New Years Trip Ver. 2

As we approached 1 week prior to travel, new award space opened up and I ended up changing my New Years Trip Itinerary a bit. TG F space opened up on FRA-BKK so instead of routing through Osaka I elected to take this route and save a couple hours. It doesn't hurt that I also get to try out the First Class Lounge in BKK. Hopefully, they will let me in. So as of now my Itinerary is as follows(I'm probably going to make a couple more changes to the return).

LH457 LAX-FRA First

TG 921 FRA-BKK First

TG413 BKK-SIN Business

SQ828 SIN-PVG Economy

UA878 PVG-LAX Business

CX F, LAX-HKG, Trip Report 8/20/11

Fresh off a grueling 3hr Ops final, I was not expecting to wait in line to check in to my First Class experience on Cathay Pacific. With my mind still swimming with Ops terms, Queue Time and bottlenecks... why am I standing here in line? This cant be right? But there I was, lined up behind 1 couple, + 5 baggage carts, 2 parents, 1 caretaker + 3 screaming kids. I mean this is First Class, there shouldn't be any lines when flying International First? I had read all those trip reports featuring F class flying with extravagant private seating area exclusive for F passengers, sipping on a cocktail and getting taken care of, therefore my expectations were high but then again this is LAX we are talking about, IMO the worst Airport in the world... even celebrities don't get special treatment here. Then, I came to realize that this is in part Cathay's fault. The family of 6 in front of me with the 5 baggage carts were actually OneWorld Emeralds which entails them access to the First Class check-in and priority boarding. In my opinion the First Class line on an airline the caliber of Cathay should be dedicated to F class passengers, not elite members. Although I had to wait 20min to be checked in, my buddy who was traveling on Asiana Y got done with his check-in and had to wait for me. But, I am happy to say that this little hiccup was the only wrinkle of my journey to Shanghai.

Once through security my buddy and I made our way to the OneWorld Lounge. Knowing that as an OneWorld F passenger, I am only allowed to bring 1 guest who is traveling on an OneWorld carrier, when I got to the lounge, I had to beg the lounge dragon to get my buddy traveling on Asiana into the lounge. But with a little pleading we made ourselves into the busy OneWorld Lounge and in no time was sipping on our first bottle of Peroni. I had to pace myself because I had bigger better things in front of me and did not want to get wasted before the flight even started. So after a glass of bubbly and the Peroni I bid farewell to my friend and headed down to my gate to find a massive F class line already forming for boarding. And of course there were plenty of Emeralds in the line. Blehhh...

Boarding started within 3min and after walking onto the boarding bridge I turned left and headed in through 1L door of Cathay's magnificent 77W. I was so giddy I could not contain my excitement. I handed my boarding pass to the Service Manager on the plane and was immediately welcomed aboard and guided to my seat.

“Mr. Jiang, we were expecting you, here is your personal suite. Please make yourself comfortable.”

No less than 5 seconds later, one of the F class stewards came by and dropped off the Shanghai Tang Pajamas and Zegna Amenity Kit. He also offered me a drink.

Before he could finish his question, with a huge smile on my face, I blurted out.

“Glass of Krug please.”

On the way back the steward helped me store my carry on luggage in the storage area on the side of the TV console, and came back with a bottle of Krug. He showed me the bottle and I nodded and he began to pour. Having never drank high end champagne before I did not know what to expect.

That first sip was simply amazing. I could taste the nutty flavor of this well aged glass of Krug, a taste that blows the $20 bottle of champagne I had in the lounge out of the water. I went on to have another glass before the steward collected my glass in preparation for taxi.

The powerful 77W lifted off after a long rotation. 13Hrs and 25min away from Hong Kong International Airport.

The flight attendants snapped into action once the plane reached 10,000ft and distributed the menus for tonight's flight.

Once the seatbelt sign went off I went out to the bathroom to change into my Pajamas.

The IFE was turned on and I began to explore. Before the flight I had already selected the films I wanted to see and dove right into Fast Five. After a quick 3mins of commercial, the movie began to play. The screen size was perfect and the resolution was perfectly fine.

Although I had heard great things about Cathay's chinese food offering, the rack of lamb on the menu caught my eye. I had to have it. So my dinner choice was going to be Caviar with Balik salmon, Truffle with cauliflower soup, Lobster Salad, Rack of lamb, cheese plate and Hazelnut Cake with vanilla ice cream. I decided to switch to the 2007 Lynch Bages on offer(priced at $139 a bottle).

The Lynch Bages although delicious, tasted a slight bit bland as it did not have enough time to mature, but it still ranks among one of the best glass of wine I have ever tasted.

The Caviar and Balik Salmon were extravagant, not as large of an offering of Caviar as they had on board Turkish Airlines(they gave the whole jar) but still it was more than ample. The Balik Salmon was rippling with flavor better than any piece of smoked salmon I have ever tasted.

Then came the bread basket and I went straight for the Garlic Bread which was exquisite, comparable to the one I had on Singapore Airlines.

The soup came next and I could taste the faint bit of truffle in there.

This was followed by the lobster salad filled with 2 whole lobster claws.

The rack of lamb arrived and I dove right in. To be honest I was a little disappointed with this one. The lamb was cooked well with a slight pink center but I did not enjoyed the sauce and mostly regretted not getting the Seafood Stir Fry in XO Sauce.

Despite the full F cabin, the pace of the meal was perfect and I did not have to wait more than 2min for courses to arrive. Really marvelous job by the 2 flight attendants working F that day.

I was then offered some cheese. Although I have never been a fan of cheese, I will try anything on Cathay Pacific once. I just went with the goat cheese and was mildly impressed by the taste. This is certainly not the packets of cheddar they serve on United.

Dessert came next and the Hazelnut cake was moist and heavenly. I also ordered some Bailey's on Ice.

As a last course, the flight attendant brought out some pralines.

Extremely full at this point, the stewardess cleared the plates and offered to make my bed. I accepted and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. First class on Cathay has 2 bathrooms for 6 passengers. The one on the right is smaller, typical of what you see in economy class. The one on the left side is extremely large and well stocked with orchids. The bathroom was kept immaculate and was extremely pleasant to use.

Once I returned to my seat the stewardess was making my bed and this is what I love about Cathay. She went on to start a conversation with me, something I did not experience on Turkish F. I have always read that Cathay Flight attendants are very personable and easy to talk to unlike the robotic service on Singapore Airlines. The stewardess told me that this was only the second time that she has served anyone as young as me in First Class, and told me that it was a pleasure serving me.

After she was done I climbed on the bed and laid down, a bottle of water was placed at my bedside. The bed was extremely comfortable, wider than the Turkish Airlines First class suites. The duvet was extremely comfortable and I watched a couple more episodes of Big Bang Theory and clocked out for almost 8hrs.

Noticing that I had woken up, the stewardess came around to offer me a drink. I went with a glass of Johnny Walker Blue on the rocks. Seeing that I still had 4hrs left till Hong Kong, I decided to explore the snack menu. I ordered a bowl of Hot Pot Rice and 15min later, my Hot Pot Rice arrived with a bowl of winter melon soup. The soup was simply amazing, full of taste and extremely refreshing. The Hot Pot Rice was also very good, better than any Hot Pot rice I have had in the US. The chicken was moist and the rice was cooked to perfection. Definitely ranks up there as my favorite food I have tried on an airplane.

While I was finishing up my snack, the stewardess came around to ask me what I would like for Breakfast and when I would like it. I chose the mixed fruit smoothie, Ti Kuan Yin tea, fruit plate and the Dim Sum for 1.5hrs before landing.

After the snack I went on to watch another movie and before I noticed my breakfast service was about to begin.

The fruit smoothie was more of a fruit juice but it was excellent.

The fruit plate was fresh and well presented.

The dim sum was definitely delightful. The Har Gaw was excellent and the lotus leaf rice was as good as any dim sum served on land.

Sadly my flight was coming to an end. The IFE was turned off 15min before landing and after a quick descent we landed at a sleepy Hong Kong International Airport. We made it to the gate within 5min and I was the first to get off the plane. The flight attendants thanked me profusely for choosing Cathay Pacific and wished me a great stay in Hong Kong. Bringing my wonderful Cathay Pacific First Class experience to an end.

Chicago Trip Report

I decided to visit the rents this past weekend for Easter. Since we had Friday off, I hopped on a 7pm United flight to Chicago out of LAX. To my delight, all 3 of my flights were automatically upgraded to UA First Class. All 3 legs were flown on ancient 757 metal that were almost as old as me.

A note for future bookings, to increase upgrade chances on United, I recommend flying on these 757s because they have 24 seats in 1st class compared to the 8-12 1st class seats available on A319 and 320s.

So, I got done with my work appointment early so I made my way down to LAX at around 3:30. Since I was quite early for check in, I decided to make my way down to the In & Out by LAX.

For those of you who don't know this unique spot for aviation enthusiasts, there is an In & Out right by runway 25R at LAX where you can get a great view of Terminal 2 and of planes taking off from 25L and landing at 25R.

My Favorite In & Out

You can see part of Terminal 2 and 3 here. I think I saw a KLM and Air France bird parked at Terminal 2.

And the Piece de Resistance...

I caught the SQ all business class configured A340 on final approach

What a beautiful sight, I would have missed out on this shot if it were not for a fellow aviation enthusiast and his live Air Traffic Control feed. We knew something big was coming when he rushed from one end of the parking lot to another passing up a Speedbird(British Airways) 747 take off roll on Runway 25L.

I decided to leave on a high note and proceeded to LAX Park to park my car. I love this little parking lot on Bellanca Ave. First of all, it is dirt cheap, $7 a day I believe and they park the car for you. The shuttle service is almost always reliable to and from the Airport.

The check-in and security at LAX Terminal 6 was pretty lax and I was in the terminal by 5pm.

As expected, with United's new upgrade policy, 1st class was completely packed with Elite flyers. I took my 5C seat and observed the 1st class boarding process. The aisle was completely cluttered with people and the overheads were completely full.

Service was slower than usual for 1st class due to the cluttered aisle, and I only got my pre-takeoff OJ 20min into the boarding process.

Pre-Takeoff OJ with the Hemispheres Magazing

After takeoff the CA's quickly went into the galley to prepare our dinner service as well as drink service. They came around to take drink and dinner orders. To my disappointment, they did not call me by name. The dinner choices on the flight were either chicken or pasta. I went with the Chicken, typical International Economy choices IMO. And for my drink, I went with a gin and tonic.

The drink came out first with the hot nuts. The hot nuts has to be my favorite part of the entire 1st class experience. Nuts just taste sooo much better warmed up.

Gin and Tonic and the world famous United Hot Nuts

My chicken dinner came out 10min later and on a scale of 1-10 I give it a 4. The chicken was moist but lacked flavor, and the cous cous and salad was disappointing. However the Lemon cake for desert was quite tasty.

Dinner service-Chicken breast with couscous, salad and lemon cake

The CAs were pretty attentive with the drinks and whenever my glass was nearly empty, I got my refill.

For the remainder of the flight, I decided to pop open my chinese book to memorize some characters...I know I am a nerd.

I reached Chicago around 1am and the airport was nearly empty. I quickly made my way home and went to bed. The next 2 days, my parents put me to work and I cleaned the garage and did some yard work. No Chicago trip ends without Chicago style pizza, and I got my dose this time around from Lou Malnatis. Now that I think of it, I haven't had Malnati's since high school. Lou Malnati's is owned by our High School Basketball coach's brother, therefore it was our only catering option for events at my high school. IMO the pizza quality is second to none. We ended up getting our deep dish with sausage, spinach and pepperoni.

A word of advice: spinach is a must have on Chicago Style pizza.

And the sausage is a nice complement to the crust. They basically stick a hamburger patty underneath the cheese.

Malnati's Pizza with Spinach, Sausage and Pepperoni

We also went to a new Korean BBQ restaurant my family was raving about, Arirang. I gotta admit, their marinated rib pieces deserves a big thumbs up from me.

The Gigantic Rib Pieces

The delicious meat and some banchan

On Sunday afternoon I made my way to O'Hare for my flight back to LA. For the return leg, I had to make a quick 1hr stop in Vegas.

I took my seat at 2B and once again, the 1st class was filled with Elites going to Vegas. I decided to pass the pre takeoff time by listening into the cockpit on Channel 9. Channel 9 is the one unique thing that I love about United, I can listen to the cockpit's interaction with the ATC. Although most of the conversation is gibberish, I am starting to understand more and more of what goes on between the ATC and the cockpit. And its always fun to hear the conversation between the ATC and Asian airline pilot. I love listening to their accents. On this flight I was able to listen into the ATC directing a British Airways flight to takeoff. The ATC referred to the plane as Speedbird 20, and I got a kick out of that. Speedbird is probably my favorite call sign.

During this time, it began to rain and I realized from channel 9 that the taxing process was going to get hellish. As I feared, we ended up taxing for over 1hr, and I was getting nervous that I would miss my connection in Vegas. To make matters worse, my connection was the last flight leaving Vegas for LA and if I were to miss that, I would be stuck in Vegas. I knew the only way to make the flight was that the Las Vegas-LAX flight was on the same plane I was sitting on from ORD-LAS. There was a high chance of this because Vegas does not get much UA 757 traffic and also both legs of my flight were on 757s. So I crossed my fingers as we made our way to Vegas.

The service on the plane was decent, better than the LAX-ORD leg. Although the Orange Chicken I got for dinner was absolutely disgusting. It was so bad I even forgot to take a picture. I ended up getting another gin and tonic and enjoyed my hot nuts : )

Gin and Tonic and Hot Nuts

After an extremely bumpy flight, we landed in Vegas over an hour late, and to my delight I got an email from United saying that my LAS-LAX leg was also delayed for 1hr. I was right, they were going to use the same plane. So I walked around Vegas airport for about 20min and took a pic of the slot machines.

Slot machines at LAS

We hopped on the short 1hr flight from LAS-LAX and to my surprise, 1st class was only 1/3 full. The flight must have had very few elites on it. Since I had to drive home from the airport, I decided to order a Seagram's Ginger Ale instead of an alcoholic drink. To my disappointment, we were not offered hot nuts and only got pretzels.

The Vegas skyline on takeoff from seat 3D was magnificent, a close second to landing and making the deadman's turn at the old Hong Kong airport.