With the 787-10 serving mainly the regional sector, how does it fare compared to the Business Class cabins of the A380 and 77W? I shall let the pictures do the talking (courtesy of my business partner, AF).
With the 787-10 serving mainly the regional sector, how does it fare compared to the Business Class cabins of the A380 and 77W? I shall let the pictures do the talking (courtesy of my business partner, AF).
After a hiatus, lets hear it again from CHC on his most recent trip on SQ F to PVG on the 77WR (using the 2013 F cabin, but spotting just 4 instead of 8 seats).
Hotels in Hong Kong are not known to be cheap, nor spacious. With the exception of Tokyo, most hotels here can barely fit 2 persons comfortably. Likewise, Holiday Inn Express Mongkok measures only at 19 square meter, it can be pretty challenging if you have many luggage with you. Despite its petite size, this hotel is not exactly shabby.
Picture courtesy of ihg.com
My last stop in Europe happened to be in Munich. I had a lot of trouble deciding which part of Munich I should stay in but after some consideration, I decided to settle in Holiday Inn Munich City Centre.
The hotel is located just outside of the city centre. I was initially keen to stay within the city centre itself (near the Hauptbahnhof). After reading reviews that suggest the area may be a little rowdy, I decided to stay a little off it. Holiday Inn is just at the fringe of it and it is connected to the S-Bahn via an underground connector. This is extremely useful during winter time and makes the hotel very convenient for those arriving into Munich Airport (as the S8 line connects directly to Franz Josef Strauss International Airport).
My next stop after Innsbruck happened to be Salzburg. The journey from Innsbruck was straightforward, just 2 hours direct train from Innsbruck. I booked this hotel mainly due to its proximity to the city and within walking distance from the train station (just 500 to 600 meter from the station). This booking was made via Prestige Concierge utilising the hotel night benefit (for the 4th night free) as Salzburg was my longest stop.
The hotel is situated along the main street but it was far from being busy. It only takes about 5 to 8 minutes to walk to Mirabel Palace, and probably 15 to 20 minutes to get the old city. Most of the point of interests in the city is within walking distance, but I would recommend getting the Salzburg Card which includes unlimited use of the public transport.
Semi panoramic view from the room
My second last stop for my Europe trip (which was also the stop my other half most wanted to visit) was Hallstatt. Hallstatt is small quaint town in Upper Austria and is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unless one is driving, reaching there can be quite a challenge and costly. Nevertheless, it is certainly a place worth visiting.
Being a very small town by the lake Hallstatt, there isn’t much hotel to choose from. Heritage Hotel is probably the most convenient to reach and is situated right in the town centre (it is very small town by the way). There are some B&B around though if one wants to consider other alternatives.
SilkAir is the regional arm of Singapore Airlines which had its humble beginnings as Tradewinds Airlines back in 1989. It was incorporated as SilkAir in 1992 and since then it has been operating regional flights spanning South East Asia, East Asia, South Asia and Northern Australia. It operates only narrowbodies (Boeing 737 and Airbus A319/A320). Recently, they have acquired 5 new 737 MAX as part of their fleet expansion programme.
Although fully owned by Singapore Airlines and one can earn/redeem Krisflyer Miles on SilkAir, it is not part of the Star Alliance group. What it means is that Business Class travellers cannot access Star Alliance Business Lounge using SilkAir boarding pass. Nevertheless, they can still access the Silverkris Lounge in Changi Airport Terminal 2 and designated SilkAir Business Lounges abroad.
Finally, the flight all (almost) flight enthusiast and probably businessmen had been waiting for – SQ22/SQ21. This is the direct Singapore-Newark flight that was terminated back in 2013 due to the rising fuel cost and the old A340-500’s thirst for fuel sealed the fate of this route….. until now!
Singapore Airlines has announced the resumption of this route, but it will be using the more fuel efficient dual engine modified Airbus A350-900XWB (morphing it into the A350-900ULR).
With Terminal 4 being operational since 31 October 2017, Cathay Pacific finally have a lounge they can call their own. It is located on the second level, just opposite Plaza Premium Lounge. The design and colour scheme is very similar to other Cathay Lounges (especially compared to The Deck in HKIA). The lounge itself isn’t big, it has a dedicated dining area near the entrance and a separate lounge area further in.
Unlike my previous flight, my return flight had no BKK stopover (phew….). Hong Kong International Airport has city check in counters at their Airport Express Stations in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Station. It has check in facility for many major airlines (which is listed here). I decided to do one dim sum stop before flying back and boy it wasn’t the best decision. My flight departs at 4:40pm and I did my city check in at 12:30pm. Unfortunately, my dim sum stop took longer than expected (we waited for 1 hour before we were seated and we were still in the restaurant at 2:30pm!). However, there was no regret as the dim sum was good (we tried the dim sum in Maxim Palace in City Hall). We got back to the station at 2:50pm and we managed to catch the train (the train leaves once every 10 minutes). The journey to HKIA took about 25 minutes and with the boarding pass in hand, we can go straight into the departure area. Even though HKIA has a courtesy lane, they are not meant for premium customers. Thankfully, getting through security was a breeze and the wait was even shorter for the immigration (thanks to the autogate).
That Time Of The Year! 