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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
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 |
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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
Sjoerd wrote: 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* Another great trip report - thanks, Sjoerd :-) -- Best Greg |
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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
"Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Sjoerd wrote: 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* Another great trip report - thanks, Sjoerd :-) And no visits to the loo this time :-) |
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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
"Miss L. Toe" schreef in bericht ... "Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Sjoerd wrote: 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* Another great trip report - thanks, Sjoerd :-) And no visits to the loo this time :-) Yeah, it was hard but I managed to not go to the loo for 10 days. :-) Sjoerd |
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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
Sjoerd schrieb:
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. They shall open a line FRA - DME - Hanoi in December. Would like to know if they have traffic rights for FRA - DME. Miat Mongolian did not and ceased operation from FRA. They do have on BER - MOW (- Ulanbataar) ond continue on that line. Regards, ULF |
#6
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Trip report CX/VN/TG: AMS - HKG - HAN - BKK - HAN - HKG - AMS
"Ulf Kutzner" schreef in bericht ... Sjoerd schrieb: 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. They shall open a line FRA - DME - Hanoi in December. Would like to know if they have traffic rights for FRA - DME. They have a non-stop flight Paris - Hanoi so they'd better have FRA - DME rights or most people would prefer to fly from Paris. Miat Mongolian did not and ceased operation from FRA. They do have on BER - MOW (- Ulanbataar) ond continue on that line. They may start FRA flights again in the summer season. Not many people are as crazy as I to go to Mongolia in winter! (minus 20 C this morning when I called my colleagues) Sjoerd |
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