Part 6: The Journey Home
Once again it still amazes me how many domestic flights there are as I look at the domestic departures board. There is only one open security lane and half of my plane is in it. Its takes just over 12 minutes to get through and on this trip it is longest security check I've had by over 6 minutes, generally Ive been lucky but still marks down for CHC.
Air New Zealand NZ554
CHC-AKL
Economy 17C
Departure 3:00 (scheduled) 3:01 (actual)
Flight time 1h 14m
Whereas the flight out the crew was a younger average age, this lot could all be the mothers of the outbound crew, they don't quite have that flirty charm but they are a more private school matron feel. The planes about half full and once again it's incredible mix of suits and shorts. There is one flight an hour between this two airports and like before everyone regardless of what they look like on this plane appears to travel this route regularly.
The pilot must want to get back because the 1 hour 25 schedule time turns into 1 hour 14 minutes in the air and we seem to at the jet bridge in a time that doesn't seem humanly possible. I decided to rather than take a taxi or uber to try Auckland's Skybus service. it runs every 10 minutes to the CBD. I have one meeting tomorrow morning in Ponsonby so I picked the Hilton right on the harbour front. The Skybus starts well, it chops through Auckland commute with surprising ease and nearly everyone on it is a backpacker, they’re all heading to the CBD so it only stops once on the whole journey.
We get to the final stop but to get down to the harbour side we have to transfer to a small free shuttle bus, this takes 10 minutes to turn up and its still a 5-10 minute walk from the nearest bus stop to the Hilton in the end, whilst it’s more than half the price of an uber, the extra waiting and walk means I’m not sure I would use it again as a business traveler.
I stayed in the Crowne Plaza last time and it was serviceable but not memorable. I’ve been moving more and more of my stays to Hilton so decided to try this one out. I was pleasantly surprised. There was no mention of a room upgrade but the room I got was very modern and very spacious, the hotel appears to style itself as a crew ship on land as this is manifested best with a balcony that looked out onto the harbour. The usual Hilton gold perks aside I also got a bottle of Marlborough red in the room as well.
Room with a view.....over Auckland harbour
It was a quick shower and change and off to meet some friends in town. She's been here just over a year after making the move down here. She works right in the CBD and was still in the office working, so I joined her there. She works in a branding agency so as usual with modern urban office design, creaky floorboards, exposed brick and metal frame work, years ago this would be seen as a negative but now….
A fridge full of beer and wine but no beans bags or scooters.
The MD of the company we are working with booked me into the One Tree Grill in Epson. It turned out to be a well known place in town, I met another expat friend with his girlfriend. I went to school with him but his parents moved him and his family here 18 years ago, and we've still kept in touch since. The restaurant turned out to be a very high class establishment with an top rate meal and a vast selection of New Zealand wine, most interesting being a Kiwi Malbec, which I never knew was a grape grown in this country. We talk about everything from the upcoming election to first date calamities and we're the last to leave. I would highly recommend the One Tree Grill, but it's definitely a place to go on expenses or to take a client when you want to impress. I was in bed at 12:30am and I fall straight asleep.
Day 13
The body is now waking at 7am rather than the 5am, I think my body is moving to NZ time so it's time to move on. I check out of the hotel, I will definitely return here when I’m next in Auckland, the only real downside is the shower, which looks out of place in the big bathroom, it looks like a cheap B&Q home shower whereas a waterfall shower would really fit the rest of the quality of the room. It was onto the last bit go business, a breakfast meeting with financial advisor, accountant and a lawyer. They explain the various nuances of the New Zealand corporate law and tax system. The higher corporation tax level compared to the UK and other small taxes. We meet in Posonby which is the rich hipster part of town, I can imagine Tyler Brule living here, everything is more expensive and of course it’s better because of that.... The cafe we eat at has tables with rust in them and none of the furniture match. It's a fairly cordial meeting, being typical Kiwi the conversation comes first and the business sieved in drips and drabs. Meeting over, hands shaked, cards exchanged and uber hailed for the trip to AKL. I am now about ready to go home.
AKL immigration has more people than I expect at the automatic border gates, last time I used them I had a problem and the friendly Kiwi border officer looks like she wants to talk, I tell her this story and she suggests this time before I go in to make sure my luggage is out of the way, otherwise it can think there is two people, it’s sounds sensible and unlike last time I'm through without an inspection, security is painless and I’m through security in 8 minutes.
Peculiarly (although I’m sure someone on here will know why) CX use Air NZ lounge as opposed to Qantas’. With it being NZ’s flagship I went to the Koru. This lounge is without doubt my favourite I’ve been in. A good curry, a decent spread of seating, some nice views and exclusive quirky boarding announcements for lounge visitors. However the main reason it's my favourite is because its the first lounge I’ve ever been in that had cider in it! Cider (hard cider to some nations) is fairly unique refreshing beverage to the UK and some of its colonies and anywhere thats serves a good one gets my vote!
Ideal lounge for a spot of plane spotting
Only in New Zealand would a airport lounge have truck and van magazines
Cathay Pacific CX198
AKL-HKG
Business 18A
Departure 13:45 (scheduled) 13:32 (actual)
Flight time 11h 20m
This my first experience of J class with CX and my second time in an A350. I flew a A350 with Finnair and I rated it above the 787 for comfort. Im racking through my brain and I cant think of anything else…. I think this the best overall J class seat I’ve ever sat in. The seat is more comfortable and better thought out than BA’s first. The seat cushions might not be as soft as some of Qatars If I'm being picky but in every other way this seat is superior. Ample storage space which is practical, easy access and use of controls, headphones socket in a sensible place, comfortable seat position in take off/land position and in lie flat I found I could be in comfortable sleep positions on both sides and just about lying on my front, at 6’3 I’ve never quite had that.
My original plan was to stay awake for the duration of the first flight and that should give me a springboard to sleeping for most of the second flight. However the seat is maybe a bit too comfortable and I sleep for about 4 hours, This shouldn't be too much of a problem and it helps move on what feels like so far the longest flight, probably because it's the only long haul where I wasn't sleeping, but the journeys home always feel longer than the journeys out. As we descend the lights in the water of what I assume is ships become more and more frequent and brighter and soon we land into Hong Kong.
We’re into HKG 30 minutes of schedule and it's a short walk to transfer security, like every other airport on this trip, I’m practically the only person there. By now I'm totally in synch with where the toiletries will have moved around the bag and my security process is now a properly well oiled machine. The security officer sees this and doesn't ask me about my belt or any items, she knows that if I had got one it would of been off, I always fly in trousers that don't require a belt anyway.
The 2 hour 45 minute layover gives me time to collect a few little gifts, I like to usually get something more ‘native’ when I go further afield, but when you’re HBO you will always be restricted to certain items or paying the premium for them in a airport gift shop. Because this trip is more unique I just go for some face creams I know my wife uses and cigarettes for a neighbour. She always pays me 30% more than it costs me, no harm in making a profit for being a tobacco mule!
Gifts are purchased and it's off to HKG famous lounges. Personally I think this is where HKG fails, the lounges are badly signed posted and the information screens can be hard to find and may only show the area close by. I go on my phone and read about the newly refurbished pier lounge and after a quick search of FT the consensus opinion is it’s worth the walk down to gate 63, unfortunately the flight from MVD-SCL still hasn't been posted to my EC account so I’m still not officially gold, I did plan on showing my phone in the hope of getting into the first lounge if my app had changed from silver to gold but this never came to pass
As lounges go I have very mixed feelings towards it. The quality of the furniture and fixings is very high class, and it has a very colonial members club feel to it or like a bar you'd find in the Peninsula hotel full of foreign corespondents. Maybe it was the time of the day but it feels dark and maybe a little more light would be better, this lack of light is exaggerated by it's low ceiling, whilst there is a lot seating it doesn't feel really spacious. The food and drink options is fantastic in both choice and taste but nearly all of the food is served by staff in a canteen style. In the noodle bar it's needed but if you have a buffet then make it proper buffet and if you want an a la carte area have one, but don't mix try to mix the two together.
I’ve read this place is ranked as one of the better J class lounges out there and I can see why people rate it, but I still preferred Air NZ Koru lounge in AKL on this trip and I still think all things considered the best lounge I have used is TK’s in IST, over CX it’s feels more spacious and its sheer amount of amenities, I would also put QR’s Al Mourjan over CX pier. As I walk out I’m confused why they would put a what is clearly a flagship lounge fairly out of the way.
A big airport that actually has a gate 1! Pity I didn't get to use it!
Cathay Pacific CX251
HKG-LHR
Business 11D
Departure 23:55 (scheduled) 00:15 (actual)
Flight time 12h 45m
The last flight is finally here, by the time I get to the gate the flight doesn't appear far off closing, I get to board from the first jetbridge and get a cheeky peek at CX first product, which looks very nice indeed, it’s not one that I hear about often, compared to EK or BA’s on FT. I’ve only ever flown F once, it was a £300 upgrade from J to F once from ORD-LHR with BA two years ago and I paid personally for the upgrade. Whilst the service was better and the seat was a lot better than BA CW it just didn't feel special enough, more like a CW+ and in hindsight I have found competitors seats in J more comfortable (QR A380/CX A350) and I would never pay or even let an employer pay full whack for BA’s F product.
This 777 seat is clearly an older version of the A350 and in some ways it’s better and some ways it isn’t. This particular seat 11D is bulk head in the mini cabin so there is a lot of room between the seat and the aisle, so once again I can be comfortable when sleeping on either of my sides and just about lying on my front. The storage doesn't have a cover so you have less bed area or a mini side footrest nearer than the ottoman but it’s still a well thought out product and I still rate it above the competition.
The four hours I got on the previous flight have given me more energy than I excepted, I put this down in part to the A350 and it’s the most earth like atmosphere, you certainly feel less dehydrated after an A350 flight. It's a big step in passenger comfort and coming from one plane to another shows you how much better and quieter these new planes are compared to the older generation and maybe because of this the noise of the 777-300ER workhouse just seems louder than usual, I also try out CX’s sleeping bag style blanket. It isn't as luxurious as LATAM’s duvet but it does give you more of the sensation that you are in a bed.
I sleep for just under 3 1/2 hours and wake up again, this isn't what I planned originally, I’ve still got 8 hours till landing but I bank on body will want some sleep later, which should give me enough to get me through the upcoming day. So I write some more of this and watch some more TV. If I continue being highly critical the choice of films and TV programmes doesn't match the rest of CX product, it's alright but this summers films have been mediocre at best and none of ‘classics’ stick out. This is compounded by the fact that its the same choice as the previous A350 flight. The sheer choice of what to watch on the Middle East carriers appears to still be ahead of the pack.
I put on raiders of the lost ark and fall asleep about half way through. I wake up again briefly when we’re 2 1/2 hours out from LHR but pretty much fall straight back and I’m awoken by that same reassuring voice the CX pilots have with 30 minutes to land. Overall the only noticeable weakness I’ve come up with CX hard product is the tray doesn't appear to be slidable and it can for me be a bit close to the torso, perhaps there is a way to slide it forward but I never worked it out.
Day 14:
We land at LHR at 5:59 and I’m the 6th person off the plane, yet it leaves me in a small dilemma. I had originally planned to try out AA’s new arrival lounge for a quick shower, change and breakfast before going straight to the office, the delayed landing time and the fact that we parked in what felt like LGW after the walk from gate to immigration means I’m not through arrivals till 6:20. The extra 20 minutes is what I had in mind for the arrival lounge, if Im much later I will get caught up in M25 traffic. I take less traffic over the lounge and head straight to level one of short stay and collect the car. I'm glad for my decision because when I get onto the M25 it is flowing but its not far off capacity, another 30 minutes and it would of be queuing. I head north to home with fairly pain free journey, get showered and head to the office. Im at the office at 11:45am, get to my desk, check my inbox, I've answered a few urgent ones on my travels but the rest loom before me, the real world starts to present itself in front of me once more….. Anyone fancy a trip somewhere?