Review: Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse C

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Emirates Lounge Hong Kong
Emirates 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Dubai
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse C
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse B
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai Concourse A
Emirates A380 Business Class Dubai to London

Our flight landed at gate C17, which was in Dubai Airport’s Concourse C. Emirates features lounges in all concourses in Terminal 3, so I decided to check out the lounge in Concourse C first, as it was right next to the transfer area.

The lounge is situated near gate C11. Dubai Airport’s Concourse C is relatively quieter than Concourse A and Concourse B, as you have to walk through Concourse B to get there (so it’s not the ideal place for duty free shops).

Dubai Airport Concourse C

The lounge itself is located right across the First Class lounge, and it’s actually quite big. I was visiting the lounge in the middle of the day, and it was really empty. It featured two levels, with the lower level featuring mostly of a food spread and armchair-style seating, and more varieties of seating on the upper deck.

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Review: Emirates Lounge Hong Kong

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

This mini-trip report series will cover my experience traveling from Hong Kong to London Gatwick onboard an Emirates 777 and A380 in business class. I booked it as a one-way ticket for a hefty HK$22,960 – while I found a few throwaway tickets that could’ve halved the cost, I decided it wasn’t worth risking for my first flight to university. Sure enough, the insurance of a higher fare class paid off this time around, since we ended up changing our flights to avoid traveling to the airport during peak protest hours. My dad wasn’t so lucky – he had to pay a HK$16,000+ change fee to his ~HK$19,000 roundtrip ticket, bringing the total cost ticket in line with normal roundtrip business class fares seen on Cathay Pacific and British Airways between Hong Kong and London.

Emirates has a dedicated lounge in Hong Kong. Emirates business class passengers are also allowed into the amazing Qantas lounge, though unfortunately the Qantas lounge opens at 7:30 AM, which was too late for our 7 AM boarding time. So we made it into the Emirates lounge, and were pointed in by a friendly lounge attendant. The Emirates lounge is open from three hours before every Emirates flight, and accessible to Emirates business class passengers and Skywards silver, gold, and platinum members only.

Emirates Lounge Hong Kong Entrance

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Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge Brussels Airport

September 11, 2019September 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

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

We had arranged an airport transfer, and made it to Brussels Airport at around 1:45 PM. We first needed to run some of our items through tax-free, though unfortunately we had to deal with some condescending people at the tax refund counter. This isn’t a fault of Brussels Airport and rather is just a result of lower-class EU culture, since I’ve heard horror stories in multiple places across the EU from people of almost every race; the bottom line is that you need to keep your mouth shut and lay all your goods in front of the tax refund counter like a buffet.

Apart from the tragic state of what tax refund officers have become, Brussels Airport was quite pleasant otherwise, and we were checked in all the way back to Hong Kong (though they had a hiccup during check-in, as we were holding Hong Kong passports and the system indicated we were Chinese, and they needed to confirm that Hong Kong was indeed part of China – how ironic, given the situation here). I found the airport to be quite efficient, and the staff were also much friendlier than I’ve experienced at other European airports. We were also able to go through fast-track security, so we took advantage of that, and were through in less than 10 minutes.

Afterwards we headed towards the British Airways Galleries lounge, which was located by the B gates shortly after immigration. The lounge is located a level above the main terminal, so I found the curved stairs that headed up towards a variety of lounges.

British Airways Galleries Lounge Brussels Entrance

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Review: Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Airport

August 21, 2019September 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

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

June 21, 2019August 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

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

January 25, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ 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

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

January 23, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

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

January 3, 2019February 2, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

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)

August 13, 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 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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