Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Community > Trip Reports
Reload this Page >

Round-the-World with One World. First JL/QR, Business BA/JL/MH/RJ, Economy NH/JL/MS.

Round-the-World with One World. First JL/QR, Business BA/JL/MH/RJ, Economy NH/JL/MS.

Old Apr 9, 2023, 1:11 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Round-the-World with One World. First JL/QR, Business BA/JL/MH/RJ, Economy NH/JL/MS.

Thanks for joining me on my round the world trip with One World! This was a ~3 week trip that I took back in January/February 2023. I managed to get a great deal on the ticket, but that was probably partly due to it being booked back in August when Japan was still closed to tourists. It was gamble booking not knowing if I was actually able to enter Japan. Thankfully in October Japan lifted their restrictions on tourists, and my trip got the green light.

I was keen to try a few products on this trip, namely Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways First Class. I was curious to try Royal Jordanian too. After tinkering with my itinerary for a long time, I ended up with quite a fun looking itinerary:

British Airways LHR-SAN A35K Business
* California Road trip * Carlsbad, Mojave, Bakersfield, San Jose *
Japan Airlines SFO-HND B773 First
All Nippon Airlines HND-NGS B763 Economy
* Japan * Tokyo, Nagasaki, Unzen NP, Kumamoto, Kagoshima *
Japan Airlines KOJ-HND B763 Economy
Japan Airlines NRT-KUL B788 Business
* Kuala Lumpur *
Malaysia Airlines KUL-BKK B738 Business
Qatar Airways BKK-DOH A380 First
Qatar Airways DOH-CAI A359 First
* Egypt * Cairo, Aswan, Luxor *
Egypt Air CAI-LXR B738 Economy
Egypt Air ASW-CAI A220 Economy
Royal Jordanian CAI-AMM A319 Business
Royal Jordanian AMM-LHR B788 Business

The domestic sectors in Japan and Egypt were booked separately to the RTW ticket. In the six months from booking to flying there were of course a few schedule changes. Thankfully I was able to rectify most issues, althogh some of the timings werent quite as good as the original. I was also happy to see the QR DOH-CAI sector changed from B787 to the A350 with Qsuites.



Amongst all the flying Id have 4 days to do a road trip up the coast from San Diego to San Francisco. Japan would take me down to Kyushu visiting Nagasaki, the Unzen NP, Kumamoto & Kagoshima. After 1 night in Kuala Lumpur, I had a final week in Egypt, taking in all the standard sights in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan.

Unfortunately the weather in California post New Year was appalling, with many roads along the coast wiped out. The rain just didnt stop for weeks. This necessitated some very last minute rearranging of my itinerary and rebooking of hotels.

Apologies in advance this might take a while to fully publish!

Some of my other trip reports

Scotland 12 days in Inverness, Skye, Outer Hebrides, St.Kilda & NC500

Africa for the Weekend? The Inaugural Rwandair Flight Gatwick-Kigali (LGW-KGL-DAR)

Ukraine, Kazakhstan & Azerbaijan. WizzAir, Air Astana, AZAL & QR A380 Biz & Chernobyl

Hawaii Big Island for New Year. BA, AA, US in J & F

Stiff competition on the LHR lounge scene [Svalbard, LHR T2, SK]

Armenia 2006: LHR-VIE-EVN on Austrian Economy

bmi Business Class, Tbilisi to London via Azerbaijan
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2023, 1:49 pm
  #2  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
British Airways Club World London-San Diego A350-1000

First off, its onto the Heathrow Express to Terminal 5


Check in was pretty fast, with my bag dropped and boarding pass issued in no time. I headed straight to the Galleries lounge in the B gates, as its normally far quieter than the lounges at A gates.


Departures - a few delays today


Some lounge snacks


No window seat for this flight. Nice to be on the new Club Suites again


Todays routing


From the looks of things, todays was a pretty full flight. Club was busy at any rate, with no empty seats. The Club Suite is a great product, loads of storage options, and good privacy. The door is a great new feature. Sure youre not in a private room, and people can look over, but when youre reclined, it makes your space really private. The footwell is a little small, especially compared to the old Club World seats, but otherwise its thumbs up from me.

After take off I went with a glass of champagne, together with the Socca nuts. These are tasty, but not very premium.


After a few top ups, lunch was served. I went with the delicious roast butternut squash with sweetcorn as a starter, and the beef for a main. Both very good.




After lunch, the lights were dimmed. I watched a few films, had a few more drinks, had a snooze.standard stuff on a long daytime sector.

About 90 minutes before arriving into SAN the lights started to come up, and the crew roamed the cabin asking those that were awake if they wanted anything before landing. I went with the ploughmans, which was a nice, light offering. There was a hot main course on offer too, but I declined.


Just shy of 11 hours after leaving London, we touched down in an uncharacteristically wet California evening.


SAN has an unconventional layout with baggage reclaim being before immigration. This is great news if youve got hand baggage only, not so much if youre collecting bags. From getting off the plane, my bag came out 25 minutes later, thankfully still ahead of most other bags. I then joined the immigration line, which grew very fast behind me. There were about 6 desks open, but 4 of them seemed dedicated to the much shorter and faster moving USA nationals line. It took me 30 minutes to be stamped into the country. Id estimate the guys at the back of the line would have probably had another hours wait. An arriving Alaska flight from Mexico didnt help queue times.

International Arrivals


I caught the shuttle bus over to the car rental centre, and before too long I was on my way north. Time for my little road trip!
injian, 13901, enviroian and 7 others like this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2023, 3:40 pm
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
California Road Trip!

So my original plan was to drive up the coastal route to San Francisco, stopping in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterrey. Sadly the incredibly heavy rain in the weeks preceding my trip meant that the road was impassable in many places with flooding and landslides a complete rethink was required.

Given the poor weather, my routing options were fairly limited. Also booking last minute meant accommodation was a little tricky, in terms of finding places that werent outlandishly expensive, terribly rated, or miles off a sensible routing. In the end I decided to spend the first night just north of SAN in Carlsbad (an easy 40 minute drive from the airport). From there it would be around LA and to Mojave, then Bakersfield for the night. Finally up to San Jose for the final night. Definitely not a very exciting itinerary, but it was the best I could come up with at minimal notice.

Ive been to San Diego, LA and San Fran before, so didnt want to spend time in those cities.

The Carlsbad motel I found was unimaginative, but clean and comfortable.


The next morning dawned breezy but sunny. Carlsbad beach:




I thought Mojave would be a worthy stopping point. The scenery en route was fairly interesting.


Mojave. I was planning on eating in the restaurant in the terminal, but it was incredibly busy.


747 Heaven


It was very sad all these perfectly capable airframes just languishing in the desert.


Unfortunately theres no proper viewing area, so these were the best shots I could get.

A few miles up the road from Mojave is Red Rock Canyon State Park, which was a nice spot for a walk






Route 58 over the hills to Bakersfield was an amazing drive. Snow on the hills, low clouds, dramatic stuff. The photo doesnt due it justice.





The Bakersfield HI Express was ok. Nice high ceilings






There was more interesting scenery on the way up to San Jose. The San Luis Reservoir was a nice place to stretch my legs.


Despite all the rain, the reservoir is still pretty empty


San Jose was pretty miserable from what I saw.






A BA 789 inbound


Time to OLCI for tomorrow.im very excited for Japan, and the JAL First Class experience!
spellofiron, Vaclav, KARFA and 6 others like this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2023, 5:49 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: KUSA
Programs: Whatever AMEX Plat comes with... I buy on price.. Spirit Big Front Seat, want First/buy First
Posts: 1,448
Originally Posted by shefgab



SAN has an unconventional layout with baggage reclaim being before immigration. This is great news if youve got hand baggage only, not so much if youre collecting bags. From getting off the plane, my bag came out 25 minutes later, thankfully still ahead of most other bags. I then joined the immigration line, which grew very fast behind me. There were about 6 desks open, but 4 of them seemed dedicated to the much shorter and faster moving USA nationals line. It took me 30 minutes to be stamped into the country. Id estimate the guys at the back of the line would have probably had another hours wait. An arriving Alaska flight from Mexico didnt help queue times.
Interesting to hear this report... this is actually the new US Customs and Border Protection standard. San Diego must have a new built facility in the last 5-6 years or so. The new model is to have one interaction with arriving persons versus a two step process, which dates from when Customs and Immigration were separate agencies. Supposedly this makes the process work faster and more efficiently and allows more queue space and to have more lanes open due to focusing staffing on one area (well, it makes it more efficient for US Customs anyway).
JAXPax is offline  
Old Apr 10, 2023, 4:18 am
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Originally Posted by JAXPax
Interesting to hear this report... this is actually the new US Customs and Border Protection standard. San Diego must have a new built facility in the last 5-6 years or so. The new model is to have one interaction with arriving persons versus a two step process, which dates from when Customs and Immigration were separate agencies. Supposedly this makes the process work faster and more efficiently and allows more queue space and to have more lanes open due to focusing staffing on one area (well, it makes it more efficient for US Customs anyway).
Oh I hope that's not the way of the future, as it's far slower to get through the airport with a checked bag then. Nothing more frustrating than to see the immigration line get longer and longer whilst you wait for your bag to hopefully turn up, and you loose any advantage you have of getting off the plane quickly if you then have an unknown wait for bags before being able to join the immigration line.
Harper50505 likes this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 10, 2023, 4:50 am
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
San Francisco airport experience, before JAL First Class SFO-HND

The drive from San Jose up to SFO was hassle free, other than my hire car to refusing to register as full, despite definitely having filled it up. I had booked a Hertz managers special for an unbelievably low rate, and ended up with a Hyundai Elantra which was a surprisingly pleasant ride.



The JAL check in desks werent very busy, but despite being the only person waiting at the First check in counters, I wasnt invited forward when an empty Business desk came available, or an Economy one. The person at the First desk was obviously having some issues, so eventually the supervisor walked over and took to me the management desk.

Above you can see loads of bags piling up. Apparently there was an issue with the belt, and all the bags had to me manually loaded onto carts and brought to other desks to be fed into the system.

My bag was tagged, and my carry on were also given some First tags. After my covid docs were checked, I was given my boarding pass, and given directions to the JAL lounge.

There was no fast track security, but the terminal was very empty and I was airside in minutes. The departures area in the Harvey Milk terminal were really lovely far nicer than I was expecting. Bright and airy, very nice! Note the 12 hour time difference between the clock at the top of the board, and the one just below it!


There were three lounges on offer today, the JAL lounge, AA Admirals Club, and the relatively newly renovated BA lounge. As it was the opposite direction, I headed for the AA lounge first. After a funny interaction at the desk where a JAL First class bp apparently wasnt enough to get me in (I had to show my BAEC card), the lounge experience was very pleasant. Good views across the tarmac, and a made-to-order guacamole stand, as well as a basic but acceptable range of snacks/food from the buffet.


The guac


A rum and coke, with a view. Unfortunately I didnt realise that this was going to be the pinnacle of todays lounge experiences.


The NRT 787 goes 2 hours before the HND 777 service.




With a few hours of lounging, plus an 11 hour flight in First class, I was conscious not to overindulge in each lounge, so I just had one drink with American.

Next up was the JAL lounge. Oh dear me. There were some nice retro JAL posters in the corridor


There were two smallish rooms, crammed with chairs, and packed with people. JAL let premium economy passengers in, so on a full 777, thats 97 lounge eligible seats, plus status holders. The lounge sported windows over the tarmac, but the sun was shining in directly, so the blinds were drawn. The result was that there was no view, but it was still uncomfortably bright and hot.

The catering was poor. There was a very small selection of hot items I just got the chicken karage. Drinks also very limited, with a few spirits and beer. I got a (giant) vodka and coke.


All the F&B was behind a manned counter, so anything you wanted to had to request. Given the quality of the JAL international lounges in Japan, I was expecting so much more. There wasnt even a token little roped off First section.

I was counting down the time until the BA lounge would be opening as the JAL lounge was really not worth visiting, and wasnt a relaxing place to be.

Ten minutes before the BA lounge was due to open, I left the JAL lounge and headed through the terminal. When I got there, the door was shut. I pushed it, and it opened. I headed downstairs to find a very surprised lady. No no, were closed. Argh. The earlier BA flight had been cancelled, so they decided to open the lounge later as a result. How annoying, as it looked very nice inside.

With half an hour to go before boarding, I thought about heading back to the AA lounge, but decided in the end to just mooch around the area, then hang around near the gate. There was minimal seating available to there was a large crowd of people hovering around.



With a bit of a delay they started boarding, but it was a free for all. There was some half hearted call from the ground staff for business class, but glancing around at peoples boarding passes, everyone was in the line, and the ground staff made no attempt to enforce priority boarding.

There was only one jet bridge attached, so everyone was funnelled aboard via door 2. Thankfully after the very lacklustre ground experience, things were going to improve significantly.

shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 10, 2023, 7:11 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,172
Very enjoyable report so far!

Would you write about how you booked the RTW OW ticket?
lamphs is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2023, 4:25 pm
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Japan Airlines San Francisco-Tokyo Haneda B777-300ER First Class



As soon as I stepped onboard, I was greeted by a smiling lady, who checked my boarding pass and escorted me to my seat 2K. JAL First Class is a little old school, but the seats are extremely comfortable, and with no one in the middle seats, very private. Today only 4 of the 8 seats were occupied, so a good crew : pax ratio.





Waiting at my seat was an amenity kit, a fancy Shiseido wash set, headphones, a cleaning wipe, plus slippers and menu.


The menu was in a big leather folder. Menus and drinks lists are available to everyone online.
https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/inter/service/first/meal/


I think the other three passengers were Japanese, so I was the only gaijen in the cabin. One of the crew spoke better English than the other, so came to introduce herself and the team in First Class, as well as offer me a drink.


Views over the Bay Area were fantastic on departure






Good news, to me at least. Strong headwinds today meant that todays flight would be just under 12 hours, about an hour longer than normal. Plenty of time to enjoy First Class.





Farewell North America


I had preordered the Japanese meal in advance. However, I asked if I could have the caviar off the Western menu to start. This wasnt a problem.


I also went with another glass of champagne. As has been publisided on FT before, JL is a bit cheap with their champagne. They advertise the very swish Salon 2013 on flights out of Japan, and the less fancy, but still very nice Billecart Salmon Cuve Louis Salmon 2008 inbound. However, they apparently only load one bottle per flight. Thankfully it seemed I was the only one drinking today, so no need for rationing.

The caviar was served plain, so I asked for some bread to accompany. Simple but delicious


Time to start the real meal. First off, the appetisers




Soup


Sashimi course


The main course beef. I wasnt sure what chirashi rice was, so was offered both that and the steamed rice.








Dessert, the only bit of the meal that was disappointing, but at least it was a fresh, lowish calorie end!


Green tea


Id heard good things about the Royal Blue Tea, Queen of Blue. I like cold green teas, but this was a little bitter for my taste




Overall it was a fantastic meal. So much food, and really excellent quality. Very good service from the friendly crew too.

One more thing to finish the experience...a glass of the Hibiki Blenders Choice. Im normally a rum drinker, but theres none onboard, so this will do.




The crew offered to make up the empty middle seat into a bed




I had a bit of a nap, before waking up for a trip to the facilities. Bidet onboard




Snack area




Cointreau is the best flying drink


The mid-flight snack menu (well, part of it)


The noodles


And the pork rice bowl


With ninety minutes to run to Tokyo, the lights started coming on, and the crew swung into action with the pre-arrival meal.



The Japanese option


I start with the caviar again they seem to have plentiful supplies!




Elegant, simple, tasty


Self-warming face masks were handed out before top of descent


The cabin ready for landing


Half an hour behind schedule we touch down into Haneda




The tiny galley responsible so so much good food


Thankfully we seem to have landed in a lull in the arrivals, and after a quick covid doc check, I was at immigration, bag claimed, and down to the train station to top up my PASMO card, and then onto the train. Plane to train was only 20 minutes, so top marks for an easy arrival process.

My tag festooned luggage


So overall I was very impressed with the JAL First Class experience. Other than the extremely lacklustre ground experience in SFO, everything onboard was excellent.

Next up, 10 days in Japan.

Winter onsen paradise




Kyushu Shinkansen


Battleship Island, Gunkanjima
wrp96, mikeyfly, Marschel and 9 others like this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2023, 10:10 pm
  #9  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: NBO, MEL
Programs: QR Platinum, TK Elite
Posts: 1,353
Great report!!! Surprised at how the Caviar was served
mikeyfly, offerendum, NoY and 1 others like this.
roadwarriorafrica is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2023, 3:12 am
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Originally Posted by lamphs
Very enjoyable report so far!

Would you write about how you booked the RTW OW ticket?
Glad you're enjoying it. I actually got a special fare via my employer, so unfortunately I can't say much more.

Originally Posted by roadwarriorafrica
Great report!!! Surprised at how the Caviar was served
Yeah, I was too. I guess if I had ordered the Western menu as it's supposed ot be served, rather than just picking out the caviar to be served as a stand alone add on, it might have come with some ganishes? Either way, it was actually very tasty with the soft bread roll! Don't worry though, Qatar served it properly on my BKK-DOH leg.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2023, 3:17 am
  #11  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Four Seasons 5+ BadgeSPG 5+ Badge
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,491
Great read, the view on Golden Gate was a priceless start.
wrp96 likes this.
offerendum is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2023, 3:18 am
  #12  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
One night in Tokyo

When deciding where to go in Japan for my 10 days, I wanted to head somewhere new, and somewhere vaguely warm. Okinawa prefecture was the obvious choice for warmer weather, but I find it a little bland compared to the rest of the country, not to mention it wouldnt really be hot anyway in January.

So it was then a toss up between Shikoku island that id never been to, or else parts of Kyushu that I hadnt been before. In the end I decided on Kyushu, mainly as an old friend from school happened to be living in Fukuoka and was free to meet up over the weekend.

Having investigated various flight options, I decided on flying into Nagasaki, before getting the bus over to Unzen National Park, then the boat across to Kumamoto, then the Shinkansen bullet train to Kagoshima, before flying back up to Tokyo for my onward flight to Kuala Lumpur.

With just 1 night in Tokyo after a late arrival from SFO, and an early morning flight to Nagasaki, I decided to just look for a cheap hotel near Haneda. I ended up in a cute little business hotel in Kamata, just 10 minutes on the train from the airport.

My small, but cheap, clean and comfortable room


I was unsure given the 8 hour time difference from London to California, then just 3 days later another 8 hours to Japan how my body clock would be doing. Would I sleep for days, or by up all night? Happily after going to bed around 10pm, I woke naturally around 6.30, so giving me plenty of time to head to HND in time for my 11am flight.
Marschel, Vaclav, nequine and 4 others like this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2023, 3:20 am
  #13  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Originally Posted by offerendum
Great read, the view on Golden Gate was a priceless start.
Yes, it was a great view leaving SFO. The last few times i've been in San Fran the weather has been very wet and cloudy, so I got very lucky that day, plus sitting on the right hand side for the views.
offerendum likes this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2023, 3:57 am
  #14  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
ANA All Nippon Airlines Tokyo Haneda-Nagasaki B767-300 Economy Class

Having woken early, I decided that I might as well head to Haneda early and visit the viewing terrace, rather than hang around my miniature hotel room. 15 minutes after leaving the hotel I was at the airport.

The last time I flew out of HND I remember finding it very hard to find the Star Gold check in area. So this time I was on the look out for it, but still couldnt find it. I gave up looking for it, and just headed to the nearest automatic bag drop. Unfortunately as my bag was over 23kg, the machines refused to tag it. An assistant came over and started to say how Id have to take some things out, before I said I was Star gold and could take above 23kg. She said Id have to go to the desks, and pointed to a nondescript doorway with a * tiny * Star Gold sign next to it. Lol, why do they make this area so hard to find?!

When I walked over, there was a big queue inside, but then it became clear that this was for premium security, and the check in desks were actually hidden around the corner. My bag was finally tagged, and I could head up to the viewing terrace. Honestly, its such an awful layout in there, I dont know how it got off the planning stage.

Haneda, like many Japanese airports is blessed with an excellent viewing terrace. Partially outdoor, you get excellent views of the planes.



As this was the ANA terminal, obviously ANA dominated the ramp.




After half an hour plane spotting, I headed back to the warmth of the terminal, and back to the Star Gold area to head through security. You get spat out right in front of the entrance to the lounge, which is very handy. Domestic Japanese lounges are nothing to get exciting about. Theres no proper food, just packaged snack mixes, juice, sodas, tea, coffee. Theres a choice of Japanese lagers served from the beer machines, and whisky. Definitely not worth arriving early for, but not an unpleasant place to wait either.


Having not had breakfast, I wanted something more than snack mix, so after a while headed into the terminal to look for something more substantial. The majority of eateries are landside, but theres a few options airside. I found a little noodle bar that served up some tasty tempura soba.


Robots taking over


Bang on time, priority boarding started


You dont have the opportunity to fly the 767 much in Europe nowadays. This is Premium Class


2x3x2 seating is great


What a beautiful day to fly. The plane filled right up, I didnt see an empty seat.


Up, up and away


We got treated to some stunning views over Tokyo on departure. The views all the way down were fabulous




Mount Fuji


The Japanese Alps


Onboard catering is pretty limited, just a few drinks are on offer. There was free wifi however, which was a nice perk. You need the ANA app to access it.


Over Fukuoka


Approach to Nagasaki




Oriental Air Bridge operates these to a few islands in the vicinity


Hello Nagasaki


ANA was a no nonsense option down to Nagasaki. Not very exciting, but no real complaints either, other than the messy premium check in experience in HND.
nequine, Marschel, wrp96 and 3 others like this.
shefgab is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2023, 5:52 pm
  #15  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,644
Apologies for the delay in posting more parts....i've maxed out my Photobucket capactity (25k photos!), so looking both for some free time to type, and somewhere else ot post my photos! Any ideas?
shefgab is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.