lolstebbo

Hey coolfish, are you 100% sure about this one? My mother called their Taipei office and asked them about it while she had them on the line, and, according to her, they said it's 12-month period only; are you sure they'll alter it if I call in if I have enough mileage within 365 days?

weezl

This really sucked. No lie-flat, limited AVOD, tired planes, marginal food. Even the lounge is dumpy by Asian standards.

The seats are barcaloungers, not even close to flat, and not conducive to sleep. Very nice staff did not make up 11 hours of unsleepable misery. Would not try this again. Somehow I thought I was going to be on a better plane.

lolstebbo

Isn't it a SkyTeam lounge and not a CI-run lounge? I don't know to what extent you could hold that one against CI.

coolfish1103

Yep, LAX still uses the 150 deg 74C. Better seats are available at other destinations.

Still if you want fully lie-flat I'd suggest you wait till end of 2014 on CI.

I wouldn't call limited AVOD on CI, you probably just don't know how to use it.

They use the LAX airport lounge because the contract is still there.

They have not yet moved to the Skyteam one operated by KE.

No, it's both.

They have to consult with the headquarter cause they cannot do it on their own at the call center. Did they consult?

I did it once for myself at Gold and once for my Mom at Emerald.

But please do not refer to her records (I will remove this picture in 24 hours). Thanks.

lolstebbo

Ah, okay. Do you know what the magic words are? This isn't going to an issue until mid-April since that's when my 365 days are up.

coolfish1103

I don't understand your situation.

If the 365 days are not up and you already have enough miles, they will give you the status the following month automatically after you qualify (cause it's within 12 months).

If the 365 days are not up and you don't have enough miles, then obviously they won't issue you anything until you have enough miles.

lolstebbo

Ah, sorry, I started to ramble on. I'll check back in April. haha

weezl

Doesn't help me much now... I should have opted for a 1-stop, at least another carrier (maybe through NRT?) would have been worth it so that I could have slept.

I knew how to use it; it is clunky to be sure, but the # of movie offerings for example was small compared to other long hauls

I meant the lounge at TPE

tris06

I found the lounges in Taipei actually of good quality. They have showers which are nice, Their food while mostly asian in orientation hence most flight go to asia. I think you will find cool with agree with me that there lounges are actually pretty good and your idea of better quailty is really high. I can only think of lounges like Qantas Sydney or Cathay wing loung in HK which beat this lounge hands down.

coolfish1103

I believe you will get lie-flat if you take DL, KE or UA through NRT or ICN but probably not so if through Japanese carriers. The price might be cheaper via KE but I am not so sure about DL or UA.

Erm, there are like 100 movies on board each flight so I am not sure what you meant by small compared to other long hauls. They are not all blockbuster videos but I believe there are about 9 to 15 of them on each flight. The rest (non-blockbuster but are new) are not in the newest section tab, but rather, they are in each individual tab that has about 15 videos per tab.

Yes, the Business Lounge in TPE is nothing special to write about and not anywhere decent if you compare to some Asian carriers. First has comparably better offering quality. However, I would say they have the basic needs covered (hot food, drinks, reading materials, shower, bathroom within and fruits).

If you have already earned enough miles in January then you will earn status in February. No need to wait till April.

coolfish1103

Also, I took some time yesterday and updated TransAsia Airways' section.

- As usual, not everything is finished.
- They don't have much to update cause their operation is much smaller.

Some new info added for China Airlines and EVA Airways.

- Feel free to correct if you believe there are errors.
- Will try to get the rest of EVA's section completed over CNY.

Will probably work on Far Eastern Air Transport over Chinese New Year.

^

weezl

THY in IST is phenomenal. The CI lounge in HKG is very classy. I even thought the *A (US) lounge in CLT was nicer in presentation than the CI lounge in TPE (thought these US clubs have much less food, booze, etc).

One crazy thing about CI louge in TPE is that there are a ton of stairs to get to the food, and I was told no elevator. Handicapped pax starve there?

tya

NH, I believe, has lie-flats on all TPAC, but their entertainment is far worse than either CI or BR, I would say.

tris06

Well yes it is a little annoying with the stairs and I think thats one of the big minuses. Also I dont like being able to see outside but there is a reason for that. The location they are in is not suitable for viewing anything apart from maybe the carpark and transit rail. While the CI HK lounge is nice in some ways if comparing the first class it falls behind the Taipei lounges as its just so small and without its own food section so you need to order each time or take a walk into the business section. I believe the lounges in Taipei are newer too only being around 6-7 years old where the HK lounge was done about 10-11 years ago.

Next time if you have a problem with the stairs. Take a walk to Terminal 1 and go to the lounge there. There is an elevator and inside the lounge its much wider. The worst lounge I have been to must have been either the Korean lounge in HK or the Philippine airline lounge in Manila both are very old and need renewing.

Food wise for business class people I think Bangkok is the best i tried so far.
I've heard the worst CI lounge seems to be in Sanfran which i am told often becomes over packed.

The CI video content i think is fine and has enough to keep me entertained. Its only if i fly more than 3-4 times in 1 month with the same content then my chioces become limited. I am trying China southern next week on their A330 and by looking at their chioce in First and Business class only as economy or premium dont have on demand video I am thinking it will be limited. Thankfully the flight will be very short.

lolstebbo

It's an extremely unimpressive lounge. Food selection included California rolls from Costco and potato chips, and it was definitely overcrowded.