Help Me Get To Italy This Summer

November 25, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

My parents have always wanted to go on a cruise, and we’ve decided that this summer is probably the time to finally do so. I live in London now – though as luck would have it, I need to be in Hong Kong near the end of June, whereas the cruise occurs during the second part of July. I’m finally trying Cathay Pacific’s A350 premium economy from Gatwick to Hong Kong in June 2020, which I’m really excited about – stay tuned for that. Since I’m trying British Airways’ premium economy in January, I’ll have tried all three airlines’ premium economy products that fly direct between Hong Kong and London by then, which I’ve vowed to do for the longest time.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 Premium Economy

Right, back to Italy. Now, I’ve checked award space on American AAdvantage and Cathay Pacific, and have had no luck in either direction (Etihad has award space for two, but I don’t have enough miles for four passengers, and they don’t fly from Venice). The four of us need to fly into Rome and out of Venice, and I’ve narrowed my options down to the following.

Now, since my dad is travelling, we’re trying our best to get ourselves in a premium cabin with a maximum of one connection each way. Here are the options I’ve found:

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Oof: Hong Kong Airlines Cuts U.S. Flights, Reduces Service To 10 Destinations

November 5, 2019November 5, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

In 2017, Hong Kong Airlines began flying to the U.S., which was an exciting development. At the time American Airlines hadn’t started flying between Hong Kong and Los Angeles yet, so Cathay Pacific more or less had a monopoly on that route. Cathay Pacific also had a joint venture with Air Canada, so Hong Kong Airlines gave them some competition.

Unfortunately amidst Hong Kong’s deepest recession in a long time, Hong Kong Airlines has announced that they will no longer fly to the U.S. as of February 8, 2020.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350 Hong Kong Airport

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Review: Emirates A380 Business Class Dubai to London

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Emirates Lounge Hong Kong
Emirates 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Dubai
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse C
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse B
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse A
Emirates A380 Business Class Dubai to London

With all the glamour that Emirates’ A380 has boasted over the past decade, I knew I had to try it out at some point. Emirates introduced their A380 in 2008, and it started the innovation of inflight amenities such as onboard showers and bars that we see on quite a few different airlines today. Over time, though, the actual hard product on Emirates’ A380 became slightly less competitive, especially as it competed with newer revolutionary products such as Qatar Airways’ QSuite, so I was curious how it would fare in the grand scheme of things in 2019.

Now, I need to note that my flight experience was hindered by a purser who accused me of taking photos that were against the rules (he had the rules mixed up, and I’m still trying to sort things out with Emirates to see how this never happens to other airline bloggers out there). I’ll obviously mention it in the report below, though I’m going to strive to make this report as objective as possible, as my experience – prior to my interaction with the purser, of course – was stellar.

Anyway, my Emirates A380 experience began at the boarding gate B17, where boarding started at around 2:10 PM. It’s worth mentioning that as a business class passenger I could board this flight through a separate entrance for premium passengers, right outside the lounge – however, boarding starts a few minutes later for the upper deck, so boarding from the main gate area afforded me a couple of extra minutes to photograph Emirates’ beautiful A380 cabin.

Emirates Airbus A380 Dubai Airport

I was one of the first onboard the Emirates A380, and boarded through the lower deck.

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Review: Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse A

October 24, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Emirates has multiple lounges in Dubai Airport’s Terminal 3, but going in I knew that their lounge at Concourse A would be the largest by far. I made my way onto the train that connects Concourse B/C and Concourse A, and found myself in the grand atrium where connecting passengers landing at Concourse A are screened.

Concourse A Dubai Airport

The entrance to the lounge is located by where the airtrain lets off, smack in the middle of the concourse.

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Review: Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse B

October 15, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Emirates has four lounges for business class passengers in Dubai Airport’s Terminal 3 – two massive lounges in Concourse A and B, a smaller one in Concourse C, and a tiny one further into concourse C. After visiting Emirates’ lounge in concourse C, I headed towards Concourse B, where my flight would be departing.

Emirates’ Concourse B lounge is situated near gate B16. It’s one floor above the main deck (and spans the length of half the terminal, with the other half occupied by the first class lounge) though you can board your aircraft from select B-gates, including B17, where our flight would be departing. I was welcomed by a friendly lounge attendant, and told that there wouldn’t be any boarding announcements for my flight.

Since the lounge was recently touched up, the furniture and furnishings were quite modern. Near the entrance was a circular area with lots of seating.

Emirates Business Class Lounge Dubai Concourse B

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Review: Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse C

October 4, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Our flight landed at gate C17, which was in Dubai Airport’s Concourse C. Emirates features lounges in all concourses in Terminal 3, so I decided to check out the lounge in Concourse C first, as it was right next to the transfer area.

The lounge is situated near gate C11. Dubai Airport’s Concourse C is relatively quieter than Concourse A and Concourse B, as you have to walk through Concourse B to get there (so it’s not the ideal place for duty free shops).

Dubai Airport Concourse C

The lounge itself is located right across the First Class lounge, and it’s actually quite big. I was visiting the lounge in the middle of the day, and it was really empty. It featured two levels, with the lower level featuring mostly of a food spread and armchair-style seating, and more varieties of seating on the upper deck.

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Review: Emirates 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Dubai

September 26, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I’d originally booked myself onto the Emirates A380 from Hong Kong straight through to London Gatwick, though unfortunately anxiety about upcoming protest situations compelled us to change our flight to an earlier one, since traffic was less likely to be affected at this time of day. This was a pricey switch, and I’ve written about it here. Fortunately, though, I’d once listed Emirates’ 777 business class product as one of the most underwhelming products I’d been dying to try, so I was glad to have the opportunity to do so.

I arrived at gate 32 around 6:45 AM in anticipation of boarding at 7 AM. It was a beautiful day outside, which served as a nice backdrop for the 777 that would be taking us to Dubai.

Emirates Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

The crew were standing around the gate at this time, and they boarded the plane at around 6:55 AM. Unfortunately boarding was delayed a bit beyond that, and it finally started at 7:15 AM, fifteen minutes behind schedule.

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Review: Emirates Lounge Hong Kong

September 24, 2019October 31, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

This mini-trip report series will cover my experience traveling from Hong Kong to London Gatwick onboard an Emirates 777 and A380 in business class. I booked it as a one-way ticket for a hefty HK$22,960 – while I found a few throwaway tickets that could’ve halved the cost, I decided it wasn’t worth risking for my first flight to university. Sure enough, the insurance of a higher fare class paid off this time around, since we ended up changing our flights to avoid traveling to the airport during peak protest hours. My dad wasn’t so lucky – he had to pay a HK$16,000+ change fee to his ~HK$19,000 roundtrip ticket, bringing the total cost ticket in line with normal roundtrip business class fares seen on Cathay Pacific and British Airways between Hong Kong and London.

Emirates has a dedicated lounge in Hong Kong. Emirates business class passengers are also allowed into the amazing Qantas lounge, though unfortunately the Qantas lounge opens at 7:30 AM, which was too late for our 7 AM boarding time. So we made it into the Emirates lounge, and were pointed in by a friendly lounge attendant. The Emirates lounge is open from three hours before every Emirates flight, and accessible to Emirates business class passengers and Skywards silver, gold, and platinum members only.

Emirates Lounge Hong Kong Entrance

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I Was Lied To And Legally Threatened By An Emirates Purser

September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday I flew from Dubai to London Gatwick on an Emirates A380. I was quite looking forward to the flight, as I’d wanted to try Emirates’ A380 business class product since it came out. From the title you’d assume I was hugely disappointed by the flight, but it was largely awesome, and most of the crew were so, so friendly. That being said, of course, there was one huge exception.

Emirates Airbus A380 Munich Airport (I’ll share why I didn’t share a photo of an Emirates A380 in Dubai Airport later)

Let me start off by saying that I’ve always been very cautious not to take pictures of crewmembers without their express permission on flights. Even when crewmembers intentionally get in my photo, most of the time I choose not to publish photos with crew in it, and always ask before I take my first photo whenever I’m onboard an airplane cabin. I know some other bloggers don’t ask, and it’s technically not required to ask on most airlines; though I’ve never gotten a “no” before upon asking (even on this flight), so it usually always works to my advantage.

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Incredible Deals To Be Had Out Of Hong Kong Following Dismal Protest Situation

September 21, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Most of you are probably familiar with Hong Kong’s protests at this point. For sixteen weeks protesters and police (and, of course, the government) have been at ends, resulting in violent clashes that have been littered all throughout the city’s most populated areas. This, obviously, doesn’t bode well with Hong Kong’s economy, and there’s also an ongoing trade war between the US and China, which brings Hong Kong’s economy into its first recession in quite a while.

This is terrible news for businesses, though certainly a good time to spend. SCMP came up with a latest report with some deals that are to be had out of Hong Kong, most of which are in economy class and somewhat last-minute – so I thought I’d share them for those of you who needed it.

American Airlines tickets to Los Angeles are going for ~HK$1,200

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