7C 2101 - ICN-HKG - 737 - Y

Part of our cost-saving efforts included staying in hostels and taking low-cost carriers. I very much wanted to stay loyal to oneworld, but their flights were almost three times the price as the LCCs. Despite one of our destinations being Tokyo and it being much closer to Seoul, the cheapest flight we could get out of ICN was to HKG. So, HKG was our next stop and 7C was the cheapest option. Their website was okay, but clearly optimized for Korean readers.

A major concern for us was with the weight of our baggage. With most of the LCCs, there is a 7kg limit for carryon bags. There is a weighing station inside the terminal, so we each checked the weight. Each of us had at about 10-12kgs. However, no one questioned us as I think they were more concerned about the weight of passengers' checked luggage. Also, our backpacks look small and light (even though they were a bit heavy for us!).

Here's the Jeju Air check-in line. It was long but relatively fast.


When we got to the front of the check-in line, the agent asked where we were headed. We said Hong Kong, and they then took each of our temperatures. We did not pay extra to reserve seats together, but the agent was able to put all three of us in same row of seats.

Security was not too long, but the immigration line took about 10 minutes. The AC wasn't very strong in the immigration area so it got a bit warm as we were waiting. I thought it was just me, but I saw other passengers fanning themselves, too.


We had access to the OZ J lounge in ICN. With my Priority Pass, I'm allowed two guests, but the lounge agents insisted that we needed two Priority Pass cards for three people to enter. Fortunately, my partner has one, too. The OZ J lounge was a decent size lounge and looked like a big library (with fake books). The lounge was a bit dark, but looked very relaxing and comfortable--I could definitely take a nap here. There was a self-serve dining area. Even though it was early (around 8am), it looked like they were transitioning from breakfast to lunch (bringing out sandwiches and pasta). Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of the lounge.

Soon, it came time for boarding and we headed out to our gate. We were at first concerned about the weight of our cabin baggage. Several other passengers did some extensive duty-free shopping and they were carrying a lot of large bags which I'm sure together exceeded the limits, but they were allowed on board without question.

Here is our plane:


When boarding was announced, we got in line. One of the gate agents checked our passports and boarding passes and then checked our temperature again! I thought it would be an empty flight since there were few people in line. Just the opposite, well after we boarded, the rest of the passengers came with all their duty free shopping bags!

Here are some cabin shots:


We got some hand sanitizer after take off.


The cabin crew was made up of all young ladies who were all a bit aloof. We wanted to spend our remaining Won onboard. My friends asked for Soju, they said just a minute and they never came back. Here's the menu--we would have considered ordering something had they chosen to come back to sell us Soju. I'm not sure why they wouldn't want to sell us something.


7C was okay and the trip was uneventful, but we did land in rain. When we landed in HKG, one old lady pushed through me as I was getting our bags from the overhead compartment. I saw she was pretty determined to get through and she made it pretty far down the plane considering the door hadn't yet opened.

I usually have good experiences with HKIA. However, our deplaning process was poorly planned. They sent one bus for a fully loaded 738. As I come down the stairs, one of the airport personnel stopped me because the bus was full. Fine, another one should be coming in, right? It took over twenty minutes for a bus to come while half of the plane was either on the stairs or still onboard. The airport employee also took off in a car after a few minutes and just left us on the stairs. It was hot and humid, and it looked like it was going to rain again. Very poor service today, HKIA. The upshot was that the bus delivered us right to the immigration area instead of having to talk a long distance.

I got this picture of the plane while standing on the stairs.


Both my friends had to go through regular immigration whereas I have the frequent visitors pass. I had time redeem our Airport Express roundtrip tickets and withdraw some money from the ATM by the time they got through. If you're in Hong Kong and expect to return in the future, go to any of the travel agencies in-town and buy a roundtrip ticket for the Airport Express for about HKD160 as opposed to the HKD200 they charge at the airport.

This flight was my first experience with Jeju Air. It was affordable, and got us there in relative comfort. The cabin crew were okay though I'm surprised they basically ignored us when we wanted to buy something onboard. Despite those mixed opinions, I would fly them again.

UO 628 - HKG-NRT - A320 - Y

We checked in for our UO flight at Hong Kong station. Security was light and immigration took a little while for my friends. While I was waiting for them to clear immigration I was approached by someone from the HK tourism board who was conducting a survey about where I've traveled prior to HK.

We went to the Plaza Premium lounge in the East Hall which had a long line. I don't they think they were letting anyone else in because the line wasn't moving. So, we walked over to the other Plaza Premium lounge in the West Hall since it was closer to our gate.

UO was fine. In fact, I can't remember anything much about the flight itself. Here are some cabin pictures. UO has a no-outside food/beverages policy. Since we ate at the Plaza Premium lounge, we didn't buy anything off the trolley either.


There were several rude passengers behind me who were pushing me through as I was trying to grab my and my friends' bags from the overhead compartment. The door hadn't even opened yet and there were clearly people still standing in the aisles. Eventually, I just held my ground with my backpack and wouldn't let anyone else pass. These were the same people who stood in the jetbridge taking pictures of the airplane from the jetbridge (at night) and walking awfully slow once we were in the terminal.

We weren't given a landing card until we arrived at immigration. So we were finding anywhere we could to fill out our card, I found an empty cart to write on. Immigration was fairly quick, but then we also had to fill out a customs card. There were plenty of desks and forms at baggage claim. There was no line at customs either. The customs officer asked me several questions and we we were off the NEX which would take us to town.

JL 33 - HND-BKK - 772 - J

Here's a common life problem for an FTer: We arrived in HND six hours before departure. My partner and I were flying JL J and I have OW Sapphire status. Our friend has no status and flying on TG in economy. Where as we can check in at any time, TG counters did not open until three hours before departure. HND has no Priority Pass lounges either.

So, do we spend our waiting time with our friend out in the regular terminal or leave our friend to go to the lounge?


The JL Lounge near immigration was fairly empty when we first arrived. There was a self-service restaurant and plenty of seating spaces. We weren't hungry, so we just had a few drinks. They also had a few massage chairs. I found a desk where I could do some work while we waited for our flight.

Eventually, we met back up with our friend after TG opened their counters and she was able to check in. As we go to T-60 minutes to boarding, my partner and I headed back to the JL lounge for a shower. It got much busier since we left. Apparently, it was a popular time with all showers full and 4 in line. The agent said there's a possibility we might not get in by our flight time. He handed us each a pager. After about 15 minutes, my pager went off. I showered quickly as I knew there were many people waiting.


This flight was served by a 788 until this month , which is when it reverted into a 772. Only a few seats were taken in our cabin. Here are some cabin shots.



The senior CA came back to greet us. She advised us that we could sit anywhere we'd like. My partner and I elected to remain seated together in the right 2 seats. No one sat in the middle 3 seats in our row.

After takeoff, we were given a pajama top. They looked like they were reused after each flight (like blankets). I'm certain they were cleaned after each use.


Here was a a sleep kit. I put on the eye-shades after take off and fell asleep in the laz-e-boy position. Normally, I can't sleep well on these angled lie-flat seats, but for this evening I found it incredibly comfortable.


I was awakened by the CA for breakfast. She had a basket of warm towels which helped wake me up. She took my coffee order which came to me shortly after.

Here's a picture of the menu.


I had the Japanese meal with a smoothie.


Here's a cup of natto. I've tried natto a few times now, but I still can't get over the flavor or texture. It's the only Japanese dish I can think of that I just don't like.


I passed on the eggsluts they were offering on the meal. It sounded a bit strange, but I later found out it was a type of sandwich.


We landed on time. It was a fairly quiet morning in BKK. JL gave us the premium tickets for going through immigration. There were only a few agents available, so it probably wasn't much faster than the regular immigration line. We found our friend in baggage claim as her TG flight came in a few minutes before ours.

This flight was a red-eye. At the time it sounded like a good idea to save money on a hotel by taking an overnight flight. In hindsight, we should have just coughed up the extra night for the hotel.

There is a huge taxi scam we were hoping to avoid at BKK. Whereas there used to be an agent at the desk, there are now kiosks which assigned you taxi cab to go to. Since I am not familiar with this system, I was at a loss as to what to do. I had a few warning signs, the first was that the taxi driver took our slip of paper. Then, he said it would be better to use a flat rate. Lastly, he had a white towel over the top of the meter (the meter was still viewable), which I later learned was used to cover a device that makes the meter spin faster.

I have never fully trusted taxis at all. In the end, we only spent about 200 THB more than normal, but still it's the principle of it. I will say that unlike China where I got taxi scammed before, I didn't feel like our lives were in immediate danger. We decided to go with Uber back to the airport.

QV 634 - BKK-LPQ - AT7 - Y

We were fairly limited on options to fly from BKK-LPQ. We decided to go with the national airline of Laos for the inbound. QV flew the AT7 on the BKK-LPQ route.

We thought we arrived too early at BKK, but QV's check-in desks were already open for the earlier VTE flight. A TA asked if we were going to VTE or LPQ. We said LPQ and they put green stickers on our shirts--similar to the ones for bus tours. I believe VTE got blue stickers.


We were able to use the Louis Tavern Lounge with our Priority Pass. It was a small lounge which offered some beverages and snacks like pastries and sandwiches. There was also cup noodles and hot soup. The toilets were outside! We were only limited to two hours, but we left well before that for the gate.

We got a bus gate. The VTE flight boarded about 20 minutes before our flight.


A small group of passengers got into this QV branded minivan. I presume these passengers were business class or elite passengers. The rest of us go into a larger bus with similar livery. I only got a picture of the minivan. The bus got cut off in this picture.


Here we are approaching our aircraft from the bus.


We boarded through the rear. The FAs were standing at the entrance welcoming us on board. Our cabin crew consisted of two FAs dressed in what appears to be traditional Lao outfits. They also had a frangipani flower in their hair which was also part of the QV logo. I also saw these flowers all over Luang Prabang. All announcements were made in Lao and English.

The small group sat in the back which had curtains. I presume this to be the business class section. I know there was a different lunch box for them.

Here are some cabin shots.


There was meal service even though this was just a two hour flight. We got a moist towelette. Mealboxes were handed out which consisted of a simple sandwich with some type of chicken?? patty, some fruit, and a cake. It was adequate. After distributing the mealboxes, the FAs came by with drink service.


It appeared that the couple sitting in front of us were friends with one of the FAs. That FA sat next to them and chatted together for most of the flight. She brought them an additional mealbox which appeared to be the business class--the only difference was that there were tea sandwiches instead of the patty sandwich we got.

There was one toilet in the rear of the plane, which was fairly shaky.

A lot of my flight time was taken by completing the arrival card, the departure card, and the visa on arrival form. It was basically filling out the same information three times--it was a bit tedious. Overall, it was a decent flight. We deplaned from the rear. I took this picture as we walked around the plane to the terminal.


I would fly QV again--too bad I can't earn any AA miles on this airline. Maybe OW should consider QV?

When we landed in LPQ, we had three stations to go through if we wanted Visa on Arrival. The first station takes the passport and the visa form only. I gave them one passport picture. If you don't have a passport picture ready, they will charge your $1 to scan your passport picture. The second station takes our payment and hands the passport back to us with the visa sticker (it takes up a whole page). There is a chart with how much the visa fee is in US dollars (with an additional $1 processing charge) for each country. US Citizens pays $35 + $1. Payment is in US dollars. The third station is immigration where they photograph you and take your arrival card. Then, you're on your way out through customs and then landside.

We didn't see our airport transfer yet, so we looked for an ATM. They were outside the airport right after you go out the doors. When we returned, our driver was there. There is also a Taxi counter inside the airport right outside of customs.