To celebrate a possible promotion (or termination in the event that I didn't get promoted), my partner and I planned an extended tour of Asia during the summer. We started planning this trip in September 2014. Ever the frequent flyer enthusiast, I started looking at award availability and was able to book an open-jaw flight from SAT to ICN and HKG and SAT ten months early knowing that our first stop would be Seoul and last stop would be Hong Kong. We would just fill in the rest later.

This trip had a mixture of low-cost and full-service airlines. There was some backtracking and roundabout routes to accommodate another friend's travel schedule for the first half our trip as well as saving money.

Our itinerary was: SAT-LAX (AA F), LAX-NRT (JL F), NRT-ICN (JL J), ICN-HKG (7C), HKG-NRT (UO), HND-BKK (JL J), BKK-LPQ (QV Y), LPQ-REP (VN Y), REP-KUL (AK), KUL-DMK (AK), BKK-KUL-HKG (MH J), HKG-LAX (CX F), LAX-SAT (AA F)

For a more detailed trip report, please visit my blog: http://timut78-tripreports.blogspot....-prologue.html

And here we go...

AA 5901 - SAT-LAX - E75 - Y

It was an early flight at 7am! We were checked in by one of my favorite ticket agents. She even noticed my birthday was coming up and wished me a happy birthday.

This AE flight was operated by Compass Airlines. We had a very young flight and cabin crew. For our FA, it was her first time working on an AA flight. The pilot had to remind the FA of what documents she had to provide the GA. Also, she didn't know how to close the aircraft door--I overheard her talking to the other FA that on DL, it was the GA that closed the door. Despite the minor confusions, service was excellent. Both the flight and cabin crew seemed quite cheerful and personable considering it was a morning flight.

I did a report on the same aircraft in my North Dakota trip report.

F was about 1/2 full with a mostly full economy cabin. They offered cereal with some pre-packaged pastries. However, I declined the meal and just went with coffee. My partner had the cereal:


Upon landing, the pilot thanked us for flying Del...American.

We landed at the dreaded Eagle's Nest in LAX. Fortunately, there was already a bus there when we got to the bus loading area.

Three Lounges

We had a five hour layover at LAX, which required changing terminals T4-TBIT. Even though AA had issued all our boarding passes, I like collecting ones from different airlines. So, we had to wait until the JL ticket counters opened at 10:30am.


We went to the Admirals Club in T4 to wait out some of the time. The AAngel saw that we were flying JL and said we should spend our time in the QF First lounge as it's new. I said we just wanted to relax at the FL for a bit before heading outside to TBIT.

We stayed at the Flagship Lounge for about an hour and then walked over to TBIT. We got there about 5 minutes before their ticket counters opened. There was no one in the F line and only a dozen in the other lines. Pretty soon, all the TAs came out and started check-in.

Even though AA had issued all our boarding passes, I like collecting ones from different airlines. So, we had to wait until the JL ticket counters opened at 10:30am. The TA reissued our LAX-NRT boarding passes and handed us cabin baggage tags for our carryons. Then, she wished me a happy birthday.

We got tags for our cabin baggage.


KE Lounge

We first visited the KE lounge using my Priority Pass at TBIT. There were few people there. The food offerings were mostly snacks like fruit, sandwiches, cup noodles, and drinks.


I really liked the terrace seating that overlooks the terminal. However, we had to leave because there was this loud incessant hum. We had to go back inside because it was too annoying. It was such a pity since I like people watching and the new TBIT is actually quite beautiful. Here are pictures of the view from the terrace.


QF First Lounge

The Qantas First Lounge was the new oneworld lounge. The old oneworld business lounge was still operation. This space was fairly open with lots of seating areas and a couple refreshment areas scattered around with coffee, beverages, and cookies. Here are some pictures of the lounge. The lounge had the most hideous carpet I have ever seen. Looking at it made me physically nauseous and dizzy. It was like looking at a pattern that could never focus.


The dining area was an actual restaurant with waiter service. There was also a bar serving alcohol and coffee drinks, with a bartender/barista. Though a formal restaurant does make the lounge look more classy, I prefer a self-service buffet and bar especially when time is an issue.

Here's the menu:


We were wondering if we should tip the server. I don't believe that tipping is customary in Australia; and I'm sure it's not in the other countries that operate oneworld flights. However, we were still in the US so we just left some tip for the waiter. I figured I wouldn't leave a tip at an AA lounge in LHR.

JL 61 - LAX-NRT - 773 - F

We headed out to the gate a little early so we can just be out in an open area. As we were waiting in the gate area, several JL agents came by to do a passport/boarding pass check. When boarding time came, we lined up at the gate. The JL agent that checked us in saw us and placed us in line.


Here is our airplane from the gate.


We boarded the airplane. My partner had 2D and I had 2G so we had to go down different aisles. And for the next 12 hours, we were separated by a wall. The CAs came by and helped us move down the privacy wall so we could at least see each other.

It was a full F cabin with all seats taken. Here are some pictures of the seat. The first image is of the window seat next to me.


Here's my seat for the next twelve hours.


PDB


The Senior CA came by and introduced herself to my partner and I. She even noticed that we came from SAT earlier in the morning and continuing onto the ICN.

We were given sleeping suits, which had the JAL crane logo on it. (I took this pic after my trip, so it's a bit wrinkled.)


The Loewe amenity bag was quite impressive. It which came with several Loewe products like lip balm (which looked like a tube of white lipstick) and cologne. We were also given a separate box of Shisheido products which included a toner, face wash, and masks. The CAs gave us a plastic ziplock since she knew we'd have to go through security again at NRT. All these products lasted us for our entire six week trip.


Our first meal was served after take off.

I've always liked JL's catering, which is pretty extensive with a good wine list. I've never felt so full after a flight ever. The cabin cleaned them out of the Salon champagne, and had to rely on Deutz the remainder of the flight. I think they only had two bottles of Salon onboard.

The meal started with an appetizer.


A selection of pre-packaged snacks were offered after the appetizer. I chose the rice crackers.


Then, came the set up with a selection of breads and butter and seasonings.


We started with an amuse bouche of Sweet Corn Blanc Manger with Sweet Shrimp & Black Truffle, Duck Mousse with Rhubarb Jam, and Veal Tongue with Salsa Verde.


I selected the Caviar and Garnishes as my Hors-d'ouvres. As always, I could have used more blinis with my caviar.


For the main dish, I had the US Prime Beef Fillet with Reed Beet Ponzu Sauce, which was cooked perfectly. It was very delicious and tender--I didn't even really use the sauce.


The dessert was Raspberry Dome and Layer Moist Chocolate Cake which was prepared by Jin Patisserie.


After dinner, I changed into my PJs. The CAs turned down my seat into the bed. Interestingly, all the mattress toppers are placed in the overhead compartment. It was a bit warm in the cabin (as commonly reported by FTers), so I couldn't really sleep. Instead, I just watched movies.

There was no official pre-arrival meal. Rather, we just ordered food whenever we wanted after. For my final onboard meal, I had the JAL Original Healthy Ramen Noodles from Kyusu "Kyushu Jangara". I also asked if they had any leftover Lobster & Tomato Consommé Aspic hors-d'ouves from the first meal, which they were able to provide me. This dish had a generous amount of lobster chunks and was very tasty. I'm not a big fan of aspics, but it went fine with the lobster. It was quite a filling dish on its own.


Towards the end of the flight, my partner asked for a glass of Deutz. The Senior CA apologized that it was no longer cold so they have to find another bottle to chill. My partner went with an Asahi instead. Later on, the Senior CA came back with a cold bottle for him. He declined as he didn't want her to open a new bottle just for him. It appears that we also finished out their Queen of Blue iced tea. The Senior CA did tell us later she found another bottle and asked if we would like it.

The cabin crew was amazing, what a memorable experience! They were so attentive and nice. I noticed they would walk up and down the cabin about every 10-15 minutes. We never had to use the call button. They asked me to complete a survey for them, but they ran out of English forms.

JL 959 - NRT-ICN - 763 - J

Upon landing, we went through international connections, which requires you to go through security before you go into the departures area of the terminal. Airport security in Japan is very different. It's efficient yet the officers are very nice. TSA could take some customer service lessons from them.

We waited in JL First Lounge, which was pretty full. I haven't been in this lounge for years, but I saw that they now have a sushi bar where chefs can make your sushi to-order. Unfortunately, we were so full from flight that we couldn't eat anything.

We had a bus gate so we left the lounge a little early. As we were making this long hike, I realized that they removed the train that used to run between the main and satellite terminal in NRT T2. We now have a long walkway!

Walking onto the plane:


We had a light load in J--maybe about 5/30 passengers.


We hit a patch of rough turbulence. I was amazed by how the Senior CA was able to hand deliver our meals with hot soup so easily! When she sat the tray down on my table, some of the soup spilled. She offered bring me more, but I told her it was okay. The main entree was bibimbap.


The IFE was old and the screen quality was quite poor. So, I just watched movies on my iPhone. It was a fairly short flight, so time went by fast.

When we landed in ICN, there was a fairly long wait at immigration (about 20 minutes). After immigration and customs, there was a long walk to the train. It took us over an hour and a half to get to our destination, but we finally made it to Seoul.