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Muddy Boots in First Class: New Zealand (CX/NZ J, SQ/NH F)

Muddy Boots in First Class: New Zealand (CX/NZ J, SQ/NH F)

Old Nov 21, 2017, 7:54 am
  #1  
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Muddy Boots in First Class: New Zealand (CX/NZ J, SQ/NH F)

Muddy Boots in First Class: Three Weeks in New Zealand, plus stops in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo

DEN-SFO-HKG-AKL-NSN/WLG-ZQN-AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO-DEN


Routeburn Track, South Island

I started booking this trip nearly a year ago—finding premium award availability to New Zealand from the US is one of the trickier bookings I've put together, but I managed a pretty nice itinerary in the end. Cathay Pacific from SFO to HKG in F, a day in HKG, then J on to AKL. Bought all the flights within NZ, then used SQ miles to book AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO on NZ J, SQ Suites, SQ F and NH F, with an evening+overnight in Singapore and a full 24 hours in Tokyo. Bought DEN-SFO-DEN to round it out and even got to spend a day cruising down the SF peninsula on my way to HKG. 80k AS miles for the outbound CX flights and 127k SQ miles for the return.

I originally planned to follow the standard tourist itinerary—Rotorua, Mt. Cook, Kaikoura, etc. Threw all of that out the window after meeting a Kiwi at a coffee shop here in Boulder. He saw me reading Lonely Planet New Zealand and, fresh off the plane himself, spent 20 minutes flipping through it marking all the off-the-beaten-path places I needed to go. Tossed my entire plan and went with his! Full itinerary looked like this in the end:
  • 2 nights in Auckland, with my full day spent on Waiheke Island
  • 3 nights in Nelson, including a trip into Abel Tasman National Park
  • 3 nights in Kenepuru Sound (part of Marlborough Sound), at a place called Hopewell Lodge
  • 2 nights in Wellington
  • 2 nights hiking the epic Routeburn Track
  • 4 nights in Queenstown
  • 1 night in Auckland due to an early morning AKL-SYD flight to start my return journey
29,593 miles, 11 flights, 10 boat rides, 1 helicopter flight, >40 miles hiking, 10 miles biking and many, many glasses of New Zealand cider and wine.

Upcoming posts:
  1. VX Y DEN-SFO and cruising down to Pescadero, or when things start to go wrong
  2. CX F J SFO-HKG
  3. A full day in Hong Kong
  4. CX J HKG-AKL
  5. Auckland and Waiheke Island
  6. NZ Y AKL-NSN
  7. Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park
  8. Kenepuru Sound
  9. Interislander Ferry and Wellington
  10. NZ Y WLG-ZQN
  11. Hiking the Routeburn Track with Ultimate Hikes
  12. Queenstown
  13. NZ Y ZQN-AKL, NZ J AKL-SYD
  14. SQ Suites SYD-SIN
  15. SQ F SIN-NRT
  16. Tokyo
  17. NH F NRT-SFO
Previously from txflyer77
Working Remote, a month in Penang and Koh Lanta, Thailand + HK, Beijing (CX/JL/KA F)
Tokyo, Taipei and Hong Kong! (JL/CX F, BR Hello Kitty C, lots of city pix)
A conference and some hiking: to Berlin and the Alps in LH F!
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Old Nov 21, 2017, 11:35 am
  #2  
 
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This looks epic. The South Island of NZ is one of my favourite places in the world, especially the Abel Tasman National Park. Can't wait for the updates!
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Old Nov 21, 2017, 10:40 pm
  #3  
gpy
 
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Looking forward to this one as I'm starting to hobble together a NZ trip!
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Old Nov 21, 2017, 10:44 pm
  #4  
 
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Also looking forward to this as I am doing the Routeburn Track in a few weeks also with Ultimate Hikes.
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Old Nov 21, 2017, 11:48 pm
  #5  
 
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Wow looks like an awesome trip. Can't wait to read. Your AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO award was priced by SQ as a single award ticket? I have had the SQ call center for similar itineraries tell me this involves backtracking and wouldn't do it for me.
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 1:30 am
  #6  
 
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Looks like an awesome itinerary, really looking forward to this, txflyer77.
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 12:57 pm
  #7  
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VX Y DEN-SFO and cruising down to Pescadero, or when things start to go wrong

The timing of this trip was perfect. I work for a big tech company and two days before we'd launched the project I'd spent six months working on and those six months had been one hell of a rollercoaster. Time to disconnect for three weeks in New Zealand, but first, a day on the California coast.

Day one started with a bus ride to DEN and a quick VX flight on to SFO. My CX flight wasn't until midnight, so I booked a flight arriving in SFO around noon and planned to spend the day renting a car and cruising down Skyline Boulevard to Pescadero, then back up Highway 1.



While on the bus to DEN, I noticed in the CX app that my SFO-HKG flight was no longer in first—I was in business class! ExpertFlyer showed that my flight no longer had F at all. I called CX once I cleared security but was on hold for so long I never reached an agent before the door closed. I bought wifi on the flight and messaged both CX and AS on Twitter. AS responded but said there was nothing they could do, CX eventually replied to my tweet a few days later.

There was a voicemail waiting for me from CX stating that I'd been downgraded and would get my miles back plus $390 in compensation.

When I landed at SFO I walked over to the international terminal to talk to the CX agents operating check-in for the earlier flight. Unfortunately I was never able to get past the Swissport contract agents. I tried to get them to reroute me on the LAX flight that night, offering to make my own way down there. EF showed F3 with plenty of J and Y inventory so the flight didn't appear to be oversold. Unfortunately the contract agents weren't much use and refused to help.

So, I gave up and just accepted J—CX F is only worth so much of a fight, honestly. I've flown both products several times and since I would be the difference between a J and F award back from AS, plus cash, I realistically came out ahead on the deal.

Off to Silvercar instead.

I'll admit the Silvercar setup at SFO is pretty awful. Airtrain to a shuttle and then finally to your car. I'm not sure I'd bother with them again at this location.

But at least once you're in the car, things get much better.

Started by cruising down Skyline to Alice's Restaurant, a destination restaurant with a parking lot filled with cool cars and motorcycles, deep in the woods on the peninsula. Great burgers and breakfasts, but admittedly an awful parking situation. A little slice of Americana.



After a burger and a glass of wine I turned west towards the coast, driving on windy roads through redwood forests and enjoying the fact I'd rented something with a V6.

By mid afternoon the fog started rolling in, just as I was reaching Pescadero.



Pescadero is very much a one-street town, just inland a little bit from the coast. First stop was Duate's Tavern, for a slice of oallieberry pie.





Then across the street to Downtown Local, a super-cool little coffee shop. Part cafe, part museum, part movie theater—there's a tiny room in the back with classic movies on a loop.





A mile or two down the road is Pescadero State Beach. The north end is a sandy beach, south end is mostly rocky outcrops. Good place to sit for a bit.





From there, up the PCH. Stopped at a wine bar in Pacifica for a glass before heading back to SFO. The Silvercar attendant called me an Uber rather than driving me back in the shuttle—works out nicely since you get dropped at the terminal this way instead of the AirTrain station.

Next up: how many CX agents does it take to pay out four hundred bucks?

Last edited by txflyer77; Nov 23, 2017 at 8:32 pm
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 1:09 pm
  #8  
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Originally Posted by ESFLYER95
This looks epic. The South Island of NZ is one of my favourite places in the world, especially the Abel Tasman National Park. Can't wait for the updates!
Abel Tasman was definitely one of my favorite stops! If I go back to New Zealand I'll definitely spend more time in that area, especially the little towns in the Golden Bays region.

Originally Posted by gpy
Looking forward to this one as I'm starting to hobble together a NZ trip!
Enjoy!

Originally Posted by thebear
Also looking forward to this as I am doing the Routeburn Track in a few weeks also with Ultimate Hikes.
You won't be disappointed! I'm seriously considering going back to do the Grand Traverse, which pairs the Routeburn with the Greenstone Track. If you do another track with them within a year you get 10% off.

Originally Posted by avneeshj
Wow looks like an awesome trip. Can't wait to read. Your AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO award was priced by SQ as a single award ticket? I have had the SQ call center for similar itineraries tell me this involves backtracking and wouldn't do it for me.
Yep, one ticket. Originally ticketed as SYD-SIN-HND/NRT-SFO, I changed first to SIN-NRT-SFO (dropping HND), then added on the AKL leg. Could be that adding AKL later trips a glitch that gets around the backtracking checks.

Originally Posted by DanielW
Looks like an awesome itinerary, really looking forward to this, txflyer77.
I was quite pleased with it! There are things I wish I'd had time to add in NZ but overall I felt it was a good pace. If (when?) I go back, I'd add Taupo, Golden Bays, Wanaka and Mt. Cook, plus more time on Waiheke Island.
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 1:41 pm
  #9  
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Cx j sfo-hkg

I arrived back at SFO just as CX check-in was opening. There were already a few large tour groups lined up and what I later found to be 20 or so people who'd been on an AA flight to LAX but due to some sort of IRROPs (diversion?) had been moved over to CX.



There was an F check-in line even though F had been eliminated due to the equipment swap, so naturally I used that line. Check-in took quite some time as the first agenta contractorhad to call over a proper CX employee, who had to find the station manager to pay out compensation. Based on eavesdropping the conversation between the CX agents, it sounds like I was the only award customer in F. There were two paid customers who were both rerouted on other airlines. After waiting about 15 minutes for the station manager to appear, I had my $390 in hand (in cold hard cashnot a voucher or check).

CX would be joining Pre two days after my flight so I had to join the regular queue, but the line was mercifully quick regardless.


Retro airline posters in the lounge hallway

The CX lounge in SFO is fine. Not great, and it should really have a dedicated F section, but it's adequate. Showers, lots of seating and a noodle bar. I had some dan dan noodles, grabbed a shower and before I knew it, time to board.



Boarding was a messthe design of the gates at the SFO international terminal is truly awful, far too narrow.


IFE and footrest.

I'm personally a big fan of the CX J reverse herringbone. Reasonably private, comfortable for sleeping, plenty of storage. CX F is a nicer bed, for sure, but the difference isn't that big these days.

Pre-departure champagne:


I'll admit I had been looking forward to the champagne and Tesseron cognac in F, but $390 buys plenty of that on the ground.

Menus:



I opted for the prawns. Eh, nobody flies J for the food anyways.



Baileys, coffee and a praline for dessert:



Breakfast wasn't much better. The cream cheese filling in the omelet was disgusting. Tasted like some sort of cheap cracker dip.





Even though the food on this flight was miserable, that has it's upsides. I do find long-haul flights much more comfortable when I eat little and avoid alcohol, there's just too much temptation in F to avoid it.

We landed about an hour ahead of schedule due to strong tailwinds. I tried to use the CX arrivals lounge but it was completely packed. My first time trying to use that facility and I honestly can't believe how small it is. It should be at least triple that size. I used my Priority Pass membership to get into the PPL arrivals lounge across the hall, which wasn't nearly as crowded, though still approaching "full". We landed well before the Airport Express had even started running so I had time to kill.

I had about 16 hours until my flight to Auckland departed and couldn't wait to get into Hong Kong properbut first, coffee and a shower.

Next up: a full rich day in Hong Kong
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 2:15 pm
  #10  
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Nice report and pictures!
$390 cold hard cash + miles back for the downgrade? All in all, I would say you came out well ahead on the deal.
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Old Nov 22, 2017, 9:47 pm
  #11  
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A Day in Hong Kong

My timing for the AEX ride into town was perfect:



I took the Airport Express to Central then went upstairs to the IFC for a coffee at Fuel Espresso. My plan was to spend the morning walking the Ping Shan Heritage Trail in the New Territories, but after visiting the first two sights I became hopelessly bored and walked back to the MTR station.


A pagoda just outside the Tin Shui Wai station.

There's a noodle shop near the Ping Shan trail that I wanted to try, Ho To Tai, but after getting lost twice finding it I realized it was closed, so instead I grabbed a pineapple bun from the bakery next door and headed back towards Central.


Walking around the New Territories

Instead I spent the morning enrolling in eChannel at the immigration office in Wan Chai. After that, char siew (roast pork) at my favorite lunch spot in Hong Kong, Joy Hing.



I've been coming here for yearsI stop in every time I pass through Hong Kong. Cheap, quick and delicious.


Inside of Joy Hing.

There used to be a fantastic coffee place in Omotesando in Tokyo, the appropriately named "Omotesando Koffee", tucked away down a maze of alleys in the area north of Omotesando. Sadly it closed a few years ago but the owner opened a Hong Kong outpost in the mean time.

The Tokyo location was practically a Zen temple to coffee, tucked behind a garden in a quite neighborhood:



The HK location, on the other hand, is 10x the size and in the middle of a brand-new shopping mall in Wan Chai. Fortunately the coffee holds up. After that, and a foot and shoulder massage at Ten Feet Tall, I headed over to the bar with the best cheap view in Hong Kong.



The Beer Bay at Pier 3 in Central, just outside the IFC and conveniently near the Airport Express station. Made some interesting acquaintancesa magazine editor and another writer of some sortdrinking local beers on the steps of the pier before catching the train back to the airport.

Next up: falling asleep in the Pier lounge
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Old Nov 23, 2017, 8:24 am
  #12  
 
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Originally Posted by jtav559
Nice report and pictures!
$390 cold hard cash + miles back for the downgrade? All in all, I would say you came out well ahead on the deal.
After waiting about 15 minutes for the station manager to appear, I had my $390 in hand (in cold hard cashnot a voucher or check).
I have been given so many vouchers with T's &C's that this is such a refreshing change.
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Old Nov 23, 2017, 8:42 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by jtav559
Nice report and pictures!
$390 cold hard cash + miles back for the downgrade? All in all, I would say you came out well ahead on the deal.
Yes, I was fine with the deal.

Originally Posted by roadwarrier
I have been given so many vouchers with T's &C's that this is such a refreshing change.
Agreed. A $390 CX voucher would be completely worthless to me but cash is cash.
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Old Nov 24, 2017, 11:24 pm
  #14  
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Cx j hkg-akl

When I arrived at HKG I already had my boarding pass in hand, plus my newly minted eChannel enrollment sticker on the back of my passport, so within a few minutes I was airside and on the train heading towards the end of the terminal.

First stop: Centurion Lounge.

The lounge only opened a few weeks prior. Frankly, it's underwhelming. Better than no lounge access at all but definitely inferior to the CX Bridge or Pier J lounges. It's very small and open to the rest of the terminal (easily my least favorite aspect of several HKG lounges).



The food spread is okay, though not as extensive as CX's lounges. The bar is relatively small and there's not much seating in the rest of the lounge.

The bar, however, does have solid drinks.



Not a bad liquor selection.



After one drink at the Centurion lounge I headed over to the Pier J lounge. I just can't resist Aesop shower amenities.

I had a few rounds of food at the Pier lounge.

Dan Dan noodles:



Some cabbage, rice and Korean-style beef.



Battered chicken and a few veggies, plus an egg tart.



I fell asleep twice in the lounge. A red-eye from SFO plus 15 hours in Hong Kong had me absolutely exhausted. I headed to the gate right as boarding was called and strolled straight onto the plane.

As soon as we hit cruising altitude as laid my seat back and fell asleep. I was *out* completely until we were about 90 minutes from AKL. One of the best night's sleeps I've ever had on a plane. This was my first time on an A350, so between complete exhaustion and higher humidity/pressurization, I slept great.

I was awake just long enough to take some shots of the menu:





Breakfast, sans eggs:



Arrived in Auckland, ready to go with my trusty Red Oxx Air Boss:



All Americans now qualify for eGates at AKL so immigration only took a few seconds. The line for biosecurity and customs wasn't too bad. I was landside in about 15 minutes.

I prebooked a cab through CheapTaxi.co.nz so I was quickly on my way to the CBD.
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Old Nov 25, 2017, 6:20 am
  #15  
 
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Fantastic already and excited to see more of your NZ adventure. Went to ZQN during my solo Oz/NZ trip earlier this year and found even just sitting on the terrace watching the sunset with a glass of wine to be mesmerising. It appears you didn't bungy? Would highly recommend if you return. Have never felt more alive nor close to death, but a thrilling experience. Looking forward to the rest!
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