HKG-NRT-LAX-SFO-BOS on UA
Jun 25, 2005, 4:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: HK
Programs: Cathay Silver, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 664
HKG-NRT-LAX-SFO-BOS on UA
Flight: UA 852
Route: Hong Kong - Tokyo
Date: Jun 12, 2005
Aircraft: B747-400
Cabin: Upgraded Business Class
Schedule: 09:00-14:15
Real Time: 09:30-14:05
This entire itinery was purchased about three weeks prior to departure, and upgrade with miles was requested also. As I am traveling with my family of four, and each of them have different elite status in Mileage Plus, it was interesting to see how the upgrade had cleared. My mom had Premier Ex, my dad and I had Premier, and my brother was General. For this sector, all of our upgrades cleared three days prior to departure, which when I checked the seat map on united.com, the business class cabin was wide open, with as many as 45 unassigned seats.
The Red Carpet Club in HK was the best out of all the lounges I have visited, especially with the food service. Since it was early morning, they had instant noodles, muffins, oreo cookies, potato chips and whole fruits. The seating area was spacious and comfortable, with views overlooking the departure gates and apron. There were also about six desktop terminals with free internet access.
On the plane, the upper deck was pretty full. The entire lower deck was pretty empty, and I could see some lucky passengers at the rear of the aircraft had all four seats to themselves. As soon as I took my seat, I saw some mechanics working on the overhead speakerphone at row 11. Soon, I found out that the speakerphone at row 11-13 were not working and could not be quickly fixed. All the passengers in row 11-13 had to move downstairs during take off to make sure that they can hear the safety demonstration clearly. The plane departed 30 minutes late, but arrived at NRT ontime.
TO BEGIN
Smoked salmon timbale with lemon aioli
Capers, olives and fresh lemon
MAIN COURSE
Snapper saka-mushi with gin an sauce
Rice with black sesame seeds and a vegetable medley with mushrooms
Roasted breast of chicken with chili garlic sauce
Egg fried rice with Chinese mushrooms and greens
BREAKFAST SELECTION
This entrée is offered in lieu of the above lunch entries
Tomato and olive omelette with Hollandaise sauce
Hash brown potatoes, chicken sausage and a fresh fruit appetizer
DESSERT
Mango mousse cake
Mango coulis
The crew of this flight was all HK-based, and they were friendly, efficient and are always willing to serve.
Route: Hong Kong - Tokyo
Date: Jun 12, 2005
Aircraft: B747-400
Cabin: Upgraded Business Class
Schedule: 09:00-14:15
Real Time: 09:30-14:05
This entire itinery was purchased about three weeks prior to departure, and upgrade with miles was requested also. As I am traveling with my family of four, and each of them have different elite status in Mileage Plus, it was interesting to see how the upgrade had cleared. My mom had Premier Ex, my dad and I had Premier, and my brother was General. For this sector, all of our upgrades cleared three days prior to departure, which when I checked the seat map on united.com, the business class cabin was wide open, with as many as 45 unassigned seats.
The Red Carpet Club in HK was the best out of all the lounges I have visited, especially with the food service. Since it was early morning, they had instant noodles, muffins, oreo cookies, potato chips and whole fruits. The seating area was spacious and comfortable, with views overlooking the departure gates and apron. There were also about six desktop terminals with free internet access.
On the plane, the upper deck was pretty full. The entire lower deck was pretty empty, and I could see some lucky passengers at the rear of the aircraft had all four seats to themselves. As soon as I took my seat, I saw some mechanics working on the overhead speakerphone at row 11. Soon, I found out that the speakerphone at row 11-13 were not working and could not be quickly fixed. All the passengers in row 11-13 had to move downstairs during take off to make sure that they can hear the safety demonstration clearly. The plane departed 30 minutes late, but arrived at NRT ontime.
TO BEGIN
Smoked salmon timbale with lemon aioli
Capers, olives and fresh lemon
MAIN COURSE
Snapper saka-mushi with gin an sauce
Rice with black sesame seeds and a vegetable medley with mushrooms
Roasted breast of chicken with chili garlic sauce
Egg fried rice with Chinese mushrooms and greens
BREAKFAST SELECTION
This entrée is offered in lieu of the above lunch entries
Tomato and olive omelette with Hollandaise sauce
Hash brown potatoes, chicken sausage and a fresh fruit appetizer
DESSERT
Mango mousse cake
Mango coulis
The crew of this flight was all HK-based, and they were friendly, efficient and are always willing to serve.
Jun 25, 2005, 4:52 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: HK
Programs: Cathay Silver, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 664
Flight: UA 890
Route: Tokyo – Los Angeles
Date: Jun 12, 2005
Aircraft: B777-400
Cabin: Upgraded Business Class
Schedule: 16:20-10:25
Real Time: 16:20-09:55
For this sector, the upgrade for my mom cleared one week before departure. My dad and mine cleared four days before departure, and my brother’s upgrade cleared one day before departure. Before the upgrades cleared, I was very worried and stressed about why the upgrades haven’t cleared yet. As I checked the seat map at united.com, it showed 12 unassigned business class seats. I was very worried that the 1Ks and UGSs ahead of me on the waitlist and also last minute fare paying business class passengers could fill up the empty seats. At one point, I thought about changing my flight to the later UA flight that departs at 5:25pm, which had 22 unassigned business class seats, but since there were no guarantees, the US$100 change fee was not worth it.
This was my fifth visit to The Red Carpet Club in Tokyo. The lounge was massive, with lots of seats. It was cleverly designed so that the glass petition between seat seating area would not give passengers the feelings of cramp and restricted space. The lounge soon filled up with nearly all seats occupied, as flights from Asia and US arrive at the same time. Nothing much had changed, except that Hemispheres were the only magazine available at the magazine rack. They had magazines like Ebony, News weekly etc before. The food service at the lounge was minimal and disappointing; with economy class peanuts and whole fruits were the only option. But I expected this and simply went to ate at a Japanese restaurant five minutes away from the lounge.
Onboard, the entire cabin was full 100%. It was very surprised when I saw that this plane was a European route configured B777 with no crew rest. I never thought that a B777 could mange to fly about 5500 miles without a fuel stop. The flight attendants on this flight were older aged us based flight attentions. Even though they were friendly and profession, they lack the enthusiasm and energy that the have younger flight attendant, and the difference in service and hospitality improves a lot. Anyways, here is the menu.
TO BEGIN
Sauteed herb shrimp with basil and smoked duck
Fresh lemon and Mango salsa
Fresh seasonal greens
Asian citrus or Roquefort dressing
MAIN COURSE
Herb and onion crusted filet mignon with red curry coconut sauce
Potatoes au gratin and blanced broccolini
Italian herb and permasan breaded breast of tuckey with Merlot sauce
Risotto Gorgonzola with a zucchini and carrot sauté
Japanese Obento selection
DESSERT
International cheese selection
Coulommiers and Colby Jack cheese
Fresh Apple tart
PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
Creamy spinach omelets with tomato sauce
Pork sausage links, blanched asparagus and fresh fruit appetizer
Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
I had pre-ordered the obento meal in advance because I knew that I could be eating a lot of American food when I am in LA and I wanted to try something different. I had the obento meal once before, and I thought it was disappointing. But this time, the obento meal was decilicious and filling. My suggestion was that they could have more sushi like they used to before 9/11.
They were no mid-flight refreshments given the shorter duration of this flight (10 hours). The only snack item they had was peanuts. Prior to arrival, they served the choice of omelets with fruits, or fruits. I always wonder why do people order the fruit platter when 1) they want to fully enjoy the business class experience, 2) the omelets includes a smaller fruit platter already. Last June, I had the unfortunate experience of having the fruit platter on a JFK-SFO flight because I went to the bathroom when they were taking meal orders. When I came back and asked for omelets, they ran out. Learning from my misfortune, I asked the pursuer to reserve the omlets for me. As usual, they tasted delicious. The flight landed at Los Angeles on time. Contrary to how people complained about the long lines in customs and arrivals time, it only took me 20 minutes when the plane arrived at the gate to when I was outside the airport.
Route: Tokyo – Los Angeles
Date: Jun 12, 2005
Aircraft: B777-400
Cabin: Upgraded Business Class
Schedule: 16:20-10:25
Real Time: 16:20-09:55
For this sector, the upgrade for my mom cleared one week before departure. My dad and mine cleared four days before departure, and my brother’s upgrade cleared one day before departure. Before the upgrades cleared, I was very worried and stressed about why the upgrades haven’t cleared yet. As I checked the seat map at united.com, it showed 12 unassigned business class seats. I was very worried that the 1Ks and UGSs ahead of me on the waitlist and also last minute fare paying business class passengers could fill up the empty seats. At one point, I thought about changing my flight to the later UA flight that departs at 5:25pm, which had 22 unassigned business class seats, but since there were no guarantees, the US$100 change fee was not worth it.
This was my fifth visit to The Red Carpet Club in Tokyo. The lounge was massive, with lots of seats. It was cleverly designed so that the glass petition between seat seating area would not give passengers the feelings of cramp and restricted space. The lounge soon filled up with nearly all seats occupied, as flights from Asia and US arrive at the same time. Nothing much had changed, except that Hemispheres were the only magazine available at the magazine rack. They had magazines like Ebony, News weekly etc before. The food service at the lounge was minimal and disappointing; with economy class peanuts and whole fruits were the only option. But I expected this and simply went to ate at a Japanese restaurant five minutes away from the lounge.
Onboard, the entire cabin was full 100%. It was very surprised when I saw that this plane was a European route configured B777 with no crew rest. I never thought that a B777 could mange to fly about 5500 miles without a fuel stop. The flight attendants on this flight were older aged us based flight attentions. Even though they were friendly and profession, they lack the enthusiasm and energy that the have younger flight attendant, and the difference in service and hospitality improves a lot. Anyways, here is the menu.
TO BEGIN
Sauteed herb shrimp with basil and smoked duck
Fresh lemon and Mango salsa
Fresh seasonal greens
Asian citrus or Roquefort dressing
MAIN COURSE
Herb and onion crusted filet mignon with red curry coconut sauce
Potatoes au gratin and blanced broccolini
Italian herb and permasan breaded breast of tuckey with Merlot sauce
Risotto Gorgonzola with a zucchini and carrot sauté
Japanese Obento selection
DESSERT
International cheese selection
Coulommiers and Colby Jack cheese
Fresh Apple tart
PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
Creamy spinach omelets with tomato sauce
Pork sausage links, blanched asparagus and fresh fruit appetizer
Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
I had pre-ordered the obento meal in advance because I knew that I could be eating a lot of American food when I am in LA and I wanted to try something different. I had the obento meal once before, and I thought it was disappointing. But this time, the obento meal was decilicious and filling. My suggestion was that they could have more sushi like they used to before 9/11.
They were no mid-flight refreshments given the shorter duration of this flight (10 hours). The only snack item they had was peanuts. Prior to arrival, they served the choice of omelets with fruits, or fruits. I always wonder why do people order the fruit platter when 1) they want to fully enjoy the business class experience, 2) the omelets includes a smaller fruit platter already. Last June, I had the unfortunate experience of having the fruit platter on a JFK-SFO flight because I went to the bathroom when they were taking meal orders. When I came back and asked for omelets, they ran out. Learning from my misfortune, I asked the pursuer to reserve the omlets for me. As usual, they tasted delicious. The flight landed at Los Angeles on time. Contrary to how people complained about the long lines in customs and arrivals time, it only took me 20 minutes when the plane arrived at the gate to when I was outside the airport.
Jun 25, 2005, 4:53 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: HK
Programs: Cathay Silver, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 664
Flight: UA 277
Route: Los Angeles – San Francisco
Date: Jun 15, 2005
Aircraft: A319
Cabin: Upgraded First Class
Schedule: 21:30-22:44
Real time: 23:05-00:05
For this sector, the upgrade for all of us cleared at time of booking.
When I arrived at the airport, the check in staff told me that the flight would be rescheduled to 10:20pm due to weather conditions at Orlando, when the plane was before. He offered to book us on the 10:10pm flight, but we would all be in economy class. We declined the offer and decide to wait instead. As I checked the arrivals board, the MCO flight arrives at 10:05pm, and there is no way that UA could turn the flight in 15 minutes. I knew that we would probably be departing at 10:45pm the earliest. When I arrived at Gate 87, which is located the furthest away from the terminal, they changed the departure time to 10:30pm, then to 10:45pm. Boarding finally commenced at 10:35pm and we were on the runway at 11:05pm, a 95 minute delay. The Sacramento based flight attendant served us a choice of beverage and packaged peanuts.
Route: Los Angeles – San Francisco
Date: Jun 15, 2005
Aircraft: A319
Cabin: Upgraded First Class
Schedule: 21:30-22:44
Real time: 23:05-00:05
For this sector, the upgrade for all of us cleared at time of booking.
When I arrived at the airport, the check in staff told me that the flight would be rescheduled to 10:20pm due to weather conditions at Orlando, when the plane was before. He offered to book us on the 10:10pm flight, but we would all be in economy class. We declined the offer and decide to wait instead. As I checked the arrivals board, the MCO flight arrives at 10:05pm, and there is no way that UA could turn the flight in 15 minutes. I knew that we would probably be departing at 10:45pm the earliest. When I arrived at Gate 87, which is located the furthest away from the terminal, they changed the departure time to 10:30pm, then to 10:45pm. Boarding finally commenced at 10:35pm and we were on the runway at 11:05pm, a 95 minute delay. The Sacramento based flight attendant served us a choice of beverage and packaged peanuts.
Jun 25, 2005, 4:54 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: HK
Programs: Cathay Silver, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 664
Flight: UA 176
Route: San Francisco - Boston
Date: Jun 17, 2005
Aircraft: B757-200
Cabin: Economy class
Schedule: 13:00-21:34
Real time: 15:35-00:05
The upgrade for this sector never cleared. It still showed six unassigned first class seats before I left the airport. When I checked Easy status, it showed that the plane will be delayed until 15:10, which was good for me, because it meant I had more time to relax at San Francisco.
When we were at the gate requesting the status of our upgrade, the gate agent handed my mom her first class boarding pass, and told the rest of us that first class is very full on this flight and they will not clear Premier and General members.
Flight attendants today were based in Denver and San Francisco. They distributed the menu for the four snack box and the new “Fresh Food” Menu, and today’s choice the turkey wrap and the chicken Caesar salad with fresh fruits. After some struggle, I managed to decide on the fun pack. Even though they are comfort food, it is loaded with calories and fat, which I clearly felt after I finished the chips and the cookies. The flight landed a little after midnight.
I may also post my return trip (BOS-ORD-HKG) at a later date, once I find the time to do so.
Route: San Francisco - Boston
Date: Jun 17, 2005
Aircraft: B757-200
Cabin: Economy class
Schedule: 13:00-21:34
Real time: 15:35-00:05
The upgrade for this sector never cleared. It still showed six unassigned first class seats before I left the airport. When I checked Easy status, it showed that the plane will be delayed until 15:10, which was good for me, because it meant I had more time to relax at San Francisco.
When we were at the gate requesting the status of our upgrade, the gate agent handed my mom her first class boarding pass, and told the rest of us that first class is very full on this flight and they will not clear Premier and General members.
Flight attendants today were based in Denver and San Francisco. They distributed the menu for the four snack box and the new “Fresh Food” Menu, and today’s choice the turkey wrap and the chicken Caesar salad with fresh fruits. After some struggle, I managed to decide on the fun pack. Even though they are comfort food, it is loaded with calories and fat, which I clearly felt after I finished the chips and the cookies. The flight landed a little after midnight.
I may also post my return trip (BOS-ORD-HKG) at a later date, once I find the time to do so.
Jun 25, 2005, 7:35 pm
#5
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
Good report and let me say welcome to Flyertalk and how nice it is that your first report is a Trip Report. I can honestly say my first TR was far lower quality than this one.
Jun 26, 2005, 1:34 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Programs: AA EXP UA 2KMM AMB
Posts: 2,399
Yeah, welcome to flyertalk. Good report pacificboot. Seriously, I was a little disappointed to see economy class for the last segment 
. Unfortunately, upgrades on transcon flight, with limited seats upfront, are very competetive. But your mom's upgrade cleared so that's still good. Anyways, thanks again.
. Unfortunately, upgrades on transcon flight, with limited seats upfront, are very competetive. But your mom's upgrade cleared so that's still good. Anyways, thanks again.
Jun 27, 2005, 8:43 am
#7
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: UA 1K, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,048
Pacificboot,
On the 747s did you have trouble getting out of the seats? When I flew last year on a nrt-bkk & hkg-nrt upstairs I found that if the people around me were reclined I was stuck and that the upstairs seems to get very hot. Did you find this at all?
On the 747s did you have trouble getting out of the seats? When I flew last year on a nrt-bkk & hkg-nrt upstairs I found that if the people around me were reclined I was stuck and that the upstairs seems to get very hot. Did you find this at all?
Jul 3, 2005, 11:26 am
#11
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,348
Originally Posted by pacificboot
The Red Carpet Club in HK was the best out of all the lounges I have visited, especially with the food service. Since it was early morning, they had instant noodles, muffins, oreo cookies, potato chips and whole fruits.
I typically lounge-hop at HKG but avoid the UA lounge (and as a result, I haven't been in the UA lounge for about a year, so they may have improved their food choices, though I doubt it...) The TG/Star Alliance lounge next door is better, albeit more crowded and less serene. The SQ lounge (before you take the tram or walk to the farther area of the airport) has better food, magazines & newspapers and is generally more calm and private.