My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F & J

[smit0847]

*Firstly, let me apologise for the strange mix of photos in this TR. There are lots of photos of some things and hardly any of others. This was because I was having way too much fun to remember to take photos of everything so forgot about some of the details. After all the champagne I drank, some of the details of some of the flights are a touch hazy too*

After my first visit to that strange military island in the Pacific (trip report found HERE: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....guam-visiting-somewhere-obscure-no-57830.html ) I was itching to see what else I could get out of this little redemption zoning quirk. I spent almost a month researching every possible routing, carrier and schedule 12 months out so I was ready to book 11 months out. The only things I knew was that I wanted to get as many F segments as possible, and I wanted to try some new carriers. Armed with my ideal routing, a loyal best mate with a LOT of trust in me and a keen sense of adventure (the same friend who came with me to GUM the first time), I set aside an entire evening just after Christmas last year to try and book it, expecting a long night of many frustrating phone calls. I was very fortunate enough that I was able to book the exact routing I wanted on the very first call and it took less than 20 minutes.

I managed to book the following routing:

SYD-BKK TG F (26 hour stopover)
BKK-HKG TG F (5 night stopover)
HKG-TPE BR J (14 hour all day transit)
TPE-GUM BR J (destination – 26 hours)
GUM-NRT UA J
NRT-ICN OZ F (overnight stop)
ICN-HKG TG J (overnight stop)
HKG-BKK TG F
BKK-SYD TG F

Per GCMAP:

Distances

From		To				Distance
9 segment path:
SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E)	BKK (13°40'52"N 100°44'50"E)	(NW)	(NW)
BKK (13°40'52"N 100°44'50"E)	HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E)	(NE)	(NE)
HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E)	TPE (25°04'40"N 121°13'58"E)	(NE)	(E)
TPE (25°04'40"N 121°13'58"E)	GUM (13°29'02"N 144°47'50"E)	(SE)	(SE)
GUM (13°29'02"N 144°47'50"E)	NRT (35°45'55"N 140°23'08"E)	(N)	(N)
NRT (35°45'55"N 140°23'08"E)	ICN (37°28'09"N 126°27'02"E)	(W)	(W)
ICN (37°28'09"N 126°27'02"E)	HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E)	(SW)	(SW)
HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E)	BKK (13°40'52"N 100°44'50"E)	(SW)	(SW)
BKK (13°40'52"N 100°44'50"E)	SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E)	(SE)	(SE)

[TH="colspan: 2"]Initial
Heading [/TH]

[TH="colspan: 2"]Magnetic
Heading [/TH]

[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]17277 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]305.7°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]293.2°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]4662 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]53.7°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]54.4°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1049 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]66.2°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]68.8°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]501 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]113.1°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]117.1°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1729 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]350.6°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]349.5°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1558 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]282.8°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]289.8°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]783 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]219.1°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]227.1°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1284 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]237.8°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]240.4°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1049 mi[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]136.1°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]136.8°[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]4662 mi[/TD]

[TD="colspan: 2"]Total:[/TD]

[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]17277 mi[/TD]

All for 40,000 miles + about $250 fees and taxes pp. This deal is now dead so please don’t ask how to do it!I was very excited to try some new carriers in BR and OZ and of course all those TG F segments! In hindsight I probably could have managed an extra flight and carrier by going ICN-PVG-HKG on a combination of OZ and CA but we were limited in how much time we had for the whole trip due to work commitments.

When you book flights almost a year in advance lots of things can happen/change over the course of that year with those flights that you have no control over. Some of these changes may be good (like an upgrade/update to aircraft type/product) and some may be bad (like the cancellation of a flight/route or an equipment downgrade). Sure enough, despite booking generous connections to try and compensate for anything that could happen in the future, both of these happened to me.

It was always going to be dicey having 5 flights booked with TG as they are notorious for equipment swaps and changing their minds. The first change was to the BKK-HKG-BKK flights. Given TG regularly operated A380s on some of their numerous daily flights on this route I was hopeful that one of my flights would be operated by an A380. Soon after I booked the A380 was taken off HKG flights (and I think moved to NRT/KIX instead) and I was stuck with a 747. Not the end of the world – they are short flights and I was still in F. Ironically they recommenced A380 services on some HKG flights a month after my trip!

A few months later the fare class of my OZ flight then changed from F to J. I wasn’t sure if this was a glitch or if they were operating a 3-class plane with a 2-class service. However I was still seated in the F cabin of an OZ 747 so I wasn’t too worried (again, short flight).

By far the biggest shock occurred 2 months before departure. I had heard that TG were very, very late in loading their winter schedule and I woke up one Tuesday morning to discover that when they finally loaded their new schedule, which would commence just 4 days before my first flight, they would be eliminating F class from SYD flights and replacing the 747 with a 2-class 777. I was beyond disappointed. The only reason I was flying out of SYD instead of my hometown of MEL was so I could go F. It’s a real pain to fly out of SYD and had I known this change was coming I would have simply booked a J redemption out of MEL. I was also annoyed that the longest flights were the ones downgraded (I wouldn’t have been so bothered if it were the shorter HKG flights). I had numerous calls with TG in SYD who were very helpful and did hint that the decision may not be completely finalised and I should sit tight and wait. Sure enough, a month later they reversed the decision and all was good. I still pointed out to my mate that I wouldn’t believe it until I was actually sitting in an F seat!

I also started receiving emails from USDM regarding a schedule change. Reviewing the new itinerary I couldn’t see that anything has changed so had to carefully match up each flight time and saw that the only change was a 5 minute delay in the UA GUM-NRT flight. Although it was a simple case of calling USDM to accept the schedule change I was extremely worried I would get a cluey agent who would look at my extremely creative itinerary and say ‘hang on, that’s not a valid routing’ and promptly cancel it. So I checked everything was okay with each operating carrier (it was) and tried to ignore the schedule change emails. But they kept coming, and with more frequency the closer to the trip. With a lot of help from the fantastic Ben Schlappig aka Lucky at the OneMileAtATime blog I was assured that USDM could not cancel a ticketed itinerary regardless of what I had ‘gotten away with’ in the past. Armed with this I finally called USDM and told them I was completely fine with the change before I even gave them the PNR. Thankfully the agent said it was fine and my itinerary remained as is.

One of the (few) positive changes was that the ‘new F’ was creeping onto the SYD TG F flights. I’d flown old F once from BKK-SYD and while it was very spacious, it wasn’t as luxurious as other carriers flagship F product so I was hoping to have at least one flight with ‘new F’. When TG reversed the SYD schedule change decision they indicated that all SYD flights would be ‘old F’ (I guess if they planned to remove F altogether this isn’t exactly a flagship route for them so wouldn’t have the flagship product) but I kept my fingers crossed. Nothing is certain with TG!

More to come....

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

So, the day had finally arrived. I don’t think I’ve ever spent as much time planning a holiday before and I was a combination of nervous and incredibly excited. It felt like Christmas Eve. We flew MEL-SYD after work and spent the night before in a pretty horrible overpriced Airport Hotel which was noisy and uncomfortable. It reminded me just how much I dislike everything about SYD. I hardly slept at all that night because I was so excited, nervous I would miss my alarm, and also because of the discomfort and noise of the hotel.

At 6:30am the alarm went off and I jumped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. We quickly dressed and caught a cab to the airport. Given the schedule changes I was still nervous there would be an issue with check-in (I’ve heard so many horror stories). We arrived to a deserted check-in and to our relief were quickly checked in. We had selected 1A and 1K and I knew from looking at the loads on the TG flights a few weeks out this was going to be a fairly lightly loaded flight. We arrived at the airport 2.5+ hours before departure because we had a 10am flight and I knew from being at SYD airport on Saturday mornings previously that it is the busiest time of the day. Flying mid-week was completely different – the airport was deserted. We were through security and immigration in less than 5 minutes and on our way to the lounge. TG check-in had told us to use the NZ Lounge but I was an old-hand at this lounge game and knew the new SQ Lounge was far better so we headed straight there. As expected, the SQ lounge dragon looked at our boarding pass and said ‘TG uses the NZ lounge’. On cue I whipped out the pre-printed *A access rules to provide to her. I’m guessing she had been in this situation many times before because as soon as I mentioned ‘access rules’ she immediately relented and said ‘of course you are welcome to use this lounge’. We had F boarding passes and were hoping for SQ F Lounge access. She advised us that the F side was currently closed but we could use the J side. I know the J side had been closed the previous week because of some issue with the flooring so I’m not sure if the F side was going through the same process, or if the F side was closed because the next SQ flight had no F cabin, or that flight had no F pax. I could see a list on her desk with all the SQ F pax for the day. If the F side was closed because of the flooring issue I suspect F pax were given some sort of compensation (i.e. duty free/terminal voucher) and perhaps this is what this list of for.

Not wanting to argue the point over something so trivial we entered the J side. It was really nice – the furnishings were classy and comfortable and there was a decent breakfast spread. I didn’t check out the champagne as I was saving myself for the Dom on the flight. Once we got past the desk the staff in the lounge were very friendly. SQ know how important Australia is to them and there’s a real sense of pride and familiarity in what they do. There was a Nespresso machine in the lounge with a staff member manning it and taking coffee orders. I don’t know why they didn’t have a proper barista if they were dedicating someone to making Nespresso?! The lounge was pretty busy with an SQ flight boarding 45 minutes later and based on how some pax were dressed, there were plenty of SQ Y pax with status in the lounge. I had a good wander around looking for this magical F lounge to try and see if it was indeed open. I couldn’t see any open door so if it was open F pax must have been taken in personally through some secret entrance! The SQ flight was then called for boarding and 90% of the lounge pax exited.


Our TG 747 to BKK


SQ J lounge SYD

With no SQ flight for several hours the lounge staff began clearing the breakfast food, so with 30 minutes until our flight began boarding we decided to check out the NZ lounge, just for something to do. I had been in the NZ SYD Lounge a few times before and thought it was okay – very large, plenty of food options (even if it was quantity over quality). Given how serene and pleasant the SQ lounge had been on a quiet Wednesday morning I had expected the NZ Lounge to be the same.

Wow. It was horrid.

It was packed to the rafters. From VA SG pax wearing neck pillows at the entrance arguing with lounge staff about short-haul access rules to loud yanks conducting important business meetings near the bar to tables overflowing with dirty dishes. My mate actually looked shocked when we walked in and said ‘this is different’. Clearly most *A pax do not know they can use the SQ lounge or they would be in there. We eventually found a seat (next to a table full of dirty dishes) and watched the chaos around us. It was about as peaceful and relaxing as a hospital emergency waiting room. We were very pleased when our flight was called for boarding as there was nothing remotely first class about the NZ Lounge.


Packed, noisy, dirty NZ lounge SYD

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Flight #1:
TG476 SYD-BKK
B747 Seat 1A First Class

We headed to the gate (directly under the lounge) and as expected from check-in and the flight loads, there was almost no-one boarding. It’s certainly nicer to fly mid-week rather than on a weekend! We headed down the aerobridge to join the dozen or so people waiting to board. As I stepped onto the plane I couldn’t contain a huge grin as I saw a glimpse of the wooden walls of the new F seats. The TG crew were rather robotically checking each passengers boarding passes and telling them which way they should head but instantly changed when they saw the big ‘F’ printed on our boarding passes and forgot about the pax to behind us to stop and lead us directly to our seats.

New F is gorgeous. I loved the colour purple they chose for the seat fabric and while I would have liked closing doors on the suites, the fairly high walls do make the seats very private. There were numerous goodies waiting for us at our seats and suddenly we had a cabin crew member each to assist us with our bags and bring us more goodies. It was all a bit surreal going from a hospital waiting room to being waited on hand and foot. It was even more surreal when the CSM told us with a big smile that we were the only F pax on today’s flight. Based on the loads I had only been expecting 2 other F pax but who knows or cares what happened to them! Crew quickly brought us 2004 Dom to drink along with warmed nuts and canapes and we cheers-ed to our own fabulousness. Travelling doesn’t get much better than this! We received a lot of very jealous looks from the pax behind us boarding as the crew fussed over us.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

I heard someone say once that J is all about the seat, while F is all about the service and I really think this is true. I’ve flown TG J probably a dozen times and its perfectly fine but not particularly memorable. F was completely different. We were asked WHEN we would like to dine, not just what we would like to eat. I was expecting to be served lunch before 11am based on the flight departure time (and that every flight I’ve ever been on feels the need to serve a meal immediately after take-off regardless of departure time). After being asked when we would like to eat we thought midday was a far more appropriate time for lunch. These are the sort of important decisions to make when flying F. With very little to do the cabin crew were in an extremely good mood – they could sense we wanted to have fun and wanted them to as well. There was two crew in the cabin and another in the galley prepping food. We were pretty low maintenance pax – while we wanted to experience everything and savour the experience we were very polite and recognised how incredibly fortunate we were to be in this situation. My mate kept saying over and over again ‘this is ridiculous, I just can’t believe this!’

The Dom continued after take-off while I explored the IFE. The new F seats have a gorgeous big new LCD screen which was excellent quality. I didn’t really watch much as I wanted to enjoy the flight with my mate. I tried to steady my drinking but it was difficult when the dom was so delicious! Cabin crew checked on us every few minutes like clock-work but in a very professional way – they would quietly walk up behind us and observe if we needed anything, rather than barging up and interrupting. I would get a sense out of the corner of my eye that they were there but they wouldn’t come into the suite unless they sensed I needed something. Rather than asking they just observed and guessed what we needed. They kept topping up the Dom and water without being asked (my glass was never empty) and I sort of lost track of how much I had drunk.

Right on midday they asked if we would like lunch now. Having only had a light breakfast in the SQ Lounge and then drinking a lot of Dom I sensed the need to seat something ASAP. We had pre-ordered our main course but asked for everything else with all the trimmings. This seemed to excite the crew mainly as it gave them something to do. Out came the tablecloths, more Dom and then one of the most polished meal services I could imagine. TG J in a full cabin with multiple crew can sometimes be a bit of a mess as the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing but this F meal was faultless. The tables were set with precision (glasses and cutlery carefully lined up) and then the 2 F crew worked in perfectly harmony to present a silver service caviar service. Everything was smooth, in tandem, organised and graceful. I accepted a shot of vodka with my caviar for no other reason that it seemed like the thing you do with caviar and then regretted it. I don’t like drinking straight spirits (they just taste like petrol, regardless of the brand or temperature) and this was no different. The caviar on the other hand, was delicious. I don’t really understand why you are given more garnish than actual caviar and so few blinis – the quantities don’t seem right! I liked how we each received our own bread basket and the garlic bread was delicious.



Entrée came next which was a very luxurious mix of lobster, prawn, duck and scallop. It was nice not to have smoked salmon like TG seem to have on every single flight in J! All elements were cooked well.

My pre-ordered lobster thermidor came next. I had read very mixed reports about this but I’m happy to say it was delicious – buttery, creamy and not overcooked. A very rich but very delicious dish. Fruit and cheese were offered next which I only nibbled at as I was getting quite full – I’m not used to 6 courses for a Wednesday lunch. I was offered dessert but declined as I was starting to feel uncomfortably full. I finished the meal off with a glass of chinese tea.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Another fantastic benefit of being the only F pax was that you could completely control the atmosphere of the flight. As expected, the heavy meal, lack of sleep and copious amounts of alcohol caught up with me after lunch and I started feeling very drowsy. Keen to try out the beds we asked if they could make up 2A and 2K into beds and turn off the flights as we wished to have a nap. Crew gladly obliged (I suspect they were happy that they could also rest while we did) and we went to our individual bathrooms to change into our TG pyjamas. When we came out the cabin was dark and out beds were waiting for us. They were incredibly comfortable. I popped in my ear plugs (a 747 is quite loud, even in F) and eye mask and prepared to doze off. I must admit all the booze hit me pretty hard when I lay my head down and for a minute I considered a mercy dash to the bathroom (being thankful it would be vacant!). Luckily my head and stomach settled and I quickly fell asleep.

Empty F cabin except for us in Row 1



My bed in 2A

 

[robd]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

It's bringing back fond memories of our TG F trip last year. I too drank the Vodka with the caviar - just because

Keep it going.

 

[anna2103]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

This is great - very detailed. Thanks for doing it

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

I awoke 5 hours later with no real idea where I was but feeling very rested- I'd slept like a baby. My mate was already up and in his original seat and I was instantly offered everything from a hot towel to a glass of champagne by the crew. Thankfully my head and stomach felt fine. I wasn’t particularly hungry but of course there was another meal service waiting for me. This was considered a light meal as it was ‘only’ 3 courses! My original seat 1A was once again set up for dining as they simultaneously packed up my bed in 2A. The light meal consisted of a very delicious thai soup followed by some chicken satay and finally a berry crumble pie thing for dessert. Presentation of the dessert was pretty average. Being a bit sick of the champagne I had a Singha beer and more water.


After the meal was finished the cabin was prepared for landing and the CSM came around to thank us (probably because it was such an easy flight for him!) and gave us a pack of A380 playing cards as a gift. We landed at BKK on time and the other pax were held back while we exited. It was easily the best flight of my life – everything was brilliant and I completely forgot there was an entire plane load of pax behind me (downstairs J looked reasonably full).



When we exited the aerobridge into the terminal a TG rep was holding a sign with our names. Unfortunately there was no buggy as we were at a gate very close to immigration. We were personally escorted through the diplomat channel and handed over to luggage porters who took us to the luggage belt. TG really do know their stuff at BKK. Our bags were the first out and we stopped by the limousine stand to book an SUV to the hotel. The porters went right out to the car and loaded our luggage. It was very luxurious.

The SUV was a relief from the hot, sticky air outside (we were still dressed for an F flight). There was a lot of traffic on the way to the Conrad and it took nearly an hour to get there. I had booked the Conrad for the sole reason that I have comp HH Diamond status from my VA WP status and had never used it (I rarely stay in fancy hotels as I don’t think they provide much value). However BKK is a very cheap city for hotels so the Conrad was quite reasonably priced and I knew I got lots of ‘free stuff’ with my status, I just wasn’t really sure what.

When we arrived at the Conrad and headed to check-in I mentioned that I was Diamond. As soon as she heard this she asked another front desk agent to take me directly to my room to check in in my room! This was a really cool feature I didn’t know about. It was like checking in for a flight on the actual plane! He took us up to our room on the 23rd floor and sat down at the desk in the room to complete check-in and tell us about all our benefits. I pretended I stayed in Hilton properties all the time and wasn’t some noob with a comped status (despite this being the first time I had used it). We had a corner twin room with a great view. I think this was what I had actually booked so I’m not even sure if I got an upgrade or not but the room was brilliant. I especially liked the gifts of toy Thai elephants which will be a nice gift for my little niece. Spacious, luxurious, huge bathroom etc. I knew we weren’t going to be using it much so didn’t kick up a fuss about whether we were upgraded or not.


Shortly after at 6pm we headed to the Executive Lounge for coughtails and canapes. I’d never been in a hotel executive lounge before but it was much like an airport lounge. Both the drinks and food spread were excellent – there was very substantial ‘canapes’, and given we had eaten a ‘light’ meal only a few hours earlier, this became our dinner.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Bangkok. It’s my best mates favourite city in the world and I guess its what you make of it. I’ve tended to focus on the negative aspects of it in previous visits – its dirty, crowded, smelly, hot, loud and you can very easily get ripped off. My mate on the other hand loves the fact that its so cheap, there’s no rules and you can do whatever you want and be whomever you want. I guess because we had arrived in such luxury and the accommodation was so nice I was able to see the good parts of Bangkok this trip and had an absolutely fantastic 24 hours. We hit the town in the usual way we do but instead of getting ripped off, or injured, or drinking too much we had a ball and everything was amazing. Met some great people, had a great night out and came back to our very comfortable beds to crash out.

A quiet night in Bangkok

Felt fairly ordinary in the morning but still made it down for the very opulent complimentary breakfast. We were given the option of having breakfast in the exec lounge which we were told was ‘less options but less people’ or in the main restaurant which was ‘more options but more people’. The restaurant was fairly busy but the food options were excellent. The Manager took special care of us asking if he could get us any egg dishes himself (I’m not sure if this was because of my Diamond status). The smoothies in the restaurant were particularly good.

With several hours to kill before our airport pick up we headed to the pool to try and recover further. The pool was very nice and almost deserted except for the numerous staff on hand to assist with anything. I flopped onto a giant outdoor love-seat thingy and spent the next few hours alternating between reading a book, napping and cooling off in the pool.

After a couple of laps in the water I felt much, much better. We headed back to the room around noon to change and pack and our SUV picked us up right on time. I really liked the Conrad and would happily stay there again.

 

[Alanslegal]

Nice report and it's making me reminisce of my handful of flights on TG F I have taken over the past five years. We just completed HKG-BKK-SYD just two days ago so the experience is still quite fresh in my mind. Our HKG-BKK sector starred the A380 and for such a small afternoon sector, there was no amenity bag or PJ's being offered. I flew the exact same sectors eight months earlier and I am sure both amenity bags and PJ's were offered. Both my BKK-SYD legs this year we had older 10 seat F cabins, though we did fly to LON last August with the rejuvenated 9 seat F cabins, and came back on the A380 via FRA. Both 9 seat F and A380 are great. I have two booked TG F flights for 2015, one in April and then in August, so again looking forward to being up front. That said, our July/August trip where we will be eloping to LAS, we will be flying SQ Suites (SYD-SIN-NRT-LAX) and (waiting to book) EK A380 F (JFK-DXB-BKK) and TG F BKK-SYD. After experiencing SQ and EK, I am sure TG F will like I've stepped down five levels

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

With far less traffic outbound we were at the airport in about 20 minutes. We asked the driver to pull up at the TG F check-in and hopped out of the car. The TG F luggage porters looked at us with suspicion (we are two young guys so probably not your average F travellers) but as soon as they saw our luggage lifted out of the car with yesterdays F tags still attached they raced to assist. We were escorted to F check-in and invited to sit down while they checked us in. There were 5 agents milling around a computer and we were the only passengers at check-in. I do think the cheap umbrellas over the F check-in counters look very tacky. There were a lot of puzzled faces as they spent a good 5+ minutes checking us in and I was a bit worried there was a problem (I hate frowns at check-in!!) but soon enough we were provided with boarding passes. We were escorted through a private security and immigration check and down the escalators to a waiting buggy with zipped us off to the F Lounge.

At 1:30pm the F Lounge was virtually empty – there are hardly any F flights during the afternoon. We were given a private room and invited to select a massage time and provided with the very tacky old menus (where did the ipads go?). As expected, someone passed by our room about every 8 seconds to check on us. I like how the F Lounge staff are so confident with their English. I ordered the grilled beef with champagne and then the pad Thai which was excellent. A HUGE design flaw in the TG F Lounge which could be easily fixed is how thin the walls to the outside walkway are. While sitting in our living room in the F Lounge we could clearly hear every announcement every 25 seconds and it was quite annoying. I don’t know why they’ve never put thicker walls or sound-deadening curtains in these rooms.

Soon enough we were collected for our one-hour massage which was excellent as expected. We wandered back to the F Lounge where our living room was waiting for us for another glass of bubbles. We noticed a young child running around the Lounge which looked quite out of place in amongst the peace and serenity of the lounge. She seemed to be there with a young Thai Mother and an older obnoxious Russian man who completely ignored her when she tried to get his attention. We secretly hoped they were not on our flight. When our flight was ready to board we were collected from the lounge along with an extremely well dressed older man and left the F Lounge to be walked to the gate. This man was perfectly dressed for F – designer luggage, tailored casual suit, groomed hair. Unfortunately his classy appearance did not match his personality. He gave both his hand luggage bags to the lounge member to carry (even though they didn’t offer) and seemed to be in a huge rush to board, aggressively pushing past us on the travelator perhaps not realising that we were all being escorted to the same plane and that it would not be leaving without us. I must confess to a slight smirk when I boarded to see him sitting in J as I turned left towards F (he didn’t looks nearly as happy). Still couldn’t work out why he was in the F Lounge and was escorted to the plane if he was flying in J (perhaps he had arrived in F?).

I was unsurprised to board a 747 with old F as they usually ran old F on this route. Its perfectly fine for a short flight but it is a real step down from new F and it was showing its age. There were two other F pax onboard as we settled into 2E and F. We were most disappointed when the family with the young child then turned up and sat behind us. The argument for and against children in F is as old as the hills but it really did put a bit of a dampner on this (short) flight. The child was very bored and restless and ran around the cabin screaming and laughing for much of the flight. The young mother did her best to control her while the obnoxious father moved to 1K and told the mother to ‘deal with the child’ (his exact words) while he slugged champagne the whole flight. The crew were stuck between wanting to enforce safety rules and respect the other F pax, and not wanting to impose on the family who had just as much right to be there as we did. I must admit I didn’t really enjoy this flight. We drank the dom because it was there, the pre-ordered scallops were revolting – rubbery and overcooked served in something like a pasta sauce with balls of potato. We were certainly spoilt by yesterday’s faultless luxury!



Pumpkin soup entree- it was ok.

I attempted to nap after dinner with the seat in lounge mode but with the bored child running around it was difficult to. The obnoxious father continued to ignore his wife and child while he demanded more food, more champagne and various other things. It just wasn’t a great flight.

I cheered up a bit when we disembarked and saw buggies marked ‘Thai First’ waiting for us. While we were getting on the buggies the well-dressed guy from J burst past us still in a mad hurry. I had no concept of just how big HKG airport is – the buggy ride took probably 10 minutes. The guy from J looked at us with disgust as we overtook his brisk walk in our buggy and I couldn’t help but give him a cheeky wave as a farewell. People walking towards immigration would try and hail down our buggy like it was a taxi oblivious to the fact that is was a) already full; and b) not a taxi. We eventually got to immigration and fairly quickly collected our bags and were on the train to the city.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

I hadn’t been to Hong Kong since I was about 10 years old and all I really remember about it was that it was an overload of sights, sounds and smells. I hadn’t been responsible for accommodation on the last trip so really had no idea just how small and expensive the accommodation in Hong Kong is! We stayed in Wan Chai in a decent 4 star hotel room that was about the size of my study. Compared with the opulence of the Conrad in Bangkok it was quite an adjustment! Wan Chai turned out to be a good area to stay – close to just about everything, although we were a good 15 mins from a subway station (I would recommend staying as close to a subway station as possible. With 5 nights in Hong Kong I won’t take you through every part of everyday but some of the highlights of Hong Kong:

Dinner at Din Tai Fung. Highly recommended if you are in Hong Kong. Not cheap but worth it. Don’t be put off by the lines outside – it’s a huge restaurant and they turn the tables very quickly.
Oceanworld Theme Park. Excellent rides and far scarier than Tokyo Disney.
The insanity of Halloween in Hong Kong (the best night of the trip – they take it REALLY seriously!). They had to block the streets to traffic in Wan Chai because of all the people.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

More highlights of Hong Kong:

Heading to the Peak at night. Massive crowds at 9pm – I would recommend either going earlier in the day or closer to closing time.

The excellent local public swimming pools

Shekk-o Beach. We got a tip from a guy we met out one night (as you do) that Shekk-o was a great beach for a Sunday afternoon. He was absolutely right. I was really surprised it was so clean and peaceful and so close to the city (and I believe this is one of the more remote beaches?)
Rooftop drinks with a stunning view with Steven Hui from iFlyFlat at a place that sounds like Woolloomooloo.

The Big Buddha. We actually did everything we wanted to do in Hong Kong in only 4 days so had the 5th day free so on the advice of a local made the trek on the cable car and up to the Big Buddha. I enjoyed it but the whole thing took a REALLY long time (probably a 6 hour round trip) which ate up most of the day. I’m not sure it was entirely worth the time it takes to do it (it’s a long way from Hong Kong!)

 

[psi999]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Great TR!

Enjoying the read so far - Thanks

 

[trentusjuventus]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Great TR so far, I'm enjoying this one. Very excited to see what you managed to cram in to your short stop in Taipei.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Great TR so far, I'm enjoying this one. Very excited to see what you managed to cram in to your short stop in Taipei.

Thanks- we got a lot done in one day thanks to some very careful planning and a very easy to navigate transport system (once we worked out how to buy a ticket!)

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

After 5 fabulous nights in Hong Kong it was up at 4:30am for our flight to TPE. In hindsight we should probably have flown up the night before, but oh well. Yawning, we made our way to EVA check-in and received boarding passes for both HKG-TPE and then TPE-GUM that night. Our bags were also tagged all the way through. We were given a lounge pass to the VS lounge (still don’t know why they use this lounge – isn’t the TG lounge open this early? I guess no TG planes overnight in HKG). I was glad because I had heard good things about the VS Clubhouses and was keen to check them out.

We were most surprised to find that the terminal transfer train didn’t start operating until 06:20. Looking at the departure board we saw that our 07:30 flight would be one of the first flights out of HKG that day. I still find this odd given in MEL or SYD you can depart for a flight almost anywhere in the country before 07:00.!

We were very warmly welcomed to the VS Lounge by the desk agent and escorted to a seat and given a menu with a few breakfast options. We were the only people in the lounge. The bar was even open with a bartender at 06:30. We both selected noodles and orange juice which was made fresh to order. The bartender also came out and introduced himself. The staff seemed happy to have something to do! The noodles were great – clean, light and perfect for so early in the morning. The VS Clubhouse was quite nice but it is starting to show its age. We were personally advised when boarding was ready and we and the one other pax who had arrived headed towards the gate. Each staff member personally farewelled us and wished us a pleasant flight. We were only there for about 30 minutes but what a great lounge experience. I knew from checking the booking online that this flight was originally scheduled to be an 2-2 J A321 and was then changed to an 2-2-2 J A330-200. I still don’t know why as it was a very light load.





Looking down (literally and figuratively at the Y pax below)

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Flight #3:
BR828 HKG-TPE
A330-200 Seat 8A Business Class (2 Class Plane)

We walked down the aerobridge and without even handing over our boarding passes or checking a list the waiting crew at the door looked at us directly and said ‘good morning Mr X and Mr Y, we’ve been expecting you. Welcome onboard. Right this way to your seats’. This began the most impressive short haul flight I have ever been on (and I have taken more than 100 short-haul flights!). Admittedly there was only 1 other J pax in a cabin of 24 seats, but we were escorted to our seat, addressed by name every single time, the CSM came and personally introduced herself. We were then provided with hot towels, slippers, the crew put our bags in the overhead for us, we were given printed menus, offered our choice of drinks and advised of seat controls etc.

After take off crew asked when we would like our meal (in J!) and quickly set our tables and served a really excellent breakfast with choice of pastries (I had the chicken congee which looked gross but tasted great). The crew checked on us every few minutes (addressing us by name at every interaction), offering more pastries, more drinks, more food etc. I was incredibly impressed. We reclined our seats angle-flat seats for a quick nap after breakfast and were allowed to stay that way until the last practical minute on descent. We landed and were given our own aerobridge and thanked multiple times by the crew for flying with them (again addressed by name each time). This was all for a 70 minute flight! They were really brilliant and EVA is now one of my favourite airlines.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

After the hustle and bustle of HKG (both the city and the airport) we landed to a completely deserted TPE. My gosh it was quiet! We were at the curb less than 10 minutes after walking off the plane. We caught an airport bus into the city and spent the next 10 or so hours checking out some of the best tourist attractions of Taipei. Taipei seemed very quiet and deserted compared with Hong Kong.

Initially I found it a little boring but by the end of the day I was really enjoying the more relaxed pace. It was very easy to get around with their easy to navigate uncrowded subway system and very cheap taxis. It was quite hard to initially buy a subway ticket mainly because the airport buses drop you off at the regional train station and not to metro subway so you need to find the other station which is not that well signed. I did get a bit frustrated.
The main train terminal is quite utilitarian- what I imagine North Korea might be like.

First stop was Longshan temple. This was okay- quite small and crowded though. It was interesting to watch so many people praying.

Next we went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. This was really spectacular and the highlight of our time in Taipei- an enormous square with these four huge halls/squares surrounding it- I really recommend staying for the changing of the guard each hour.

 

[smit0847]

Re: My Best Redemption Yet! (SYD-BKK-HKG-TPE-GUM-NRT-ICN-HKG-BKK-SYD) TG/ BR/UA/OZ F

Next up it was time for lunch. I had carefully written instructions about where to head but had underestimated how enormous the memorial grounds would be so I think we took the wrong exit and ended up walking a lot further than we needed to. While you can definitely get a good sense of a place on foot if you are pressed for time or want to save your feet, jump in a cab. They're cheap and easy.

We were going to try out Din Tai Fung in Taipei but after seeing the enormous queue (much bigger than in Hong Kong) we decided to just go to the place behind it, which was also good.
After lunch I realised we were well ahead of schedule so we did something on our 'maybe' list, Taipei 101. It was quite quick to get there but even at 2pm on a Tuesday there were long queues and the whole thing took quite some time. Like the Peak and the Big Buddha in HKG- it's not something you can 'do quickly'.



The views were pretty spectacular at the top and Taipei suddenly looked massive- we had thought from the airport and walking around the city that it was a small city but it went on forever. It was especially interesting to spot the landmarks we'd visited and where we'd be heading next.