Bangkok Bound
I hopped on the Airport Express, and then grabbed a cab to Wan Chai where my friend was staying at the Wharvey Guangdong Hotel. We ended up grabbing drinks and snacks at the bar downstairs, which is a pretty cool place.
As I mentioned earlier, my job takes me on the road quite a bit. The majority of my work travel takes me off the beaten path and to small town America. As such, most of my hotel stays are at the likes of Hampton Inns and Fairfield Inns of the world. So when I travel for fun, I want to stay as nice of a hotel as possible using my very hard earned points. This trip was a bit out of the box for me, as my friend was more focused on budget travel. Not wanting to make uncomfortable, I agreed. The Wharvey was actually pretty decent, though I was only in the room for 6 or so hours before it was time to head to the airport for our flight to Bangkok.
With a 10 AM flight, we left the hotel, just after 6 AM to give us some leeway and time to grab breakfast at the airport. After a quick ride to the Airport Express station, we hopped on a train and were at the airport less than an hour after leaving the hotel. We checked in at the Airport Express station, so all that was left to do was the clear immigration and then head to The Wing for breakfast.
I used 7,500 Avios to book this flight for each of us. Business Class was available, but I didn’t think it was worth the extra miles given the length of the flight.
Cathay Pacific Airways 615
Hong Kong to Bangkok
Depart:10:00 AM
Arrive: 12:05 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 66H (Economy Class)
This was my very first flight on Cathay Pacific in any cabin but First Class. In fact, I have never been seated in any row except row 1, so suffice to say I’m beyond spoiled. It was a bit of shock turning right after boarding from doorway 2R. Then walking past Business Class. And Premium Economy. Really? Are we there yet? After what seemed like an eternity we reached our digs in row 66.
All kidding aside, it wasn’t so bad. The seat was comfortable enough, though a bit firm. Also, Economy Class passengers have access to the same great entertainment system. Service was polite and friendly. And there was a real meal served on the flight. To put it in perspective, a flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok is about the same length as a flight from Dallas to Las Vegas at a shade over 1,000 miles. On the Dallas to Las Vegas flight, a drink run and a package of 10 pretzels would be considered a good flight on a full service carrier. On that Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, we were served 2 rounds of drinks, a full hot meal, followed by a tea or coffee service. Both my friend and I chose the fish curry, which was fantastic. It was flavorful, had big chunks of tender fish, and the rice was nicely cooked.
Aside from the fact we arrived 30 minutes late due to a late departure, it was a perfectly pleasant flight. What wasn’t pleasant was the line at immigration, which stretched into the terminal and moved at a near glacial pace. It took nearly an hour to clear immigration. Fortunately, there wasn’t much of a wait at the taxi queue. The taxi dropped us off at soi in which our hotel was located.
Sticking with the budget hotel theme, we were staying at the iCheck Inn in Silom. I actually picked the hotel due its great ratings on Trip Advisor. While certainly not a bad property, I didn’t think it quite lived up to its 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor. That said, I don’t think I could beat the $40 per night we paid for the room.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 7, 2016 at 9:52 pm