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Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 35715611)
There are only four rows in front of the curtain so it should be a relatively easy run for the crew in Club Europe this morning.
In the meantime they’d discovered that the carts were broken so it was going to be a hand to hand service from the galley. Then another mess discovered and by the time they started serving we were 25 minutes in, and by the time they finished row 4 it was 10 minutes to landing. And onto jinx number 2, my earlier comment of “ … I decided that I will pass on the breakfast this morning as I have a special meal ordered.” Well, as it happens…. The cold platter was delivered still sealed, completely correct but unusual for the crew to do so https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7263f3966.jpeg And this was quickly followed by the standard hot option, again still sealed. Upon opening, I discovered this https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1c96943a1.jpeg The food trolleys must have had some seriously rough handling with all the varied damage! The cinnamon roll was my in flight breakfast :D |
Landing was smooth and the taxi was short and pretty soon we were at T5. Passed this on the taxi in and it took me a few seconds to work out what was ‘wrong’ about it.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a43eb10e6.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b35001b68.jpeg T5 in all of its glassy glory There was a bit of a ruckus going on at the Boarding pass checkpoint with the gentleman at the front of the queue demanding to be let through even though he didn’t have a boarding pass. Eventually with much huffing he went off back to the service desks. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0f28ca264.jpeg Once past this little delay everything was quick and smooth and it was actually one of my fastest T5-T3 transfers ever, 40 minutes end to end. Into the BA first class lounge and a small english breakfast before now settling into the corner and getting some work done. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...04f8089f1.jpeg Next up - lunch in Cathay business lounge and then a business class lounge safari for the afternoon (and maybe the occasional diversion into first ;) ) |
Praise for the Cathay lounges is almost universal and is well deserved. The business class lounge enters into this noodle bar and seating area
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...acf58b013.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7d7d0f3dc.jpeg the second part of the lounge is the food hall and the start of the window seating https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cc4d1ea7a.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8094e089c.jpeg The third and final part of the lounge is the bar and the larger open seating area https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e549857cc.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...073d79fb6.jpeg I had order some stir fried rice and Dim Sum when I entered the lounge and by the time I had taken these pictures and picked up a glass of champagne the buzzer was going and my food was ready https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1eb15ef9a.jpeg I have no shame, I almost inhaled these, they were delicious. wandered back to the food hall to see what was on offer and tried a little sample of a few things, everything was very good https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c7791705c.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...de013f808.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a6c628ea2.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9899f3c24.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9cfef51db.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fab328603.jpeg And now it is time to hit the showers as I was so tired last night I completely skipped showering :( |
Successfully scrubbed and fit for polite company once more. The Cathay showers are definite a step up from the BA offering
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c98360c1a.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2d88d83c0.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cf390742c.jpeg |
Next stop, the AA business lounge.
this is a pretty substantial sized lounge with a couple of nice nooks and crannies to hide away in. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a7d9822c.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a0fe3c47c.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1b6f35e63.jpeg The food options always seem to lean heavily towards the sweeter end of the scale, always plenty of cake, cookies, and other sugary goodness. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7177a6bdf.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0e015b3e7.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...250547fe9.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...94f67c134.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0affce0eb.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c282b6181.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2b98510bc.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...08996728e.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...579f5355e.jpeg |
A couple of goodies, purely in the interest of science, I’m sure you understand ;)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...623137a92.jpeg A lot of time when you read lounge comparisons the AA lounges always come in towards the bottom of the list. The food and drink offering in this lounge is more than adequate, Qantas is far poorer. I think that the problem is that the decor in this lounge is utilitarian, bordering on stark. No real efforts appears to have been put into making it look attractive or comfortable. It’s not a place you’d want to settle into for a few hours, I wonder if that is deliberate. Time to enjoy the fizz and goodies and then maybe I’ll use my pass to go into the Aspire lounge to give a view of the pay to use lounge product |
I noticed the sign for the showers so popped down the corridor to take a look. Not as nice as the Cathay ones but definitely a cut above the BA offering
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...df993faec.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ba82c5ec0.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c21406c95.jpeg |
Its time to pack everything away and head off for lunch. In the intervening couple of hours I have been engaged in a little bit of horse trading in the lounge :) My side of the trade, a donation to comic relief flying start:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d72059e09.jpeg All will be made clear in a future trip report. Buffet here in the BA first lounge has been switched out to lunch and it is deja vu https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1ea8a161a.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4041a35ac.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...683eae39b.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b6b46710.jpeg |
The jinx is definitely strong today! The post currently showing as #173 about leaving the first class lounge was originally #168 and now is out of order so if you read the previous post and wondered WTH?!? Then, me too! Maybe it’ll sort itself out and this will be the WTH post :D
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I did mention at the end of my AA lounge posts that I would go over to the aspire lounge next, and so I did - No space available
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3dac748d4.jpeg Time to deploy the rarely used Dragon Pass over at No1 lounge - definitely no space :D https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fcf92fa41.jpeg Oh well, I tried :). Next stop, BA galleries business lounge. |
As you might expect, quite a spacious lounge, plenty of seating and broken up into different areas to baffle the noise somewhat.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a72354b7.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cdecf6aaa.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...15c896c31.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5c31ae4ea.jpeg The food options are going to look remarkably familiar if you have seen the first lounge lunch layout https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e9c0d4a6e.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...818d0533f.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bc55c7c37.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...37d8942a0.jpeg Drink options are also very similar although there are some differences, mostly items available only in the first lounge and not in the business one rather than completely different brands or types of spirit. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...da4de518f.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b3562b40d.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0d5f4086b.jpeg One thing I’ve not seen or noticed before are these sweets and bags sitting on one of the tables. They are incredibly popular, there have been people around them since i arrived https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bb6edc54e.jpeg Champagne is available in the business lounge on request so asked one of the fine chaps for a glass and then settled down into one of the little pods toward the far rear of the lounge https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...70d65d3d7.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d3d1e0a46.jpeg |
Time to move on to the last business class lounge of the day, the Qantas lounge that I visited last week as part of the first class lounge tour. The downstairs bar and restaurant were closed again and upstairs was quiet. I will not go into great detail as you all saw it last week but I did stick my head into the shower rooms which look clean and ok, and also went for bartenders choice of drink and he decided on the passion fruit mai tai, not something I would have chosen for myself but very agreeable
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f5ead481c.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b33e51279.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...660e4f13f.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...33510f293.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e833b772d.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e5395583c.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...569499429.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5c5ef414a.jpeg |
I look at my itinerary and weep. Another T4 dep proposed.
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Originally Posted by Fabo.sk
(Post 35716692)
I look at my itinerary and weep. Another T4 dep proposed.
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It is now 4 pm so I have been bouncing around T3 for eight hours. I had a quick stroll down to duty free to be greeted like an old friend at the Jack Daniels stand :D. A sampling of the new JD and then back to the lounges. Currently in residence in the dining section of the Cathay Pacific first class lounge and waiting to order.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8631ae256b.jpg |
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