Over the Pacific on Cathay
Business Class on Dragon Air to HKG
I never did find a better ticket on my way back to
the US from China on this trip despite several tries/searches. There was not a lot of availability on the
dates and times I wanted but that is the way it goes sometimes when trying to
redeem award tickets. I found a late evening
departure to Los Angeles occasionally, but when I thought about it, I would
have to take a dreadful red-eye back to DFW, even though it got me home a
little sooner.
I would rather experience the long haul flight CX 888 to New York-JFK (albeit with a 90 minute stop in Vancouver) as it is the longest flight on the Cathay Pacific network. It would allow me to visit both the American Flagship lounge in NYC and also the Admiral’s Club at Washington-DCA airport as well. I also wanted to experience how the stop in Vancouver was handled as all passengers have to deplane before continuing on to NYC and then perhaps, vow to never take that flight again (returning to the US at least).
My cousin dropped me off at the express bus bound for the airport at about 4PM and waited around with me until they opened the doors for boarding 15 minutes later. I waited on the bus for them to collect my ticket and we left on time at 4:30PM. There were 12 passengers (including me) and this short journey took about an hour. The cost was ¥34 ($5.50) for the one way ride to the airport. It was pretty comfortable and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was shown onboard. I caught up on a few Family Guy episodes to help pass the time.
One of the agents found me a First Class seat to Chicago but I was restricted to Business Class on this return trip. Also, I would not have been able to make it on time to Hong Kong to connect to that flight either as I would arrive an hour later after the flight departs from Hong Kong. It could be a worse scenario, as I could take a flight back in Economy Class to the US. Ideally, I wanted to leave a day later from China (the next morning) and catch one of the afternoon flights from Hong Kong to LAX or SFO and then connect on American to DFW and be home by 10PM the same evening as my current flight path. Even better would have been LAX as I could visit the Flagship lounge there as well.
We arrived at the airport at 5:25PM and I made my way to the international departures area through Gate 4. For some reason, check-in at Dragon Air Business class took longer than usual. I think it was due to the fact that there is no separate area for the Marco Polo members and Business class. I waited a good 10 minutes before I was helped. I asked that my luggage be checked through to Hong Kong only as I wanted to go through customs and immigration at Hong Kong to fulfill my 3rd entry this year. I also wanted to experience check-in with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong that way I can report on it as well. The check-in agent told me that Business was full today and especially the last few days. Then she confirmed that I had an aisle seat on the second row and that we would be departing from gate 46 this evening.
I spent about 45 minutes in the lounge and partook of the limited snacks/drinks they offered. While this lounge is a step up above the previous lounge offered at the airport, it did not have its own restroom facilities. The WiFi did not work in the lounge. Boarding was supposed to start at 6:35PM, but due to inbound aircraft late arrival and passengers needing to clear immigration, we were told that it was delayed about 15 minutes. At 7:05PM, I made my way to Gate 46 and waited 10 minutes before we were alerted that the crew was doing safety checks and we needed to wait. At 7:30PM, I went and saw that they were still checking the aircraft (with flashlights!) so I went back to the lounge. After a few minutes, we were told that boarding had started. It was a free for all and felt very rushed. By the time I got on the aircraft, it was 7:50PM.
I made my way to seat 11C and was offered a
pre-departure beverage by Doris (flight attendant) and I went with Dragon
Sunrise, a guava-based gin and lemon juice cocktail served with a moist
towelette. Once we were underway, the
captain told us that the flight will be 1 hour 20 minutes and apologized for
the delay due to a problem with the fuel panel.
They could not get the panel to open during aircraft refueling and had
to power down the aircraft to get it to work.
The Business Class cabin had only 7 out of a possible 8 seats full.
Then immigration officers came onboard because the final headcount did not match their paperwork so they had to manually go through to verify if the passenger was accounted for properly. It came down to that fact that they missed one of the small kids in the count. Once that 15 minute ordeal was over, we were finally cleared for take-off at about 8:20PM.
I would rather experience the long haul flight CX 888 to New York-JFK (albeit with a 90 minute stop in Vancouver) as it is the longest flight on the Cathay Pacific network. It would allow me to visit both the American Flagship lounge in NYC and also the Admiral’s Club at Washington-DCA airport as well. I also wanted to experience how the stop in Vancouver was handled as all passengers have to deplane before continuing on to NYC and then perhaps, vow to never take that flight again (returning to the US at least).
 |
| Airport Express Bus |
My cousin dropped me off at the express bus bound for the airport at about 4PM and waited around with me until they opened the doors for boarding 15 minutes later. I waited on the bus for them to collect my ticket and we left on time at 4:30PM. There were 12 passengers (including me) and this short journey took about an hour. The cost was ¥34 ($5.50) for the one way ride to the airport. It was pretty comfortable and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was shown onboard. I caught up on a few Family Guy episodes to help pass the time.
One of the agents found me a First Class seat to Chicago but I was restricted to Business Class on this return trip. Also, I would not have been able to make it on time to Hong Kong to connect to that flight either as I would arrive an hour later after the flight departs from Hong Kong. It could be a worse scenario, as I could take a flight back in Economy Class to the US. Ideally, I wanted to leave a day later from China (the next morning) and catch one of the afternoon flights from Hong Kong to LAX or SFO and then connect on American to DFW and be home by 10PM the same evening as my current flight path. Even better would have been LAX as I could visit the Flagship lounge there as well.
 |
| International Entrance |
We arrived at the airport at 5:25PM and I made my way to the international departures area through Gate 4. For some reason, check-in at Dragon Air Business class took longer than usual. I think it was due to the fact that there is no separate area for the Marco Polo members and Business class. I waited a good 10 minutes before I was helped. I asked that my luggage be checked through to Hong Kong only as I wanted to go through customs and immigration at Hong Kong to fulfill my 3rd entry this year. I also wanted to experience check-in with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong that way I can report on it as well. The check-in agent told me that Business was full today and especially the last few days. Then she confirmed that I had an aisle seat on the second row and that we would be departing from gate 46 this evening.
 |
| Information Desk |
 |
| Queue for Check In |
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| Domestic Security Line |
I noticed that Silk Air (Singapore Airlines Regional
Subsidiary) is now serving my home airport in China now. It must be a recent development as the only
international flights from the airport previously were only to Hong Kong
(Dragon Air and Hong Kong Express), Taiwan (Trans Asia Airways), and Seoul (both
Asiana and Korean Air). Also Orient Thai
Airways now offers a direct connection to Bangkok. I wish Singapore Airlines or Thai Airways
offered the flights instead so that I could redeem miles on those flights. Out of my home airport in China I have a few
options with all of the airline alliances.
With Star Alliance, I am limited to Air China (via Beijing, Kunming, and
Chengdu) or Asiana (via Seoul). OneWorld
limits me to once daily Dragon Air flight (via Hong Kong) only and Sky Team
offers me Korean Air (via Seoul), China Eastern (and subsidiary Shanghai
AIrlines), and China Southern.
 |
| Contract Lounge |
I spent about 45 minutes in the lounge and partook of the limited snacks/drinks they offered. While this lounge is a step up above the previous lounge offered at the airport, it did not have its own restroom facilities. The WiFi did not work in the lounge. Boarding was supposed to start at 6:35PM, but due to inbound aircraft late arrival and passengers needing to clear immigration, we were told that it was delayed about 15 minutes. At 7:05PM, I made my way to Gate 46 and waited 10 minutes before we were alerted that the crew was doing safety checks and we needed to wait. At 7:30PM, I went and saw that they were still checking the aircraft (with flashlights!) so I went back to the lounge. After a few minutes, we were told that boarding had started. It was a free for all and felt very rushed. By the time I got on the aircraft, it was 7:50PM.
Dragon Air 721 CSX-HKG
April 25, 2012
Airbus 320
Departure Time: 7:15PM Actual: 8:21PM
Arrival Time: 8:50 PM Actual: 10:00PM
Flight Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Seat: 11C Business Class
Aircraft Registration B-HSN
April 25, 2012
Airbus 320
Departure Time: 7:15PM Actual: 8:21PM
Arrival Time: 8:50 PM Actual: 10:00PM
Flight Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Seat: 11C Business Class
Aircraft Registration B-HSN
Then immigration officers came onboard because the final headcount did not match their paperwork so they had to manually go through to verify if the passenger was accounted for properly. It came down to that fact that they missed one of the small kids in the count. Once that 15 minute ordeal was over, we were finally cleared for take-off at about 8:20PM.
We had a manual safety
demonstration as there was no AVOD on this aircraft and during taxing before
take-off, Doris came by to pass out the dinner menu and take our dinner
orders. The choices were braised beef or
sole... I went with the beef option along with a Coke Zero.
After we took-off, we did encounter a little bit of
choppy air but once we leveled off, the seatbelt sign was turned off. It remained turned off for a majority of the
flight. The dinner service was promptly
started and my beef dish (served with bok choy) did not taste very good. Only one of the passengers went with the fish
option surprisingly. Both were served
with a mixed fruit bowl consisting of ½ strawberry, pineapple, honeydew melon,
watermelon, and dragon fruit. I have had
the fish in the past before and was not too impressed with it either (a bit of
chili sauce did the trick that time).
We were offered bread with our main course and were
served Evian water. I enjoyed a glass of
Coke Zero with my meal. I only managed
to eat ½ of my beef dish as the remainder was fatty meat, a bite of dinner
roll, but managed to finish the fruit bowl.
I figure I could enjoy myself in the lounge later before my late flight
out of Hong Kong and onboard the aircraft as well. Due to the late departure, I would only have
about 2 hours to go through customs & immigration, check-in with Cathay
pacific, go through security and enjoy the lounge for a bit before boarding my
flight to New York (via Vancouver). I
hope that my onward flight is still in the New Business class and that my seat
of 16A is still in place as there were not too many good seats left on that
flight.
After dinner, my tray was cleared and I read
newspapers for a while along with the inflight magazine. My seatmate slept during the whole flight and
skipped dinner/drinks as well. I have
never departed on a Cathay Pacific flight so late out of Hong Kong before in
the past so it will be interesting to experience it.
About 30 minutes from Arrival into Hong Kong, the
captain turned back on the seatbelt sign since weather was getting pretty bad
for our descent.
Once we landed, it took about 10 minutes to taxi to our parking area. An elderly man got up during the taxing and barged into the Business Cabin lavatory prompting the flight attendants to instruct him back to his seat. He did not listen to them and slammed the lavatory door rather loud. I do not think any disciplinary actions were taken for this but a report was written and the captain was notified. We arrived at about 10PM and parked at an apron position. Due to lighting in the local area, no ground workers were allowed to be outside. We waited for an hour before a bus came to get us into the terminal.
By the time I got into the terminal, it was 11:15PM
and I noticed that my 12:30AM departure to Vancouver/New York-JFK was delayed
until 1AM. I decided to go ahead and
pass through immigration and claim by bag as it was only tagged to HKG (my big mistake). They only had 4 agents serving hundreds of
passengers. Luckily, I made it there
before the big crowd from all the delayed inbound flights congregated at the
area.
By the time I cleared immigration,
the time was 11:45PM and I made my way to luggage carousel #6 hoping to be
reunited with my bag so that I can go upstairs and check in for my Cathay Pacific
Flight. I waited for 15 minutes before
deciding to head over to baggage inquiry to see what to do. Because of the weather delay, I had to file a
missing bag report with a Dragon Air representative and left my luggage claim with
of the agents. He told me that I need to
check in with luggage services when I land in New York to make arrangements.
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