As I was getting ready to leave the room, the handle on my luggage completely shattered. In hindsight, it wasn’t the best idea to check it in on so many previous flights. After all, we all know how baggage is treated. Buying new cabin luggage wasn’t originally on the agenda, but it was clearly unavoidable now.
Hello again, CGK
Once again, I received four tickets after checking in myself and my bag. Security was a breeze. They had modern scanners, so everything could stay inside the bags.
International departures
On the way to the lounge, I stopped at one of the airport shops to buy some Indonesian coffee. Last year in Japan, I discovered drip bags in one of the hotels, and I’ve been trying to stock up ever since. They’re perfect for travelling. Especially when most hotel coffee is, frankly, dreadful. Yes, I’m a coffee snob. To spare my colleagues from dealing with my grumpiness, I try to bring my own supply wherever I go. That brown water hotels call “coffee” just doesn’t cut it.
Pleased with my purchase, I made my way to the Plaza Premuim Lounge at CGK. It was divided into several sections. Priority Pass, DragonPass and similar schemes had a dedicated room via the first door I passed. The last section was reserved for business and first-class passengers, with Singapore Airlines having a private room at the end. One could buy the access to the lounge for more than 800k IDR. Shower was additional 320k IDR.
Entrance fee
Iced Java palm latte was good
I had just a coffee and a few sweets. There was a small kitchen where you could order a hot meal, with other dishes placed around the lounge buffet-style.
Unlike my inbound flight, which parked at the very far end of the airport, this time we had Gate 5 not too far from the lounge. When I arrived, business class boarding was just finishing and the tensa barrier was closed. I wasn’t in a rush and took a moment to photograph the aircraft. After I returned, they spotted the red BP and kindly opened the barrier to let me through before the rest of the passengers.
Terminl
Our bird
The aircraft for UL354 was 4R-ABN, the same one that brought me to CGK. This time, they offered champagne as a PDB. No idea why there wasn't alcohol the day before. I went for orange juice.
As usual, there were three rows of 2-2 seats, with nine passengers onboard. The flight was uneventful, but during the meal service, I was asked a strange question—whether I wanted my meal served “at the same time.” I was confused, as everything is usually served on a single tray.
Menu
Devilish chicken
I chose the devilish chicken from the menu. It wasn’t as spicy as the name suggested, but still very tasty.
The service varied across all my flights, there was no consistency. No hot towels this time, and again, that odd meal question.
According to the IFE, CGK-CMB was 14 hours flight...
Once the trays were cleared, the crew dimmed the lights and closed the window shades. It was 3pm on a bright day. Why were we pretending it was bedtime? When they approached me and gestured towards the window, I gave them my best “don’t even try” look. Other than that, our cabin crew member was fantastic, she was proactive, attentive, and made sure none of us were thirsty or hungry. SriLankan Airlines sends feedback requests after each flight, and I made sure to write only compliments about her.
Tips for the passengers
Approaching Colombo, we hit some turbulence, felt like we dropped suddenly, probably a vacuum bubble. Hopefully, everyone had their seatbelt on, as the sign had been lit for most of the flight. Landing was smooth and we were soon parked.
Back to the Serendib Lounge for a quick phone charge. When it was time for boarding, I checked the monitors in the lounge. All of them still showed “Go to Gate”. When I saw R4 on the screen, I knew it was a bus gate, so I grabbed my things and headed over.
It was just a couple of minutes to the gate, but when I arrived, it was already showing “Last Call” and not a soul was around. They had a security check at the gate, and as the scanners were old, I had to remove all my electronics. In my post-flight feedback, I mentioned the issue with the inaccurate gate info on the monitors. No idea if they’ll do anything about it but I assume the aswer is probably NO 😁.
Flight UL204 from CMB to AUH was just over 4 hours. This time there were 7 passengers in business class. The purser personally welcomed everyone, something that hadn’t happened on my previous three UL flights. We even received hot towels. Throughout the flight, the purser addressed me by name, while everyone else was just “Sir” or “Madam”.
Menu
Fish curry
Both cabin crew were exceptional, the best service I had across all four flights. I had a short chat with the purser, who shared that he normally doesn’t fly anymore. He’s now a senior instructor focused on training, but due to staffing shortages, he stepped in to avoid the flight being cancelled. When I said it had been the best service I’d experienced on UL, he looked genuinely touched.
First of my 4 flughts where they served tea like this
Was not on the menu
Another smooth landing and we parked at the gate. As a returning visitor, I used the eGate again. This time, it didn’t like me for some reason, and I had to ask for help.
At the baggage belt, the luggage had just started arriving. Thirty minutes later, the belt stopped and a message appeared saying all luggage had been delivered. Great. But where was mine? I walked around, scanning the belt, but saw nothing. I checked the tracking app, which showed my bag in the general vicinity, but not quite where I was. So I headed to the Lost & Found counter. A friendly agent checked the system, confirmed it hadn’t yet been delivered, and rang a few people. Ten minutes later, it magically appeared on the belt. The upside of having brightly coloured luggage is that it’s easy to spot.
Where's mine?
Reunited with my broken suitcase, I booked an Uber and went to the designated meeting point.
Taxi apps that work in Abu Dhabi: Uber, Careem, Yango. And there is no need for WhatsApp 🤣