Category: Airport Lounge Reviews

Review: Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Airport

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Introduction: Home QSuite Home
Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Airport
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Hong Kong to Doha
The Sad State of Transit at Doha Airport
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Doha to Amsterdam
Hilton The Hague Family Suite
The Hotel Brussels Panorama Suite/Superior Twin Room
British Airways Galleries Lounge Brussels Airport
Qatar Airways 777 Old Business Class Brussels to Doha
Qatar Airways 777 QSuite Business Class Doha to Hong Kong

One of the awesome things about flying Qatar Airways business class out of Hong Kong is that you get access to the Plaza Premium First lounge at Hong Kong Airport. Qatar Airways also offers Plaza Premium First lounge access to those flying out of Kuala Lumpur. It’s a decidedly premium investment in their product, given that the upgrade cost (from regular Plaza Premium lounge access) is otherwise HK$250 per person. Unfortunately it seems like Qatar Airways is trying to be as stingy as they can with this benefit, as the check-in agent said “you’re going to use the Cathay lounges, right?” and I had to specifically ask for lounge passes for this lounge.

If you have no access to a Plaza Premium lounge whatsoever and would like to purchase access to the Plaza Premium First lounge, you can pay a cost of HK$880 for 3 hours of access, HK$980 for 5 hours of access, HK$1,080 for 8 hours of access and HK$1,180 for 10 hours of access. So the pricing for access to this lounge is indeed quite steep, which makes sense, given this is branded as a “first class” lounge.

The lounge is located one level below security (follow the signs to gate 1, and you’ll see the lounge on your way there).

Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Exterior

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Review: Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge Hong Kong

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Introduction: Revisiting Tokyo…Twice
Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge Hong Kong
Japan Airlines 777-200 Business Class Hong Kong to Tokyo
A Tale Of Two Observation Decks: Tokyo Haneda vs. Narita
Hotel Century Southern Tower Tokyo
Scoot 787 ScootBiz Tokyo to Taipei
Cathay Pacific A350-1000 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific A330 Economy Class Hong Kong to Tokyo
Cathay Pacific 777 Economy Class Tokyo to Hong Kong

In 2015, Cathay Pacific opened a couple of lounges under a brand new design, which they created in partnership with London-based design brand Studiolise. While many newer lounges worldwide have upped their game recently, I don’t think any lounges have been as widely appraised as Cathay Pacific’s since this partnership started. In 2016, Cathay Pacific opened The Pier’s business class section at Hong Kong Airport, which serves as their flagship lounge alongside the adjacent First Class section. I had the chance to visit The Pier shortly after it opened, and it continues to be one of my favourite lounges today.

The same year they closed the G16 lounge, a lounge that used to belong to Dragonair but was redundant now that Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon shared the same lounge access policies, for renovation. I visited the lounge shortly before it closed, and yeah, it was a bit of a dump. In March 2018 the lounge reopened as The Deck, which was their second lounge in Hong Kong designed under the same ethos.

The lounge is located by gate 6 (Hong Kong Airport changed their gate numbers slightly – gates 15 to 22 have become gates 5 to 12, as they’re building a footbridge to the North Satellite Concourse and renumbering gates 501-510 as gates 13-22), where signage leads passengers up an escalator and into a slick matte-finished entrance.

Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge Hong Kong Entrance

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Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Taipei Airport

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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

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

~ 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

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: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong Airport

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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

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

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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 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)

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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

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: SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong

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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

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: Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge London Heathrow

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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

We made our way through immigration by 5:20 AM, thanks to the fast track cards we were offered, and the fact that we were one of the first flights through. From there we passed baggage claim (we didn’t check any bags), and walked through Terminal 3’s drab arrivals hall, following the signage to the arrivals lounges.

The Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge is open to arriving Upper Class passengers and Delta Gold Medallion members. Unlike the departures Clubhouse lounge, though, you’re not entitled to a guest here. The lounge is open from 5 AM to 1:30 PM, so it’s mostly for passengers on morning flights who don’t have a hotel to check into yet.

The lounge is located opposite the multi-storey carpark, and requires a walk diagonally across the (small) arrivals hall, and a ride up a lift (the signage is intuitive enough – one of the redeeming qualities of Heathrow’s Terminal 3). The lounge is then located to the right of those lifts.

Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge London Heathrow Entrance

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5 Of The World’s Best Business Class Hub Lounges

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Over the past few years I’ve been incredibly lucky to try out quite a few business class products, and with that entailed going to their hub business class lounges as well. I’ve been to a range of lounges and come out with a variety of impressions, and find it such an exciting addition to the airport experience, especially when airlines put effort into it.

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Last year I listed the top 10 things that I look for in an airline lounge. Many airline lounges I know feature a large number, if not all, of these features in their own quirky variations. The five lounges featured below all have at least a majority of these features.

Too many times over the past few years, I’ve come out of a lounge thinking “hmm, this could potentially be one of the best in the world”. I haven’t visited all the business class lounges that I believe would make this list, though I don’t have plans to visit any of them in the near future. For that reason, here are my five favourite business class hub lounges, and I’ll share lounges that I believe potentially make the list as well.

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