Cathay Pacific Retires 777-200s

July 30, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific has been introducing some new aircraft lately. Last year Cathay Pacific introduced their newest variant of the A350, the A350-1000. The airline took the opportunity to introduce new economy class seats when introducing the A350-1000, and although I was swapped out when booked in their economy class, I did manage to fly their business class on a short flight.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000 Hong Kong Airport

Obviously, as with any company that has moving parts, the arrival of new planes means it’s time to say goodbye to some old ones. Cathay Pacific is retiring their last 777-200 out of service on August 7, 2019.

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Review: Scoot 787 ScootBiz Tokyo to Taipei

July 22, 2019August 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 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

One of the pet peeves people have in life is that you always want what you can’t have. I think this became true for me when Scoot pulled their 787s out of Hong Kong, instead substituting them for A320neos. While some low-cost airlines such as Malindo still offer a business class cabin to Hong Kong, none of the major low-cost carriers ~~besides British Airways~~ offer premium cabin service to Hong Kong anymore, which is a bit of a shame.

So when Cathay Pacific failed to open up any direct award space between Tokyo and Hong Kong, I knew that flying Scoot’s fifth-freedom flight between Tokyo Narita and Taipei was on my bucket list. This made me all the more excited when I got to Tokyo Narita’s Terminal 2 at around 9:30 AM.

Tokyo Narita Airport Terminal 2

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How Good is British Airways’ New Club World and Club Europe Dining?

July 20, 2019July 20, 2019 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

In my last post, I talked about my experience with British Airways’ Club World and Club Europe hard product. To my surprise, I found that the seats weren’t quite as bad as most people have made it out to be. With that in mind, I wanted to follow up on that post by sharing some of my thoughts about British Airways’ new Club World and Club Europe soft product offerings, especially considering the recent upgrades that have been made.

British Airways Boeing 777-200ER Club World Cabin

Last year, British Airways rolled out a new service style for their Club World cabins, which was created in collaboration with Do&Co. While the service initially included an elaborate trolley service, this was cut back in favour of a simpler hand-delivered tray service for convenience. In the meantime, British Airways have also rolled out improvements to their Club Europe dining. Having heard quite good things about both of these meal service enhancements, I was excited to give it a go for myself.

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Review: Hotel Century Southern Tower Tokyo

July 18, 2019August 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

I’m glad I manage to do what I do on this site, which is review a bunch of airlines and hotels from a well-informed perspective. I always aim to fly new airlines and stay at new properties whenever I’m presented with the need (or the opportunity), and have been fortunate to fly a variety of new airline products and stay at a variety of hotels over the past few years.

This wasn’t always the case. My parents love Japan, and as a kid we would always fly to Sapporo for a ski trip during the winter and visit Tokyo during the summer, using the miles Dad earned for his business trips to redeem flights on Cathay Pacific. During our Tokyo visits, we’d always stay at the Century Southern Tower, as it was affordable, had a great location, and had a room that could accommodate all four of us. I learned a lot about hotels from this place, and after so many years of writing, I thought it was “unfinished business” that I hadn’t written a review of this place. So we booked a twin room at the Century Southern Tower for ~HK$1,900 a night (our first three nights cost HK$1,800, whereas the last night cost more), and rolled up to the hotel at around 10:30 PM after our flight on Japan Airlines.

The Hotel Century Southern Tower takes up the top 15 floors of the Odakyu Southern Tower, which is a minute away from Shinjuku station, near the New South Exit. It’s accessible through a large pedestrian street called the Shinjuku Southern Terrace, which is a really nice walkway (on a nice day).

Hotel Century Southern Tower Tokyo

Hotel Century Southern Tower Tokyo Entrance

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British Airways’ Club World Seat Is NOT THAT BAD!

July 16, 2019July 19, 2019 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

British Airways’ “Club” business class cabins are some of the most extensively reviewed products out there, and the consensus seems pretty simple: it’s not that great. The current “dorm-style” Club World cabin has been panned by everyone and their mother and their Club Europe product is little more than an economy seat with a blocked middle seat and free food.

British Airways Boeing 777-200ER Club World Cabin

However, on a recent trip, British Airways offered some really compelling fares to Europe from Bangkok, so I decided to bite the bullet and try the product out for myself to see how the product fared, especially when compared to some more highly regarded competitors such as Cathay Pacific and Finnair.

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ANA’s Stunning New 777 Cabins

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

While economy class seats get tighter and tighter, business class seats have gradually gotten more and more luxurious. Qatar Airways revolutionised the industry by introducing their QSuite back in 2017, and since then we’ve seen an increasing number of carriers introduce business class seats with doors.

ANA introduced their last-generation business class products in 2013. I’ve heard good things about their soft product, though honestly their hard product is somewhere near the middle of the pack lately. The seat colours are drab, and I’ve tried similarly configured products (such as EVA Air’s 787), which are nice but can’t compete with the latest and greatest out there.

ANA Boeing 777 Tokyo Haneda Airport

Well, that changed all of a sudden.

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A Tale Of Two Observation Decks: Tokyo Haneda vs. Narita

July 12, 2019August 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Airports are exciting places. Sometimes it’s fun to gaze at airport terminals and wonder about how everyone you see will be scattered all around the world by this time tomorrow. Sometimes it’s fun to watch departures boards, looking at all the places you’re literally a plane ride away from. But as an aviation geek, one of the things that’s been nearest and dearest to my heart is watching planes roll by the tarmac, wondering where they’ve been yesterday and where they’ve been tomorrow.

Most cities have one large airport. Tokyo houses two. I prefer one airport to the other in almost every regard, though both of them feature outdoor observation decks, which is what I wanted to dedicate a separate post to.

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Review: Japan Airlines 777-200 Business Class Hong Kong to Tokyo

July 4, 2019August 18, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

After briefly checking out a couple of lounges, it was time to fly to Tokyo in Japan Airlines’ business class. We were able to see our 777 from the Qantas lounge, since we were departing from gate 6. Since I wanted to be first onboard and people were starting to line up just as I reached the gate, I didn’t get the opportunity to take a great photo of the plane from the gate, however.

Japan Airlines Boeing 777-200 Hong Kong Airport

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FINALLY: Cathay Pacific Adds Much Needed Long-Haul Business Class Amenities

June 24, 2019 ~ Alvin ~ 2 Comments

Cathay Pacific has a business class product that I find incredibly solid. Now that Cathay Pacific is installing WiFi onto a majority of their fleet, I actually find their premium cabins a very pleasant way to fly. Their A350 business class is currently my favourite business class seat out there – the sleeping surface is maximised, the storage is done right, and reverse herringbone seats are incredibly pleasant to start with.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 Business Class Bed

Unfortunately as of now they don’t exactly have the amenities to match. While Cathay Pacific has a decent pillow and blanket on longhaul flights, I find some of the basics to be lacking. One of the most annoying things about Cathay Pacific amenities is that they provide socks…and no slippers. Who wants to be walking towards an airplane bathroom in socks, soaking up all the…nevermind.

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Review: Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge Hong Kong

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

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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