Category: General Aviation

RANKED: The Best Business Class Seats In 2018

~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

As I’m incredibly busy over the next few days and am also doing some spring cleaning with the blog and my YouTube channel, I’d like to re-post some of the guides I’ve written for your viewing pleasure, as well as post some new ones that I’ve had lined up. I’ll be back next week with some new aviation content, but for now, enjoy!

Over the course of the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to sample every single “generic” business class configurations there is out there. By “generic”, I’m talking about business class configurations that a number of airlines operate. I’m effectively ruling out specific custom-made configurations, such as Qatar Airways’ QSuites, Delta’s Delta One Suites, British Airways’ weird forwards-backwards configuration, etc.. I plan to try those out soon, though for now I thought it would be fun to visit a quick ranking of all the business class seats we’ve flown here at YTHK so far.

(For the record, based on reviews alone I’d predict that QSuites and Delta One Suites are both ahead of the competition compared to all of the products listed below. Here’s to hoping I can prove that sometime soon.)

While economy class is all about the price these days, there is lots of competition for the best business class seat out there

I figured I’d start from the worst and move on up. So here we go:

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Exciting New Routes and Equipment Coming To Hong Kong This Year

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Hong Kong has long been a pretty exciting city to fly out of. Being based here in quite a while, it’s really nice to have the option to fly airlines’ latest A380s, A350s, and 787s, due to the size of Hong Kong’s market. Hong Kong Airport also gets service from a large number of airlines, which becomes really fascinating, especially when it comes to choosing connections upon flying longhaul.

That said, airlines keep changing their equipment and updating their schedules, and some of these changes get me pretty excited. As the first quarter of 2018 comes to an end, some new aircraft are flying to Hong Kong, which frequent flyers will potentially find really good options.

I thought I’d round up some of these options, all of which I’ve spotted on Airlineroute sometime within the past week.

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A Quick Guide To Planespotting At Hong Kong Airport

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

While I’m more of an airline product guru, I take passion in aircraft and aerodynamics as well. I won’t be able to tell you nearly as much as Jason will, though it fascinates me, and the prospect of flying in a tube 38,000 feet above the ground is one of the reasons I love flying. Planespotting is also fascinating for that reason, and I’ve been a few times – however, I think that my experience yesterday has brought back some tips that some planespotters in Hong Kong might need.

Where I planespot at Hong Kong Airport

I figured I’d give a few tips, as I know that some of you reading might be interested in planespotting as well.

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UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen Cut Ties with Qatar, Airlines Will Cancel Routes To and From Qatar

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I know that the Gulf countries have long had beef with one another, but I was still rather shocked at the suddenness of this morning’s news. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen have cut ties with the Qatari government over alleged “support of ISIS and al-Qaeda groups”. This has impacted airlines including Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Qatar.

img_5315Etihad is one of a number of airlines impacted by this incident

The Qatar stock market has plummeted after this, and I’m not sure about the cause yet (though in my opinion, there probably is a reason why only the Gulf countries are getting involved in this dispute).

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What Constitutes an Airline Brand? What Makes Cathay Pacific’s Brand Flawed?

~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

It’s come to Hong Kong’s recent attention that Cathay Pacific has been losing quite a bit of money in the past while. That’s rather sad, as we all know Cathay Pacific as one of the “best” out there, due to their 5-star Skytrax rating and their constant advertising. There’s no arguing that their cabin product is great, as they provide pretty industry-leading seats across all classes.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong Airport

While most tourist travelers flying economy go for either a direct routing or a really light price tag, those flying in other classes may prefer comparing between different airlines and seeing which has a better product.

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Review: Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong

~ Mallesh ~ 1 Comment

 

We decided to set out for the airport at around 2:30, which was around 3 hours prior to our flight to Mumbai. We took an UberBlack to the Airport Express Station located in the International Finance Center at Hong Kong. The ride cost us $50 HKD ($6.45 USD) which is similar to what a taxi would cost us, except this ride was in a Tesla Model S.

The Airport Express is the most convenient and efficient way to get from the city center to the Airport. Costing just $100 ($12.9 USD) per person per way, it’s a real deal, considering that a taxi would usually cost upwards of $400.

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The Airport Express

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Istanbul Airport Attacked, AT LEAST 41 Dead

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Following the Brussels attack, Istanbul Akatürk airport has been bombed by what are presumed to be Islamic terrorists. Right now, at least 41 people, including the three perpetrators, were found dead with a further 239 people found injured.

Istanbul Akaturk Airport

Three perpetrators have been killed, while four are still at large.

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This Is Good: More Airlines Depart from Midfield Concourse

~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I reviewed the new Midfield Terminal at Hong Kong Airport, which is a stunning space. It’s a terminal featuring 30 gates capable of handling aircraft of various sizes, and back then was a port to most of Hong Kong Airlines and some smaller airlines that have less of a prominence in Hong Kong, like Cebu Pacific or Vanilla Air.

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Midfield Terminal Hong Kong Airport

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Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-300 Hong Kong Airport

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How to write trip reports

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I’ve found myself to have a “purpose” over travel once I started trip reporting last January. For example, when meal rows were skipped on my flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai, I thought, “at least I can write about it on the blog”.

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It’s not always serene at the Singapore SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong…

I guess people get it, because I’ve been asked recently how I write trip reports.

I’ve been heavily based off One Mile At A Time in terms of how to write trip reports (thank you so much Lucky), and right now I’m starting to have some principles of my own in which what content I should put in my trip reports.

I’ve flown some amazing flights and some amazing hotels over the years, and I believe some of you have/are about to as well, so I might as well share some tips on how I write trip reports on this blog.

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Sheraton Macao Family Suite Kids’ Room

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Essence of electronics during travel

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

If there’s one thing I value more about flying than reviews, it’s safety. So far this year I’ve been pretty devastated by the news of Malaysian Airlines’ Flight 370 and Flight 17, Air Algérie’s Flight 5017 and TransAsia Flight 222, and while it really hurts, it does remind people to enjoy life as it lasts.

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Malaysia Airlines #staystrong Tweet post-MH17

If there’s something that makes me more heartbroken than these accidents, they are attacks. The September 11 attacks back in my birth year were pretty damn horrible, but it hurts me more to think that if it weren’t for the Al-Qaeda, these people would actually have a safe chance of surviving. Now, I’m not a politician and have no right to say that the Al-Qaeda had no reason at all to do that, but after all, life is an amazing opportunity God gives you, and if there’s something worse than taking your own, it’s taking someone else’s without them wanting to.

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