Around the world in 39 days (F/J/PE/Y)

[1022]

Flight: MH611
ETD: 9:05
ATD: 9:06
ETA: 10:15
ATA: 10:15
Cabin: Business
Seat: 2A
AC: 737-800 (9M-MLO)

My airport transfer dropped me in front of a busy KLIA terminal 1 just on 7am. It wasn’t immediately evident where MH’s business class check in counters were. I wandered around the economy check in desks and saw a lone desk that said “Premium” on the monitor above. I assume that in their home port this isn’t the extent of their premium check in offering, but bugger me if I could find where the actual bank of business check in desks were.

Anyway, the agent pulled up my booking, eyes widening as he saw that today I would be flying KUL-SIN-HKG-LHR on MH and CX. He hunched and relaxed his shoulders, exhaled and started typing and swiping my passport and typing some more and swiping again. Everything looked under control, but clearly it takes skill to navigate complicated backend systems in order to make things easy for us travellers - especially those of us who fly stupid itineraries based on the adrenaline rush of snapping up reward flights. After a few minutes my suitcase was tagged all the way to London, but - as was the case back in Sydney - the agent could only issue a boarding pass for the first leg to Singapore. (More on that later!)

There was no wait at immigration, nor at the cursory outgoing customs carry on baggage x-ray machines. The escalator up to the MH golden lounge was easy to spot and I was welcomed into the bright space and advised to head to the gate at 8:30 (rather than 8:05 as printed on my BP). It’s not a particularly big home airport “flagship” lounge, and the furniture is straight out of a generic airport lounge catalogue, but the full wall of glass overlooking the apron, cavernous ceilings as well as an extensive breakfast buffet, including eggs cooked to order make this a pretty solid business class lounge offering overall. I just had some fruit and yoghurt to pace myself for a long day ahead of sitting in the big seats and being fed way too much food and drink. I ordered an Americano from the barista - it’s the closest approximation to my usual long black order that can be found outside of the Antipodes. The coffee was dire but the caffeine was a welcome hit to the bloodstream.

Time passed quickly and I headed down to the gate which was the closest one to the lounge exit. I was straight through security and into the holding pen where final boarding calls were already being made, a full 35 minutes before departure.

I was greeted by the ‘chief steward’ who was at the foot of the airbridge rather than inside the aircraft door. He was far less cheerful than his colleague had been a few days prior. Not unpleasant, but very much going through the motions for the entire duration of the flight. Waiting on my seat 2A was a pillow and wrapped thin blanket. There was only one other passenger in J on this flight, seated in 2F. This aircraft was configured in Malaysian’s updated 737 3 row business cabin. As @Mattg noted on his recent AFF review of Malaysian’s short haul business product, the older cabins are a bit more spacious and comfortable. But this seat is more than fine for short haul, day flights around SE Asia.

The more junior FA who was assisting in the business cabin was much more personable than her boss when she came by to offer pre-departure drinks and cold towel and to take my breakfast order. The choices were a fruit plate or chicken vermicelli noodles. I ordered the noodles. We of course then sat at the gate until pushing back more or less at our scheduled time. A few more passengers trickled on board in the meantime.

I’ve decided that my new AirTag creates more luggage concerns than it solves! During that long wait between boarding and departure, it looked like the location of my suitcase was still somewhere inside the terminal rather than in the belly of the 737 I was sitting on. That’s where it appeared to remain even as we were taxiing out to the runway and I snuck a peak at my phone off flight mode. I was mentally preparing for luggage dramas seeing as I only have about 15 hours in London before flying to Dubai in the evening of the day I arrive.

Once we’d cleared some light chop on climb the seatbelt sign was switched off and my noodle breakfast was brought out with a glass of apple juice. It was such a simple little dish and so packed with flavour. Being wrapped in banana leaf meant that the vermicelli didn’t dry out in the cabin air the moment the food came out of the oven. The crew member was genuinely concerned to make sure I liked it and that it wasn’t too spicy for me. Even by toned down Australian standards it was a pretty mild dish with a kick of tamarind and just a bit of chilli.

My tray was cleared and we were soon descending into Singapore where I was a little trepidatious about the transfer process because I realised just before leaving KUL that CX operate from the remote T4. I’d read that passengers require an onward boarding pass to get on the airside terminal transfer bus for T4, but that the only CX transfer desk where I could get a boarding pass printed is in … T4.

Read on to find out how it all went!

Views on approach to SIN

 

[1022]

Second Singapore Transit of the Trip

We landed in Singapore on time. During the long taxi when my phone reconnected my heart sank when it pinged to say my bag was 467km away. Thankfully a moment later I appeared to have been reunited with it in Singapore. Clearly there’s a bit of latency with AitTags. As mentioned above, I think it’s probably not so smart to monitor it too religiously and instead just rely on it if a bag does ever go missing - which for me in many years of travel has happened only once and that was well managed by the Airline (EK).

Once we were at the bay, and after yet another drilling on what I thought of the noodles from the FA while waiting for the door to open, I entered the terminal and followed the signs to the T4 transfer bus gate via the skytrain to T3. Seeing as I didn’t have an onward boarding pass in hand and no way of getting one airside in the main T1,T2,T3 complex, I had no idea what to expect when I reached the transfer bus gate. There was just a small counter with a bored attendant. I told him I was transferring to a Cathay flight, didn’t have a BP yet, but showed him my checked baggage tag with CX flight numbers to HKG and LHR. That was enough for him to wave me over to a seat to wait for the next bus which was due in 10 minutes. The route to T4 across the tarmac should excite any AvGeek. We got up close and personal with lots of widebodies from all over the world.

At T4, passengers first pass a security checkpoint. Unlike T1-3 in Singapore where security chacks are done at the gate, T4 has more conventional centralised security for departing passengers plus this small set up for transferring pax.

Once past security you’re still in a sterile area with a bank of transfer desks and a checkpoint that you can’t pass without a BP in hand. So my momentary hope of sorting out my BP at the lounge was dashed. Of the half dozen or so desks only two were staffed: Jetstar and Vietnam Airlines. On one of the empty counters was a small sign next to a phone with instructions of the number to call for Cathay Pacific. As I dialled, the woman at the VN desk told me off, saying the phone wasn’t for customer use. I ignored her, pointed to the sign as the friendly Cathay station manager answered and said she’d send someone down. After about 5 minutes an agent in Cathay’s distinctive red uniform appeared. Like every single check in agent I’ve encountered so far on this trip, there was consternation and a lot of typing and a phone call to a higher-up before boarding passes could be printed. Qantas ticketing, I have no idea what you’ve done, but this OWA isn’t playing nice with your OW partners it seems!

T4 Mezzanine view of the kinetic cloud sculpture. Pretty nice for an LCC terminal!

The agent eventually printed two boarding passes and lounge invitations for SIN and HKG and pointed me in the direction of the lounge. So off I went. The T2-T4 transfer process wasn’t too onerous I suppose, but bear in mind this is coming from a seasoned, English speaking traveller who has some prior familiarity with SIN airport and a pretty good notion of the process. I reckon it would be somewhere between moderately challenging and downright hell for most others. SIN could really do a bit of work to improve the transfer experience, starting with better signage and clear indications of what transfer countries each airline has reps at.

The SIN Cathay Pacific lounge opened in late 2017 when CX moved across to T4 as one of only a few full service carriers to use what is basically Singapore’s LCC terminal. (KE and VN are other major legacy airlines over there). Given the fact the very stylish lounge is relatively new, and compounded by an extended pandemic closure, it looks great and is in very good condition. When I visited the Pier F lounge in HKG later on, it became apparent that there is beautiful consistency the design and aesthetic languages of Cathay’s most recent lounge direction, without the bland same-same identikit philosophy of (say) EK lounges around the world by comparison.

I realised that during my 4 days in KL I ate very few vegetables - often an issue when travelling, even back home on business trips when eating out or getting takeaway for a few days at a time. So call me odd if you will, but here’s what I loaded on to my plate at the buffet. The buffet also had a selection of typical hot dishes such as curry, rice and fried noodles. I decided not to visit the separate noodle bar with its cafeteria style seating on this occasion.

The only downside to this lounge visit was a bloke right in the centre of the lounge shouting into his phone which was on speakerphone at full volume so that his colleague on the other end of the call could also be heard by all and sundry. Given the conversation was in Mandarin, sadly I can’t report what was so important that every single person in the Cathay Lounge needed to hear what was being said. I noticed one by one people giving him dirty looks then moving to the furthest corner they could find. He was oblivious of just didn’t give a rat’s. Thankfully I was already sat in a very comfy armchair in the corner of the lounge and my noise cancelling earbuds almost drowned out Mr Important.

A few minutes prior to the designated boarding time I made my way down to the gate where an agent was checking boarding passes on approach and directing people to the right queue according to cabin and/or status. I joined the short business/OWS line as pre-boarding was commencing for a couple of wheelchair passengers.

 

[1022]

Out of sequence update.

I scored an OpUp from Club World to First on my LHR-DXB leg. What are the chances of THAT on an award ticket. The upgrade gods are truly smiling because I’m having breakfast at the Sofitel Downtown Dubai while my upgraded Opera Suite is being prepared for early checkin! Time to buy a lottery ticket perhaps??

 

[1022]

Full post to come in due course

 

[1022]

Flight: CX690
ETD: 12:55
ATD: 12:47
ETA: 17:15
ATA: 16:37
Cabin: Business
Seat: 20K
AC: A350-900 (B-LRL)

I was excited to board this flight as it was my first ever trip on an A350. Covid led to the cancellation of a couple of flights that would have been my first ride on the most modern widebody in the Airbus stable.

Boarding for this full flight commenced on time. I entered through door 1L and passed through the main business class cabin and found my seat, 20K in the front of two rows in the mini cabin between doors 2 and the small PE cabin. One drawback of row 20 is that it only has one window. Another drawback was that the curtain to PE was never fully shut during the flight, so there was a fairly constant trickle of pax coming through the cabin to use the lav at door 2R. A plus on this flight was that the cabin crew didn’t enforce a closed-blind policy which is something I’ve experienced before on CX soon after takeoff on a day flight.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve sat in Cathay’s reverse herringbone seats. Despite the age of the design, this surely rates as one of the more solid business class seats in the sky. It’s spacious, surprisingly private due to the fairly high shell and head-height wing and the seat itself is comfortable in all positions from fully upright to lie-flat.

Pre departure beverages were offered and I asked for a glass of champagne when one of the FAs serving my aisle came by to introduce herself. I had kind of planned to be alcohol-free until the HK F lounge, but the word “champagne” just popped out of my mouth as soon as I was asked if I wanted something to drink Piper-Heidsieck was soon brought over.

I perused the menu while waiting for boarding to complete and for the aircraft to push back - which happened almost 10 minutes early. Kudos to Cathay and Singapore Airport staff for so efficiently boarding an almost full A350.

Extensive tea menu

Shortly after takeoff, inflight services manager Denise came by to give a very perfunctory, scripted greeting. Everyone in the mini cabin got the same “I’d rather not be doing this” treatment. An interesting observation during taxi and take off was that the crew at doors 2 were conversing among themselves in Mandarin. While inflight announcements continued to be delivered in Cantonese and English, I’d there is an unmistakable increase in the mainland influence and business focus of Cathay. judging by the number of Mandarin speaking passengers on this flight, quite a fair proportion were connecting to the mainland.

For lunch I selected the scallops followed by the beef.

The scallop starter was served chilled which was nice, but the dish was overall a bit tasteless and the scallops kind of rubbery. The beef on the other hand was tender and flavoursome and really evoked eating out in Hong Kong, which for a long time was my favourite city in the world and one which I’ve visited at least 20 times.

Once the mains were cleared I had a little tub of chocloate Haagen Dazs and a cup of jasmine tea. At this point had about two hours of the trip remaining which I spent typing up some TR notes and flicking through the fairly non-inspiring IFE content. I settled on the moving map and the excellent A350 high resolution tail cam.

On descent into HKG we were treated to great views of the distinctive and unmistakable hilly landscape of nearby outlying islands, as well as distant views to the HK Island and Kowloon skylines. The haze made the city skyline views impossible to capture properly on my point and click iPhone SE.

Our A350 touched down very smoothly and we slowly crawled toward the terminal. It seems CX crew are still taxiing deliberately slowly as part of their (justified) sly “screw you” to management for their recent drastic pay cuts and punitive pay by the minute conditions.

We pulled into gate 69, meaning it was a long trek from the aircraft to the transfer point and the people mover back to the main, central part of the terminal - which is where I was headed for a date with a cabana in the Wing.

What’s the collective noun for all these CX widebodies?

B-LRL at the gate in HKG

My first ride on the A350 didn't disappoint. It's a beautiful aircraft. Quiet, spacious and comfortable. I like the big windows, and the fact that they have eschewed the 787's auto dimming function, meaning that we weren't plunged into enforced darkness on this day flight. Another gripe I have with the 787 that I didn't notice on this A350 is that the former has a distinctive, high-pitched background electrical hum in the cabin that (for me at least) once you notice it, it's really really annoying and impossible to un-hear! The A350s higher humidity and lower altitude cabin pressure also meant I stopped off the flight feeling better than I usually would from most flights, even one as relatively short as this.

 

[1022]

HKG Lounges

My Hong Kong transit was roughly 5 hours. If It wasn’t for F lounge hopping opportunities, I would have quite seriously considered getting the Airport Express train to Central, then jumped on a Star Ferry to TST, stuck my head into the beautiful chaos of the ground floor of Chungking Mansions, ordered a plate of roast goose and rice down a side stree somewhere from a rude man in a Sweeny Todd apron wielding a cleaver like a conductor wields a baton, then back to the airport with a couple of hours to spare. You can squeeze a lot of quintessential Hong Kong Experiences into 3 hours!

Instead I rode the terminal train to the immigration desks and Eastern transit points, passed through a mostly deserted security checkpoint and headed up a couple of escalators to enter the first class section of the Wing. In terms of striking design and being instantly recognisable to any aviation fan, I think the only ones in the world that can compete with the wow factor of The Wing are the QF Sydney lounge and QRs Doha lounges. Despite being open to the terminal below - which can admittedly be quite noisy - I find that the Wing just somehow exudes total serenity, especially when the late afternoon sun is streaming in.

The lounge was fairly empty when I arrived. I went straight to the shower/cabana counter and was shown immediately to cabana 4. The attendant told me I could occupy the cabana for up to 90 minutes.

I love everything about these spaces, even the way they smell - which is very reminiscent of my favourite hotel in the world: The Como Metropolitan in Bangkok. The design aesthetic of the Wing Cabanas is also actually quite similar to bathrooms at the Metropolitan with creamy polished limestone and teak being the chosen materials and textures and fairly minimalist, angular design with a zen-like quality: everything exactly where it should be, nothing extraneous, but not austere. In both places, there is wonderful attention to detail in the design and the presentation.

I ran a bath, giggled at the sheer luxurious silliness of having a bath at an airport, so far removed from the queues of harried and disoriented crowds, toddlers having meltdowns, and greasy fingers stabbing at screens to place orders at burger joints in the food court metres away.

I followed the bath with standing under cool water pouring from the waterfall showerhead. I relished the fresh fluffiness of the towel (much better than what I’d been using at the pullman in KL!!) and finally floated back out into the lounge where I ordered a sparkling water from the bar and helped myself to a few snacks from the small buffet. There is of course full a la carte dining in the Wing, but I decided to save myself for the next lounge on the agenda: the Pier First Lounge.

By this time it was about 3 hours prior to departure. The gate for my flight to London had finally been added to the departure boards: gate 2 - directly under the Wing, which for those who know HKG means I had a fairly lengthy hike ahead of me to get to the Pier Lounge and back - which ironically is close to gate 69 where my inbound flight from Singapore docked. But I didn’t mind! I like HKG, and on a day spent sitting on three international flights, getting some steps up helps with maintaining a modicum of physical activity.

I took the people mover out to point that the HKG terminal splits into its distinctive Y shape and from there it’s just a quick stroll to the very very understated entry to the lounge. If I didn’t know where I was going and what I was looking for I would have missed it. Which adds to the overall exclusivity and elegance of the space. Where the Wing goes for soaring scale and instant recognition, the Pier strives to emulate home decor from the pages of a magazine.

Upon arrival I went straight to the dining room which is moodily lit and decked out in gentleman’s club shades of bottle green and mid-dark brown timbers. I love how the architects and designers worked with, rather than against the relatively low ceilings to create an ambiance that is cosy but not cloying.

In my excitement I forgot to take a photo of the menu, but the current seasonal menu is pretty easy to track down online. I was kind of hoping for a wider choice of Cantonese classics to choose from rather than things like the burger and chips which featured prominently. Ironically I think the HKG QF lounge - which I love but didn’t visit on this trip - does a better job of presenting local flavours.

I ordered the wonton soup which was one of the few Cantonese dishes on the menu. The waiter was slightly aghast that that’s all I wanted and insisted that I atleast have a double helping of dumplings in my soup. I gladly acquiesced.

This soup wasn’t your bog standard suburban takeaway short soup. These wontons, made fresh daily on site, were bursting with fresh prawns and pork mince. The broth was everything great about Cantonese cooking - sublimely simple but full of layered flavour. My mouth is watering a few days later just looking at the photo below. Like so many moments on this trip, I was tempted to order more, but I knew there was going to be a pretty generous first class supper service on the plane in a couple of hours and I wanted to leave enough space. (Maybe I’m slightly paranoid about over-eating after a rather unfortunate end to a night in Manila last year where we started with drinks and canapes in the hotel lounge before going out for an 8 course degustation and of Parisian proportions in the tropical heat and humidity - foie gras and truffle flavours included. I digress…)

Once I’d finished my noodles and yet again turned down the waiter’s insistence that I try some more dishes from the menu, I found a seat by the windows at the opposite end of the lounge, close to the bar where a the very suave barman made me an excellent Tanqueray and tonic. As you can see below, the lounge wasn’t crowded!

Wanting something sweet to finish my (first) dinner I visited the small buffet which is in a nook off to the other side of the main corridor that runs the length of the lounge where I couldn’t resist a slice of this incredible pear tart. It really did taste as good as it looks. There was also an apple tart and assorted other desserts as well as hot and cold savoury dishes, all elegantly laid out.

After a while, a noisy group plonked themselves down quite close to where I was sitting, ruining the serenity. So I shifted to the other side of the lounge space for the last half hour or so I was in the Pier before walking all the way back to gate 2 seeing as the people mover only conveys arriving passengers back in that direction.

The Pier is unmistakably a really tastefully appointed space, and all the avgeek bloggers and vloggers justifiably love it. But I think after this, my first visit, my two go to lounges at HKG remain the Wing First for its space and light and the cabanas and the QF lounge for decor, service and food.

 

[I love to travel]

Out of sequence update.

I scored an OpUp from Club World to First on my LHR-DXB leg. What are the chances of THAT on an award ticket. The upgrade gods are truly smiling because I’m having breakfast at the Sofitel Downtown Dubai while my upgraded Opera Suite is being prepared for early checkin! Time to buy a lottery ticket perhaps??

Stop bragging

 

[1022]

Flight: CX251 HKG-LHR
ETD: 22:25
ATD: 22:55
ETA: 05:40
ATA: 05:10
Cabin: First
Seat: 1A
AC: 777-300 (B-KQK)

I arrived at the gate about 10 minutes prior to the boarding time stated on my boarding pass. There was little sign of movement at this time, with a bevy of ground staff behind the podium just chatting. At boarding time an announcement was made that boarding would be delayed by about 10-15 minutes “due to operational reasons” - a phrase I’d heard quite a lot during my hours at HKG when delays - large or small - were announced for various flights.

Soon enough First class passengers and one world emeralds were invited to board once a couple of wheelchair passengers had been escorted down the jetbridge. Ground crew also proactively went through the waiting passengers and identified those with small children and also brought them forward for pre-boarding.

At door 1L I was greeted by inflight service manager Amy and then shown to my seat by one of the two male senior pursers who would be working the 6-seat first class cabin tonight. As I was settling in, both crew came by to greet me by name and introduce themselves. (Andy and Dickson). I was handed the menu for this evening’s flight as well as a hot towel and signature sparkling Jing Jasmine tea - which works surprisingly well as a refreshing mini aperitif to commence the flight.

Andy brought me a champagne flute and presented a bottle of 2006 Piper-Hiedsiek Rare Millesime before pouring me a glass. All I can say about this champagne is “WOW”. I literally have goosebumps now in fact recalling the first sniff of the toasty almond, yet also floral bouquet and the incredibly fresh, lively palate that also managed to be luscious and rich. This is a truly intriguing champagne. Much more generous than some of the other big names I’ve experienced on my travels (Krug, Dom, etc). It was just layer upon layer of subtle delights. You know that almost imperceptible aroma of the lobby of a subdued luxury hotel, or a very expensive car? That’s what this champagne evoked. Dan Murphy’s can deliver a bottle to your front door for a mere $599. Their marketing people describe it better than I just did: “A wine with depth but also honed, precise, in harmony. Voluptuous delicacy with meringue notes”. I wish I could remember what the accompanying amuse bouche was…but I was too awestruck by the champagne to notice.

Doors were closed at the conclusion of boarding of this full flight and the captain came over the PA system to apologise for the small delay, which rather than being “due to operational reasons” he explained was because we had a relatively short flight time ahead and LHR wouldn’t have ground handling staff for us if we landed prior to 5:00am.

There were a few faltering attempts to play the recorded safety demo. Each time the video stopped part way through and looped back to the beginning. After the third attempt the crew performed a manual demo which Dickson recited in English and Cantonese while Andy and Amy (somewhat) fumbled with oxygen masks and life jackets in the F cabin. A live demo is obviously something they don’t often have to perform. I later quipped “well done on the manual demo” to Amy when she came by my seat to do her introductions to First class passengers. She mentioned they were under the pump at the start of this flight because the captain had advised of a very short taxi - which indeed it was.

Once crew were released from their seats after take off another round of champagne was offered followed by the supper service. I mustn’t have taken any photos of the menu for this flight unfortunately. Once again I’ll blame champagne induced distraction. From the photo I recall that I ordered the halibut with the side dish of braised tofu skin and Asian greens. The fish was good, the tofu skin and greens exceptional! Dessert was a passionfruit curd in a chocolate shell, accompanied by a pot of jasmine tea which Andy brought to my seat just as we hit some moderate bumps and the captain turned the seatbelt sign on. I think more of my first cup of tea ended up on the tray table rather than staying in the cup.

Once supper had been cleared, I changed into my purple Goods of Desire branded cotton PJs. I still have a couple of pairs of the old grey pyjamas of the same design from 7 or 8 years ago and I love them despite the fact the waistband elastic is gone and they’re getting a bit raggedy now. It’s good to have some new ones at last! A normal person would of course just go to K-Mart or maybe Peter Alexander to buy PJs instead of hoarding miles and holding out for First class flights once every few years…

Dickson made my bed (a bit slap dask) while I was changing and I slept fairly solidly for 5 hours or so and then dozed on and off a bit longer until there was light and movement in the cabin due to the gent in 2D turning on his overhead reading light and having a full meal service at about 3am London time.

I generally love the Cathay first class cabin. The lack of centre overhead bins makes the cabin feel very roomy. Despite the seats not having doors, they are still very private and wonderfully spacious. However a shortcoming that became apparent on this flight is that because reading lights for the centre seats are situated so high in the ceiling, one light switched on lights up the entire cabin.

Once Andy noticed I was awake he asked if I wanted anything from the breakfast menu. I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry so I just asked for continental sides of pastries, yoghurt and fruit. From memory other choices included congee and a full English breakfast. I was also offered, but declined, another glass of Rare.

As my breakfast was being cleared away I opened my blinds to see the first glow of daylight just peeking into the sky as well as the lights of European cities below us.

This 13 hour flight passed by very quickly and comfortably. Service from Dickson and Andy was very attentive, though neither of them really engaged in personable banter or small talk with me or any of the other passengers in the full first class cabin. With just 6 seats to look after, a little bit more personality and warmth perhaps would be warranted. I’ve experienced this with some Cathay crews but not many. It’s notable that while CX staff the 6 seat first class cabin with two crew, Qantas had two (plus a galley “chef”) looking after 14 guests on my SYD-SIN leg. The service on CX was considerably more attentive as a result with things like regular top ups and noticing when guests wanted beds made or tables cleared. Cathay impressed me again on this flight. They offer a really solid product in premium cabins which starts with an exceptional ground experience with the lounges in Hong Kong.

We touched down very smoothly into the grey morning light at Heathrow about half an hour ahead of schedule. A beautiful pink sunrise was emerging from the east as I made the long walk from the aircraft to clear entry formalities in T3.

It’s the first time in close to 10 years since I’ve been to the UK. I’m accustomed to immigration queues that stretch for hours and surly - bordering on sadistic - immigration officials asking a million questions. This morning we landed just behind QF9 from Perth, though all but the last stragglers from that flight had already cleared the e-gates by the time I got there. The e-gates haven’t been programmed to offer the typical LHR (un)welcome, so I was through in an instant and into the baggage hall where premium tagged luggage was already starting to appear on the belt. I’d say it took no more than 15 minutes from aircraft to landside arrivals. Most of that was the long walk from the aircraft to the immigration hall.

 

[Flymeanywhere]

Found you!!!! And looking forward to the rest of the trip. Now that I'm back from India and only have the tedium of work, I have this TR to look forward to.

 

[1022]

Transit in London

It’s probably not that often that one would hear the words “I’m transiting in London on my way to Dubai” from the mouth of someone travelling from Australia or SE Asia to the Middle East. Well, I can now say that I have uttered that sentence.

My flight from Hong Kong touched down at 5am and my flight from London to Dubai was scheduled for 21:30. That’s way too long to sit in the BA Galleries Lounge, even if they let me check in so early - which would have been fairly unlikely. So I looked for hotels near Heathrow that offered day rooms. Sticking to Accor, in the hope of status helping with an early check in, I picked the Ibis Styles London Heathrow.

After emerging into the landside arrivals lobby of T3, I spotted a sign pointing towards the Heathrow Central Bus terminal where my research indicated I could get a local public bus for the short journey to the Heathrow Ibis Styles on Bath Rd. The line of hotels along Bath Road would be walking distance…if they had constructed footpaths through the tunnels under the runway and apron that road traffic uses to access T3. Of course they didn’t do that so it’s necessary to take some form of motorised transport to reach the nearby hotels. There is a Heathrow “Hotel Hoppa” bus that runs a couple of routes but not very frequently and at the fairly hefty price of £12 for a return ticket. There’s also a number of local buses that start and end their routes at the Heathrow Central bus terminal which serves T2 and T3. Pre-covid it was free to use these buses within the “airport zone” which included stops along the stretch of Bath Rd where most of the hotels are. That free-zone no longer exists, but it’s still only £1.75 to catch those buses and there’s no need to buy an Oyster Card seeing as you can just use any contactless card on the reader. (Hello Melbourne Myki, this is 2023 calling…or 2014 actually when contactless payment was rolled out in London).

After a lengthy walk through those long tunnels and travelators under Heathrow and a ride in a smelly lift, I emerged into the bus terminal…which despite being attached to one of the world’s busiest airports in one of the world’s financial capitals, was unmistakably a rundown bus terminal. Signage was atrocious but I found my way to the outside stop where I’d be able to catch a 105 bus. I only had to wait a few minutes until a red double decker pulled up and I boarded along with a number of airport workers who must have been coming off a nightshift. The ride to the stop right in front of my hotel only took 5 minutes meaning I was there at 6:00 for my 9:00 check in, with not much hope for an Ibis to offer any favours, even to an Accor Diamond.

When I approached reception, the guy just blankly said he is nightshift. He can’t do anything. Day shift will start at 6:30, ask them. In the meantime I could help myself to instant coffee from a Nescafe machine in the lobby. So I sat myself down at a table with my bad coffee and started typing an instalment of this TR.

Sure enough at 6:30 a couple of new staff showed up, one of whom seemed quite senior as he was berating the night staff about anomalies in the previous night’s accounting - seemingly oblivious to the fact that I and one or two other guests were within ear shot. Once that was all sorted out between them I approached the desk again to enquire about the possibility of early access to my room. Sadly I was attended to by a more junior member of staff who just shrugged her shoulders with a “computer says no” attitude when I gently mentioned early check in is a published benefit for Diamond members. So I returned to my seat and instant coffee and settled in to wait until 9:00. 10 or 15 minutes later the more senior receptionist called me over to say that lo and behold, there actually is a room available for an early check in, though it’s one with a wheelchair accessible bathroom would I be ok with that? I don’t care if you can drive a Mack Truck into the bathroom. I just desperately needed a shower and a lie down at this point. So my credit card was swiped and I was sent towards the lift to find my room on the second floor. So I was in my room a bit after 7:00, and just over an hour after arriving at the hotel.

The room was an OK size for an Ibis and certainly ample as a base for the day. I freshened up and got into bed, unsure if I’d sleep or just rest for a bit then head into London. I was absolutely knackered after a pretty lengthy trip from KL and still hadn’t quite got my land legs back yet seeing as the flight had been a bit choppy for much of its duration and I felt like I was still bumping about a bit.

I drifted off but I wasn’t able to sleep properly because my room - which had no soundproofing - was right next door to a housekeeping closet with staff coming and going, banging doors and trolleys, talking on phones, etc for much of the morning. At lunch time I got up and went for a walk in drizzle which turned into light rain to find some lunch. According to google maps there was a Pakistani food truck just around the corner which got very positive reviews online. I found it easily and had a chicken curry and naan for lunch. The food was decent, and the ambiance - in a small off-airport car park - was rudimentary.

I continued my walk in the rain. It was good to be outside and moving and that definitely helped a bit with the tiredness and jetlag but that was short lived. Once I got back to the room around 2:30 with dreary weather outside and checkout not til 6:00pm I crawled back into bed and this time slept deeply until my alarm went off a bit after 5:00. I got myself out before 6:00 and across the road to the bus stop that served buses going to T5. 10 minutes and £1.75 later I was on the ground floor of T5 and made my way up to departures and the Club World desks.

Check in was nothing premium and security was a study in inefficiency. There weren’t many passengers passing through the Club World security line, but anyone who had liquids - including those in the prescribed sub-100ml containers, packed in a separate clear bag and removed from carry on - had to have their liquids swab tested for explosives and then put inside some cabinet to make sure they weren’t flammable. It took a good 3 - 4 minutes for the dopey looking agent to slooooowly do this for each passenger. There were 3 people ahead of me waiting for this secondary screening. So it took quarter of an hour to get through an almost deserted security check point and into a manically busy T5.

I knew that my flight was leaving from the satellite terminal so I got the train straight over the the B gates and skipped the larger Galleries lounges in the main section of the terminal to avoid the crowds. The lounge was pretty empty when I arrived. The decor and ambiance were quite nice - better than what I was expecting based on reviews that I’d previously read about BA’s LHR business class lounges. There was a decent selection of hot and cold food, DIY coffee machines and the usual J class standard range of mid-shelf spirits and passable wines, though I stuck to soft drinks seeing as I feeling so tired.

While the food options were ok, the area around the buffet wasn’t well kept. Signs and labels were in front of the wrong items, spills hadn’t been cleaned up and there was just generally no pride in presentation. Almost all my interactions with service staff during my short layover, plus the amount of litter in the streets and overgrown gardens in front of houses in the villages of Sipson and Harlington I passed through on my lunchtime walk, all added up to give the impression that everyone in England has just given up caring post-Brexit.

Salad to start in the lounge. I followed this with slop and rice from the bain marie and some corn chips and salsa.

Looking down to the gate area from my seat in the lounge

Often half an hour or so before I take a flight, I have a look at Expertflyer to see what the close-to-final seat map looks like to gauge how full the flight is in every class. I was slightly alarmed when I saw my pre-selected 6K was showing as one of two empty seats in Club World. I double checked I had searched on the right flight and date. Check! But my seat was still a white square on EF. I cross-referenced MMB on BA. It was still showing 6K. I put this down to one of two things: a glitch in the Expert Flyer data feed, or…a seat change that wasn’t showing yet in BA. A glimmer of hope popped into my mind: is it possible that I’d score a beep at the gate and a new boarding pass in First? Surely not on an award ticket. Then fear and disappointment: if J was oversold that it might also be likely I’d been bumped back to PE seeing as I was on a reward ticket and only mid-tier OW status.

Those who saw the post from a few days ago know the outcome. Indeed my boarding pass was deemed invalid at the gate and a very very harried looking gate agent tore up my boarding pass and eventually printed me a new one. This was another example of LHR inefficiency and service indifference. She was muttering “there’s been a lot of seat changes on this flight” to the queue of 5 or 6 people and couples who were denied boarding. For each one she had to type on a keyboard at one counter then go to the BP printer at another counter to get the new boarding pass and walk back. Many other airlines have the new stack of BP’s pre-printed and sitting in alphabetical or seat order ready to hand over.

The poor woman was also being hassled by people inside the gate area complaining that the lift wasn’t working. None of them appeared to have mobility issues that would preclude going down the escalator to the jetbridge, but they wanted to use the lift and they were stating as much in that typically British middle class way of not wanting to sound cross, but being unable to hide the fact they were a little bit cross. The gate agent just kind of waved them away because she was also a little bit cross with having to deal with printing so many new BPs for people who had scored upgrades.

And so, with a First Class boarding pass for Seat 1K in hand I was just about to experience BA First for the first time and to sit in the first class seat often dubbed (10 years ago when it was newish) “The world’s best business class seat”.

 

[craven morehead]

Out of sequence update.

I scored an OpUp from Club World to First on my LHR-DXB leg. What are the chances of THAT on an award ticket. The upgrade gods are truly smiling because I’m having breakfast at the Sofitel Downtown Dubai while my upgraded Opera Suite is being prepared for early checkin! Time to buy a lottery ticket perhaps??

Winning

 

[VPS]

While the food options were ok, the area around the buffet wasn’t well kept. Signs and labels were in front of the wrong items, spills hadn’t been cleaned up and there was just generally no pride in presentation. Almost all my interactions with service staff during my short layover, plus the amount of litter in the streets and overgrown gardens in front of houses in the villages of Sipson and Harlington I passed through on my lunchtime walk, all added up to give the impression that everyone in England has just given up caring post-Brexit.

I was surprised on my last visit to England earlier this year how much litter is on the side of the roads especially motorways and nobody seems to care.

Also agree about the poor signage for buses at LHR

And good news about the opup

 

[1022]

Flight: BA109 LHR-DXB
ETD: 21:30
ATD: 22:00
ETA: 07:30 (+1)
ATA: 07:35 (+1)
Cabin: First (upgraded from J)
Seat: 1K
AC: 777-200 (G-VIIE)

It was a relief to leave the chaos of LHR behind me and walk down the jet bridge, and to turn left and into the … chaos … of BA First class. Actually it’s not BA’s fault that the woman sitting in 1F was behaving like the love child of Eddie Monsoon (AbFab)

and Tanya McQuoid (The White Lotus).

Everyone in the full 8 seat cabin was forced to endure about 10 takes at a social media video for her followers about the fact that “...as a surgeon she recommends not flying longer than three hours for at least six months after an operation. However she is in First Class on her way to Dubai to celebrate her daughter’s 11th birthday so the three hour rule doesn’t apply”. It also seems that speaking in a soft voice and being considerate of the people around you also doesn’t apply to first class. Nor did moderate intake of alcohol from what I could see. Her poor 11yo daughter over in 1E looked very strung out and as though she had already acquired a benzo habit to cope with such a mother.

As the crew came around to do their greetings, 1F was very adamant, twice, that she be addressed as “Miss 1F” instead of “Mrs”. (I would have thought that if she actually was a surgeon she would go by Doctor…but whatevs…).

The Inflight Manager for this flight was a young-looking woman with a Spanish accent who was very cheerful. She asked if I was going to Dubai for business or pleasure and when I mentioned it was a stop on my RTW in 39 day trip she knelt down and was genuinely excited to hear where I was going and the flights and airlines I was travelling on. The other two gents serving the First cabin were much much more formal. Full British airs and graces; as though they’d been to butler school. One was quite young and the other clearly more … experienced. Neither of them really engaged in conversation with any of the passengers during the flight, but they delivered their service with professionalism and a good sense of anticipating passengers’ needs.

Prior to departure I was offered a glass of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle which I know to be a very good champagne but I was simply too tired at this point to truly appreciate it. I was also still completely smitten by the P-H Rare from the previous Cathay flight. I was also offered PJs, a smallish gents amenity kit with Elemis products and the menu for the flight.

As you’ll see in the photos that follow, this short 6 hour overnight flight offered both a full dinner and breakfast service. A fairly generous offering, but perhaps not the most practical for maximising sleep which was my goal on this flight - ot at least was my goal when i thought I was going to be in the new Club World Suites where I could perhaps have a drink after takeoff, close my door and go to sleep. BA’s retrofitted 777s now arguably have better seats in business than in First. Both are 1-2-1 reverse herringbone cabins but Club World seats have partitions/doors for privacy, whereas first doesn’t. The first seats appear slightly wider and the only main feature to distinguish them from Club World is that the ottoman is open rather than being in the cubby of the seat in front, creating a bit more longitudinal space. As I discovered having to sit across an aisle from Mrs …sorry, MISS 1F, privacy isn’t a strong point in these seats. Obviously they are a big step up from the original yin-yang club world seats that used to be in the cabin behind this first class offering, but it really seems like a missed opportunity for BA to have not introduced a new F seat at the same time as they began the Club World refit.

Canapes were brought out shortly after takeoff along with a glass of the the Châteauneuf-du-Pape that I ordered prior to departure.

As I’d already eaten a fair bit in the lounge I just ordered the cheese plate to eat which was very enjoyable and a good match for the textured and enjoyable wine. The flight attendant/butler asked whether I’d care for my table to be set with full linens or if I’d prefer to have my cheese served on the coughtail table. I really appreciated this level of attention to detail, even if it all felt a bit standoffish.

When asked if I’d like anything else to eat as my empty glass and cheese plate were cleared, I ordered the espresso mascarpone cake which was beautifully presented and delicious.

And with that wiped off I fell asleep almost immediately after a trip to the lav during which time my bed was made with excellent linen and a big fluffy pillow. Sadly the seat wasn’t the most comfortable surface for sleeping on with a distinct concave “valley” running down the middle of it. I’m not sure if that’s due to side bolstering to make it more comfortable when seated, or simply the indentation in the foam of thousands of bodies from many years of service. Nevertheless, once I had earplugs in and the soft fluffy eyemask on, I was out cold for a good four hours. The last thing I remember seeing and hearing was Miss 1F ordering another glass of rosé and making sure her poor daughter was enjoying her starter…and photographing said reluctant enjoyment for her grand total of 430 Insta followers (yes I stalked her socials when we landed…).

Almost as soon as I woke up a crew member was at my seat asking if I’d care for some breakfast. He kindly informed me we had just over an hour until landing. I ordered the pancakes, a black coffee and and an orange juice.

Pikelet would be a more accurate description than pancake, but they were tasty and satisfying enough. I noticed one or two passengers ordering a full English breakfast, just hours after a full three course diner! Miss 1F was out to the world until she had to be roused to sit up for landing.

We landed very smoothly into a hot and hazy Dubai morning. It was a fairly long trek from the plane to the people mover but once in the main immigration hall there was no queue to speak of. Luggage took quite a while to arrive and there was absolutely no priority given to premium tagged luggage - which I suspect was possibly LHR loaders not sorting luggage properly - given the exasperated attitude of everyone I encountered in LHR rather than Dubai staff negligence.

Once I had my suitcase I made my way to the taxi rank and was pointed to a waiting Tesla Model Y for the 20 minute drive to the Sofitel Downtown. My taxi driver, who came to Dubai from Bangladesh 15 years prior, was quite chatty and spoke very highly of his life in Dubai and Dubai as a city in general. I had 2 days ahead of me to form my own (brief and superficial) impressions of the city.

 

[1022]

Sofitel Downtown Dubai

I booked, waivered and cancelled a few different Accor hotels in Dubai. Initially I made a reservation at the Sofitel Obelisk based on price and pictures of the room decor. Then when I dug a bit more deeply into the hotel’s location I decided it probably wasn’t so interesting for a first time visitor, so I cancelled. Next, thinking primarily about location, but also liking the aesthetic of the hotel I booked a room at Rixos Premium Jumeirah Beach. I sat on that for a few days but after distilling tripadvisor reviews that indicated the hotel itself and the Jumeirah Beach area more broadly is apparently a bit of a Eurotrash magnet, and considering the fact that I really didn’t want to sit on a mediocre beach in 40 degree heat, I decided to cancel this one too. In the end I went for the Sofitel Downtown as a compromise option. Directly opposite a metro station for getting around and connected by air-conditioned walkway to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, even if the area immediately around the hotel isn’t that interesting.

I arrived around 8:30am and tried my luck for my second early check in in as many days. The receptionist said that there was no early availability of the entry-level room I’d booked, however if I didn’t mind having breakfast upstairs in the main buffet, she could arrange an Opera Suite within an hour or so and would call my phone when it was ready. I was hardly going to argue the toss and ask for the room category I’d originally booked, so I left my suitcase in the care of concierge and took the lift up to level two to the hotel’s main buffet restaurant which had a truly impressive array of self-serve and staffed food stations for breakfast. Having spent two nights on planes and a hazy day in a cheap Heathrow transit hotel with noisy housekeeping staff, my appetite wasn’t up to the task of this buffet. I just ordered a coffee and grabbed some fruit and pastries while I waited for my room.

I got a bit bored of sitting in the busy restaurant when I obviously didn’t want any more food so I headed back down to wait in a more comfortable chair in the lobby. Within another 15 minutes or so my phone rang and a different receptionist let me know my room was ready.

Once check in formalities were complete I took the lift up to level 9 and opened the door to the biggest hotel suite I’ve ever stayed in. According to the hotel website, the Opera Suites are 90 sqm in size.

I first entered a sitting room which was the size of a decent sized lounge room in an Australian apartment or even a house. Though given the size of this room it was a little bit sparsely furnished with a sofa and a small dining table with two chairs. On one wall was a bureau with pod coffee machine, kettle and a cupboard containing an empty bar fridge with QR code to order mini bar supplies if required. Off this room was a “powder room” toilet, bidet and sink. Over the bureau was a large flat screen TV which I didn’t use, apart from during a futile effort to get some information from the hotel’s online compendium which was supposed to be viewable via the TV but contained next to no useful information. The TV was connected to a Bose soundbar and in a cupboard next to the empty minibar was a Bose subwoofer. Sadly there was no way of connecting my iPhone to the sound system or TV to play my own music via the speakers.

Next was the bedroom with king size bed, desk and oversized swivelling armchair. This space alone was bigger than a typical large 5 star hotel room. This room also had a TV and various useful storage spaces and lots of floor to ceiling windows, though the view was of the major north-south expressway, which I guess is quintessentially Dubai in its own way. The bed had a very soft mattress topper on it that had a big ridge down the middle and very definite indentations on both sides. I usually like Sofitel beds, but not this one. You can even see in the picture how pronounced the ridge down the middle of the mattress was.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/JdSaPfIzcQn25z14QHx9aFIYuZ_X9t_Dpe37_z9k9E1cGeVjJ3oQOjnfLRxfRO3AIVEedxMtjrcBJlxx_7mT4tIsIpUjPIJl96LZwWzcZpiBkkTMucltSacBnzezPhiJp8CX52kkMREijV4984GwE7E

Finally behind the bedroom and running the same length, was the massive bathroom with soaking tub at one end by the floor to ceiling windows (UAE modesty be damned!) and an oversized walk in shower at the other end. Along one wall was a double sink, makeup mirror and luggage storage shelf and opposite was a separate toilet cubicle and large wardrobe which included the in-room safe.

The room had pretty ridiculous touch sensitive switch gear. Lights in each room were all basically on or off, with little ability to customise or to have some lamps on and others off. Half the switch panels didn’t work at all. Infuriatingly, the bedroom and bathroom lights were all on a single circuit. So if one hypothetically needed a light in the bathroom in the middle of the night, you’d essentially have to have all the bedroom lights blazing as well.

Once I’d settled in and rested a bit I made my way down to the pool on level five. It’s actually on the rooftop of the hotel’s adjacent parking station. The main infinity pool is at least 25m long and there are additional wading pools. There were always plenty of loungers available; I guess in a business-oriented hotel, not that many guests are interested in sitting outside by the pool in 40+ degree heat and high humidity. I was actually quite enjoying being out in the heat after close to 3 days of travel in air conditioned tubes in the sky. I spent a couple of hours just lazing about in a shady spot, in and out of the pool. Lunchtime came and went wile I was by the pool so I ordered a club sandwich (expensive and mediocre) and a watermelon juice (expensive and refreshing).

For my included breakfasts I had a choice of the main buffet or the makeshift club lounge which was located in the hotel’s Italian restaurant on level 3. While the butter was open from 7 - 11, the “lounge” breakfast was only served from 9 which was a bit of a nuisance for an early riser but a much more peaceful option than the hectic buffet. In the lounge there was a small room to the side with typical continental breakfast options plus an a la carte menu with a decent range of hot options. I also visited this space on one of my evenings for canape hour. The canape selection was nothing to write home about and the beer selection was pretty dire: Budweiser or Heineken. I didn’t find out about wines or spirits being served as I was really in the mood for a beer after being out in the heat and really only felt like one drink before venturing out to find some dinner.

Overall my impressions of this hotel were decent but not great. Service was impersonal, and despite the palatial size of my suite, there were a few quibbles that made it less than fantastic. But it had a nice pool - which was high on my bucket list when picking a hotel in Dubai, was conveniently located and overall was good value for the low season price I paid. In fact a bag of laundry at AED425 ($180) would have cost not much less than the room rate I paid! I stuck to hand washing in the sink...

 

[1022]

Impressions of Dubai

On my first day in Dubai, I gave myself a rest day. I spent time by the hotel pool, napped a little bit and then wandered over to Dubai Mall to find something quick, cheap and easy for dinner. Seeing as it took the best part of half an hour to find the food court in this monstrosity of a mall, my dinner was definitely not quick and easy. This place is proof that malls employ deliberate deception in wayfinding signage to force people to walk the long way around to wherever they are trying to get to. It turns out, had I turned right instead of following the sign to the left upon entering the mall proper from the elevated walkway from my hotel, I would have found the food court was more or less right there. I trust the designers of all malls will rot in hell. They destroy the commercial hearts of towns and city high streets and they crush the souls of all who enter.

By the time I found the food court I just wanted to get out of there, so I grabbed some chirashi sushi (not cheap, not very good) and plodded back to the hotel in a slightly sour mood. I clearly needed sleep!

The next day I decided to head towards the old town area of Dubai to see the perfume souk and the gold souk. I bought a one day Metro pass that was pretty cheap and very easy to get from a sensible vending machine and jumped on the fast and efficient driverless metro. After changing from the red line to green, I alighted at Baniyas Square. The first commercial area I wandered around after emerging from the underground station was a mixture of electronic shops claiming to sell mostly Apple and Samsung phones it seemed. I tried to look on Reddit to ascertain the legitimacy of the products sold in these shops. Results were inconclusive.

The people I passed on the streets in this area seemed to be predominantly African. A block or two later and all the businesses were targeting the Pakistani population. I eventually followed my nose and ended up in the perfume district. Shop after shop after shop promising to mix bespoke fragrances. If I wasn’t a red-faced sweaty mess from walking in the heat, I may have gone in and made some enquiries about a custom scent, just for the novelty of it - I don’t actually wear any scented products.

After sitting under a fan in a shaded part of the souk for a while, I carried on and gawked at the gold shops. They were very…gold! Some had tremendous window displays.

I then decided to board an abra - the little boats that constantly zip back and forth across Dubai creek. I’d read online that payment for these boats was by Dubai Nol transit tickets and that the day pass I bought should have covered it. I obviously misunderstood what I read because upon boarding, once all passengers were seated on the central boxy platform, the skipper came around asking for the 1 dirham fare - in cash. I didn’t have any local currency on me and meekly flashed my day ticket. I got up to disembark apologetically when he said cash only. Perhaps he took pity on me because he just indicated never mind and pointed me to sit down again. With that, he jumped into the hole in the middle of the boat where the rudimentary throttle and rudder controls are and off we went on our 4 minute trip across the creek.

On the other side I was hoping to visit Dubai Museum but when I got there it was shut. So I made a beeline for the aircon of the nearest metro station after one last look at the action on Dubai creek and cooled down a bit before jumping on a train back to the Sofitel’s pool for a mid afternoon swim and relaxation.

For dinner that night I had a recommendation from a local acquaintance to go to Time Out Market in a modern day souk right next door to Dubai Mall. You cross a quaint bridge over an artificial pond between Dubai Mall and Souk Al Bahar. There are good views of the very imposing Burj Khalifa which dwarfs all the other buildings around it.

“Souk” is misleading. It’s just a themed mall selling mostly expensive souvenirs to tourists. But the top floor is a great space, branded and styled by Time Out magazine. It is a sort of high-end food court-cough-bar destination. There are 20-odd food outlets selling proper high quality food from around the world. Alcohol is also served in this part of Dubai. I got a very decent mixed grill from a Lebanese joint, but could have chosen proper Naples style woodfired pizza with chewy crusts, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mod-Indian, Balkan, Greek etc. I’d highly recommend it for anyone passing through Dubai.

And that’s about the extent of my short Dubai stopover. It’s not a walkable place, especially in the August heat, and for that reason alone I won’t really be rushing back. I love walking! However there is a buzz in the Middle East that I love, and Oman - just down the road - has been on my bucket list for some years. This taste of the Arabian peninsula whet my appetite to look into a trip to Oman more seriously.

The following morning I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, checked out around 10:30, got a cab to the airport and was in a deserted DXB “premium” check in area about 4 hours early for my much anticipated ride on Emirates’ Gamechanger First. Stay tuned!

 

[drron]

An English surgeon would be livid to be addressed as Doctor. Mr,Mrs or Miss are their titles or a preferred pronoun.

 

[VPS]

The last thing I remember seeing and hearing was Miss 1F ordering another glass of rosé and making sure her poor daughter was enjoying her starter…and photographing said reluctant enjoyment for her grand total of 430 Insta followers (yes I stalked her socials when we landed…).

Oh come on you must share - all of AFF could probably get her up to 500 insta followers. I feel sorry for the daughter

 

[1022]

Emirates First Class Lounge (Concourse A)

My taxi pulled up in front of the dedicated Emirates business and first class wing of Dubai T3. There was a swarm or porters trying to get my attention. I guess that’s a hard gig in this day and age of wheelie bags! The taxi driver helped take my suitcase from the boot of the car and I wheeled it myself into a completely deserted terminal.

The first class check in counters were part of the first long bank of counters to the left. Not even a QF-like attempt in Sydney to create a slight sense of exclusivity with the F checkin area. At the time that I was there, one of those big ride-on floor cleaners was sweeping right in front of the three staffed First class desks. The red carpets had all been tossed aside and the floor cleaner didn’t make any accommodations for this pesky passenger trying to make eye contact with any one of the three utterly disinterested agents behind the counters. Their faces were all Soviet-grim. I was about to approach the least grim-looking of the three when the floor cleaner did a sudden u-turn and blocked access to that counter. So I went to the next counter. The guy that handled my check in didn’t utter a single word and didn’t make eye contact. Welcome to the Emirates First Class ground experience in Dubai.

Deserted and dated business and first check in area. There’s just a bank of desks to the left and a travelator to the right. Immigration and security ahead.

This wing of the terminal has its own dedicated immigration and security channels. Immigration was handled entirely by a machine that looked at my face and let me through. No need to scan either my passport or my boarding pass. Creepy! The security staff were the first friendly people I encountered. Perhaps they were just happy to see a passenger to relieve their boredom. Obviously not much happens landside at DXB at 11am.

While a gate hadn’t yet been assigned for my flight to Geneva, my boarding pass told me to go to concourse A. So I boarded the terminal train and then made my way up the long escalators, first to the main concourse level, then up to the First lounge.

Plenty has been written about Emirates (supposed) flagship lounges at DXB. Apparently the one in concourse A is the newest and “nicest”. Various words came to mind during my 3 hour stay there: huge; soulless; Sydney Centrepoint shopping centre decor circa 1989.

Cenetrepoint in the late 80s - you remember those little coffee lounges on the bridge from centrepoint to DJs?

At the end of the day, when you boil it down, EK is actually a pretty pedestrian airline in most respects apart from their showy, signature first class products such as showers on the A380 and the gamechange suite on a tiny fraction of their 777-300 fleet. They were (among) the first to introduce 10 abreast seating in Y on the 777. They still have 2 - 3 - 2 J seating on most of their 777s, their service is never likely to win awards on the ground or in the air. And their Dubai lounges, while enormous, are not that impressive compared to the great lounges of the world. This lounge simply wasn’t in the same league as QF First in Sydney or the Wing and the Pier in HKG. Even the BA Galleries J lounge in LHR had more appeal than this - and that’s really saying something.

I walked half the length of the lounge: the entry is in the middle and you can turn left of right. Half the length of the lounge = half the length of the terminal seeing as both first and business class lounges run from end to end of the concourse, a couple of levels up from the gates and shops. Not that one needs to go downstairs to shop. The F lounge has its own duty free shops. Again, staffed by a very bored looking person. The shop itself looked and felt like something out of the PRC: dusty looking bottles of band-name spirits, perfumes and cigarettes and seemingly having most of its lights turned off. (Maybe I’m imagining that bit about the dim lighting but that’s definitely the vibe the in-lounge duty free shop gave off).

In the entire length of the lounge I walked, I didn’t encounter a single other fellow passenger. The reason I walked the whole length was that I was looking for a table where I could open my laptop and work on this TR. I walked past the a la carte dining room, but that wasn’t really somewhere to set up and type. I walked past countless beige and brown leather (or vinyl?) quite exposed armchairs that didn’t look that comfortable or inviting. Even just some screens and partitions would improve the ambiance and look. I eventually found the lonely buffet dining area pictured above. The server in that area came to my table to ask if he could get me anything. Having just come from a decent sized breakfast I just asked for a sparkling water.

Ater typing for an hour or so, I decided to try to find the spa to take advantage of the complimentary 15 minute treatment that is offered to F passengers. The lounge agent pointed me upstairs to the entrance of the business class lounge where I found the spa entrance tucked to the side. I didn’t have to wait more than a couple of minutes to be called into a treatment room that looked a bit like my dentist’s office.

My foot and leg massage was … better than nothing. Not much more to be said really. The whole experience pales against the TG spa offering at BKK.

I put my shoes and socks back on, thanked the therapist and spa receptionist and made my way back down to the F lounge and the dining area. The menu, the service and the food that followed were the highlights and redeeming features of this lounge visit.

Menus were viewable via QR code. Here’s a couple of screenshots.

I ordered the scallops to start and steak to follow. For dessert i just helped myself to some excellent baklava from the buffet that runs along one side of the dining area. As you can see, the food really was restaurant quality and very well cooked. My steak was incredibly tender and perfectly seasoned. The accompanying mushroom sauce as good as I’ve tasted anywhere.

Not long after finishing this excellent lunch, boarding time was approaching. Flights leaving from the A concourse board from gates within the lounge. By now my gate had been announced as A3 - directly adjacent to where I was first sitting earlier. So I wandered back up there. It was still totally deserted. I periodically ducked my head around the corner to the concealed podium where boarding passes were to be scanned and passengers admitted to the lifts to go down to the aerobridge. Eventually a gate agent appeared. Expressionless and bored as she scanned my BP, just like the check in staff, and with that I was sent on my way without any pleasantries to my awaiting aircraft and true AvGeek bucket list experience: Emirates Gamechanger First Class.

 

[1022]

Flight: EK83 DXB-GVA
ETD: 14:55
ATD: 14:55
ETA: 19:45
ATA: 19:25
Cabin: First (“Gamechanger”)
Seat: 2A
AC: 777-300 (A6-EQP)


The suite is beautiful!

How else to open this part of the TR?

The suite is beautiful.

The quality of the finishes, the attention to detail, the colour palette (much more subdued than earlier generation EK bling aesthetics), the comfort of the seat, the almost infinite customisation of seating positions, the lighting and temperature controls, the storage options and the amount of space all add up to make this Emirates first class product truly live up to the game changer tag.

I quickly discovered that it’s more or less impossible to photograph this suite with a humble iphone. Rather, sitting in this space is a sensory experience, so I suggest a google image search for a much better 2D visual representation than you’ll get from the few photos below.

But first things first. I took the dedicated lift down from the lounge to the floor indicated for lower/single deck boarding. There the passage joins the general boarding process at the top of the aerobridge. Economy class boarding was well underway when I got there. At the fork in the dual aerobridge I could hardly contain my excitement when I turned left to take the ramp down to door 1L and the welcoming, subdued wood-finished first class cabin. I was greeted at the door by the Purser for this flight, a fairly young gent from Tunisia. This was just about the only interaction I had with him throughout the flight apart from when he came by my seat a few minutes later to ask if I wanted a drink. One of his colleagues had already just come by and asked the same question. I have experienced this kind of slightly disorganised service flow on almost every one of my previous EK First class flights (this was my fifth time in EK F). Just before pushback there was a little bit of commotion near the door and then a couple of business class passengers found their way into the empty middle suites in First.

Service on the ground began with a glass of Dom Perignon followed by the traditional Arabic coffee and date service. As part of the usual EK pre-flight announcements, it was announced that cabin crew on today’s flight came from 12 countries and spoke 11 languages between them. The female cabin attendant assigned to the three suites in my aisle heralded from India. The Italian captain also added his greeting and mentioned the name of his Turkish first officer.

Once boarding was complete, glasses were collected and the safety video started to play. Then stopped playing, then started again, and stopped again….this went on for 3 or 4 minutes. I actually wondered if the crew was just going to let it be with this skipping, barely intelligible video seeing as we were well into our taxi to the departing runway. Eventually the Purser stopped the video and told crew to prepare for a manual safety demo. It seems I am somehow jinxing safety videos on this trip!!

The safety demo was read in both English and Arabic and completed shortly before we approached the holding point. Crew were seated and a moment or two later we started our long takeoff roll in an almost completely full 777 on a hazy 40º+ Dubai afternoon.

Shortly after the seatbelt sign was switched off, I was invited to select anything from the menu to dine at any stage of the flight. I was still stuffed from lunch in the lounge and conscious that my friend in Geneva had promised dinner at home upon arrival - and I didn’t want to offend by saying I was too full to eat - so I initially declined food and just ordered a mint lemonade and some olives, followed by a white burgundy which was served with an amuse bouche. Sadly I forgot to photograph the wine list, so I can’t remember what I drank. There were definitely some impressive 1er and Grand Cru wines on board. This aged chardonnay was rich and complex and typically old-world in style. I very much enjoyed it, but I feel more stimulated by the lighter complexity of some of Australia’s cool climate chardonnays. (See my QF1 post way back up near the top).

Not long after that, another crew member came to set my table for the caviar service. Despite the fact I didn’t order it, I wasn’t going to say no! The caviar is no longer presented in its jar but rather plated in the galley and brought out with the usual accompaniments. (I say “usual” because that’s what avgeeks say in trip reports….I don’t eat caviar in my normal day to day life…so I simply assume the accompaniments of egg whites, egg yolk, chives, onion and sour cream are “usual”). When the caviar was brought out I decided to also order the mezze plate, thinking it would be a fairly light grazing snack while I watched the final adrenaline-fueled episode of the White Lotus series 2. (OMG - that was an unexpected ending!!!) I’ve had their mezze before and I fully know it’s a big, filling meal in and of itself…but I still tricked myself into thinking it would be a light snack. I was scolded (with a smile) for not ordering any mains or desserts.

I decided to pair the mezze with another burgundy (red) which sadly didn’t live up to hopes and expectations. Either it needed decanting or this particular bottle just hadn’t aged well as it was unfortunately fairly flat on the nose and the palate. Pinots Noir can be tricky on a plane I’ve found, but I was willing to trust the Emirates wine selectors with this offering. I wasn’t super in the mood to drink, so I was happy to just sit on this wine.

Once the plates had been cleared I ordered a double espresso which was brought with biscotti, I closed my suite door and played with the lighting effects (warm orange-gold was my favourite colour setting), opened and closed my blinds and curtains just for fun and then settled in to a few episodes of the original series of Black Adder for some light entertainment for the remainder of the flight. Even with the door closed, there is plenty of space in the suite. It didn’t feel confined or claustrophobic at all. One small gripe with the hardware is that the seat shifts left to right depending whether it’s upright or in bed mode. I don’t quite get the point of that. When upright it is closer to the aisle and away from the window and in bed mode jammed up against the side coughtail table and tablet unit. The left-to-right travel is probably a good 20cm. If I was in charge of product design, I probably would have oped

Before long we’d crossed a decent chunk of the Meditteranian and were descending over northern Italy. The views of the Alps as we got lower and lower over Switzerland were beautiful. I’ll spare you mountain pictures from the plane window seeing as I took so many on the ground! Switzerland is stunning!

All too soon this 6 hour and 9 minute flight was over. It really did go by in a flash. It’s hard to know what EK’s rationale is for scheduling their small number of gamechanger-equipped 777s on short European legs to cities like Geneva and Brussels and Stansted (of all the London airports to choose for their premium 777 offering!) - rather than the likes of Paris, New York or Sydney for that matter. Perhaps it’s jsut about fleet utilisation and avoiding too much disappointment or inconsistency if there are equipment swaps on routes with numerous flights a day.

So I can finally say I’ve ticked off a major AvGeek bucket list item. I’ve mentioned my misgivings with EK cabin service. This flight was similar, absolutely fine but not all that personalised or polished. But you flight EK first for all the silly accoutrements: fully enclosed suites, caviar, fine vintage French wines, showers in the sky and copious amounts of plastic walnut and gold. I really like the design direction of these suites which tones down the tacky finishes. As mentioned earlier, the attention to detail in the design and execution is incredible. The ghaff tree motif is hand-stitched into a leather panel above the windows in each seat. It also appears gently illuminated on the floor next to the track of the suite’s door. Every touch point and sight line in this product is beautiful as well as being entirely functional.

Given the opportunity I would happily fly it again and if you’re considering it, but wavering since EK jacked up their carrier charges for QFF redemptions, my advice is to part with those cash surcharges and try this product at least once before redemption values are (inevitably) eroded further.

 

[1022]

A week in Switzerland

When I first booked EK83 to Geneva I was tossing up between heading straight back to LHR to spend a week or so pottering around Wales or to have a quick look at Switzerland, a country I’d not been to before. Switzerland won out and I’m extremely glad it did. I had a wonderful time there in 6 very short days.

My Swiss sojourn was split into 3 chapters. First, a night in Montreux at the beautiful home of a friend and former colleague of my father’s, who offered to pick me up from Geneva. I’d then pick up a car from Avis and drive to a little village 35km from Bern and spend two nights with friends there. Chapter three was three nights in an alpine village called Stoos (pronounced Schtoss) for mountain hikes, based at a new hotel there called Stoos Lodge.

Switzerland Chapter 1

EK83 arrived a little early into Geneva and arrival formalities weren’t too onerous or time consuming. I met my friend in the arrivals hall and we made the 1 hour drive around the shores of Lake Geneva to her home above the lake just outside Montreux. The scenery along the way and views from my room for the night were staggeringly beautiful…and just a tease of the stunning alpine landscapes of Switzerland.

Late evening light upon arrival home in Montreux. The opposite shore of the lake is France.

Dinner, which I was careful to save room for during my flight, was traditional Swiss Raclette and a deliciously zesty local white wine, made from the native and predominant Swiss Chasselas grape variety.

I turned in early and woke to this view the following morning.

Our plan for the morning was to take the top off my friend’s Boxster and go for a spin around the local area. First stop was the adjacent town of Vevey which is where the Avis office was located. We wandered around the lively morning farmers market (where people were getting quite pickled on free flowing Aperol). The was followed by a stroll along the lake front and old town. We then went ot the pick up my hire car before the office closed at midday. The service rep kindly let me leave my upgraded Kia Sportage parked where it was on their small lot to come back and collect it after we’d been for a bit more of a drive around the area in the far more interesting and exciting Porsche. I’d originally booked a VW Polo sized vehicle, generally preferring something small when driving on the other side of the road.

We drove up into the narrow winding roads through the steep vineyards that climb up the side of the foothills from the shores of the lake. I don’t envy the people who work on these steep slopes day in day out to attend to the vines! It’s pretty unforgiving terrain.

After stopping for a leisurely coffee at a lovely bar/restaurant/cafe perched on the edge of the hills in the vines, we returned to Vevey and I transferred my luggage over to the hire car and thanked and farewelled my friend. I grabbed a sandwich from a local Coop supermarket for a light late lunch which I ate near the lakefront before hopping in the car, syncing my phone to CarPlay for music and directions and then took a few moments to breathe and remind myself how to drive a manual with the gearstick in my right hand. With that I put the address into my phone and wobbled down the narrow street and made course for my next destination, a little hamlet in the Emmental valley.