Hi all
Another trip to China and an interesting route back this time to take advantage of some sensation fares ex Seoul on Cathay in biz class.
First flight of the day was between Shang Hai and Seoul. I was on the 1335 KE departure which was operated by a 777-200 with new Quasimodo seats in First and Business Class (ok, they're actually called Kosimo I think??... they are the new pale green lie flats in j and full-flat 'suites' in F - looked very nice too).
The flight was about 70 per cent full in economy (where I was) in a 3+3+3 configuration with AVOD. Biz class was 9/28, all of which were in the forward cabin (the second cabin was left empty) and First was 0/8. Dividing curtains were pulled between economy and the second biz cabin, and between the first biz cabin and First Class even though these cabins were empty.
The cabin crew were very attentive, served a full meal (lunch) and a second drinks round and full duty free service (everyone except me bought duty free - I can see this would be a big money earner for them). I ordered a special meal and it was very tasty - lots of fresh vegetables in a kind of stir-fry sauce. That came with a fresh salad with cheese shavings and a trio of fresh fruits for desert.
Now - the Incheon con?? Well I was watchin' the arrival video for Seoul and I really did think I was coming into the Changi of North Asia! I mean there were massages and spas, the cultural centre and museum, rest areas, buzzing cafes, exciting restaurants, performances, internet cafes. Some previous research on the airport to find out about transfers mentioned the day spa offering one of Asia's only 'tub-in-tub' bath experiences (a google search on this only brought up stuff about acid baths...)
'All of this' it said 'located in one seamless area for the exclusive enjoyment of transit passengers'. I really did wonder why people bothered to fly via Singapore when all of this was in Seoul.
Anyways - the reality, while good, was just not that exciting. (Sorry to our Korean FT friends.) Yes the airport was 'nice', but it's not Singapore. The day spa is actually outside immigration I was told (but you can get a massage inside) and the museum was a bit, well, 'museum-ish'. The one thing I really did like was the cultural exhibition store which had some very cool items and I am looking forward to my return visit to stick up on presents (it opens at 7.00am). There were some free activities such as miniature furniture painting and making of fans and things which was kind of fun but otherwise the airport would not be enough to make me change to flying KE rather than SQ or QF for example.
So - arrived at ICN from PVG and had a connecting flight to HKG and MEL leaving 3 hours after I landed. My connection in HKG was actually scheduled for 45 mins, so I erred on the side of caution and only checked my bags to ICN, and planned to then recheck with Cathay from there (to make sure they appreciated the tight connection).
Unfortunately Korean customs and immigration weren't so happy about this immediate turn-around and check-in - couldn't understand why i wouldn't have checked my bags all the way through and simply gone via transit instead of out and back. (So I guess what I wanted to leave for fellow FTers is that you may encounter some non-understanding re mileage runs or other such itineraries if you decide to do anything but transit/transfer in these situations. I did put on the immigration card under intended address 'none - in transit to recheck, CX to HKG'.)
Anyways - that only held me up about 20 mins - full intense search to start which got less and less intense the more I was talking to them and they
seemed to realise I was actually intending to go straight out and check-in again. They had 6 officers including 2 plain-clothes assigned to me
Check-in for CX was fine as was the new lounge - although there were no showers. Good selection of food.
Loads on CX both ICN-HKG and HKG-MEL were very light in biz but 70-80 per cent in economy (in fact the ICN-HKG flight was on was upgauged from a 330 to a 777 due to economy loads). Service was great as a result, and it was about a 50-50 for crew choosing to wear/not wear masks.
The flight ICN-HKG arrived early which was good for the transit times and I managed a shower at the Pier which was surprisingly busy given my 2230 arrival (although seeing the departures board there were a good nine flights out to JFK/LHR/AMS etc).
The flight to MEL was via ADL, the only notable aspect of that was a separate menu was handed out for the ADL-MEL sector - as in the full menu... it was not even a two sector menu continuing back to HKG. (The choice was a snack between a beef and mushroom pastie with salad or noodles with shredded duck.)
This was my third time in the herringbone configuration and have to say that I have changed my mind a little... the seats are kind of narrow... and just a tad uncomfortable because you are always sitting squashed to the side of your pod... however I still think for sleeping it is one of the best (if not the best) out there... lovely and soft and long enough for someone at my height of well over 6'.
Any questions let me know.
Regards
lme ff