Trip report: LAX-YVR-TPE-HKG long
Dec 19, 1999, 10:44 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,389
Trip report: LAX-YVR-TPE-HKG long
Hi Everyone,
I am at the Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR right now. International section… for those who want to know. I have about three hours to kill before my flight, so I will get a head start on my trip report.
AS 681
Los Angeles to Vancouver
December 19, 1999
Check in line was relatively short, and I was helped quickly by the agent, who was very nice. On a side note, there was a person introducing people to use the Kiosk (many people do not know their existences). Anyway, I was checked in and was required to pay $35 because I switched from a one-stop flight to a nonstop flight. Anyone clue me in… the fare basis is F class… Anyway, I was at the airport early so I could take some pictures at the Tom Bradley terminal next to me.
Great day for plane spotting. I first took a picture of Alaska's brand new Boeing 737-700. It was nice… Then I proceeded to the outdoor section of the North Wing. There were trees blocking me, so I could not take the picture of Alitalia's MD-11. However, there were two QF's Boeing 747-400s sitting around. One with the General Electric engines and leased from one of the Asian carriers… Then I got to see the afternoon flight to Sydney pulled out. I wasted ten pictures on that RR-engine QF plane. It was very nice… I never saw and felt a Boeing 747-400 so close before. Then my luck continued with the arrival of a British Airway's Boeing 747-400. My favorite color scheme - the Chelsea Rose… I could not control myself. Then I finally saw the brand new A330-200 (EI-LAX) of Aer Lingus. It was very nice. All in thirty minutes… not bad. Then I went back into T3 area… Shot a couple NWA's pictures. There was a NWA's DC-10 sitting in the taxiway…
Anyway, I went boarding (last minute) at 31A. The boarding was efficient and our aircraft today was N760AS. My first impression of AS was efficient and very young F/As. I was lucky today because no one sat next to me. However, the condition of the aircraft was rather worn. The old blue seats were very ugly and the seat pitch, 36 inches, was obviously tight (compared to UAL's Boeing 737-300/500s). Fortunately, the seat was very wide and comfortable. There was the water waiting for me. The bottle was so nice that I decided not to drink it. I am silly… I tried to get another bottle for friend… but they ran out of it.
The door was closed on time and we pulled back at 4:27pm. The first class F/A, Karen, introduced herself and took our drink and meal order. However, there was no line at LAX and we took off after only seven minutes. (A first for LAX…) Our flying time today was two hours and thirty-eight minutes, due to severe head wind. I was glad that I took the nonstop flight. We were cruising at 31,000ft.
Dinner began after drinks were distributed. It took only one and a half-hour to complete serving. One F/A working for the whole F class was definitely pushing the limit. Anyway, the dinner menu today was
A Green salad with sliced tomatoes, egg salad, and nice iceberg lettuce with pepper cream dressing
Entrée choices was between
Grilled halibut with a salsa or Baked chicken stuffed inside a filo pastry with mushrooms, served with carrots and white and wild rice pilaf.
Dessert was a Christmas-decorated cream cake.
Y class has a warm basket tonight - fruit, snack, and a turkey burrito.
There was no separate linen set-up, but the tray already had the linen cover… There was a warmed olive roll and a salad plate with a pre-packaged pepper cream container. Then she cleared the salad tray and came around with the entrée. The entrée was served on a nice golden-trimmed plate. It was very nice and the chicken that I had was wonderful. It was not pre-plated and the entrée was heartier and tasted better than UAL's short-haul entrees. The cake came separate at last. Karen was not too keen on refilling glasses, but I think her job was tough enough. She told me that she had to work on the return flight to LA too (another dinner flight).
Captain talked to us couple times during the flight. The first time was the introduction of the flight route. Then he told us about Sacramento and Carson City and Reno. Finally, the captain told us about an absolute beautiful view of the Mt. Rainer. There was no cloud around on that red and the moonlit was sufficient. It was a breathe-taken view. It made my flight better. Shortly after that, the F/A passed around the Christmas-shaped Biscoff cookie. There was no hot towel service tonight.
The landing was rough due to the drizzly conditions at Pacific Northwest. I could not see anything except clouds up till the landing. We landed from the sea at 7:13pm and were parked at gate 73 - the closest possible to immigration. Unfortunately, there were only two officers working at the visitor section and two working on the resident side. It took longer than normal to go through immigration, but after I was done with immigration, the bags came out. No priority tag, but all bags came quickly.
A beautiful flight… with a rating of 8. Two points off due to the condition of the airplane and no menu. Sorry for my craze for airline menus… However, the Alaska Air magazine was nice. General speaking the flight was better than UAL's short-haul first class, especially catering. However, United's F/A seems a bit more warm in its service. Anyway, I will take AS in the future.
December 20, 1999
AC 893
Vancouver to Taipei
I was too early for check-in. I had to wait till 8:05pm for check-in. So I took a seat near the int'l area and read my brand new entertainment weekly - celebrating Ricky Martin's entertainment of the year award. The check-in line was empty due to obvious reason. I was the first to check-in and the staff was starting up think as checking me in. Bags were checked all the way to Hong Kong… but needed to check in again with CX at TPE to get boarding pass. I settled down at the MLL right now. My plane - the Star Alliance C-FYLD was parked at D54 and I am anxious to board the flight. It is 9:30pm now and the lounge was very quiet… Anyway, this report will continue…
------------------
Carfield
Menu Scavengers
Inflight food critics
Crazy 8th grade teacher
I am at the Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR right now. International section… for those who want to know. I have about three hours to kill before my flight, so I will get a head start on my trip report.
AS 681
Los Angeles to Vancouver
December 19, 1999
Check in line was relatively short, and I was helped quickly by the agent, who was very nice. On a side note, there was a person introducing people to use the Kiosk (many people do not know their existences). Anyway, I was checked in and was required to pay $35 because I switched from a one-stop flight to a nonstop flight. Anyone clue me in… the fare basis is F class… Anyway, I was at the airport early so I could take some pictures at the Tom Bradley terminal next to me.
Great day for plane spotting. I first took a picture of Alaska's brand new Boeing 737-700. It was nice… Then I proceeded to the outdoor section of the North Wing. There were trees blocking me, so I could not take the picture of Alitalia's MD-11. However, there were two QF's Boeing 747-400s sitting around. One with the General Electric engines and leased from one of the Asian carriers… Then I got to see the afternoon flight to Sydney pulled out. I wasted ten pictures on that RR-engine QF plane. It was very nice… I never saw and felt a Boeing 747-400 so close before. Then my luck continued with the arrival of a British Airway's Boeing 747-400. My favorite color scheme - the Chelsea Rose… I could not control myself. Then I finally saw the brand new A330-200 (EI-LAX) of Aer Lingus. It was very nice. All in thirty minutes… not bad. Then I went back into T3 area… Shot a couple NWA's pictures. There was a NWA's DC-10 sitting in the taxiway…
Anyway, I went boarding (last minute) at 31A. The boarding was efficient and our aircraft today was N760AS. My first impression of AS was efficient and very young F/As. I was lucky today because no one sat next to me. However, the condition of the aircraft was rather worn. The old blue seats were very ugly and the seat pitch, 36 inches, was obviously tight (compared to UAL's Boeing 737-300/500s). Fortunately, the seat was very wide and comfortable. There was the water waiting for me. The bottle was so nice that I decided not to drink it. I am silly… I tried to get another bottle for friend… but they ran out of it.
The door was closed on time and we pulled back at 4:27pm. The first class F/A, Karen, introduced herself and took our drink and meal order. However, there was no line at LAX and we took off after only seven minutes. (A first for LAX…) Our flying time today was two hours and thirty-eight minutes, due to severe head wind. I was glad that I took the nonstop flight. We were cruising at 31,000ft.
Dinner began after drinks were distributed. It took only one and a half-hour to complete serving. One F/A working for the whole F class was definitely pushing the limit. Anyway, the dinner menu today was
A Green salad with sliced tomatoes, egg salad, and nice iceberg lettuce with pepper cream dressing
Entrée choices was between
Grilled halibut with a salsa or Baked chicken stuffed inside a filo pastry with mushrooms, served with carrots and white and wild rice pilaf.
Dessert was a Christmas-decorated cream cake.
Y class has a warm basket tonight - fruit, snack, and a turkey burrito.
There was no separate linen set-up, but the tray already had the linen cover… There was a warmed olive roll and a salad plate with a pre-packaged pepper cream container. Then she cleared the salad tray and came around with the entrée. The entrée was served on a nice golden-trimmed plate. It was very nice and the chicken that I had was wonderful. It was not pre-plated and the entrée was heartier and tasted better than UAL's short-haul entrees. The cake came separate at last. Karen was not too keen on refilling glasses, but I think her job was tough enough. She told me that she had to work on the return flight to LA too (another dinner flight).
Captain talked to us couple times during the flight. The first time was the introduction of the flight route. Then he told us about Sacramento and Carson City and Reno. Finally, the captain told us about an absolute beautiful view of the Mt. Rainer. There was no cloud around on that red and the moonlit was sufficient. It was a breathe-taken view. It made my flight better. Shortly after that, the F/A passed around the Christmas-shaped Biscoff cookie. There was no hot towel service tonight.
The landing was rough due to the drizzly conditions at Pacific Northwest. I could not see anything except clouds up till the landing. We landed from the sea at 7:13pm and were parked at gate 73 - the closest possible to immigration. Unfortunately, there were only two officers working at the visitor section and two working on the resident side. It took longer than normal to go through immigration, but after I was done with immigration, the bags came out. No priority tag, but all bags came quickly.
A beautiful flight… with a rating of 8. Two points off due to the condition of the airplane and no menu. Sorry for my craze for airline menus… However, the Alaska Air magazine was nice. General speaking the flight was better than UAL's short-haul first class, especially catering. However, United's F/A seems a bit more warm in its service. Anyway, I will take AS in the future.
December 20, 1999
AC 893
Vancouver to Taipei
I was too early for check-in. I had to wait till 8:05pm for check-in. So I took a seat near the int'l area and read my brand new entertainment weekly - celebrating Ricky Martin's entertainment of the year award. The check-in line was empty due to obvious reason. I was the first to check-in and the staff was starting up think as checking me in. Bags were checked all the way to Hong Kong… but needed to check in again with CX at TPE to get boarding pass. I settled down at the MLL right now. My plane - the Star Alliance C-FYLD was parked at D54 and I am anxious to board the flight. It is 9:30pm now and the lounge was very quiet… Anyway, this report will continue…
------------------
Carfield
Menu Scavengers
Inflight food critics
Crazy 8th grade teacher
Dec 20, 1999, 4:55 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 197
Great trip report Carfield (not that I was expecting any less!)
Hope the rest of your trip goes well.
Too bad about the condition of the cabin...those seats are probably a few days from being ripped out and replaced, as all planes will have 12 seats in First by 1/1/00. AS cabins are normally very well kept up. Otherwise, the service sounds like what I would expect going from LAX to PDX/SEA/YVR.
Probably best that you didn't take the connection in Seattle. From looking at flight info, you would have made it, but it would certainly have added stress.
[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 12-20-1999).]
Hope the rest of your trip goes well.
Too bad about the condition of the cabin...those seats are probably a few days from being ripped out and replaced, as all planes will have 12 seats in First by 1/1/00. AS cabins are normally very well kept up. Otherwise, the service sounds like what I would expect going from LAX to PDX/SEA/YVR.
Probably best that you didn't take the connection in Seattle. From looking at flight info, you would have made it, but it would certainly have added stress.
[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 12-20-1999).]
Dec 20, 1999, 6:34 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 1999
Programs: AA 1MM/Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,215
In regards to LAX term 3,
I believe that Alaska has most, if not all of the gates in the concourse area before the rotunda shaped area at the end. AS also has at least two gates in the rotunda- 31A and B, I believe. Reno/Alaska has a two gates- 32/33, TWA 34/35- one on either side of the divider. I think that 36-39 are a mix of Midwest Express, Hawaiian, and maybe AmericanTransAir. There is an Ambassador's Club upstairs in the mezzanine that also serves as an AS Boardroom, AA Admirals Club, and CP Empress Lounge. The club has large windows with a nice view of two of the runways. Not one of the nicer terminals at LAX, but it is small and easy to navigate compared to the UA terms.
I believe that Alaska has most, if not all of the gates in the concourse area before the rotunda shaped area at the end. AS also has at least two gates in the rotunda- 31A and B, I believe. Reno/Alaska has a two gates- 32/33, TWA 34/35- one on either side of the divider. I think that 36-39 are a mix of Midwest Express, Hawaiian, and maybe AmericanTransAir. There is an Ambassador's Club upstairs in the mezzanine that also serves as an AS Boardroom, AA Admirals Club, and CP Empress Lounge. The club has large windows with a nice view of two of the runways. Not one of the nicer terminals at LAX, but it is small and easy to navigate compared to the UA terms.
Dec 21, 1999, 3:29 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,389
I apologize for the poor grammar. I somehow cannot grab the concept of preposition and grammar very well. I hope you will understand...
December 20, 1999
AC 893
Vancouver to Taipei
The gate was D54 and the boarding took place at 11:30pm. I decided to visit the duty free shop before boarding the plane. The boarding was almost completed when I boarded. The load today was very light. There were only eight people in the ExecutiveFirst cabin, and 166 people in Y class. The gate was closed at 11:52pm, when everyone was ready. There was a preboarding drink choices of champagne and orange juice. I took an OJ and settled down at 1A. There was a Chinese F/A at the J class section. She worked out throughout the whole flight and the other F/As seemed to disappear during the lights out period. We pulled back at 11:57pm and we took off at 12:11am. Amenity kits (real green ones with much better stuffs than the wake up kits on daytime flights) and menus were passed out before landing. The seats on the C-FYLD were the old-style seats with the last generation PTV system. It was very nice though... The empty cabin allowed me to run up and down the cabin and stretched out a bit.
Today our flying time was thirteen hours and thirty minutes due to the strong head wind. That was the best possible route. We flew pass Campbell River, heading off to the Alaskan coat. We levelled off at 31,000 ft when we headed towards Kodiak. Then our flight climbed to 33,000 ft when we flew between Kodiak and Bethel, where we encounted severe turbulence. The snack trolley was moved during that fifteen minutes of severe turbulence. Some glasses fell but nothing was broken. Then we climbed up to 34,500 ft over the Bering Sea and Kamchatka. The moonlit view of the Alaskan Coast and Russia was beautiful. I enjoyed looking out the window last night. Then we climbed up to 37,000ft over Sapporo, Japan and crusing through the northern coast of Alaska and passed ***uoka. Then we climbed up to 39,000ft after we left Japanese coast.
The service today was rather disappointing. AC Flyer... the full dinner no longer existed after the inaugural flight. A quick supper was offered. I guess AC followed the trend of most Asian airlines. CX only offered a refreshment after take off from YVR. Drinks and almonds were passed out after takeoff. Then a single tray of light supper was offered. The menu included a green salad with Vinaigrette, a shiitake mushroom with shredded pork (a Taiwanese soup that tasted very great), warmed rolls, three choices of entrees (braised chicken slices with mushrooms, gai lan -- not too green, and jasmine rice, braised beef brisket, or veal chop Osso Bucco), and a fresh fruit bowl for dessert. I never had a light supper served within an hour after takeoff. The food was good, except the not so greenish gai lan. I personally think that the meal can be more elaborate like CX or SQ. After flying all these redeye flights, CX supper flight is the best. It has a salad, three choices of entrees with accompaniments (trolley service like first class or CP's J class), a cheese board, and fruit or ice-cream service. The meal ended with pralines. I think AC can divide the dinner up into couple courses. It is a long time and J class deserves a better supper service. At least chocolate or dessert should also be offered. Anyway, the soup is a nice addition to the meal.
A snack trolley with limited selection of Taiwanese cookies and finger sandwich plate (a turkey breast sandwich on white, and a cucumber cream cheese sandwich on wheat). Instant noodle bowls were also available. I kept on drinking tea throughout the flight. I had a sandwich plate and two cookies. I watched three movies, "the Sixth Sense" (which was great... I cried again), "Runaway Bride," and "The Thomas Crown Affair." I took a four hours nap and woke up for menu scavenger (I found many YVR-HKG leftover menus around).
The breakfast was served an hour and a half prior to arrival. There were two Chinese breakfast choices: congee or Glutinous Rice warpped in banana leaf and Rice Rolls with Pork. They came with an additional Chinese appetizers (dried pork, soya egg, seasame burdock and chicken julienne). Then there was the Omelette choice. All breakfast came with a fruit appetizer. Then F/A came around with choices of three yogurts (blueberry, peach and plain), and then choices of breakfast breads (croissants and olive rolls). Tea and coffee were offered throughout the flight. All meals today were served in the international style china -- the golden-rimmed green plates.
Finally the plane landed at 5:46am Tuesday morning at Taipei. It was sixteen minutes behind schedule and most transpac flights were late due to the strong head winds this morning. We were parked at Gate 18 with two boarding doors. The flight was rated a 7 because of the great F/A service. The catering was once again disappointing.
December 21, 1999
CX 463
Taipei to Hong Kong
This flight began at a bad note. The connection desk was not opened after 6:35am. I waited there for almost half an hour. The EVA Air agent kept on calling the CX agent, but it failed to show up till very late. I did not have time to visit the lounge and cleaned up a bit. The CX agent was not particularly friendly, but who could blame her (waking up early in the morning). The security agents at TPE was very lax. They did not check boarding passes or whatsoever. Anyway, the desk was surprisingly busy at that time of the morning. The check-in took a while because the check-in agent decided to print out invitation to the lounge, despite it was too late for any lounge visiting. Boarding took place at gate 14 and things were slow this morning. Disappointment for me... because there was a last minute aircraft change. The flight was operated by an A330-300 (B-HLD) rather than the Boeing 777-300. I should have flown the 8am flight. Bad choice... Anyway, the F/As were friendly. The new uniforms were really... I did not like it. A pre-takeoff drink choices of soya milk, orange juice and guava juice were offered. The F/A then passed around hot towels after the door was closed five minute behind schedule. The taxiing was longer than normal. The safety video was a brand new one with the use of sign language and very detailed information. A plus for CX... The A330 finally took off at 7:35pm. Flying time was an hour and twenty-five minutes, and we were cruising at 39,000ft.
The service today put all the Sh*ttle flights and all short-haul domestic flights to shame. The prices between HKG and TPE were higher than LAX to SFO/SFO to SEA. The personal video system was started at 7:47am and there were nine channels of comedies and short subjects. There was also an Airshow. The oven was turned off before take-off and the F/A passed out a tray with a fruit appetizer and all the glasses and cups. Then they passed out two choices of warmed rolls -- croissants or soft rolls. Also, strawberry preserves... Then a trolley was rolled out with all the entree choices displayed and beverage choices. Two entree choices (Omelette with grilled chicken breast, baked beans with mushrooms and tomato or Seafood stir-fried noodle with Dim Sum. The seafood component was lame... squids and two mini-shrimps.) Anyway, it was great for such a short flight. The tray was collected at 8:15am and more beverages were offered. Water was passed around till the descending. The F/A was friendly and I was amazed at the service. They did not look rush at all. Y class got their full hot breakfast service, too. Trays were collected without rushing. Most F/A had sufficient time to prepare the cabins to landing. Also, a menu was offered to J class passengers.
The flight landed at 9:01am and parked at Gate 2, which was the CX's preferred gate. We were off to home after fifteen minutes and the new CLK airport was wonderful. Planespotting at TPE was more exciting with two Japan Asia's Boeing 747-200s, a UAL's Boeing 744, a NWA's Boeing 742... HKG was rather quiet with only many CX planes.
This flight was definitely a 9, except a last minute of the change of aircraft. No Boeing 777-300 for me...
Thanks for reading the report!
------------------
Carfield
Menu Scavengers
Inflight food critics
Crazy 8th grade teacher
December 20, 1999
AC 893
Vancouver to Taipei
The gate was D54 and the boarding took place at 11:30pm. I decided to visit the duty free shop before boarding the plane. The boarding was almost completed when I boarded. The load today was very light. There were only eight people in the ExecutiveFirst cabin, and 166 people in Y class. The gate was closed at 11:52pm, when everyone was ready. There was a preboarding drink choices of champagne and orange juice. I took an OJ and settled down at 1A. There was a Chinese F/A at the J class section. She worked out throughout the whole flight and the other F/As seemed to disappear during the lights out period. We pulled back at 11:57pm and we took off at 12:11am. Amenity kits (real green ones with much better stuffs than the wake up kits on daytime flights) and menus were passed out before landing. The seats on the C-FYLD were the old-style seats with the last generation PTV system. It was very nice though... The empty cabin allowed me to run up and down the cabin and stretched out a bit.
Today our flying time was thirteen hours and thirty minutes due to the strong head wind. That was the best possible route. We flew pass Campbell River, heading off to the Alaskan coat. We levelled off at 31,000 ft when we headed towards Kodiak. Then our flight climbed to 33,000 ft when we flew between Kodiak and Bethel, where we encounted severe turbulence. The snack trolley was moved during that fifteen minutes of severe turbulence. Some glasses fell but nothing was broken. Then we climbed up to 34,500 ft over the Bering Sea and Kamchatka. The moonlit view of the Alaskan Coast and Russia was beautiful. I enjoyed looking out the window last night. Then we climbed up to 37,000ft over Sapporo, Japan and crusing through the northern coast of Alaska and passed ***uoka. Then we climbed up to 39,000ft after we left Japanese coast.
The service today was rather disappointing. AC Flyer... the full dinner no longer existed after the inaugural flight. A quick supper was offered. I guess AC followed the trend of most Asian airlines. CX only offered a refreshment after take off from YVR. Drinks and almonds were passed out after takeoff. Then a single tray of light supper was offered. The menu included a green salad with Vinaigrette, a shiitake mushroom with shredded pork (a Taiwanese soup that tasted very great), warmed rolls, three choices of entrees (braised chicken slices with mushrooms, gai lan -- not too green, and jasmine rice, braised beef brisket, or veal chop Osso Bucco), and a fresh fruit bowl for dessert. I never had a light supper served within an hour after takeoff. The food was good, except the not so greenish gai lan. I personally think that the meal can be more elaborate like CX or SQ. After flying all these redeye flights, CX supper flight is the best. It has a salad, three choices of entrees with accompaniments (trolley service like first class or CP's J class), a cheese board, and fruit or ice-cream service. The meal ended with pralines. I think AC can divide the dinner up into couple courses. It is a long time and J class deserves a better supper service. At least chocolate or dessert should also be offered. Anyway, the soup is a nice addition to the meal.
A snack trolley with limited selection of Taiwanese cookies and finger sandwich plate (a turkey breast sandwich on white, and a cucumber cream cheese sandwich on wheat). Instant noodle bowls were also available. I kept on drinking tea throughout the flight. I had a sandwich plate and two cookies. I watched three movies, "the Sixth Sense" (which was great... I cried again), "Runaway Bride," and "The Thomas Crown Affair." I took a four hours nap and woke up for menu scavenger (I found many YVR-HKG leftover menus around).
The breakfast was served an hour and a half prior to arrival. There were two Chinese breakfast choices: congee or Glutinous Rice warpped in banana leaf and Rice Rolls with Pork. They came with an additional Chinese appetizers (dried pork, soya egg, seasame burdock and chicken julienne). Then there was the Omelette choice. All breakfast came with a fruit appetizer. Then F/A came around with choices of three yogurts (blueberry, peach and plain), and then choices of breakfast breads (croissants and olive rolls). Tea and coffee were offered throughout the flight. All meals today were served in the international style china -- the golden-rimmed green plates.
Finally the plane landed at 5:46am Tuesday morning at Taipei. It was sixteen minutes behind schedule and most transpac flights were late due to the strong head winds this morning. We were parked at Gate 18 with two boarding doors. The flight was rated a 7 because of the great F/A service. The catering was once again disappointing.
December 21, 1999
CX 463
Taipei to Hong Kong
This flight began at a bad note. The connection desk was not opened after 6:35am. I waited there for almost half an hour. The EVA Air agent kept on calling the CX agent, but it failed to show up till very late. I did not have time to visit the lounge and cleaned up a bit. The CX agent was not particularly friendly, but who could blame her (waking up early in the morning). The security agents at TPE was very lax. They did not check boarding passes or whatsoever. Anyway, the desk was surprisingly busy at that time of the morning. The check-in took a while because the check-in agent decided to print out invitation to the lounge, despite it was too late for any lounge visiting. Boarding took place at gate 14 and things were slow this morning. Disappointment for me... because there was a last minute aircraft change. The flight was operated by an A330-300 (B-HLD) rather than the Boeing 777-300. I should have flown the 8am flight. Bad choice... Anyway, the F/As were friendly. The new uniforms were really... I did not like it. A pre-takeoff drink choices of soya milk, orange juice and guava juice were offered. The F/A then passed around hot towels after the door was closed five minute behind schedule. The taxiing was longer than normal. The safety video was a brand new one with the use of sign language and very detailed information. A plus for CX... The A330 finally took off at 7:35pm. Flying time was an hour and twenty-five minutes, and we were cruising at 39,000ft.
The service today put all the Sh*ttle flights and all short-haul domestic flights to shame. The prices between HKG and TPE were higher than LAX to SFO/SFO to SEA. The personal video system was started at 7:47am and there were nine channels of comedies and short subjects. There was also an Airshow. The oven was turned off before take-off and the F/A passed out a tray with a fruit appetizer and all the glasses and cups. Then they passed out two choices of warmed rolls -- croissants or soft rolls. Also, strawberry preserves... Then a trolley was rolled out with all the entree choices displayed and beverage choices. Two entree choices (Omelette with grilled chicken breast, baked beans with mushrooms and tomato or Seafood stir-fried noodle with Dim Sum. The seafood component was lame... squids and two mini-shrimps.) Anyway, it was great for such a short flight. The tray was collected at 8:15am and more beverages were offered. Water was passed around till the descending. The F/A was friendly and I was amazed at the service. They did not look rush at all. Y class got their full hot breakfast service, too. Trays were collected without rushing. Most F/A had sufficient time to prepare the cabins to landing. Also, a menu was offered to J class passengers.
The flight landed at 9:01am and parked at Gate 2, which was the CX's preferred gate. We were off to home after fifteen minutes and the new CLK airport was wonderful. Planespotting at TPE was more exciting with two Japan Asia's Boeing 747-200s, a UAL's Boeing 744, a NWA's Boeing 742... HKG was rather quiet with only many CX planes.
This flight was definitely a 9, except a last minute of the change of aircraft. No Boeing 777-300 for me...
Thanks for reading the report!
------------------
Carfield
Menu Scavengers
Inflight food critics
Crazy 8th grade teacher