Review: Park Hyatt Shanghai City Guide: 5 Things to Do in Shanghai Review: Grand Hyatt Shenzhen Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Bridge” Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class HKG - SFO Now that I've spent quite a bit of time in Asia, I've flown Cathay Pacific a handful of times and I'm so glad to get the chance. I really do love Cathay's high-quality service and I definitely appreciate that they have reliably good hard products, especially in First class. Not only are those qualities amazing, but the amenities you get with Cathay are really second to none - especially if you are flying through Cathay's home base in Hong Kong. Cathay has a whopping five lounges available in the HKG airport, with four airside (The Wing, The Pier, The Bridge, The Cabin) and one landside (The Arrival). The Wing and The Pier have both First and Business class sections, while The Bridge and The Cabin are simple Business class lounges. The Bridge is located on Level 5 of the West Concourse, with an entrance near gate 35 at Level 6. It's open daily from 5:30AM until last departure. As I mentioned, The Bridge is a Business class lounge and permits entrance to any oneworld travelers flying Business class or above, as well as oneworld Emerald & Sapphire members. Since I visited The Wing last time I was at HKG, I decided to try out The Bridge on my way home last November. Thus far, I have visited The Wing, The Bridge, and The Cabin (review coming eventually!) and The Bridge is actually my favorite (although The Pier just reopened after extensive renovations and it may be my new favorite once I visit). The entrance to The Bridge is impossible to miss and from the main concourse, you'll take an escalator down a level to the front desk. The lounge is situated on both sides of the front desk. If you go left (south), you'll find the Bistro, showers, the IT Zone, and the Coffee Loft. To the right (north), you will find the Bakery, the Long Bar, and the TV Lounge. Because of how the lounge is situated, it's very long on either side, but not as narrow as The Cabin, which gives it a more open feel. The lounge has extensive seating and is tastefully decorated with multiple seating areas divided to make everything appear to be more cozy. As opposed to the somewhat sterile decor and very open style of The Wing, The Bridge is so much more quiet and comfortable. Situated towards the inside of the lounge, away from the runway, you'll find the Bistro, which offers a pretty extensive variety of Asian and Western cuisine. You'll find soups, noodles, small sandwiches, salads and plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Continuing on, you'll find the IT Zone, which has workstations for setting up your own laptop to get some work done as well as iMacs and printers available to use. At the end of the left side of the lounge is the Coffee Loft, which has a wonderful selection of coffee and alcoholic drinks (after 5PM) and serves what I think may very well be the best mocha I've ever had in my life. Heading over to the right side of the lounge, you'll find more dedicated seating areas and the first thing on the inner part of the lounge is the Bakery, which serves more Western options than the Bistro and had things like pizza available alongside salads, noodles, finger sandwiches, etc. Past the Bakery, you'll find the Long Bar and the TV Lounge. Just as it sounds, the Long Bar is a very long bar serving a variety of hot and cold, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with a stunning view of the runway. The TV Lounge offers comfortable seating and a few TVs, but not so many that I would really call it a "TV lounge", it's really just more of a "lounge". As with all Cathay lounges, you'll find a wide variety of international magazines and newspapers available to read while you're in the lounge, but they come with explicit instructions to put them back when you're finished reading. I didn't check out the showers on this visit, but the restrooms are nice and carry the same aesthetic as the rest of the lounge with individual cubicles that are completely closed off, which is always appreciated. As I said, The Bridge is my favorite of the HKG Cathay lounges so far. It's cozy and comfortable and very tastefully decorated and has plenty of options to make your layover more comfortable. Unfortunately, my flights back to San Francisco are almost always departing out of the South side of the airport right by The Wing, so it's really much easier to just go there rather than need to budget 10-15 minutes to walk back from The Bridge. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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! 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 After a few days in Seoul, we were headed to Hong Kong flying Cathay Pacific in Business Class. Hong Kong was probably the city I was most excited to visit while Seoul was the city I found least interesting, so I was ready to get on this flight! We left our hotel extremely early in the morning to catch the airport bus and experienced a lovely tour of Seoul while picking up the rest of the passengers at their hotels. Finally, we were on the road to Incheon. For those who don’t know, Incheon literally couldn’t be farther from Seoul if it tried - I couldn’t believe how far away it is for being Seoul’s most major airport. I think it took about an hour to get there once we made the last pick-ups in Seoul proper, maybe a little less, so I could be exaggerating a bit, but I really appreciate cities with airports actually in the city! Anyways, we arrived at Incheon Airport and checked in fairly quickly, which was nice, but then we were met with one of the longest lines for immigration I have ever seen. Apparently the 2014 Asian games were going on, so there were a TON of people flying through Seoul. Luckily, we got to the airport plenty early, so once we finally made it through the line, we headed straight for the Cathay Pacific lounge. The lounge is located in Concourse A up an escalator from the departure floor on level 4 near gate 118. You'll even find a cardboard cutout of a Cathay flight attendant showing you where to go. I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, but I guess I was expecting too much. The lounge is very small and really nothing special. That being said, it is quiet and there are free snacks/drinks, so might as well sit here rather than at the gate! The lounge had 3 seating areas and a small area with snacks and drinks. Since it was early in the morning, there were breakfast dishes out. These included lots of breads, some cereal, probably some sort of congee or something (although I can’t remember), and hard boiled eggs. Then, there were also some salads and cup noodles and snack foods like nuts, pastries, pretzels, and… chips and salsa? I love chips and salsa, so even though it was 9AM and I was in South Korea, I was all over that. There was also a selection of juices, milk, soda, coffee, tea, liquor, and I think some beer in the refrigerators. Overall, the lounge is underwhelming just because it’s small and doesn’t have much going on, but if you have access, it’s a good place to kill time before a flight. We were there before it got too busy, but it did start filling up, so keep in mind that it will likely be a bit busy if you visit anytime other than early morning or late evening.
Happy Travels! 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 After spending a few days in Tokyo, we were booked on a business class fight to Seoul out of Haneda on Japan Airlines. Because of Chris' One World Emerald status, we were able to wait for our flight in the First Class area of the Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge, which opened in August of this year. You can find the JAL Sakura Lounge on the 4th floor of Haneda's international terminal near gate 112. When you enter the lounge, you will see the Sakura Lounge entrance on your left and the First Class Lounge entrance on your right. Once entering the First Class Lounge, after walking down a fairly long hallway, you will notice the incredible size of the lounge. Typically, First Class lounges are quite small, but this one is positively enormous. The First Class lounge has no less than four different seating areas that span the length of the lounge and as you can see from the photos, the place was nearly empty, which made it feel even larger. The lounge boasts some excellent views and nearly every seat in the house is able to take advantage of them. Once walking in, you will pass some typical seating, followed by table seating for those enjoying the buffet, followed by another typical seating area, and at the far end of the lounge, you'll see the "Red Suite". I'm honestly not sure what the Red Suite is, but it is a nice departure from typical lounge decor and has quite a bit of interesting airline memorabilia, including books, vintage suitcases, and photos, and is a very quiet, nice area to rest while waiting for your flight. The Red Suite even has a champagne and sake room in case you're thirsty.
The newest of American Express' Centurion lounges opened on November 6th at SFO. Centurion lounges are available for American Express Platinum cardholders and their guests regardless of what airline or class of service they are flying. The others currently open are located at New York LaGuardia, Las Vegas McCarran, and Dallas Fort Worth. SFO's lounge is located airside in Terminal 3, which is SFO's United terminal. Unfortunately, I primarily fly American Airlines out of Terminal 2 these days, but we decided to book a flight to LA on United for November 7th so that we could check out the new lounge. The signage for the lounge starts at the far end of Terminal 3 and directs you to gate 74, which is nearly all the way to SFO's international terminal. Unfortunately, the majority of the flights out of Terminal 3 are quite far from gate 74, so you've got a bit of a walk to your gate if you decide to visit the lounge. The entrance to the lounge is quite grand and is immediately noticeable when walking up to it. The lounge is on the second floor of the terminal and the entrance has a huge two story glass wall which showcases the living wall inside as well as the staircase and wood paneling. When we arrived at the lounge, it was quite busy and there was a bit of a line at the front desk, which took about 10 minutes. Since it was only day two of the lounge being open, there were honestly quite a few kinks that they were still working out: the first of which was how much information to give to each visitor when they checked in at the front desk and how to process each person quickly. Despite the wait, the front desk agents were extremely friendly and handed every cardholder a grand opening welcome gift, which consisted of a gigantic cookbook written by the chef who created the menu for the lounge, Christopher Kostow, and a American Express branded candle. Despite being quite generous, the gifts didn't seem to be very well thought-out by American Express as they were quite heavy and bulky and now travelers would have to carry them with them to their final destinations and back. As a result, I witnessed several people in the lounge trying to pawn off their gifts to others so they wouldn't need to carry them. One of the lounge's most memorable areas is the glass wall full of wine that you see when you walk into the lounge on your left. The wine wall is also seen in the dining area and one of the most fun aspects of the lounge is the wine tasting you can do. If you ask the bartender, you can get a ticket good for five tastes of wine, which you can use at the wine wall to taste a selection of 15 white, red, and rose wines from Northern California. Unfortunately, quite a few of the bottles were empty when we were in the lounge, so we were a bit limited in our selection, but it was still a very fun option.
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