OZ/SQ/KL/CX LAX-ICN-SIN-BKK-TPE-HKG-LAX F/J Pix link
Aug 3, 2007, 3:26 pm
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OZ/SQ/KL/CX LAX-ICN-SIN-BKK-TPE-HKG-LAX F/J Pix link
OZ/SQ/KL/CX LAX-ICN-SIN-BKK-TPE-HKG-LAX F/J Pix link
Dear all,
Here comes the transpacific front! This trip is a the last half of a deeply discounted first class ticket offered by Asiana between BKK and the West Coast, which has discontinued since earlier this year. It is sad to not be able to buy this good deal and this will perhaps be my last Asiana first class report for a while. To be honest, with the current first class seats offered by Asiana, it is really hard to justify paying full fares even though the service and meals and amenities are excellent in every aspect. The F/As are really friendly and sensitive to your needs. Just wish they speak better English!
July 28, 2007
OZ 201 LAX-ICN 1400 1830+1 Boeing 747-400 Full passenger version HL7418
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Yes, I had to do this trip after arriving from Europe a day earlier, and the day began with a relaxing start at Hilton Los Angeles Airport, and today was pretty exciting as I got to see the brand new Tom Bradley International Terminal Star Alliance first class lounge.
Check-in: Tom Bradley was very busy today as the summer travel continued. Asiana Airlines’ check-in counters are pretty busy but first and business class lines were not too bad. First class line had no one in line, so the agent immediately got my passport and checked me in. Of course, she was having troubles checking me through to Bangkok and her trainee position even made it difficult. At the end, she needed this other girl to check my bag through to BKK (thankfully I caught her only checking me to ICN at first) but despite promotions of seamless travel by Star Alliance, I still cannot get boarding passes for the legs on Singapore Airlines (but on the return, CX has no problem issuing my connecting AA flights from SFO to LAX). Then something new happened – an Asiana representative came and escorted me first from the check-in to the baggage X-ray station (a porter helped with first class folks’ bags), and then the lady escorted me to the fast lane and then to the brand new Star Alliance first class lounge. Due to her rather limited English, we did not talk much but this middle-aged lady was very polite and nice, and told me that she would come back to escort all of us to the gate at 1:20pm. Despite the initial hiccups on checking me through to BKK, the check-in experience is pretty nice and the personal escort service is excellent.
Lounge:
F lounge
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J lounge:
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Next part is the highlight of the trip and first off, the new TBIT Star Alliance Lounge is a major improvement from the cubicles lounges offered by individual airlines years ago. LAX finally caught up in terms of the lounge situation. Star Alliance occupied the fifth floor and Skyteam is on the fourth floor of the South Concourse (Gate 101-106).
First off, the new Star Alliance lounge has expanded tremendously in terms of space. The first class lounge is not that large (which reflects the significant reduction of first class on flights these days), but is right next to the window overseeing the corridor connecting between North and South side of the airport. There are three rows of sofa/armchairs spread out comfortably, as well as a small business station (which is pretty pathetic) and there are no Internet connected computers though (only in business class section). There is a food station featured a wide range of cold and hot food, as well a large fridge featuring a wide array of beers, and soft drinks and bottled waters. The Business Class section features the biggest improvement in terms of spaces, as there are three major seating areas – one back room which is my favorite, as well as two major food stations featuring similar cold and hot food, as well as two mini beverage stations. There is also a long bar at the business class section.
Magazines and newspapers from all over the world featured at entrances to both lounges. There are showers and bathrooms, which were okay. I did not see the showers, but the bathrooms were updated.
The buffets are really nice and in terms of hot food, it features Chinese porridge with many sides, Minestrone Soup and a plate of fried rice, and in terms of cold food, there are sliced fruits, sushi (mostly veggie), freshly made sandwiches, yogurts, cheese wedges (packaged though), salad, and there are also pastries, chips, cereals, and lots of assorted snacks such as mixed nuts and pretzels.
There is also free wifi on the lounge. The new lounge is really nice and worthy for spending some times there.
Plane-spotting:
Korean Air Boeing 777-200ER KE 1 & 2 HL7530
China Eastern Airbus A340-600 B-6051
United Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 New Color N105UA (Tokyo bound)
Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777-200ER ZK-OKE
Korean Air’s Boeing 747-400 HL7492
Lan Chile’s Boeing 767-300ER CC-CCZ heading to Lima
Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 SQ 11/12 9V-SMY
Cathay Pacific Airways’ Boeing 747-400 CX 884/5 B-HKE
Cathay Pacific Airways’ Boeing 747-400 CX 882 B-HOO
Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 D-ABVM First FRA flight
Flight fact:
Another hiccup was that the lady indeed arrived at 1:20pm to pick up a majority of the first and business class passengers to gate 104, but of course, the plane was not quite ready due to late arrival and the typical TBIT. As you can tell from the pictures, catering is still on board, as we arrived at the gate. Boarding finally began at 1:45pm.
We pushed back at 2:26pm and took off from R/W25L at 2:42pm.
Flying time is eleven hours and fifty-two minute (estimate is eleven hours and twenty-eight minutes).
Routing: Climbed up to 32,000feet as we passed San Francisco and North California – Further to 34,000feet, as we approached Anchorage/Seward, and then 36,000feet, and back down to 35,000feet before we crossed the Kamchatka Islands, and into the Sakhalin Islands, and onto the eastern coast of Russian Far east, and then west after reaching Dakdo in the East Sea.
Amenities: Pajama and the new Bulgari amenity kits (different for men and women). The women kits are nicer, so I recommend you got that one. Pre-arrival gift is a Lanvin’s tie pin.
Flight Attendants: Other than poor English proficiency, you really cannot find faults with them. The meals were carried out efficiently and they were polite and always looked into your eyes. They smile and nothing is too much hassle for them. My neighbor did not take much part on the meals, and the F/As kept on asking if she felt alright and did she need more food and drinks? For the hot snack, she asked for fruits only and the F/As immediately went to get her some fruits. It is just so different from your typical US airlines’ experience. These F/As really enjoy their jobs and feel highly about the job. When I asked for stationary kits and playing cards, she grabbed me a handful of them. I ended up giving the F/As a box of Godiva chocolates (from Belgium) because the F/As on all my OZ flights had always been great.
Meals and wines: The pictures pretty much said it all.
Wine List
Champagne
1998 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck Brut
White Wines
2004 Chablis 1er Cru, Fourchaume
2004 Raymond Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2004
2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Red Wines
1999 Chablis Leoville Poyferre, 2e Cru Classe, Saint-Julien
2001 Vosne Romanee 1er Cru, Domaine Bertagna
2001 Clos Du Val
Dessert Wines
Port Sandman 20 Years Old Tawny Porto
Blandy’s 10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
2003 Jackson Triggs Vidal VQA Ice Wine
Menu
Lunch
Selection of Canapés
Celery with Cream Cheese
Ham and Pickle on Toast
Ahi on Toast
Hors d’oeuvre
Pate on Fresh Lettuce
Marinated Shrimp and Indian Vegetable Salad
Asparagus Cream Soup
Or
Tomato Vegetable Soup
Mixed Garden Salad
Served with Ranch dressing and Basil Vinegar Dressing
Main Courses
Grilled Lobster
Served with Saffron Tomato Sauce
Or
“Mixing and Harmonizing” Korean Royal Cuisine “Bi-Bim-Bab”
Steamed rice mixed with Various kinds of vegetables, accompanied by hot pepper paste, sesame oil, assorted side dishes and soup
Or
Beef Tenderloin Steak
Served with Pinot Noir Sauce
To complement your meal choice
Potato, Various kinds of vegetables
Steamed rice
Assorted Cheeses
Fresh Fruit
Dessert
Grand Marnier Cake
Coffee & Tea
Assorted Petits Fours
Snack
Appetizer
Marinated Shrimps, Scallop and Pastrami
Grilled Lamb Chop
Served with Tomato Tapenade
Or
Fried Shrimps with Coconut
Served with Plum Sauce
Or
Fried Seabass with Panko and Crab
Served with Lemon Basil Cream Sauce
To complement your meal choice
Potato Croquette, Pasta, Pak-Choy, Baby Corn and Carrot
Apple Tart
Coffee & Tea
Refreshments
Udong
Hot Ramen
Sandwiches
Assorted Fresh Fruits
OZ 202/201
SEL/LAX/SEL
F/C
2007C2-20070701
Entertainment: that is the weakest link and the classic personal television system is pretty poor. But there is a large array of magazines and newspapers.
Arrival: We slowed down a bit due to heavy traffic at Incheon, and we landed on R/W33R at 6:34pm and parked at gate 12 at 6:45pm, and this plane would head back to JFK later that night.
July 29, 2007
SQ 15 ICN-SIN Lv1945 Arr0100+1 Boeing 777-300ER 9V-SWB
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Transit: that is the poorest part of the trip because the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge cannot check me in, and I had to head back to the Korean Air transit counters C for the oneward boarding pass to SIN and BKK. The KE agent was fine and pretty efficient, but the lounge should be able to check folks in and a good priority privilege.
Lounge: the Silver Kris First Class lounge is pretty crowded with a number of flights departing at that evening. The F class features a nice food selection. I had a bowl of Korean Somen noodles with shrimps.
Boarding: Very efficient and boarding had already taken place as I arrived at the gate. There was an announcement at the lounge. Once on board, the SQ F/As immediately escorted me to my seat, offered me newspapers and magazines, a pre-takeoff beverage, the menu, as well as amenity kit and the new PJ. Thank goodness! Despite of reports on these amenities being cut, these are available on this short flight. Loading is like 5 out of 8.
Flight fact: flying time is five hours and twenty-six minutes, and the routing is a typical ICN-Jeju-Taipei-SIN. We were at 34,000feet initially and then up to 36,000feet.
Seat: Nothing much to add about the seat, but I really miss the old 747 seat, when I can just recline the seat when I feel tired, and the current recline on the 77W is really limited and hard to find a comfortable position to watch television.
Meal: Dinner is served an hour after takeoff and the meal is just excellent. An amuse bouche of a cream of mint soup was offered before the meal was nice. I asked for both soups were answered with a “no problem”! The food presented is definitely high quality and restaurant quality.
Wine List
Champagnes
Dom Perignon 1999
Krug Grande Cuvee
White Wines
Chablis Premier Crus Fourchaumes “old vines” 2003, Domaine Laroche
Cloudy Bay Suavignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough
Red Wines
Chateau Cos d’Estournel 1999, Saint-Estephe
Chateau Pichon-Longueville Au Baron De Pichon-Longueville 1998, Pauillac
Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Napa Valley
Port
Graham’s 20 Years Old Tawny Port Portugal
Dinner from Seoul to Singapore
Canapés
Satay
With Onion, Cucumber and Spicy Peanut Sauce
Appetizers
Malossal caviar with duck foie gras and waldorf salad
*Confit of Tuna with fingerling potato, quail egg, capers and arugula salad
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Soups
*Cauliflower soup with seared diver scallop, leek and lemon oil
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Khori komkuk
Korean style oxtail soup garnished with shredded oxtail and spring onion
Salad
Cripsy Garden Salad
Sesame soy dressing
Thousand Island dressing
Main Courses
*Braised short rib of beef with root vegetables and celeriac-pear puree
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Sam gye tang
Korean style stuffed spring chicken with ginseng and sticky rice stew in broth served with condiments
Sauteed prawns in white wine-pink peppercorn sauce, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes
Braised Cod fillet in hoisin sauce with seasonal vegetables and fried rice
Italian style cold penne pasta with roasted vegetables, pinenuts, olives and rocket-pesto
Dessert
Coconut Panna Cotta with Tropical Soup and Tuile
Coconut Panna Cotta
Cheeses
Brie, Boursin, Emmenthal and Combozola cheeses served with nut, grapes and cracker
Fruits
Fresh Fruit in Season
Entertainment:
KrisWorld is fine and excellent. However, the Sky Map stopped working mid-flight.
Arrival: We arrived at R/W20C on 12:33am, and the gate this evening was E5.
I transit to SQ 970 the next morning and did not want to do a new report. Other than, the strange breakfast dish offered on the F lounge that morning… chicken porridge but you can add an egg. Unfortunately, the porridge was not hot enough and the egg was not that cooked. SQ may not want to serve raw eggs in first class lounge. I still think SQ F lounge can use better food selection. Something is missing. The flight was fine.
July 30, 2007
KL 877 BKK-TPE Lv1340 Arr1815 Boeing 747-400 Combi Ph-BFW “Shanghai”
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Check-in: The new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport is huge and KL shares its check-in counters with AF of course. There is a separate business class line, as well as an Internet line. Things were not chaotic but busy, as both AF and KL operates flights to Hanoi and Taipei respectively this afternoon. The Thai agent was fascinated with my new US passport and was generally nice – not the stoic face that you encounter sometimes with other airlines. Bags were tagged with priority tags and I was given a boarding pass and invitation to the “Sky” Lounge – a joint lounge for Skyteam airlines including Aeroflot, Korean Air (F passengers used a different lounge), Air France, and KLM.
Lounge: Sky Lounge is pretty large in terms of space, and there are a couple MAC computers available, and for wireless connections, you need to ask for the passwords at the reception. Both username and passwords are “tests,” and in terms of food offering, they are limited to sandwiches and mixed nuts, and a decent amount of beverages are available. The lounge was really empty during my whole stay, which was a surprise.
Boarding: The gate was pretty busy, as connecting passengers were required to deplane. Since the Amsterdam flight arrived on time, we began boarding on time at 1:11pm after a number of wheelchair passengers. The F/As were pretty friendly and the usual drinks were offered, as well as menus and headsets. To my surprise, amenity kits were offered after takeoff for those passengers boarded at Bangkok. The amenity kits are the same as Northwest, but used a deep blue color. Prior to arrival, the usual house of gin Defty houses are passed out.
Flight fact: Doors were closed at 1:40pm, and pushed back at 1:47pm. We took off from R/W19L at 2:10pm. Flying time was three hours and thirteen minutes, and our cruising attitude was 37,000feet. Routing took us over Surin and then turned NW after passing the Vietnam city of Danang, and then entering TW at Tainan and up the West Coast towards Taipei.
Seat: It is not the brand new updated World Business Class flat bed seats, but I really like these classic sleeper seats. The seat pitch is 60 and recline is pretty nice, and the footrest comes up fully. The lumbar support can be adjusted and there are headrests that can be used. As you can tell from the pictures, these sleeper seats are pretty nice.
Entertainment: No AVOD, but nine channels of movies and televisions are available, but KLM really should have a video guide detailing the features shown on each channel. The video guides on the seat pocket just listed the movies and televisions shown on the main screen.
Service: Flight attendants are polite and professional but pretty much disappeared before and after the meal. There was a hot snack service, which was offered prior to arrival supposedly (I guess most folks had breakfast prior to landing at Bangkok), and the F/As did a round of mixed nuts and beverage at 2:36pm, and the meals did not appear till 3pm. The purser was generally nice and did her round throughout the cabin. But F/As did not use name to address passengers.
Mixed nuts were really nice though – not the typical AA’s mixed nuts but filled with nice array of white almonds and regular almonds, hazelnuts, and a nice exotic mix. The hot snack service was served all in one tray but they ran out of the chicken entrees very quickly. That was not acceptable for an international flight, and maybe a third choice should be offered. Since I flew this route before, I did not have any expectation, so I was not surprised. But still this meal could use a real dessert. KLM pretty much served most of the meals in one tray.
Wine List
Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut
KLM’s Special Wine
De Linie 2006
White Wine
Albarino 2006, Martin Codax
Saint-Veran 2006, Laboure-Roi, Burgundy
Dessert Wine
Chateau de la Peyrade
Red Wine
Chateau Carignan Prima 2004
Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Rodney Strong
Port
Taylor’s 2000
Late Bottled Vintage
Hot Snack
Prior to arrival, we are pleased to offer you a menu with your choice of a hot snack
Appetizer
Smoked duck breast
On a timbale of couscous with avocado
Hot Snacks
Panang-style Pork Medallion
With stir-fried cabbage, steamed jasmine rice and a coconut curry sauce
Or
Pappardelle noodles with chicken
In a tomato and oregano sauce
Arrival: We landed on Taipei Taoyuan Airport at 6:23pm. R/W23 was used this evening and we parked at gate D5 six minutes later. The immigration counters were well staffed and the bags came out within fifteen minutes. Priority bags somehow came out first.
July 31, 2007
CX 467 TPE-HKG Lv1510 Arr1655 Boeing 777-300ER B-HNE
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Really typical Taipei to Hong Kong flight!
Check-in was efficient and no wait at the first class line.
The lounge was nice as usual and CX was quite busy even in this late afternoon hours, as there are a number of flights heading to Japan and Korea.
Flying time was only an hour and thirteen minutes and our cruising attitude was 38,000feet.
Boarding began at 2:46pm and door was closed on time at 3pm. We pushed back at 3:04pm and took off from R/W6 at 3:14pm.
Flight attendants were pretty nice and the purser did say hi to everyone. The loading was pretty light so the meal service was carried out in a nice pace. Beverages were offered various times, and it was a nice flight in general.
Wine List
Champagne
Billecart-Salmon Brut Champagne
White Wines
Paul Sapin Macon Lugny Cuvee Prestige 2005
Watershed Margaret River Unoaked Chardonnay 2005
Red Wines
Kirrihill Companions Clare Valley Shiraz 2004
Vieux Chateau Landon, Cru Bourgeois Medoc 2003
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2000
Disznoko Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1996
401, 403, 405, 461, 467, 469, 471, 473 1-7-2007
Taipei to Hong Kong
Refreshment
Starter
Caesar Salad
Main Courses
Egg fried rice with pork and shrimps
Or
Macaroni with pesto tomato cream sauce topped with grilled chicken breast
Dessert
Chocolate Banana Cake
405/407/469-2106J/C1 <J~J/07>
The weather was really nice in HK and the approach was nice, so I took various pictures. We landed on R/W25R at 4:27pm and we parked at gate 69 at 4:34pm.
August 1, 2007
CX 872 HKG-SFO Lv1625 Arr1350
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Well after flying this flight, I had flown to all of Cathay Pacific’s North American passenger destinations on Cathay Pacific. SFO was also known as a notorious full flight and there was a better chance of opup, but with my “D” class tickets, I should not expect anything and the flight indeed was full but most opups were from Y to J, including the Mormon girl sitting next to me.
I checked in really early this afternoon because I wanted to visit terminal two and had to check out early anyway from Novotel. The First class counter was really empty and I was checked in within five minutes and was on my way over. I could not get 86A this morning, but 11K was good enough.
Terminal Two was really nice, and I recommend you utilizing it. The choices for restaurants and shops were excellent, and I had a nice bowl of beef brisket noodles and Shui gaw at a pretty famous restaurant, “Wong Chee”… Then I decide to check out the brand new open Sky DECK… yes we finally got an observation deck in Hong Kong. The location was at the aviation discovery center. Please remember to buy the ticket at the entrance. It is only HKD$10 (USD$1.25), and the view is amazing. However, I did not stay long because it was really hot up there despite of a light breeze. I also had a long flight ahead and did not want to smell badly for my neighbor. I only stayed there for five minutes and watched a couple planes landing, including a Korean Air’s Boeing 747 Cargo, as well as many CX planes. The 1pm time was pretty good, as the airport was extremely busy. I saw a number of folks taking pictures, (possibly from Hong Kong Aviation Board) and my digital camera is no match. But for those who love planes and have the right equipments. It is a fun place to spend a whole afternoon in. Just remember to dress appropriately, wear a cap, sunglasses, bring a bottled of water (freeze it the evening before), wear your sun tan lotion, and be ware of the heat!
Another good thing about Terminal Two is that the immigration and security checkpoints are literally deserted, and there was no line whatsoever. The train ride back to the main terminal was short and nice. I headed to the Wing a bit and had a bit more to eat, as well as check emails and do those fun stuff. After an hour, I decided to head out and check out the Air Canada’s Airbus A340-500s, as they will be replaced by Boeing 777-200LR beginning August 5th. So I took a series of pictures of C-GKOM pushing back. Plane-spotting is interesting: El Al 4X-ECB heading back to TLV, CX 744 B-HOO as CX 882 to LAX, CX 343 B-HXL, Qatar’s Airbus A330-200 A7-AFL, Shanghai Air’s B-2500, and spotted B-HOT heading to MNL at 4:30pm.
I arrived at gate 30 around 3:45pm and found B-HOP was used on today’s flight to SFO. The gate was pretty packed, and no wonder folks wonder why it took CX years before finalizing the second SFO nonstop flight. Boarding finally began at 3:53pm and there was a secondary security check inside the gate, so no liquids at all. There were additional CX staffs directing passengers, so the scene was under control.
J cabin was 100% full but I have to say the F/A service was really not great or even up to the typical CX standard. They are not mean or whatsoever, but just not up to the usual CX standard. They are all fine with my requests, but there are just something lacking here. Perhaps the F/As were pretty stressed because of the full J cabin. I also found out that the purser no longer did a round of introduction to all the J passengers, especially oneworld elites anymore. I always like that little gesture and that recognition of the oneworld status is much appreciated.
Door was closed at 4:28pm, and we pushed back at 4:30pm. We headed to R/W25R quickly. Just a show of the busy afternoon takeoff lineup:
CX 882 just took off when we arrived at the queue at 4:43pm
Then another CX’s Airbus A340-300 (YVR or ANC/YYZ)…CX’s A330-300 B-LAB, China Eastern’s Airbus A320, and then our turn, and then Airbus A330 B-HLD, and 773 B-HNF…
We took off at 4:38pm and immediately climbed up to 25,000feet, and then further to 27,000feet before reaching Makung, and then 31,000feet and 33,000feet before reaching Kagoshima, and throughout the night we climbed in 10,000increments at various stage, before reaching to 37,000feet. The route was pretty Southernly and did not enter any land till we reach North Californian coast.
Beverages and marinated olives started at 5:15pm, and the F/As also passed out Evian bottled waters before the meal and beverage service. Mixed nuts have to be requested. No more amuse bouche! (In terms of cutbacks, no more “towels” at the bathroom anymore… only napkins!)… F/As rolled out the beverage cart, followed by dinner setup – appetizer and salad. Breadbasket features sesame twist rolls with pine nuts and garlic bread. The salad is a basic Mesclun salad with yellow pepper strips, cherry tomato and radish slices. Fruit selection includes melon, pineapple, strawberry, and big grapes. Here is the wine list and menu transcript!
Wine List
Champagne
Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Paul Sapin Macon Lugny Cuvee Prestige 2005
Sebastiani Sonoma County Chardonnay 2005
Red Wines
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Chateau De Mercey Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2005
Laroche Vina Punto Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2000
Hong Kong to San Francisco
Dinner
Starters
Seared Tuna with salad of green beans, semi sun-dried tomato, chat potatoes, olives and wasabi mayonnaise
Seasonal Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Main Courses
Braised sea bass filled with preserved gooseberry sauce, steamed rice and Chinese mixed vegetables
Or
Braised Lamb Shoulders rack with Kipfler potatoes and roasted mixed vegetables
Or
Malaysian style Chicken Curry with steamed rice and sautéed vegetables
Or
Garganelli with artichoke and mushrooms in tomato basil sauce
Cheese and dessert
Cambozola, Cheddar and Reblochon
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Orange chocolate mousse cake served with vanilla sauce
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Snacks
Sandwich selection
Grilled seafood skewer with tartar sauce
Barbecued Duck in noodle soup
Shui gaw with choy sum in noodle soup
Haagen-Dazs ice cream
I slept a bit and then watched television programs for most of the flights. The best part of flying CX is the opportunity to watch many local Hong Kong and Taiwan television shows. I had a bowl of the duck noodles in the middle of the flight, and the F/As made a couple rounds throughout the evening.
Lights were turned on at 2:30am/11:30am, and I thought it was too early. Breakfast did not take two hours and thirty minutes to serve. I think two hours are more than sufficient. Anyhow, hot towels and juice started the flight and I enjoy the smoothie tremendously.
The fruit plate features cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi, and the choice of breads include croissants, chocolate muffins, and soft rolls. The choice of yogurts is Berries Paradise and Kiwi-Grapefruit, as well as cereals include cornflakes and Muesli. I had the Chinese dim sum entrée, which includes Glutinous rice filled with pork, mushroom, and salty egg wrapped in lotus leaf, Quail egg on top of siu mai, shrimp dumpling, and Vegetarian dim sum filled with mushrooms and fungus.
Refreshment
Starters
Orange or apple juice
Mango and passionfruit smoothie
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Fruit yogurt
Assorted Cereals
Main Courses
Frittata with asparagus and pancetta, pan-fried Cumberland sausage, broiled bacon and roasted potatoes
Or
Chinese Dim Sum served with chili sauce
Or
Poached egg with spinach and Hollandaise sauce, chicken sausages, potato cake with spring onion and cheese, grilled roma tomato with herbs
Bread Basket
Assorted rolls and breakfast pastries served with preserves, honey and butter
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
872-30132J <08/07>
Breakfast finished in an hour, and for the rest of the flight, I was watching televisions. Descent began at 1:24pm and we landed on R/W28R at 2:01pm, and then parked at gate A11 at 2:08pm, and parked next to Air France’s Boeing 747-400 F-GISE.
In conclusion, Cathay Pacific is an alright experience, but the F/As quality seem to suffer a bit of inconsistency and seem to be easily stressed over the full flights. Therefore I continue to prefer Singapore Airlines just a bit more these days, and of course, CX still has the Hong Kong factor that I really like – the TV, newspapers, magazines, and the food.
Anyway, thanks for reading the report!
Carfield
Dear all,
Here comes the transpacific front! This trip is a the last half of a deeply discounted first class ticket offered by Asiana between BKK and the West Coast, which has discontinued since earlier this year. It is sad to not be able to buy this good deal and this will perhaps be my last Asiana first class report for a while. To be honest, with the current first class seats offered by Asiana, it is really hard to justify paying full fares even though the service and meals and amenities are excellent in every aspect. The F/As are really friendly and sensitive to your needs. Just wish they speak better English!
July 28, 2007
OZ 201 LAX-ICN 1400 1830+1 Boeing 747-400 Full passenger version HL7418
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Yes, I had to do this trip after arriving from Europe a day earlier, and the day began with a relaxing start at Hilton Los Angeles Airport, and today was pretty exciting as I got to see the brand new Tom Bradley International Terminal Star Alliance first class lounge.
Check-in: Tom Bradley was very busy today as the summer travel continued. Asiana Airlines’ check-in counters are pretty busy but first and business class lines were not too bad. First class line had no one in line, so the agent immediately got my passport and checked me in. Of course, she was having troubles checking me through to Bangkok and her trainee position even made it difficult. At the end, she needed this other girl to check my bag through to BKK (thankfully I caught her only checking me to ICN at first) but despite promotions of seamless travel by Star Alliance, I still cannot get boarding passes for the legs on Singapore Airlines (but on the return, CX has no problem issuing my connecting AA flights from SFO to LAX). Then something new happened – an Asiana representative came and escorted me first from the check-in to the baggage X-ray station (a porter helped with first class folks’ bags), and then the lady escorted me to the fast lane and then to the brand new Star Alliance first class lounge. Due to her rather limited English, we did not talk much but this middle-aged lady was very polite and nice, and told me that she would come back to escort all of us to the gate at 1:20pm. Despite the initial hiccups on checking me through to BKK, the check-in experience is pretty nice and the personal escort service is excellent.
Lounge:
F lounge
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J lounge:
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Next part is the highlight of the trip and first off, the new TBIT Star Alliance Lounge is a major improvement from the cubicles lounges offered by individual airlines years ago. LAX finally caught up in terms of the lounge situation. Star Alliance occupied the fifth floor and Skyteam is on the fourth floor of the South Concourse (Gate 101-106).
First off, the new Star Alliance lounge has expanded tremendously in terms of space. The first class lounge is not that large (which reflects the significant reduction of first class on flights these days), but is right next to the window overseeing the corridor connecting between North and South side of the airport. There are three rows of sofa/armchairs spread out comfortably, as well as a small business station (which is pretty pathetic) and there are no Internet connected computers though (only in business class section). There is a food station featured a wide range of cold and hot food, as well a large fridge featuring a wide array of beers, and soft drinks and bottled waters. The Business Class section features the biggest improvement in terms of spaces, as there are three major seating areas – one back room which is my favorite, as well as two major food stations featuring similar cold and hot food, as well as two mini beverage stations. There is also a long bar at the business class section.
Magazines and newspapers from all over the world featured at entrances to both lounges. There are showers and bathrooms, which were okay. I did not see the showers, but the bathrooms were updated.
The buffets are really nice and in terms of hot food, it features Chinese porridge with many sides, Minestrone Soup and a plate of fried rice, and in terms of cold food, there are sliced fruits, sushi (mostly veggie), freshly made sandwiches, yogurts, cheese wedges (packaged though), salad, and there are also pastries, chips, cereals, and lots of assorted snacks such as mixed nuts and pretzels.
There is also free wifi on the lounge. The new lounge is really nice and worthy for spending some times there.
Plane-spotting:
Korean Air Boeing 777-200ER KE 1 & 2 HL7530
China Eastern Airbus A340-600 B-6051
United Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 New Color N105UA (Tokyo bound)
Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777-200ER ZK-OKE
Korean Air’s Boeing 747-400 HL7492
Lan Chile’s Boeing 767-300ER CC-CCZ heading to Lima
Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 SQ 11/12 9V-SMY
Cathay Pacific Airways’ Boeing 747-400 CX 884/5 B-HKE
Cathay Pacific Airways’ Boeing 747-400 CX 882 B-HOO
Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 D-ABVM First FRA flight
Flight fact:
Another hiccup was that the lady indeed arrived at 1:20pm to pick up a majority of the first and business class passengers to gate 104, but of course, the plane was not quite ready due to late arrival and the typical TBIT. As you can tell from the pictures, catering is still on board, as we arrived at the gate. Boarding finally began at 1:45pm.
We pushed back at 2:26pm and took off from R/W25L at 2:42pm.
Flying time is eleven hours and fifty-two minute (estimate is eleven hours and twenty-eight minutes).
Routing: Climbed up to 32,000feet as we passed San Francisco and North California – Further to 34,000feet, as we approached Anchorage/Seward, and then 36,000feet, and back down to 35,000feet before we crossed the Kamchatka Islands, and into the Sakhalin Islands, and onto the eastern coast of Russian Far east, and then west after reaching Dakdo in the East Sea.
Amenities: Pajama and the new Bulgari amenity kits (different for men and women). The women kits are nicer, so I recommend you got that one. Pre-arrival gift is a Lanvin’s tie pin.
Flight Attendants: Other than poor English proficiency, you really cannot find faults with them. The meals were carried out efficiently and they were polite and always looked into your eyes. They smile and nothing is too much hassle for them. My neighbor did not take much part on the meals, and the F/As kept on asking if she felt alright and did she need more food and drinks? For the hot snack, she asked for fruits only and the F/As immediately went to get her some fruits. It is just so different from your typical US airlines’ experience. These F/As really enjoy their jobs and feel highly about the job. When I asked for stationary kits and playing cards, she grabbed me a handful of them. I ended up giving the F/As a box of Godiva chocolates (from Belgium) because the F/As on all my OZ flights had always been great.
Meals and wines: The pictures pretty much said it all.
Wine List
Champagne
1998 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck Brut
White Wines
2004 Chablis 1er Cru, Fourchaume
2004 Raymond Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2004
2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Red Wines
1999 Chablis Leoville Poyferre, 2e Cru Classe, Saint-Julien
2001 Vosne Romanee 1er Cru, Domaine Bertagna
2001 Clos Du Val
Dessert Wines
Port Sandman 20 Years Old Tawny Porto
Blandy’s 10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
2003 Jackson Triggs Vidal VQA Ice Wine
Menu
Lunch
Selection of Canapés
Celery with Cream Cheese
Ham and Pickle on Toast
Ahi on Toast
Hors d’oeuvre
Pate on Fresh Lettuce
Marinated Shrimp and Indian Vegetable Salad
Asparagus Cream Soup
Or
Tomato Vegetable Soup
Mixed Garden Salad
Served with Ranch dressing and Basil Vinegar Dressing
Main Courses
Grilled Lobster
Served with Saffron Tomato Sauce
Or
“Mixing and Harmonizing” Korean Royal Cuisine “Bi-Bim-Bab”
Steamed rice mixed with Various kinds of vegetables, accompanied by hot pepper paste, sesame oil, assorted side dishes and soup
Or
Beef Tenderloin Steak
Served with Pinot Noir Sauce
To complement your meal choice
Potato, Various kinds of vegetables
Steamed rice
Assorted Cheeses
Fresh Fruit
Dessert
Grand Marnier Cake
Coffee & Tea
Assorted Petits Fours
Snack
Appetizer
Marinated Shrimps, Scallop and Pastrami
Grilled Lamb Chop
Served with Tomato Tapenade
Or
Fried Shrimps with Coconut
Served with Plum Sauce
Or
Fried Seabass with Panko and Crab
Served with Lemon Basil Cream Sauce
To complement your meal choice
Potato Croquette, Pasta, Pak-Choy, Baby Corn and Carrot
Apple Tart
Coffee & Tea
Refreshments
Udong
Hot Ramen
Sandwiches
Assorted Fresh Fruits
OZ 202/201
SEL/LAX/SEL
F/C
2007C2-20070701
Entertainment: that is the weakest link and the classic personal television system is pretty poor. But there is a large array of magazines and newspapers.
Arrival: We slowed down a bit due to heavy traffic at Incheon, and we landed on R/W33R at 6:34pm and parked at gate 12 at 6:45pm, and this plane would head back to JFK later that night.
July 29, 2007
SQ 15 ICN-SIN Lv1945 Arr0100+1 Boeing 777-300ER 9V-SWB
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Transit: that is the poorest part of the trip because the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge cannot check me in, and I had to head back to the Korean Air transit counters C for the oneward boarding pass to SIN and BKK. The KE agent was fine and pretty efficient, but the lounge should be able to check folks in and a good priority privilege.
Lounge: the Silver Kris First Class lounge is pretty crowded with a number of flights departing at that evening. The F class features a nice food selection. I had a bowl of Korean Somen noodles with shrimps.
Boarding: Very efficient and boarding had already taken place as I arrived at the gate. There was an announcement at the lounge. Once on board, the SQ F/As immediately escorted me to my seat, offered me newspapers and magazines, a pre-takeoff beverage, the menu, as well as amenity kit and the new PJ. Thank goodness! Despite of reports on these amenities being cut, these are available on this short flight. Loading is like 5 out of 8.
Flight fact: flying time is five hours and twenty-six minutes, and the routing is a typical ICN-Jeju-Taipei-SIN. We were at 34,000feet initially and then up to 36,000feet.
Seat: Nothing much to add about the seat, but I really miss the old 747 seat, when I can just recline the seat when I feel tired, and the current recline on the 77W is really limited and hard to find a comfortable position to watch television.
Meal: Dinner is served an hour after takeoff and the meal is just excellent. An amuse bouche of a cream of mint soup was offered before the meal was nice. I asked for both soups were answered with a “no problem”! The food presented is definitely high quality and restaurant quality.
Wine List
Champagnes
Dom Perignon 1999
Krug Grande Cuvee
White Wines
Chablis Premier Crus Fourchaumes “old vines” 2003, Domaine Laroche
Cloudy Bay Suavignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough
Red Wines
Chateau Cos d’Estournel 1999, Saint-Estephe
Chateau Pichon-Longueville Au Baron De Pichon-Longueville 1998, Pauillac
Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Napa Valley
Port
Graham’s 20 Years Old Tawny Port Portugal
Dinner from Seoul to Singapore
Canapés
Satay
With Onion, Cucumber and Spicy Peanut Sauce
Appetizers
Malossal caviar with duck foie gras and waldorf salad
*Confit of Tuna with fingerling potato, quail egg, capers and arugula salad
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Soups
*Cauliflower soup with seared diver scallop, leek and lemon oil
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Khori komkuk
Korean style oxtail soup garnished with shredded oxtail and spring onion
Salad
Cripsy Garden Salad
Sesame soy dressing
Thousand Island dressing
Main Courses
*Braised short rib of beef with root vegetables and celeriac-pear puree
Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York
Sam gye tang
Korean style stuffed spring chicken with ginseng and sticky rice stew in broth served with condiments
Sauteed prawns in white wine-pink peppercorn sauce, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes
Braised Cod fillet in hoisin sauce with seasonal vegetables and fried rice
Italian style cold penne pasta with roasted vegetables, pinenuts, olives and rocket-pesto
Dessert
Coconut Panna Cotta with Tropical Soup and Tuile
Coconut Panna Cotta
Cheeses
Brie, Boursin, Emmenthal and Combozola cheeses served with nut, grapes and cracker
Fruits
Fresh Fruit in Season
Entertainment:
KrisWorld is fine and excellent. However, the Sky Map stopped working mid-flight.
Arrival: We arrived at R/W20C on 12:33am, and the gate this evening was E5.
I transit to SQ 970 the next morning and did not want to do a new report. Other than, the strange breakfast dish offered on the F lounge that morning… chicken porridge but you can add an egg. Unfortunately, the porridge was not hot enough and the egg was not that cooked. SQ may not want to serve raw eggs in first class lounge. I still think SQ F lounge can use better food selection. Something is missing. The flight was fine.
July 30, 2007
KL 877 BKK-TPE Lv1340 Arr1815 Boeing 747-400 Combi Ph-BFW “Shanghai”
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Check-in: The new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport is huge and KL shares its check-in counters with AF of course. There is a separate business class line, as well as an Internet line. Things were not chaotic but busy, as both AF and KL operates flights to Hanoi and Taipei respectively this afternoon. The Thai agent was fascinated with my new US passport and was generally nice – not the stoic face that you encounter sometimes with other airlines. Bags were tagged with priority tags and I was given a boarding pass and invitation to the “Sky” Lounge – a joint lounge for Skyteam airlines including Aeroflot, Korean Air (F passengers used a different lounge), Air France, and KLM.
Lounge: Sky Lounge is pretty large in terms of space, and there are a couple MAC computers available, and for wireless connections, you need to ask for the passwords at the reception. Both username and passwords are “tests,” and in terms of food offering, they are limited to sandwiches and mixed nuts, and a decent amount of beverages are available. The lounge was really empty during my whole stay, which was a surprise.
Boarding: The gate was pretty busy, as connecting passengers were required to deplane. Since the Amsterdam flight arrived on time, we began boarding on time at 1:11pm after a number of wheelchair passengers. The F/As were pretty friendly and the usual drinks were offered, as well as menus and headsets. To my surprise, amenity kits were offered after takeoff for those passengers boarded at Bangkok. The amenity kits are the same as Northwest, but used a deep blue color. Prior to arrival, the usual house of gin Defty houses are passed out.
Flight fact: Doors were closed at 1:40pm, and pushed back at 1:47pm. We took off from R/W19L at 2:10pm. Flying time was three hours and thirteen minutes, and our cruising attitude was 37,000feet. Routing took us over Surin and then turned NW after passing the Vietnam city of Danang, and then entering TW at Tainan and up the West Coast towards Taipei.
Seat: It is not the brand new updated World Business Class flat bed seats, but I really like these classic sleeper seats. The seat pitch is 60 and recline is pretty nice, and the footrest comes up fully. The lumbar support can be adjusted and there are headrests that can be used. As you can tell from the pictures, these sleeper seats are pretty nice.
Entertainment: No AVOD, but nine channels of movies and televisions are available, but KLM really should have a video guide detailing the features shown on each channel. The video guides on the seat pocket just listed the movies and televisions shown on the main screen.
Service: Flight attendants are polite and professional but pretty much disappeared before and after the meal. There was a hot snack service, which was offered prior to arrival supposedly (I guess most folks had breakfast prior to landing at Bangkok), and the F/As did a round of mixed nuts and beverage at 2:36pm, and the meals did not appear till 3pm. The purser was generally nice and did her round throughout the cabin. But F/As did not use name to address passengers.
Mixed nuts were really nice though – not the typical AA’s mixed nuts but filled with nice array of white almonds and regular almonds, hazelnuts, and a nice exotic mix. The hot snack service was served all in one tray but they ran out of the chicken entrees very quickly. That was not acceptable for an international flight, and maybe a third choice should be offered. Since I flew this route before, I did not have any expectation, so I was not surprised. But still this meal could use a real dessert. KLM pretty much served most of the meals in one tray.
Wine List
Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut
KLM’s Special Wine
De Linie 2006
White Wine
Albarino 2006, Martin Codax
Saint-Veran 2006, Laboure-Roi, Burgundy
Dessert Wine
Chateau de la Peyrade
Red Wine
Chateau Carignan Prima 2004
Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Rodney Strong
Port
Taylor’s 2000
Late Bottled Vintage
Hot Snack
Prior to arrival, we are pleased to offer you a menu with your choice of a hot snack
Appetizer
Smoked duck breast
On a timbale of couscous with avocado
Hot Snacks
Panang-style Pork Medallion
With stir-fried cabbage, steamed jasmine rice and a coconut curry sauce
Or
Pappardelle noodles with chicken
In a tomato and oregano sauce
Arrival: We landed on Taipei Taoyuan Airport at 6:23pm. R/W23 was used this evening and we parked at gate D5 six minutes later. The immigration counters were well staffed and the bags came out within fifteen minutes. Priority bags somehow came out first.
July 31, 2007
CX 467 TPE-HKG Lv1510 Arr1655 Boeing 777-300ER B-HNE
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Really typical Taipei to Hong Kong flight!
Check-in was efficient and no wait at the first class line.
The lounge was nice as usual and CX was quite busy even in this late afternoon hours, as there are a number of flights heading to Japan and Korea.
Flying time was only an hour and thirteen minutes and our cruising attitude was 38,000feet.
Boarding began at 2:46pm and door was closed on time at 3pm. We pushed back at 3:04pm and took off from R/W6 at 3:14pm.
Flight attendants were pretty nice and the purser did say hi to everyone. The loading was pretty light so the meal service was carried out in a nice pace. Beverages were offered various times, and it was a nice flight in general.
Wine List
Champagne
Billecart-Salmon Brut Champagne
White Wines
Paul Sapin Macon Lugny Cuvee Prestige 2005
Watershed Margaret River Unoaked Chardonnay 2005
Red Wines
Kirrihill Companions Clare Valley Shiraz 2004
Vieux Chateau Landon, Cru Bourgeois Medoc 2003
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2000
Disznoko Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1996
401, 403, 405, 461, 467, 469, 471, 473 1-7-2007
Taipei to Hong Kong
Refreshment
Starter
Caesar Salad
Main Courses
Egg fried rice with pork and shrimps
Or
Macaroni with pesto tomato cream sauce topped with grilled chicken breast
Dessert
Chocolate Banana Cake
405/407/469-2106J/C1 <J~J/07>
The weather was really nice in HK and the approach was nice, so I took various pictures. We landed on R/W25R at 4:27pm and we parked at gate 69 at 4:34pm.
August 1, 2007
CX 872 HKG-SFO Lv1625 Arr1350
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Well after flying this flight, I had flown to all of Cathay Pacific’s North American passenger destinations on Cathay Pacific. SFO was also known as a notorious full flight and there was a better chance of opup, but with my “D” class tickets, I should not expect anything and the flight indeed was full but most opups were from Y to J, including the Mormon girl sitting next to me.
I checked in really early this afternoon because I wanted to visit terminal two and had to check out early anyway from Novotel. The First class counter was really empty and I was checked in within five minutes and was on my way over. I could not get 86A this morning, but 11K was good enough.
Terminal Two was really nice, and I recommend you utilizing it. The choices for restaurants and shops were excellent, and I had a nice bowl of beef brisket noodles and Shui gaw at a pretty famous restaurant, “Wong Chee”… Then I decide to check out the brand new open Sky DECK… yes we finally got an observation deck in Hong Kong. The location was at the aviation discovery center. Please remember to buy the ticket at the entrance. It is only HKD$10 (USD$1.25), and the view is amazing. However, I did not stay long because it was really hot up there despite of a light breeze. I also had a long flight ahead and did not want to smell badly for my neighbor. I only stayed there for five minutes and watched a couple planes landing, including a Korean Air’s Boeing 747 Cargo, as well as many CX planes. The 1pm time was pretty good, as the airport was extremely busy. I saw a number of folks taking pictures, (possibly from Hong Kong Aviation Board) and my digital camera is no match. But for those who love planes and have the right equipments. It is a fun place to spend a whole afternoon in. Just remember to dress appropriately, wear a cap, sunglasses, bring a bottled of water (freeze it the evening before), wear your sun tan lotion, and be ware of the heat!
Another good thing about Terminal Two is that the immigration and security checkpoints are literally deserted, and there was no line whatsoever. The train ride back to the main terminal was short and nice. I headed to the Wing a bit and had a bit more to eat, as well as check emails and do those fun stuff. After an hour, I decided to head out and check out the Air Canada’s Airbus A340-500s, as they will be replaced by Boeing 777-200LR beginning August 5th. So I took a series of pictures of C-GKOM pushing back. Plane-spotting is interesting: El Al 4X-ECB heading back to TLV, CX 744 B-HOO as CX 882 to LAX, CX 343 B-HXL, Qatar’s Airbus A330-200 A7-AFL, Shanghai Air’s B-2500, and spotted B-HOT heading to MNL at 4:30pm.
I arrived at gate 30 around 3:45pm and found B-HOP was used on today’s flight to SFO. The gate was pretty packed, and no wonder folks wonder why it took CX years before finalizing the second SFO nonstop flight. Boarding finally began at 3:53pm and there was a secondary security check inside the gate, so no liquids at all. There were additional CX staffs directing passengers, so the scene was under control.
J cabin was 100% full but I have to say the F/A service was really not great or even up to the typical CX standard. They are not mean or whatsoever, but just not up to the usual CX standard. They are all fine with my requests, but there are just something lacking here. Perhaps the F/As were pretty stressed because of the full J cabin. I also found out that the purser no longer did a round of introduction to all the J passengers, especially oneworld elites anymore. I always like that little gesture and that recognition of the oneworld status is much appreciated.
Door was closed at 4:28pm, and we pushed back at 4:30pm. We headed to R/W25R quickly. Just a show of the busy afternoon takeoff lineup:
CX 882 just took off when we arrived at the queue at 4:43pm
Then another CX’s Airbus A340-300 (YVR or ANC/YYZ)…CX’s A330-300 B-LAB, China Eastern’s Airbus A320, and then our turn, and then Airbus A330 B-HLD, and 773 B-HNF…
We took off at 4:38pm and immediately climbed up to 25,000feet, and then further to 27,000feet before reaching Makung, and then 31,000feet and 33,000feet before reaching Kagoshima, and throughout the night we climbed in 10,000increments at various stage, before reaching to 37,000feet. The route was pretty Southernly and did not enter any land till we reach North Californian coast.
Beverages and marinated olives started at 5:15pm, and the F/As also passed out Evian bottled waters before the meal and beverage service. Mixed nuts have to be requested. No more amuse bouche! (In terms of cutbacks, no more “towels” at the bathroom anymore… only napkins!)… F/As rolled out the beverage cart, followed by dinner setup – appetizer and salad. Breadbasket features sesame twist rolls with pine nuts and garlic bread. The salad is a basic Mesclun salad with yellow pepper strips, cherry tomato and radish slices. Fruit selection includes melon, pineapple, strawberry, and big grapes. Here is the wine list and menu transcript!
Wine List
Champagne
Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Paul Sapin Macon Lugny Cuvee Prestige 2005
Sebastiani Sonoma County Chardonnay 2005
Red Wines
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Chateau De Mercey Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2005
Laroche Vina Punto Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2000
Hong Kong to San Francisco
Dinner
Starters
Seared Tuna with salad of green beans, semi sun-dried tomato, chat potatoes, olives and wasabi mayonnaise
Seasonal Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Main Courses
Braised sea bass filled with preserved gooseberry sauce, steamed rice and Chinese mixed vegetables
Or
Braised Lamb Shoulders rack with Kipfler potatoes and roasted mixed vegetables
Or
Malaysian style Chicken Curry with steamed rice and sautéed vegetables
Or
Garganelli with artichoke and mushrooms in tomato basil sauce
Cheese and dessert
Cambozola, Cheddar and Reblochon
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Orange chocolate mousse cake served with vanilla sauce
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Snacks
Sandwich selection
Grilled seafood skewer with tartar sauce
Barbecued Duck in noodle soup
Shui gaw with choy sum in noodle soup
Haagen-Dazs ice cream
I slept a bit and then watched television programs for most of the flights. The best part of flying CX is the opportunity to watch many local Hong Kong and Taiwan television shows. I had a bowl of the duck noodles in the middle of the flight, and the F/As made a couple rounds throughout the evening.
Lights were turned on at 2:30am/11:30am, and I thought it was too early. Breakfast did not take two hours and thirty minutes to serve. I think two hours are more than sufficient. Anyhow, hot towels and juice started the flight and I enjoy the smoothie tremendously.
The fruit plate features cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi, and the choice of breads include croissants, chocolate muffins, and soft rolls. The choice of yogurts is Berries Paradise and Kiwi-Grapefruit, as well as cereals include cornflakes and Muesli. I had the Chinese dim sum entrée, which includes Glutinous rice filled with pork, mushroom, and salty egg wrapped in lotus leaf, Quail egg on top of siu mai, shrimp dumpling, and Vegetarian dim sum filled with mushrooms and fungus.
Refreshment
Starters
Orange or apple juice
Mango and passionfruit smoothie
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Fruit yogurt
Assorted Cereals
Main Courses
Frittata with asparagus and pancetta, pan-fried Cumberland sausage, broiled bacon and roasted potatoes
Or
Chinese Dim Sum served with chili sauce
Or
Poached egg with spinach and Hollandaise sauce, chicken sausages, potato cake with spring onion and cheese, grilled roma tomato with herbs
Bread Basket
Assorted rolls and breakfast pastries served with preserves, honey and butter
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
872-30132J <08/07>
Breakfast finished in an hour, and for the rest of the flight, I was watching televisions. Descent began at 1:24pm and we landed on R/W28R at 2:01pm, and then parked at gate A11 at 2:08pm, and parked next to Air France’s Boeing 747-400 F-GISE.
In conclusion, Cathay Pacific is an alright experience, but the F/As quality seem to suffer a bit of inconsistency and seem to be easily stressed over the full flights. Therefore I continue to prefer Singapore Airlines just a bit more these days, and of course, CX still has the Hong Kong factor that I really like – the TV, newspapers, magazines, and the food.
Anyway, thanks for reading the report!
Carfield
Aug 4, 2007, 4:12 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: DFW, 3.5 MM, AA EXP, LIFETIME PLATINUM, MARRIOTT LIFETIME PLATINUM, STARWOOD AMBASSADOR 223 NIGHTS, AND LIFETIME GOLD, HILTON DIAMOND, NATIONAL EXECUTIVE ELITE
Posts: 5,847
Thank you as always Carfield for your very detailed reports. I always enjoy reading them.
I must say, though, that I think some of your J class expectations are a bit high. Example: I would not expect a personal greeting by the Purser if I was seated in J on a full flight - even on CX...
I don't say this to hurt your feelings in any way - I just don't want you to be continually disappointed.
Thank you again for the wonderful reports....
PS - I totally agree with you re: AA's new J seats - what a disaster. They are sooo cramped - I don't know what in heck they were thinking....
I must say, though, that I think some of your J class expectations are a bit high. Example: I would not expect a personal greeting by the Purser if I was seated in J on a full flight - even on CX...
I don't say this to hurt your feelings in any way - I just don't want you to be continually disappointed.
Thank you again for the wonderful reports....
PS - I totally agree with you re: AA's new J seats - what a disaster. They are sooo cramped - I don't know what in heck they were thinking....
Aug 4, 2007, 4:42 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,349
Thanks
Thanks for all the comments!
FreeUpgrade... well in the past, the pursuer always stopped by and said hi to all the OW Emerald and MPO Gold and above members in J... and it has always happened even on the short hops between HKG and TPE. But since the beginning of the year, it seems to happen less and less... Maybe CX is cutting F/As on flights again, so pursuer has to help out more... but I always feel that little "hi" is a relatively costless and painless move and makes the experience just that much special... sometimes that extra greeting just makes things a bit more special...
Carfield
FreeUpgrade... well in the past, the pursuer always stopped by and said hi to all the OW Emerald and MPO Gold and above members in J... and it has always happened even on the short hops between HKG and TPE. But since the beginning of the year, it seems to happen less and less... Maybe CX is cutting F/As on flights again, so pursuer has to help out more... but I always feel that little "hi" is a relatively costless and painless move and makes the experience just that much special... sometimes that extra greeting just makes things a bit more special...
Carfield
Aug 6, 2007, 2:04 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: South Bend, IN
Programs: AA EXP 3 MM; Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 18,562
Great report.
It was my experience based on my CX F flights earleir this summer that CX is slipping somewhat. It is still good, but not as good as it was between 2001 and 2005.
As for liquids on the SFO flight, they are allowed, just with the usual 3 oz/100 ml. 1 baggie restriction.
It was my experience based on my CX F flights earleir this summer that CX is slipping somewhat. It is still good, but not as good as it was between 2001 and 2005.
As for liquids on the SFO flight, they are allowed, just with the usual 3 oz/100 ml. 1 baggie restriction.
Aug 6, 2007, 9:54 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Digital Nomad
Programs: AA2MM LIFETIME PLT, Turkish Miles&Smiles Elite, Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,024
Wirelessly posted (T-Mobile Wing PocketPC: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.12) T-Mobile_Atlas)
Carfield,
Great report. It sounded great but I'm sad to hear that your CX flight back to the US was less than the high standard we have all experienced.
You are still my premium class hero.
Carfield,
Great report. It sounded great but I'm sad to hear that your CX flight back to the US was less than the high standard we have all experienced.
You are still my premium class hero.
Sep 8, 2007, 2:11 pm
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 256
Thanks for the report Carfield. What happened to the remaining SFO-LAX report? Or was it just a title typo error? 
I have always been under the impression that CX made a poor descision in prioritizing a 3rd LAX flight over a 2nd SFO flight two years ago. Throughout those periods, SFO was in more desperate need of more seats than LAX. LAX was already sufficiently equipped with 2 flights back then. Somehow from my perception, they just had little confidence in the SFO route during that period despite planes being consistently full and overbooked. It was hard to buy the claim that SFO is a non-OW station as a major cause because BA has been flying 2x daily to SFO for many years.
Even having added the 2nd flight recently, some people with high Marco Polo Status I know have said that finding award availability on the SFO flights (even the new one) is almost impossible from Nov to March of next year. On the other hand they noted that many dates for the same period for the LAX flights have award seats available.
Well after flying this flight, I had flown to all of Cathay Pacific’s North American passenger destinations on Cathay Pacific. SFO was also known as a notorious full flight and there was a better chance of opup, but with my “D” class tickets, I should not expect anything and the flight indeed was full but most opups were from Y to J, including the Mormon girl sitting next to me........I arrived at gate 30 around 3:45pm and found B-HOP was used on today’s flight to SFO. The gate was pretty packed, and no wonder folks wonder why it took CX years before finalizing the second SFO nonstop flight.
Even having added the 2nd flight recently, some people with high Marco Polo Status I know have said that finding award availability on the SFO flights (even the new one) is almost impossible from Nov to March of next year. On the other hand they noted that many dates for the same period for the LAX flights have award seats available.