RTW 2.5x - a DONE4 with stops in NYC, London and Italy (HCO only)

[Trekky1]

Really enjoying your trip report!

 

[sudoer]

I do recommend trying this product but I also understand most people would probably balk at the cost

How much does it cost these days? In 2023, my wife and I travelled Venice to Bologna to Florence to Rome for 60, 32 and 84 EUR pp in Exec class on the Frecciarossa 1000.

Similar to your experience, the Exec class cabins were heavily underutilised but quite comfortable and spacious. We thought it was an incredible deal for the price...

 

[PrezRegan]

How much does it cost these days? In 2023, my wife and I travelled Venice to Bologna to Florence to Rome for 60, 32 and 84 EUR pp in Exec class on the Frecciarossa 1000.

Similar to your experience, the Exec class cabins were heavily underutilised but quite comfortable and spacious. We thought it was an incredible deal for the price...

Yeah from memory when I booked a month or so back it was 140 euros just from Florence to Rome in executive class which even to me seems excessive

 

[PrezRegan]

Quick review of the hotel I stayed in overnight in Rome - the Mercure Centro Termini. It’s about a 10 min walk from the station.

Status acknowledged on check in and I got upgraded to a junior suite. It turns out this is the best room in the hotel as it occupies the entire top floor! So I guess I got the ultimate upgrade as a lowly Accor Gold.

Room was spacious and well lit. A welcome gift of fruit appeared whilst I was out on my pasta making adventure in the nearby town of Frascati - a 25 min train trip from Rome.

Frascsti is a beautiful town and the pasta making experience with wine tasting was interesting. We made all the pasta by hand - no machines - and it was quite satisfying. Afterwards I went out with a Spanish couple who were also there at the pasta making for “one drink” which became 3 bottles and us staying out till at least 0230…. When in Rome right?

This morning I slept in, checked out at 12 and walked to the station. There is an express train to the airport for 14 euros, which takes about 30 mins and is excellent - when there aren’t rail strikes like i had when I flew in what feels like ages ago but was really last week.

Security was quick thanks to the fast track line and thankfully BA has a dedicated lounge here. Food was… average - think dry, room temperature chicken fried bits, room temp lasagne (definitely not home made) and cold veg. But the lounge does have amazing views of the apron. Unfortunately no pictures as it was quite busy.

My flight out has been delayed due to a delay in the incoming plane so whilst I thought we’d be ok as they started boarding on time, we’re all just standing on the air bridge. Classic hurry up and wait! This flight also marks the start of my long journey home via Singapore and Narita, then Brisbane and finally Canberra. I won’t get back until Friday!

 

[PrezRegan]

BA547
FCO-LHR
15:54-17:30 dur 2h 36m
A320 seat 1A

A solid flight on BA in euro club. Meal options were a chicken salad, a hot lamb dish or a vegetarian pasta. I went for the chicken salad and it was delicious. I liked the cheese as well which came with some onion jam, and the dessert was also very tasty. BA does do quite good catering - when it shows up on the plane.

The only negative is the lack of wifi. Yes this isn’t a domestic route technically, but maybe QF isn’t so bad as I’m now belatedly realising that free wifi seems to be the exception rather than the norm, even in premium cabins.

Also see some photos of the mountains as we flew over Geneva. Truly stunning.

 

[PrezRegan]

So I had a few hours to do a mini lounge crawl once I got through security at T3. It was sloooooowww and there was no fast track. It wasn’t even like there were a lot of people.

I headed to the CX lounge for food and I’m glad I did because it is very tasty. No issue getting in although the lounge did look busy and I think I got the last table in the dining area. The salmon was alright but the pork noodle soup was very tasty.

Then over to the packed QF lounge next door for a shower and a small bite to eat. It was a short 10 min wait for a shower but the only one available was a disabled one. Well beggars can’t be choosers but it was a pretty sterile space. I had a light chicken salad (bit average) and I don’t know if I’ll bother eating on the plane or just go straight to sleep. I’m 101% sure they’ll call boarding for QF2 but there seems to be a mass exodus already because the sign says “go to gate”. I think I’ll wait - it’s either sit in the lounge or sit at the gate or sit on the plane.

 

[Aeolus]

You’ld be a master chef by now with all the cooking classes you’ve attended this trip!

 

[MR61]

*Love* your writing style - a wonderful, engaging trip report! (Not to mention an ultimate status run).

 

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks for your TR @PrezRegan
Really enjoyed tagging along.

 

[PrezRegan]

QF2
LHR-SIN
20:53-17:08 dur 13h 15m
A380 seat 11K

A solid flight but nothing special. No status recognition (to be fair there are probably a lot of WP, P1 or CL on this route). Even though I was tired I had a light supper before sleeping for the rest of the flight.

For something different I went for the soup which was quite nice. I had a spoon or two of the trifle but wasn’t really feeling it. Also, controversial opinion, but I rate Neil’s salad with vinaigrette - either the recipe changed or they improved the leaf selection but I quite enjoyed the sharpness of it as an appetizer.


I woke up about an hour before landing and was offered breakfast. Instead of what I’d filled out on my card I just asked for toast and Vegemite. I am a simple man of simple tastes . No pic of Vegemite on toast, I’m sure you can all imagine what that looks like

 

[PrezRegan]

So my plan on landing was to go to the same tiny gym I went to last time, but on the way I saw the kiosk for the free Singapore tours… with close to 10hrs to kill I thought why not?

I was technically waitlisted for the last tour at 1900 but I had to apparently get my bags into storage and meet at the formup point by 1745 - about 10 minutes. Needless to say I did not meet that timing. There was a lot of backtracking to try and find the luggage storage area in T2 and I was quite sweaty by the time I’d gotten it all sorted and was back at the meeting point and just put straight on the tour. It was a decent size group of about 30 people all up and we cleared immigration and boarded the bus at 1850.

From my understanding there are a number of different tours - I don’t think you can pick which one you do but you can register in advance online. I’m not sure what the exact requirements are but from what I think I saw you have to have a layover of at least 5hrs which seems to be quite a lot. This requirement became apparent after we departed for Sentosa. The tour goes for almost 3h!

Sentosa is another island that’s part of Singapore. You get a free guide and a bus tour. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t pay for the tour - there’s not all that much to see in Sentosa - it’s a resort island where Universal studios is and a lot of hotels and not much else. There’s a neat AR show and they have some shops and that’s about it besides the resort. Ultimately it beats wandering aimlessly around the airport - and it’s free!

We’re on our way back now and I’m craving a laksa and a shower - hope the QF lounge is still open. I’m not sure who JAL partners with for their lounge in SIN.

 

[Princess Fiona]

So my plan on landing was to go to the same tiny gym I went to last time, but on the way I saw the kiosk for the free Singapore tours… with close to 10hrs to kill I thought why not?

I was technically waitlisted for the last tour at 1900 but I had to apparently get my bags into storage and meet at the formup point by 1745 - about 10 minutes. Needless to say I did not meet that timing. There was a lot of backtracking to try and find the luggage storage area in T2 and I was quite sweaty by the time I’d gotten it all sorted and was back at the meeting point and just put straight on the tour. It was a decent size group of about 30 people all up and we cleared immigration and boarded the bus at 1850.

From my understanding there are a number of different tours - I don’t think you can pick which one you do but you can register in advance online. I’m not sure what the exact requirements are but from what I think I saw you have to have a layover of at least 5hrs which seems to be quite a lot. This requirement became apparent after we departed for Sentosa. The tour goes for almost 3h!

Sentosa is another island that’s part of Singapore. You get a free guide and a bus tour. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t pay for the tour - there’s not all that much to see in Sentosa - it’s a resort island where Universal studios is and a lot of hotels and not much else. There’s a neat AR show and they have some shops and that’s about it besides the resort. Ultimately it beats wandering aimlessly around the airport - and it’s free!

We’re on our way back now and I’m craving a laksa and a shower - hope the QF lounge is still open. I’m not sure who JAL partners with for their lounge in SIN.

QR should be open until 0230 QF closes at 11pm so go there first.

 

[elanshin]

So my plan on landing was to go to the same tiny gym I went to last time, but on the way I saw the kiosk for the free Singapore tours… with close to 10hrs to kill I thought why not?

I was technically waitlisted for the last tour at 1900 but I had to apparently get my bags into storage and meet at the formup point by 1745 - about 10 minutes. Needless to say I did not meet that timing. There was a lot of backtracking to try and find the luggage storage area in T2 and I was quite sweaty by the time I’d gotten it all sorted and was back at the meeting point and just put straight on the tour. It was a decent size group of about 30 people all up and we cleared immigration and boarded the bus at 1850.

From my understanding there are a number of different tours - I don’t think you can pick which one you do but you can register in advance online. I’m not sure what the exact requirements are but from what I think I saw you have to have a layover of at least 5hrs which seems to be quite a lot. This requirement became apparent after we departed for Sentosa. The tour goes for almost 3h!

Sentosa is another island that’s part of Singapore. You get a free guide and a bus tour. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t pay for the tour - there’s not all that much to see in Sentosa - it’s a resort island where Universal studios is and a lot of hotels and not much else. There’s a neat AR show and they have some shops and that’s about it besides the resort. Ultimately it beats wandering aimlessly around the airport - and it’s free!

We’re on our way back now and I’m craving a laksa and a shower - hope the QF lounge is still open. I’m not sure who JAL partners with for their lounge in SIN.

JAL uses Marharba however all OW except CX should be available. I'd skip that lounge though.

QF F and QR J are the top picks. Id probably goto QF F first then move over to QR J (what i did last month before hoping on the 1:50 JL flight in J).

 

[PrezRegan]

Thank you brains trust!

 

[PrezRegan]

Unfortunately life is never simple when it comes to travel. When I got to T3 where my luggage was, my BP wasn’t accepted and I was told to go to T1 to check in again. Unfortunately as the flight is at 0155 I knew that check in wouldn’t open until 2255 - almost an hour away. Whilst I could wait it would kill my chances of getting into the QF lounge before the departure of QF1.

Thankfully I saw a sign advertising early check in in the jewel so with nothing to lose I wandered over and found the kiosk. Praise the sun, I was able to check in (again) and print a new BP that was accepted. It was a toss up between going straight back to T3 to get my bags or try and snag a shower and possibly a quick feed. Ultimately the shower won, and I went straight to the Flounge where I was able to grab a shower and was advised they close at 2300.

Shower complete I decided not to have a rushed meal in the lounge and went to collect my bags. On the train back to T1 where I will just sit at the QR lounge for the next 2.5h until it’s time to fly

 

[PrezRegan]

The QR lounge is very nice. When I got here I think there was only one other person here so there were more staff than guests.

Menu can be found here: https://www.qatarairways.com/content/dam/hia/pdf/qr-singapore-lounge-en.pdf

I had the congee and the lamb. The lamb was amazing so beautifully cooked. I asked if I could have more but was told only one main per person - I’m pretty sure qantas lets you have as much of whatever you want. They also ran out of dessert so I had to get some from the buffet and wow the chocolate tart is delicious. I think it’s a made offsite but I could have a lot of them.

I did take a look around the toilets and they do have nice looking shower facilities but only 2 available so I imagine it might be a challenge getting one at times. Either way, well worth visiting if not for the food (no laksa) but it’s also a very nice space to chill with some neat private booths and wireless charging.