palmanfr

Yeah, I was happy to have it covered by the shop's insurance for sure ! For the duty free store, I read a while ago another trip report about CMB airport, but I was really surprised about the variety of goods offered there and the amount of stores, it was a real mall !

Thank you ! It took me about a year to plan everything, and pretty much all the first part (between the start and the Christmas break) was planned before starting it. I also knew most of the things I wanted to do in the second part, and some long haul flights and the cruise between Ushuaia and Rapa nui were planned before leaving. I met quite a few people during my trip who were doing a similar adventure, but without the planning (mostly backpacking). I would love to do that and go where-ever the flow would bring me, but it is simply not my style of travel ! I am the type of guy who needs to plan things in advance - especially if travelling alone !
Concerning the budget, this a very good question and I have the exact breakdown of money, miles and points used for this entire trip, but I will summarize this only at the end of this trip report. I was anticipating a (very optimistic) budget of 100 Euros/day initially (And I was travelling a bit more than 6 months so I will let you calculate). I exceeded this budget a bit - but it was totally worth it as I did activities I did not anticipate doing. Indeed travelling in and visiting south east asia is cheaper than let's say in Australia, Japan, Polynesia, the US or New Zealand, so it depends where you are planning to go, and with which comfort criteria : I choose to fly most of my long-hauls in First of buisiness because this is my passion to try different premium cabins (in case you haven't noticed :-)) - but the same trip could have been done in economy class for a fraction of the price. Likewise, I mostly stayed in hotels (although not luxury hotels), and only stayed a couple nights in hostels or B&B in Oman and New Zealand. I also camped two nights in central Australia with a group and spent a few nights up in the air. Staying in hostels only would have decreased the bill quite a bit.

Partly agree. For some US or latin american airlines, I would say yes, but I know some carriers (looking at you BA) who do not stock enough booze on board, especially on return flights.

palmanfr

After almost 2 fruitful days in Sri Lanka visiting the holy city of Kandy in the centre of the country and the capital Colombo, I was on my way for 2 long haul flights back to back to come back home for Christmas : The second segment of my Jakarta to Dubai one way journey on Sri Lankan airlines, involving their new Airbus 330-300 business class cabin and the return of my Riga-Dubai trip, with the leg Dubai-Amsterdam operated by KLM (The last section of my journey back to Riga was then done in May, after a 5-month « stopover » in AMS).

Since i was unsure of the traffic conditions in Colombo, I got at the international airport a good 3 hours before departure, and cleared the first security screening to enter the building in a heartbeat, after receiving a comment from the security agent that I was a bit too early for my flight, but since the departures area was not really busy, he allowed me to go through.


CMB Deprtures


Departure board


Merry christmas in Sri Lanka !


Departure mall


Primary security screening


Priority check-in

Luggage check-in was very smooth using the priority lane, and I asked just out of curiosity to the agent if it was possible to interline my bag to my next KLM flight, which was on a different PNR. I dared to try that because although KLM and Sri Lankan are not members of the same alliances, they share the same facilities of Terminal 1 in DXB and the same handling agent (Dnata in that case). The agent located the reservation and issues without issues the second boarding pass and a new luggage tag with Amsterdam as the final destination for that bag. Which meant I will not have to clear immigration in DXB, retrieve my bag and check-it in again…


It's time to empty some stuff from the suit case !


All boarding passes could have been issued smoothly !

Emigration was swift and the exit stamp was nicely placed on my passport !
Security was also pretty fast to clear and I was minutes after airside…

The main terminal was ok, with lots of small souvenir shops and electronic duty free stores. A part of the shopping area was dedicated to tea stalls, although the price they were asking for the ceylon teas were out of mind (4 to 5 times more expensive than in the city).


One more stamp !




Tarmac views


Duty free area in the departures


Clergy lounge




Tea shops - A rip off compared to the city prices


Would love to have this at home :-)


Future airport development plans

Sri Lankan operates two lounges in CMB : The Serendib lounge, which is only accessible for Business class passengers, and another lounge, the Serendiva lounge where Emerald and Sapphire frequent flyers are welcomed to use. I only went to the Serendib lounge (which I read was better than the other one) and entered at 14:50 there. The place was pretty much completely empty, with the exception of the staff and one other passenger, loudly talking on his phone.
The buffet was being cleaned and restocked when I arrived so I served myself a glass of Piper-Heidseck while touring the lounge…


Serendib lounge entrance




Lounge entrance








Preparing a new buffet




Bar











While restrooms were located inside the lounge, I do not remember seeing any showers. A small spa, featuring head massages was available, right behind the small business center which I used during my visit (since my laptop was out of operation).

After 15 min or so, a full new buffet was available.

















A little bit of everything ! :-)

The food was pretty good, some items were maybe a bit too spicy for my taste though :-)






What ???!!!

As the time was flying, the lounge got busier and about an hour before my flight’s scheduled departure, I jumped out of my chair as the display was showing last call for my flight to Dubai ! (No announcements were made in the lounge from what I recall)

Although we were one hour before departure, passengers were running to get to the gate 14, and the gate agent got quite a few comments from fellow passengers, including me about the final call display, as the aircraft was still being towed to the gate. We waited 30 minutes at the gate area before boarding. A separate section of the gate, next to the window was dedicated for business class and status passengers.




And now, we wait 30 min...


Sri Lankan Airbus A330-300 4R-ALL



At 1805, the boarding began and I could take some pictures of the almost empty cabin. 2 jet bridges were in use and connected to doors 1L and 2L.



SriLankan Airlines UL365 - December 21st 2018
Colombo Bandaranaike Intl CMB - 18:35
Dubai Intl DXB - 21:35
Airbus A330-300 - 4R-ALL - Seat 01A, Window seat, Business class.

The 5 year old Airbus 330-300 was equipped with Sri Lankan’s new business class seat, in 1-2-1 configuration. I liked the seat and it reminded me some of the Cathay pacific business class products. Although there was no door on the seat, it was pretty private, especially being in row 1.


1-2-1 business class configuration




Seat 1A






Although without a door, the seat was quite private



The usual functionalities of modern business class seats were available : USB and power sockets, reclining feature, and individual reading lights. There was not much storage on the seat though. The IFE was a large and good quality screen and could be controlled with a remote equipped with a smaller screen.

As on my previous flight, the flight attendant provided right after boarding the menu and the order was taken only a few minutes later. I opted for the fish curry.














I like to travel, but I was also happy to go back home for Christmas !


A glass of bubbly to begin with...

As usual, I opted for a glass of champagne as my pre-departure drink.







We took off at 18:50 and after the seat belt sign switched off, I asked the crew to get a new pair of noise-reducing headphones as the ones provided were not fully working. A few minutes later, the IFE crashed and I had to ask again to the crew to have it rebooted.


Restarting the IFE...

During the restart, another drink was offered and it came with some cashews.


Cashews and Piper


IFE is back on track... I like the PiP (Picture in Picture) feature

The dinner was served about 40 min after take-off. It was ok, nothing memorable, the fish was maybe a bit too dry…


Fish curry

The dinner was ended with the dessert, served separately and with some tea. The overall service was ok, although some of the crew members could have been more friendly (or smiling at least)


Dessert was fine

I slept for a bit less than an hour. A additional drink service was offered as we were getting closer to Oman.





Shortly before take off, the crew came to distribute some fast track vouchers for DXB immigration. However, as my baggage was checked through until Amsterdam, I did not have to use it.


Approaching Dubai

We landed on time an taxied towards the terminal 1, and parked next to an Air Canada dreamliner.


DXB, with the highest concentration of A380 in the world !




Terminal 1, next to an Air Canada dreamliner






Fortunately, my next flight was leaving from the same terminal

Overall, this flight, such as the previous one was comfortable, on time, and allowed me to get 280 BA tier points for a very reasonable amount. The timing was perfect and it allowed me to visit for 48 hours Sri Lanka and get my flight back home in Dubai seamlessly.
I would do this again any day…

nequine

Yikes at the 'final call' situation and glad folk complained. I got caught like that in DXB where it was still 20 minutes until boarding started when I left the lounge then suddenly head 'final call' over the tannoy! I just about had a heart attack as I rushed to the gate to get onto the plane!

palmanfr

Clearing security was a formality as I was pretty much alone in there. Right after security was the connections service counter staffed by dnata, in case I needed to get my KLM boarding pass.


I was alone at security




Interesting... :-O

The terminal was not that busy that evening, and I proceeded straight to the skyteam lounge upstairs, which I already reviewed earlier in this TR when I was going to South Africa on Kenya Airways. the lounge was not very busy, unlike last time I was there. Plenty of seating was available and the place was much more pleasant that the previous time.


SkyTeam lounge DXB terminal 1

The buffet was quite varied, and the bar well stocked. I opted for a soup and some warm dishes available on the buffet for a late dinner.


Merry Christmas... From Dubai !






Not as crowded as last time...


Self-service bar


Not really expensive booze






Cold cuts...


Warm options


Light dinner...


Business center - I spent a good hour there, printer was working !

I then used the business center for a while, as I was still without working laptop at that time... A couple of French families with kids (expats in the UAE coming back home for Christmas I guess) were occupying the mini lounge located next to the business center, since the kids are quite noisy, it was good that they did not stay in the main lounge…

Eventually, boarding was called and I left the lounge at 01:15, it was a relatively short 5-minute walk to get to the gate.


Not the freshest plane...


Boarding in zones was well organized


I am coming home !

Boarding was organized in zones, from 1 to 5, zone 1 being business class passengers and zone 2 being for economy class passengers with Elite plus status.



KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL428 - December 22nd 2018
Dubai Intl DXB - 01:55
Amsterdam Schiphol AMS - 06:20
Boeing 777-200 - PH-BQK - Seat 01A, Window seat, Business class.

I am travelling at least once a month with KLM for the last 10 years or so, but only for short European trips, and in economy class (I am getting so bored of their egg wrap for the past year or so !). At some point several years ago, I enjoyed flying KLM more than travelling on Air France, although this has changed recently as KLM was often unreliable in the several past trips I did with them. I also never flew - at all - with KLM on long-haul flights, so I was looking forward in trying their World Business class product, and compare it with the one offered by their sister Air France… (and was intrigued by the little Delft blue houses which are offered to Business class passengers :-))

While Air France offers nowadays on most of their 777 fleet a 1-2-1 herringbone configuration for their business class (tested a couple months before), KLM still uses a 2-2-2 cabin configuration on most of their 777 aircrafts. The seats are slightly staggered, to offer additional privacy, and also maximize the space I guess. The 787, and some reconfigured 777 have the latest product, with direct-aisle access.
Although it was my first time, and I was actually quite excited in trying their world business product, I was planning to sleep on this relatively short flight so I opted for seat 1A, and since the flight was almost full, shared this block of seats with an American Lawyer travelling back to California for the holidays.


Seat 1A - KLM World Business class - Boeing 777-200


Sorry mate, I did not mean to take a picture of you here !


Seat 1A/1C

The first impression I had was pretty positive, despite the old fashioned configuration, and quite old aircraft. The cabin was clean, the seat had plenty of legroom (after all, the Dutch people are the tallest in the world…) and the seat was quite private. The usual modern Business class seat features were available (lie flat, power socket, USB, large IFE screen), WiFi excepted. The first row features additional table space to put some magazines, and empty meal tray or hold your luggage to look for something if needed.


Seat and IFE controls


Plenty of legroom !


Power sockets and noise-reducing headphones


Happy ! (but also tired !)

Right at the left of the headrest were located the noise-reducing headphones but no bottle of water. The cabin was pretty warm and remained warm for the entire flight. Just like on most European airlines, no individual air vents were present.

The flight attendant, a Dutch lady in her late 40s, came soon after I sat to propose to hang my coat, and offer a welcome drink, and I opted for some water. I recall there was choice between water, orange juice or champagne. Right after, the amenity kit, from Jantaminiau. I liked the fabric of the kit, and the contents were quite standard.




KLM Amenity kit contents


Turkish Airlines B777-300

After the safety movie was shown, we pushed back on time and took off towards the gulf at 02:05. Surprisingly, the lights were not dimmed during this night time takeoff…

Oddly enough, the wine list and the dinner menu were given to us 20 minutes after take off, and a first drink service was offered. I opted for a Flying Dutchman cocktail, which was gin and genever-based. It was a first for me, and it was ok, maybe a bit too sweet for that late hour…














Trying the Flying Dutchman cocktail

I was then asked if I wanted to have the dinner snack plate.
Since this was a night flight and the duration was quite short (6 hours-ish), the dinner proposed was quite light, and they considered the main meal was more the breakfast. The food was ok, I have no good or bad memory of it (and the notes I took at that time do not mention anything specific)


Light dinner. Like the presentation, the contents were nothing to remember about...

After a couple episodes of a series, I felt asleep, with the seat almost in lie-flat for a couple hours. i found te seat very comfortable and despite being 1m88 tall, could not touch the end of it. My seat made fell asleep before me, in front of his action movie.

I woke up after a couple hours and went to the front galley, where the bathroom was located. No crew member was present in the galley and I stayed there for a good 10 minutes without seeing anyone…
The entrance of the cockpit crew rest being located right in front of seat 1D, I just met the first officer coming back from his nap while I was enjoying a cup of water in the galley.


Self-service snacks




Empty galley...

About an hour before landing, the lights were switched back on and breakfast was served. I opted for the pancakes. It was ok, again, maybe a bit too sweet…


Tea selection


Cheers !


Sweet crepes for breakfast...


Above somewhere in Central Europe...


Approaching Amsterdam

As we were 30 minutes away from landing, the pilot welcomed us in the Dutch airspace and informed us that we should be landing on time in Schiphol. He also informed us that the crew « lost » one of the hydraulic circuits and that they requested ground assistance just in case. He was very reassuring mentioning that they had 2 back-up hydraulic networks on the aircraft and that contacting the fire brigade on the ground was just part of the procedure. He told us not to be surprised or panicked if we were escorted by the fire department after our landing…

We landed on-time at the remote runway and taxied for a good 10 minutes, with no fire trucks in sight. The crew somehow managed to recover to control of the main hydraulics as I understood. And we still got one Delft blue Dutch house, filled with Genever, so that was a proof there was no panic onboard ! For the little story, I saw during my trip an interview from Richard Quest on CNN of the Chaiman of KLM, Peter Elbers, and during his interview, he started to explain the story besides those Delft blue houses. In the early days of commercial aviation, it was forbidden by the IATA to offer gifts to customers, so KLM found a workaround this rule, by claiming that those were not gifts, but a miniature bottle of liquor to be used to drink on board. Almost 100 years later, they are still keeping the tradition alive.


This house is the number 48, and this is my first one !

As we reached the gate and were waiting for the jet bridge to be connected, I started to talk with the flight attendant who was standing next to my seat, as I was changing back my SIM card to my Dutch one, from a multi-SIM card holder which I always carry in my backpack. We eventually started to talk about my trip and I asked her if visiting the cockpit was allowed per the KLM procedures as the engines were now off and the doors soon to be opened. She quickly enquired to the captain and I was immediately welcomed in the flight deck ! The friendly first officer, who was actually living in France, 10 km away from my previous house before moving to the Netherlands gave me more details about the hydraulics issue they thought they had, and it seems like the sensor, monitoring one of the pressure of the landing gear hydraulics was providing the wrong information. We made it safe and sound… and that’s all that mattered !




Spot the low hydraulics pressure indication... :-D

As I was technically in a very very long stopover on my way to Riga (my flight to Riga was… 5 month later !), I proceeded towards the luggage claim after clearing immigration, using one of the few working automatic gates…


It's maybe a very long transfer, I will follow the exit this time !


Immigration AMS

Whenever I can, I avoid checking bags when transiting or ending my trip in AMS. The reason is simple : The luggage handling is ver, very slow and I missed quite a few trains because of this. Most of the time, the expected waiting times displayed are just wrong. KLM was the first major airline in Europe to start charging for checked bags several years ago, and one of the rationale at that time is that the ancillary fees collected with paid luggage would be used to improve the luggage delivery system of the airport. Complete Bravo Sierra in my opinion, as I never received a bag back in Schiphol in less tan 40 minutes after reaching the gate ! This time was no different. and my bag was one of the last ones to arrive (although labelled with a priority tag) at 07:30 - which is 1 hour 10 minutes after landing and almost 1 hour after the plane doors were opened !


Don't trust the displays when it comes with luggage in AMS !


Although it says all bags are on the belt, there was actually nothing !

I was then on my way to the train station, located below the airport, for another 2 hours and half under the cold wintery Dutch rain until what I like to call « home »…


Heading south... (of the Netherlands !)


Happy to be back for the Christmas "break". This vacation really exhausted me :-)

Overall, for the price paid for this Riga-Dubai return trip (A bit less than 1000 Euros and I used a 700 Euros compensation voucher, so less than 300 Euros in total) and the amount of XP gathered (93 XP), I think it was a (very) good deal, the experience was pleasant and the timing adequate. I also managed to finish this return trip on May 10th by flying to Riga for the weekend (I just had to book a one way flight back home.

palmanfr

Yeah, the only times I saw this was in middle eastern airports. I think that's the local mentality that passengers are maybe to relax and tend to be late to board their flight... I saw this in Doha, Istanbul and Jeddah in the past...

nequine

Nice story about the wee house!

palmanfr

Exactly a year ago, I was starting my sabbatical trip with this round the world adventure... For a reason beyond me, I really want to finish writing this trip report, it's like a personal challenge for me :-), but one year later, I am -barely- half way through reporting this trip...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After spending a relaxing Christmas with my close family in my « original » hometown of Lyon in France, and driving back for new year’s eve in Maastricht with my best friend, I was excited (and a tad anxious also) to start the second part of my round-the-world trip. My first stop for 2019 was going to be Hong Kong, where I would spend a couple days, with a friend of mine who appeared to be there to visit her family (she lives in Philadelphia now). I love Hong Kong, and I’ve been there a couple times before, and I was happy this will be my first destination of the year.

To get there, I took advantage of a nice BA promotional fare ex-Amsterdam, to Bangkok. Although the principal routing that BA offers between those two cities would be using the direct flight between LHR and BKK - which btw, has a terrible reputation, one of the reasons being that aircraft they operate is old - the alternative routing options were quite good, with transfers in HKG, SIN or KUL being possible. This fare allowed stopovers for a very reasonable supplement (100 USD IIRC) and after spending a couple hours playing with ITA matrix, I rang the BA Gold desk and provided the details of my trip (since the combinations of flights I wanted could not be booked on their website). The outbound will be AMS-LHR-HKG (LHR-HKG on the Airbus 380) with a 3-day stopover in HKG and then taking the 4-times weekly 5th freedom flight from Royal Jordanian between HKG and BKK (remember : BKK is technically my final destination for this ticket). My return flights will be 4 months later, taking another 5th freedom flight operated by CX between BKK and SIN and then the A380 again from SIN to LHR and finish with a short hop back to AMS on Easter monday, which would have been the last flight of this sabbatical adventure. The grand total was slightly below 1600 Euros and allowed me to bag 460 TP and quite some avios…

Eventually, my flight between LHR and HKG had an equipment type change a few months after booking, from the A380 to a Boeing 777-300. As I already had secured the seat 52K (which is one of the two best seats of the Club World cabin on the 380 in my opinion), I was quite disappointed of this aircraft change and after looking at various reports of other FlyerTalkers who managed to change their booking free of charge after this aircraft swap, I gave it try and managed to have the agent change the booking to the second flight of the day, using the A380. I was positively surprised of BA’s flexibility here !

After leaving my car for the next 4 months at a friends house in Eindhoven, I reached Schiphol airport by train. The ride was pretty uneventful and for once, NS (the Dutch rail company) brought me to destination onetime and without drama.


For once, there were no issues with NS !

Checking my bag in AMS was swift and my boarding passes were issued by the agent after a quick passport swipe.



Clearing security was also swift using the premium security lane upstairs the terminal and I cleared emigration controls using an automated gate.




Security was smooth to clear, such as passport control


Schiphol Non-Schengen terminal


Oppossum was thrilled !



Given the important amount of British Airways flights ex-Amsterdam towards the 3 main London airport, BA operates their own lounge in Schiphol, right next to the Aspire lounge. The BA Galleries lounge is not very big and does not have restrooms inside it. however; it features nice tarmac views.


BA lounge AMS


Inside the lounge




Nice outside views


The bar


Some finger food

Catering-wise, they did not have much in place at the beginning of my visit but the buffet got stocked eventually later. There is no wow factor here, but I’ve seen worse in other European airports…


That will do the job for now...


Plane spotting...


The buffet was changed when I left

WiFi was complimentary, like in all BA-branded lounges.

I left the lounge around 16:45 and I headed downstairs towards gate D28 where my ride to London Heathrow, G-EUUR was parked





British Airways BA447 - January 2nd 2019
Amsterdam Schiphol AMS - 17:25
London Heathrow LHR - 17:35
Airbus A320 - G-EUUR - Seat 01A, Window seat, Business class.

I was lucky to have the entire block of 3 seats on this short flight as nobody was seated in 1C. The cabin looked otherwise reasonably full of passengers. This bulkhead seat did not have a lot of legroom but this was good enough for a one hour flight…


Seat 1A


Leg room seat 1A

We took off at 17:44 towards the North sea. Service started shortly after, with a choice of charcuterie/cold cuts plate or some salad if I recall correctly. I opted for the former and it was uneventful for my taste buds.


BA dinner Club Europe AMS-LHR


Approach above central London

We went above central London to approach Heathrow and arrived at our parking stand of Terminal 5 at 17:28 local time.


At contact of the main terminal 5

Connection in Terminal 5 was smooth using the fast track, clearing security took about 10 minutes or so. Although this time was not that bad, this is one of the things I just hate about LHR : If you are not flying from UK, you need to clear security and the staff working there is most of the time rude and grumpy, not mentioning the long waiting times associated sometimes. Why they do not allow transit passengers coming from « secure » departure points, like EU or USA/Canada is beyond me as other European hubs managed to do so, including Schiphol.








Heathrow Terminal 5


Lounge entrance

After some window shopping in some of the Terminal stores, I headed towards the First class lounge of the Terminal 5, where I went many times before. Note that this lounge is mostly designed to accommodate OneWorld Emerald cardholders as the « real » First class lounge is actually the Concorde room, located next door, but to access this one, you will need to show a same-day BA First boarding pass or be a Concorde room card holder (meaning reaching a whooping 5000 Tier Points in a year).


Entrance First lounge




Business center, this was my spot for a couple hours...

I spent most of my time within this lounge seated at the business center, and had some light dinner at the restaurant towards the end of my visit.

This lounge is a pleasant place to stay, although the catering significantly decreased in terms of offering and quality since I started travelleing with BA, in 2011... Different zones are well defined in the lounge : Business center, champagne bar, Liquor bar, Wine bar, the coffee corner, the terrace and the restaurant


Champagne bar in the back


Champagne selection


The side entrance of the lounge, straight from terminal security


The liquor bar


Red wine selection




White wine selection


The coffee corner and the restaurant/buffet in the back


Sandwiches selection


Cold buffet


Hot buffet


Soup corner


Back at my seat :-)


2nd of January evening departures



First class lounge menu

I preferred to get something from the buffet

Around 20:15, I took the automatic train towards the satellite 5C where my Hong Kong flight was ready to board. I still don’t get why the satellite C has no lounge, considering most of the A380 flights tend to depart from this location... Not sure if the local Starbucks still gives 10 GBP credit for status or business / first class passengers (It used to be the case years ago, I used this benefit a couple times, especially during delayed departures)


Next : The business class flight on board the Airbus 380 between LHR and HKG

WY114

Thanks for the effort, keep it up! Following with great interest

nequine

After our first trip abroad in 2000 and connecting back to ABZ through LHR I wondered the same thing too... but then 10 months later 9/11 happened and then I thought mmm, maybe not everyone has the same standards of security? I know a lot has changes post 9/11 but you can see why each country has its own rules. Re the grumpiness, I think that is a pre-requisite of getting a job in airport security!

palmanfr

Boarding had already started by the time I reached the gate C64 and 3 jet bridges were connected to the G-XLEE.






G-XLEE to HKG


3 jet bridges were connected




British Airways BA27 - January 2nd 2019
London Heathrow LHR - 21:00
Hong Kong Chep Lak Kok - 16:55 (+1 day)
Airbus A380 - G-XLEE - Seat 52K, Window seat, Upper deck, Business class.

Seats 52A and 52K are in my opinion the best seats of the A380 on BA, as despite being window seats, they have direct access to the aisle, and are located on the last row of the first business class cabin on the upper deck (this mini-cabin only has 3 rows of seats, making it quite private, with « only » 21 seats. The only downside of this seat could be the proximity with the galley, which could be noisy at times. Being at the upper deck, this window seat has some extra storage below the window, due to the curvature of the aircraft. Otherwise, it is a pretty standard Club World seat, featuring the awkward look of your seat mate during the take off and landing (seat-made who btw, barely replied to my « hello », so you can imagine I upped the seat divider as soon as allowed.


Upper deck, front cabin


BA's Business class and their old "stare your seatmate configuration" (at least for take off and landing)


Seat 52K
Most of the passengers had already boarded the mini-cabin by the time I arrived.
A pre-departure beverage was offered with a choice of water, juice or champagne, and I opted for the latter.
A white company amenity kit, a bottle of water, together with the seat topper and the blanket were also given. Finally, the new menu, with a card indicating your breakfast order was handed before take off. The breakfast card was a nice initiative, although it was never picked up by the crew (fine by me as I wanted the full option anyway)


Legroom in the seat 52K, I felt like in a cocoon !



Storage drawer, good for a laptop for example




The White company london bedding and amenity kit


Bubbles to start...


Amenity kit contents










Breakfast order (was never picked up or requested by the crew)

We took off on time and after the fasten seat belt sign was turned off, I decided to wear a more comfortable outfit for this night flight using one of the two « giant » lavatories located in the front of the upper deck.


Giant lavatory in the "forehead" of the Airbus 380


The other one is a bit smaller !


Kir royal - with cheap rice crackers...

I opted for a kir royal as an apéritif and it came with some rice crackers (cost savings ? I used to prefer the mixed nuts they had before…).
My meal order was taken at that time, and I choose the soup as an appetizer, which came with some bread and butter, and the pasta as a main dish.
The whole meal was ok, but nothing to really write home about… The dessert was also not really memorable.
One should note that this flight was not (yet?) eligible to the dine on demand concept BA wants to adopt on some key-routes. I read somewhere on FT that the other flight between LHR and HKG, operated on the 777-300 was offering this service.


Parsnip soup


Main course was the vegetarian pasta... Was ok


Dessert, nothing to write home about...

After a couple episodes of a TV series, I prepared my bed shortly before midnight London time, using the new « white company » bed cover and enjoyed five hours of sleep at 38000 feet of altitude…


The seat in bed mode


Remote controls when in sleep mode


Good night !

I woke up around 5 am London time and visited the club kitchen located in the galley right behind the row 52. I have to say that the quality (and quantity) of the products offered in this club Kitchen decreases at every of the BA flights I am taking. Only junk snacks were offered, with the infamous cadbury chocolate bars mostly containing sugar. The healthiest option were maybe the cashews, although those were salted…




Club Kitchen mid flight... Not stocked as it used to be !

Since the crew was not really chatty on this flight, I decided to go back to my seat and work a bit on some trip reports, somewhere above the desert plains of China.


Desk configuration

Breakfast was eventually served 1h45min before landing and while the fruits were ok, the omelette was tasteless. Immigration cards were distributed shortly after the breakfast trays were removed. At this moment I went back to the galley and asked the CSD if there was a chance to ask the captain if a cockpit visit could happen once on the ground in HKG, since I’ve never visited an Airbus 380 cockpit.




Breakfast omelette


Immigration card for Hong Kong

About 30 minutes before landing, the moving map feature of my IFE crashed, so I was unable to take a picture of the total route of this flight. I however enjoyed some of the cloudy views over the Macau-Zhuhai-Hong Kong bridge…


3D map failure...




Approaching HKG, with a view on the Macau-Zhuhai-Hong Kong bridge





We landed at 1700 local time and I was invited by the captain, via the purser, to visit the cockpit downstairs. Another passenger of this flight, seated in Row 50 and apparently working for BA also decided to join and monopolized the crew and the captain’s seat for a good 10 minute :-)

I visited a few cockpits since I started to travel (still miss a visit in the iconic Boeing 747-400 - I would love to participate to one of the BA’s flight simulation sessions in Hounslow !), but I can say that the A380 cockpit is certainly impressive in size, and was designed to minimize every interaction between the cabin and cockpit crews as the cockpit has direct access to the rest area and one dedicated lavatory. So basically, the cockpit crew can remain inside their « secure » area for the entire flight if they decide to.


A380-800 G-XLEE Cockpit


A380-800 G-XLEE Cockpit


Yay !


G-XLEE in HKG

There was quite a queue at the HK immigration but thanks to the many counters open, I did not wait more than 15 minutes. I however had to wait another 30 minutes to get my bag on the belt, and it arrived 1 hour after we reached the gate.


HKG immigration


Those flyers were distributed to all arriving passengers


Waiting at the belt...


One hour after landing, luggage was there !

Hong Kong airport was still in a Christmasy mood and I took one of the « Airbus » coaches to reach my hotel in Kowloon, The newly opened Holiday Inn Express Kowloon CBD, which I would highly recommend if one wants an affordable and comfortable place to stay in.


HKG terminal




X-mas mood !






Holiday Inn Express Kowloon CBD, a fresh, clean, affordable and convient place to stay ! i paid about 100 Euros per night, with breakfast included.

hugolover

May I kindly point out that BArbs Club World service has been developed with partnerships in the premium hospitality sector.

Your meal was made with the finest quality ingredients, focussed on provenance and seasonality. Plus the bespoke china and glassware all which add up to an unforgettable experience. Her Chefs have meticulously selected fresh fine ingredients, used to carefully craft delightful menus which proudly display exceptional British flavours. From high quality succulent meats to free range eggs, BArb prides herself in thoughtfully sourcing local ingredients alongside the aforementioned seasonal produce.

The snacks you criticised are part of a healthy range as well as indulgent treats including artisan biscuits, Cadbury chocolate and premium crisps.

Let’s not forget the Union Coffee, exceptional coffee which is hand-roasted in East London in small batches from smallholder farmers in Peru & Honduras, which culminates your dining experience.

palmanfr

After a few days in Hong Kong, I was ready to hit the road again and try a new airline, Royal Jordanian, on their fifth freedom flight between HKG and BKK. RJ operates this flight 4 times weekly in continuation to their Amman - Bangkok daily flight operated on their Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner. The other days, the flight continues to Kuala Lumpur instead of Hong Kong.
This fifth freedom flight is usually a good deal when booked between BKK and KUL or HKG, but this time, it was fully part of my AMS-BKK ticket, marketed by BA. Since the timing of this flight was convenient and never flew with them before, I decided to include it to my itinerary
Being a OneWorld member airline, this flight allowed me access to the excellent Cathay Pacific lounges in HKG, together with 40 TP for my BAEC account (although as read many times on different forums, RJ does not credit very smoothly miles to partner airlines, and I had a make a retroactive claim with BA by email to get this flight credit. It took several weeks to complete this).

Check-in was smooth at the RJ counter in HKG and I was issued with my boarding pass to BKK, and the lounge invitation in a heartbeat. The lounge RJ officially uses is the Plaza Premium lounge, but as mentioned before, one is free using any of the OneWorld member airlines lounges in HKG, such as the Qantas or Cathay Pacific lounges.




HKG terminal 1


RJ counters in HKG



Security and emigration controls were smooth and immediately after the latter, a sign indicating the Qantas lounge was present. I initially was not considering visiting this lounge, but since I had some time to kill and never visited it before, I decided to get inside.




No long lines in HK emigration this time


Qantas lounge HKG

The lounge is quite big, and like the Cathay lounge, there is no ceiling, in a sense that the ceiling is the one of the airport terminal. This gives lots of light and a feeling of extra space, although one could think that it misses some « cosiness » and you also get some of the noises from the general terminal area.




Bar area - Qantas lounge HKG


Restaurant







It was not the peak hour at this lounge, and while the buffet was well stocked and the place was clean and organized, the options offered were pretty basic. I believe that some sort of restaurant service concept is available during peak hours (maybe before QF flight departures) but it was not an option when I was there. The lounge has showers and restrooms inside the facility.












Quick snack in the QF lounge, I am sure they can do better !


When the friendly lounge staff at the reception offers to take a picture, I could not say no :-)

I stayed about 20 minutes there, and went afterwards to the CX « The Wing » First class lounge located across the QF lounge.

It was not my first time in this lounge and just like most of the other CX lounges worldwide, I found the place a pleasant location to spend time between flights.
« The Wing » First class lounge is connected at the upper floor with the business lounge of the same name. This lounge is divided into different areas and features one buffet, one staffed bar, and one restaurant (which also has a buffet). In addition to the elegant furnishing and the champagne bar, it has several shower suites and also four (unless I am mistaken) cabanas, each of them featuring a bath tub and a shower, a toilet and a couch to relax. (I did not use the cabana this time, but will review this facility at a later stage, when I will report my CX First class experience between Boston and Perth, via Hong Kong).
Some desks with computers are also available in the lounge and just like the Qantas lounge, most of the lounge is open to the main concourse of the terminal, like a balcony.




The Wing first class lounge upper level entrance











I started my visit by having some dinner at the restaurant, I was lucky that the lounge was not crowded that day and got a table immediately. The restaurant has a small buffet of cold and warm dishes, and also desserts, but the best option to eat there in my opinion is to order one of the menu items. One of my favorites is the wonton noodles soup, and it was pretty good. The champagne offered that day was a Perrier Jouet Brut if I recall correctly.


The wing lounge restaurant




Restaurant menu

The buffet located at the end of the lounge was reasonably stocked...






Some hot items on the buffet








Wonton noodle soup

Another option to eat in this lounge is to use the buffet located outside the restaurant, where sandwiches, cheese, desserts and other small bites are offered. There is also a pretty nice tea selection available there.


Hot bites


Drinks selection


Macarons and sweets


Cheese selection




Sandwiches

The lounge also features a tea bar with a nice selection. I ended up my dinner with some green tea with a few sweets...


Nice tea menu






Bar in the Wing first lounge

Although I think the quality of the CX lounges in Hong Kong has decreased in the last few years (the catering company was changed a couple years ago I think), I still think this is a solid « Emerald card » lounge. I however believe a separate offering should be provided for First class-ticketed passengers, ŕ la American airlines or British Airways at least - or ideally, ŕ la Lufthansa or Air France… As a business class passenger and Emerald card holder, this was a nice place to spend time while waiting for my flight.
Since my flight to Bangkok was leaving close by this lounge, I did not do the trek of going at the other side of the terminal to experience « The Pier » first class lounge. (But I visited it a few months later during my long layover in HKG between Boston and Perth).
Soon enough, it was time to leave the Pier to reach gate 28 where my flight to Bangkok was immediately set to « Final call » status !


Departure board


Time to leave the lounge to head to my gate




Final call... 30 min before scheduled departure time !

palmanfr

Royal Jordanian RJ183 - January 6th 2019
Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok - 21:25
Bangkok Subarvarnahmi BKK - 23:20
Boeing 787-800 - JY-BAA - Seat 01A, Window seat, Business class.


RJ's dreamliner

It was my first time flying on RJ and together with S7, the only remaining OneWorld member airline I never had the opportunity to fly. RJ used to fly this route with an old Airbus 340-300 in the past, with a recliner business class seat. Since the introduction of the Dreamliner into their fleet, the comfort on this route increased substantially as the business class seat can be set to a lie-flat position. The cabin configuration in business class remained in 2-2-2 seats across though. Only one bridge was connected to the aircraft, but considering the very low attendance that night, the boarding process was very smooth.


RJ's business class on the 787




Seat 1A

The seat was presented with a pillow, a duvet and a pair of noise cancelling headphones. No amenity kit or bottled water was provided for this regional flight. The traditional power socket and USB port was available at the seat.




The cabin was not full on this fifth freedom route

The flight was clearly not full that Sunday evening and we were barely 10 passengers seated in business class. The seat 1C next to me remained empty during the flight. The cabin crew in the front cabin was composed of a Jordanian purser and two flight attendants, with one Thai FA, who was providing most of the service in the cabin, as the other two remained most of the time not really visible, in the galley. Oddly enough, the purser kept mentioning on the PA that we were in Kuala Lumpur - and not Hong kong… probably due to the fact this fifth freedom flight goes to Kuala Lumpur half of the time instead of Hong kong…

A pre-departure beverage was offered before closing the doors and I opted for water. I do not recall seeing alcoholic options. No food menu was distributed besides a wine list. We took off at 21:15 towards the south-west.






Seat features




Wine list HKG-BKK-(AMM)




Safety movie

The IFE Royal Jordanian is using mostly features middle-eastern shows and movies, and I cannot recall seeing many western options (to my taste at least) besides the usual big bang theory. The quality of the picture was quite poor, like watching a VHS from the 90’s ! However, I liked the fact you could use the P.I.P function (picture into picture) to have the moving map enabled during the movie (I eventually used the IFE of the seat next to me to keep the moving map during the flight :-))


RJ's IFE


The selection of programs is not very extensive, with mstly middle eastern programs.


Big bang theory, VHS quality !


But the Picture in Picture feature is available


Even better when you have two screens for you !

The meal service began around 22:00 and consisted into cold cuts of fish and a garden salad. Although it was quite good, I was glad to have eaten at the lounge as the portion was quite small. The Chablis white wine I opted for was pretty good. Coffee/tea service was provided afterwards, with Ahmad tea bags from London available. Although this « snack plate » was good, I think that Cathay Pacific or Thai would do better on this route. But this is what you get when you fly a fifth freedom route typically !


Snack plate HKG-BKK RJ Business class


Tea service

Considering the seat could go to a full lie flat mode, I had a short 20 min nap half-way through the flight and it was reasonably comfortable. The fact I had no seat mate was certainly an added benefit.


Relax mode


Sleep mode !


And work mode !

We landed at 23:10 Bangkok time and while the immigration forms were distributed by the crew onboard, the fast track vouchers were provided by the ground staff on the jet bridge of BKK. Those are pretty handy in such a big airport like BKK, as I barely waited 10 minutes to clear immigration, compared to a much longer queue at the regular counters.


Total route HKG-BKK


Very useful fast track pass




Immigration took only a few minutes, compared to the regular lane...

My bag was already waiting on the belt when I reached the luggage claim area and I was happy to be able to catch the last train to my hotel located near Makkasan station.


First... and last bag !


Decorated like a christmas tree !


Last train to Bangkok

nequine

You are certainly getting a right collection of labels for your bag there!! LOL

palmanfr

You cannot imagine how much :-)
I did not really bring many souvenirs from this 6 month trip (I did not want to carry more than one checked-in bag), and was keeping as souvenirs only boarding passes, some hotel keycards, some business/first class menus, the entry tickets of some unesco sites and at least one coin and/or bill of each country visited...
Since I bought a house a couple months before starting that trip and needed to decorate it, I developed some pictures of this trip and displayed them in a metallic world map (from defunct neo dolce) on a big white wall in my living room. I however did not know how to furnish the walls of the stair case, so I decided to make a 6 creations using bank notes, boarding passes, Unesco sites tickets, hotel key cards and... luggage tags ! Puts a bit of color and reminds me this trip everytime I go upstairs :-)