Review: Korean Air 777 Business Class Seoul to Hong Kong

August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: A Wandering Seoul
SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong
Korean Air 747-8 Business Class Hong Kong To Seoul (First Class Seat)
Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin
Korean Air Business Class Lounge Seoul Incheon Terminal 2 (East)
Korean Air Business Class Lounge Seoul Incheon Terminal 2 (West)
Korean Air 777 Business Class Seoul to Hong Kong

After visiting both of Korean Air’s dismal new lounges at Incheon Airport, it was time to head home to Hong Kong. I got to gate 252 and enquired to the gate agent if I could be assigned a first class seat, since they were selling them as business class seats on our flight (I did something similar on our outbound flight on the 747-8, and got lucky). Unfortunately I got a firm no from the gate agent – while he was cold, the gate agent showed me the system on his computer screen to prove that those seats were reserved for full-fare business class passengers (we were booked into the lowest fare bucket), which I thought was a very responsible thing to do.

While the majority of “our” gate area faced parked at the gate next to us, from the corner of the gate area I spotted the 777-300ER that would be flying us home.

Korean Air Boeing 777 Seoul Incheon Airport

I was “gate lice” for around 10-15 minutes since I wanted to get better cabin pictures, and soon they started up boarding for the infirm, followed by business class passengers. There was a rather old man in a wheelchair that had brought his family of around nine people, and they were all seated in business class, which I found rather interesting (and was happy about, since I always feel terrible when an infirm passenger is seated in economy).

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Review: Korean Air Business Class Lounge Seoul Incheon Terminal 2 (West)

August 13, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

After briefly visiting the East business class lounge that Korean Air operates at Incheon’s new Terminal 2, I headed over to the West lounge so I could check it out. I planned on spending more time there, since it was marginally closer to our gate, and it was larger.

The lounge directly overlooks gate 249, and is reachable via an escalator right next to gate 249. I went up the escalator and across a footbridge to get to the lounge. The footbridge afforded very nice views of the airport terminal.

Incheon Terminal 2 Airside Concourse

Past the footbridge to the left was an entrance to the Korean Air West lounge. I joined the short queue to get my boarding pass scanned before making my way into the lounge.

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Review: Korean Air Business Class Lounge Seoul Incheon Terminal 2 (East)

August 11, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

While we had a great time in Seoul (which I’ll talk about in an upcoming post, though obviously I don’t specialise in maximising my time in cities – yet), it was time to get home on our 7:45 PM flight. We got to the airport at 4:30 PM – we weren’t actually intending to get to the airport so early, but we’d spent the morning at Alpacaworld and got back to civilisation earlier than expected.

Korean Air Terminal 2 Seoul Incheon

Seeing some Korean Air signage colours we headed towards the left side of the airport terminal, but after walking a fair distance we came across a sign saying that premium check-in was all the way on the very right of the check-in hall, by aisle A. I would’ve appreciated more signage indicating where to check in, and didn’t appreciate that Korean Air’s check-in at their hub airport for premium passengers and economy passengers were at opposite ends of the check-in hall. This would be a nuisance especially for families and groups traveling across different cabin classes (can you imagine how much trouble an unprepared large tour group would have if some of their members were flying in business class/had frequent flyer status?).

Anyway, Korean Air “encloses” their premium check-in desk for first and business class passengers.

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Review: Park Hyatt Seoul Park Suite Twin

August 11, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I’ve wanted to stay at the Park Hyatt Seoul for years. The last time we came to Seoul we stayed at the Westin Chosun, as the Park Hyatt was quite pricey back at the time. As luck would have it, this time the Park Hyatt was offering suites that were cheaper than booking two standard rooms at another chain hotel. While the hotel website wouldn’t allow us to book a Park Suite for all four of us, upon emailing them they were happy to accommodate, and even said that a rollaway would be free of charge. Sold!

The Park Hyatt Seoul is located in the Gangnam district, which is the financial district of Seoul. While a lot of people work around here, the biggest issue is that none of the city’s busiest areas are around the hotel. Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Jongno, etc. are where you want to be if you want crazy nightlife, good street food, and lots of cheap, local shopping (they’re famous for a reason), and the area, as the CBD, doesn’t have a lot of that. While the Samseong metro station is right next to the hotel’s entrance, it’s still a 12-14 stop ride away from most of Seoul’s biggest attractions. In terms of shopping malls, a quick walk through Samseong station will bring you to Seoul’s gigantic COEX mall, but it’s more of a high-class, imported-goods mall than a popping local joint. That’s something that’s at least noteworthy, in my opinion.

The hotel has a modern, glass exterior quite fitting with the adjacent office buildings.

Park Hyatt Seoul Exterior

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Review: Korean Air 747-8 Business Class Hong Kong To Seoul (First Class Seat)

August 8, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

While I had booked myself in business class on the Korean Air 747-8, as I detailed in a separate post, Korean Air opened up their first class seats for business class passengers to select two days before departure. That’s quite standard for a few airlines on shorthaul flights, though this was the first time I’d flown a three-cabin flight with a two-class service. At the check-in desk I was denied a seat in the first class cabin (the plan was actually to get the rest of my family seats in the empty first class cabin, as I still wanted to review the Apex Suite), as the seats “weren’t for sale”.

I left the SkyTeam lounge at 1:15 PM and made it to gate 60 by around 1:30 PM for our 1:35 PM boarding time. Going to the gate desk, I decided to slip in a sneaky question if I could have a seat swap. To my surprise, without even giving her my boarding pass, she recognised that I was traveling in a group of four, and gave me a new boarding pass for seat 2A.

I believe the check-in desk decided to contact a higher-up after we expressed discontent, as we were misinformed by the call center that we’d “definitely” get the first class seats if they were available. The higher-ups then confirmed to them that we were indeed allowed to assign seats in first class, so they paged the gate agents to make the change for us. At least that’s what I believe ended up happening.

I was going to seat the rest of my family in the first class cabin and stay in business myself so I could review the Apex Suite, but what was I to do? Complain? At that point, people had already started lining up to get on the Korean Air 747-8, so I followed suit.

The gate agents, while friendly, were not very helpful in suppressing my excitement by stating that the last row of first class was also empty.

Korean Air Boeing 747-8 Hong Kong Airport

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Review: SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong

August 7, 2018August 15, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

We arrived at the airport at around 11:30 AM for our 2 PM flight. We mainly wanted to get there so early so we could get a credit card verification issue out of the way, though I also wanted to be there ahead of time since the first class seats on the flight were first-come, first-serve. Korean Air sometimes releases their first class seats to business class seat selection on regional flights if the cabin is empty 24 hours before departure, which was the case on our flight. As I’ve detailed in a separate post, the check-in desk agents weren’t able to assign us first class seats – or so we thought.

I wasn’t able to add my SkyPass number to our reservation online, since the names were different (since the last time I’ve taken Korean Air, I’ve added my first name to my passport – if you live in Hong Kong this will probably make more sense to you). Even though Korean Air sent me a name change form I never actually got around to filling it out, so I was glad that I could do so at a dedicated counter at the airport, and didn’t even have to go back to the check-in desk to add the number to our reservation.

Afterwards I headed through security and made my way to the SkyTeam Lounge. The lounge is open to business class passengers on all SkyTeam airlines, as well as elite members of any SkyTeam loyalty programme. Elite members can even bring in a guest (business class passengers can’t). I’ve been to the lounge a couple times in the past (my last review can be found here), though I figured it was a time for us all to revisit here at YTHK, since it’s been a few years since I last reviewed it.

SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong Entrance

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Review: JetBlue A320 Economy Class New York to New Orleans

August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 ~ Jason ~ 1 Comment

In April of this year, I took a trip with my school to New Orleans. On the way there, we flew with JetBlue. While JetBlue gets a lot of attention for their phenomenal “Mint” premium product, their regular Economy product hasn’t been covered as extensively. As such, I thought it would be interesting to report back on my experience with what is considered to be one of the best Economy experiences in the United States.

We arrived at JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at JFK around four hours before our flight. Since we were travelling in a large group, we were given a small roped off check-in area in order to streamline what would have been an undoubtedly messy process. The ground staff weren’t the friendliest but were patient enough when it came to dealing with eighty high-schoolers.

Security was a breeze and the TSA was uncharacteristically friendly. Afterwards, I grabbed some lunch and roamed the terminal with some of my friends, before heading to our boarding gate.

JetBlue A320 at New York JFK Airport

When we arrived at the gate, the A320 waiting to take us to New Orleans was already waiting for us. I appreciate that JetBlue has pimped out its gate areas with plenty of power ports and comfortable seating, which makes for quite a nice change especially when compared to some of the dumpier terminals at JFK… (Terminal 7, I’m looking at you).

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Review: L7 Hotel Myeongdong Seoul

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 ~ Jason ~ 1 Comment

Last year, I took a trip to Seoul. Unfortunately, it was cut short by a last-minute family emergency. However, I was able to snap some pictures during the 3 hours inside the hotel that I had booked for our trip, the L7 Hotel Myeongdong. L7 is a trendy new brand under the massive Lotte Group. I was excited to check out the hotel and see if it all the hype was deserved.

We made our way to the hotel using an Airport Bus service, which dropped us off one block away from the hotel. After being greeted by some staff on the first floor, we were directed to the lobby which was on the third floor where we were able to check in and given rooms despite the fact that we arrived 5 hours before the published check-in time. The overall process was efficient enough and the associates were quite friendly.

The hotel is located in Myeongdong, which is one of the main touristy areas of Seoul with plenty of great shopping and dining, so I have no complaints there.

L7 Hotel Myeongdong Lobby

While my mother handled the check-in formalities, I decided to explore the gorgeous lobby area, which was quite honestly the perfect place for an Instagram photoshoot. Right behind the front desk were a couple of decorative benches.

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Review: Cathay Pacific A330 Economy Class Hong Kong to Seoul – How Is Cathay’s Redeye Service?

July 3, 2018July 3, 2018 ~ Jason ~ Leave a comment

Last summer, I flew with Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Seoul on their daily red-eye service and checked out their watered down “midnight service”. Cathay Pacific operates a handful of redeye flights to cities in North Asia, including Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, etc., as well as from a few southeast Asian cities to Hong Kong, such as Singapore and Jakarta. If you’re booked on one of those flights, this is along the lines of what you’ll get.

I had checked in online, although an error message meant that I had to head to the check-in counter to collect a paper boarding pass which was quick and efficient. As it turns out, the flight was slightly overbooked and there was a chance that I would be upgraded. Afterwards, I made a beeline for The Pier, where I enjoyed a short nap in the relaxation rooms and took a quick shower.

Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge Food Hall

I left the lounge at around the published boarding time and arrived at our departure gate, only to find that boarding hadn’t even started. After a lack of boarding announcements for another 30 minutes, an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed for a further 40 minutes due to mechanical issues. While I understand the reason behind the delay, the lack of communication was irritating and really annoying. The fact that the aircraft was on the ground for five hours before our flight only added insult to injury.

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Review: Virgin Atlantic 787 Economy Class London to Hong Kong

July 2, 2018July 5, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: Spending The Night With A Virgin
Virgin Atlantic 787 Upper Class Hong Kong to London
Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge London Heathrow
Conrad London St. James Grand Deluxe Room
Virgin Atlantic 787 Economy Class London to Hong Kong

While I’d flown Virgin Atlantic’s premium economy class on the 787 countless times, I’d only flown their economy product once prior to this trip. Since we didn’t have any bags to check and had already checked in online, we got straight off the Heathrow Express and made a beeline towards immigration. My dad headed towards the Upper Class immigration channel (he couldn’t use the Upper Class Wing, since the Wing is used as a drop-off point for car transfers only).

After that and waiting for a while at the VAT refund stand, he guested me into the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is hands down my favourite airport lounge in the world. While the experience I had was exemplary, I’ll refrain from reviewing it again here, so check out my review from last year to learn more about the lounge.

The gate was scheduled to open at 8:55 PM for our 9:55 PM, though Heathrow’s Terminal 3 has one of those annoying holding pens where boarding doesn’t start for another 30 minutes. I figured I’d just head over around the half-hour mark, and got to gate 17 at around 9:30 PM. At that point everyone in the holding pen had already lined up to board.

From the holding pen I was able to grab pictures of our 787 under the sunset. One of the friendly gate agents approached me so she could look out of the window as well, saying “beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked if she was referring to the sunset or the 787, to which she replied, “both”.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 London Heathrow Airport

There was quite a hold-up at the jetbridge, which I’m not used to, since I usually race to be first onboard for cabin photos.

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