All posts filed under: Fly

Asia Miles programme changes from 22 June 2018: What you need to know

Published by

Most people will be familiar with Cathay Pacific and their loyalty programme Asia Miles as many credit cards across Asia Pacific allow you to transfer miles into the programme, which serves as a good alternative to KrisFlyer and Singapore Airlines, especially if you travel a lot on oneworld carriers. In particular, Asia Miles is also rather popular with some Australians given its relatively cheaper redemption rates than Qantas Frequent Flyer. Hence this change is likely to impact many members across this part of the world. In a nutshell, here are some of the changes they will be introducing come 22 June 2018: Miles earned will no longer be based on distance travelled, but by distance zone, if you are travelling on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon. Also, the exact fare class within each cabin class matters too: for the lowest fare classes, you get the least miles. Even in Premium Economy and Business, the cheapest fare class for each cabin will also get you lesser miles. All routes are now categorised into six different distance …

LOUNGE REVIEW: Qantas Hong Kong Lounge

Published by

Hong Kong International Airport is a stronghold and a heaven for oneworld elite members. With Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon being home-base carriers and operating such a strong network of lounges in their home ports, one would naturally be very curious as to how another oneworld lounge may compare. That’s why, this time round I decided to try the Qantas Lounge rather than head to Cathay’s The Wing, given that oneworld elite members can also gain entry to the Qantas lounge. The Qantas Hong Kong lounge is located to the immediate right hand side right after immigration and security checks, and easily missed if you don’t know where is it. Overseeing gates 15 & 16, the lounge features a high ceiling and plenty of natural light during the day and an abundance of space. The present lounge opened in 2014, featuring an international concept that catered to both first and business class passengers. The design is contemporary and influenced by the airport itself, featuring a lot of triangles similar to what you get from the airport’s …

SilkAir to upgrade cabins with flat bed business class seats, to be folded into SIA

Published by

For the first time, SIA has gone public to address the elephant in the room: merging of the SilkAir into the Singapore Airlines brand. From 2020, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines will embark on an extensive cabin upgrade of the narrow body fleet, including lie-flat business class seats, seat back entertainment screen across all cabins to “ensure closer product and service consistency across the SIA Group’s full-service network”. The announcement also said that the SilkAir brand will only be merged into SIA after “a sufficient number of aircraft have been fitted with the new cabin product”. Finally it’s happening Many analysts have applauded the move and observed that this is ‘long overdue’, and that Singapore Airlines Group has come full circle to once again operate only two brands, down from four, which is a sensible move. While some people may be reluctant to give up the branding SilkAir has established over the last two decades, I do feel it’s no loss – it hasn’t quite caught up with times anyway. Most observers are watching how …

Emirates fares on sale: S$559 economy return to Melbourne, Brisbane; S$899 to London, Wellington

Published by

From now till 23 April 18, Emirates is running a sale to Australia and Europe (and Dubai actually, if you intend to go there). Sale fares include both economy and business class fares, starting from S$429: Destinations Economy return (S$) Business return (S$) Perth 429 2,039 Melbourne, Brisbane 559 – London (Gatwick/Stansted) 899 – Wellington 899 5,679 Johannesburg  1,169 5,179 New York (JFK) 1,429 6,499 Know your operating airline For Australia-bound customers, Emirates only operate two flights daily using their own aircraft – one to Melbourne, and one to Brisbane. For all other Australia destinations, you will be travelling with Qantas and that includes Perth, Sydney, Adelaide. Even for Wellington, your Australia-Wellington leg will be carried by Qantas. If you check both their websites, you will see that for the same flights, you will be paying the same regardless of who you book through. This is due to a partnership between Emirates and Qantas signed five years ago that allows both airlines to better leverage each other’s networks in different parts of the world, as well …

FLIGHT REVIEW: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 Business Class, Shanghai Pudong – Kuala Lumpur

Published by

Malaysia Airlines / 30 April 18 / B737-800 / MH PVG-KUL / Business Class Tl;dr – It’s not too bad, but avoid red-eye flights under six hours at all costs. Product is dated but still acceptable, timing of the flight is absolutely horrendous. Also, catering out of Shanghai airports generally suck. In another one of my crazy business trips up to Shanghai, I made the mistake of planning to travel back to Singapore via Hong Kong during the Easter weekend when half the territory is going on holiday. True enough, I didn’t manage to get any seats out of Hong Kong, so I ended up booking myself on Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpur and the only option available was a red-eye departure. The flight departs from Shanghai Pudong airport at an ungodly hour of 2.30am, scheduled to arrive into Kuala Lumpur at a little over 8am. Now, for those who are unacquainted with Shanghai airport, this is one of the worst hub airports I’ve ever been to. The astounding lack of good quality restaurants, lounges …