The Trip of a Million Lifetimes: 30 F/J Flights Around the World in 69 Days
Sep 18, 2013, 3:46 pm
#137
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
After our fabulous flights in from St. Petersburg, we took a taxi to the Park Hyatt Saigon.
29. Park Hyatt Saigon
Park Hyatt Saigon
Saigon, Vietnam
3 nights points redemption
Standard Room
This is a fabulous hotel and we knew it from the moment we walked in. All the staff are extremely courteous and professional. Smiles and warm greetings everywhere. We headed to the check-in desk where we were warmly greeted and recognized as Hyatt Diamond members.
We were informed no Diamond upgrade opportunities were available and were assigned room 821 on the 2nd to top floor. We were told we would have complimentary breakfast for two at the Opera restaurant, or could opt for our complimentary breakfast via room service(!). We were also offered a check-in amenity. We opted for the home-made spring rolls and hot green tea. It was brought up promptly.
We were escorted to our room by the check-in agent.
Vietnam is a very inexpensive place although this hotel is probably one of the most expensive in the country with rates starting at USD150 and up. In a busy week, rates can be almost USD400 a night. We used 15,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per night, transferred to Hyatt to pay for this room. This was an exceptional value for a Park Hyatt.
Room 821, a standard room.
View of the hallway and closet as you walk in.
Awesome marble-everything bathroom. There were not jack and jill sinks, however the shower-room had a bathtub and a spacious "open" shower with "rain" overhead spigot or euro-style hand-held spigot.
The bedroom was a standard, comfortable size. The bed was oh-so comfortable. We really enjoyed how clean and comfortable this room was.
Our view from outside of the room. You can see the pool below on the 3rd floor, and the Saigon skyline outside.
Lady Tocqueville loves breakfast. And Asian hotel breakfasts never disappoint. We had high expectations going in. And we were blown away. The "Opera Breakfast" will normally set you back $30 per person in a city where you can have a "street breakfast" for $1.50. This was an awesome complimentary breakfast.
You are given a menu. Basically, the Continental Breakfast, one of the best I have ever seen, is included. You can also order a hot entree cooked for you by one of the multiple chefs in the open air kitchen. We tried the Beef Pho, Crab Vermicelli, and Beef Curry with Baguette. They were all so delicious.
The breakfast service literally has at least two dozen employees, maybe more. They made all their own pastries home-made under the supervision of an Italian pastry chef. There was a deli counter where they use a slicer to freshly serve your cold cuts or cheese. There were tons of fruits and exotic fruits including jackfruit, mangosteen, and pomello. Hell, they had fresh honey still on the honeycomb. I tried to snap a few pictures to do this breakfast justice.
The pots in the foreground are not part of the buffet. The chefs use this to cook up the hot made to order entrees like Pho or Crab Vermicelli.
The nuts and grains section.
The massive and beautiful fruit display. Everything was sliced with such love and professional attention.
The on-site made pastry zone.
The deli counter. How ridiculous!
Breakfast our first morning of Beef Pho with some cold cuts, fresh bread, a donut, and a pretzel. Now this is what I call vacation.
We savored this breakfast each morning. As nice as room service would have been, we wanted to exploit the buffet's awesomeness each morning so we made it down each day.
We cooled our jets at the hotel pool a couple times. They provide you towels, cold ginger tea, and fresh fruit on a stick while enjoying this quiet respite in noisy Saigon
The Park Hyatt Saigon pool. Not pictured is the locker room, which is the most impressive hotel locker room I have seen. A massive hot tub, "sleeper chairs", clean showers, and plenty of high-end toiletries at the marble sinks.
On our last day the hotel gave us our request 4PM late check-out, a perk of being a Hyatt Diamond member. We lounged around the pool after we vacated our room at 4PM. We had a 7PM dinner reservation and from there we would head to the airport for our 11:30PM flight to Tokyo. This hotel is an oasis in the awesome assault on all senses known as Saigon.
29. Park Hyatt Saigon
Park Hyatt Saigon
Saigon, Vietnam
3 nights points redemption
Standard Room
This is a fabulous hotel and we knew it from the moment we walked in. All the staff are extremely courteous and professional. Smiles and warm greetings everywhere. We headed to the check-in desk where we were warmly greeted and recognized as Hyatt Diamond members.
We were informed no Diamond upgrade opportunities were available and were assigned room 821 on the 2nd to top floor. We were told we would have complimentary breakfast for two at the Opera restaurant, or could opt for our complimentary breakfast via room service(!). We were also offered a check-in amenity. We opted for the home-made spring rolls and hot green tea. It was brought up promptly.
We were escorted to our room by the check-in agent.
Vietnam is a very inexpensive place although this hotel is probably one of the most expensive in the country with rates starting at USD150 and up. In a busy week, rates can be almost USD400 a night. We used 15,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per night, transferred to Hyatt to pay for this room. This was an exceptional value for a Park Hyatt.
Room 821, a standard room.
View of the hallway and closet as you walk in.
Awesome marble-everything bathroom. There were not jack and jill sinks, however the shower-room had a bathtub and a spacious "open" shower with "rain" overhead spigot or euro-style hand-held spigot.
The bedroom was a standard, comfortable size. The bed was oh-so comfortable. We really enjoyed how clean and comfortable this room was.
Our view from outside of the room. You can see the pool below on the 3rd floor, and the Saigon skyline outside.
Lady Tocqueville loves breakfast. And Asian hotel breakfasts never disappoint. We had high expectations going in. And we were blown away. The "Opera Breakfast" will normally set you back $30 per person in a city where you can have a "street breakfast" for $1.50. This was an awesome complimentary breakfast.
You are given a menu. Basically, the Continental Breakfast, one of the best I have ever seen, is included. You can also order a hot entree cooked for you by one of the multiple chefs in the open air kitchen. We tried the Beef Pho, Crab Vermicelli, and Beef Curry with Baguette. They were all so delicious.
The breakfast service literally has at least two dozen employees, maybe more. They made all their own pastries home-made under the supervision of an Italian pastry chef. There was a deli counter where they use a slicer to freshly serve your cold cuts or cheese. There were tons of fruits and exotic fruits including jackfruit, mangosteen, and pomello. Hell, they had fresh honey still on the honeycomb. I tried to snap a few pictures to do this breakfast justice.
The pots in the foreground are not part of the buffet. The chefs use this to cook up the hot made to order entrees like Pho or Crab Vermicelli.
The nuts and grains section.
The massive and beautiful fruit display. Everything was sliced with such love and professional attention.
The on-site made pastry zone.
The deli counter. How ridiculous!
Breakfast our first morning of Beef Pho with some cold cuts, fresh bread, a donut, and a pretzel. Now this is what I call vacation.
We savored this breakfast each morning. As nice as room service would have been, we wanted to exploit the buffet's awesomeness each morning so we made it down each day.
We cooled our jets at the hotel pool a couple times. They provide you towels, cold ginger tea, and fresh fruit on a stick while enjoying this quiet respite in noisy Saigon
The Park Hyatt Saigon pool. Not pictured is the locker room, which is the most impressive hotel locker room I have seen. A massive hot tub, "sleeper chairs", clean showers, and plenty of high-end toiletries at the marble sinks.
On our last day the hotel gave us our request 4PM late check-out, a perk of being a Hyatt Diamond member. We lounged around the pool after we vacated our room at 4PM. We had a 7PM dinner reservation and from there we would head to the airport for our 11:30PM flight to Tokyo. This hotel is an oasis in the awesome assault on all senses known as Saigon.
Last edited by beofotch; Sep 19, 2013 at 2:13 am
Sep 19, 2013, 6:07 am
#139
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
30. SGN-NRT on NH in J
Saigon, Vietnam to Tokyo, Japan
NH 932
Departure Time: 11:50 PM
Boeing 767-300
Business Class Seat 3A
Duration 6 hours
The taxi dropped us off at Saigon Airport's international terminal at about 9:30PM for our 11:50PM departure. We went to the ANA check-in desk and found an economy class line, and business class line which were both queued up with some customers. However, there were no check-in agents. We queued up in the business class line. 20 minutes later, a team of contract agents came to their check-in stations, bowed at all the customers and began checking us in.
We were issued our pre-assigned seat assignments 3A and 3C which are two seats together in the 2nd row of the plane. In addition, the check-in agent provided us a lounge pass to use one of the airport's contract lounges, the Rose lounge. I believe about 3 years ago this lounge used to be a Singapore Airlines lounge which then got converted to a contract lounge. We went through immigration and security and headed that way.
ANA check-in desks at Saigon airport before the slew of agents arrived.
Entrance to the Rose VIP lounge. From the sign it appears that it services most of the Star Alliance carriers and a couple others.
For a Contract Lounge, this one was one of the nicest yet. A big open space with plenty of big windows to the tarmac. Plenty of comfortable seating. A decent vietnamese and marginal western food spread. And of course, free drinks and booze. We used the free wi-fi to surf the web and kill a little over an hour before boarding.
The open feel of the Rose lounge with the drinks and food stations in the background.
Big windows with full views of the tarmac, and some comfortable, clean chairs.
More tarmac views.
The food spread was decent. We were stuffed from an amazing meal in Saigon at Cuc Gach, so we didn't touch any of this stuff.
Boarding was called a surprising 25 minutes before departure. Normally the airlines ask you to be at the gate 50 or 60 minutes prior to departure. Organized lines formed behind a business class and economy class sign. We boarded and quickly stowed our bags and got into our seats on my first ever flight with ANA airlines.
The business class cabin is shown above. It has 7 rows in a unique (to me) 2 - 1 - 2 configuration. This ANA regional business class on the 767 is not fully flat, but rather a cradle seat that reclines a good bit.
A view of the middle seat in row 3. Below the passenger's blue bag is the pillow and blanket. I really liked the blanket because it came inside a pouch. When you unfolded the blanket the pouch turned into a "foot pocket" to always keep your feet covered while reclined. The pillow was comfortable.
Not pictured was the amenity kit which had the standard fare with an interesting twist. There was actually a "scent button" on a small wallet sized card. When you pushed the one-time-use "scent button" a lavender smell is activated to help relax you for sleep.
While these seats were not lay flat, a view of the generous leg-room of seat 3A.
As soon as we boarded the chief flight attendant came over, bowed to us, and introduced herself. She gave us a menu and a card to fill-out our selections for our one meal on the flight, breakfast 90 minutes before landing. The card let you pick your Japanese or Western meal selection (or a anytime snack) and whether or not you want them to wake you up for breakfast.
Boarding was amazingly fast, only 15 minutes for a almost full business class and who knows how many back in economy. We pushed back on-time and were in the air shortly thereafter. We immediately reclined and tried to get some sleep. If they were going to wake us 90 minutes before landing, we were looking at about 4 hours of sleep max. As it turned out, the cradle seats were not that comfortable for sleeping. Sleeping was reasonably manageable, but these were not like a lay flat seat like we had on LAN airlines or Turkish. We probably eeked out 3-3.5 hours of "up and down" sleep, which was better than nothing.
90 minutes before landing, they woke both of us to serve us our hot breakfast.
The menu and breakfast option card. Not pictured are the drinks selection on ANA which are very generous. On this flight we just had water.
View of another passenger asleep with the cradle seat fully reclined.
View of our progress with 90 minutes to go.
Sorry this picture is so blurry. I like experimenting, but the Japanese breakfast option was some sort of fish cutlet, which is not for me, especially at 5AM. So I went with a hot udon noodle bowl with seaweed. It was decent although served to me only lukewarm.
Lady Tocqueville went with the "Western Breakfast" which was a disappointment. She claimed it smelled kind of funny. I gave it a whiff to confirm, and sure enough it did smell weird. Not like it was rotten, but not how emmenthal cheese and salami and croissants are supposed to smell. Like they had been under plastic for a long time. She ate a couple nibbles of her croissants and fruit and gave up.
Between my lukewarm noodles and her gross smelling breakfast plate we both regretted we traded off more sleep for this breakfast. For the remainder of the flight I read the ANA magazine and she tried to doze off again.
We landed about 20 minutes early in Narita. We were the first off the plane and after a long walk to the immigration counter, we were quickly processed through immigration and customs and into the terminal. There was a 7:35AM departure of a Limousine bus that goes directly to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Roppongi. However, we got there at about 7:50AM, about 15 minutes too late. The next bus was at 9:40AM, so rather than wait the 2 hours, we bought tickets for the Narita Express train and at after the hour ride to Tokyo Station took a taxi the rest of the way to the Grand Hyatt. The Train set us back 5200 Yen (~$52 USD) and the taxi another 1800 Yen. Japan is an expensive place! We were at the hotel by about 9:45AM.
Saigon, Vietnam to Tokyo, Japan
NH 932
Departure Time: 11:50 PM
Boeing 767-300
Business Class Seat 3A
Duration 6 hours
The taxi dropped us off at Saigon Airport's international terminal at about 9:30PM for our 11:50PM departure. We went to the ANA check-in desk and found an economy class line, and business class line which were both queued up with some customers. However, there were no check-in agents. We queued up in the business class line. 20 minutes later, a team of contract agents came to their check-in stations, bowed at all the customers and began checking us in.
We were issued our pre-assigned seat assignments 3A and 3C which are two seats together in the 2nd row of the plane. In addition, the check-in agent provided us a lounge pass to use one of the airport's contract lounges, the Rose lounge. I believe about 3 years ago this lounge used to be a Singapore Airlines lounge which then got converted to a contract lounge. We went through immigration and security and headed that way.
ANA check-in desks at Saigon airport before the slew of agents arrived.
Entrance to the Rose VIP lounge. From the sign it appears that it services most of the Star Alliance carriers and a couple others.
For a Contract Lounge, this one was one of the nicest yet. A big open space with plenty of big windows to the tarmac. Plenty of comfortable seating. A decent vietnamese and marginal western food spread. And of course, free drinks and booze. We used the free wi-fi to surf the web and kill a little over an hour before boarding.
The open feel of the Rose lounge with the drinks and food stations in the background.
Big windows with full views of the tarmac, and some comfortable, clean chairs.
More tarmac views.
The food spread was decent. We were stuffed from an amazing meal in Saigon at Cuc Gach, so we didn't touch any of this stuff.
Boarding was called a surprising 25 minutes before departure. Normally the airlines ask you to be at the gate 50 or 60 minutes prior to departure. Organized lines formed behind a business class and economy class sign. We boarded and quickly stowed our bags and got into our seats on my first ever flight with ANA airlines.
The business class cabin is shown above. It has 7 rows in a unique (to me) 2 - 1 - 2 configuration. This ANA regional business class on the 767 is not fully flat, but rather a cradle seat that reclines a good bit.
A view of the middle seat in row 3. Below the passenger's blue bag is the pillow and blanket. I really liked the blanket because it came inside a pouch. When you unfolded the blanket the pouch turned into a "foot pocket" to always keep your feet covered while reclined. The pillow was comfortable.
Not pictured was the amenity kit which had the standard fare with an interesting twist. There was actually a "scent button" on a small wallet sized card. When you pushed the one-time-use "scent button" a lavender smell is activated to help relax you for sleep.
While these seats were not lay flat, a view of the generous leg-room of seat 3A.
As soon as we boarded the chief flight attendant came over, bowed to us, and introduced herself. She gave us a menu and a card to fill-out our selections for our one meal on the flight, breakfast 90 minutes before landing. The card let you pick your Japanese or Western meal selection (or a anytime snack) and whether or not you want them to wake you up for breakfast.
Boarding was amazingly fast, only 15 minutes for a almost full business class and who knows how many back in economy. We pushed back on-time and were in the air shortly thereafter. We immediately reclined and tried to get some sleep. If they were going to wake us 90 minutes before landing, we were looking at about 4 hours of sleep max. As it turned out, the cradle seats were not that comfortable for sleeping. Sleeping was reasonably manageable, but these were not like a lay flat seat like we had on LAN airlines or Turkish. We probably eeked out 3-3.5 hours of "up and down" sleep, which was better than nothing.
90 minutes before landing, they woke both of us to serve us our hot breakfast.
The menu and breakfast option card. Not pictured are the drinks selection on ANA which are very generous. On this flight we just had water.
View of another passenger asleep with the cradle seat fully reclined.
View of our progress with 90 minutes to go.
Sorry this picture is so blurry. I like experimenting, but the Japanese breakfast option was some sort of fish cutlet, which is not for me, especially at 5AM. So I went with a hot udon noodle bowl with seaweed. It was decent although served to me only lukewarm.
Lady Tocqueville went with the "Western Breakfast" which was a disappointment. She claimed it smelled kind of funny. I gave it a whiff to confirm, and sure enough it did smell weird. Not like it was rotten, but not how emmenthal cheese and salami and croissants are supposed to smell. Like they had been under plastic for a long time. She ate a couple nibbles of her croissants and fruit and gave up.
Between my lukewarm noodles and her gross smelling breakfast plate we both regretted we traded off more sleep for this breakfast. For the remainder of the flight I read the ANA magazine and she tried to doze off again.
We landed about 20 minutes early in Narita. We were the first off the plane and after a long walk to the immigration counter, we were quickly processed through immigration and customs and into the terminal. There was a 7:35AM departure of a Limousine bus that goes directly to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Roppongi. However, we got there at about 7:50AM, about 15 minutes too late. The next bus was at 9:40AM, so rather than wait the 2 hours, we bought tickets for the Narita Express train and at after the hour ride to Tokyo Station took a taxi the rest of the way to the Grand Hyatt. The Train set us back 5200 Yen (~$52 USD) and the taxi another 1800 Yen. Japan is an expensive place! We were at the hotel by about 9:45AM.
Sep 20, 2013, 7:23 am
#141
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Milan
Programs: LH Sen, AZ CFP, AB Gold, DL Gold, AF Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 5
Seems like we'll be doing something very similar (maybe more "european" as somebody mentioned earlier) in a few months.
:-) :-)
the question i have for the bunch of experts here is whether it makes more sense to purchase a RTW award ticket vs different separate legs.
the RTW seems to be flexible in terms of dates, which makes it desirable.
but the number of legs in the journey are limited
*A seems to have a 10 legs max, ST a 6 legs max (wchih frankly seems a bit ridiculous)
any thoughts?
i promise i will make a similar thread in the months to come!!!
:-) :-)
the question i have for the bunch of experts here is whether it makes more sense to purchase a RTW award ticket vs different separate legs.
the RTW seems to be flexible in terms of dates, which makes it desirable.
but the number of legs in the journey are limited
*A seems to have a 10 legs max, ST a 6 legs max (wchih frankly seems a bit ridiculous)
any thoughts?
i promise i will make a similar thread in the months to come!!!
Sep 21, 2013, 4:55 am
#142
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
31. Grand Hyatt Tokyo Roppongi
Grand Hyatt Tokyo Roppongi
Tokyo, Japan
2 night points redemption
Standard Room
The Taxi dropped us off at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi around 9:45AM. The hotel lobby was full of bankers, many wearing Bank of America lanyards. It appears there was a big conference going on.
We went to the check-in desk and were notified that our room was currently occupied and that the standard check-in time is 3:00PM. Since we had Diamond status on our reservation, they were able to find another room that was not occupied and notified me that it would be 10 or 15 minutes before it was ready. While we were waiting, they escorted us to the Hyatt Grand Club Lounge on the 10th floor to relax.
Ten minutes later they told us our room was ready and we headed over to room 1914 on the 2nd-to-top floor.
Room 1914 at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi Hills
View of the room when walking in.
The room was of a decent size, especially for Tokyo. It was clean and was just what we needed after our red-eye from Saigon.
The room had a King Sized bed, a desk, and comfortable accessories
This bed was a sight for sore eyes after the red-eye
The view was pretty spectacular too. During the clarity of the morning we could see Mt. Fuji way in the distance.
The bathroom was very big for Tokyo standards with a bathtub/shower "room", sink, and very hardcore toilet. We are not used to Japanese toilets, so all the crazy functions on these electronic contraptions were new to us. It is crazy you can get a bidet squirt, temperature and oscillation controlled, for your man parts or your woman parts. These things scared us.
We proceeded to unpack and sleep for a couple more hours to catch-up from the jetlag. We woke up a bit after noon and started exploring Tokyo. This hotel is conveniently located on two subways lines making getting anywhere in this city a breeze.
The next day we had the full breakfast at the Hyatt Grand Club. They had a continental spread out and a menu where you could order a Japanese or International accompaniment.
The menu to order your hot item at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo Roppongi
View from the 10th floor lounge at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi
The "continental" spread included cold cuts in a fridge
There were multiple toasters and ovens for heating up your bread
There was a generous assortment of breads
Of course I oggled the cheese spread. There were also mixed nuts and dried fruit.
The scrambled eggs and bacon and sausage ordered from the "hot menu" came out shortly. They were just alright, I would say on par with a Hampton Inn back in the USA.
We enjoyed the quiet comforts of this hotel for 2 days and 2 nights. Early on the morning of our last morning, we woke up, skipped breakfast and at 6:30AM made for Haneda Airport for our 9AM flight to Kyoto Itami airport. We took the subway 3 stops, transferred stations, and took the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport. We were at Haneda by about 7:30AM.
Our next stop would be a quick one. A one-hour flight on ANA to Kyoto and a 24 hour stay at the Westin Miyako.
Grand Hyatt Tokyo Roppongi
Tokyo, Japan
2 night points redemption
Standard Room
The Taxi dropped us off at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi around 9:45AM. The hotel lobby was full of bankers, many wearing Bank of America lanyards. It appears there was a big conference going on.
We went to the check-in desk and were notified that our room was currently occupied and that the standard check-in time is 3:00PM. Since we had Diamond status on our reservation, they were able to find another room that was not occupied and notified me that it would be 10 or 15 minutes before it was ready. While we were waiting, they escorted us to the Hyatt Grand Club Lounge on the 10th floor to relax.
Ten minutes later they told us our room was ready and we headed over to room 1914 on the 2nd-to-top floor.
Room 1914 at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi Hills
View of the room when walking in.
The room was of a decent size, especially for Tokyo. It was clean and was just what we needed after our red-eye from Saigon.
The room had a King Sized bed, a desk, and comfortable accessories
This bed was a sight for sore eyes after the red-eye
The view was pretty spectacular too. During the clarity of the morning we could see Mt. Fuji way in the distance.
The bathroom was very big for Tokyo standards with a bathtub/shower "room", sink, and very hardcore toilet. We are not used to Japanese toilets, so all the crazy functions on these electronic contraptions were new to us. It is crazy you can get a bidet squirt, temperature and oscillation controlled, for your man parts or your woman parts. These things scared us.
We proceeded to unpack and sleep for a couple more hours to catch-up from the jetlag. We woke up a bit after noon and started exploring Tokyo. This hotel is conveniently located on two subways lines making getting anywhere in this city a breeze.
The next day we had the full breakfast at the Hyatt Grand Club. They had a continental spread out and a menu where you could order a Japanese or International accompaniment.
The menu to order your hot item at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo Roppongi
View from the 10th floor lounge at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi
The "continental" spread included cold cuts in a fridge
There were multiple toasters and ovens for heating up your bread
There was a generous assortment of breads
Of course I oggled the cheese spread. There were also mixed nuts and dried fruit.
The scrambled eggs and bacon and sausage ordered from the "hot menu" came out shortly. They were just alright, I would say on par with a Hampton Inn back in the USA.
We enjoyed the quiet comforts of this hotel for 2 days and 2 nights. Early on the morning of our last morning, we woke up, skipped breakfast and at 6:30AM made for Haneda Airport for our 9AM flight to Kyoto Itami airport. We took the subway 3 stops, transferred stations, and took the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport. We were at Haneda by about 7:30AM.
Our next stop would be a quick one. A one-hour flight on ANA to Kyoto and a 24 hour stay at the Westin Miyako.
Sep 22, 2013, 4:26 pm
#146
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
32. HND - ITM on NH in Y
Tokyo (Haneda) - Osaka (Itami)
NH17
Departure Time: 9:00AM
Boeing 777-200
Economy Class Seat 32D
Duration 1 hour
We arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport at around 7:30AM. We were looking in the Departure Hall for ANA's check-in desks, when we saw ANA Suite Check-In. We were on a Business Class ticket (although flying Economy Class on that flight) and were both Star Alliance Gold members because of our US Airways Chairman status. So we went to see if we could check-in there.
Well it turns out, that was the wrong place and only for ANA top-tier members or people flying ANA 1st "Suites" Class. However, they directed us to a different private door for our Business Class/Star Alliance Gold check-in.
The general check-in desks at Haneda.
We found the "Premium Check-in" we were directed to and walked in the doors. Inside was a quiet room with 3-4 check-in desks for a more private check-in experience. We were on the last leg of an ANA Business Class Award ticket that originated in Sao Paulo. Well technically our last leg is in a few weeks from Panama City to Manuaus Brazil to make it a legal ANA ticket based on their ticketing rules. But I'm not sure we'll make that flight.
ANA has a strange rule that if you are on a ANA Business Class ticket, in flights wholly within Japan you can only get Economy Class seats. I am not sure why they do this but this was the case for us. I asked the check-in agent if there were business class seats left. I pointed out that we were on a Business Class ticket, and showed our itinerary with all of our other segments in Business Class. She looked but noted Business Class was full. She gave us seat assignments together, seats 32 D and E and we proceeded through security.
The view from the ANA "Premium" Check-in to the private security line. The private security line was excellent with no line and a calm way to prove to the world that we didn't have things with us that they considered dangerous.
The view of the private security line after completing the security inspection.
We proceeded to the ANA Business Class lounge. We skipped breakfast at the hotel to make an early arrival at Haneda airport. We found the signs for the ANA lounge and were admitted by virtue of our US Airways Chairman Preferred / Star Gold status. We went up the escalator and found a beautiful, clean, expansive lounge. But there was one problem.
No food! The lounge had free wi-fi, plenty of drinks including booze, but no food other than small bags of snack-mix. I thought for sure there would be some Japanese or even Western food available to nibble on. Regrettably there was not.
General view of the ANA lounge in Haneda Airport Terminal 2. After about 45 minutes we left the lounge in search of food. We found a Starbucks where Lady Tocqueville had a blueberry muffin, and I went to the kiosk across they way for some Ritz-Bitz with Cheese. After this detour for munchies, we headed to the gate.
We were leaving out of Gate 62. I was really surprised that our plane was a 777 for a 1 hour domestic flight. Even more surprising was the 747 at the gate next to us, also for a 1 hour domestic flight. I thought there was no way they would fill up this plane. Hell, the gate area didn't even look that busy.
The boarding area for the flight to Osaka Itami. Boarding was called about 15 minutes before the flight. Firstly were Diamond Club members, then Business Class / Star Gold (us), and finally Economy.
A view of the back of the plane from our seats in row 32.
The craziest looking boarding pass I have ever seen.
Row 32 was a bulkhead in the back of the plane, and had decent room, especially with the ability to move the legs into the wide galley. Surprisingly this flight got full, I only saw a few seats open in Economy. I was amazed by this. And yes, Business Class was full as the check-in agent noted.
Since we were in a bulkhead, we had a "bulkhead TV" for our entertainment. This was the biggest TV I had ever seen in the air, probably 27-28".
All the ANA agents were professional and cheerful. They bowed before greeting you, and even while serving us, the hoi polloi apple juice and water they had a smile on their face.
The flight went by quickly and we landed in Osaka Itami airport about 5 minutes early. At the airport we followed the signs for the airport Limousine Bus which would be an hour ride to Kyoto station in downtown Kyoto. From there we jumped into the Westin Hotel shuttle which runs every 30 minutes from Kyoto station. We were at the hotel by about noon, ready to explore Kyoto.
Tokyo (Haneda) - Osaka (Itami)
NH17
Departure Time: 9:00AM
Boeing 777-200
Economy Class Seat 32D
Duration 1 hour
We arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport at around 7:30AM. We were looking in the Departure Hall for ANA's check-in desks, when we saw ANA Suite Check-In. We were on a Business Class ticket (although flying Economy Class on that flight) and were both Star Alliance Gold members because of our US Airways Chairman status. So we went to see if we could check-in there.
Well it turns out, that was the wrong place and only for ANA top-tier members or people flying ANA 1st "Suites" Class. However, they directed us to a different private door for our Business Class/Star Alliance Gold check-in.
The general check-in desks at Haneda.
We found the "Premium Check-in" we were directed to and walked in the doors. Inside was a quiet room with 3-4 check-in desks for a more private check-in experience. We were on the last leg of an ANA Business Class Award ticket that originated in Sao Paulo. Well technically our last leg is in a few weeks from Panama City to Manuaus Brazil to make it a legal ANA ticket based on their ticketing rules. But I'm not sure we'll make that flight.
ANA has a strange rule that if you are on a ANA Business Class ticket, in flights wholly within Japan you can only get Economy Class seats. I am not sure why they do this but this was the case for us. I asked the check-in agent if there were business class seats left. I pointed out that we were on a Business Class ticket, and showed our itinerary with all of our other segments in Business Class. She looked but noted Business Class was full. She gave us seat assignments together, seats 32 D and E and we proceeded through security.
The view from the ANA "Premium" Check-in to the private security line. The private security line was excellent with no line and a calm way to prove to the world that we didn't have things with us that they considered dangerous.
The view of the private security line after completing the security inspection.
We proceeded to the ANA Business Class lounge. We skipped breakfast at the hotel to make an early arrival at Haneda airport. We found the signs for the ANA lounge and were admitted by virtue of our US Airways Chairman Preferred / Star Gold status. We went up the escalator and found a beautiful, clean, expansive lounge. But there was one problem.
No food! The lounge had free wi-fi, plenty of drinks including booze, but no food other than small bags of snack-mix. I thought for sure there would be some Japanese or even Western food available to nibble on. Regrettably there was not.
General view of the ANA lounge in Haneda Airport Terminal 2. After about 45 minutes we left the lounge in search of food. We found a Starbucks where Lady Tocqueville had a blueberry muffin, and I went to the kiosk across they way for some Ritz-Bitz with Cheese. After this detour for munchies, we headed to the gate.
We were leaving out of Gate 62. I was really surprised that our plane was a 777 for a 1 hour domestic flight. Even more surprising was the 747 at the gate next to us, also for a 1 hour domestic flight. I thought there was no way they would fill up this plane. Hell, the gate area didn't even look that busy.
The boarding area for the flight to Osaka Itami. Boarding was called about 15 minutes before the flight. Firstly were Diamond Club members, then Business Class / Star Gold (us), and finally Economy.
A view of the back of the plane from our seats in row 32.
The craziest looking boarding pass I have ever seen.
Row 32 was a bulkhead in the back of the plane, and had decent room, especially with the ability to move the legs into the wide galley. Surprisingly this flight got full, I only saw a few seats open in Economy. I was amazed by this. And yes, Business Class was full as the check-in agent noted.
Since we were in a bulkhead, we had a "bulkhead TV" for our entertainment. This was the biggest TV I had ever seen in the air, probably 27-28".
All the ANA agents were professional and cheerful. They bowed before greeting you, and even while serving us, the hoi polloi apple juice and water they had a smile on their face.
The flight went by quickly and we landed in Osaka Itami airport about 5 minutes early. At the airport we followed the signs for the airport Limousine Bus which would be an hour ride to Kyoto station in downtown Kyoto. From there we jumped into the Westin Hotel shuttle which runs every 30 minutes from Kyoto station. We were at the hotel by about noon, ready to explore Kyoto.
Sep 22, 2013, 4:58 pm
#147
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
Gatwick Alan, AirbusA320 and others - thank you for your continued comments. It has been a labor of love writing these posts. And it gives me something to do on all these long haul flights!
Sep 23, 2013, 4:32 am
#149
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 20,550
Sep 23, 2013, 11:17 am
#150
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Tokyo–Osaka is one of the busiest air routes in the world (possibly number 5, IIRC). Both JL and NH run a (usually) fully-loaded 777 every hour between HND/NRT-ITM/KIX.
This is all the more surprising when you consider how cheaper and more comfortable it is to travel by shinkansen.