I know I’m going to get blamed for this, but after my 15 flights with SQ I can honestly say they are the most overrated airline I have ever flown. Especially in economy class, but also SIN-KUL in F. The service is not bad or anything, but it’s just economy class with no extra attention from the crews whatsoever. In short, same stuff you get in Lufthansa Y but with fancy crew uniforms and sometimes AVOD. SQA again didn't have it. The Star Gold lounge situation also discourages me from making connections in SIN when in Y class.
27 November 2004
Seoul Incheon (ICN/RKSI) – Tokyo Narita (NRT/RJAA)
United Airlines UA 800
Boeing 777-222ER
N224UA
1245-1500 – On Time
United Business, Seat 9J
I booked this trip to Bangkok with Mileage Plus miles – availability was very scarce even back in January. It was a total bargain though, 29000 miles and $14 in taxes, all the way in business class. Check-in was quick – a very friendly lady confirmed my selected seats and tagged my bag to Bangkok. There was no bag search nonsense here for some reason – I was glad this was the case.
Security was rather quick this time, and I went straight to the SilverKris lounge which I must say is a much nicer lounge than the SQ Singapore lounges if we speak strictly about the lounge design itself. Lunch offerings were the usual – so more SQ pasta and prawns for me as well as some beef. The bar is unfortunately only open from 3pm onwards. The lounge was practically deserted, partly due to a very light load in premium cabins on the UA flight.
Boarding started on time again, and I was selected for the ridiculous secondary check at the gate. Being a foreigner seems to guarantee it at Incheon – I didn’t see any Koreans getting this special treatment. If Korea wants to have more tourists, they definitely seem to check their attitudes first. In many places, I have felt very much out of place as a foreigner, and then this security/customs nonsense. But I guess I’m an “alien” just like in the United States.
I was greeted by an Australian purser who spoke a few words of Finnish – impressive. The cabin crew on this sector consisted of this Australian guy, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Hong Kong) and American flight attendants. Row 9 is the only row on the side of the small business class cabin – in the so called C+ configuration. There are some aircraft left with a bit less legroom and these have two rows on the sides as well. My seat had great legroom, and overall I’d say the UA C seat is the most comfortable traditional business class seat I have sat in.
I was offered three glasses of champagne before pushback – very impressive I’d say, especially on an airline that everyone blames for poor service. The mini cabin had only me and a Dutch guy next to me flying AMS-ICN-NRT as the KLM nonstop had been full in business. The purser confirmed that channel 9 would be on – very interesting to listen to it on this sector as both Korean and Japanese ATC spoke rather poor English and there were a lot of Chinese flights with dismal English to boot.
We were pushed back a few minutes early, and started the long taxi to the active runway. Old and new JAL planes were side by side a 777-200 and a 747-246B at gates 30 something. There was also an Ilyushin IL-62 of some Russian airline. We took off without delay for the short hop to Narita, Japan.
Service started soon – a cold snack was served on this sector. I chose the Japanese sushi rice – nicely presented, tasty and filling, There was also some sort of a dessert on the tray, I don’t quite know what it was but it was tasty as well. An adequate meal, although maybe United should consider hot meals on this flight. My glasses of champagne and water were refilled constantly, and I was addressed by name by the Japanese lady al the time.
Later, warmed nuts from first class were offered by an American f/a who joked that she likes to treat all passengers as first class customers. Soon, the captain announced descent into Narita, and we landed without incident some twenty minutes later. We then taxied to the new part of Terminal one – much nicer than Terminal two in my opinion. Great service on this flight.
United Red Carpet Club, Narita JP
The new Red Carpet Club is simply huge. I grabbed a seat near the windows, and was impressed that all seats seemed to have a power outlet for laptops. Free wireless internet is also offered. Snacks are rather non-existent – Oreo cookies and snack mix bags. Drink selection was decent, and I had a few Ballantines on the rocks while watching the endless number of Jumbos landing and taking off outside.
27 November 2004
Tokyo Narita (NRT/RJAA) – Bangkok Don Muang (BKK/VTBD)
United Airlines UA 881
Boeing 747-422
N176UA
1825-2250 – On Time
United Business, Seat 16A (Upper Deck)
United 881 was overbooked in Business class, but the offer was too poor for me to consider a downgrade on a six-hour flight - $200 cash or $400 United travel voucher. The voucher amount is ok but since it has to be all UA metal, and they don’t fly to Finland, I passed. Boarded on time, and a Japanese guy took care of my roller bag due to the limited storage bins on the upper deck.
One of the pilots happened to be walking by, so I asked and was granted a visit to the cockpit while boarding was underway. Had a brief chat with the guys – it’s always nice to be able to visit the cockpit. I then made it back to my seat, where a glass of champagne and a menu card were waiting. Row 15 (exit) is the best on the upper deck, but also rows 16 and 17 have excellent legroom, especially on the left side. I was looking forward to a comfortable ride to Thailand.
Channel 9 was on again, and we were given permission to push back on schedule. Narita tower cleared us for takeoff shortly thereafter and we were on our way to South East Asia. Nuts and drinks as well as hot towels were offered next, and orders for dinner were taken. I chose the filet mignon. The starter was a salad with some sushi and prawns – quite nice. The filet mignon was tasty as well, even though UA is rumored to ship in the beef from the U.S. for its NRT catering operations.
The Japanese guys on the upper deck provided great service throughout the flight, and I drank quite a bit of Champagne while listening to Channel 9. Naha control spoke particularly poor English, Taipei and Hong Kong were ok and then again Ho Chi Ming was very poor. We flew all the way with NW 27, JO 707, JO 727 and TG 775 nearby. All are Boeing 747s from Japan to Bangkok.
Hong Kong granted us a higher flight level – seemed like our pilots were quite frustrated with the current one with occasional turbulence. We also had a medical problem on board, but the crew decided to continue to Bangkok. Finally, at around 2210, Ho Chi Minh instructed “United 881, contact Bangkok control at …”, and we were just crossing into Thai airspace. Bangkok spoke good English, and our crew requested priority approach to Don Muang due to the medical.
I suppose the JALWays guys had flown flown a few times to Bangkok before – just like all Thai flights, they said “Bangkok, Sawadee Khap, Jalways 707 with you” etc. We had indeed been granted priority approach, and at around 10:40pm, the female controller cleared us for landing. “United eight eight one, cleared to land runway two one right”. We made a smooth landing, and quickly exited the active runway and taxied to a remote stand next to a JALWays 747 classic.
The crew asked for our patience while the patient was offloaded first, and my bag was waiting at the top of the stairs. Said thanks to the all-Japanese crew, quickly cleared immigration and headed to town. Another excellent flight on United.
30 November 2004
Bangkok Don Muang (BKK/VTBD) – Phuket International (HKT/VTSP)
Phuket Airlines 9R 376
Boeing 737-2B7/Adv
HS-AKU
1050-1210 (1440-1600)
Economy Class, Seat 18A
I was too lazy to wake up for the Orient Thai morning flight… So, at around 11.20 am, I took a cab to Don Muang – my plan was to go to Phuket but I had no flight reservations whatsoever. Arrived at the domestic terminal at 11.55, and noticed that there was a delayed Phuket Air flight leaving in fifteen minutes.
Can you still sell me a ticket to Phuket, I asked. “Sure sir, 2305 Baht please.” I got a fancy hand written ticket, and the agents told me to run to check-in as the flight would be departing in 15 minutes. Check-in was quick, and I was soon at the only Phuket Air gate at Don Muang domestic. No sign of boarding, and soon the agent announced that 9R 376 to Phuket would be delayed. She kept repeating this a few times with about 20-minute intervals, until we finally boarded a bus at 13.50 pm.
Too good to be true, we were told to go back to the terminal only five minutes later. Phuket Air three-seven-six would be further delayed “due to technical reason”. A few Europeans blew their fuses at this point, one clown kept repeating “Who is responsible for this, you ruin my holiday.” Maybe it would have been better for her to stay in Sweden if three hours is going to ruin her holiday. A Phuket Air representative offered me coffee or tea with some snacks from the complimentary gate bar, and said “I know you probably hate me but can I offer you some refreshments?” He was pretty surprised as I said it was ok, I didn’t hate him or his airline, actually I was happy to get a ticket on the flight at 12pm!
Boarding started again about half an hour later, and this time we were bussed to HS-AKU – a 737-200 in US Airways Metrojet colours. A very friendly lady greeted me at the door, and directed me to the back of the classic 737. Load this afternoon was about 50%, and Phuket Airlines had six very attentive and friendly flight attendants to take care of us on the one-hour flight down to Phuket.
Takeoff was a bit delayed, but eventually we rocketed off runway 21R after a few Thai Airways jets. Takeoff was very noisy on the old baby Boeing. The interior was in good condition – looks like US Airways refurbished the plane for Metrojet service. No wonder Phuket Air got a few of them, probably at bargain prices. Legroom was good as well, and there was an interesting magazine about Phuket Airlines in the seat pocket.
Service was excellent on this flight; a hot meal of fish curry and Thai jasmine rice was served. Drink service was very frequent as well – Thai Airways should be ashamed of their poor domestic economy class offerings. All too soon, we were on descent into Phuket International Airport. Landing was roughly four hours behind schedule, and we then parked next to a company YS-11 at a remote stand. I had no checked luggage, so I was soon sitting in a metered taxi going to Patong beach.