Avis du vol entre Hong Kong et Hanoi en classe Affaires avec Cathay Dragon

Greetings flight report community and thank you for stopping by this report.

I've read about mistake fares but have always been too late to the party. That trend reversed as I sat in my den with my laptop on 12/31/18 and, as I often do, surfed over to one of my favorite miles and points blogs to see a post about some rather incredible airfares ex. Vietnam, in first class too. For fun I pivoted to an OTA website and sure enough, these fares were still live. I picked some random days and a few clicks later the tickets were purchased. Jennifer and I would be taking two trips to Vietnam and we were ecstatic. Please visit this post to read more about the planning and the first trip.

This series of posts will cover the second half of the mistake fare ticket. On this trip we added a visit to Laos and the enchanting Luang Prabang. 

The Pier First Class Lounge Hong kong

Jennifer is a great travel companion and is up for anything. That said I decided to spare her the Hong Kong lounge hop on this 3 hour visit as there wasn't enough time to do it properly. I selected The Pier as I know she would appreciate the massage service. Transit security was quick and we had a 10 minute walk to the lounge.

Before lounging I stopped by a Cathay Pacific service center to inquire about seat assignments and obtain boarding passes. This turned into a cluster of poor service. Cathay was claiming that our Vietnamese Visas were incorrectly filled out. Something about our names being first, middle, last but they should be last, first middle. It made sense on some level but I applied online for the evisa and they were approved in whatever format I submitted, along with a scan of our passports.  I wasn't concerned, but they were. They wanted us to sign forms that held Cathay harmless if we were to be denied entry. I refused to sign and they finally relented and gave us boarding passes. Anyhow is was all strange and unfortunate after such a great flight. 

We went directly to the shower/spa counter to inquire about reserving a time. Unfortunately none were available until after our departure time. Instead we decided to take advantage of some showers and freshen up. We met about 30 minutes later and veered off to the dining room to have a taste.

The strange spotlight lighting in the restaurant prevented me from capturing good menu shots, apologies.

I opted for Champagne and Jennifer for a Manhattan.

Wonderful views from The Pier.

We were treated to an authentic dining experience complete with a man loudly shouting on speakerphone while slurping and chomping on dinner.

In our typical way we ordered several items to share: The wonton soup, the burger, and the clams. Everything was pleasant enough with the burger showing exceptional. Jennifer commandeered the sandwich as she didn't opt to enjoy the beef on board as I did.

Throwing caution to the wind ordering shell fish at an airport lounge.

I had coffee after the meal, Jennifer opted for tea.

As we left the dining room Jennifer went off to use the restroom and the Spa attendant came and located me in the seating area. He asked if Jennifer was still interested in a treatment as there was a no-show. I was certain she was so I walked with him so we could intercept her on the way out of the loo. She went off to have her 15 minute foot treatment and I retired to the comfortable seating for the remainder of our stay. I was absolutely stunned by the excellent service. He said he was looking all over the lounge for us. I understand the more people he treats the more potential for gratuity but I was still pleased he made the effort and Jennifer was able to enjoy a treatment.

The flight information screen displayed a delay of 35 minutes for us which was a bit of a bummer as we were hoping to get to our hotel with time to go walk around town. If it got too late we probably wouldn't be up for it. Eventually the status switched to boarding and we left our sanctuary of luxury.

KA299 HKG-HAN

Arriving at the gate during final call has the benefit of avoiding the Oneworld everyone is elite boarding process. I located my seat, starboard bulkhead window, and as soon as the woman in 10H noticed Jennifer was seated apart form me she offered to move. A very kind gesture and 11G was one row back and still on the aisle to she didn't have to go far. 

I can't remember the name of the welcome cocktail. Is it Oriental Breeze, or something like that?

Seat and IFE controls.

Limited storage in the bulkhead.

Monitors in the bulkhead and fold out bassinet.

The menu for this sort flight.

We finally pushed back after a 1:06 delay. The inbound aircraft was delayed, etc…

Lifting off 7R.

Service started quickly, as it would have to on a short flight. The crew were fantastic. Full hustle but alwys able to address us by name and provide excellent service. The base tray was set with the smoked duck starter. I requested the Italian red.

Butter soaked goodness.

Sauteed beef short rib. It was quite flavorful. I only picked a bite or two.

Hagen-Dazs caramel biscuit & cream speculoos to finish.

I tried to nap a bit the rest of the way but as you can see these seats are not the best for sleeping.

Approaching Hanoi.

Tourist Bonus: Moring walk about - Hanoi style