After trying out the Air China First Class from Houston to Panama City, here comes Air China in Economy Class on both regional and short haul flight.
My recently concluded family trip to Fukuoka was on Air China via Beijing. At only $2.8k for 6 person, this is an excellent price as the price for Singapore Airlines for the same date came up to $9.2k! Top up another $400 and you can get yourself on Air China Business class which frankly is not a bad deal.
CHC and I were in Bangkok recently and we had the chance of trying out Thai Airways on their new Airbus A350-900. We were booked in Economy Class (Q class fare, which is a semi-flex fare) and knowing of Thai Airways’ same day walk up upgrade, we decided to give it a try.
You can check the seat availability on Expertflyer before travelling to know how full the cabin is but 48 hours before flying, this info is no longer available and one can only check at the check in counter (on the day of flying).
We traveled on both Scoot and Air Asia for our most recent trip to Penang. Although I have been on Air Asia before (Asia X to be precise), this was my first time on Scoot (formerly Tiger Air before being incorporated into Scoot).
It has been a busy week and I have not been able to continue – decided to take a bit of a break from my recent trip reviews and to post this from a friend’s recent trip.
A friend recently flew on UA 2 which is the direct competitor of SQ 34. Other than the fact that it is a direct flight and she was given the Economy Plus seat (at no extra charge), the rest of the flight was pretty forgettable. The best (or the worst) part was the “service with a snarl”.
I booked this trip for my family year end trip and the price was certainly attractive! I paid $470 per person (all inclusive) which is way cheaper than what I paid for my ticket to Wuhan. Both SQ 830 and SQ 833 is flown on the A380, specifically the new A38R. The last 5 A380-800 that was delivered last year spots the new Suites (6 Suites in the forward section of upper deck) and the all new Business Class (with the double bed at the bulkhead). The Premium Economy and Economy section however is the same as that of the 2015 and 2013 design. Besides Shanghai, the other destinations that utilizes the A38R include Hong Kong, Sydney, London and Zurich (I am still hoping for SQ25/26 to get this but I doubt this will be the case).
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.
I just came back from a conference in Bangkok and I managed to position myself to try out the new 787-10 in which Singapore Airlines was the launch customer. The 787-10 is meant to handle the regional flights currently being managed by the A330-300s and 777-200s which is way due for replacement. While the SQ974 is still being flown on an A333, SQ973 is being used as one of the short haul route for crew familiarisation before being used for its intended purpose – regional flights (KIX and PER being the first 2 destinations). So how was the flight?
AY412 would be my first turboprop plane in over 30 years! The last time (and also my first) was back in 1986 on a Fokker-27 (which was not something I was fond about). I vaguely recalled the flight being almost like a roller coaster.
ATR-72 is a completely different bid from what Fokker-27 was. Although small and flying in the winter, the plane was fairly steady. The plane is single cabin and configured in a 2-2 seating.
This was the last leg of our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Rovaniemi. It was a very short flight on an Airbus A321 which is configured as a single cabin. Seats as usual were arranged in a 3-3 configuration.
Our flight was only about 2/3rd full, hence we were free to switch our seats. As it was winter, my wife moved over to the port side (west facing) to catch the early sunset.
Author : CHC
This domestic flight was taken as part of my South African adventure after the completion of my visit to Cape Town and its surroundings. Slated as a 2 hour 30 min flight, I was told (and read) that domestic flights are notorious for cancelled and delayed flights but I was pleasantly surprised by a good traveling experience.
