Category: Airline Reviews

Review: Thai Airways 777-300ER Economy Class Hong Kong to Bangkok

~ Jason ~ Leave a comment

I recently took a school trip to Surat Thani in Thailand. I flew Thai Airways and Thai Smile Economy Class and documented the experience in this mini trip report series. I was especially interested to see how Thai Airways stacked up against Cathay Pacific’s regional Economy Class experience, given how loyal I am to my hometown carrier. 

Thai Airways check-in counters in Hong Kong are located in Terminal 2, which is shared with many most low-cost carriers. Check-in was efficient, and there was no line save for our school group. I was ushered by the station manager to the Royal Silk check-in counters. The ground staff were friendly and efficient and was sent on my way through security and onto the train between Terminal 2 and Terminal 1.

59763442_340602059932011_6468738390119415808_n-1Thai Airways Hong Kong Airport Check-In 

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Review: Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

 Introduction: Spending The Calm Before The Storm In Bangkok
Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Premier Twin Room
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Duplex Cabana
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Grounds and Facilities
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Bangkok Concourse E
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

Thai Airways flies a bunch of aircraft to Hong Kong. At the time that I took this flight, Thai Airways operated three A330s, two 777-300ERs and one Thai Smile A320 to Bangkok every day (one of these 777s has since been replaced by an A350, and one of the A330s has been replaced by a regional 777). I had flown Thai Airways’ A330 many times, and the 747 once; however, this was my first time flying a Thai Airways aircraft outfitted with their longhaul configuration.

I got to the gate at 11:45 AM in anticipation of a 12:05 PM boarding time, and was face to face with the sleek Thai Airways 777:

Thai Airways Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

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Review: EVA Air 787 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong

~ 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: EVA Air A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei

~ Alvin ~ 1 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

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: Royal Brunei A320neo Economy Class Hong Kong to Brunei

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

In November 2018 I had commitments in Bandar Seri Begawan, and also headed off to a jungle resort in Ulu Temburong National Park, a national park in Brunei. This was booked as part of my fourth and final trip with school – you can check out my reports in previous years of my trips to Myanmar, Fujian, and Yunnan here. Once again, my parents funded this trip, and I’ll reiterate once again that my goal in life is to be able to use the tactics I learn in this industry to give my parents such experiences in the future, for pennies on the dollar.

Royal Brunei Airbus A320neo Brunei Airport

With that in mind, I was booked a HK$3,800 roundtrip economy class ticket on Royal Brunei, which operates the only nonstop flight between Hong Kong and Bandar Seri Begawan. I was thrilled to see that I’d be flying their new A320neo, which I was excited to review – I quickly did a little research, and found out that Royal Brunei had installed PTVs on their A320neos, which isn’t usually the case in economy class on narrowbody aircraft in Southeast Asia. For your reference, business class starts selling from HK$6,900 roundtrip on this route.

Here’s my review of the product, which will work a little differently from the other reviews I’ve written in the past.

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EVA Air’s NEW 787 Business Class Seat — WOW!!

~ Ethan Yang | Aviation and Travel ~ Leave a comment

Greetings from Taipei! Last Saturday, I flew to Hong Kong and right back onboard EVA Air’s brand new 787. EVA hasn’t been flying their 787 for long, and I was actually flying them on the third day they operated the plane. While I was seated in economy, I had the chance to check out EVA’s brand new business class product.

EVA Air Boeing 787 Business Class Cabin

I booked these flights so I could check out the new products onboard EVA’s newest flagship plane, and I’m proud to say that I found the new seats to be both stunning and beautifully designed.

What is the brand new business class onboard EVA Air’s 787 like? Watch the video and read below to find out!

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SNEAK PEEK: Cathay Pacific’s NEW Business Class Dining Concept

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I’m a fan of Andrew from Expatriate Days’ photos on Instagram. Earlier this month he had the chance to fly Cathay Pacific’s inaugural flight from Hong Kong to Washington Dulles on the new A350-1000, which included Cathay Pacific’s new dining concept. I reached out to Andrew to see if he could provide his thoughts in a post, and he was kind enough to oblige.

Here they are below. While all opinions below are his, I largely agree with them (I’ve been more critical of Cathay Pacific’s current premium product than he has, though). Thanks, Andrew! 🙂

In September, I had to fly from New York to Shanghai for business. The month of September must be a busy travel time as premium cabins were largely full on more desirable carriers — JAL, ANA, Cathay, even the U.S. carriers.

I couldn’t book myself onto one of the five Cathay flights from New York, but luckily space was available on the flight from Washington D.C.— Cathay’s longest flight by distance — and on the inaugural flight no less. The flight nicely coincided with the dates that I needed to fly, so as a result, I got to experience two new Cathay features: the A350-1000 service (with updated reverse herringbone seating and inflight WiFi) along with the new Cathay business class dining concept.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000 Washington Dulles Airport

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Up Close With Hong Kong Airlines’ New A350 Economy Seat

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday I got to tour one of Hong Kong Airlines’ own Airbus A350s. While Hong Kong Airlines currently already flies four A350s, they were meant to be delivered to Azul, so feature a different onboard product. So the rest of Hong Kong’s 21 A350s from hereon out will be delivered with a different product to the one on the first four.

The biggest hype was surrounding the business class product, so yesterday I gave an extensive tour of the airline’s new business class product. However, I realised that the economy class product was also different from what the airline offers on their other A350s, so I thought I’d be bereft in my duty not to check them out as well.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350 Economy Cabin

So, how is Hong Kong Airlines’ newest A350 economy class product?

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Hong Kong Airlines’ NEW A350 Business Class

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Today I had the chance to have a look at Hong Kong Airlines’ new A350 business class product. I’ve flown Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 with their staggered business class configuration, as well as their A330 with their ex-Singapore Airlines business class configuration. Hong Kong Airlines has a ton of different business class configurations, and this is the one that they’ve been planning to introduce on all of their future longhaul aircraft since 2016.

Reverse herringbone seats are some of my favourite seats in the industry – I actually prefer them to Apex Suites due to the extra storage space. I’m glad to say that Hong Kong Airlines’ newest A350s have a very nice iteration of reverse herringbone seats.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350 Business Class 

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Review: Korean Air 777 Business Class Seoul to Hong Kong

~ 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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