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Last Minute Wanderlust: Cambodia and Thailand in LX J and JL F

Last Minute Wanderlust: Cambodia and Thailand in LX J and JL F

Old Jul 27, 2014, 7:03 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: YYZ
Posts: 1,666
Last Minute Wanderlust: Cambodia and Thailand in LX J and JL F

Introduction:

Well, I never thought I would be starting on another trip report so soon.

Ever had that overwhelming desire to travel? One afternoon, I was feeling down as I'll admit to becoming addicted to flying (and hadn't been on a plane for about 2 months), and just had to go somewhere for a vacation as I wasn't doing much for the next 2 weeks.

Watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat has been on my list for a while. But every time I've tried to go, something has gotten in my way. But not this time.

This will be the first trip report I am going to write and update as I progress through this trip. All I have plans to do are to spend 2 nights in Phnom Penh, followed by 3 nights in Siem Reap. After that, I'll let my curiosity take me through the next 9 days.

Flight Plan:

Ticket 1:

Air Canada Economy Class Toronto to Montreal
Swiss Business Class Montreal to Zurich
Swiss Business Class Zurich to Hong Kong

If all goes well, the short YYZ-YUL hop will be my first flight on the 787 Dreamliner. Unfortunately, I was only able to book it into economy, though I have a chance at getting an upgrade as I am ticketed on an Aeroplan business award ticket. I have time for lunch in Montreal with an old friend, followed by a day-long layover in Zurich.

Total Cost: 75,000 Aeroplan Miles + $77.46 CAD.

Ticket 2:

Dragonair Hong Kong to Phnom Penh

Total Cost: 7,500 Avios + $45.04 CAD

Ticket 3: (provisional)

Cathay Pacific First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Tokyo Narita
Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo Narita to Chicago O'Hare
American Airlines Business Class Chicago O'Hare to Toronto

All I can say is, I'm hoping I don't get CXed with an equipment swap on the first two legs which are respectively on a 77W and 747.

Total Cost: 67,500 AAdvantage Miles + $95.00 CAD + $35 Booking Fee

Trip Report Table of Contents:
tng11 is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 1:32 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
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Posts: 952
Looking forward to reading this one! I'm amazed at how many trips you seem to take!
roastpuff is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 1:33 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 907
Sounds like a good trip and I am looking forward to hearing how the trip is

I have enjoyed all your other trips and if it is possible to include the hotel you stay at and a recommendation of the place then that would be even better

Henrus
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Old Jul 28, 2014, 6:52 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,761
Looking forward to what should be a great report!

Also hoping that the equipment on those two legs comes through for you! BKK seems to see a good bit of regionally-configured stuff, so nice to see you got on a flight with F. And the 747 never gets old.
arlflyer is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 2:07 pm
  #5  
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Air Canada Maple Leaf Domestic Lounge Toronto

At 6:00am, YYZ was buzzing with activity at domestic departures. Priority Check-In had no lines, however there was some confusion about where to tag my bag to, and if I could be put on the standby list for an upgrade. Unfortunately, I would have to pick up my bag in ZRH, but thankfully it seems LX allows one to check in early, so it's just a matter of heading back up to departures.


2014-07-28 06.03.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr

With my NEXUS card, I was through security in a jiffy and took a left turn towards the Maple Leaf Lounge. Despite being based in YYZ, believe it or not, this is my first time visiting the Maple Leaf Lounge in YYZ. The dragons were confused about whether I was allowed access, as I had a Y boarding pass to Montreal, no *G status but Business Class boarding passes for my longhaul segment. There was a line up building behind me as the dragons tried to figure out whether to allow me access or not.

It seems like everyone is an Air Canada elite these days. The lounge was quite busy at this time of the day, with quite a long lineup just to get some of the hot breakfast items (I saw there were eggs and sausages.) By the way, the breakfast spread is better than many US lounges I've seen, so +1 to AC for that.


2014-07-28 06.28.12 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-07-28 06.40.24 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Eventually I found an empty pair of seats and set up shop there. Unfortunately, the pair across from me were talking loudly and throwing profanities out, all very proud about what a great deal closing they were going to have.


2014-07-28 07.05.02 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I left for Gate D26 almost 20 minutes before boarding time. The plan was to break out the DSLR and get some good shots of the new 787-800 that was going to take us to Montreal. Now, I know it's a short flight, and I have it booked for LHR-YYZ next January, but this was one Economy flight I was actually excited for just because it would be my first 787 ride. In my excitement I walked in the wrong direction to the 40s gates and had to walk all the way back.


2014-07-28 07.09.35 by jurastudent, on Flickr

But, this is what I ended up seeing.


2014-07-28 07.17.16-1 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My facial expressions progressed as follows:

In case you don't know, that is clearly not a 787. It was a rather decrepit 767-300. Oh well, I'll survive this one-hour flight, but now I'm praying AC doesn't pull another last second switcheroo on my LHR-YYZ flight that I purposely extended my layover just to ride it.

When boarding was called, it seemed like everyone had priority boarding. In fact, the lice lineup for priority boarding was longer than the regular line. And they just kept coming, with us plebians just standing there and waiting. The line was also further stuffed up because the seat assignments had all gone awry because of the last minute aircraft swap (at 6am I was told at check-in it would be the 787.)

Until... they paged a bunch of names, and I heard my name.

"Mr. tng11, here's your new boarding pass." Not a window, but heck, Seat 32K for 3F? Sign me up! I haven't tried the AC "pods" yet, so it wasn't a total loss. ^
tng11 is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 3:02 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Nice upgrade for the short sector - and I do hope you get the 787-8 for your longer leg!
roastpuff is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 5:40 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Looking forward to ticket 3
alexisonsmith is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 6:05 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
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Great start, looking forward to the rest!
rstruthe is offline  
Old Jul 28, 2014, 6:24 pm
  #9  
was thetravelingRedhead
 
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Looks great, sorry about no 787!
Mrtrash757 is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2014, 1:28 pm
  #10  
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Air Canada Business Class Toronto to Montreal

Air Canada Flight 402
Business Class
Boeing 767-300ER
July 28, 2014
Scheduled: 08:00-09:15
Actual: 08:15-09:01
Seat: 3F+7K
Load: 11/24


Ive walked past these (now outdated) pods before that I was glad I had a chance to try them out. The 1-1-1 configuration gives the A aisle great privacy, but not so much for the other 2 (I was finding myself basically face to face with the passenger in 3K.)


2014-07-28 07.35.42 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My seat:


2014-07-28 07.35.23 by jurastudent, on Flickr

As boarding was continuing, I have never heard so many comments like Wow, look at those seats, I wonder how much these people paid for them

Despite the massive cluster caused by the aircraft swap, boarding was complete just shortly before 8, and we were told that we would make up for most of the delay as todays flight was going to be a rather scant 45 minutes, but we were told to expect the first part of the flight to be rather shaky. With the doors closed, I asked politely if I could move to a window seat (notice the duct tape on 4K beside the TV screen!) , but was told to do so only after take-off. Indeed, after take-off I moved to 7K.


2014-07-28 07.38.04 by jurastudent, on Flickr

View from 7A:


2014-07-28 08.28.57 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The seat is quite comfortable, and much more than adequate for a short-haul flight. Otherwise, I find it rather narrow, but not as coffin-like as the old CX seats as the walls arent as tall. The seats though, are really starting to show their age. There was dirt everywhere, gunk trapped everywhere and the surfaces were all discoloured. Im thinking I should have used my towel to wipe off the seat surfaces.


2014-07-28 08.53.11 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-07-28 08.53.20 by jurastudent, on Flickr

On such a short flight, I was surprised that a hot breakfast was served. There was only one choice of eggs and sausage. Service began with the back of the K rows, moving downwards then up the A aisle.


2014-07-28 08.37.05 by jurastudent, on Flickr

It was actually not bad. Everything on the plate was edible (or maybe I was just really hungry.) By the time the attendant got to the passenger seated in 7A, the pilot announced our descent into Montreal.


2014-07-28 08.37.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr

On landing, we waited a while on the tarmac. The pilot pointed out the new 787-700 that was taxiing out to the runway, and said we had to wait for it to be done its business before we could continue. So that's where it went.


2014-07-28 09.00.45 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-07-28 09.07.51 by jurastudent, on Flickr
tng11 is offline  
Old Jul 30, 2014, 4:33 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
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The seats look a little rough, but nice upgrade nonetheless! Man you are on top of this, I need to step up my turn around speed! Look forward to the rest!
Digital01 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2014, 3:59 am
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
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That picture of gunk in your seat.. ewwwwww.
elleana is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 3:40 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: somewhere north of stateside...
Posts: 4,118
Look forward to the next instalment - great reports on here tng11!
makin'miles is offline  

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