raikje

Index

Table of Contents:
1. Intro
2. London to Singapore, SQ C
3. InterContinental Singapore
4. Singapore to Nagoya, SQ C, and on to Sapporo, NH Y
5. Like a plane, but on the ground
6. The Strings by InterContinental, Tokyo
7. Narita to Incheon, OZ F
8. COEX InterContinental, Seoul
9. Incheon to Hong Kong, OZ C
10. InterContinental Hong Kong (pt. 1)
11. Hong Kong to Singapore, UA F
12. Crowne Plaza Changi
13. Singapore to London, SQ F


Full disclosure: This trip was only possible thanks to the good people and wealth of information on FT. So I thought I'd try and give something back. I'm not a frequent long-haul traveller, never mind in premium classes. I earn my miles on short-haul economy, and through some of bmi's legendary generosity (3000 miles for a 6 question survey anyone? How about 12 issues of The Economist and 9000 miles for £12?). So some of my opinions may be coloured by the wild-eyed innocence of an F newbie... It's also my first TR. And finally, I tried to take plenty of photos, but occasionally I forgot, and I don't have a thick enough skin to break out the SLR and start running amok with it. So there is a slightly odd selection of photos, some of which are a bit dodgy, and mixed between my SLR, my better half's point and shoot, and my camera phone. But I'm sure you'll get the idea.

raikje

Intro and Booking

This trip was over a year in the planning. With the never-ending uncertainties over the future of bmi and Diamond Club, and a tidy little pile of miles built up, we decided another trip to Japan was in order and I starting plotting a route. The criteria were a) first time in F, so make it a good one, b) use the opportunity for stopovers wisely, and c) around autumn time for koyo and good weather would be good.

So, onto the Star Alliance timetable, and the ANA award availability tool. I had plenty of plans, but it all depended on matching suitable routes with suitable dates. 330 days out was the magic point, and in November availability opened up on a suitable selection of flights. So we stuck a stake in the ground:

LHR-SIN, SQ C
SIN-ICN-AKJ, OZ C

Now we just had to hope the right flights opened up in the other direction! And eventually, after some extra miles posted in January and after a number of delightful calls to bmi's call centre in Pune, we were also flying home...

NRT-ICN, OZ F
ICN-HKG, OZ C

HKG-BKK, TG F
BKK-SIN, LX F
SIN-LHR, SQ F

(a slightly gratuitous routing based on availability, and on the opportunity to try both LX and TG F offerings (albeit on a short hop) and the BKK F ground experience)

However, with the perils of booking so far out, not a single leg of our original booking was unaffected by a cancellation, time (or indeed day) change, or equipment swap:

- SQ pulled the 744 off the LHR flights. The new product on the 77W undoubtedly would be an improvement over the Spacebeds for the way out, but I was a little sad not to be trying the Skysuites coming home. Plus the nose and upper deck of a 747 beat the boring space between door 1 and 2 on a 777 any day.

- OZ moved the AKJ flight (which only operates in the order of once a day, three times a week) to a whole day earlier. This was no good, as we couldn't move the SQ flights now that they were on a 77W. So after a little head scratching (and more than a little extra time on the ANA tool) we rerouted SIN-NGO-CTS. This wasn't a bad compromise, as SQ SIN-NGO was due to switch to the new regional 333. It did mean a Y leg for the NH domestic connection though - the horror!

- OZ also saw fit to tinker with the other two legs, slightly retiming them and swapping the equipment around (probably in our favour though)

- TG cancelled our HKG-BKK, and we were automatically rebooked onto a flight with 30min connection in BKK. The slightly earlier alternative was still tight for time, and the rumour was it was also being cancelled. That left a 6hr30 layover as only choice, plus another rumour that LX were going to axe the BKK-SIN tag-on sector. At that point we gave up on the BKK detour, and looked to see what had opened up directly HKG-SIN. The answer was UA F (new product), and since it was a short flight, we could at least try it out without being stuck there for too long. It was a sort of morbid curiosity...

So, once everything had been shaken out, the final routing was

LHR-SIN (SQ C, 77W)
SIN-NGO (SQ C, 333)
NGO-CTS (NH Y, 767)
NRT-ICN (OZ F, 777)
ICN-HKG (OZ C, 333)
HKG-SIN (UA F, 747)
SIN-LHR (SQ F, 77W)

A first visit to SIN, ICN and HKG, a first time on SQ/NH/OZ/UA, and a first time in first.

Oh, and 20918 miles of flying:


(thanks to the Great Circle Mapper)

gleff

looking forward to this one!

i've just subscribed to the thread so i know when you're updating...

thanks

raikje

London Heathrow T3 - Singapore Changi T3
Singapore Airline SQ319
Business Class

Heathrow is never a terribly pleasant place to visit. But Zone A at T3 is, as LHR goes, not too bad. Natural light, for a start. And when we arrived at least, quiet. Straight up to the business class check-in counter, where an efficient but not exactly chatty lady dealt with the formalities. Bags tagged, boarding passes issued and directions to the lounge received, we headed up the escalator towards Departures, admiring the Freestate sculpture. A brief stop at Travelex to collect some currency, and about 10 minutes later the woman had finished painstakingly retyping all the details from the internet order receipt attached to our cash into her computer, so another receipt could be printed. Hmmm, efficient.

Onwards to the 'fast track' security. This appeared to have a longer queue than any other, and no obvious restrictions/controls on access. Luckily, a second channel was opened at just the right time, and we nipped through (though the people manning that channel didn't seem too happy at having to do work). Passport check, which I presume was some kind of security measure, unless the UK has reinstated exit checks when I wasn't looking, and in to the shopping complex. After a couple of loops, we had built up enough speed to break free and headed off to the lounge.

The C section of the SKL, upstairs past the trickling water, was fairly busy - not surprising given that all the seats in C had been assigned when I last looked, and Y and C were both zeroed out. The lounge isn't all that large, and the seats are pretty close together, making it feel a bit cramped. Alas, one of the other changes that happened after we booked was the withdrawal of VS Clubhouse access to SQ C and F pax.


sun, tarmac, even a bit of runway. good enough for a view

Hot food was a veg curry of some kind, and chilli chicken and prawn, which was fairly tasty for a snack. Also the usual fare of cheese, rolls, instant noodles, sandwiches, crisps, nuts and cakes. I decided to pick up a copy of the Economist, a habit I've developed since being lured in by scent of bmi miles - I suppose their marketing technique was a partial success then, though my subscription has long since lapsed.

Boarding was called at around 18:00, and we ambled down to gate 1. Surprisingly quiet, we were straight through to the premium cabin jetway, down to door 1L. We passed through F (patience!) and in to the 8-seat mini C cabin. I had pre-selected 11D/F as soon as the equipment swap appeared on the booking, as these were generally regarded as two of the best seats in the house. Apparently they were very alluring, as upon our arrival we found 11F already occupied! After a brief moment of self-doubt, the gentleman there produced an old boarding pass showing 11F, and then grudgingly the correct one for 12K. I'm not sure if he was just trying it on or if it was a genuine mistake, but I'm not sure how you accidentally mix up a boarding pass stub handed to you at the top of the jetway with another one tucked away in your wallet in those 30 seconds...

We settled into our accommodations for the next 13 hours, and before long the tray of champagne and OJ was offered. I went for the champagne, as you do, and the other half had the OJ (mainly because she didn't see the champagne on the tray!). Push back was about 10/15 mins late (no reason given but I expect just the mandatory LHR delay) and we embarked on the scenic drive to 09R. I had been led to believe that massive GE90s hanging off the wings made, well, quite a lot of noise, so I was pleasantly surprised when they finally spooled up. Don't get me wrong, they weren't quiet, and you certainly got quite a sense of power from them, but they weren't quite as bad as I feared.


The seat passing the other half's legroom test...

Although taking off towards our flat, a quick turn south scuppered any hope of seeing it (that, and we weren't sitting in a window seat). The routing would take us over Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague. the Black and Caspian Seas, India, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, down the Malaysian coast, around to the south of Changi, and in. Something a little like this:



Dinner is served quickly on this flight, so that people can get to sleep as soon as possible if they wish. So around 45 minutes in, the satay was served (and 11K was already asleep). Tasty!



The rest of the menu was as follows:


champagne, anyone?


meanwhile, across the divide, a cute little beer


Duckliver terrine

Neither of us had opted to Book The Cook for this sector, as none of the C options from LHR were particularly inspiring, so we both selected our mains from the menu.


Seabass for me (and a glass of the sauvingnon blanc)

It was interesting, and tasty enough, but I think I would choose something else next time


The fettuccine - apparantly it was much better than it looks here!

For the dessert, I opted for the chocolate and orange ice cream (how could you not?)


Ice cream

Unfortunately, they seemed to have popped it outside to keep it cold, and it was rock hard. No, really - I tapped it with my spoon, and it clanged. I decided to come back in 10 minutes and try again.

10 minutes later, and it had softened up enough to merely be hard. Just a few minutes more...

After successfully fending off the FA who presumed I was finished and offered to clear it away, I braved a third sampling. This time I could actually get a spoon into it, and it proved to be very good - worth the wait!


Cheese, and a banana lurking in the background that didn't look great but was very nice

Alas my request for a glass of port with the cheese was forgotten about, and I had eaten all the cheese before I realised.

After dinner, it was time to play with Krisworld. It certainly has a pretty comprehensive selection, but it's a shame that it is so sluggish. Combined with a direction button on the controller that didn't give much positive feedback that it has been pressed, it took me a few minutes to get the hang of it and stop whizzing way past things on the menu before it finally caught up with me.

A suitable no-thought-required film selected, I made up my bed and settled down to watch The Taking of Pelham 123 with a pretty generous measure of whisky.

I'm 6'2", and the bed was just long enough for me to stretch out on the diagonal. It was a little bit lumpy, but quite comfortable and with a good pillow. Ideal for sitting up watching a movie, and pretty decent for sleeping on too. I did find the cabin was a bit hot overnight, but not so much that I could be bothered doing anything about it.

In seat mode, it was perfectly comfortable for eating and lounging. The width wasn't an issue, and I found the little cushioned shelf at the side made a good footrest.

So, to sleep, or something approximating it. I wasn't very tired, so took me a while to nod off, but I got there in the end. A few hours out of SIN, we were awoken for breakfast:


The fruit plate (with a croissant hiding out of shot)


Grilled salmon fillet, with a lot of hollandaise sauce.

Soon enough we were starting our descent, and touched down around 10 minutes late. Quickly on stand, and we disembarked, with the right aisle going through door 1L, and the left through 2L. This caught the two of us out a bit, and after a few minutes waiting for each other in different places, we were off to immigration. I was immediately impressed by Changi. Airy and full of natural light, not a queue in sight, well signed and well thought out. Quickly through immigration, and to baggage reclaim.



We just had time to admire the foliage when the belt started up, and the priority bags popped out. A short walk and no queue for a taxi, and were were on our way to the hotel. From aircraft door to taxi in less than 20 mins - at LHR you'd probably still be waiting for them to find someone to operate the jetway.

Euan

Likewise... will be a good report

Have started writing up parts of mine.

raikje

InterContinental Singapore
Booked: King Premier, free breakfast and internet rate.
Got: Executive Suite

The taxi ride in was pleasant enough, though our driver seemed to have a digital accelerator pedal... Definitely the lushest airport access road I've ever seen! SG$17 and we arrived in the courtyard outside the IC SIN



Check-in was fairly painless, though the staff member looking after us had the thickest accent of all staff I spoke to there, which was a bit of a challenge when my ear hadn't quite acclimatised yet. I had asked the hotel before booking what Royal Ambassador upgrade I could expect from a Premier room, and was advised that it would be a Executive Suite, or Club access. As breakfast was included in the rate, and we didn't have long in Singapore anyway so would be out most of the time, I requested the suite option when I booked. So I was a bit disappointed when the check-in agent gave the impression he was doing me a massive favour with the Exec suite upgrade, but he'd give it to me since I was only staying for 1 night. I was only wanting what they had told me I could expect... A nice scarf was handed over for the lady though, and we were soon being escorted up to the 16th floor.

The room itself was huge, 114sqm according to the website. It is located on the north-west corner, with the living room looking north, and the bedroom facing west. I have a feeling that the southerly view would be better, but given the upgrade I can't complain too much!



Living room. The big TV is just out of shot to the left


Work area


Bedroom


Wardrobes


Bathroom (with shower out of shot to the right)

Enormous bath towels, soft robes that actually fitted me, and a seemingly never-ending supply of Elemis shower gel were all greatly appreciated. It seemed like every time we left the room, someone ran in to replace the any of the shower gel/shampoo we had used (or, *ahem*, swiped for later use...)


Night view from the living room


Living room minibar

There was an identical bar in the bedroom. Just the drinks were free, as per the rules. Not the most comprehensive selection but had everything we needed. There were also some large bottles of water around the room, with a ~SG$12 price tag on them. However, I think they count as part of the minibar so free for RAs.


Ambassador fruit and water

It wasn't there when we arrived but turned up unprompted while we were out


Floor plan

The enormous room wrapping around the lifts is the Presidential Suite, and you can see the other Executive suite in the opposite corner. The red spot is the living room, and the wiggly bit is the bedroom and bathroom.

We spent the rest of the day alternating between wandering around, showering (turns out Singapore is quite hot - at 88 miles from the equator, who'd have thought?), and raiding the minibars. I'll spare you the photos, partly because it was dark for a lot of the time and I'd left my tripod and my fast lenses in the room...

Despite the very comfortable bed, jetlag woke me up pretty effectively at 0430. With a flight out at 0100 the next night, I shouldn't struggle too much to get to sleep. At 0800, further attempts at sleep were abandoned and we went for breakfast in the Olive Tree. It was very good - there was an extensive buffet of hot and cold food, covering western, local and Japanese cuisines. I like a good breakfast to set me up for the day, especially when I don't know when I'll get lunch, and this did the job perfectly.

Given our very late flight, on the way back to the room we enquired about a late checkout. The offer was 7pm, and it was graciously accepted. This would let us freshen up after the day, check out and leave the bags on our way out to dinner. As Bugis station is on the way to Changi anyway, we could easily stop past on our way to the airport and pick the bags back up.

Another hot day, though luckily rain-free, so we had a bit of a lounge by the pool:



When it came time to check out, our bill mysteriously had 1 cent more than the pre-paid sum. This was waived, much to my disappointment - I wanted to see how my credit card company would cope with a charge for less than 1p!

[As a footnote, we managed to leave something in the room. The hotel was very good at responding to emails, and they found our wayward possession and forwarded it on to Tokyo for us. Though I should hope they were efficient, since they charged us SG$30 on top of the postage as a "handling fee"]

So off to the airport for another overnight flight. I was starting to feel that another night in Singapore might have been prudent... Oh well, the joys of award flights, you just have to go when they tell you to!

raikje

Thanks for the replies - hope you enjoy the rest of it! Though the sudden flurry of activity will probably slow up, as the rest of it is still in note and half-completed sentences form... I tried to type it up on my Zaurus* as I went along, but it just ended up in a bit of a half-baked state. More reliable than my memory though!

* old technology, but pretty ideal for travelling when you don't want to haul a laptop

exc3ll

Great report so far! can't wait to read the rest.

larrywilmot747

Great TR so far - looking forward to the rest. Thanks Larry.

RyanG

Nice report and great pictures! Looking forward to the rest!

tiddyzhang

cool and fantastic report ,love reading it

raikje

Singapore Changi T3 - Chubu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya)
Singapore Airline SQ672
Business Class

With our flight due to depart at 0100, we ran out of things to do and ended up heading to the airport quite early, stepping off the MRT at Changi almost three and a half hours before our flight. We had walked almost the full length of T3 before we realised that we must have missed the business class check-in area - because it was facing away from the MRT exit, we had walked straight past it. Check-in was smooth and queue free, but unfortunately we were told that it wasn't possible to interline our luggage onto a domestic Japanese flight. We inevitably picked the bad queue at passport control, and had a very methodical (read "slow") woman. Eventually stamped out of the country, we brazenly ignored the instructions from the check-in agent to take the second escalator, and followed some signs up the first. After having walked past a variety of lounges, including the Krisflyer Gold lounge, we arrived at the top of the second escalator and the entrance to the Silverkris Lounge.

Being a Friday night, before the various late evening European departures, it was pretty busy. However, we managed to find a good pair of chairs, and I went straight off to queue for a shower. There were a couple of people ahead of me, but with 6(?) shower cubicles it moved quite quickly. When mine became free, the attendant expertly squeegeed down the shower and gave it all a quick clean before handing me my towel. The shower took me a minute to figure out, but it was powerful and hot, what more do you need?

Feeling a bit more human, I went to check out the buffet. A draught beer and some snacks from the plentiful selection obtained, I settled down for a read. Although busy, it didn't feel too crammed in and pretty relaxing. The time passed quite quickly, and thankfully it was only late on that I noticed quite how annoying the background music was - it might have been drowned out by all the people early on, but as the lounge emptied out it became more obvious.

Around 40 minutes before the scheduled departure time, we packed up and headed to gate A18. As that gate is a bit of a trek (or more accurately a bit of a train) from the lounge, we arrived at the gate just as boarding was starting. Some Star Golds squeezed into the premium queue ahead of us, but we gleefully took a left into the C jetway as they trudged down to Y.

The usual drinks/hot towels/slippers/eye masks/menus/etc rounds were quickly started. The other half had the champagne, but I was oddly tempted by their "special" of, I think, Morgan's Spiced rum and pineapple juice - I'm a sucker for crazy-sounding drink combinations, and this one wasn't too bad. Our meal and post-takeoff drink orders were taken (with the choice of dinner now, or woken up for breakfast in the morning - we both opted for breakfast, as indeed did everyone else I think). Load of around 1/3 in C tonight.

Pushed back on time, and a short taxi. Quite a bit of turbulence after takeoff, and this may have been why:


If you can't quite tell what it is, it's a big pile of cloud being lit up by lightning

Once we were past the excitement out the window, the earplugs went in and I was quickly asleep. I reckon the new 333 config would be pretty good for a day flight, and though an angled flat bed, is perfectly adequate for a short redeye. I certainly slept straight through til breakfast, though I was very tired (and apparently took a bit of effort to wake up!). My only criticism is that the seat area is a little short of storage space.

About 90 mins before landing (so around 5hrs in to the flight), we were awoken for breakfast. I'm afraid the menu was retrieved by the FA without me noticing and before I had a chance to make a note of it, but I opted for the "American Breakfast". This consisted of a veal sausage, mushrooms, tomato, baked egg x2, beans, a strawberry yoghurt lacking in flavour, a nice croissant with jam, fruit and juice.

We landed on schedule in a grey and overcast Nagoya, and cleared the various immigration hurdles - quarantine check (body temperature cameras), passport control (with a chuckling man who found it very funny that apparently i look much younger in my passport...), and customs. Japan is often quite tight at customs, and sure enough the woman reached for the special laminated card of prohibited items, and asked me to confirm i didn't have any of them. Oh dear, do I look that disreputable? A fairly cursory luggage inspection ensued (pretty much just taking the socks out of my other shoes, and checking for a false bottom in my bag...) and I was on my way, so not too bad.

Upstairs to check-in, and to tackle the mystery of Japanese domestic air travel. There was some confusion from the luggage screeners before the check-in desk that we didn't already have a boarding pass, but I think most pax have been to the self-service machines first - I thought that was doomed to failure, so we went straight to the desk. Once our bags were deemed benign, we passed our e-ticket confirmations to the agent. Much typing, talking to colleagues and head-scratching later, two bits of paper popped out. These were scanned, the luggage tagged, and then they were ripped up to be replaced with a new one... On closer inspection, they apparently weren't boarding passes, but a "checked in notice". Whatever, we had dumped our bags, so that's all that counts.

Given that we had 4 hours to kill before our flight*, we went upstairs to the shops. After a quick loop round, we decided some "fresh" air would be a good idea and went out to the huge viewing deck.

*Although there appeared to be availability on an earlier flight when we booked, the bmi call centre agent couldn't see it, and an extra hour in the airport wasn't worth the battle.


Our ride in, and some of her friends


The extensive viewing deck, and a security guard atop a Toyota i-Real


Caffeine, some coin-op internet and a book passed the time until we decided to go through - we didn't want to go too early, as we weren't sure what awaited us on the other side. As we approached, a woman dashed out and checked the other half's name - I guess there weren't many other jetlagged gaijin around for her to pick from! We were asked to wait, and she got on the radio. Various bad thoughts inevitably sprung to mind - had our bags been inadvertently crushed/blown up/sent back to Singapore? Was there a problem with our booking? As it turned out, it was just a quick boarding pass swap - the other half's e-ticket was titled "Miss", and in their system that made her a child! Swiftly replaced with a "Ms" pass, and through to security. Our "checked in notice" was scanned, and out popped a "gate notification" slip.

We needn't have worried about the facilities past security - the gate area was comfortable enough, apart from the loud TV, and we grabbed a bite to eat from the little shop. Boarding was called, preceded by a gate agent demonstrating the self-op boarding pass scanner with a giant model boarding pass and scanner (sorry, no photo!).

So up to the gate, and we scanned our "checked in notice" on the reader. This time, something finally entitled "boarding pass" popped out for us - not quite a paperless operation!

Chubu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya) - New Chitose Airport (Sapporo)
All Nippon Airways NH707
Economy Class

No photos of this I'm afraid, but if you're interested it was operated by 767-300, registration JA8677.

Alas ANA don't release any of the 10 "premium class" seats on this flight for award bookings, even on an otherwise C ticket. So we were relegated to the 260 economy seats up the back. However, it was less than a third full, so we had no problem spreading out a bit for a bit of extra sleep. And that's what we did, so I can't really fill you in on the service. Think there were some drinks offered. And my favourite feature of Japanese planes - the external camera on the big screen for takeoff and landing, showing you forward and then down after you're airborne.

An hour and a half later, and we were back on the ground, parked up next to this:


JA8956 - one of NH's two Pokemon planes!

Bags collected, claim tags shown to the people manning the exits, and out to the station and the delights of the Japanese rail system.

Jimgotkp

Wow the Intercontinental some hell of a hotel huh? Do you mind me asking how much it costed in USD?

salfcl

Great read. Thanks for the TR. Looking forward to the next update.

raikje

I think it was about USD250, though that room would usually cost about 4 times that...