It is very difficult to redeem a ticket to a major tourism destination such as Japan on a long weekend unless I redeemed a year in advance. Otherwise, the next best bet would be at the last minute when they release seats that went unsold. I was lucky to have grabbed one such last-minute seat with my Avios 2 days before departure.

Today's flight was one of a few that had its own set of counters in Aisle A. Guess the regular aisles were too busy as there was barely a line at all for me. The agent asked whether I had a return flight, to which I replied no, then whether I lived in Japan. She then went away for a little bit, then returned and reminded me if Japan's immigration authorities demanded return flight information, then I would need to purchase a ticket on the spot upon arrival.

I had hoped to return my return flight when I reached Japan as Cathay had not released an Economy Class seat for the afternoon flight I liked. However, this possible snafu with immigration did unnerve me a little, although I had no problems getting my boarding pass for today's flight.



Following the friendly reminder, I logged online at the Travelers' Lounge and booked myself a Business Class seat on the afternoon return. Meanwhile, I wondered whether Economy Class was really that full that not even a last-minute seat would be released less than a week before departure?



I got comfortable with my window seat at the back of the plane. Today, I ride the new Economy Class. We pushed back on-time and took a short taxi to position for take-off towards the west.





Construction of the mid-field terminal is well under-way. I had hoped for an eastward take-off to capture aerials of Hong Kong Island with my right window seat. By that time of day, the sun would be glaring at the left windows.







A massive bridge connecting Zhuhai and Macau with Hong Kong is currently under construction. Notice the artificial island futher afield as well as the bridge pylons taking shape.







The new Economy seat has a lot of neat features. The TV screen is now touch-screen, while there is a small pouch below to store your phone, passport, and other small gadgets. A cup holder unfolds below so you don't need to open the table at all. Economy Class appeared full today, and the crew came by offering Japanese newspapers.







I was happy with my ginger ale - 2nd favourite drink in the sky after Cathay Delight.





We crossed Taiwan from southwest to northeast.