Gold in one go - the Finnair monster
Jul 11, 2015, 8:35 pm
#46
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 152
Jul 12, 2015, 2:55 am
#47
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
Finnair Premium lounge Helsinki - Shower section
Oh, I feel this is going to be a nit pick section.
Disclaimer - Finnair premium lounge at HEL is a nice and perfectly adequate lounge, regardless of my comments below!
I've been here many a times before, but I actually haven't used the shower section. As said before, my flights often has very short connections and any lounge time is spent just sitting down relaxing a few minutes.
Having been on the road for 24 hours now, including 18,5 hour sitting in airplanes, and having a 4 hour layover, this was a perfect opportunity to change that.
The showers and Sauna section is located between the business class lounge and the premium lounge, and it also serves both lounges. It is not obvious how to find it, but I asked at the front desk and they were happy to show me.
Anyone who experienced the old Spa section will be dissappointed, but remember that what used to be the spa is now "over 400 sq metres of lounge space, with seating for 122 guests".
And we should also remember that even if some of us didn't mind paying for a treatment, the majority didn't - thus the days of the Spa was numbered.
Downstairs was a roman style bathhouse (upper right corner of this borrowed picture), now home to the purple hell (below)
The premium shower section is compact and practical. 6 doors to cabinets with shower, zink, toilet. Towels are provided aswell as shampoo. And as I said above, being on the road for a lot of hours it was really nice taking a shower.
However, I feel the need to scrutinize and a few details are less than premium.
This section does not have a "hall monitor" like the asian counterparts. That means that no one is watching and instantly cleaning each cabin after use. Rather, they take a sweep every now and then, and this means you may walk into a used cabin before finding a clean one. My first try was clean so not an issue. But later I found skid marks in the toilet.
Cleaning also is limited to surfaces that first meets the eye. The ventilation looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a while. Dust is actually sticking to the wall now!
The shower section opened less than a year ago, and some mould is already visible. Possibly due to some hastened or just shoddy work. Shower cabin does not keep water inside and it flows over the floor and keeps part of it wet constantly.
This is not unique - I've seen similar issues in CX the Wing. I guess lounge showers are used very frequently and therefor exposed to conditions difficult to cope with.
Challenging environment to keep fresh - I guess.
Shower is activated by movement. To start it, you move (preferably) your hand close to the sensor. I guess this is a water and energy conservation measure. Personally I found it annoying. Once I got water flowing, I couldn't make it stop unless I left the cabin. Which means water is flowing while soaping and shampooing yourself, ie using energy and water unnecessarily.
Back to the lounge, I found a list of what drinks are offered :
Baron Otard XO Gold
Chivas Regal 12 y.o.
Macallan Select Oak
Jack Daniel's Gentleman Jack
Nikka From the Barrel
Finlandia Platinum
The Botanist Islay Gin
Bacardi Gold
Lapponia Lakka
Baileys Irish Cream
Campari
Martini Extra Dry
Selection of Finnair Business class Wines
Beers and Cider
Soft Drinks
Spring Water
Disclaimer - Finnair premium lounge at HEL is a nice and perfectly adequate lounge, regardless of my comments below!
I've been here many a times before, but I actually haven't used the shower section. As said before, my flights often has very short connections and any lounge time is spent just sitting down relaxing a few minutes.
Having been on the road for 24 hours now, including 18,5 hour sitting in airplanes, and having a 4 hour layover, this was a perfect opportunity to change that.
The showers and Sauna section is located between the business class lounge and the premium lounge, and it also serves both lounges. It is not obvious how to find it, but I asked at the front desk and they were happy to show me.
Anyone who experienced the old Spa section will be dissappointed, but remember that what used to be the spa is now "over 400 sq metres of lounge space, with seating for 122 guests".
And we should also remember that even if some of us didn't mind paying for a treatment, the majority didn't - thus the days of the Spa was numbered.
Downstairs was a roman style bathhouse (upper right corner of this borrowed picture), now home to the purple hell (below)
The premium shower section is compact and practical. 6 doors to cabinets with shower, zink, toilet. Towels are provided aswell as shampoo. And as I said above, being on the road for a lot of hours it was really nice taking a shower.
However, I feel the need to scrutinize and a few details are less than premium.
This section does not have a "hall monitor" like the asian counterparts. That means that no one is watching and instantly cleaning each cabin after use. Rather, they take a sweep every now and then, and this means you may walk into a used cabin before finding a clean one. My first try was clean so not an issue. But later I found skid marks in the toilet.
Cleaning also is limited to surfaces that first meets the eye. The ventilation looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a while. Dust is actually sticking to the wall now!
The shower section opened less than a year ago, and some mould is already visible. Possibly due to some hastened or just shoddy work. Shower cabin does not keep water inside and it flows over the floor and keeps part of it wet constantly.
This is not unique - I've seen similar issues in CX the Wing. I guess lounge showers are used very frequently and therefor exposed to conditions difficult to cope with.
Challenging environment to keep fresh - I guess.
Shower is activated by movement. To start it, you move (preferably) your hand close to the sensor. I guess this is a water and energy conservation measure. Personally I found it annoying. Once I got water flowing, I couldn't make it stop unless I left the cabin. Which means water is flowing while soaping and shampooing yourself, ie using energy and water unnecessarily.
Back to the lounge, I found a list of what drinks are offered :
Baron Otard XO Gold
Chivas Regal 12 y.o.
Macallan Select Oak
Jack Daniel's Gentleman Jack
Nikka From the Barrel
Finlandia Platinum
The Botanist Islay Gin
Bacardi Gold
Lapponia Lakka
Baileys Irish Cream
Campari
Martini Extra Dry
Selection of Finnair Business class Wines
Beers and Cider
Soft Drinks
Spring Water
Jul 12, 2015, 4:27 am
#48
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
Finnair Helsinki-ChongQing AY55 Airbus A330 OH-LTM
Cabin and Seat: Business, 1L
So, already one full day of travel, and I am just now moving closer to my destination! Going eastwards from Helsinki to ChongQing on a normal evening flight.
This is familiar territory to me. Stepping onboard OH-LTM, another one of Finnair's refurnished A330s, moving quickly to seat 1L. No surprises here. In fact, this flight is what they call uneventful, but still ended up with a small surprise. But first some pictures of food!
Going nuts
Getting started with some nuts.
Noticed the upper right corner? No, it is not whiskey, even though Finnair do serve hard liquor in the same full size tumbler glasses as everything else. Actually, I onced asked to get a small glass of Cordon Bleu and got a tumbler full, some 20 cl!
No, 24 hours into my run I've switched to apple juice!
Close-up of an old friend
We do recognize this one! Still yummy.
Dessert
Not that luxurious, but a good finish for me, just wanting to get to sleep. Notice the unusual cutlery (plastic spoon). Not the best choice when dealing with stone hard ice cream. The must have run out of the normal stainless steel spoons. Luckily this icecream comes with its own spatula inside.
Breakfast
Landing in China in 90 minutes. Better eat it all - never know when you will be fed next time!
Segment results
Now to the surprise. After booking this trip I got a hint that a lot of oneWorld airlines had summer promotions for better milage earning. Finnair offered two different promotions - one was double points on CKG route, the other was a points booster for all airlines in the Trans-Atlantic-Joint-Business agreement for trips between Europe and North America.
Finnair is not the best when it comes to expressing rules of promotions, so one really never can be 100% sure if and what one is going to earn. So I wouldn't base a purchase solely on a promotion, but these tickets were already bought, so any promotion was going to be an value-add. I quickly signed up for both of them
For the HEL-CKG-leg it worked flawlessly and these butt-in-seat-kms earned pretty well. Sadly only valid for award-points, and my tier bonus did not work on the doubled points. Still, a decent result!
BIS: 6 722
TP: 18 750
AP: 33 750
So, already one full day of travel, and I am just now moving closer to my destination! Going eastwards from Helsinki to ChongQing on a normal evening flight.
This is familiar territory to me. Stepping onboard OH-LTM, another one of Finnair's refurnished A330s, moving quickly to seat 1L. No surprises here. In fact, this flight is what they call uneventful, but still ended up with a small surprise. But first some pictures of food!
Going nuts
Getting started with some nuts.
Noticed the upper right corner? No, it is not whiskey, even though Finnair do serve hard liquor in the same full size tumbler glasses as everything else. Actually, I onced asked to get a small glass of Cordon Bleu and got a tumbler full, some 20 cl!
No, 24 hours into my run I've switched to apple juice!
Close-up of an old friend
We do recognize this one! Still yummy.
Dessert
Not that luxurious, but a good finish for me, just wanting to get to sleep. Notice the unusual cutlery (plastic spoon). Not the best choice when dealing with stone hard ice cream. The must have run out of the normal stainless steel spoons. Luckily this icecream comes with its own spatula inside.
Breakfast
Landing in China in 90 minutes. Better eat it all - never know when you will be fed next time!
Segment results
Now to the surprise. After booking this trip I got a hint that a lot of oneWorld airlines had summer promotions for better milage earning. Finnair offered two different promotions - one was double points on CKG route, the other was a points booster for all airlines in the Trans-Atlantic-Joint-Business agreement for trips between Europe and North America.
Finnair is not the best when it comes to expressing rules of promotions, so one really never can be 100% sure if and what one is going to earn. So I wouldn't base a purchase solely on a promotion, but these tickets were already bought, so any promotion was going to be an value-add. I quickly signed up for both of them
For the HEL-CKG-leg it worked flawlessly and these butt-in-seat-kms earned pretty well. Sadly only valid for award-points, and my tier bonus did not work on the doubled points. Still, a decent result!
BIS: 6 722
TP: 18 750
AP: 33 750
Last edited by intuition; Jul 12, 2015 at 4:35 am
Jul 12, 2015, 7:09 am
#49
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
The (not so) comfortable benches of international departures hall CKG
The (not so) comfortable benches of international departures hall (and eventually CKG airport first class lounge)
Another 8,5 hour flight had passed, resulting in a total 27h in the air. It is now 36h since I started my journey.
I managed to check in for all flights so far before leaving home, including the next segment. However, looking more carefully at the printed boarding pass for the Asian flight, I discover it to be a "Boarding pass exchange coupon" to be exchanged for a BP at the transfer desk. Not having a BP proved to be an small disadvantage.
At CKG airport, I haven't seen any airside transit, but there is a transit lane immediately after leaving airside (ie after immigrations, baggage claim and customs). Instead of following the stream to normal exit, one can keep to the right and go through a small passage labeled "International transit".
On this occasion the passage was unmanned, and since I didn't have a boarding pass I didn't bother trying to get someone's attention. Also, I don't really know what good this transit lane does, since you already have passed in through immigrations - you would need to exit through immigrations again to get the proper exit stamps. And immigration is just upstairs from arrivals so it really isn't a shortcut, but perhaps one can save a few minutes if it bypasses any cues.
With a 5+ hour connection I really wished I had the boarding pass. The international terminal of CKG is tiny and there is no such thing as a transfer desk or check in machines. All check in is done via one of the 8 check in desks which are only manned at a strict schedule, like 2,5 hours ahead of take-off. So I was in for a 2+ hour wait in the departures hall.
This hall is spartan. Besides the 8 check in desks there are around 20 seats, a gigantic commercial electric billboard and nothing else. For personal needs there is a squat toilet. This is going to be a boring couple of hours.
I sat down to watch the show.
A young girl (off to study or possibly sightsee Europe) was rejected at Finnair check in, presumably due to her many and heavy bags. Came back to her parents, who were sitting next to me, and they started to re-pack all her stuff. Father doing most of the packing, mother sitting down shouting pointers and girl altering between running around trying to be helpful and just standing looking fashionable while being annoyed.
She was in her sunday-bests, meaning crepe mini-skirt, platform shoes, cutesy blouse and a hat, meticulously arranged to look casual. Very fashionable, but I'd assume less convenient for a longhaul in Y. Or for that matter, repacking your suitcases on an airport floor. After twice showing me close to the full monty (or at least 8 of the whole nine yards) bending over, I wasn't really sure if I could continue to watch without getting arrested. But no one apprehended me, and I got to see her getting rejected once more at check-in, before finally surrending some unnecessary items to her father and be off as the last person to check in for the Finnair flight back to Helsinki.
Actually, an airport security officer did come by, not to arrest me but only to plug in the nearby TV-screen running commercials. He looked surprised how the power had gotten unplugged in the first place, but with the seats being immediately behind the speakers of this screen, it was no mystery to me. 2 minutes later I was ready to pull the plug myself, but another seat opened up and I moved.
Finally Asiana was about to open their check-in. How could I tell? Maybe screens above check in desks changed from "Finnair" to "Asiana"? No, I could tell by fifty koreans lining up for check-in in front of four closed desks.
15 minutes ahead of Asiana official check in time
Anyway, a few minutes before check in opening, the staff arrived and the signs changed. The crowd got more anxious and there was now 4 very full lines of people. Even the business check in line was crammed, but when the signs came up people actually started to move away and I decided to mark some territory.
All desks were manned, but in Korean style they were just sitting there starring into thin air, waiting for the signal to commence check in. I started to feel a bit ridiculous cueing alone in the business line, but then they opened and I got my dear boarding pass and rushed upstairs. This meant I beat the wave and was first in line for immigrations and was through both immigrations and security in just a few minutes.
Immediately after security is the "Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport First Class Lounge". It is only "first" by the name, but it has been approving constantly in recent years.
Btw, lounge is so close to security you can hear the security scans beeping throughout the lounge and the gate area of CKG is so tiny walking to gate takes 2 minutes, tops.
"First" is just a hall of chairs, but they have improved it. New since last time was renovated bathrooms, quite nice.
There also are 2 automated massage chairs, that works fine.
Drinks
There is also soft drinks, beer, and a decent selection of hot food. ChongQing style of course, so a bit on the spicy side.
The lounge has wi-fi but you need a Chinese mobile phone to get the access code (similar to many public wi-fi spots in China, nevertheless annoying)
Another 8,5 hour flight had passed, resulting in a total 27h in the air. It is now 36h since I started my journey.
I managed to check in for all flights so far before leaving home, including the next segment. However, looking more carefully at the printed boarding pass for the Asian flight, I discover it to be a "Boarding pass exchange coupon" to be exchanged for a BP at the transfer desk. Not having a BP proved to be an small disadvantage.
At CKG airport, I haven't seen any airside transit, but there is a transit lane immediately after leaving airside (ie after immigrations, baggage claim and customs). Instead of following the stream to normal exit, one can keep to the right and go through a small passage labeled "International transit".
On this occasion the passage was unmanned, and since I didn't have a boarding pass I didn't bother trying to get someone's attention. Also, I don't really know what good this transit lane does, since you already have passed in through immigrations - you would need to exit through immigrations again to get the proper exit stamps. And immigration is just upstairs from arrivals so it really isn't a shortcut, but perhaps one can save a few minutes if it bypasses any cues.
With a 5+ hour connection I really wished I had the boarding pass. The international terminal of CKG is tiny and there is no such thing as a transfer desk or check in machines. All check in is done via one of the 8 check in desks which are only manned at a strict schedule, like 2,5 hours ahead of take-off. So I was in for a 2+ hour wait in the departures hall.
This hall is spartan. Besides the 8 check in desks there are around 20 seats, a gigantic commercial electric billboard and nothing else. For personal needs there is a squat toilet. This is going to be a boring couple of hours.
I sat down to watch the show.
A young girl (off to study or possibly sightsee Europe) was rejected at Finnair check in, presumably due to her many and heavy bags. Came back to her parents, who were sitting next to me, and they started to re-pack all her stuff. Father doing most of the packing, mother sitting down shouting pointers and girl altering between running around trying to be helpful and just standing looking fashionable while being annoyed.
She was in her sunday-bests, meaning crepe mini-skirt, platform shoes, cutesy blouse and a hat, meticulously arranged to look casual. Very fashionable, but I'd assume less convenient for a longhaul in Y. Or for that matter, repacking your suitcases on an airport floor. After twice showing me close to the full monty (or at least 8 of the whole nine yards) bending over, I wasn't really sure if I could continue to watch without getting arrested. But no one apprehended me, and I got to see her getting rejected once more at check-in, before finally surrending some unnecessary items to her father and be off as the last person to check in for the Finnair flight back to Helsinki.
Actually, an airport security officer did come by, not to arrest me but only to plug in the nearby TV-screen running commercials. He looked surprised how the power had gotten unplugged in the first place, but with the seats being immediately behind the speakers of this screen, it was no mystery to me. 2 minutes later I was ready to pull the plug myself, but another seat opened up and I moved.
Finally Asiana was about to open their check-in. How could I tell? Maybe screens above check in desks changed from "Finnair" to "Asiana"? No, I could tell by fifty koreans lining up for check-in in front of four closed desks.
15 minutes ahead of Asiana official check in time
Anyway, a few minutes before check in opening, the staff arrived and the signs changed. The crowd got more anxious and there was now 4 very full lines of people. Even the business check in line was crammed, but when the signs came up people actually started to move away and I decided to mark some territory.
All desks were manned, but in Korean style they were just sitting there starring into thin air, waiting for the signal to commence check in. I started to feel a bit ridiculous cueing alone in the business line, but then they opened and I got my dear boarding pass and rushed upstairs. This meant I beat the wave and was first in line for immigrations and was through both immigrations and security in just a few minutes.
Immediately after security is the "Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport First Class Lounge". It is only "first" by the name, but it has been approving constantly in recent years.
Btw, lounge is so close to security you can hear the security scans beeping throughout the lounge and the gate area of CKG is so tiny walking to gate takes 2 minutes, tops.
"First" is just a hall of chairs, but they have improved it. New since last time was renovated bathrooms, quite nice.
There also are 2 automated massage chairs, that works fine.
Drinks
There is also soft drinks, beer, and a decent selection of hot food. ChongQing style of course, so a bit on the spicy side.
The lounge has wi-fi but you need a Chinese mobile phone to get the access code (similar to many public wi-fi spots in China, nevertheless annoying)
Jul 13, 2015, 6:54 am
#52
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
A madcap routing, some offbeat airlines, and a drolly humorous commentary throughout - this is trip reporting heaven! Looking forward to the next instalment.
One thing does confuse me: why Asiana? Do they really codeshare with Finnair? And can that get you oneworld status?!
One thing does confuse me: why Asiana? Do they really codeshare with Finnair? And can that get you oneworld status?!
Jul 13, 2015, 12:24 pm
#53
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
If everything just was about the tierpoints and status renewal, I could have stopped in CKG. But I really didn't want to stay there. Instead, looking to spend a few days in Japan, I first thought about going KA/CX on CKG-HKG-NRT - very affordable, but with long stopovers both in CKG and HKG. Since I didn't need more oneWorld tier-points for my renewal, I decided that time on the ground in Japan was more valuable than some award points. And I wanted to try OZ so I decided to burn a stack of *A points instead.
But for the exercise - routing via HKG would be another 4061 km (and a very respectable lounge) each way.
Thanks all for encouragement, I hope to be able to meet expectations - next part in a few hours.
Jul 13, 2015, 1:13 pm
#54
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
Asiana ChongQing to Incheon OZ354 Boeing 767 HL-7515
Cabin and Seat: Business, 2C (middle-aisle-seat!)
In my everyday life I don't get to fly many Boeings (other than the ubiquitous 737) so believe it or not, I was a bit excited stepping on-board this 18 year old 767. It has its business class seats arranged in 2-1-2 and the middle row single seat attracted me.
Getting onboard seeing it in real life, I still thought it looked like a good seat. One downside to this arrangement was immediate though, especially when boarding everyone through J cabin - it gets very busy with aisles on both sides of the seat! As soon as boarding was complete and everything settled down I was happy again.
Within 10 seconds of me boarding, a flight attendant came with headphones and slippers. She sat down, introduced herself and did a small chat, so I first mistook her for purser. But few moments later purser arrives, and I get another chat.
Some frequent flyers thinks this chat is insignificant or even annoying. I guess it can be if done wrong, but I personally think this is a good way to establish communication with customers.
Communicating
Making customers feel welcome can't be wrong!
View from the middle seat - tranquil before Y boarding starts!
Newspapers and drinks were offered immediately upon boarding. No alcoholic beverages though, IIRC.
Starter - Salmon surprise!
I'm still not complaining - salmon just isn't a fishy fish!
(link to pop culture reference)
Main
I do love that Korean hot pepper paste!
Say Cheese!
Probably the best cheese I've had in the air ever. On picture it might look like just another nice cheese plate, but these cheeses were perfectly matured and served at right temperature.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable flight, even though there aren't many notes in my note book. Yes, 767 isn't the hottest thing out there and it was noticable more noisy than many other aircraft, but it is a widebody and for a regional or medium haul flight it was better than most narrowbodies. Service was good, seat was good and felt private once in the air. Comparing OZ to KE (which I only flown once, in F) I'd say it was as good but perhaps slightly less formal (in a good way).
Segment results
This was a redemption, actually my first one on *A in many many years. When building the itinerary, I was looking to get out of CKG (don't we always wanna get out of there?) and rather spend a few days in Japan. There is a CA "direct" flight to TYO, direct meaning it has a stop in PVG. And a stop in PVG probably means it will be treated as a domestic flight in CKG with a terminal change - if so new risks were introduced to the itinerary because it is composed of many different tickets.
I was very into a routing via HKG until I realised I didn't need more points and that time at destination was more valuable to me. It also gave me an opportunity to try OZ.
BIS: 2 021
TP: 0
AP: 0 (spent 42 000 *A points though...)
In my everyday life I don't get to fly many Boeings (other than the ubiquitous 737) so believe it or not, I was a bit excited stepping on-board this 18 year old 767. It has its business class seats arranged in 2-1-2 and the middle row single seat attracted me.
Getting onboard seeing it in real life, I still thought it looked like a good seat. One downside to this arrangement was immediate though, especially when boarding everyone through J cabin - it gets very busy with aisles on both sides of the seat! As soon as boarding was complete and everything settled down I was happy again.
Within 10 seconds of me boarding, a flight attendant came with headphones and slippers. She sat down, introduced herself and did a small chat, so I first mistook her for purser. But few moments later purser arrives, and I get another chat.
Some frequent flyers thinks this chat is insignificant or even annoying. I guess it can be if done wrong, but I personally think this is a good way to establish communication with customers.
Communicating
Making customers feel welcome can't be wrong!
View from the middle seat - tranquil before Y boarding starts!
Newspapers and drinks were offered immediately upon boarding. No alcoholic beverages though, IIRC.
Starter - Salmon surprise!
I'm still not complaining - salmon just isn't a fishy fish!
(link to pop culture reference)
Main
I do love that Korean hot pepper paste!
Say Cheese!
Probably the best cheese I've had in the air ever. On picture it might look like just another nice cheese plate, but these cheeses were perfectly matured and served at right temperature.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable flight, even though there aren't many notes in my note book. Yes, 767 isn't the hottest thing out there and it was noticable more noisy than many other aircraft, but it is a widebody and for a regional or medium haul flight it was better than most narrowbodies. Service was good, seat was good and felt private once in the air. Comparing OZ to KE (which I only flown once, in F) I'd say it was as good but perhaps slightly less formal (in a good way).
Segment results
This was a redemption, actually my first one on *A in many many years. When building the itinerary, I was looking to get out of CKG (don't we always wanna get out of there?) and rather spend a few days in Japan. There is a CA "direct" flight to TYO, direct meaning it has a stop in PVG. And a stop in PVG probably means it will be treated as a domestic flight in CKG with a terminal change - if so new risks were introduced to the itinerary because it is composed of many different tickets.
I was very into a routing via HKG until I realised I didn't need more points and that time at destination was more valuable to me. It also gave me an opportunity to try OZ.
BIS: 2 021
TP: 0
AP: 0 (spent 42 000 *A points though...)
Last edited by intuition; Nov 15, 2016 at 4:20 am Reason: Relinking pictures
Jul 13, 2015, 5:26 pm
#55
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Asia/Europe
Programs: CX, OZ, MU (+AY, DL), Shangri-La, Hilton
Posts: 7,236
Very nice and interesting trip report.
Asiana is one of my favourite airlines and always chosen on Korea - China flights if possible. A pity they only fly to Beijing and Shanghai from Gimpo, would like to see for example Nanjing added.
And a shame on Finnair for the poor shower maintenance, although probably due to the extremely high labour costs at their home base.
Asiana is one of my favourite airlines and always chosen on Korea - China flights if possible. A pity they only fly to Beijing and Shanghai from Gimpo, would like to see for example Nanjing added.
And a shame on Finnair for the poor shower maintenance, although probably due to the extremely high labour costs at their home base.
Jul 13, 2015, 8:42 pm
#58
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 60
Ahaha no. I was just wondering how late the girl was considering how when I arrived into CKG there was no one at the gate area nor the check in area
Jul 14, 2015, 3:27 am
#59
Moderator, Finnair
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,172
I didn't look at the time, but guessing she was cleared well before 08:50.
Like you say, at CKG people tend to check in early (except fellow FT'er RemyMartin who managed to check in even after desk closed, but that is a whole different story). Around 8am or so it is pretty calm at check in.
Jul 14, 2015, 8:45 am
#60
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Next time you visit, you should check out Chongqing's record setting public restroom...We went there either prior to or after our Yangtze River cruise. Pretty awesome.
http://culturetown.org/worlds-larges...-1000-toilets/
http://culturetown.org/worlds-larges...-1000-toilets/
Are you the father of this lovely girl?!? I swear to god, I did not notice her wearing something cute from the 2015 intimates catalogue. Twice.
Ah, I didn't spell it out yet, but the OZ-segments are redemptions.
If everything just was about the tierpoints and status renewal, I could have stopped in CKG. But I really didn't want to stay there. Instead, looking to spend a few days in Japan, I first thought about going KA/CX on CKG-HKG-NRT - very affordable, but with long stopovers both in CKG and HKG. Since I didn't need more oneWorld tier-points for my renewal, I decided that time on the ground in Japan was more valuable than some award points. And I wanted to try OZ so I decided to burn a stack of *A points instead.
But for the exercise - routing via HKG would be another 4061 km (and a very respectable lounge) each way.
Thanks all for encouragement, I hope to be able to meet expectations - next part in a few hours.
Ah, I didn't spell it out yet, but the OZ-segments are redemptions.
If everything just was about the tierpoints and status renewal, I could have stopped in CKG. But I really didn't want to stay there. Instead, looking to spend a few days in Japan, I first thought about going KA/CX on CKG-HKG-NRT - very affordable, but with long stopovers both in CKG and HKG. Since I didn't need more oneWorld tier-points for my renewal, I decided that time on the ground in Japan was more valuable than some award points. And I wanted to try OZ so I decided to burn a stack of *A points instead.
But for the exercise - routing via HKG would be another 4061 km (and a very respectable lounge) each way.
Thanks all for encouragement, I hope to be able to meet expectations - next part in a few hours.