Flying back to the US from Thailand

Posted on 29 July 2021 by christao408

In June, I wrote a post detailing how I decided to fly business class home to the US in July. In this post, I will follow up and share how the experience was – and how I feel about the decision. Hopefully, I will also create a video or two for my YouTube channel. But in the meantime, here’s a start:

My flight departed Bangkok at 7:00 am. I arrived about 5:15 am, giving myself a bit more time than I might otherwise have needed because there is paperwork you need to provide before flying, like a COVID-19 PCR test. The check-in turned out to be quite smooth and security and immigration were, too, because nobody is flying.

The shops were mostly closed and many were boarded up. Those that were open had forelorn employees standing around, looking bored. I walked the long and gloomy concourse to the only THAI Airways lounge that was open, a small, recently rennovated one on concourse E. There were only two other people in the lounge. Food options were limited and all pre-packaged.

About boarding time, I proceeded to gate F5 where I found my ride, an All-Nippon Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in Star Alliance livery. There were perhaps 40 passengers on this 246-seat aircraft, so boarding was quick. To help minimize passenger contact, ANA has changed their boarding zone so, regardless of your status or the cabin you are traveling in, they board from the back of the plane to the front.

All-Nippon is a Japanese airline and their onboard experience is distinctly Japanese. The safety video features characters in Kabuki makeup and costumes and is interlaced with illustrations done in the style of traditional airline safety cards but with Japanese characters. Here is the illustration for the importance of not wearing high-heel shoes (or okobo!) when evacuating the aircraft. You might tear the slide. These touches make the experience really special – you feel like you’ve arrived in Japan even before you have left.

We had an on-time departure from runway 1L, heading south over the rice paddies and factories of Samut Prakan province and then turning north towards Hong Kong as we climbed into the cloudy morning skies. I always enjoy flying, but flying early in the morning fills me with a feeling of possibility, like I am embarking on a grand adventure.

I was traveling in ANA’s staggered business class that is technically “old”, because ANA has launched a new product called “The Room” that is even snazzier. This business class that you see was introduced in early 2010. While it is more than a decade old, it really is still a very comfortable and private way to fly. There are two critiques of the layout:

First, they seats are very cubicle-like. A lot of people who fly business class like this layout because it gives you a lot of privacy. And, certainly, during this pandemic it is preferntial to be in a layout that shields you from others. But this layout looks quite boxy and doesn’t quite appeal to me.

Second, there are no adjacent seats. Often, the center seats on some business classes will alternate with two seats close together and, in the next row, two seats far apart. These adjacent seats are great when traveling with someone else. ANA didn’t design their old business class for that. However, the new arrangement will feature this.

Overall, the seat was very comfortable. It offered good storage, reclined into a comfortable relaxation position, and when laying fully flat it made for a comfortable bed. The footwell, in particular, is large enough in all seats that you can sleep on your side and still have room for your feet. The bed comes with a mattress cover, duvet, and a substantial pillow. I was able to sleep well and on my 12-hour return from Chicago to Tokyo, slept eight hours.

The above picture is on the Boeing 777-300er I flew returning from Chicago to Tokyo. It had a few small differences from the 787-9 I was on from Bangkok to Tokyo and return, but you would be hard-pressed to notice them. The tray table mechanism is larger and extends from underneath the monitor in the 777 instead of swinging out from underneath the console next to you. Also, the 777 has a small storage box on the wall to the side of your seat. The seats and comfort were quite similar, though, and the service was the same.

You can also see how lightly loaded the cabin was. On my flight from Bangkok to Tokyo, I was the only person in a 12-person cabin.

ANA has a good reputation for catering. Since it was a morning flight, I opted for the western meal instead of the Japanese option. This may seem foolish, since Japanese food should be the obvious choice! But I saved my Japanese food for my flight out of Tokyo, figuring it would be better there. The food was generous in portion size and tasty enough, although nothing outstanding. With the pandemic, instead of serving food from carts or bringing individual dishses and laying them out on the tablecloth, all your food is served on one tray and plastic or foil covers are on every dish.

The flight to Tokyo lasted about five hours. I slept about two hours on the flight, looked out the window, and watched some Netflix on my iPad. The in-flight entertainment system has a large screen and is responsive. The selection of shows is okay but not as extensive as on some airlines. Since I brought my own device, I just used it instead. We landed in Tokyo Narita Airport about 3:00 pm. Above, a view of the Boeing 787-9 I flew from Bangkok, seen parked at Tokyo Narita Airport. This is really an elegant and comfortable plane!

The conclusion about ANA on this first flight, was that the seats were very comfortable, the food was decent, and the service was spectacular. The flight attendants were friendly, attentive, and organized. They knew from the itinerary that I was continuing on to San Francisco, so they packed me a special goodie bag with lots of ammenity items, some souvenir ANA postcards, and two special items shown in the picture above.

The first was a hand-written note that was personalized, talked about a festival that was going on, and referenced my trip to San Francisco. This was such a great touch. Japan has a culture of aviation enthusiasts, so they also included a postcard (on the right) which provided information about the flight such as plane number, plane type, flight level, etc. Again, these are details that go above and beyond the basic expectations and leave me feeling like ANA is a great way to fly.

I had a two-hour layover between flights. Narita was not very busy. Many shops were closed and it was just a shadow of what I usually see when transiting there. I decided to go to the lounge. ANA usually has three lounges in Narita and United Airlines has one. During the pandemic, only one ANA lounge was open and, in fact, they used only the First Class side of their lounge.

The lounge was fairly crowded and attendants were circulating like sharks, checking for mask use when people were not eating or drinking, picking up trays and used dishes, and keeping things in good order. All the foods were pre-packaged but the hot food bar, where you can order noodles or rice and curry, was open. I enjoyed a nice bowl of soba noodles with pork katsu and a glass of draft beer. The views of the tarmac are spectacular and the skies were blue and the grass verdant green. I could have spent all day watching the planes.

All too soon, I had to walk to sattelite four, where United operates its flights. In normal times, they have at least one daily flight to Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Guam – and usually two flights to some of the cities. This day, it was down to three flights: Guam, Los Angeles, and my flight to San Francisco. Today’s flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Behind my San Francisco flight was the one of Los Angeles, which left about 30 minutes earlier.

I chose this flight specifically because I wanted to try United’s Polaris business class. United introduced Polaris in 2016 but to this date, some of their long-haul fleet still has not been reconfigured. Specifcially, that Los Angeles flight, which I was rebooked on by United, uses an older 2-2-2 configuration which means if you sit at a window seat, you do not have direct aisle access. You will note that the overall look and feel is similar to ANA’s business class and the blue color scheme is similar. One advantage is that alternating rows of middle seats are placed closer together, perfect for couples.

The seats themselves are thoughtfully designed and similar in space and comfort to the older ANA seats. The Saks Fifth Avenue bedding that you see in the above photo had been modified a bit for my flight. The lightweight blanket was gone, but there were still two sizes of pillos and a duvet. The pajama service, which ostentisbly is available on longer flights, was not available on mine – but that may be because it is only a nine-hour flight.

The seats recline to fully flat and are comfortable. I did find the shoulder space to be a bit narrower than on ANA and I would sometimes run into the long armrest that stretches below the windows. The foot wells can be a narrow in some rows. The bulkhead seats, of which I chose one, have more space and were sufficiently large. I was able to sleep about five hours on the almost nine-hour flight.

Inflight service was not as good as on ANA. There were three flight attendants serving business class, which was about one-quarter full. One of them was brusque and not at all welcoming. The other two were a bit friendlier but just seemed disorganized and forgetful. I had to repeat requests for things and after ordering, one flight attendant told me I couldn’t have my first choice for entree while the other then brought me by first choice. But when I asked about the red wines, one flight attendant brought all three bottles so I could see them, which was a nice touch.

In terms of food, United’s catering is such a disappointment. For dinner, I chose what was ostensibly a filet of beef. It was such a sad, beige looking thing. And the baked side dish, some sort of a truffle-flavored polenta or something, was crusty and forgettable. The roasted beets were nice, because I love beets. The salad was limp and the dessert was some sort of a prepackaged brownie. Just underwhelming. Like ANA, everything was served on a single tray and all the items had plastic or foil covers.

For breakfast, I chose the Japanese option, figuring we had departed Japan so this might be okay. The dish was a tiny piece of mackerel served with the saddest steamed vegetables and a gloppy, sweet sauce. And the muffin, which I hope was meant to be green tea flavored, was this unappetizing greenish color.

The one thing I appreciate is that they didn’t serve breakfast until about an hour before landing. Many airlines will start their pre-landing meal in business class 90-120 minutes before landing, which interrupts your sleep. Especially because they were serving everything on a single tray, dinner was done early and breakfast could be served late, giving passengers more time to rest.

United’s entertainment system is quite a bit better than ANA’s, though. The screen is brighter and easier to see and the selection of entertainment is extensive. If you need to be distracted (which you will be because of the food!), United does that well.

The flight was smooth and not long after breakfast, we broke through the coastal fog to land in San Francisco. We parked at the international terminal and I was the first person to the baggage claim belt, which was completely desserted. Thankfully, the baggage arrived quickly and my bags were among the first off. If you are curious, immigration was very quick and nobody inquired at all about COVID, although I had shown my COVID test results when checking in at Bangkok and again at the gate in Tokyo.

The international flights both had few passengers and a lot of personal room. This changed for the domestic flights, where both my flight to Denver and the onward flight to Kansas City were completely full. Thankfully, I was in business class for these flights, too, so at least wasn’t completely squeezed in.

The domestic flights were both delayed, the first one by almost an hour with no clear explanation given. And when we landed in Denver, we waited another 15 minutes for our gate to free up, which was especially frustrating as many passengers had very tight connections. I did make it to Kansas City only about 45 minutes late, though, and my parents picked me up shortly after.

So, the question is, was it worth it to fly business class? The two international flights had a premium economy cabin, so I could have saved some money and had seats equivalent to domestic first class. Overall, having more room and more cubicle-like space during this pandemic, made me feel safer. And being able to sleep on the flights seemed to help with my jet lag: I really did not suffer any considerable jet lag on this trip. I would not have slept much, or very well, in premium economy or regular economy.

What I don’t think was worth it, was flying with United. I’m a former United employee and really want the company to succeed, but I was disappointed with the experience – especially domestically. I overheard three of the flight attendant for my San Francisco to Denver flight discussing that this was their first flight back from furlough. On none of my United flights, did I encounter any employees (on the ground or in the air) that really convinced me they genuinely appreciated my business. Compare this to ANA, where I was treated as a unique person, and I think I would try to avoid United as best I can in the future.

Trip Report: Singapore Airlines Premium Economy

Posted on 19 July 2017 by christao408

In my last post, I wrote about my experience flying in premium economy class on Lufthansa. Recently, I have flown twice on Singapore Airlines in their premium economy cabin: once to Paris and the second time to Australia and New Zealand. I’ll do a quick review of the experience here as a point of comparison.

The planes

On my flights between Singapore and Paris and Singapore and Melbourne, I flew on the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane flying. On the flight between Singapore and Auckland, I flew on the Boeing 777-300ER. Both planes feature premium economy class in a 2-4-2 configuration.

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Above, the Airbus A380 after our arrival in Paris.

Of the planes, I prefer the Boeing 777. The Airbus A380 is a massive, double-deck plane and it simply feels like a huge plane with heaps of passengers in it. In reality, the A380 has only 379 seats (Lufthansa puts 509 on the same plane!) so it is not as densely configured. Nonetheless, the Boeing 777-300ER has only 264 passengers so feels much less crowded.

The cabin

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On the Airbus A380, there are 38 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 layout. The seat is 19.5 inches wide with a 38-inch pitch. According to the stats on SeatGuru.com, this is 1.5 inches wider than on Lufthansa. That said, I did not find the seat any more spacious.

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There is a large seat back monitor, which is controlled from a remote in your armrest. The screen appears marginally larger than on Lufthansa but that doesn’t make a huge difference.

The seat has many storage areas and useful amenities, including an individual power port and a USB plug. The magazine pouch has a cheap, plastic feel and was broken on two of the seats. Overall, the seat was comfortable although I found it more so if I place a pillow on the front of the seat cushion under my legs.

There is ample legroom and, as with other airlines’ premium economy, each passenger has his or her own armrests. There is also a nice pillow and large blanket for each passenger along with noise-cancelling headphones.

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As a comparison, here is a view of the regular economy class during the flight. It is in a 3-4-3 layout and feels considerably more crowded.

The service

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Before departure, the flight attendants did not offer beverages – different than on Lufthansa. Menus were placed in the seat back pockets. Singapore does offer a “book the cook” option, allowing you to select certain main courses in advance, a feature Lufthansa does not offer in premium economy.

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After takeoff, warm towels were handed out followed by a service of drinks and nuts. The signature Singapore Sling cocktail is available as well as a full selection of premium beverages.

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The flight attendants are friendly and attentive. They are more polished than at Lufthansa, in terms of having very specific customer service phrasing they are expected to use. Some people perceive this as robotic, other people like it.

As an example, when Tawn asked for a beverage that they didn’t have on the cart, the flight attendant said she would be happy to get him the drink but it would be a few minutes – but would he like something else while waiting?

I thought that was a good touch.

Also, when I was boarding, the flight attendant saw my boarding pass, recognized my seat number, and said “Oh, 35D! You have the special meals ordered, a XYZ for dinner and XYZ for breakfast.” I was impressed that he remembered that off the top of his head.

The meals

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Meal services are decent, although I liked the ones on Lufthansa better. Here is a braised beef dish with mashed potatoes.

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There as also a Chinese-style stir fried chicken with rice, which was a little oily but tasty. Notice that for this flight served out of Paris, we had a little block of cheese.

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The breakfast service before arriving into Singapore was sad. This quiche and hash brown was limp.

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And the waffle was soggy and the egg rubbery. Overall, a poor showing from Singapore airlines.

While I do not show them here, I did try the “book the cook” meal service when fling to the southern hemisphere. While I liked having the option of choosing a meal in advance, I was not overwhelmed by the quality of the catering. Only the cumin-spiced lamb chops out of Melbourne were impressive.

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For the Paris flights, premium ice cream was served – a nice treat.

The timing of the service was generally fine. The exception was the overnight flight from Melbourne to Singapore. Only 7.5 hours in length and departing at midnight, there is only a light snack service to begin with (which I slept through) and a full meal is served before landing. Unfortunately, they started the service 2.5 hours before landing. Had they pushed it back another 30-60 minutes, it would have allowed people to get more rest.

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In terms of inflight entertainment, Singapore Airlines has a huge selection of movies, TV shows and music to keep you occupied. The selection was wider than on Lufthansa, although there is only so much time you have on the flight so on either airline you will be able to find something to fill your time.

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The screen is high-resolution and bright and the controls were responsive. Unfortunately, the screens were not touchscreen, requiring you to fiddle with the handset controller.

The lounges

Singapore Airlines has just recently opened a new lounge in Bangkok on the D concourse, a location superior to their previous lounge on the A concourse. The lounge is beautiful and continues to have a wide variety of foods and beverages.

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A selection of food in the old lounge in Bangkok

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Above, in Paris all the Star Alliance carriers use a shared lounge facility which has a good selection of food and beverage but which can become quite crowded and is also a bit dark.

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Most disappointing is the “Gold Lounge” in Singapore, especially the one in Terminal 3. Singapore Airlines, like all Star Alliance members, welcomes other members’ gold-status passengers. In Singapore, their main hub, they have a separate lounge just for non-Singapore gold members. These lounges are not that nice: crowded, limited food selection and no showers or other amenities.

Overall

Premium economy is usually a reasonable value: more space and comfort without breaking the bank. Depending on the route and when you fly, Singapore offers some attractive prices for this good service.

Comparing Lufthansa and Singapore, they are quite similar. Singapore has a better entertainment system. Lufthansa has better food and a slightly better seat. Singapore has friendlier flight attendants but slow service. Lufthansa has service that gives you more time to sleep but with flight attendants who, while professional, are not as buttery with their words. Lufthansa offers better lounge experiences across the system; Singapore offers good lounges for non-Singapore passengers everywhere but in their hub city.

At the end of the day, if the two airlines offered me the same price on the same route, I would choose Lufthansa as I think the experience was just slightly better. But you will not go wrong with Singapore at all.

In a few weeks, I will be flying EVA Air, the Taiwanese carrier, on their premium economy service. I will post another report covering that trip.

Trip Report: Lufthansa Premium Economy

Posted on 28 May 2017 by christao408

This is the first of two reports about premium economy experiences. For longer-haul flying, I am reaching a point where being crammed into economy is painful but business class is unaffordable. The compromise is to pay a bit extra for premium economy which is sometimes quite a good value. In this report, I cover a round trip between Bangkok and Lisbon (returning from Barcelona) on Lufthansa made in October 2016.

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The plane

Lufthansa adjusts the capacity on the Bangkok-Frankfurt route throughout the year to match demand, everything from a 509-seat Airbus A380 to a 251-seat Airbus A340-300, which was used both directions on my trip.

The Airbus A340 is a comfortable widebody plane but the type was introduced in 1991 so it is not the latest technology. The normal economy class configuration is 2-4-2.

The cabin

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The premium economy cabin, which is located between the business class and economy cabins, has only 28 seats, arranged 2-3-2. These seats are 18″ wide and have between 38-39″ of pitch, the distance from one point on the seat to the same point on the next row.

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Leg room is quite reasonable although when the person in front of you reclines, you will still find it difficult to get out unless the person in the aisle seat gets up. There are plenty of storage spaces for items and there is a foot rest on the seat in front of you. Bulkhead seats instead have a leg rest that extends from the seat cushion.

One feature of these seats is that there are two armrests for each passenger so no fighting for personal space. This is a huge advantage over regular economy.

Large touch-screen monitors are available at each seat. The image is bright and the responsiveness of the system is good.

The seats are comfortable although a bit firm. After a few hours, I ended up sitting on my pillow to provide extra padding. Recline is quite deep but I still find it difficult to get any meaningful sleep. On the outbound flight, I probably slept about four hours total. On the return flight, less than two.

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As a comparison, here is a view of economy class mid-flight. You can see the premium economy cabins in the distance, separated only by fabric dividers hanging from the overhead bins. You will notice the monitors in economy are smaller and there is an extra seat in each row resulting in only 17″ width and narrower armrests.

The service

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Before departure, water or juice is served and menus are distributed. There is no advance meal booking beyond the usual dietary and religious meals. The selection consisted of two main courses. For these flights, each approximately 12 hours, there is a main meal and then a breakfast closer to arrival.

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After reaching cruising altitude, a drink service commenced. There was a wide selection of beverages and premium economy includes sparkling wine and a premium beer.

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The outbound dinner was a choice of pork Panaeng curry or pan-seared veal sausages with onion sauce, sauerkraut and mashed potato. I chose the latter. It came with an appetizer of coleslaw with smoked chicken breast and a dessert of apple strudel with vanilla sauce.

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Before landing in Frankfurt, a breakfast of cheddar cheese omelette with Lyonnaise potato, ratatouille and tomato with fresh fruit was served. There was no other choice.

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For the flight from Frankfurt back to Bangkok, we had a choice of beef goulash with carrot zucchini stew and potato leek mash (which I chose) or tomato mozzarella fiorelli with basil cream sauce and tomato concasse. The appetizer was a seasonal salad with pumpkin slices and Italian dressing. The dessert was mango pie with creme fraiche.

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Breakfast before landing in Bangkok was scrambled egg with cheddar cheese accompanied by diced chicken breast, Chinese vegetables (which seemed to be missing) and potato wedges with a dessert of vanilla curd cream with blueberries.

Overall, the food quality was good and the quantity was sufficient. The food is served on ceramic dishes with metal cutlery and glass stemware, which creates a nicer impression.

During the flight, light refreshments (sandwiches, fruits, pretzels, candy bars) were available for snacking.

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Shortly before landing, small chocolates were distributed throughout the cabin. Service from the flight attendants was friendly but efficient. It was notable that effort was made to complete the first meal service quickly, presumably so passengers could go to sleep as both flights are overnight.

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The inflight entertainment system worked well and has many options. By the return flight, I did feel like I was running out of things that piqued my interest. Thankfully, the seats have USB and power ports, so I was able to pull out my laptop and work and use my iPad to read and watch shows.

The system does have a nice maps feature that shows computer-generated views from the tail and the cockpit of the plane. This gives a perspective of what the outside world looks like although it is misleading because the above pictures of our final approach into Frankfurt shows daylight but it was in fact before sunrise.

The lounges

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Premium economy does not come with lounge access but as I have “gold” status with one of the Star Alliance carriers, I was eligible to use the lounge. In Bangkok, I was able to use the main THAI Airways lounge. Other lounges closed too early to use as the Lufthansa flight departs after midnight.

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In Frankfurt, I was able to use the Senator lounges, which are very modern, have a huge selection of food and drink, and offer showers for transiting passengers.

Overall

I particularly liked the 2-3-2 layout in the plane. The middle seat next to me with empty both ways, giving me even more space. The food was tasty and good quality. And the lounge in Frankfurt was truly refreshing. Connecting through Frankfurt is convenient and results in efficient travel times to Europe from Bangkok.

The seat cushions were a bit firm for my tastes (although I find this on a lot of planes), the selection of inflight entertainment was a bit uninspired and Frankfurt is not the most pleasant airport to connect through as it is drab and not particularly intuitive to navigate.

I managed to get an attractive price for this flight, only about US$ 1,400 round-trip. The usual premium economy price is closer to US$ 1,800. The extra space and increased comfort made the trip much less taxing and, for the money, was a good value. Lufthansa’s premium economy would be worth taking for future trips.

Flying Delta Economy from BKK to LAX

Posted on 22 October 2015 by christao408

While normally a Star Alliance flyer, I had the opportunity to revisit Delta for the first time in five years on my recent flight to Los Angeles. I looked forward to the opportunity, because I have read and heard good things about Delta’s service, comments from friends that it is the carrier that has defied the reputation of US-based carriers for poor service.

The first flight was an early-morning departure from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Now seven years old, Suvarnabhumi is settling into its own and is a decent airport to fly from. Delta’s check-in counter was not crowded when we arrived two hours before the flight and the security and immigration process was smooth and efficient.

We encountered a bit of a challenge, as Tawn and I were traveling on separate reservations. When I checked us in online 24 hours earlier, I chose adjacent seats. Between then and our arrival at the airport, one of those seats had been reassigned. Thankfully, the gate agent was able to rearrange seats for us so we were together for the flight.

Our flight to Bangkok was a Boeing 767-300ER. After years of flying 747s to Bangkok (first as Northwest and then after the merger as Delta), it is nice to see the use of a smaller widebody plane. This capacity discipline helps the airlines focus on profitability over volume and I also think the smaller plane, with its 2-3-2 layout in economy class, is a better travel experience than the 9- or 10-abreast layout of larger planes.

While we weren’t traveling in Business Class, I thought I would share a picture of the seat. The forward-facing seats are a bit utilitarian but look like a comfortable way to fly. The center section has two seats, so if you are traveling in a pair, you are not completely isolated from the other person.

The economy class seats are clad in leather, a sea of dark blue that is visually dull but easy to clean. The cabin was clean and in good shape, despite the airplane being 15-20 years old.

Delta’s entire long-haul fleet offers seatback monitors, with a ride range (hundreds) of TV shows, movies, music, and games. Monitors were bright, high-resolution, and responded quickly to your fingertip touch. Pairs of seats had universal power outlets and these monitors also featured USB plugs.

One nice touch that Delta has added (or replaced) is distributing free headsets and amenity kits. There was a point post-9/11 where the US-based airlines had cut back every amenity item, which seemed so stingy. For this 5-hour flight to Tokyo, we had eye shades and ear plugs, plus the ear buds. Since the entertainment system uses a standard headphone jack, you can use your own jack or take the complementary ones with you to use again on your next flight.

The economy class seats are arranged at a 31-32 inch pitch, typical for most airlines. The seats are reasonably comfortable, leg room and knee space is adequate but not impressive. As I mentioned, the narrower plane (only seven seats across instead of nine or ten) is more comfortable as nearly everyone is in a window or aisle seat.

Once airborne, the cabin attendants began the inflight service: hot towels followed by a drink service, followed by breakfast. The staff was Bangkok and Tokyo based and was generally friendly. The taller flight attendant on the right had a particularly friendly manner to her, a typical “Midwestern Mom” top who was bright and outgoing. These are the type of cabin attendants who really improve the flying experience as they seem to enjoy what they do, which is infectious.

As it was the final day of a month of vegetarianism for Tawn, I pre-ordered vegetarian meals for both of us. This ensured we were served at the same time. Above is the “dairy okay” vegetarian meal for me, a very cheesy scrambled egg dish that was tasty.

Tawn opted for the Asian vegetarian dish, which on both flights was more South Asian (Indian) in nature, except for the corn flakes!

The food tasted fine, with strong flavors, and the overall quantity was appropriate to the length of the flight. Expectations are never too high for airline food and by placing the bar at a reasonable level, were were not disappointed!

Near the end of the flight, warm sandwiches were served in an unappetizing-looking foil bag. The roasted zucchini and tomato sandwich we received was surprisingly tasty – the cornmeal crusted roll was very nice – and was sufficient to stave off any hunger before arriving in Tokyo.

We arrived to find drizzly weather in Tokyo. Above, our plane from Bangkok with the Narita International Airport control tower standing against a grey sky. Our connection time was short – only scheduled for one hour but a bit longer as our flight was about 20 minutes early into Narita. This gave me time to take pictures of some of Delta’s other planes:

The massive Boeing 777-200, the same type of plane we would fly into Los Angeles.

The classic shape of the Boeing 747-400, which I love looking at but don’t really enjoy flying in economy class because of its dense, 10-abreast seating layout.

Our plane parked at the gate, about to board. For the flight across the Pacific Ocean, I was unable to arrange for two seats together, so had upgrade both of us to the “Comfort Plus” cabin, which is the premium economy product. The only significant difference is about four additional inches of leg room plus the ability to board ahead of the other economy class passengers.

The view from the jetway before we step aboard. The Boeing 777-200 is a large plane, impressive in its size.

The business class and other premium economy passengers had already boarded, so we found the bins over our seats already full, and had to struggle a bit to rearrange space for our items. This was necessary as we were at a bulkhead row and could not store any personal items at our feet.

The view out the raindrop-strewn window with a Boeing 747 in the background.

For this longer flight (about 9 hours eastbound), Delta offers a bit more in their amenity kit: toothbrush and toothpaste in addition to the eye mask and ear plugs found in the flight out of Bangkok.

A simple printed menu laid out meal and beverage choices and at the bottom, had a clever guide to activities during different phases of flight. Again, I think these relatively inexpensive investments (printed menus, amenity kits) make the overall experience more pleasant and improve the passengers’ impression of the airline.

Here is a peek into the business class cabin ahead of our seats. This aircraft has business class arranged as individual pods in a “reverse Herringbone” layout, with all seats facing the aisle. I dislike this arrangement because facing the aisle means you make eye contact with anyone walking past. I also dislike this arrangement because if you are traveling with someone else, there is no way to communicate with them conveniently during the flight.

This picture, taken later in the flight, shows one passenger in business class still stretched out in the lie-flat bed position. While I’m sure the seat is comfortable, the seat still looks a bit cubicle-like.

Our view a bit after takeoff, as the storm clouds reflected the fading rays of the sun.

The cabin crew was just as friendly as the previous flight’s and began their service not long after reaching our cruising altitude.

Nuts and pretzels were served along with our choice of drinks. Alcoholic beverages are complimentary on the Asia flights, although it doesn’t appear that many people choose to drink. We did have a glass of wine with our dinner.

My meal was tasty but nondescript: some sort of a slaw on the left with a Thai-like dressing, a hummus-like spread with asparagus, and a rice and curry dish that was tasty but difficult to identify.

Tawn’s meal had some similar elements but with a regular lettuce salad and rice with roasted vegetables. Again, portion size was appropriate and the flavors were fine.

The Delta blankets are comfortable but tissue-paper thin. The cabin crew passed our half-liter bottles of Evian water on both flights, making it easier to stay hydrated and reducing their workload since frequent trips with a pitcher of water and cups was not necessary. This also probably reduces the amount of plastic waste, as one bottle per person is much less plastic than five or six cups would require.

The cabin was darkened although many passengers watched movies or shows during the flight. Unlike at some airlines, the Delta cabin attendants on this flight did not mandate that window shades be lowered, which was okay as the entire flight took place during the night.

The sun only started rising about two hours before we landed, so having window shades opened actually allowed for a natural wakening to occur for those who were sleeping.

Ice crystals formed at the base of the windows, a reminder of how bitterly cold the air is at 40,000 feet.

About 90 minutes before landing, the flight attendants served sandwiches and a snack box with yoghurt and fruit inside.

Our sandwiches were slightly different, although mine did not have any cheese despite being a “dairy okay” vegetarian option. Plenty of tasty Starbucks coffee was served.

Overall, the Delta experience was a positive one. At a certain level, I would still choose an Asian-based carrier as I think the overall experience is better (especially in terms of toilet cleanliness – US-based crews don’t seem to like to keep toilets clean). Nonetheless, the Delta crew was friendly and the hard product (seat, food, inflight entertainment) is competitive.

Los Angeles to Kansas City on United

Posted on 18 October 2015 by christao408

We cashed in some United Mileage Plus miles for one leg of our domestic travel. Thankfully there were “saver” fares – discounted – for first class so we routed through Houston on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to try their BusinessFirst product.

The Dreamliner is the newest plane in United’s fleet, a fuel-efficient composite construction wide body jet.

The plane’s lines are beautiful, and the wing flexes gracefully during flight.

The BusinessFirst cabin features pairs of seats, angled to provide some privacy but close enough for couples who are flying together.

Seats recline fully flat so you can sleep.

I dozed for an hour or so fairly comfortably, although the narrow end for your feet is a tight fit. Not all the seats have the same amount of foot space, I discovered.

While it was a domestic flight, nuts and sparkling wine were served shortly after reaching cruising altitude.

There was a choice of two entrees: a beef chili with melon and feta salad.

Option 2 was enchilada soup and chicken salad. Both were fine for a three-hour flight.

Warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Large touch screen monitors provide a ton of on-demand entertainment options.

Two happy travelers!

With nearly three hours to kill in Houston, we made use of two United Club passes a friend gave me. The club in the E terminal has sweeping views of the gates.

After sunset, we made our way to the gate for our connecting flight to Kansas City aboard an Airbus A319.

Overall, the flights were positive. The service was friendly and the experience was with the miles (25,000 each) that we redeemed.

Trip Report: BKK-NRT-ORD on All-Nippon Airways

Posted on 15 January 2015 by christao408

Over the holidays we flew back to the United States to visit family. Comparing all the options, we chose All-Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline and member of the Star Alliance, because with their joint venture with United, it was easy to seamlessly book the entire trip through ANA’s website. Here is a look at the highlights of the flights.

The departure from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport is quite early – about 7:00 – but we arrived early enough beforehand so we could enjoy some time in the THAI Airways Royal Orchid Lounge. The lounge was decorated for the holidays in shades of their signature purple hue.

Now that United has exited the Bangkok to Tokyo route, leaving the flying to All-Nippon, ANA has up-gauged their equipment from a Boeing 767 to a Boeing 777.

The flight still departs too early for my tastes, but at least you begin the day with a pretty sunrise. As Tawn explained it, since he used to work for United and the flights out of Bangkok (to Tokyo and Hong Kong at the time) both departed very early, he still associated early flights with the excitement of working.

We were assigned a aisle and window seat but another traveler was assigned the middle seat, so we gave him the aisle so Tawn and I could sit together. There was a nice view as we climbed into the humid and hazy morning sky above Bangkok.

The flight began with a beverage and snack service, a selection of tasty rice crackers.

The flight attendants at ANA are very friendly. Sometimes their English isn’t perfect, but they are very sincere and quick to respond to requests.

I opted for a western-style breakfast, which if I recall was chicken croquettes served with mashed potatoes. When I say “breakfast”, I mean “meal”.

Tawn chose the Japanese style meal, which was a piece of mackerel served with a variety of pickles and other sides. Both meals were tasty and satisfying.

The planes used intra-Asia have an older interior, with narrower leg room and smaller, more difficult to view monitors. The entertainment system still offers dozens of movies and a hundred or more TV shows, all on-demand. However, the screens are not touchscreen and you have to use the remote controller.

The flight to Tokyo took about six hours and we arrived on a sunny and clear afternoon.

A nice view of an ANA Boeing 767 with the new drag-reducing wingtips. The 767 remains one of my favorite planes, mostly due to the 2-3-2 layout in economy class, where everyone is either on an aisle or no more than one seat away from an aisle.

Narita is an efficient, modern airport through which to connect. We spent some time at the All-Nippon Lounge, which has a good selection of food and beverage, shower facilities, and a nap area.

A meeting of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the one in the foreground flown by All-Nippon and the one in the background flown by United Airlines. The two airlines have an immunized joint venture for trans-Pacific and connecting flights, meaning that they operate these flights as if they were a single carrier, sharing revenues and expenses.

The sun had already set when we boarded our Boeing 777-300 ER bound for Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

All-Nippon is one of the few carriers to do a 2-4-3 layout in economy class, which provides a range of options for different size groups traveling together. Unfortunately, we ended up with two of the seats in the middle four. However, the good thing is that these are actually two pairs of seats, so the people in the middle each have their own armrest and about two inches between them. That means the seats do not feel cramped.

Also, All-Nippon offers 34″ of pitch (the distance between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat in the next row) – this is 3″ more than most US carriers offer. On top of it, these planes us a “shell back” seat that never reclines into your space. Instead, as you recline your seat, your seat bottom slides forward, reducing your own leg room. I prefer this because I rarely sleep on planes, but dislike having someone recline into my space.

As you can see, the monitors are much larger and brighter, and they feature touch-screen technology. There is also a USB port in case you want to charge your electronic devices. There is also a standard power outlet in between the seats.

Tawn and I both chose the same meal, a Japanese style grilled pork dish with cold soba noodles, tofu, and rice. Very tasty. One of the things I like about Japanese meals is that they are served with many small side dishes. The variety of tastes and textures makes the meal very fulfilling.

After dinner, the crew dimmed the cabin lights and everyone was asked to close their window shades.

A view of the rear galley, where there was a bit of space that you could stand and stretch your legs.

Also in the galley was a basket of snacks and beverages with a sign inviting you to help yourself. Flight attendants were also available to take care of any requests, such as brewing a cup of tea for me.

With strong east-bound tail winds, our flight to Chicago was only 10:30 minutes. The return flight from San Jose to Tokyo, a much shorter route, was actually fifteen minutes longer!

Our second sunrise of the day, the first viewed while we were on the ground in Bangkok and the second viewed off the coast of Washington.

About 90 minutes before landing, a second meal was served. This is the minced chicken with noodles (I think!) that Tawn had.

And I had a chicken thigh served with pasta. These meals were a bit lighter than the first meals, but appropriate given that we had departed in the evening and were arriving just after lunchtime.

The cabin with the lights on. It is actually a comfortable enough cabin to fly in, even for the long haul flight. Sure, business class would be better, but for the price, All-Nippon economy class was fine.

About five seconds before landing, a view across the plane and out the window, where you can see planes at the international terminal where we would disembark.

My First Flight on the 787 Dreamliner

Posted on 27 August 2013 by christao408

This is the story of my first flight aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, traveling on All-Nippon Airways (ANA) flight 1075 from San Jose, California to Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan. An 11-minute video version of this trip report is embedded here if you would prefer to watch instead of read.

The Dreamliner is a revolutionary wide-body aircraft. Made largely with composite materials, it is about 20% more fuel efficient than the older 767 aircraft it is designed to replace. Despite a four-month grounding earlier this year because of electrical problems, the aircraft has performed very well for its initial customers and is opening new “long and thin” routes like San Jose to Tokyo that could not previously have been served profitably.

I arrived at the airport plenty early to watch the inbound aircraft land, which arrived about twenty minutes late. Having grown up in the San Jose area and able to remember the days when the airport was a much smaller operation, it is exciting to see this cutting-edge plane regularly scheduled to fly here.

ANA operates from terminal A. Now nearly a quarter-century old, I still recall terminal A as the “new” terminal compared to the 1960s era terminal C that was only recently demolished. As a child, I relished the opportunity to walk across the tarmac and climb a set of stairs to board the airplane. To me, that made air travel much more exciting. These days, the two terminals at San Jose are modern and entirely enclosed. Certainly the facilities are nicer but the travel experience is also more sterile.

ANA has a small counter space but lots of employees working check-in. As a Star Alliance gold level member, there was no wait and I was efficiently checked in by a friendly agent. While the agent did not appear to be of Japanese heritage – several of the staff members were – she displayed all the appropriate cultural training such as receiving and handing documents with both hands. This was a nice touch and leads me to believe that instead of relying on contract employees, ANA is using its own staff.

Boarding pass in hand – a window seat in the second row of economy class – I headed up the escalator to the security screening area. The terminal has a single consolidated screening point and while there weren’t that many people in line, the process took a bit of time. In particular, the crew of Mexican budget airline Volaris seemed to be holding up the line, unfamiliar with the TSA’s screening procedures. It took several of the flight attendants multiple trips through the metal detector before they finally removed all of their metal items.

Today’s flight operated from gate 15, one of two gates connected to the International Arrivals Area. This section of the terminal is essentially the connector between terminals A and B. There are few amenities but the windows offer a good view of the tarmac. Unfortunately, the sterile corridor leading to the customs and immigration area means you look out through two sets of windows.

I spent plenty of time taking pictures of the Dreamliner. It is a unique-looking airplane, with an asymmetrical nose. The plane’s proportions make it looks smaller than it actually is, perhaps because it looks unusually low to the ground for so large an aircraft.

After taking plenty of pictures – something lots of other waiting passengers were also doing – I headed to The Club at SJC, a private lounge that ANA uses for its premium customers. The Club is the only lounge at SJC, where the only dominant airline is Southwest.

Located upstairs from the departure gate, the lounge offers limited views of the tarmac but has two large seating areas, workspaces, and a decent selection of food and beverage. They also have a single shower room, so I freshened up before the flight.

It was nearing time to board. ANA operates the San Jose service with a 787 in a very low density configuration, only 158 passengers in a plane that can easily seat more than 220. Because of this, the gate area was not crowded.

After the highest level members of ANA’s frequent flyer program were boarded, Star Alliance Gold members were invited. A single jetway is used at this gate but with so few passengers boarding, it isn’t a problem. I was welcomed aboard warmly and directed towards my seat.

Business class, divided into two cabins, seats 46 people in alternating rows of 1-1-1 and 1-2-1 seating. All seats have direct aisle access and a lot of privacy. The problem with this arrangement is that it isn’t very friendly for couples traveling together. I know that privacy is something that a lot of premium customers value highly, but I prefer arrangements that are a little less cubicle-like.

A small economy class cabin of just three rows sits behind business class and the mid-cabin lavatories. In another configuration, this area has premium economy seating with 38” legroom and only seven seats across. I can understand why they made that choice: there is nearly a foot of empty floor behind the last row in this cabin. Even without installing premium economy, they could have added a few more inches to each of these three rows.

The design of the overhead bins offers plenty of room to store roll-aboard bags placed on their side. The bins also pivot into the ceiling, making for a very open cabin when they are closed. This being a low-density seating configuration, lots of storage space remained even after everyone had boarded.

ANA uses fixed-shell seats in economy, where instead of reclining back into the row behind you, your seat slides forward. I like this arrangement because my personal space remains fixed. With 33 to 34 inches of seat pitch, ANA’s Dreamliner offers several more inches of legroom than most competitors including joint-venture partner United Airlines. My one complaint with these seats is that the headrest doesn’t move up and down and, perhaps because it is designed for Japanese customers, it manages to fall at my neck rather than the back of my head.

The inflight entertainment system is an “on-demand” system with touch screen controls. The selection of movies, TV shows, games, and music is extensive – plenty to keep you occupied on your flight. The system was also one of the more responsive that I have used. When you touch the screen, it reacts promptly. The overhead passenger service unit features a new design and it was nice to be on a wide-body airplane with personal air vents.

Boarding was complete in about fifteen minutes and soon enough we had pushed back and the safety demo was finished. As the engines spooled up – a higher pitch whine than I’ve heard before – the ANA ground staff lined up to send us off with a wave. Being a small airport, we reached the departure end of runway 30 R in just a few minutes. Number one for takeoff, we pulled onto the runway and launched into our roll without a stop.

Our departure followed an interesting path, indicated in green on the map. We leveled off at 5,000 feet and maintained that altitude across the south end of the bay, towards Woodside.

Meanwhile, aircraft were circling wide on our left (yellow on the map), cutting behind us to line up for arrival on runways 28 L and R at San Francisco. While I am confident the air traffic controllers were keeping a close watch on us, the other aircraft came a lot closer than you usually see from your window. It was nice to have such a good view! As we approached Half Moon Bay, we resumed our climb, joining the westbound route across the Pacific.

About forty minutes after departure, inflight service began with hot towels – real cloth towels – followed by a beverage service with snacks.

The snacks were simple – rice crackers – and the selection of beverages included complimentary wine, beer, and spirits. The crew was friendly and helpful and there were no difficulties in communicating with them in English.

An in-seat menu card described the general service while the specific meal choices for today’s flight could be read on the inflight entertainment system and also on laminated cards the flight attendants had on their carts.

For dinner, I chose the Japanese option – a chicken teriyaki dish served with cold soba – buckwheat noodles. The portion was generous and the food was tasty. The dinner also included miso soup served from a pitcher.

Afterwards, flight attendants distributed Häagen-Dazs ice cream – a simple and satisfying dessert. Since the meal was served with metal cutlery, I could use an actual spoon to scoop the rock-hard ice cream instead of the flimsy plastic one contained inside the ice cream container’s lid.

After lunch, I walked around the mostly-full cabin. You can see the windows, which are about thirty percent larger than conventional airplane windows. Truthfully, this didn’t make as big an impression on me as I thought they would. Sure, the windows were large, but the biggest effect was that it made the cabin look narrower. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but because I am used to a standard-size window, as I looked across the width of the cabin and mentally estimated the width, the wall looked closer to me than it really was. Instead of shades, the windows use LCD controls for different levels of shading. Above, you can see two of the windows at the maximum-dark setting.

The rear cabin has eleven additional rows of economy class seats. As you can see, the cabin has a spacious feel and the 2-4-2 arrangement is quite pleasant. Unfortunately, ANA is moving towards a 3-3-3 arrangement like most operators so the comfortably wide seats will be a thing of the past. I can understand the economics but will say that as a customer, I will go out of my way to fly an 8-abreast 787 instead of a 9-abreast configuration.

The other thing I noticed is that the screens on the entertainment system are coated in such a way that they are not visible unless viewed almost straight-on. For example, I couldn’t tell if the person seated next to me had his screen on until I leaned over to look. This would seem to be a good thing, minimizing extraneous light and also giving greater (although not complete) privacy in what you are viewing.

The galley and entrance to the crew rest area are at the rear of the cabin. This arrangement is nice because it gives the crew plenty of space to work and minimizes the number of passengers congregating in this area. Instead, the congregate mid-cabin by the lavatories.

Three lavatories are in the middle of the economy class cabin, located by doors 3 left and 3 right. I didn’t get a picture or video of them, but the doors are hinged in an interesting way. Instead of pivoting on a hinge at one side of the door or folding in half, the door slides and pivots into the toilet, lying flat against the side wall. This improves the accessibility of the lavatory although isn’t intuitive. I noticed several people pushing and pulling the door before they figured out how it moved.

The lavatories are high-tech on ANA featuring lots of buttons, including for the automated bidet, in case you need to wash your bum afterwards. When you press the flush button, the toilet seat cover is automatically lowered. Oddly, though, the flush happens while the cover is still lowering. Lavatories were kept clean with flight attendants tidying them throughout the flight.

The LCD shading for the windows is interesting. Instead of having physical shades that you pull shut, there are two buttons that allow you to increase the tinting along five settings from nearly transparent to nearly opaque. It seems that the most transparent setting still seems to have a light tint to it, or at least that was my impression.

At its darkest, you can still see through the window although little light passes through. That may not make sense when I write it, but when you look at the windows from the side, they appear to be completely opaque. When you look at the windows straight-on, you can see through them as if they were very dark sunglasses. Mid-flight, which was still full daylight outside, the cabin was dark although not as dark as with physical window shades. If I’m not mistaken, I think the flight attendants were able to master set the windows to the darkest setting although individual passengers could modify the settings for their own windows, making them more transparent as they wished.

Snacks and beverages were available in the galley throughout the flight. The selection was basic – some crisps and crackers along with bananas.

About two and a half hours before landing – just a little early, in my estimation – a second meal service was offered. Unlike lunch/dinner, which had clear “Japanese” and “Western” options, the choices for the breakfast were less distinct.

I had the chicken cacciatore, which was pretty tasty. The portion size was smaller than the previous meal, but considering that we had eaten just five hours ago, that was okay.

One feature of the Dreamliner is that its cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of a 6000 foot elevation instead of at 8000 feet, as found in most airliners. Also, humidity levels are slightly higher, about 15% versus less than 5% normally. My impression was that the cabin was a bit more comfortable than normal. I travel frequently across the Pacific and find I get very dried out. The effect could just be psychological but on this flight, I felt less dehydrated.

The rest of the flight was smooth as we descended into an overcast northern Japan and landed on-time in Narita. As we approached the airport, there was a lot of other traffic and on our turns there was always a good view of other planes. The rice paddies were also vibrant green and just starting to turn golden yellow.

Again, thanks to the low-density configuration, it took just a few minutes to deplane. My nine hour, forty-five minute flight aboard the ANA Dreamliner left me with a positive impression of both the airplane and the airline.

All things considered, I would go out of my way to fly ANA in general and the Dreamliner in particular on future trips. Additionally, flying out of San Jose was a very convenient option so I will keep that in mind for future trips to and from the Bay Area.

Bangkok to Singapore Round Trip on Air Asia

Posted on 25 October 2005 by christao408

Update:

The trip report for the Bangkok-Singapore-Bangkok trip that Tawn and I made on Thai Air Asia has been posted on airliners.net. It has already received ten enthusiastic responses from readers along with another “respected user” rating. Wow.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

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