South Pacific, Israel, Lebanon - 6 Weeks - 71,500 miles - 24 countries
Oct 18, 2014, 5:25 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: OZ*G, VA Plat, NZ*G (Elite), QF Gold and PC+, Hyatt Explorist, HH Gold, Bonvoyed ("Gold")
Posts: 5,350
Epic itinerary! I look forward to seeing how it all plays out.
Did you manage to get any of your NZ flights via miles? The NRT route actually does have award availability sometimes, even in J (along with PVG, pretty much the only NZ longhaul routes where this applies). If you're lucky you might get the refitted 777-200 with refreshed business class (if you're in business) and much improved premium economy... though arguably a step down if you're in coach (now 10 across).
If your AKL time is still a work in progress, you might consider visiting Waiheke Island. It's a very easy trip from downtown Auckland (a scenic 40 minute ferry ride, and they run pretty much every half hour) and a gorgeous island, with lots of boutique wineries and great (though fairly pricey) food options...
Did you manage to get any of your NZ flights via miles? The NRT route actually does have award availability sometimes, even in J (along with PVG, pretty much the only NZ longhaul routes where this applies). If you're lucky you might get the refitted 777-200 with refreshed business class (if you're in business) and much improved premium economy... though arguably a step down if you're in coach (now 10 across).
If your AKL time is still a work in progress, you might consider visiting Waiheke Island. It's a very easy trip from downtown Auckland (a scenic 40 minute ferry ride, and they run pretty much every half hour) and a gorgeous island, with lots of boutique wineries and great (though fairly pricey) food options...
Oct 20, 2014, 10:28 am
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,512
Did you manage to get any of your NZ flights via miles? The NRT route actually does have award availability sometimes, even in J (along with PVG, pretty much the only NZ longhaul routes where this applies). If you're lucky you might get the refitted 777-200 with refreshed business class (if you're in business) and much improved premium economy... though arguably a step down if you're in coach (now 10 across).
Oct 21, 2014, 10:31 pm
#24
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Oct 22, 2014, 5:15 am
#26
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA, SPG
Posts: 202
Me and my buddy had our f1 tripped booked 9 months ago.....then he knocked up his wife accidentally (which we found out when we went with them in bcn). So it all got cancelled bcuz my wife somehow got preggers 5months ago too...lol
We are going next year for sure....
Oct 23, 2014, 5:15 pm
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,512
I. Washington Dulles to Tokyo in ANA First, and ANA First Lounge, Tokyo
So, finally the big day was here. Rainy day in Washington, and grabbed the new-ish Silver Line metro out to Dulles. Check-in was smooth, with 14 agents (I counted) and no lines yet. Agents had a bit of trouble figuring out how to tag my bag all the way to Bali (since it was different tickets) but soon had it sorted and I was on my way to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge.
I decided to do a few laps of the A and B terminal first to get a little bit of.walking in, but was soon seated with a glass of bubbly and a little breakfast:
The lounge was relatively quiet, and I hung out for about an hour before heading to the gate about 45 minutes before flight time to board. They were having none of that, however, and boarding started promptly at 30 minutes before departure...and we were still boarded with 10 minutes to spare! There was lots of confusion leading up to the flight if this was a reconfigured plane or not. It was showing 77W on the website for months in advance, then 24 hours out switched to 777 which seems to be ANA's internal designator for old config. I asked the gate agent if it was the "old configuration and she said "yes so sorry."
Well, we boarded, and it was indeed the new configuration. Communication gap it seems. Hooray!
ANA / All Nippon Flight 1
Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Tokyo, Narita (NRT)
Depart 12:20, Arrive 15:25, Flight Time 14:05
Boeing.777-300ER, Registration JA783A, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K
I was a bit surprised that after being shown my seat, there was no offer of pre-departure drinks. That seemed to be because business class was also boarding through the front door, and they didn't want to get in the way. Surprisingly, when they did come around, it was with pre-poured champagne or orange juice. When I sat down, the amenity kit and headphones were already waiting for me in the cube:
The suite even had what they called an "eyeglasses compartment", but it was also perfect for not losing the iPhone!
Finally, I had my bubbles, and it was departure time:
Flight was scheduled for 13 hours and 42 minutes gate to gate:
About 15-20 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendants came around with beverage orders and an amuse bouche. The amuse bouche was majorly underwhelming, but decided to finish it in order to not risk offending the flight attendants too early in the flight. The Krug, however, was amazing:
There were four appetizers on the menu, and I was asked which one I preferred. I decided to go with the caviar, which was quite tasty with some blini:
Next up was a very simple, yet very tasty, salad with another glass of Krug:
At this point, I was asked "do you want your main meal now, or perhaps if you are not yet full another appetizer?" That was all the invitation I needed to try the "lobster salad" appetizer as well:
This seems like a good time to share the menu:
I went with the filet of beef and truffle sauce, and it was absolutely the best main course I've ever had on a plane. The beef was about as good as it gets on a plane, maybe medium or a little more, but the sides were just amazing. A little bit of ground mustard with the steak was pretty awesome as well. I went with the South African red wine, which I really liked. I'm going to have to look into how easy it is to find when I get back home:
Finally, the cheese course. United, are you watching? This is how you do a cheese course, complete with candied walnuts and a couple of slices of cured sausage:
Since I still wasn't full, I decided to go for the warm pear tart with a glass of plum wine. Now, I'd never had plum wine before, but it was outstanding. The plum flavours alongside the pear was amazing. So amazing I might be having another glass right now in the Narita ANA lounge as I type this
Finally, some chocolates and more plum wine as I finished my movie:
I headed to the washroom to change into the ANA pajamas, and asked the purser to make up my bed. I was greeted with this scary character in the washroom. Merry Halloween indeed!
I got back to my seat, and found the bed all ready and waiting, and the covers pulled back. They'd even put down an orthopedic foam pad "prefered by olympic athletes which was incredibly comfortable to sleep on:
There was also a little crushable aromatherapy on the pillow to help sleep:
After just over five hours of solid sleep, I woke up somehow a little hungry. I think I would have sleep longer, but the cabin temperature was rather warm. Either that or I was starting to get dehydrated despite several bottles of water. I decided to have the famous ANA chicken and mushroom curry, which was rather tasty. Note how even for a snack course, they did a full table setting:
I figured I might as well get the full experience, so went for the mousse to finish it off. It was delicious:
I lounged around for the next three hours watching terribly movies (seriously, if you haven't seen "Tammy" it's awful, but was adequately amusing when in-flight) and soon the lights were turned up 90 minutes before landing and we were offered something to eat. I decided to switch back to Krug while I still had a chance:
I was offered anything I would like from the main menus or the snack menus, and I decided to go with the Japanese small meal. It was majorly tasty, and the flight attendants seemed quite pleased I was trying it:
...and since I hadn't been enough of a pig, I finished it off with ice cream and more Krug when offered:
Another view of the seat just before landing:
Landed at Narita about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and there was no queue at all when I got to transit security. We had come in at gate 57, so I took the underground walkway over to Satellite two where the other lounge was. Quick refreshing shower that felt amazing, and time for a little planespotting from the lounge window:
...as promised, more plum wine, and some little meatball snacks:
After just over two hours, it was time to head to the gate and "experience" United first class to Singapore. Pretty sure it'll be a big letdown after ANA...
I decided to do a few laps of the A and B terminal first to get a little bit of.walking in, but was soon seated with a glass of bubbly and a little breakfast:
The lounge was relatively quiet, and I hung out for about an hour before heading to the gate about 45 minutes before flight time to board. They were having none of that, however, and boarding started promptly at 30 minutes before departure...and we were still boarded with 10 minutes to spare! There was lots of confusion leading up to the flight if this was a reconfigured plane or not. It was showing 77W on the website for months in advance, then 24 hours out switched to 777 which seems to be ANA's internal designator for old config. I asked the gate agent if it was the "old configuration and she said "yes so sorry."
Well, we boarded, and it was indeed the new configuration. Communication gap it seems. Hooray!
ANA / All Nippon Flight 1
Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Tokyo, Narita (NRT)
Depart 12:20, Arrive 15:25, Flight Time 14:05
Boeing.777-300ER, Registration JA783A, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K
I was a bit surprised that after being shown my seat, there was no offer of pre-departure drinks. That seemed to be because business class was also boarding through the front door, and they didn't want to get in the way. Surprisingly, when they did come around, it was with pre-poured champagne or orange juice. When I sat down, the amenity kit and headphones were already waiting for me in the cube:
The suite even had what they called an "eyeglasses compartment", but it was also perfect for not losing the iPhone!
Finally, I had my bubbles, and it was departure time:
Flight was scheduled for 13 hours and 42 minutes gate to gate:
About 15-20 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendants came around with beverage orders and an amuse bouche. The amuse bouche was majorly underwhelming, but decided to finish it in order to not risk offending the flight attendants too early in the flight. The Krug, however, was amazing:
There were four appetizers on the menu, and I was asked which one I preferred. I decided to go with the caviar, which was quite tasty with some blini:
Next up was a very simple, yet very tasty, salad with another glass of Krug:
At this point, I was asked "do you want your main meal now, or perhaps if you are not yet full another appetizer?" That was all the invitation I needed to try the "lobster salad" appetizer as well:
This seems like a good time to share the menu:
I went with the filet of beef and truffle sauce, and it was absolutely the best main course I've ever had on a plane. The beef was about as good as it gets on a plane, maybe medium or a little more, but the sides were just amazing. A little bit of ground mustard with the steak was pretty awesome as well. I went with the South African red wine, which I really liked. I'm going to have to look into how easy it is to find when I get back home:
Finally, the cheese course. United, are you watching? This is how you do a cheese course, complete with candied walnuts and a couple of slices of cured sausage:
Since I still wasn't full, I decided to go for the warm pear tart with a glass of plum wine. Now, I'd never had plum wine before, but it was outstanding. The plum flavours alongside the pear was amazing. So amazing I might be having another glass right now in the Narita ANA lounge as I type this
Finally, some chocolates and more plum wine as I finished my movie:
I headed to the washroom to change into the ANA pajamas, and asked the purser to make up my bed. I was greeted with this scary character in the washroom. Merry Halloween indeed!
I got back to my seat, and found the bed all ready and waiting, and the covers pulled back. They'd even put down an orthopedic foam pad "prefered by olympic athletes which was incredibly comfortable to sleep on:
There was also a little crushable aromatherapy on the pillow to help sleep:
After just over five hours of solid sleep, I woke up somehow a little hungry. I think I would have sleep longer, but the cabin temperature was rather warm. Either that or I was starting to get dehydrated despite several bottles of water. I decided to have the famous ANA chicken and mushroom curry, which was rather tasty. Note how even for a snack course, they did a full table setting:
I figured I might as well get the full experience, so went for the mousse to finish it off. It was delicious:
I lounged around for the next three hours watching terribly movies (seriously, if you haven't seen "Tammy" it's awful, but was adequately amusing when in-flight) and soon the lights were turned up 90 minutes before landing and we were offered something to eat. I decided to switch back to Krug while I still had a chance:
I was offered anything I would like from the main menus or the snack menus, and I decided to go with the Japanese small meal. It was majorly tasty, and the flight attendants seemed quite pleased I was trying it:
...and since I hadn't been enough of a pig, I finished it off with ice cream and more Krug when offered:
Another view of the seat just before landing:
Landed at Narita about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and there was no queue at all when I got to transit security. We had come in at gate 57, so I took the underground walkway over to Satellite two where the other lounge was. Quick refreshing shower that felt amazing, and time for a little planespotting from the lounge window:
...as promised, more plum wine, and some little meatball snacks:
After just over two hours, it was time to head to the gate and "experience" United first class to Singapore. Pretty sure it'll be a big letdown after ANA...
Oct 24, 2014, 8:14 am
#28
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
The look in your eyes just after boarding (in the pink shirt) is highly indicative of some sort of underlying mental derangement.
No sake for you this flight? I mean, I guess you kept busy with the Krug/wine/plum wine, but I probably would have entrenched myself in a bottle early and let things get ugly.
Good luck braving United, and enjoy living in SIN for a night.
No sake for you this flight? I mean, I guess you kept busy with the Krug/wine/plum wine, but I probably would have entrenched myself in a bottle early and let things get ugly.
Good luck braving United, and enjoy living in SIN for a night.
Oct 24, 2014, 11:31 am
#29
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
ANA F looks good! I will be flying on that in Jan... also found out my TG 747F was changed to A380 F! That'll be my first time flying on the A380.
Though my Dec/Jan itinerary isnt' quite so crazy as yours.
AUS-ATL-CDG-PRG-CDG-TNR (see you in Tana!)-MRU-RRG-MRU-RUN-DZA-HAH-DZA-RUN-ORY/CDG-JFK-AUS
home for 10 days then:
AUS-ORD-NRT/HND-KIX-BKK-CMB-MLE-???
Not sure what the ??? entails yet... but KQ has a great fare BOM-NBO-BZV for connecting to Bangui on our old friend TAAG.
Though my Dec/Jan itinerary isnt' quite so crazy as yours.
AUS-ATL-CDG-PRG-CDG-TNR (see you in Tana!)-MRU-RRG-MRU-RUN-DZA-HAH-DZA-RUN-ORY/CDG-JFK-AUS
home for 10 days then:
AUS-ORD-NRT/HND-KIX-BKK-CMB-MLE-???
Not sure what the ??? entails yet... but KQ has a great fare BOM-NBO-BZV for connecting to Bangui on our old friend TAAG.
Oct 27, 2014, 1:04 am
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,512
II. Tokyo to Singapore in United First, and Singapore Transit Hotel and lounges
Headed down to the gate, and boarding was just starting as I got there. As usual, United was being super classy and all of "Group 1" was being invited to board at the same time. 1Ks, business class, first class, doesn't matter. All lumped together. Not even a priority announcement for Global Services. We're clearly not on ANA anymore!
United flight 803
Tokyo, Narita (NRT) to Singapore (SIN)
Depart 18:00, Arrive 00:10, Flight Time 7:10
Boeing 777-200, Registration N788UA, Manufactured 1997, Seat 2K
Welcome aboard...can I get you a glass of Krug? Oh, wait...I mean a glass of Veuve Smisek. Mmm...delicious!
Wait, where's the caviar service?!
Quality construction. I went to put my feet on the footrest, and it fell off.
Takeoff was on-time, and in fairness the crew was very pleasant and efficient, I will say in general despite Jeff's best efforts to the contrary, the hard product is pretty decent (not good, or great, but decent) and the crews are almost always very good.
There were two choices of red wine today, and I went with a glass of the Changes-You'll-Like Shiraz. It was perfectly drinkable, and would make a reasonable $10-15 table wine for every day drinking. Certainly not international first class quality, but...
Yes, this is the appetizer. Two shrimps, two cucumber slices, and two tomato slices. I literally couldn't even. I refuse to touch shrimps on planes (food poisoning twice will do that to you) so sent it back untouched. Sad.
The salad was marginally better. It was solid, but nothing special. Could have used something crunchy in it.
I went with the pork main. I know I've seen this dish before, but not sure when, since I haven't flown first out of Tokyo in quite a while. Maybe they've been recycling this dish for years? Anyways, the pork was decent, although the quantity was sorta sad.
Now, the big letdown. The sundae. You could have fudge on it, with whipped cream, or nothing. No choice of toppings. In first. Is this seriously the norm now?
After eating, I made the mistake I was trying not to and fell asleep. For five hours. This was going to make getting a few hours upon arrival in Singapore pretty difficult. Ugh. Looks like I would be piecing sleep together for the next few days.
Overall thoughts on United first, especially right after ANA first? The seat was perfectly comfortable...but international first should be more than that. The competitors have all upped the game by this point and have fully private suites, and although the United seat is comfortable it's lagging behind. The food is a sad attempt, and basically just says United has given up all pretenses of competing. Staff were friendly in that very casual American way, which was actually a bit refreshing after the formality of ANA.
Landed right on time, and walked down to the terminal three transit hotel. I'd booked a room in hopes of getting some sleep from 1-6am or so. However, having slept five hours on the plane, I didn't have high hopes. Could be worse, I could be camped out on the floor like these unfortunate souls:
Wasn't tired at all, so after checking into my room headed to the Singapore Airlines business class lounge (if you're not arriving in Singapore first, your lounge access is based on your departure flight...which was in business) to have a small snack and a glass of wine in hopes of winding down. Even the business class lounge had an impressive food spread:
Including this description, which did absolutely nothing to entice me to try it:
Left the lounge after about an hour, and walked to the hotel in hopes of finally getting a couple hours of sleep. I've never seen Changi as empty as it was at 2am:
Got about 2.5 hours of sleep, which added to the 5 I'd gotten on the plane should be enough. Unfortunately, the weird timing of the sleep wouldn't do anything to help me adjust to the time zones, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.
Decided to head outside immigration and get some Starbucks. Grabbed my passport and phone, went through immigration, and was soon at Starbucks. However, unfortunately, I didn't have my wallet. My brain was doing when I normally wake up and it's not time to go to work, it assumed my phone could do all...including pay at Starbucks. Nope, no paying with the Starbucks app in Singapore, so I struck out. Ugh.
Back through immigration, where the agent paged through my passport a bit. He saw several visas for west Africa, and asked me if I'd been there recently and "perhaps maybe you could have the Ebola virus?" Um, no, sorry to disappoint. At least he was nice about it and offered me some candy!
Having failed in my mission to get Starbucks, I settled for a triple iced espresso in the Singapore lounge. After about 15 minutes I wasn't really awake, so I had a second and assumed it was just weak espresso. After two of them, I was feeling a little sick, and I assume they were plenty strong, I was just so wiped out I was past the point of recovery. Ugh, great, now I was going to go into caffeine overdrive. Greeeeat!
Back to the hotel, and checked out after my six hour block was done. The transit hotel was a fantastic alternative to going into town, and was quite comfortable for what it was. I don't know why it's taken me so long to discover it, but I'll definitely be using it again in the future.
Walking to my gate, passed the Changi coi pond. Pretty sure Singapore is the only airport in the world with its own coi pond!
Got to the gate, and it was time to fly to Bali!
United flight 803
Tokyo, Narita (NRT) to Singapore (SIN)
Depart 18:00, Arrive 00:10, Flight Time 7:10
Boeing 777-200, Registration N788UA, Manufactured 1997, Seat 2K
Welcome aboard...can I get you a glass of Krug? Oh, wait...I mean a glass of Veuve Smisek. Mmm...delicious!
Wait, where's the caviar service?!
Quality construction. I went to put my feet on the footrest, and it fell off.
Takeoff was on-time, and in fairness the crew was very pleasant and efficient, I will say in general despite Jeff's best efforts to the contrary, the hard product is pretty decent (not good, or great, but decent) and the crews are almost always very good.
There were two choices of red wine today, and I went with a glass of the Changes-You'll-Like Shiraz. It was perfectly drinkable, and would make a reasonable $10-15 table wine for every day drinking. Certainly not international first class quality, but...
Yes, this is the appetizer. Two shrimps, two cucumber slices, and two tomato slices. I literally couldn't even. I refuse to touch shrimps on planes (food poisoning twice will do that to you) so sent it back untouched. Sad.
The salad was marginally better. It was solid, but nothing special. Could have used something crunchy in it.
I went with the pork main. I know I've seen this dish before, but not sure when, since I haven't flown first out of Tokyo in quite a while. Maybe they've been recycling this dish for years? Anyways, the pork was decent, although the quantity was sorta sad.
Now, the big letdown. The sundae. You could have fudge on it, with whipped cream, or nothing. No choice of toppings. In first. Is this seriously the norm now?
After eating, I made the mistake I was trying not to and fell asleep. For five hours. This was going to make getting a few hours upon arrival in Singapore pretty difficult. Ugh. Looks like I would be piecing sleep together for the next few days.
Overall thoughts on United first, especially right after ANA first? The seat was perfectly comfortable...but international first should be more than that. The competitors have all upped the game by this point and have fully private suites, and although the United seat is comfortable it's lagging behind. The food is a sad attempt, and basically just says United has given up all pretenses of competing. Staff were friendly in that very casual American way, which was actually a bit refreshing after the formality of ANA.
Landed right on time, and walked down to the terminal three transit hotel. I'd booked a room in hopes of getting some sleep from 1-6am or so. However, having slept five hours on the plane, I didn't have high hopes. Could be worse, I could be camped out on the floor like these unfortunate souls:
Wasn't tired at all, so after checking into my room headed to the Singapore Airlines business class lounge (if you're not arriving in Singapore first, your lounge access is based on your departure flight...which was in business) to have a small snack and a glass of wine in hopes of winding down. Even the business class lounge had an impressive food spread:
Including this description, which did absolutely nothing to entice me to try it:
Left the lounge after about an hour, and walked to the hotel in hopes of finally getting a couple hours of sleep. I've never seen Changi as empty as it was at 2am:
Got about 2.5 hours of sleep, which added to the 5 I'd gotten on the plane should be enough. Unfortunately, the weird timing of the sleep wouldn't do anything to help me adjust to the time zones, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.
Decided to head outside immigration and get some Starbucks. Grabbed my passport and phone, went through immigration, and was soon at Starbucks. However, unfortunately, I didn't have my wallet. My brain was doing when I normally wake up and it's not time to go to work, it assumed my phone could do all...including pay at Starbucks. Nope, no paying with the Starbucks app in Singapore, so I struck out. Ugh.
Back through immigration, where the agent paged through my passport a bit. He saw several visas for west Africa, and asked me if I'd been there recently and "perhaps maybe you could have the Ebola virus?" Um, no, sorry to disappoint. At least he was nice about it and offered me some candy!
Having failed in my mission to get Starbucks, I settled for a triple iced espresso in the Singapore lounge. After about 15 minutes I wasn't really awake, so I had a second and assumed it was just weak espresso. After two of them, I was feeling a little sick, and I assume they were plenty strong, I was just so wiped out I was past the point of recovery. Ugh, great, now I was going to go into caffeine overdrive. Greeeeat!
Back to the hotel, and checked out after my six hour block was done. The transit hotel was a fantastic alternative to going into town, and was quite comfortable for what it was. I don't know why it's taken me so long to discover it, but I'll definitely be using it again in the future.
Walking to my gate, passed the Changi coi pond. Pretty sure Singapore is the only airport in the world with its own coi pond!
Got to the gate, and it was time to fly to Bali!
