Live: Hobbits and Beaches - Germany to NZ and FJ on CA C & NZ Y
Apr 13, 2017, 12:03 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germany
Programs: *G, OWS
Posts: 214
Live: Hobbits and Beaches - Germany to NZ and FJ on CA C & NZ Y
October last year my sister started her one year long trip around the world telling her friends and family to come visit her wherever she may be in the world.
When I stumbled across the air china sale around Christmas time, I looked at the destinations available and my sisters travel plans and soon came to a decision - New Zealand and Fiji it is.
The current travel plan is:
CA 932 Frankfurt - Bejing, B77W (originally booked as a 748), C
CA 783 Beijing - Auckland, B789, C
Sightseeing and camping in NZ
NZ 52 Auckland-Nandi, B789, Y
Island transfer via DHC-2 or DHC3 amphibious plane
NZ 755 Nandi - Auckland, A320, Y
Surfing, Diving and enjoying the beaches
CA 783 Beijing - Auckland, 789, C
CA 932 Beijing - Frankfurt 77W (originally booked as a 748), C
all in all a little bit more than three weeks away from home
D-2: Checking my reservation I find that one of the schedule change emails had apparently a reason behind it - the plane was switched from a 747-800 to a 777-300ER :*(. I was looking forward to traveling on the upper deck on a 747 for the first time - seems as if I have to wait a bit longer for that experience. At least the seats should remain the same lie flats.
D-1: The world is looking up again. Tomorrow is a public holiday in Germany and I’m living around 3 hours away from Frankfurt - so I ordered a car from six to my home address for this evening. Instead of the lowly 3 series I booked my new best friend from Sixt drops of a 640i Gran Coupe (fully loaded of course ;-) ). For a moment I’m tempted to take the long way around to Frankfurt.
Otherwise I’m preparing for the trip - downloading some Movies and Tv shows from Netflix since I heard bad things about the AVOD content selection (only 38 foreign films were allowed into Chinese theatres last year so this makes sense) an packing my dive gear.
When I stumbled across the air china sale around Christmas time, I looked at the destinations available and my sisters travel plans and soon came to a decision - New Zealand and Fiji it is.
The current travel plan is:
CA 932 Frankfurt - Bejing, B77W (originally booked as a 748), C
CA 783 Beijing - Auckland, B789, C
Sightseeing and camping in NZ
NZ 52 Auckland-Nandi, B789, Y
Island transfer via DHC-2 or DHC3 amphibious plane
NZ 755 Nandi - Auckland, A320, Y
Surfing, Diving and enjoying the beaches
CA 783 Beijing - Auckland, 789, C
CA 932 Beijing - Frankfurt 77W (originally booked as a 748), C
all in all a little bit more than three weeks away from home
D-2: Checking my reservation I find that one of the schedule change emails had apparently a reason behind it - the plane was switched from a 747-800 to a 777-300ER :*(. I was looking forward to traveling on the upper deck on a 747 for the first time - seems as if I have to wait a bit longer for that experience. At least the seats should remain the same lie flats.
D-1: The world is looking up again. Tomorrow is a public holiday in Germany and I’m living around 3 hours away from Frankfurt - so I ordered a car from six to my home address for this evening. Instead of the lowly 3 series I booked my new best friend from Sixt drops of a 640i Gran Coupe (fully loaded of course ;-) ). For a moment I’m tempted to take the long way around to Frankfurt.
Otherwise I’m preparing for the trip - downloading some Movies and Tv shows from Netflix since I heard bad things about the AVOD content selection (only 38 foreign films were allowed into Chinese theatres last year so this makes sense) an packing my dive gear.
Last edited by frogster; Apr 13, 2017 at 5:09 pm
Apr 15, 2017, 9:36 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germany
Programs: *G, OWS
Posts: 214
T-0
The trip to Frankfurt went of without a hitch. Since my colleague decided to change his travel plans I was able to leave a bit later than planned. I was grateful for that - my luggage filled the boot and backseat. Since apparently everyone decided to drive away for the holidays on Thursday the highways were mostly clear. Except for quite a few construction sites slowing me down it was a nice drive with open left lanes. Two hours and 320 kilometers after leaving home I was able to hand the car back to the nice guys from Sixt, silently wishing to get an upgrade like that every time.
Checking in at the Air China business counters (staffed by LH employees) a slight problem appears. I'm asked to hand over my A3 Gold card - the lady goes over to her colleague and they start a phone call while looking at my card thereby blocking both premium check ins (thankfully nobody is waiting at that moment).
After a few minutes (during which I start to imagine UA flights and German interrogation cellars) the call ends and both ladies smile at me. With an apology about faked memberships (in J?) I get handed back my passport and the BP for the next two flights. My luggage gets re-tagged with the orange priority label and went down the belt. As I turned to leave I was "invited" to the senator lounge...
Security was a breeze - there were 7 staffed lines but no passengers.
Deciding to take the nice lady up on her invitation I visit the sen lounge in sector B. At the entrance another slight problem with my FFN - after handing over my physical card I'm informed that it was only valid until January 2017. Apparently I forgot to switch out the card in my travel wallet and managed to get by before without having the expiration date checked. After showing the digital version I'm let in.
Compared to the Maple leaf lounge (where I previously spent my time when in this part of the airport) or the main SEN lounge I'm hit by the differences. The lounge is pretty much deserted despite offering nice views, a SPA and a manned bar. The food selection is smaller and worse than at many of the outstations. Worst of all: the tap for fresh draft beer is out of order. The only beers available are alcohol free or wheat beers. Besides the usual selection of whine and booze there's something available I can't remember having seen in the main lounge: "Apfelwein" - local cider.
Despite the selection of wines I decide on my usual G&T and small snack. After getting some work done I check out the bar. Instead of proactively asking guest for their wishes he waits to be talked to. The dry martini he prepares is drinkable - but shaken and neither twist nor olive are anywhere to be found.
Finally it's time to head for the gate where boarding soon begins. Despite the gate lice which are out in force today boarding takes place quickly - as usual today there is a message in regard to my status which is handled in 15 seconds. For some reason boarding takes place with only one gangway, connecting to the plane between J and F cabins.
After locating my seat I'm welcomed aboard by a stewardess with perfect German, (not quite what I expected) and offered champagne while my jacket is taken away. At the same time the near constant barrage of hot towel begins (I counted 5 on this flight). After taking my orders the menus are taken away immediately- no chance of taking it along as a souvenir.
The seat is comfortable- just the IFE is acting up a bit and the USB charger is offline. When rebooting doesn't help I get the offer of moving to one of the few free seats which I decline, my IPAD is filled to the brim, ant the selection of movies is a bit limited ( newest one I recognize is lalaland, older ones include Salt) - same is true for the TV shows.
Before dinner service begins my seat neighbor is informed that they're out of prawns and has to choose an alternative. I ordered the same but get them (not sure if this was dependent on the order sequence or my gold status). We both have to choose different wines though- our primary choice apparently is too new on the menu and hasn't been loaded yet. The Sauvignon blanc we get instead disappoints a bit - as does the whole handling of alcohol- while the glass is refilled once or twice proactively they seem to be stingy with it. The selection is quite limited and not of the best quality.
The food itself is quite good- the main course I would have switched with my neighbor though. To finish of the meal a selection of fruit, cheese and cakes is offered.
After dinner the cabin slowly starts to go silent and everybody goes to sleep. As I can attest the seats (full lie flats) are comfy- despite being 6'2 I fit well into the bed (after reading some of the CA trip reports I was hoping for PJs though.).
Breakfast is nothing special- but there probably were some problems predicting customer choices: my plate looks a bit scrounged up (regular plate instead of the pre-preared dish, slight differences in selection to my neighbors).
An hour before landing, all headsets are collected and the blinds opened.
Conclusion flight 1: so far my expectations are being exceeded. While both hard and soft inflight product are good if not quite reaching the level of some Middle Eastern, Asian or European airlines it is nearly there and definitely worth it considering the much lower cost. The non-flying product (website, the situation in their main hub, etc) could use a definable improvement- more on that in my next post.
Remark: The few passengers who "dared" to take out their cellphones to take pictures or watch a movie were asked to shut them off ant put them away once a crew member saw it - therefore all my pictures were taken with an iPad and turned out quite badly- I'll try to upload them after editing them a bit once I return home in May.
The trip to Frankfurt went of without a hitch. Since my colleague decided to change his travel plans I was able to leave a bit later than planned. I was grateful for that - my luggage filled the boot and backseat. Since apparently everyone decided to drive away for the holidays on Thursday the highways were mostly clear. Except for quite a few construction sites slowing me down it was a nice drive with open left lanes. Two hours and 320 kilometers after leaving home I was able to hand the car back to the nice guys from Sixt, silently wishing to get an upgrade like that every time.
Checking in at the Air China business counters (staffed by LH employees) a slight problem appears. I'm asked to hand over my A3 Gold card - the lady goes over to her colleague and they start a phone call while looking at my card thereby blocking both premium check ins (thankfully nobody is waiting at that moment).
After a few minutes (during which I start to imagine UA flights and German interrogation cellars) the call ends and both ladies smile at me. With an apology about faked memberships (in J?) I get handed back my passport and the BP for the next two flights. My luggage gets re-tagged with the orange priority label and went down the belt. As I turned to leave I was "invited" to the senator lounge...
Security was a breeze - there were 7 staffed lines but no passengers.
Deciding to take the nice lady up on her invitation I visit the sen lounge in sector B. At the entrance another slight problem with my FFN - after handing over my physical card I'm informed that it was only valid until January 2017. Apparently I forgot to switch out the card in my travel wallet and managed to get by before without having the expiration date checked. After showing the digital version I'm let in.
Compared to the Maple leaf lounge (where I previously spent my time when in this part of the airport) or the main SEN lounge I'm hit by the differences. The lounge is pretty much deserted despite offering nice views, a SPA and a manned bar. The food selection is smaller and worse than at many of the outstations. Worst of all: the tap for fresh draft beer is out of order. The only beers available are alcohol free or wheat beers. Besides the usual selection of whine and booze there's something available I can't remember having seen in the main lounge: "Apfelwein" - local cider.
Despite the selection of wines I decide on my usual G&T and small snack. After getting some work done I check out the bar. Instead of proactively asking guest for their wishes he waits to be talked to. The dry martini he prepares is drinkable - but shaken and neither twist nor olive are anywhere to be found.
Finally it's time to head for the gate where boarding soon begins. Despite the gate lice which are out in force today boarding takes place quickly - as usual today there is a message in regard to my status which is handled in 15 seconds. For some reason boarding takes place with only one gangway, connecting to the plane between J and F cabins.
After locating my seat I'm welcomed aboard by a stewardess with perfect German, (not quite what I expected) and offered champagne while my jacket is taken away. At the same time the near constant barrage of hot towel begins (I counted 5 on this flight). After taking my orders the menus are taken away immediately- no chance of taking it along as a souvenir.
The seat is comfortable- just the IFE is acting up a bit and the USB charger is offline. When rebooting doesn't help I get the offer of moving to one of the few free seats which I decline, my IPAD is filled to the brim, ant the selection of movies is a bit limited ( newest one I recognize is lalaland, older ones include Salt) - same is true for the TV shows.
Before dinner service begins my seat neighbor is informed that they're out of prawns and has to choose an alternative. I ordered the same but get them (not sure if this was dependent on the order sequence or my gold status). We both have to choose different wines though- our primary choice apparently is too new on the menu and hasn't been loaded yet. The Sauvignon blanc we get instead disappoints a bit - as does the whole handling of alcohol- while the glass is refilled once or twice proactively they seem to be stingy with it. The selection is quite limited and not of the best quality.
The food itself is quite good- the main course I would have switched with my neighbor though. To finish of the meal a selection of fruit, cheese and cakes is offered.
After dinner the cabin slowly starts to go silent and everybody goes to sleep. As I can attest the seats (full lie flats) are comfy- despite being 6'2 I fit well into the bed (after reading some of the CA trip reports I was hoping for PJs though.).
Breakfast is nothing special- but there probably were some problems predicting customer choices: my plate looks a bit scrounged up (regular plate instead of the pre-preared dish, slight differences in selection to my neighbors).
An hour before landing, all headsets are collected and the blinds opened.
Conclusion flight 1: so far my expectations are being exceeded. While both hard and soft inflight product are good if not quite reaching the level of some Middle Eastern, Asian or European airlines it is nearly there and definitely worth it considering the much lower cost. The non-flying product (website, the situation in their main hub, etc) could use a definable improvement- more on that in my next post.
Remark: The few passengers who "dared" to take out their cellphones to take pictures or watch a movie were asked to shut them off ant put them away once a crew member saw it - therefore all my pictures were taken with an iPad and turned out quite badly- I'll try to upload them after editing them a bit once I return home in May.