Hong Kong Solo Trip Report (Part 1)
I was a long haul Premium Economy virgin before this trip, previosuly having only scored PE seats SYD-MEL or MEL-SYD on the Dreamliner when Qantas were traning their pilots on the new aircraft ahead of launching PER-LHR. Because i usually fly Y, Prremium Economy was a nice upgraded experience for me courteousy of a classic reward, but unless there was a terrific sale, I probably wouldnt pay cash for PE not for a 9 hours anayway.
QF127 (Airbus A380-800 pre-refurbishment) - Day flight - PE seat 24Jwhich was exit row on aisle. Plenty of legroom, but nowhere within reach that I could stow my tablet or handbag. The PE cabin was full but being exit row meant first served.
Bubbles upon boarding (sparkling wine and or sparkling water). Having meals served on a plate, with metal cutlery and linen tray cloth and napkin was a novelty (so used to cardboard box or plastic tray in Y). The meals were dinner, midflight snack was a weis bar or an apple and then lunch before landing. Meals were perfectly edible however on lunch service they had ran out of sparkling water so FA had to go grab me a can of sparkling mineral water from economy, no biggie.
I watched Chernobyl on the IFE, then switched to listening to Spotify on my tablet. Departing mid morning and arriving late arfternoon, trying to sleep seemed pointless, although as usual cabin lights were dimmed and blinds closed to try and force peopel to sleep.
Id take exit row again on a day flight where not wanting to sleep, but on an overnight flight probably wouldn’t unless I was the window seat (the only one with handy storage) as you have people waiting in front of you for the toilets or stretching etc which is distracting.
QF128 – A380 Seat 25A. I deliberately slected seat different to the exit row I was comped. I found the storage bin convenient, but it means you cant lean on the window/wall which makes it tough to sleep for a side sleeper like me. Still plenty of leg room.
Cabin crew (all female) were cheerful and quite chatty. There were only 10 adult passengers in PE the row 2 seats in front of me, the seat to my right and the row behind me were all empty, so could recline whenver i wanted and didnt have to climb over anyone
Welcome bubbles and pretzels upon boarding.
The blankets were larger, softer and warmer than those you get in Y and the advantage of a mostly empty cabin was plenty of spare pillows to make the arm rest more comfortable.
Dinner was ok,
I didnt notice any midflight snack, but may have been dozing, however breakfast of Omlete with bacon (was actually huge chunks of spam) and potatoes in a weird tomato sauce was awful - seriously since when is Broccoli (not mentioned on the menu) a breakfast food ? Only the muffin and fruit was edible.
Wishing I had opted for the Chinese breakfast - can never have too many dumplings!
The Pottinger Hotel Hong Kong
Location: I found the location to be excellent for a first-time visitor, easy walk to Central MTR and Star Ferry vis the mid-level escalators/walkways, 2 blocks from the trams. An easy 10 minute walk to the Peak tram. Supermarket, convenience stores and lots of restaurants (both cheap and cheerful and expensive) under 5 min walk Tip: the entrance/lobby is on Stanley.
Meals: Whilst it is part of the Sino group being a boutique hotel the included breakfast isn’t as lavish as the Fullerton in Singapore, but it included drinkable barista made coffee, option to self serve fruit, pastries. toast, yoghurt and juice from the buffet and ability to order eggs (any style) with bacon, sausage, mushrooms etc. Needless to say I had a decent breaky everyday before heading out to tackle the city.
Comfort: Room matched picture on website exactly. Comfortable King sized bed with pillow menu, abundant lighting, cable tv, free wifi, huge shower with great water pressure, robes, slippers, generous sized fluffy towels, in-room safe, free bottled water. Room serviced twice daily, second visit to replace any towels/water and turn down the bed. Quite, didn’t have noise from neighbours, view was over Stanley St nothing special.
Extras: Free Christmas gift (bauble with fancy chocolates inside) given on arrival, complimentary cookies on first night in room, daily newspaper provided (not that I read it).
Hong Kong Pass (HKP):
A friend gifted me a 4 day Hong Kong Pass which includes a bunch of entries to popular tourist attractions. On sale pre xmas it was retailing for HKG $1,500 and according to their price list I got about HKG $1970 worth of value. To be able to use all of the included activities would take some serious planning ahead (as some things on run on some days) and a tight schedule, I could have done more things but sometimes you just a want a sleep or decide its not worth trying to see a view when it is raining. I’ve used HKP to indicate when I used it.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the HKP, unless you plan to do bulk of activities, its s shame the validity period isn’t 5 days, then one would have more of a chance to use without feeling overly scheduled.
Airport Express:
Provided the easy wa to get to and from the airport. I didnt try the check in at Central, the trian was mostly empty mid afternoon on new years eve, i just did bag drop at the Airport.
Upon exiting the Airport Express Train at HKIA you were required to show your boarding pass and passport (or employee ID card) to be allowed into the departures terminal, a measure to ensure protestors dont affet the airport.
Qantas Business Lounge Hong Kong
This lounge is much nicer than the Inetrnational Business Lounge in Sydney, but then again that isnt hard. There were very few passengers in the lounge. Wifi was good, drinks and food were readily available. Although having had a big lunch before leaving the city I didnt eat anything except a couple of portuguese tarts and a couple of drinks. In addition to the self serve food, a waitress came around several times offering: Dunplings, Pork Buns, Chicken Nuggets (odd), Hot Chips and Ice Cream Sundaes.
