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Travel Planning: Fall in Asia Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo Recap: Time in Tokyo Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul Recap: Time in Seoul Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui Recap: Time in Hong Kong Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO Our flight back to San Francisco was a red eye and didn't depart until 12:30 AM, so once we returned from Macau, we returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then headed to the airport. It was a bit early, around 7 PM, but we figured we could easily spend the hours leading up to our flight in Cathay Pacific's flagship first class lounge, "The Wing". We were able to check in at Cathay's first class counter, which honestly has more service available than I can imagine would ever be needed by first class passengers, but it went quickly and we were able to go straight behind the check in counter to immigration, which had very short lines, so we were through quickly. If coming through immigration on the Cathay Pacific check in side of HKG's international terminal, you will see The Wing lounge immediately on your left after clearing immigration. As always, a cardboard cutout of a Cathay Pacific flight attendant will show you the way.  The Wing First Class Lounge Entrance  The Wing First Class Lounge Entrance The Wing essentially covers two levels of the airport and has both a first and a business class lounge. There's a clear delineation between the two and unless you're flying in first class on any Oneworld airline or you have Oneworld Emerald status, you will not be able to enter the first class section. There are two entrances to the lounge, one on the level directly on the other side of immigration, and one on the level below. The entrance on the top level can be accessed by first class passengers and Oneworld Emeralds only, so since it was right there, we went right in. Immediately upon entering, you will be greeted with plush leather club chairs and a champagne bar. The lounge itself is quite narrow and is open to the terminal below on one side so it's not extremely large, although it seems like it is because it keeps going and has a series of rooms. After the champagne bar, you will see more seating, plus another staffed bar. Along the wall to your left, you'll see the entrance to the famed shower cabanas (more on those later) and bathrooms. Beyond that, more seating, and then you'll reach the first class dining room, where you can have a sit down dinner before the flight.  The Wing First Class Lounge Champagne Bar  The Wing First Class Lounge Champagne Bar  The Wing First Class Lounge Seating  The Wing First Class Lounge Bar  The Wing First Class Lounge Signage In the dining room, you can order from the a la carte menu or just eat the food from the buffet. We opted for the buffet because we didn't want to eat too much before our flight and honestly, I was quite disappointed. The buffet presentation was quite awful and had been very picked over, which is understandable, since it was after dinner time, but you would think that in a lounge like this, they would be meticulous about keeping the buffet looking nice. The food also was nothing to write home about and neither of us were very impressed. There were some hot dishes like roast chicken and fish, salads, sushi, some meats, fruit, then desserts and cheeses.  The Wing First Class Lounge Dining Area  The Wing First Class Lounge Dining Area  The Wing First Class Lounge Dining Area Menu  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing First Class Lounge Buffet After a small bit of food, we decided to try our luck at getting a cabana to freshen up before our flight. The cabanas are quite large, featuring a shower, a bath tub, a couch, and a vanity, and The Wing has several of them and then quite a few shower rooms, which are much smaller. From what I understand, the cabanas go quickly, so if you're interested in reserving one, you will want to do so immediately upon arriving at the lounge. Luckily, we were able to get right in. The decor inside the cabanas is minimal with wood accents and stone tiles. Overall, they are clean and relaxing and a nice place to freshen up after a long day.  The Wing First Class Lounge Cabana  The Wing First Class Lounge Cabana  The Wing First Class Lounge Cabana  The Wing First Class Lounge Cabana Once we had freshened up, we took a seat in the lounge to get some work done. As is the case with Hong Kong, the plugs are all UK style, so you'll need an adapter if you want to plug anything in. I had packed mine in my checked baggage and had a difficult time, but I asked a lounge attendant and sure enough, they had an adapter for me, so that worked out well. I then used the time to explore the business class section of the lounge. Once you pass through, you'll see signage for the IT Zone, which features multiple Mac and PC computers (there is also one in the first class lounge), the Noodle Bar, the Coffee Loft, and the Long Bar. The top floor of the business class lounge was just as crowded as the first class lounge, or maybe a bit more-so. However, since it was past dinnertime, the Noodle Bar was nearly empty. The Coffee Loft as well was not particularly busy. There, you can have a barista (who was not around when I was there) prepare an espresso drink for you. There are also various wrapped sandwiches and snacks along with juices, cheese, pastries, and soft drinks. The lounge also had several hot dishes available along the wall, which were similar to those in the first class dining room.  The Wing Business Class Lounge Signage  The Wing Business Class Lounge  The Wing Business Class Lounge Noodle Bar  The Wing Business Class Lounge Seating  The Wing Business Class Lounge Noodle Bar  The Wing Business Class Lounge Coffee Loft  The Wing Business Class Lounge Coffee Loft  The Wing Business Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing Business Class Lounge Buffet  The Wing Business Class Lounge Buffet I didn't spend any time on the bottom floor of the lounge, but there, you will find more seating, another IT Zone, and more drinks and snacks to grab while you are waiting.
Overall, The Wing is an extensive lounge with many different areas to hang out in before your flight. It's also extremely convenient for flights to the US, which typically depart from the gates nearest to the lounge. That being said, it can be extremely crowded and is one of the more popular lounges in the Hong Kong airport. Cathay Pacific actually operates four lounges airside and one landside. While The Wing and The Pier are the only lounges with dedicated first class sections, I actually preferred The Bridge, which I visited on a second trip to Hong Kong and reviewed here. Happy Travels!
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Travel Planning: Fall in Asia Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo Recap: Time in Tokyo Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul Recap: Time in Seoul Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui Recap: Time in Hong Kong Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO Hong Kong was my favorite of the three large cities we visited on this trip to Asia. The city has an undeniable energy and there are so many amazing things to see. Tokyo can come off as just a (very) large city with miles and miles of buildings and concrete and Seoul didn’t have a lot of specific character to me either. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has so many different areas and has an incredible amount of character. We had a little less than three days in Hong Kong and since it was the end of our trip, we were a bit exhausted, so didn’t do everything we probably should have done. Despite that, I think we got a good feel for Hong Kong and I know I’ll be back. The first day, we arrived in Hong Kong in the afternoon from Seoul. We took our time checking in to our hotel and getting settled and then ventured out to see the harbor and walk along the water. We were staying on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong, so we had a great view of Hong Kong Island and Victoria Peak. Each night after sundown, there is a laser light show to be seen from the harbor, which is honestly a total tourist trap, but is still something you should probably see once. We took in the show from our side of the harbor and grabbed some dinner before calling it a night.  Hong Kong Light Show from Kowloon The next morning, we planned to visit the Tian Tan Buddha, a.k.a. the “Big Buddha”, on Lantau Island, which can be reached by several methods including a cable car. Somewhere in my reading of things to do in Hong Kong, I read that you should get there as early as possible to get on the cable car, get out to the island, and get back before it gets too busy and boy am I glad we did! (By the time we left the island and headed back via the cable car somewhere between 11 AM and 12 PM, there were hundreds and hundreds of people in line just to buy tickets, then more to get in a car.) To get to the cable cars, we took MTR to Tung Chung station and then walked a short way to the NP360 station, arriving right around when it opened at 10 AM. We had to wait in a short line to buy tickets, but if you can, I would recommend buying online ahead of time. There are two types of cable cars that you can ride in - a glass bottom cabin, and a traditional cabin. Of course, the glass bottom cabin allows you to see below, but it’s more expensive, so we opted to ride out in the glass bottom cabin and back in the traditional cabin, which was about $230HK. This also turned out to be a good idea, because there was a much shorter line for the glass bottom cabin than for the traditional cabin and we got on quickly. The ride actually is quite long and takes about 25 minutes. If you have a fear of heights or enclosed spaces, this would not be the best way for you to go, since you’re in a small cabin very high up for a fairly long period of time. That being said, it was absolutely beautiful and there were many amazing views along the way.  NP360 Gondola  Cheesing on the NP360 Gondola  Big Buddha from NP360 Gondola Once we arrived on Lantau Island, we found that it’s set up in a very touristy way. You will get off the cable car and then walk through a “village” of sorts, which has lots of souvenir shops and some restaurants. There was even a Starbucks! Once through the village, you’ll see the buddha looming ahead of you and beyond that, a monastery, which I believe you can visit. We climbed the steps to the top of the buddha, took a few pictures, and were ready to go back. Again, as we were leaving, things got much much busier and I was very glad that we arrived early and were some of the first to the top of the buddha, which means less people in all of your pictures!  Tian Tan Buddha  Tian Tan Buddha  Statues Next to Tian Tan Buddha  Tian Tan Buddha  Post-Apocalyptic Empty Hong Kong Streets  Hong Kong from Victoria Peak After the buddha, we wanted to visit the top of Victoria Peak, which almost could not be further away from where we were over by Lantau Island, so we began the long journey via MTR. Once we arrived on Hong Kong island, we went straight for the Peak Tram, which is a funicular railway that takes you to the top of Victoria Peak. For some reason, we were under the impression that this was the only way to get to the top of the peak, so we freaked out when we saw the massive line of people that would mean a two hour wait. We did a few searches and realized that you can easily take a taxi to the top of the peak, so we quickly abandoned the idea of the Peak Tram and set off in search of a taxi. Interestingly, we were in Hong Kong during the beginning of the protests being led by students in downtown Hong Kong, so many of the streets were completely closed off and it was incredibly difficult to find a taxi as many other streets were also completely abandoned. Finally, we found one and made it to the top of the Peak, which we found had yet another mall on top! Luckily, it was an absolutely beautiful, clear day, so we could see for miles. At this point, it was already later in the afternoon, so we decided to make our way back to our hotel to get ready for the evening. That night, we had booked a sunset cruise on Aqua Luna, which you will become familiar with very quickly as it sails every night on the harbour and is a very distinctive traditional Chinese junk boat with bright red sails. The sunset cruise was perfect because we also caught the beginning of the light show and we really enjoyed the chance to see the views from both sides of the island and now the harbour. It was a fairly quick 45 minute ride, but we had a lot of fun.  Victoria Peak  View of Hong Kong Island at Sunset  Aqua Luna Boat Cruise After the cruise ended, we grabbed dinner and then headed to Ozone after a recommendation from a friend, which boasts the title of “highest bar in the world” on the 118th floor of the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong. It was an incredible looking bar with a fascinating aesthetic, but the drinks cost $25 each and it was really not my scene. Probably one of those do it to say you’ve done it things, but not a place to spend much time.  Kowloon Streets at Night  Ozone Bar  Ozone Bar Drinks  View from Ritz Carlton Hong Kong Driveway The next day, we had a very late red eye flight back to the states, so we figured we could see more touristy things in Hong Kong like the Ladies Market or Nan Lian Garden or we could go to Hong Kong Disneyland, or we could spend the day in Macau. After taking a quick poll on Facebook, Macau won, so we headed to the ferry terminal to buy tickets. This was quite the ordeal. Of course, there are tons and tons of people trying to sell you their ferry tickets and trying to give you “good deal”, which makes things incredibly overwhelming. The ferry terminal itself is really not that easy to navigate and we weren’t sure what to do, so we eventually decided to choose someone at random and hope their ferry tickets were legit. We got on the ferry and headed to Macau, which took about an hour by boat. Once we arrived, we realized that we had tickets into one ferry terminal and out of another, but our second ticket wasn’t valid yet (or something), so we spent the first hour and a half on the island going from one terminal to another to fix our tickets. Once we did that, we decided to check out a few of the resorts on the island (more to see what they looked like rather than to gamble) because that’s really all there is to do while you’re there. Once nice thing is that all of the hotels have massive luxury shuttle buses waiting at each ferry terminal which will take you to their property for free, so we got on the shuttle for the Venetian and decided to check it out. The Venetian Macau was incredibly bizarre. It’s absolutely massive and it looks identical to the Venetian in Las Vegas, which is even weirder because it’s like a replica of a replica and then you’re in China. We also checked out the Wynn (which is another replica) and wandered down the street to the old town part of Macau, but at that point, had to turn back so that we wouldn’t miss our ferry back to Hong Kong.  The Venetian Macau  Wynn Macau Once we got back to Hong Kong, we headed to our hotel to pick up our baggage and then went to the airport. So came the end of our excellent Asia trip, but we had one more exciting thing to experience - Cathay Pacific First Class on our way home!
Travel Planning: Fall in Asia Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo Recap: Time in Tokyo Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul Recap: Time in Seoul Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui Recap: Time in Hong Kong Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO The Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST), is located on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong and boasts a solid location. It’s a 5-10 minute walk to the water where you can watch the nightly light show and take in the stunning views of Hong Kong Island, and it’s directly in front of an entrance for the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Granted, the TST MTR station isn’t Kowloon station, which has a direct line to the airport, but it’s convenient nonetheless. We arrived from the airport in late afternoon after taking the airport train to Kowloon station and then grabbing a taxi from there to the hotel. The hotel entrance is somewhat discreet, but can be found in the middle of Hanoi Rd inside The Masterpiece building, which houses the Hyatt on the first 24 floors and then has residences above. As a side note, one of my dreams in life is to live in a building that also houses a luxury hotel - that’s when you know you’ve made it! ...or when you know you’re paying more than a normal person should ever pay for a home, but I already do that in San Francisco, so what’s a few more dollars?   Hyatt Regency TST Street Entrance Anyway, our taxi driver apparently wasn’t completely sure where we were going, so he dropped us off on the street in front of the hotel. (If your driver actually knows where he’s going, there’s an underground driveway that you can be dropped off in.) So, when you enter from the street, you’ll find yourself in a small lobby and the bellman there can help direct you to the hotel. You’ll take the elevator up to the third floor (which, I think, is as far as it goes) and arrive in the main lobby area. From there, we approached the front desk and since Chris was a Diamond member, we were offered to complete check-in from the Regency Club on the 23rd floor. We figured we might as well, so one of the associates took us up with our bags and found us a seat while they processed our check in. After checking us in and going over the Regency Club features (more on that later), we were assigned to room 2011, a Harbour View King Room.  Hyatt Regency TST Street Level Lobby  Hyatt Regency TST Hallway  Hyatt Regency TST Lobby We entered the room and found the bathroom and a closet on the left with the rest of the room laid out in front. The room was crisp, clean, and tastefully decorated and after our last hotel in Seoul, it was an incredibly refreshing change. The room had a king bed with a chair and ottoman situated by the window, a desk, and a console housing the safe, coffee and tea set up, and minibar. The room also had a nice view of the harbour, but since the hotel itself is located a few blocks back from the water, the view was slightly obstructed by other buildings, though still impressive.  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Entrance  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Closet  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Minibar  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Safe  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Minibar  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room View  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room View One of the coolest parts of the room was undoubtedly the “Handy” phone they provide you to use during your stay. It’s an Android cell phone that you can use for free loaded with city guides, advertising, etc, but the BEST part is that you can tether to the phone’s 3G wifi for free. This is literally how we did all Instagramming, Facebook-checking, and map-checking we needed while we were in Hong Kong and it was awesome! You can also use it to make free calls to the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, and China, which I didn’t try, but I’m sure it would have been great - sorry mom!  Hyatt Regency TST Handy Phone The most unique part of the room was the partition between the bedroom and bathroom that could be opened so you could, in theory, see the view from the bathtub or shower. Honestly, I didn’t really see much of the point of it, but it was a novelty that I’ve seen repeated in a few other hotels and can be fun. The bathroom was quite large and featured a standalone tub, a walk in shower, and a fairly large sink and counter space. The toiletries were Portico branded and seemed pretty standard, but were nice enough.  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Bathroom  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Bathroom Slider  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Bathroom  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Bathroom  Hyatt Regency TST Harbour View King Room Toiletries Last year, we flew first class on what have consistently been named the number one and number two best first class products in the world - Singapore Airlines (Suites) and Cathay Pacific. However, as of December of last year, there is a new "best" product in the air giving these two a run for their money. Etihad Airways revealed "The Residence" and "First Apartments" last year and they are revolutionary, to say the least. The Residence is literally a 3 room suite on the airplane with a living room, bedroom and private bathroom. It also comes with your very own butler. The First Apartment is most similar to a Suite on Singapore Airlines, but there is really no comparison since it's much bigger. Flights with The Residence and First Apartments debuted in late December of last year and are currently only operating between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow.  Etihad Airways "The Residence" Living Room (image via ausbt.com.au)  Etihad Airways First Apartment (image via thedesignair.net)  Etihad Airways "The Residence" Bedroom (image via dailymail.co.uk) While The Residence is still a bit out of our reach since you can't book it with miles, we knew that we had to try a First Apartment as soon as possible. We thought about when might be the best time to visit the UAE and determined that winter is absolutely our best bet since I'm not a fan of anything over 85 degrees, so Thanksgiving 2015 it is! On a whim, we checked for award availability around Thanksgiving between London and Abu Dhabi and there it was. We couldn't pass it up! Read on for Chris' experience booking the award and tips for how you can do it too for as little as 40,000 AAdvantage miles! ... Etihad is not a member of any of the three major airline alliances, but luckily it is a partner with American Airlines, so it's possible to book flights using AAdvantage miles. The downside is that award tickets can't be booked online, so a phone call is required. As of the latest AAdvantage award chart, a one-way flight from the Middle East to Europe is only 40,000 miles in first class, which is quite a bargain. To find award availability, the easiest way is to check Etihad's site. After entering your travel details and performing a search, you want to make sure there's "Guest First" availability - if there is, you should be able to book it with AAdvantage miles. Ignore the number of miles stated in the search results; those only apply if you choose to use Etihad miles to book the flight.  When Jen and I floated the idea of traveling to Dubai for Thanksgiving, I ran a quick search on Etihad's site and saw that there were two "Guest First" seats available from Abu Dhabi to London on November 29th. We got pretty excited at the prospect of experiencing the First Apartment, so despite not having any idea how to get to Abu Dhabi or from London, I called American to book the tickets. Unfortunately, there was a two hour wait (despite calling the Executive Platinum line), due to a ton of cancelled flights in Dallas. Eventually I got through, and asked to book a first class award for two from Abu Dhabi to London.
That's when I got some unexpected bad news from the agent - "I'm sorry, sir. There is no award availability from Abu Dhabi to London on November 29th. I checked both Etihad and Jet Airways for you." I didn't know how to react to this statement. There clearly was award availability, but the AA agent wasn't seeing it. I figured I'd try the good old technique of "hang up, call again", so I did and was faced with another two hour wait. Not to be deterred, I used Google Voice to call the Australian call center, and was connected to another agent within 15 minutes. The new agent was not much help either. He saw that there was one first class seat available, but not two. I hung up and went to bed, ready to give up on my dream of experiencing a luxury apartment in the skies. The next day, I figured I'd give it a third and final shot. I'd read on FlyerTalk that sometimes American can only see Etihad inventory "one at a time", even though there are multiple seats available. I called the reservation desk and again was told that there was only one seat available. This time, though, I was more persistent and told the agent that I was quite sure there were two seats available, and that I had heard of a glitch where Etihad only lets one seat be pulled at a time. She did some more investigating, and eventually admitted that I was right - there were indeed two first class seats available! It took a while, but she managed to find a way to book them for us, and our Etihad First Apartment tickets were confirmed. The lesson learned is to be persistent when trying to book award tickets - sometimes it takes a few tries, and sometimes it requires mentioning a special trick. You won't be able to magically open up award availability for flights that don't have any, but you might be able to convince agents to to double-check if you know there are award seats available. Stay tuned for our review of the Etihad First Apartment (in about nine months or so)! |
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