InterPlace55

Introduction
Hello and welcome to another trip report from yours truly! This is a big one for me as a matter of fact! At the beginning of the year, I was looking to burn quite a lot of points that I got from Starwood, United, AmEx and Citi for a trip around Asia. I would also like to give a shoutout to my new job as they give at minimum 4 weeks PTO, so that's why I got the idea to fly across Asia in the first place. All of these flights would be the first time I would be flying on their respective products.

I knew I wanted to fly on my birthday in some sort of special flights. I thought of the Hello Kitty Flight from ORD to TPE, but no availability for said flight on my birthday, but I found a seat two Thursday's prior. I had my main inbound flight to get to Asia, and the seeds of a grand trip were planted.

Now what else? I wanted to go to Singapore via Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo, but no Tokyo to Singapore availability for the dates that would work. Randomly looking, I saw that Singapore Airlines was flying their new A380 to and from Hong Kong, and that had waitlist availability for a date that would work out for me. I decided to waitlist for that flight while confirming the morning flight continuing on from SFO on First in case SQ decides to be stingy and the flight doesn't clear. Going like a week before I was supposed to leave for my trip, the wait list clears and I would be flying the new Suites from HKG to SIN.

Next up, I moved some Starwood Points I got during their various point sales over to Aeroplan to book the Hello Kitty flight. I decided to go up instead of down to check out Seoul and to fly Asiana's 747 flight from TPE to ICN. It was originally booked as the Thai Airways Fifth Freedom route since space was open there, but as soon as the OZ 747 flight opened up, I took the call, change fee and the seat. Sadly, that was equipment changed over to a A330 which stinks but I've never really flown on an A330 before so there's that.

I wanted to check out Tokyo so I just bought the ticket from Seoul to Tokyo on Asiana, and now how to get from Tokyo to Hong Kong. The natural choice was ANA, but seats weren't opening up. Why not JAL? No seats were there as well. It would be a race to see whether I fly my first Oneworld International flight or my first 787 flight. Oneworld would prevail as JAL opened up first, so I moved MR points to Avios. It was originally supposed to be on their Sky Suite III, but a few weeks after booking, the flight equipment changed over to the Shell Flat angle flat seats. Totally unlucky there as that was the only day that the flight changed to have that.

I thought it would end with Singapore, but I decided to visit a friend in Burma since I decided I would be in the area and why not. That was basically was supposed to be a cheap flight from Singapore over but deciding to keep with the theme of burning points, I made a KrisFlyer booking on SQ's morning flight to Yangon on an A330. There was also an EDM festival the night before I leave with some high profile artists playing, so I ended up going to that with my friend and her friends as well since why not.

Now, how to get home and fly on my birthday? First class all the way back on my birthday was the plan, and I was looking at routing through Europe to take Thai Airways and Lufthansa all the way back. This is where my United points would come into play. I originally booked this flight in business since I slept on booking the first class seat on Thai. This single confirmation number would go through a lot of changes over the weeks. After waffling on going a cheap paid ticket from Yangon over to Bangkok or a paid Thai ticket, I was able to tack on the RGN-BKK morning flight onto the ticket, allowing me 12 hours in Bangkok or at Thai's Royal First Lounge. Lufthansa First Class opened up as expected, but United.com was/is still acting up on showing Lufthansa space within 14 days of travel. I was able to secure Thai First Class when the seat opened up while I was at Tokyo, and while I was at Hong Kong, the Lufthansa seat decided to show its face on United.com so that was secured as well. Normally, this would not be possible cause United for some odd reason want all the seats to be available to book, but being a United Elite, I somehow got agents that got the itinerary secured after a few HUCA's, but I was put on the later connecting flight to Frankfurt, putting no chance for me to enjoy the First Class Terminal in FRA.

I won't be reporting on my United connecting flights since they're not that interesting and the ICN to NRT flight since I slept the entire flight. However, I will give stories on how I was able to change my booked United flights to the preferred flights on the day of when it comes to that point, so the United flights below are the ones I've taken.

In the end, the itinerary would be as follows
UA3619: CVG to ORD in X on a E175
BR55: ORD to TPE in J on a B77W
OZ712: TPE to ICN in J on a A333
OZ106: ICN to NRT in X on a A333
JL29: HND to HKG in J on a B772
SQ861: HKG to SIN in F on a A380
SQ998: SIN to RGN in J on a A333
TG304: RGN to BKK in J on a A333
TG930: BKK to CDG in F on a A380
LH1029: CDG to FRA in J on a A320
LH418: FRA to IAD in F on a B748
UA1567: IAD to CVG in F on a B739



Here are my hotel accommodations for each of my stops in case you were wondering.
1 night in Seoul at the Aloft Seoul Gangnam
2 nights in Tokyo at the APA Akihabaraeki Denkigaiguchi
2 nights in Hong Kong at the Kew Green Hotel Wan Chai
2 nights in Singapore at the YOTEL Singapore
2 nights in Yangon at the PARKROYAL Hotel

I hope to get at least one part of this trip posted every other day, so I hope you guys keep on keeping up with this report. Hope you enjoy reading up on this unreal adventure!!!

InterPlace55

United Polaris Lounge at ORD



My original flight was supposed to arrive at 8:30pm to ORD, but I ended up standing by for an earlier flight. That flight was supposed to arrive at 6:50pm, but it got delayed due to late arriving aircraft from EWR. I arrived at the B concourse of Terminal 1, and I began the long trek towards the C Concourse and the United Polaris Lounge. I was able to enter due to my United issued boarding pass to Taipei, and the attendant acting all confused cause he doesn’t see that many people from the EVA Air flight come in.

For 7:30, it was very quiet though I don’t know how the United international flights are banked out. This place has a lot of seating and seating options like lounge chairs, regular seating, bar seating, and cubby seating shaped like the Polaris seats.









The buffet has plenty of food out there and it looked pretty good, but I wanted to check out the dining room options. I started out with a tangerine and tonic which was surprisingly refreshing despite it being a gin drink. I don’t really enjoy gin drinks all that much. I got the soup of the day which was cheddar broccoli, and oh my goodness that was so creamy and good, I ended up scooping off what I can from it.











My main course was the shrimp and grits which had an interesting taste and texture. It was my first time having grits and it had a taste of nothing but combine it with the tomato stew that accompanied it and it added a great tangy taste to the dish for sure.



When it came time, I decided to make my way out of the United Polaris Lounge to Terminal 5 where I would exchange my United issued boarding pass for a Hello Kitty branded boarding pass and a Hello Kitty branded invitation for the Air France/KLM Lounge



Air France/KLM Lounge


Compared to the United Polaris Lounge, it was a significant downgrade as it was basically one very long corridor with a standard room in there.







Food was basic sandwiches, noodles/pasta and soup with packaged snacks and such. There was plenty of self-serve liquor ready to be consumed. There were a few people over there, but it was pretty quiet that’s for sure.

I only had beer and some pasta and such. Basic lounge and relaxation place for sure. As boarding slowly came, I decided to make my way over to the gate to board my flight over to Taipei

EVA Air 55 – April 26, 2018
Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to Taipei Taoyuan (TPE)
Departing: 12:30am (Actual: 12:22am)
Arriving: 5:00am +1 (Actual: 5:07am +1)
Duration: 15hrs 30mins (Actual: 15hrs 45mins)
Equipment: Boeing 777-300ER
Tail#: B-16722
Seat: 5A (Royal Laurel Class)

I entered and was directed to my seat. The flight attendant serving me today figured that I wasn’t Taiwanese, so she spoke to me in English. I got a predeparture beverage of orange juice because they wouldn’t open up the champagne due to taxes as everyone else here knows. It also came with a chocolate and a hot towel



First thing I noticed was the Hello Kitty accessories that were out and about like the picture on the bulk head, the slippers, and the pillow. That extended to the coasters and the table cloth.











The menu is as follows



















After takeoff and seat belt sign turns off, meal service sprang into action. Krug Rose was served as the champagne of choice for the drink. It was served with three canapes. The prawn cucumber was great. Loved the mozzarella and tomato skewer too.



Bread basket came with the standard roll, but attendants came by with more kinds of bread. I got a pretzel roll and garlic bread which reminded me of the Polaris garlic bread that I had last year. It came with butter and balsamic vinegar and oil.

The hors d’oeuvre goose liver has a bitter taste but the port jelly and grilled pineapple with mangos added sweetness to enhance the liver taste.



I got the beef for the main course and it was pretty good as a medium/medium well color, but it cut pretty great. The beef itself was savory and tender, and I got the pink salt instead of the au jus which added to the flavor. Loved the potato cake underneath it.





I got the tart for dessert and it was fantastic and fluffy. I had it with the Ti Yuan Yin tea which had a pretty bold flavor to it. Great to close it out.



After the meal, water bottles were distributed. Still Fiji water too.



IFE was great and was loaded with a lot of movies, so I decided to watch Dunkirk for like the 5th time and Lady Bird for the first time.

Pajamas fit well with large. Great to have pajamas in business class. Amenity kit was great but recently changed over to Georg Jens cases on inbound flights to TPE. Thunder branded Headphones are great but I’m not a fan of noise cancelling headphones.









Flight attendants were very kind of one even gave me some free swag because she saw me taking pictures throughout the flight.



When it was time for some sleep, they set up a mattress pad which I didn’t expect, and I got 6 hours of sleep. When I woke up, we were over Russia. I called the flight attendant and within 10 seconds, one came up. I got a snack of rice rolls and instant noodles which really hit the spot with a Heineken for good measure.







After that, I got 2 more hours of sleep and was woken up for the breakfast service which was served on a tray. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have some more congee which came with Taiwanese assortments, beef cheek and omelet. All were great to eat, and ended with some fruit. Soon after, we made the descent to Taipei.





For a 15+ hour flight, I was more than satisfied with the product. It exceeded all of my expectations, and I loved that I was getting plenty of sleep on a plane which I never get. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them once again due to the warmth and comfort I received throughout the flight.



Up next, a very long layover in Taipei.

roadwarrier

This looks like a marathon session!! I am looking forward to reading the rest of your TR, you must have had a great time!

InterPlace55

EVA Air Infinity Lounge
After going through security, getting my new Asiana issued boarding pass, walking through the gate areas checking out the various themes they have and watching the last 10 minutes of The Ten Commandments, I made my way towards the EVA Air Lounges.





I went to the Star Lounge at first but decided to settle at the Infinity Lounge. Both are the same lounge but with different themes. The Infinity Lounge is more modern and futuristic while the Star is more traditional.

There were a lot of people in here as expected since EVA Air has banked a lot of flights in the early morning. There was barely a seat anywhere, but I was directed by an attendant over to an open seat.

I requested a shower room and was asked to hand over my boarding pass for a buzzer. Once that went off, I was handed another pass for the specific shower room. I gave that to the shower attendant and she directed me to the specific shower room.





The shower room was large and had all the amenities set and ready to go. It was nice to have a shower after going through security and carrying a back pack and sweating profusely. After that, I was directed to another seat and got some food. Basic Chinese food and breakfast food was on display right now and the usual liquor assortment which was self-serve.









I had to be a bit careful taking pictures of everything since they had blatant signs saying no picture taking. That ended up not being a problem as by 10, it looked like the bank time passed as I was one of only two people in the Infinity Lounge.



After another half hour, I decided to move on and check out the SilverKris Lounge.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at TPE


I went in with my boarding pass and was admitted. I was legit the only person in the lounge for about 90 minutes. Design is like the SilverKris Lounges at other outstations. The food had a lot more hot items, including several soups and toast it yourself garlic bread. That was actually a neat touch to be honest.















After an hour and a half, I made my way to the boarding area where the gate waiting area showing off the history of the Golden Horse Award, which is basically the Academy Awards at Taiwan.





After checking out the gate area, I make my way downstairs to the waiting pen to board the A330 which was supposed to be a 747 to Incheon.



Asiana Airlines 712 – April 27, 2018
Taiwan Taoyuan (TPE) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN)
Departing: 12:55pm (Actual: 1:11pm)
Arriving: 4:35pm (Actual: 4:38pm)
Duration: 2hrs 40mins (Actual: 2hrs 27mins)
Equipment: Airbus 330-300
Tail#: HL8293
Seat: 3A (Business Class)

I arrived at my seat and was greeted by the flight attendants. I was offered either orange juice or water for a predeparture beverage. Got an orange juice once again. The flight was also delayed for one reason or another which I never realized why.

The seat was alright for the regional hop, and I could have lived with it for a transcontinental flight back in the US. It was an angle flat seat and I had somebody next to me. I felt like I could have gotten a nap in for sure, but I wasn’t feeling sleepy.



The menu was there and goes as follows








With their synchronized bow and basic flight safety video, we were off to Seoul.

Meal orders were taken, and I asked for the beef stew. The meal was pretty filling all around. Nothing to write about, but the hot paste was pretty good too. Was kind of hoping for bibimbap on the flight though.



The IFE was ancient, and by that, I mean it had a cursor that you had to move around with the arrow buttons or use the touch screen. There was a meh selection, but I chose to watch Forest Gump which I didn’t finish as the flight lasted longer than the movie.



Forty five minutes after meal service was collected, we started our descent into Seoul landed a half hour after four.

As we taxied into Seoul Incheon, I spotted an Asiana 747 which could have brought us to Seoul but nope… Not salty at all



It was a short but efficient trip and service. It was a bit bumpy in terms of service since the flight attendants didn’t really understand vodka soda all that much, but nothing really too serious.

Once I landed and passed through immigration, I made my way towards Seoul via the Airport Express but got lost trying to make my way through the metro system, but eventually made my way to my hotel.

Next up, some experiences in Akihabara and Hong Kong with flights in between them too!