Onto the train I went to start my very long trek home.




Starlux won't let you check in until around 4 hours before your flight, even though their counters are open. I told them that I did not have any bags to check and only needed a boarding pass, and even then, they refused to help me at the counter and told me I had to use a kiosk to print my boarding pass.

Ah well, at least I could get my boarding pass.



And yet again the system has identified me as a Sapphire frequent flyer.



There was no security line for premium cabin pax I could see, but luckily the normal line was fast, and soon I was scanned out of Taiwan.

The kiosk had printed me a lounge pass, but there were no instructions on where the lounge was, and nor was there any signage in the terminal to the Starlux lounge. I ended up asking at an information desk, where the staff told me the lounge that was open late into the evening was near gate D6.




The kiosk printed my boarding pass on a boring white piece of paper, so I asked the lounge staff as I checked in whether they could reprint my boarding pass for me, which they did.



The lounge was quite small. There was an upstairs buffet and some seating




And, behind the luggage lockers, a set of stairs led down to the even quieter downstairs area, with an identical buffet and some shower rooms.






The buffet was okay, but rather unimpressive for the flagship lounge of a major carrier.





There was also a QR code you could order food with, with around 6 or 7 options.




I got chicken soup, a "mini burger", and some braised pork.



The bathrooms were kept clean, but the door opened up so that all the urinals and their occupants were directly visible from the common area, which is... certainly a design decision.



Luckily I was the only one down here, as the lounge was nearly deserted.

All in all, the spaceship theme for the lounge was fun and unique (and the vibe is much more potent in person; it doesn't come across on camera that well), but the lounge is really small and doesn't have too many impressive amenities. I mean, even United has a sit-down restaurant in their Polaris lounges. This feels a lot like an ANA lounge to me - it has the bare essentials you'd practically need, has some decent food, but it's nothing you should get to the airport early to enjoy.



The lounge was also really far away from the gate they were using, with an estimated walking time of over 20 minutes. I don't know how gates are assigned at TPE, but it's yet a bit more friction.



They checked my boarding pass at the top of the stairs by the gate, and then directed me to use the elevator while everyone else was asked to pick up their luggage and haul it down the stairs themselves. Was this because I'm in business class? Not sure, but it feels like TPE could use some escalators here.




Soon, preboarding was called, and then Zone 1.

Starlux Airlines JX 2: TPE – LAX
Airbus A350-900, B-58503
6/24/2025 00:10 TST – 21:10 PDT
Business Class, 5A (window)






The cabin looked very sleek. The spaceship theme didn't really come through that much - it mostly just looked like a modern, warm, and inviting cabin.

Note that only rows 4 and 5 have windows that line up properly. All other rows have obstructed window views.



The screen was massive. I was told that the screen was big before coming onboard, but it did not register until I sat down just how huge this thing was. Google says these are 24 inch panels - the same size as ANA's The Room - and you feel every inch of it. The screen was bright, large, and high resolution. Too bad the content they loaded for it was not - I watched a bit of The Lego Movie 2 and it seemed 720p at best, maybe even lower resolution than that.



No individual air vents.




Plenty of little storage spots around the seat, including a wireless charging pad inside the cabinet.




A paper menu was inside the seat pocket already, though seemingly visibly used. A choice of Chinese or International meals were available, with choices of entree if you went down the international route. I decided to get one last Chinese meal before I got home.




PDB and hot towels were passed out.



Soon the jet bridge pushed back



And I noticed that the cabin was nearly empty.

I chatted with one of the flight attendants later who told me that there were 0 first class pax and only 4 people in all of business class.

Maybe Starlux can afford to be a bit less stingy with their award space if this is how their load factors are looking? Just saying.

They did mention to me that it was finals week in Taiwan, and that school hadn't let out yet. They anticipated higher loads during summer vacation, apparently.



Either way, the safety video was screened.



And I forgot to mention this last flight, but they do play a whole bunch of ads after the safety video, including one for this moped thing?



Along with an ad for their new Ontario route, among other things.




And soon we were off.

Wifi was free, but only after hitting 10k feet.



Service started shortly after takeoff, with my appetizer being brought out quickly.



Separately, a bowl of soup was also brought out.



An FA came over to tell me that someone else in the cabin had ordered some boba but fell asleep before it was ready, so they asked if I wanted it instead. I of course accepted, and I must say, this might be the best bubble tea I've ever had.

To be fair, I don't drink much bubble tea on the ground, so my experience is rather limited, but something about the balance of sweetness, creaminess, and the ratio of boba pearls was absolutely perfect. This was a delightful drink (much better than the forgettable mocktail I had originally ordered with my dinner) and I absolutely ordered more later in the flight.



The main of braised pork cheek was flavorful and well made. It looked a little weird with half the plate empty, but I found the portion size to be just right. Maybe a smaller plate would make it look better (or just plate it more centered), but I have no complaints about the flavor.



The meal service wrapped up about an hour after takeoff, at a very respectable pace. To be fair, with 4 pax and 3 FAs, service was efficient and fast throughout the flight.



One last hot towel before I went to change into my pajamas.



Still no foot pedal for the trash lid. I should've checked the lavatory on my JAL flight; I bet they would've had it. There were some simple toiletries here but it seemed most of what you needed would be found in your amenity kit.



The included pajamas were very soft and comfortable.



Turndown service was provided, and I found the blanket very plush and cozy, but the pillow a tad too firm for my tastes.



This is a bad picture, but the footwell was quite large. Probably a similar size to the old Cathay reverse herringbone I flew earlier. I was quite comfortable stretching out and sleeping here.



There is a door that closes. It does click and stay closed, unlike the QSuite door, but it leaves a bit of a gap at the bottom between it and the floor.



Moreover, the seat is perfectly private even with the door open; I couldn't see anyone else while seated, so I consider the door to be a bit of a gimmick. It doesn't detract from the seat, though.

Either way, I drifted off to sleep.




When I woke up, flight attendants presented me with another hot towel and also a face essence mask thing? I got a solid 4 or 5 hours of sleep, which I was really happy with.



Tables were quickly set for breakfast.




This was the congee I ordered. I feel like they gave me way too much stuff to put in the congee, and nowhere near enough congee to put it all in. The flavor was again pretty good, but between not having exerted myself at all since my last meal and my general grogginess from having just woken up, I didn't end up eating too much of it.






And soon California was out my window.





Followed by us reaching the ground.

This was a comfortable, good flight. The lounge was unimpressive but once onboard, I really don't have any complaints. Nothing was so revolutionary that it blew me away, per se, but everything was just executed cleanly and competently. The seat was comfortable and allowed me to get a great night's sleep. The food was tasty (definitely don't skip the boba). The service was friendly and fast. It's just everything I need from a business class flight was there, and was executed well. I'm not sure if I'd go out of my way to route my way onto Starlux if it was out of the way, but I'd certainly more than happily choose Starlux again if it fit my travels.

To be fair, there were three crew members serving four passengers in business class. I'm curious if they can keep this level of service when the plane is more full.



And now, once again, it's time for an episode of "well if it isn't the consequences of my own actions."

I really didn't want to spend the evening on the west coast, and I saw an AA Flagship Business saver fare towards Boston leaving about two hours after I arrived, so I had booked it. Unfortunately, Starlux then schedule changed my flight back around 40 minutes, and AA schedule changed my next flight up around 20 minutes (this latter change I didn't even realize until I checked in), and so I was left with a 63 minute connection in LAX, from an international arrival. Luckily my Starlux inbound was on time, but even then, boarding for my next flight would start exactly 28 minutes after we parked at the gate. I needed to clear customs, change terminals, and go through security in that time. And we parked at the TBIT West Gates, too.

Unfortunately, there was no saver award space left on the AA flight to JFK that night, cash fares were absurd even in economy, and even that flight only left around 20 minutes later. Neither Delta nor United had particularly useful routings either, at least that I was able to afford. As far as I could tell, if I did not make this flight, I was basically stuck in LAX overnight, a fact that I was keenly aware of watching us park at the gate. My heart rate was 130+.

28 minutes.

As soon as the seat belt sign turned off, I was standing right by the door (well, a few feet back to stay out of the crew's way, but otherwise right there) waiting to bolt. I was chatting with one of the junior FAs while waiting for the door to open, and when I mentioned I had to get to New York, they asked how much more flying I had to do - one hour? Two hours? When I said it was a five to six hour flight, they were shocked. I hear about conversations like this online all the time, but this was the first time someone had asked me in person whether it was possible to get from Los Angeles to New York in two hours.

Anyways, 9:10pm. The door was opening. My next flight boards at 9:38 from Terminal 4. I'm in the TBIT West Gates. I have no checked bags and Global Entry.

28 minutes.



I took off at a sprint I was definitely not in shape enough to maintain. Didn't even have time to appreciate that I was back on home turf.



The west gates are really far from the main terminal.



Miraculously, there were only 5 people ahead of me for the Global Entry line, and so passport control took around 10 seconds.



9:19pm. I made it to the curb 9 minutes after the cabin door opened. That was even faster than Hong Kong (but to be fair to HK I didn't have Global Entry there). I didn't even have time to remember how much I dislike LAX's smog-filled pickup loop you get dumped out on.



9:22pm. 12 minutes in, and I was in the AA terminal. I was starting to think I might make this. I was feeling so confident that I even stopped by a kiosk to print a boarding pass.



9:30pm. Of course I got pulled at security for a pat down. It took 5 extra minutes, four and a half of which were spent waiting for the pat down person to come over. But still, I'm airside in the right terminal, and my flight doesn't even board for another 8 minutes.



My gate was right next to the Flagship Lounge, but you'll have to forgive the extremely spent and lightheaded me who was desperately taking deep breaths trying to not pass out and very much not in the mood to pop in and take pictures. Maybe I should try to get more into shape.



9:32pm. I got from my international arrival to the gate for my next flight in 22 minutes. Honestly, props to LAX and Global Entry for making this absolutely insane thing I tried possible. Do I recommend anyone try this? Absolutely not. But am I thankful that I'll be getting off the west coast tonight? Yes.



American Airlines AA 2453: LAX – BOS
Airbus A321, N117AN
6/23/2025 22:13 PDT – 6:44 EDT
Flagship Business, 6A (window)



A peek at the Flagship First seat I will not be flying in today.



Instead, I get to be in the 2-2 Flagship Business, which is still a lie-flat seat on a domestic flight, so I'm happy with that. I spent 40k AAdvantage miles on this flight, and I'm desperately trying not to think of the fact that my Qatar First flight to Hong Kong was only 10k miles more.



I've heard horror stories of poor upkeep on these planes, but honestly my seat was fine, minus the non-functioning power port and the general degraded cleanliness that is typical for AA.



We even got a PDB.



AA's remarkably creepy safety video played as we pushed back from the gate and taxiied out.



And like that, my extremely short vacation in southern California came to an end.




FAs passed out menus before takeoff. Apparently even economy class gets some food on these transcons, which is actually rather nice of AA.




Many people went straight to sleep, so the cabin was kept in darkness for the entire meal service. Night Sight on my phone is doing a much better job of seeing what was happening than I could. This is basically what I was looking at:



Anyways, the meal came on one tray.



By US domestic catering standards, this was actually a passable meal. The vegetables were a bit soggy, and the meat too well done, but the sauce was flavorful, and dipping the meat in it tasted pretty okay. The salads were not my thing, but I finished a good chunk of the main.

I will say, it felt really weird going from a breakfast service directly to a dinner service within a few short hours.



Dinner capped off with a rather good ice-cream sundae. Honestly, an impressive meal for AA.

I do love how steep of a curve I have to start applying when reviewing a US airline.



The lavatory was... not particularly clean, but it was functional.



I put my seat down to take another quick nap as well. For as outdated as the 2-2 layout is, the sleeping surface is quite comfortable, with a large unobstructed footwell. I will say that row 6 is close enough to the galley and lavatory that if you really needed a good night of sleep, the light and noise may be bothersome. For me, though, just taking a short nap, it was fine.



Surprisingly, I managed to get over two hours of sleep in before waking up for our final approach into Boston.




It had been a while since I'd come to Boston. I completely forgot how gorgeous that approach into Boston Logan can be.




Soon I was dumped back into Terminal B, not far from the Admiral's Club.