Travel and vacations - Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG

Business trip to Hanoi and Bangkok.

Sunday 9 November 2003, Amsterdam - Hong Kong CX 270, Airbus 340 - 300
Scheduled 13:20 - 08:00*, Actual 13:52 - 08:21*

Train to Schiphol. At check-in around noon. They have problems at Business
class check-in, so I am allowed to go to First class. Long line at passport
control / security, but the line moves fast and I am through in 8 minutes.
Have a few drinks and a snack in the business class lounge.

Late departure because a bag has been wrongly loaded (or so they say).
Flight is quite full. Watch a movie "Freaky Friday" which is OK. I have the
ravioli for lunch which is average. Sleep about 3 hours. Misty, rainy and
windy on arrival in HKG.

I have a short connection and CX ground staff tell me to wait in the gate
area. I expect that they will take us to our departure gate by minibus or
something, but after waiting some 15 minutes for the last Hanoi-bound
traveller from the AMS plane, a lady just tells us to go to gate 33 "that
direction". Stupid. Another 15 minutes lost.

We are the last ones to board and I ask if my suitcase will make it. The guy
says: "We will do our best, otherwise contact our ground staff at Hanoi".

Monday 10 November 2003, Hong Kong - Hanoi CX 793 / VN 793 Operated by
Vietnam Airlines, Airbus 321
Scheduled 09:00 - 10:00, actual 09:05 - 09:50

Smooth flight. Nice Airbus with huge grey leather seats in business class.
The seats that you sometimes see on pictures from the 1950's. Very good
noodle brunch. Vietnam Airlines is actually very good. Early landing, I am
one of the first at health check and immigration which is swift and
hassle-free.

Now I am waiting for my bag. The first load arrives. Not my bag. The second
load arrives. Not my bag. Then a guy rides up the from the baggage cellar
who says: "Finish Hong Kong". Bad news. Only the second time in 9 years of
intensive business travel that my bag doesn't arrive with me. (and the first
time was my own fault because we stayed too long in the lounge and almost
missed our flight, so they had already un-loaded the bag)

Do my missing baggage report at the VN service counter. Tell them I really
need my bag soon for an important business meeting. They give me a missing
baggage report with the address of a CX website where I can follow progress
of them finding my bag.

Take taxi to the hotel where they tell me "Sorry Sir, you don't have a
reservation and the hotel is full". OK, so this is going to be a trip from
hell. I show them the reservation papers from my company's business travel
department, and they say "we didn't receive your reservation". So now I am
functionally angry and after some phone calls they give me a suite. OK, only
dirty clothes on me, I am in a suite so I have to run half a marathon to go
to the bathroom.

Go to work and apologize for dirty clothes. Check the website and I read
that they found my bag. But they don't say where, so that's not necessarily
good news. Call CX if they can do something. They will chase the bag.

Get a phone call around 6 PM that my bag has been sent to Bangkok and will
arrive at HAN on the TG flight arriving 7:30 PM. "And we will deliver to
your hotel tomorrow" Functionally angry again and they say that they will
try to deliver the bag tonight. To make a long story short, the bag finally
arrives at 10 PM in my room and I tip the guy who brings it half a
Vietnamese monthly salary. So good to see my big blue samsonite again!

Thursday 13 November 2003, Hanoi - Bangkok, TG 683, Airbus 300 - 600
Scheduled 10:40 - 12:30, actual 10:50 - 12:25

Uneventful trip. Almost full flight. Amazing how much food / drinks they
give you on a 90 minute flight, economy class: two rounds of soft drinks, a
3 course meal (salad, beef/rice dish, dessert), two rounds of wine, two
rounds of coffee/tea. Excellent. Actually, for regional flights the smaller
Asian airlines are better now than the more famous ones. I have been on CX,
VN, SQ and TG this year on regional Asian flights, and VN and TG are better
than SQ and CX.

Arrival is quick, my bag arrives, but the limousine from the hotel is not
waiting for me. Taxi to hotel and they don't have a reservation, but
fortunately do have a room.

Sunday 16 November 2003, Bangkok - Hanoi TG 684, Airbus 300 - 600
Scheduled 17:45 - 19:30, actual 18:10 - 19:40

I am alone a check-in, spend my last baht on a nice Thai meal, and find out
that we are boarding from a bus gate. Bus gates at BKK are terrible.
Overcrowded. Fortunately, our flight starts boarding almost as soon as I
arrive in the gate area.
Good service again on this full flight. Bag arrives with me. And the hotel
does have my reservation.

Tuesday 18 November 2003, Hanoi - Hong Kong CX 792 / VN 792 Operated by
Vietnam Airlines, Airbus 321
Scheduled 19:10 - 21:55, actual 19:05 - 21: 25

Hanoi airport is empty as usual. 10 minutes from arriving via check-in,
purchase of airport tax voucher, passport control and security to business
class lounge.
Flight is maybe 20% full. Good dinner of stir-fried rice and pork. Good
wine, too.

Wednesday 19 November 2003, Hong Kong - Amsterdam CX 271, Airbus 340 - 300
Scheduled 00:15 - 06:30, actual 00:40 - 06:25

My friend told me to try the Din Din (or was it Dan Dan?) Noodles at the
noodle bar in the business class lounge. They are indeed yummie.

Boarding from a bus gate again. Flight is not full in C class so the seat
next to me is empty. Watch "An American wedding" which is NOT funny. Anyway,
the movie and a couple of glasses of Chardonnay make me go to sleep for 7
hours and I wake up North of Moscow.
Good breakfast with dim sum, and we land at the new runway which is too far
from Schiphol. 12 minute taxi to the terminal. Bag is quick and I am home at
07:35.

My next trip is probably a combination of Mongolia and Malaysia in one trip.
In December. From minus 30 C to plus 30 C. Should be interesting.

Sjoerd