To Shanghai and back on the wings of Aotearoa
 

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Featuring:
1) Qantas First Lounge Melbourne
2) Air New Zealand Business Premier, MEL-AKL-PVG-AKL-MEL
3) The Westin Bund Centre, Shanghai
4) Le Royal Meridien, Shanghai
5) Pics of lovely Shanghai
6) The Maglev

Coming soon...:)

Tease :p

I did offer a sneak preview only to be rudely turned down...:rolleyes: ;)

The Planning

I'd accumulated a huge bunch of Miles & More mileage the past year from all the *A flying I'd done, and so I'd made the decision to expend some of those mileage on a trip to PVG. A 90 000 miles business class award it was; a nice, rewarding way to treat myself after all the hard work earning those miles. ;)

M&M uses an inflexible zones system in determining award redemption levels, and makes no exceptions for going via a third zone unlike some other programs like AAdvantage. MEL is in "Australia/New Zealand/Oceania" whilst PVG is zoned "Central Asia/Far East." Going via a third zone like "South East Asia" would require extra mileage, and this eliminated the more direct options like SQ and TG as those itineraries would've required stops in SIN and BKK respectively. I then had a choice between UA/OZ via SYD and ICN, or NZ via AKL. After all the rave reviews about NZ's long haul Business Premier product, I had no hesitation in purchasing seats on NZ's business class MEL-AKL-PVG-AKL-MEL.

To understate it, travelling on an award ticket always brings out that nice, fuzzy feeling of traveling for 'free.' This was especially heightened when the taxes on my ticket only came up to approximately A$80, ie only legit airport taxes! ^

Next: The Qantas First Lounge Melbourne

Pre-flight at MEL: An unexpected visit to THE Flounge

There was a lot of queuing at the NZ Premium check-in lane. A big group of mainland Chinese tourists discovered that they were standing at the wrong lane but were quite determined to stay put anyway, until security was called to escort them over to the whY queues.

I was a little worried that my ticket wasn't entirely kosher as there'd been some reissuing and Lufthansa had mucked up a few times, but all was well and I was checked through to PVG with my bag tagged the same.

I'd arranged to meet Reggie from AFF who'd offered to guest me into the QF Flounge. Reggie was also traveling to AKL but on QF. The QF website indicates that Reggie, as a QF WP, is entitled to bring in a guest who's 'travelling together.' To us FF nerds, this inevitably led to some debate about whether flying to the same city would suffice for 'travelling together' or whether we're supposed to be flying with the same airline. On the way to the Flounge, we'd strategised on various ways to slay the lounge dragon...:D

Our fears about having to fend off a snarling dragon were unfounded - I was allowed in without even the slightest 'please explain.' It was also a rather quiet time in the Flounge so that could be it. Besides, Reggie's flight was massively overbooked and they'd had to bump people on to my flight. So my first visit to the Flounge had occurred sooner than I'd expected. Christmas had literally come early.

It is almost always the case that the promotional pictures always make lounges/hotel rooms/airline cabins and what not seem much nicer than they actually are in reality. The QF Flounge however was not done any justice at all by its promotional literature!

The combination of colours in the Flounge established a very relaxing and soothing atmosphere - white marble surfaces matched with dark purple carpets, ruby red leather seats, dark furniture framed by Jarrah. The design of the furniture, widescreen tvs and the decor lent a cozy, ultra-modern feel to the place. Unlike the rather formal and stiff eating areas of the LH FCL/FCT, the QF Flounge restaurant area was more casual and looks much more relaxing. The only feature that I wasn't really thrilled about was the flicker style flight display - the noise it generated whilst flicking was pretty distracting especially when trying to have a convo.

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As it was such a quiet time in the Flounge, the service was reasonably prompt. I had a delicious cheese, gruyere and ham omelette. Portion was a little bit on the small side but I wanted to have room for the onboard cuisine anyway. There was a good range of alcohol including some of my favourite Victorian wines, as well as the bubbly stuff. I had a glass each of the Veuve Clicquot NV and Moet NV, the former of which washed down my breakfast very well.

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I almost had to be dragged out of the Flounge when the time came to board my flight, as Reggie would attest to. ;) It'd be a long 7 months before I achieved AA EXP status and be able to access the Flounge in my own right; but for now I'd simply scan various lounge meets directories very religiously

Next: NZ124 MEL-AKL J

Nice start to the report QF009. Looking forward to the rest. Sorry we couldn't meet this time.

Sector - MEL-AKL
Flight number - NZ124
Class - Business
Seat - 3K
Aircraft - B747-400

I'd missed my boarding call and NZ did not have a separate queue for premium passengers. Consequently I'd to join the hoi polloi in boarding the aircraft. At least it was orderly.

I'd picked a seat in the nose as the upper deck cabin is shared with Premium Economy, and appeared to lack any ounce of exclusivity. That sounded just a touch snobby but if I'm flying Business - I do not want to have a shared cabin, and crew with a lower tiered cabin. I also do value priority dis/embarkation...

Sitting in the nose turned out to be a fine choice. I was in the forward-most cabin which was smaller and hence felt pretty private. There was a family with 2 young children in the same cabin but the kids were mercifully rather well-behaved throughout the entire flight.

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Pre-take off drinks were offered as soon as I was seated. A choice of orange juice, water and sparkling wine were available - no prizes for guessing what I'd picked.

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The cabin crew were generally friendly and attentive. My constant picture-taking must have conveyed the impression that it was my first time on NZ Business Premier, and one of the crew explained at length the intricacies of seat and the IFE system.

We then took off very much on time. Taking off in the herringbone configuration proved to be interesting, but not as 'different' as I'd thought it'd be. Drinks were again offered post take off, along with a bag of crisps. There wasn't any champagne offered on this trans tasman service and so I stuck with the sparkling wine, which was rather decent tbh. At this stage I was staring to notice that the cabin crew did not greet anyone by name. That took away some brownie points I was hoping to dole out in the inflight survey I was picked to respond to.

The seat, along with the ottoman were every bit as comfy as I'd expected for lounging. However I did find the herringbone configuration a bit anti-social as it wasn't possible to see my seat mates. This made it impossible to turn around to chat with the person next to me like I normally do.

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Some wear and tear...

A full lunch was served shortly after the drinks service was completed. I accompanied my meal with NZ's very well-done garlic bread. We started with a rather bland appetiser of Karengo seasoned prawns on black bean angel hair noodles with cerviche dressing.

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The meal was then immediately redeemed by the extremely succulent Seared peppered Cervena with roasted thyme vegetables and potato wafers.

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I concluded with the adequately tasty Mango and pineapple trifle with caramelised pineapple and vanilla compote,

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and had to decline the cheese plate as I was feeling very bloated by that stage, as tempting as the blue cheese and brie both looked.

Full menu here.

I did not really employ the use of much of the IFE as I was trying to finish reading a newly acquired biography of Marie Antoinette. However the sight of Rockwell Collins did not fil me with a whole lot of confidence.

We landed in AKL in good time, and transmitting devices were allowed to be switched on once the plane had left the run way.

Next: NZ89 AKL-PVG J

Sector - AKL-PVG
Flight number - NZ89
Class - Business
Seat - 3A
Aircraft - B777-200ER

The downside of flying NZ, apart from the big detour, was the unfriendly connecting times at AKL. I wound up with a 6 hour connection on the outbound - an awkward length of time in that it's too short for enjoying a little visit downtown, and long enough to get thoroughly bored.

After the QF Flounge, NZ's lounge at AKL (which also functions as the *A lounge) was somewhat of a downer - as nice of a lounge as it was as a business class lounge. I did what I could to pass time - from going for the complimentary massage for Business Class and NZ Gold elite pax, to debating the James Hardie asbestos controversy with a group of lawyers sitting beside me. I was careful to pace myself with the lounge's diverse range of wines to avoid getting too sloshed and missing my connecting flight.

fast forward to boarding time...

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Look what I saw along the way to the gate

I made my way to the Auckland Zoo, oops AKL boarding gate, as soon as boarding for my flight was announced in the lounge. Boarding was performed by row numbers, but Business Premier and *G pax could board at their own leisure. Again, no priority lanes had been set up. Boarding could've been orderly had it not been for massive swarm of gate lice, consisting of almost the entire plane-load, all overwhelming the GAs without regard to which rows they were actually seated in. I was glad that the GAs firmly turned people who boarded out of turn away.

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The mood lighting on the 772ER created a very pleasant vibe. The flight went out only half full in J, and we each had a few seats to ourselves which was handy when my seat refused to recline later in the flight. The 772ER J cabin was pleasant enough, however would not have been as nice if full. I still prefer the nose of the 744.

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Once onboard I was greeted by the cabin crew member (whose name I sadly forgot) in my aisle who offered to hang up my coat. The PVG sector is crewed entirely by NZ's PVG base, and the flight consisted entirely of mainland Chinese crew members along with 2 Kiwi supervisors (the Inflight Service Manager and the Inflight Service Coordinator, who worked in J and Y respectively). The Chinese crew spoke immaculate English.

The wine guide, menu and amenity kit were already sitting on my ottoman when I got to my seat. A pair of slippers was also handed out.

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I am most impressed by NZ's wine list, and being a huge fan of New World wines I was even more impressed by NZ's serious attempt to showcase the finest of NZ wines to the rest of the world. The wine list was one of the best I've ever seen on any airline in any class (not including champagnes), not only for its quality but also the passion in the national wine industry that was evident in the comprehensive wine guide which was more like a mini Bible to Kiwi wines. A very delicious pinot noir from Central Otago was served on this flight and I altermated between the pinot and the bubbly stuff. Champagne was meant to be a choice of Veuve Clicquot NV or Laurent-Perrier NV but it seemed like only the former was available.

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NZ's comprehensive selection of wines

The design of the amenity kit did not look too exciting, but it was practical. Being plastic, I could use it to hold little tubes of LAGs to meet airport security rules. Inside was a tube of very nice lip balm and luggage refresher from a Kiwi skincare company, as well as the usual necessities such as a dental kit, eye shades etc.

The initial drinks service was incorporated with dinner. The cabin crew member attending my aisle, whilst completely lovely and competent in every other manner of her duties, appeared to have a glaring inability to open Veuve Clicquot bottles. One of the NZ crew trainers I know had explained that they were not allowed to open champagne bottles in the cabin as the pressure would cause a mess. But even so - instead of taking the bottle back to the galley to be opened, she elected to 'borrow' the already opened bottle from her colleague in the opposite aisle. This then resulted in a game of Veuve ping pong with the bottle passed back and forth between aisles, and which somewhat delayed the meal service.

Dinner was generally of a high standard, especially when washed down with pinot noir and Veuve Clicquot. Chopsticks were provided alongside the regular metal cutlery, wich was a nice touch considering the nature of the flight.

The Japanese-influenced seafood platter started off the meal beautifully:
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I followed up the seafood with some quality Kiwi lamb loin, which was served with some gorgeous pea puree:
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We were then sweetened up by ice cream:
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Which was followed by a flavourful cheese and fruit plate:
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I declined the tea/coffee, opting instead to have some pre-bedtime tipples.

My bed was made when I was ready to go to sleep. This took longer than it should have as the controls on my seat had malfunctioned and the bed had to be flipped over manually. Coupled with the sumptuous duvet, the bed was supremely comfortable and was easily the best in its class (Disclaimer: I've sadly not tried the new SQ business class product.). I slept like a baby, only to be woken up when the lights turned on for breakfast.

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We were served a pretty good breakfast that fueled me up well. As a fan of hot breakfasts on planes, I'm pleased that the omelette had just the right texture.

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I asked for a glass of post-breakfast champagne, but was told that the drinks have all been stowed. I then pointed out that the bar hasn't yet closed. The FA then served me a Veuve Clicquot that was left over from dinner - which was of course warm and flat. She seemed bewildered that I'd make such a request. Clearly the PVG crews still needed some training on the diverse drinking cultures of the world... an opinion which was also shared by some senior crew members I spoke to on my return flight.

The ISM came around to make small talk and advised me on the various sites of interest in Shanghai. Like the previous flight, I was also not referred to by name... and like the previous flight, I was once again chosen to fill in an inflight survey to which the total lack of being referred to by name factored into my response.

We arrived in PVG earlier than scheduled, and immigration/customs were quiet. I was out of the airport and in my taxi heading towards the Westin within 20 minutes of disembarking! The journey to the hotel on the other hand left a lot to be desired...

Full menu here.
Wine list here.

Next: The Wesin Bund Centre Shanghai

The real snob will always take a seat in the upper deck cabin so as to have 20 people from 'a lower tiered cabin' staring at them for the entire flight.

Good report BTW :D

Hmmm is that a recent change. NZ normally has 2 lines at the gate for boarding - one for business and elite pax, and one for the rest.

NZ's IFE is infinitely more reliable than QF's in my experience. The only (very minor) negative is the slow response time.

No. The wine guide only lists all the possible wines carried by NZ. Any given flight will only have 1 champagne, and a selection of other wines.

I didn't see any signs to that effect. There were 2 queues at MEL but they were both of equal length, and I could identify people with whY BPs in both lanes. Similarly in AKL.

Yes I'm aware that not everything in the wine guide will be available. But the champagnes weren't shown in the wine guide - but the brown menu. It's listed as Veuve 'or' Laurent-Perrier, and if in fact we were only meant to be offered 1 choice they ought to insert an 'either' at the beginning of the sentence.

They had both Veuve and LP on the return though. ^

The Westin Bund Centre
88 Henan Central Rd, Shanghai

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A touch of Chrimbo at the Westin

Between both the Westin and the Le Royal Meridien, the Westin was by far my preferred hotel.

For starters, I found the location of the Westin most convenient, especially to the bars and restaurants on the Bund. The hotel is a mere 5 minutes walk down Guangdong Rd to M on the Bund and Glamour Bar at 5 on the Bund, as well as Jean Georges' at 3 on the Bund (even though I fond the latter establishment to be rather overrated). Immediately surrounding the hotel is what was described to me as "Old Shanghai", with dozens of delightful local restaurants and cafes.

I was only SPG Gold for both stays yet got a one category upgrade to the "Crown Deluxe Room", which is in fact a small suite on reasonably high floors. My room was also ready when I arrived at 0830 on the first day. 4pm late checkout was also given both times, although with some bargaining during the latter stay. The lobby was pretty sophisticated with a touch of Oriental, and felt pretty warm and welcoming. They could lose the piano music though but that's just me...

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The rooms were a little bit faded, with decor from the early 2000s but were nonetheless well-appointed and comfy with a brand-standard Heavenly Bed. Even though not too new, I found the decor to be rather timeless - it'd probably still work for a few more years yet before looking tacky.

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Service was simply flawless. Staff spoke perfect English and couldn't do enough to assist me in various arrangements, be it restaurant reservations, translations from Chinese to English, or giving suggestions on where to go. Yet the rather gracious service was not accompanied by the servility one has to put up with in certain other cities. A handy little guide to the city was also supplied with landmark names in both English and Chinese.

For all the above, I'd not hesitate to return to the Westin Bund Centre for future visits to Shanghai. That is, until the W commences operations but even then I'm not so sure about staying in Pudong - convenient as the metro may be.

[aside]The 2nd stay was amusing as a "Chinese superstar" was at the hotel, and the hotel entrance was clogged with hundreds of screaming teenage girls. I couldn't identify the celebrity until he walked past me with all his bodyguards and the screams got louder. I felt a little guilty as I was going '<software-censored naughty word :rolleyes:?!' when those girls look like they'd kill to be where I was standing (they were cordoned off to a side).[/aside]

Next: Le Royal Meridien, Shanghai

Really? I have never seen that on NZ except for LHR.Except for Tetris, which QF doesn't have. Tetris will kill the NZ IFE every time. I managed to crash mine 6-8 times on each trip on the 59.5 hour RTW.

NZ J really does look very decent. I like the VS seat, and NZ's food and wine looks a great deal better. When were you in Shanghai? I was there a couple of weeks back...

Great report!