Trip Report: Round the World in 139 days (24 flights)

[Greggsy]

Great read so far.


Greg.

 

[fersea]

I so look forward to following this thread and thinking it will be me in 2014 (although probably in Y although I will have the required points for J).

 

[coyote25]

I so look forward to following this thread and thinking it will be me in 2014 (although probably in Y although I will have the required points for J).

Well there will be 4 more flights over the next 48 hours starting from tomorrow. Hoping I can get some sleep on the SIN-FRA overnight flight!

Lets see if my bag can make the trip as well


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[coyote25]

Bangkok Airport (Suvarnabhumi)
14 October 2012

With South East Asia leg of my world trip over it was time to commence my 4 flights to get to Reykjavík, Iceland using Cathay, QANTAS, British Airways and Icelandair.

The first 2 flights are part of my RTW J Award ticket. The BA flight is in Club World Europe (purchased with upgrade) and paid Icelandair package. First flight takeoff to last flight landing is 40 hours assuming it goes to plan. Hopefully my luggage makes it and I survive the rather extreme change in weather

Booked transfer works well and I arrive in BKK around 8.40 am and I'm allow to check in slightly earlier than 3 hours period. Standing in J line I'm pulled over into the F counter. Bag check though to Frankfurt so hopefully it won't be lost in Singapore transit. I'm given a premium clearance pass.

Passport control is very easy going via the premium service. I noticed a few lines in the normal passport control, having a J boarding pass makes life easier. Plane departs terminal G gate 4 at 11.45 with boarding at 11.20 am. Using my last bahts I purchased some very overpriced chocolate to minimise what I hear is expensive Iceland.

Cathay First - Business lounge is easy to miss. It's located on level 3. I walked to the gates via level 4 and then backtracked to the lounge on level 3 walking pass the closed QF and BA lounges.

The lounge is similar to a small QF domestic lounge. Self serve alcohol is available and a small selection of snacks. Soft drink is self serve or by picking up cans. Wifi is included and seems to be fast but since there is next to nobody present hard to know what peak performance is like.

You need a password from front desk not that user 'Cathay' and password 'Cathay' is hard to guess. You have to give over lounge invitation, no idea if they would deny access without it or not. Approximately 8 PCs but I could not see a printer. No showers and I can't see any toilets either

Still a chance for free food, creek wifi (airport has free wifi as well) plus easy a cess to power points to charge my iThings makes this lounge a good option.


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[coyote25]

Cathay Bangkok First - Business lounge photos

Empty at 10 am local time.

I'm hoping the Singapore lounge has both a printer and a shower.

 

[markis10]

You may find using the CX lounge at SIN better than the QF ones re the shower etc

 

[Sprucegoose]

Hey great start Coyote, look forward to reading as it unfolds.

 

[Simo]

Great TR look forward to the next posting

 

[jetlagger]

Thanks for the comprehensive TR so far Coyote.. It is a delight, especially the photos.. great work! Hope you are enjoying & look forward to the ongoing postings

 

[coyote25]

You may find using the CX lounge at SIN better than the QF ones re the shower etc

Thanks markis for the suggestion. I headed straight to the Skyview lounge with covers CX and it seems a lot better than what I've read of the QF / BA lounge in reports. I'll do a comparison over the next 4 hours of the two lounges.

The wifi seems to be reasonable, I was prepared for the worst actually.

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[coyote25]

Flight 3: Bangkok to Singapore

Date: 14 October 2012
Flight Number: Cathay Pacific - CX 713
Fare type: Business (RTW Award)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300
Requested Seat: 12K (bassinet seat)
Allocated Seat: 12K
In-flight Entertainment: AVOD (in armchair)

Scheduled Departure: 11.45
Actual Departure: 11.58

Scheduled Arrival: 15.10
Actual Arrival: 15.10 (right on the dot!)
Duration: 2 Hours 12 mins

Meal:
Billie-Salmon Brut Champagne

Pawn and glass vermicelli salad

Wok seared pork neck with onion sauce, egg fried rice, jail an and carrots. There was also a beef and chicken option
Ice cream (Haagen-Dazs)
Tea and coffee (declined)
Chocolate

Summary:
There is no special boarding lane for status or business customers for this flight. However once on the air bridge you enter the plane via a separate entry than economy. A warm greeting on arrival by name noting my Sapphire and QF status.

I was offered pre-flight drink of water, orange juice or wine, I went for the wine. The plane reminded my of a Melbourne to Sydney business setup at its best so for international I was at first slightly disappointed (BA16 spoiled me I think). The plane felt a little old at first.

However once the seat belt sign went off the service blow me away. I've never seen flight attendants do so much in such a short period of time. They were all over the cabin serving meals, drinks, wash sheets. Very first class service and nothing was too much trouble.

The meal I selected was exceptional for its strong taste with the pork in particular having enormous favour, I didn't know airline food could have such favour. Extremely nice ice cream as well. Highly recommend Cathay on this service.

Flight was over so fast I missed getting a photo I'll do better for the upcoming QF flight to Frankfurt.


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[coyote25]

Btw if you want to know about the places I'm visiting you can check out my blog: http://nathanburgessinsights.com/

I'm guessing I travel a little bit differently than the majority on this board with a mix of basic adventure type travel with the occasionally luxury parts like my boat down to Antarctica later in this trip. However the blog reports might be useful if you are thinking of visiting the same places.

Happy travelling.


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[coyote25]

Singapore Airport
14 October 2012

With an 8 hour layover at Singapore Airport I had the opportinuty to have a good look. Lots of retail shops at the higher end of the scale.

Thanks to a suggestion from Markis10 I started with the Skyview lounge that covers Cathay Pacific and a lot of non-OW airlines. I than tried out the QF/BA First Lounge and the QF/BA Business Lounge for comparison.

Skyview Lounge
No problems with entry despite not having a further CX flight and that this lounge catered for non-OW airlines. The lounge is on two levels, the first level is up first set of stairs and is 'open' air to the rest of the terminal. This part was also very busy at 3.30 pm but still with enough seats. The second tier is accessed by going left from the entrance and up a small number of stairs. This area had only 4 other PAX and in fact sometimes it was just me so I'd recommend walking further into the lounge for the peace and quiet.

There was a good selection of Western and Asian food. The pastries are worth a go. Alcohol and soft drink is self serve. There is free reading material and a TV with local news (in English) playing. The wifi had a good signal across the either lounge and no noticeable problems with speed. There are PCs back on the first lounge level accessed by turning right. If printing you have to go back to the entrance desk and collect.

I also used the shower (located on the second lounge level), I only saw the one I used but I assumed there was more. Very clean and the moment I left a staff member came to clean it up for the next visitor. A very good lounge.

QF/BA First Lounge
Despite not travelling in First or being a Platinum or OWE I got access to this lounge by travelling in Business which I found surprising. I visited this lounge for around 1.5 hours. A very big lounge but lots of people making it hard, but not impossible, to find a quiet spots.

Standard QF setup of Macs that can also run Windows if you want. Wifi (no password) was slow, however the LAN Internet was extremely slow, dail out slow (14.4k for those with memories). Watching google very slowly load is something I haven't ever seen before, very unprofessional for a First Lounge. Also not attached printers in this lounge (not that work anyway).

Good selection of food, including self serve ice cream. The mini pizzas reminded my of the Syd DOM Lounge. Self serve drinks. A lot of the seats didn't have power outlets which makes those that do a premium seat. there are showers but I didn't check them out.

QF/BA Business Lounge
Slight delay trying to enter the lounge as the guardian wanted me to go to the First Lounge instead. This lounge appeared to be both smaller and more crowded (but this could be because closer to flights leaving). Good selection of food once again. I noticed that alcohol was very popular at this lounge but didn't try any myself.

Internet and wifi are as slow as the First lounge only difference is you need password for wifi. Also Macs have attached printers which was good since I needed to print some documents. Unfortunately what should have taken 5 minutes tops took 15-20 minutes waiting for documents to download.

Summary: The Skyview is hands down the best option, less people, probably better food, good wifi, PCs with a printing option and a good shower. I'd recommend the Skyview if you can access.

 

[coyote25]

Photos - Singapore Skyview Lounge

 

[coyote25]

Photos - QF/BA First lounge

 

[coyote25]

Photos - QF/BA Business Lounge

 

[coyote25]

Flight 4: Singapore to Frankfurt

Date: 14 October 2012
Flight Number: Qantas Airways - QF 005
Fare type: Business (RTW Award)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Requested Seat: 16A
Allocated Seat: 16A (exit row, top deck)
In-flight Entertainment: AVOD (armrest)

Scheduled Departure: 23.30
Actual Departure: 23.55

Scheduled Arrival: 06.15
Actual Arrival: 06.35
Duration: 12 Hours 40 mins

Meals:
Preflight drinks which i declined, too much n the lounge. Dinner was served 45 minutes into flight but you had an option to have later.

Potato crusted beef stroganoff pot pie
Sliced fresh fruit
Valrhrona chocolates

Pre ordered breakfast which was served 2 hours and 20 minutes out.
Orange juice
Croissant
Scrambled eggs on toasted brioche with pork sausages, mushrooms and roasted tomatoes

Summary:
No priority boarding lane at SIN but they call you up first and I was 3rd person on plane and first on top deck, felt like my own plane but top deck quickly filled up.

Seat guru didn't like 16A or 16B due to flight attendant jump seats being opposite. Personally I prefer the enormous extra space in front of the seat that lets me get up without waking my seat mate plus a good area to stretch. Flight attendants are barely there is no real downside.

First chance to try the nearly flat business seat, have to say I preferred the BA flat seat but I could still sleep for about 6 hours, important on a long travel day.

They handed out QF pjs another first for me. It took a second to realise what they are at which point a few PAX had already changed and put seat into sleep mode . A very nice touch and a souvenir for this trip, thanks QF.

Being exit seat AVOD was in the armrest. Watched two movies; The Amazing Spider-man and the Dictator. Still this overnight flight is about comfort. Saying that just before breakfast was about to be served I went and changed back, I wasn't going to get caught out again.

A great flight, liked the luxury on the J seat, PJs and preordered meals. The held most PAX until top deck have debarked. Priority bags came off on a separate carousel which is a nice touch and Y bags haven't even started until after all priority bags had been send.

Now for Frankfurt lounge before starting second 2 flights to get to Iceland.



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[coyote25]

Photos - Singapore to Frankfurt flight

 

[coyote25]

Frankfurt Airport
15 October 2012

Already happy with FRA airport with the separate priority baggage carousel was even happier when my bag appeared. While my next flight is with BA I didn't link the bookings or check though my bags. I'm just not a fan our airlines changing my bag across three airlines plus I want access to my bag to change for the much colder Europe weather than Bangkok.

Entering the EU was a breeze, why can't the USA do the same i.e. not treat you like a criminal? BA check in was open and at 7 am I was checked into my 2.20 pm flight. I was told you can check in from 5 am for the last flight of the day. Hopefully I'll see my bag in Heathrow. If there is going to be a problem I want it on the last leg with an airline that fly to Iceland. I was directed to the JAL lounge.

Frankfurt JAL Lounge
I was the first customer for the day. I had to hunt door the lounge guardian to check in, I didn't want the, to be surprised someone at gotten in somehow. This lounge has 2 showers, 1 which I used straight away. You get a key to get in. The shower room itself is on the small side but just big enough. Very welcome after a long overnight flight.

There was cereal on offer for breakfast plus you could either make a sandwich or take one of the different pre-made ones. A couple of beers available in self serve area; Licher, Bitburger Premium and Erdinger. Soft drink available in glass bottles.

2 PCs setup for German and Japanese and one printer. Wifi is accessed via a password and is reasonable speed. The lounge is really not that busy. Staff walked around every so often asking if they can help you with anything, nice touch.

I noticed there is a Cathay lounge at this airport as well but I didn't visit this time. I'm back in about 10 days so I will have a look at that time. In summary a good lounge and I'm happy with JAL on my first time using them.




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[coyote25]

Frankfurt JAL lounge - photos

Nice and quiet lounge