Hello everyone,
This is the 6th and final leg of my RTW report.
1st leg can be found here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-6256.html
2nd leg can be found here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-6298.html
3rd leg can be found here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-6322.html
4th leg can be found here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-6324.html
5th leg can be found here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-6344.html
After 3 amazing days in Hong Kong, it was finally time to come home. One last picture of the night life before checking out the next day.
Since our flight left at 6pm, we had a late 2pm checkout as part of my SPG Gold status. Took the Airport Express shuttle to Kowloon station to do the In-Town check-in. This is an amazing concept as we did not have to lug our suitcases all the way to the airport. Wonder if there are any North American cities that have this concept as well.
The agent checked our bags and we were off to catch the train.
Took some more pics of the other airlines with check-in stations.
After 24 minutes, we were in sight of the airport.
Pics of the landside area of the terminal. Honestly, this airport will never cease to amaze me.
Premium economy check-in counters
First class check-in … one day hopefully :)
Next few pics are of the Business class counters.
Immigration and security were smooth and we were airside in 15 minutes. After immigration, we were at gate 4. So, we had 3 hours to kill … what do we do? Duh, lounge hopping ofcourse! First stop, The Wing.
Got some seats near the bar area on the far side of the lounge within close proximity of the Noodle bar.
Hmm, what shall I have for lunch?
Champagne please!
Ended up choosing the wonton noodles which was a no brainer for me. No, I'm not greedy lol .. the second bowl was for the Mrs. Also picked up some fried rice and dim sum.
After eating, I started snapping away.
View from the lounge above the main concourse.
CX840/AA6086 to JFK now boarding.
Mmmmmm, sugar.
Didnt get our gate number at check-in but its now there. 2 hours to go at this point. :)
Don't adjust your screen … its an illusion … no j/k, I missed flipping this pic. Somehow I like it this way.
We decided to leave at this point and go to the next lounge. Pics on the way out.
Some tails as we were walking the concourse.
Second stop .. The Cabin.
View from the window of the lounge.
Oh noes, some dastardly villian broke a boarding gate.
Pics of the lounge.
So, I missed flipping another pic.
South African A340 and Hong Kong Airlines.
I believe thats the JFK flight being pushed back.
AC B777 taking off
Cathay A330
Swiss A340 coming into the gate.
Jet Airways A330
Alrighty, enough time spent at the Cabin (which in my opinion was a little more cozier than the Wing and had better views). We made the long walk to the next lounge.
Hello BA A380
China Airlines A330
Third stop … The Pier.
The lounge was empty and this felt nice.
Food/Beverage area with a half size noodle bar.
Gorgeous Eva Air B744.
The First Class area of the lounge. It was seperated by these bamboo trees.
Spent all of 10 minutes walking around and left for the next lounge.
Emirates B773
BA A380 in the background again.
Singapore A380
Fourth stop … The Bridge.
Directions.
Some kind of funky artwork.
Pics as we were walking through the lounge.
Mmmmm, fresh bread.
The Long Bar. I wonder why they call it that …. :)
Again, 10 minutes spent here walking and taking pics. One more stop, kids, I promise no more after that. :)
Fifth and final stop … Plaza Premium Lounge. Thank you Amex Plat and Priority Pass.
The pics from the lounge are all over the place.
Yummy fishball noodle soup.
Was very bland for me but chilli sauce came to the rescue. Also, the 2nd one was for the Mrs again. ;)
Time to head to the gate. Pic of the Emirates front door on the way down.
Got to gate 43 and our beautiful 77G was waiting for us.
Funny moment here - was snapping this pic but the Mrs walked ahead of me to the Business Class line. The agent asked for the passports which she didnt have and then I heard a very loud hiss in my direction. The Mrs was not very pleased. ;)
Down the tube we go.
Here's my seat number.
The seat itself.
Started off with OJ for my first PDB.
Shot down the aisle.
Shot of the cabin.
2 windows all for myself.
Fancy seat controls.
Dragonair A330 next to us.
View of the foot rest area. This was definitely bigger compared to the A330 between MLE and HKG.
The FA came by with another round of drinks. This time went for the bubbly.
Front facing camera. I like the A380 tail camera best as it gives a better view when landing or taking off.
El Al B777
Another AC777
Not sure what they are building here. Anyone know?
Cathay Pacific Cargo B747
Hong Kong Airlines A320 trying to race us.
Anyone know why a United B737 is all the way out here?
I was staring at that B737 for a good 15 minutes before we finally lined up on the runway and took off.
After 15 minutes, the seat belt sign was turned off and the FA's went about their business. I went about mine. :)
Same amenity kit.
Pacific Sunrise and warm almonds.
Prawns to start with some delicious garlic bread. One can never go wrong with G-Bread unless someone intentionally messes it up.
We both chose the Fish Curry which was really good.
Fruit
Cheesecake for dessert. Had an extra helping of raspberry sauce.
By the time dinner was done, there was another 11h 38m to go. So I sat back and watched Runner Runner and The Butler, the former being so-so and the latter being good.
We did experience some heavy turbulence for 2 hours of the flight. Even when lying in bed mode, it was not fun. It got so bad that the flight crew had to take their seats and you could hear the cargo shaking below. Once we were through the nasty part, I finally fell asleep and was gently woken up for breakfast by the FA around 1.5 hours before landing.
Fruit to start with Hong Kong milk tea which I love.
Every course was done via cart service which is awesome since you get to see which dish looks good.
For my main, I went with the dim sum. The chilli sauce really came in handy.
After breakfast was done, the purser came by and asked if I would to like to fill out a questionnaire to rate their service. So, I did.
Hopefully, I would win the two return tickets but I'm not holding my breath.
I took a walk around the cabin and I noticed that the smaller J cabin was empty. Damn, could have had this all to myself and the wife if we knew! Oh well.
View from the wing.
Seat in bed mode.
We began our descent into YYZ. The captain came on and said we would be 30 minutes early and also apologized for the turbulence during the flight. Apparently we were caught in a jetstream.
Even though the captain said we were early, we ended up circling for a bit due to bad weather conditions in YYZ but eventually made it.
Touch down.
Air France and KLM at the de-icing faicility.
Turning into our gate.
We ended up waiting for a good 25 minutes before our bags could come out. It was a mad house since alot of flights just came in from the US/Caribbean and we saw a lot of people in shorts and T-shirts. Guess they thought 1 degree Celsius was hot! :)
Finally, we made it out and got into a cab to head home. Thanks for reading my TR's and hope you enjoyed it! :)
Thanks for your RTW trip, hope you enjoyed it :)
CX have a really nice hard product; meals seems to be good and the seat is comfortable.
I had the chance to fly CX on the YVR-JFK leg in J and I'd love to fly again with them on a much longer flight.
Btw, UA is flying a 738 between HKG and GUM.
In Taipei, you can check in at the high speed rail station serving TPE if you are flying on one of the Taiwanese arlines. That saves travelers coming from other cities the pain of lugging their suitcase on the connecting shuttle bus, but in HK, it is in the heart of the city and for all airlines and I love it.
In daytime, HKG may be the best airport in the world for plane spotting, especially if have flying steerage without any lounge access :)
United has a secondary hub in NRT (formerly that of Pan Am), with 5th freedom flights to a number of places in the Far East and the Pacific. That 737 must seldom see the Lower 48, if ever.
I wish I had had these new seats when I flew CX in J a couple years ago. There seems to be a dramatic difference in comfort.
Thanks for this Lounge Report ! :)
Great report once again! I just Loooooove the in-town check-in in HKG; it's sooo convenient! I wish there was such a thing everywhere! Great planespotting at HKG...it really is an #AvGeek paradise :-)
No question about it, it doesn't get much better than CX in J across the Pacific! Thanks again for sharing!
Thank you so much for this WONDERFULL report :D !
HKG is the heaven for all spotters ^^ (You should see my future report BKK-HKG and HKG-CDG I will make in a few days) !
CX is awesome from the beginning to the end in this flight, love this Cirrus seat in J ! :)