Hong Kong Airlines Ends Subpar Auckland Service

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Hong Kong Airlines has long been investing in their hard product, and they’ve been getting better and better. I had the chance to fly them around Easter last year, and thought they were solid, if not fantastic. Hong Kong Airlines has also been expanding rather nicely over the past couple of years, and now flies to destinations on the West Coast such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Rumour is that they’ll start flying to New York soon, which I’d really look forward to.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330 Business Class Cabin

While most of Hong Kong Airlines’ routes afford a quite comfortable product, there’s one route that features a product that has, unfortunately, fallen behind the times. Hong Kong Airlines currently runs one of their oldest planes to Auckland, New Zealand, and they had no plans to upgrade their product on the route, which made me quite curious.

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The New Turkish Airlines Lounge In Bangkok

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Thai Airways has a massive hub in Bangkok, and their ground services are definitely unique. They have an amazing spa service which they offer to first and business class passengers flying on their metal, which I took advantage of flying yesterday. Unfortunately, apart from that, their ground services are rather dismal — they have 6 lounges for business class passengers, none of which are particularly impressive.

If you’re flying a Star Alliance airline out of Bangkok in business class (other than Thai Airways, or if you’re not looking for a massage), I’d actually suggest you use the EVA Air lounge instead, which has better seating, better showers, and a more appealing food spread.

That’s why I was particularly excited when I stumbled upon a Turkish Airlines lounge when I was walking around Bangkok Airport. I didn’t know they had a lounge in Bangkok, so I was curious to check it out.

Turkish Airlines Lounge Bangkok Airport

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What Is Thai Airways’ 777 Business Class Like? (Hint: I Wasn’t Expecting It To Be So Bad)

February 6, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Hello from Bangkok! I’m here for a quick getaway after lots of senior year work. While I’m certainly not off the hook (my to-do list has its own to-do list), I always enjoy when I manage to be productive abroad, so I’ll work on that over the next few nights.

On the aviation front, we didn’t really have much of a choice of airline. Emirates was pricing over the roof, and I didn’t like the timings of all the other airlines that flew to Bangkok – so we were stuck with Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific again. Out of a split decision I decided to go with Thai Airways, as it didn’t cross my mind at the time that I haven’t flown Cathay Pacific’s regional business class product in a while. Oh well.

While I’ve flown Thai Airways countless times before, this itinerary left me with a new product – their 777. I’ve flown their angled flat seat more times than I can remember, though I’ve never tried their new staggered seat, until today. So I thought I’d share my first impressions, as I usually do when I fly new configurations (also, due to my workload, the review’s probably not coming out for a while).

Thai Airways Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

While the seat itself was an improvement over their angled flat seats, I left the flight quite underwhelmed by the product as a whole. Here’s why.

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Review: EVA Air 787 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong

February 2, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: 5 Stars ForEVA
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong Airport
EVA Air A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
EVA Air The Infinity Lounge Taipei Airport
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Taipei Airport
EVA Air 787 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong

I made it to the gate area at around 5:35 PM in anticipation of boarding at 5:40 PM. There was a partial view of our stunning 787 outside the window. Unfortunately, Terminal 1 at Taipei Airport seems to be built for the purposes of obstructing direct plane views, so I didn’t see the EVA Air 787 in its full glory.

EVA Air Boeing 787 Taipei Airport

Literally right after I arrived, the gate crew announced a boarding delay of 15 minutes, due to late aircraft arrival. I hung around in the priority lane while this happened.

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Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Taipei Airport

January 25, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

After a disappointing schlep by EVA Air’s Infinity Lounge, I headed to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge in search of a power port. The Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge is located in the same lounge “complex” as all of the EVA Air lounges, on the opposite side from the Infinity lounge.

I know Singapore Airlines is investing a lot into renovating their outstation lounges, but without even walking into the lounge I knew that this one had been neglected. The outside of the lounge featured Singapore Airlines’ classic, older blue signage.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Taipei Entrance

The friendly lounge agent admitted me into the lounge, and advised that the lounge closed at 5:45 PM (this is because the last Singapore Airlines flight leaves the airport at 5:35 PM).

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Review: EVA Air The Infinity Lounge Taipei Airport

January 23, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Once I exited the aircraft that brought me to Taipei, I followed the airport signage towards the B gates, which brought me to a transfer desk. As I hinted at in the previous installment, the security officers turned on the X-ray machine so I could pass through, and turned it off once I was cleared.

Once I was cleared I found myself in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall. While EVA uses Terminal 2 at Taipei Airport, they use Terminal 1 as an overflow terminal when they run out of gates at their own terminal, which both of my flights were arriving/departing from. Taipei Taoyuan Airport’s two terminals are very closely connected, at least airside – you can take a 10-minute walk from one terminal to the other, simply by following the signage to the C and D gates. Obviously I didn’t know this at the time, so as you’d expect, I got lost; fortunately, Ethan, who lives in Taipei, was able to give me a hand.

Terminal 1 Taipei Taoyuan Airport

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Review: EVA Air A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei

January 8, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

As I mentioned in the last installment, I paid a visit to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at Hong Kong Airport, followed by the United Club. From the United Club I was able to see the EVA Air A330 that would be taking me to Taipei, as it pulled into gate 62 at around 12:35 PM.

While 12:35 PM was still a good 30 minutes before our boarding time, it was well beyond the scheduled arrival time of 12:10 PM, so it was no surprise when the ground staff announced a boarding delay of 5 minutes.

EVA Air Airbus A330 Hong Kong Airport

Sure enough, at 1:10 PM boarding was called. While I wasn’t first in line, I managed to be first onboard in the business class cabin, as everyone in front of me was an EVA Air elite.

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Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong Airport

January 3, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

My flight was leaving Hong Kong Airport at 1:35 PM, so I initially figured I’d get to the airport at around 12 PM. However, in the morning I found myself unproductive and needing a change of atmosphere, and I figured the SilverKris lounge would be crowded by 12 PM in anticipation of the Singapore Airlines flight departing around that time. Wanting to check the lounge out (since I haven’t reviewed the SilverKris lounge since 2015), I made my way to the airport at 9:30 AM, where I made a beeline to the SilverKris lounge.

You have access to the SilverKris lounge if you’re a Star Alliance Gold member on a Star Alliance ticket, or if you’re a premium passenger on a Star Alliance airline. In this case I was travelling on EVA Air in business class, so my mobile boarding pass granted me lounge access without issue. The SilverKris lounge is located across gate 15, a short walk from immigration.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong Entrance

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Introduction: 5 Stars ForEVA

January 3, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Yeah, I get it, punny title, har har, jokes, it’s lame. Moving on…

Over the past years I’ve had the opportunity to fly Singapore Airlines partners countless times. I’ve flown the airline, I’ve flown a bunch of Star Alliance carriers to/from Europe, and I’ve also flown Virgin Atlantic, a Singapore Airlines partner, countless times. Over the years I managed to rack up 60,000 KrisFlyer miles, which is pretty impressive, considering I haven’t transferred any points over, I didn’t have an account until 2016, I don’t have a Singapore Airlines credit card (or any credit card), etc..

I realised there’d be a period of time where I’d be on the ground, but relatively freer. I figured I’d do a power trip using my miles, so I started looking at options. Ultimately I decided to head over to Taipei so I could test out EVA’s 787 product, which I was intrigued in.

EVA Air Boeing 787 Business Class

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Cathay Pacific Honors New Years Mistake Fare

January 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Happy new year! How did you spend your new years? I spent mine counting down with a friend, getting home at 12:30 AM, and getting knocked out until 10 AM the next morning – the perfect night, if you ask me. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the guys at Cathay Pacific didn’t have as sweet a night as I did.

Cathay Pacific ran a mistake fare sale a couple of days ago when flights from Vietnam to the U.S. ran for ~HK$5,290 in business class and ~HK$8,000 in first class. Obviously, they probably left out a 0 or something, since a typical Cathay Pacific ticket can barely take you to Hong Kong from Vietnam for that price in a premium cabin.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 Business Class Cabin

The fare itself was gone when I woke up, so I couldn’t do any useful reporting on it. Instead I’m just a speculator at this point, and will talk about how I think Cathay Pacific handled this fare.

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