How we got into Business Class today
With the time difference from New Zealand, I woke around 0200 but lay till 0530 before getting ready. At check-out we overheard that the cheapest rate at the hotel was currently HKD1300++. I thought our rate of HKD980++ was high already.
Without our luggage, we went through immigration and then to Thai Airways’ Royal Orchid Lounge where we had some dimsum (including hakau), fruits and some juice.
There’s a story as to why we’re flying Business Class today:
- I had wanted to redeem my Air New Zealand frequent flyer points for Hong Kong – Bangkok – Chengdu (return). I had worked out the points required according to their published table and it was the sum of the two legs (or four legs on a return basis).
- I rang the call centre to confirm and they insisted that I had read the table wrongly and I should be charged less. They said the mileage calculation would be based on Hong Kong – Chengdu without factoring in the connection and slight detour through Bangkok.
- Great! I went ahead with the booking only to find that it got held up at the manual approval stage. The supervisors there was inclined to calculate it my way but due to the hoohah and delay that followed, the reward seats disappeared.
- Naturally I was livid because the route is very expensive on a paid commercial ticket. I put up a strong protest. Because Business Class reward seats were available but not in Economy, they booked us in Business Class but charged us the correct Economy rate which I had worked out in the first instance. I was very happy with that outcome.
Flying to Bangkok and Chengdu
We boarded the Thai Airways’ Boeing 777-300 that would operate our 0800 flight to Bangkok. It felt glamorous with the female crew in long Thai Silk outfits, bringing us champagne and towels as soon as we settled in.
Being a breakfast flight of only 2h40, it was hard for them to impress us with catering. But what did impress upon me was how incredibly noisy this new aircraft was.
In Bangkok Don Mueang airport, we had seamless connection of 1h05 to our flight to Chengdu departing at 1045. The older Airbus A300-600 was a lot quieter. Being a slightly longer flight of 3h15 and coinciding with lunch, the meals were much more impressive. There was a duck and salmon appetizer followed by a choice of four main courses. We chose the delicious prawns and a chilli chicken, and swapped around between halfway. The followed up with cheese and fruit, then a cuppacino and ice-cream cake. The meal was definitely more Business Class material.
In Chengdu
We arrived at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport around 1500. The tiny arrival hall was packed to the brim and the queue extended to the outside. While we disembarked by airbridge, we had to walk down and out to the tarmac to join the queue to enter the arrival hall.
Fortunately the queue cleared quickly. Once landside, Kim went across the road to the Bank of China to change some money. As the airport was rather far from the city, we hopped on the airport bus to take us to a central drop-off point in the city.
We found the Bin Jiang Hotel relatively easily. After a brief rest, I rang Mr Yang to organize our ticket collection for our tour to Tibet. I had organized our 6d/5n tour of Tibet (including return airfares from Chengdu) for USD620 through CITS (China International Travel Service) Sichuan office. A shorter 4d/3n tour from Adventure World in New Zealand costs NZD2695. While it’s hard to compare like-for-like, I’m guessing we paid about 20% of the New Zealand price.
We went out for a short walk to the nearby square but turned back as it was a little wet. We shared a light dinner of gongbao chicken and rice in-house and met Mr Yang when he arrived at 1900.
Mr Yang handed us our air tickets for Chengdu – Kunming – Lijiang, which will follow our Tibet trip. This was arranged separately to the USD620 tour for which we only got a receipt. While he was very nice, I was a tad wary that we had handed him USD782 per person and got very little in our hands. All we had were the post-Tibet domestic flight tickets to Yunnan and a receipt for the Tibet tour. No tour voucher and no flight ticket to Lhasa tomorrow. We just have to be ready for our 0530 pick-up in the morning.
We retired early. What seemed to be the sound of raindrops on the roof was actually the clacking of mahjong tiles.