The pretrip shuffle

I found a hole-in-the wall agency in HKG that said they could sell Pacific Airlines tickets, and found my way there around 9 AM. Pacific Airlines (BL) is the secondary carrier of Vietnam; last I checked they had three planes, but I believe they're getting more. They fly two of the five weekly international flights to my "home" airport, doing DAD-HKG-DAD twice a week. The other three are operated by TG from BKK. Meanwhile, the BL handling agent at HKG said they couldn't actually sell me a BL ticket, so I hoped that perhaps one could be obtained in the city...

Holding a full J ticket and a refundable Y ticket for HKG-BKK-DAD (both one-way), and having no desire to go to BKK at the time, I wanted to rid myself of these rather pricey tickets, and save a few hundred dollars plus a bunch of time by flying HKG-DAD nonstop. Previous discussions with a BL agent in DAD had revealed that although they didn't sell J tickets, one could obtain a J seat "by showing up early." This was sure to be an interesting flight! The TA made a few calls, and started the (rather complicated) procedures to hopefully obtain a BL ticket. He said it would take about an hour, so I decided to head over to the nearby EK CTO in the meantime to cancel that ticket.

But then, it hit me... I stared in horror at my EK J ticket... NONREFUNDABLE?! No way! That's right, J booking class (not D, I, or whatever else), yet nonrefundable. Then I noticed that ITN had somehow issued the ticket (a standalone one-way booking) via AA, which could be the reason for the nonrefundability. Odd...

Figuring I wouldn't have much use for an EK voucher in the near future (as it might be a while before they fly to JFK), I decided to stick to my original itinerary. So, I quickly apologized to the TA and headed out into the city for a whirlwind tour, with plenty of time as EK385 wouldn't depart until 10:25 PM. By subway and rail, I made my way around the territory with haste, taking long (hot!) walks here and there and even making it through the Hong Kong "countryside" up to the last stop before China. (Interesting sights, but with my immediate turnaround that leg felt a bit like a mileage run -- I ran right across the platform to get a return train. The train station was far better equipped than LGB, my last mileage run destination; amenities provided included a roof! )

Entirely worn out, I met a friend for dinner in Wan Chai. He had been working away in his heavily air-conditioned skyscraper while I had been pounding the hot pavement below. So, we decided to grab dinner at an Italian place nearby before I collapsed. Had some calamari and a fairly decent pizza (the latter totally unavailable in DAD, so I can't complain), then stopped for a much-needed coffee.

Took the MRT over to Tsim Sha Tsui, grabbed my bag from the Regal Kowloon (cheap stay from Priceline HK), and caught the Airport Express bus to the in-city terminal. Checked my bag in at the EK in-city counter right at the 90 minute before departure limit; nobody was left at the counter, but with HKG's efficiency, I wasn't too worried. The check-in agent was courteous and efficient. 30 minutes later, I was off the train at the airport.

EK385, HKG-BKK, 777, seat 5K

I decided to skip the "China National Aviation Corporation VIP lounge" pass EK had provided -- the lounge was at gate 15, while the flight was departing from gate 66 anyway. After wandering a bit, made it to gate 66 as boarding was beginning, so I was the first J passenger on board (the others likely still making the trek from the lounge.) EK staff I encountered on the way down to the plane were all quite interested to make sure I was in fact a J passenger; perhaps they thought I was too young?

Upon boarding, I noticed a few things were unusual. One was the multinational (but not Middle Eastern) crew on the flight -- J featured a few Brits and one Thai FA. Next was the uniforms -- in a nod to Arab customs, during boarding each female FA wore a length of silk tucked under her hat and draped over her ears down to her shoulders. Upon departure, the FAs removed the headpieces as they would probably be unwieldy in flight. Male FAs wore typical jacket-and-tie FA uniforms.

The cabin decor was interesting as well -- the light tan/peach fabric on the seats gave it a light feel. The plane was a 2-class 777; J was configured with about 50 seats in 2-3-2 rows, 48" pitch, 45-degree recline, and leg rests. I'm not sure how comfortable it might have been for the BKK-DXB segment, but for my HKG-BKK segment it was quite nice. I had a mid-cabin window seat, 5K. Before takeoff, one FA came by to welcome me by name, offer a drink, and check on my preferences.

The night view over the South China sea was interesting; having only flown in the area during the daytime, I was surprised to see the virtual constellations of brightly lit Chinese and Vietnamese fishing fleets below. I'm not sure where the Chinese fleets ended and the Vietnamese began, though I'm sure the Chinese and the Vietnamese keep very close track of such things in a rather contentious area.

Next came the meal service. Comparing silver/plasticware selections since 9/11, I've seen metal forks and spoons (but not knives), even in Y on some carriers; however, EK provided 100% plasticware. With the separate utensils for each course, I had quite an assortment of fine plasticware! The food, however, was quite good; the quantities and selection were impressive for what was billed as a "light meal."

For our 2-hour night flight, appetizers were Nonya Duck with Fried Tofu or Marinated Asian Seafood, while the main course was a choice of Steamed Fillet of Salmon, Grilled Veal Medallions, or Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews. Then, Citrus Bavarois for dessert. I had the duck appetizer and the chicken main course. (Complete menu below.) Menus trumpeted Emirates' status as "Skytrax Airline of the Year 2002," in fact the second time in their short history they've gained such honor. Based on my limited sample, I think the award may be deserved. (I know it's a long shot, but if they joined oneworld and started flying to JFK, I'd be quite interested in more EK flights!)

As for the wine, I was so exhausted I didn't bother much with the wine list, and accepted whatever red they poured in my glass; I suppose it was fine. I also managed to overlook the notation at the end of the menu about espresso being available on 777 aircraft. Overall, the cabin crew was quite prompt and attentive, but I wish they would have told me about the espresso!

HKG-DAD is 570 miles; HKG-BKK-DAD is a thousand more. So, I already had a less-than-efficient routing. Plus, an 8-hour connection in BKK. I later realized I could have taken a middle-of-the-night Air Ethiopia flight to shorten the connection time ... but would have missed out on flying Emirates!

We disembarked by staircase, and took a bus to the terminal. I passed through immigration, collected my bag in a timely manner (thanks EK!), and entered Thailand. That's where my luck pretty much ran out!

BKK, BKK, and more BKK

So, I had arrived at BKK at 12:30 AM, with my TG flight scheduled to depart at 8:30 AM. "No problem, I'll just grab a nap in the transit hotel!" I thought. Until I realized that the transit hotel I had in mind was only accessible from INSIDE the transit area, and I had already collected my bag and cleared immigration. "Oh well, I'll just stay at the airport hotel." An inquiry at the info desk revealed that the airport hotel would be $150. Assuming I could get a max 6 hours of sleep out of the deal, there was no way I was going to pay $25/hour to sleep; I don't place an especially high value on it anyway!

Not knowing a thing about the city of Bangkok (despite numerous transits at BKK), and feeling that the middle of the night probably wasn't the best time to learn, I decided to stick to the airport. So, I set out to enjoy the BKK middle-of-the night ambience. The airport does not appear to have any soft seating available outside the transit area. Fortunately, a bar and a couple of restaurants in the terminal stay open overnight. But, mostly all there is to do is read and wander around to kill time, taking care not to trip over the occassional backpacker-in-sleeping-bag on the floor.

During the night, various airlines had flights arriving/departing, but no TG flights. So, no TG check-in agents were available. Around 5:30 AM, I noticed that staff were appearing at the TG check-in desks. So, I went to check in for my flight.

The check-in agent didn't much like my ticket at all. In fact, she first asked whether I'd like to buy another one! The problem: my ticket was a VN codeshare on the TG flight. The agent, apparently, hadn't come across this before, and the agents sitting to either side of her didn't care much for my VN ticket either. Since the flight operates only three times a week, and the load (as I would discover later) hardly justifies even that frequency, their confusion was understandable.

After a few phone calls, the agent finally concluded that I could in fact fly to DAD. I got my BP, paid the 500 Thai baht (~$12) departure tax for my wonderful BKK experience, and headed off to the departure area. I discovered that TG, in usual fashion, had placed the DAD flight on the low-priority list; it was scheduled to depart from gate 6, a bus gate located in the basement at the far end of the terminal. Not wanting to go through security into the "bus terminal," I wandered around the concourse for a while, then headed down the stairs as flight time neared. At that moment, TG decided they really didn't care too much about flying to DAD; the flight would be delayed for now. So, I headed back for yet another look at the wonders of BKK.

As the hours passed, the DAD flight would periodically appear at the bottom of the departures screens, only to disappear, and a while later return with a later departure time. As far as TG was concerned, the flight was never "delayed," but rather rescheduled at the last moment! No reason was provided...

BKK-DAD (finally), TG 737-400

Four and a half hours after scheduled flight time, TG finally brought us a 737-400 for our trip to DAD. They parked it at gate 21 (with a jetway, even), and were nice enough to post it on the departure screens! The 50 or so passengers boarded, we flew, they served lunch. One FA managed to spill tea on me, but otherwise nothing of note; a typical Y flight. We approached DAD from the south, providing a sweeping view of the city, mountains, and sea. At that point, I noticed that the airport dwarfs the rest of the city; it would appear there's even room for a golf course in between the runways, if DAD would care to follow BKK's lead.

DAD is composed of two very large runways (currently about 10000 feet long, but I believe they may have been longer when the Americans built them back in the 1960s), and one small terminal with no jetways. While the runways could accommodate just about anything (a TG 777 with a fuel leak stopped by last year), the terminal is another story. More than one plane at a time can be bad news; if for some odd reason somebody decided to fly in a 747, the airport would be thrown into chaos, as the passengers wouldn't fit into the terminal. When we arrived, a VN 767-200 and a VN A320 were already parked, a record three planes at one time! Fortunately, their arriving passengers had already left the airport, or we would have been in trouble.

I managed to end up at the front of the line for immigration and customs, and amazingly cleared both in about 15 minutes. (My previous attempt at DAD immigration/customs had taken an hour, as I had been at the back of a full 737.) Home at last...

*****

And finally, the EK menu, for those who are interested:

Emirates Business Class Menu

Emirates -- Skytrax Airline of the Year 2002

Emirates is pleased to invite you to enjoy its award-winning cuisine, complemented by the finest beverages.

No pork products are used in the preparation of Emirates' cuisine. All meats served are prepared according to the Halal method.

Hong Kong-Bangkok: Light Meal

Appetizer

Nonya Duck with Fried Tofu: Chinese style duck with fried tofu and rojak, wrapped in banana leaf, served with chilli sauce

Marinated Asian Seafood: Pan-fried scallops, fresh water crayfish and smoked tuna drizzled with Oriental dressing, accompanied with sun-dried tomatoes and lime wedge.

Main Course

Steamed Fillet of Salmon: With wasabi roots and kaffir lime celery, served with buttered broccoli, turned carrots and tagliatelle noodles

Grilled Veal Medallions: served with mushroom sauce and green asparagus tips, accompanied with sauteed mixed peppers, cauliflower and gratinated potatoes

Stir Fried Chicken with Cashews: stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts, served with Chinese greens and steamed rice

Dessert

Citrus Bavarois: flavoured with crystalised orange zest and served with raspberry coulis

Beverages and Chocolates

Selection of teas; coffee; chocolates

On Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft, Espresso coffee will be available at any time during the flight.

(Menu duplicated in an Arabic "mirror image," as Arabic conveniently reads right to left, "back" to "front")

Trip reports