Review: Thai Smile A320 Economy Class Phuket to Hong Kong

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This flight was taken in March of 2019, but I never actually got around to writing up the review. The Young Travelers of Hong Kong team strongly discourages non-essential travel at this time. Stay home and stay safe!

In March of 2019, I had the chance to fly with Thai Smile from Phuket to Hong Kong as I returned from a trip. I never got the chance to write up the flight experience. Considering the somewhat copious amount of free time, and the fact that Thai Smile is one of the lesser-reviewed airlines on the internet, I thought I’d write about my experience.

What Is Thai Smile? 

IMG_1133.jpegThai Smile A320 at Phuket Airport

Thai Smile is a regional offshoot of Thai Airways International. The airline operates a fleet of narrowbody Airbus A320 aircraft flies short-haul low yield and leisure routes. Phuket to Hong Kong is an example of a leisure route that Thai Airways mainline spun off to Thai Smile. Flights are staffed by crews that are paid less than their Thai mainline counterparts. While I’ve seen Thai Smile described as a low-cost carrier, the airline’s offering is more similar to that of a full-service airline. This means that checked bags and meals are complimentary. All things considered, I see Thai Smile as a less premium version of Cathay Dragon.

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Review: British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Qantas Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong
British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

This flight was taken in January 2020 and our team at Young Travelers of Hong Kong does not endorse non-essential travel during this time.

As part of my travel back to London for second term at university, I had to find a way to get back to the UK in January. Award space is never abundant during the Christmas period, I pounced on the ability to fly British Airways’ premium economy (also known as their “World Traveller Plus” cabin) for 45,000 Asia Miles on a date that worked for my schedule. I want to review all three premium economy products between London and Hong Kong, and British Airways premium economy is a very useful product to review for both students and business travelers alike anyway. With that in mind I bid farewell to my parents on January 1st, before heading to the airport at around 9 PM in order to catch my flight.

At the airport I found a long check-in line, as British Airways’ 777 and A380 depart just a few minutes apart out of Hong Kong (I’m not sure why this is, though I’m not complaining, since I’d choose a night flight between Hong Kong and Europe any day). British Airways doesn’t feature a separate check-in line for premium economy passengers, which sets them behind Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic.

Long check-in line in Hong Kong for British Airways passengers

The check-in line took around 20 minutes. British Airways allows two 23 kg bags to be checked in for each premium economy passenger. I underestimated the weight of one of my bags, which weighed 29 kg – there was not much to be done with 6 kg of extra stuff (I was moving for the next few months, after all), so I sorted out the dilemma with an overweight baggage charge of HK$664.

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Review: Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Qantas Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong
British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

This trip was taken in December 2019 and our team at Young Travelers of Hong Kong does not endorse non-essential travel during this time.

In March 2019 my parents had a bit of a dilemma: they had around 95,000 expiring Asia Miles that they didn’t quite know what to do with. Now, I was slated to go to London over summer, but I wasn’t quite sure what my dates were yet. The only certainty I had was when I’d be flying back over the winter holiday, since the dates were the same regardless of which university I’d get into. (This isn’t a problem anymore, since Asia Miles don’t expire anymore with activity.) 95,000 miles was enough to either fly British Airways Club World back to Hong Kong, which would get me insight into all three business class products flying between London and Hong Kong (I’ve flown Cathay Pacific business class from Hong Kong to London a while back, and I’ve flown Virgin Atlantic Upper Class between the two cities as well), or with 5,000 more miles I could fly Cathay Pacific first class to Hong Kong.

As an aviation analyst that tries my best to compare business class products across a variety of airlines, it was a no-brainer to book…Cathay Pacific first class. 😉 In all seriousness, I don’t regret trying Cathay Pacific’s first class product on this route – I figured I might as well have a taste of what first class on my home airline is like, given I knew I wouldn’t always have opportunities like these. I’ve also flown British Airways’ business class in the meantime, so feel free to check out my review of that flight.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 Heathrow Airport

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Review: British Airways A380 Business Class London to Hong Kong

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I took this flight because I needed to get home. Our team at Young Travelers of Hong Kong does not endorse non-essential air travel during this period.

While the coronavirus continues to throw its little temper tantrum around the entire world, the best thing we can do to calm it down is stay home. As a student away from family in London, this wasn’t ideal for me. Originally the best idea was to stay put in London, though with an imminent lockdown a college dorm no longer became the safest place for me to live, both for my physical and mental health. With that in mind, my parents flew me home.

They also flew me home at quite a cost. Originally I had myself a roundtrip ticket on British Airways leaving April 2nd and getting back on April 30th,  though talks of an imminent lockdown unsettled my family. I converted this ticket to a future voucher and booked myself a Singapore Airlines one-way in business class, which quickly went out the window after Singapore stopped allowing transit passengers into Changi Airport grounds (Hong Kong has since done the same, as of this morning). So early in the morning of the day before my departure, I booked myself a ticket in British Airways Club World for a hefty £4,500. To put things in perspective, four flights in Qatar Airways’ fabulous QSuite cost just over £2,000. There was no time to complain and only time to pack.

To my reassurance I had done everything I’d needed to in the UK, so the biggest favour I could do for my friends in London was to be one less person for the NHS to worry about. So I took an airport transfer to Heathrow’s eerily empty Terminal 5, where I walked to Aisle H and checked in for my flight.

Heathrow Terminal 5 Check-in

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Coronavirus Update: I’m Fine, And I’m Coming Home

~ Alvin ~ 5 Comments

The coronavirus situation over the past month has been shocking, saddening, and indeed has affected me quite a bit. I’ve been refraining from commenting on the current situation for a few reasons:

  • I’ve been busy figuring out my own arrangements in the meantime, especially since Imperial College has completely moved to remote operations (exams included)
  • I’ve also been emotionally affected – I learnt overnight that many friendships, including a relationship, would move to long-distance; even the prospect of writing about coronavirus got painful, especially when it started to expand in Europe
  • I can’t really add anything to what’s already being reported out there

While I’m devastated about the effect the virus has had on many countries in Europe, the best thing I can do right now is focus on how I can stay out of the vicious cycle of infection.

DSCF9127

I’m in London right now, having stayed put so far, considering that as the best option. But the sad reality is creeping up that I don’t know how long I’ll be here for. With being in student halls alone fighting for food as the only other option, the best thing to do for me is to go home.

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Review: Qantas Lounge London Heathrow

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Qantas Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong
British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

During the morning rush in the Cathay Pacific lounges prior to the 11:15 AM flight, I thought I’d check out the new Qantas lounge at London Heathrow, which I’d heard really good things about. The Qantas lounge is located in Lounge B at Heathrow’s Terminal 3, and is open from 7:55 AM to 8:35 PM every day.

The lounge itself had a snazzy wooden entrance, where sliding doors led to two booths where my boarding pass was scanned.

Qantas Lounge London Heathrow Entrance

I was welcomed into the lounge and informed there wouldn’t be any boarding announcements.

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Coronavirus Updates: How Is Hong Kong’s Air Travel Affected So Far?

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

The latest world news has been the escalation of the coronavirus spreading across mainland China. Obviously that’s incredibly tragic and hits close to home for me, but there’s no point dwelling on the misfortune on the situation. The coronavirus has hugely affected the travel industry and I thought I’d take the time to compile all of the effects of these changes specific to Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific has largely cut flights to China

The effects of the travel industry on Hong Kong haven’t been massive so far, though it’s worth taking precautions to stop the spread of the virus from affecting your travel plans. This is probably not a great time to visit most east Asian countries for travel – not especially because of the coronavirus, but also because of general national insecurity, e.g. lack of face masks, no groceries left on shelves, etc.

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Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Qantas Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong
British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

As part of my first class ticket I had access to the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge at Heathrow, though I thought I’d be a bit irresponsible not to check out what I’ve heard people consider one of the best business class outstation lounges anywhere in the world – Cathay Pacific’s business class lounge at London Heathrow.

Cathay Pacific’s lounge complex at Heathrow is located by Lounge C near gate 11. The First Class lounge is located nearer to the entrance, whereas the business class section spans the rest of the lounge.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Entrance

The entry requirements to Cathay Pacific’s business class lounge at Heathrow is the same as any other oneworld business class lounge worldwide – you can get in as a oneworld first or business class passenger, a Marco Polo Diamond, Gold or Silver member, a oneworld Emerald or Sapphire member, or if you have a lounge pass.

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Review: Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Qantas Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class London to Hong Kong
British Airways 777 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London

Recently I had the chance to fly in Cathay Pacific first class between London and Hong Kong. I’ll provide the full details of my booking in my review of Cathay Pacific’s first class, but long story short the flight was motivated by expiring Asia Miles in my mother’s account. I also flew back to London after my holiday in British Airways premium economy, which I’ll also be reviewing in this trip report series.

My flight from Heathrow’s Terminal 3 was leaving at 5:50 PM, though I wanted to be at Cathay Pacific’s first class lounge for lunch. Since London is an outstation destination check-in only opens three hours prior to each flight, so check-in was closed between 11 AM and 1:50 PM due to how Cathay’s flights out of London are timed. Thus, I dropped my bag at 10 AM, then headed past fast track security to get to Cathay Pacific’s Heathrow lounge, located at Lounge C in Heathrow’s Terminal 3 lounge area. I was pointed into the first class section of the lounge by a friendly lounge attendant – access to Cathay’s First Class lounge at Heathrow is permitted for First Class passengers, Marco Polo Diamond members and oneworld Emerald members.

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London Heathrow

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British Airways’ Impressive World Traveller Plus

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Hello from London! I’ve flown back to university after a short trip home, and did so in British Airways’ premium economy. While I’ve always wanted to try British Airways’ premium economy in order to try all premium economy products flying between Hong Kong and London, in this case I didn’t really have a choice, due to the limited award space availability between Hong Kong and London during the new year. This is also the reason I flew British Airways’ 777 over their A380, as I personally would’ve preferred the latter.

British Airways Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

My predictions for the premium economy products flying between Hong Kong and London was that British Airways would come rock bottom, though I came off this flight very impressed. British Airways is a strong contender for having the best premium economy product between Hong Kong and London. Since I’m a bit behind on trip report writing, I figured I’d briefly share the things I was impressed by, though expect a full report to follow within the coming month.

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