 15 minutes of arrival at the terminal. Very impressive, and not at all what I remember from my check-in experiences in Delhi and Mumbai.

Up next: Air Sahara to Colombo ( wasn't sure what to expect.)

sftrvlr

Ooops! 2K was Asiana. 2F was Singapore Airlines.

Thanks for noticing.

I'll edit that.

ORDnHKG

Well according to asiana, they had already had a major rennovation in 1997
http://us.flyasiana.com/travelplanne...renovation.asp
No matter how good are the services and amenities for OZ, I think I would never want to fly long haul F on OZ, given all the seats have seatmates, rather than solo seats/suites, like UA and SQ.