There are coffee shops strewn about all around Singapore serving specialty coffees. I see more (non-Starbucks) chain shops in Kuala Lumpur — there’s an Old Town White Coffee everywhere — but more craft coffee purveyors in Singapore than anywhere else I’ve been. (Disclosure: I live in Arlington, Virginia and — as memorialized by GoRemy in the Arlington Rap we mostly have Starbucks.) A few months ago I had a fantastic cup of coffee at Oriole Cafe & Bar at the Pan Pacific off Orchard Road. Singapore is one of the heaviest coffee drinking countries per-capita. But the phenomenon of really good coffee in Southeast Asia is hardly limited to Singapore. I’ve only tried Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in the air (on Singapore, Asiana, and ANA in first class). It’s good but not my favorite and…
ASIA
Search Results for "ASIA".
How an Intern Was Thrown Under the Bus for the Racist Joke Alleging Asiana 214 Pilot Names
By now the world is aware of a San Francisco television station ‘confirming’ the names of the pilots of Asiana 214 which crashed on landing in San Francisco last weekend. I first saw the story on Matthew’s blog. Ben covered it as well. When I saw the clip on YouTube yesterday there were fewer than 1000 views. Now as of this writing there have been nearly 2 million. In case it’s new to you: The San Francisco television station insisted it really wasn’t their fault and indeed in the televised report they claimed the pilot names were confirmed by the National Transportation Safety Board. My first thought was how could this be possible? Now we learn that the pilot names were confirmed by a spokesperson for the NTSB. who happens to have been an intern.…
Business Class Award Seats to Asia You Can Almost Always Find
I’ve made mentions already that new Star Alliance member EVA Airways has outstanding award available. But I haven’t really spelled out just how good it is. I had no probably booking five people back to the US from Hong Kong via Taipei shortly after New Years (albeit not all on the same flight). And I had no problem booking folks back from Thailand in July last week as well. EVA Airways offers a top notch business class product. The title of this trip report, I think, encapsulates their service: Dom Pérignon Service on Eva Airways Business Class. And their Boeing 777-300ER features business class seats similar to Cathay Pacific’s (and to Delta’s new Pacific route only business seats, American’s new 777-300ER business seats, and the US Airways seat). So it is a good business class…
Ooops! Have You Ever Wound Up in Asia Instead of Africa By Mistake?
One couple did, getting ticketed to Dhaka (Bangladesh) instead of Dakar (Senegal). It turns out the mishap all came down to the three-letter airport code airlines routinely use when making bookings or entering information on baggage tags. Instead of entering DKR (for Dakar) in the computer system, the airline representative entered DAC (for Dhaka), sparking the intercontinental travel nightmare. The couple, flying on Turkish Airlines, transited in Istanbul before joining their connecting flight to what they thought would be Dakar. They told the LA Times they didn’t notice anything was wrong, because they went by the flight number on their tickets. And the similarity in city names didn’t help matters. “When the flight attendant said we were heading to Dhaka, we believed that this was how you pronounced ‘Dakar’ with a Turkish accent,” Valdivieso said.…
A New Flight to Upgrade to Asia On
Via Joe Brancatelli’s (subscription-only) Tactical Traveler, Hainan Airlines, the Chinese carrier, says it will launch nonstop flights between Chicago/O’Hare and Beijing. The airline will fly two-class Airbus A330-200s four days a week starting on September 3 And believe it or not, there are people who should care. Already, Hainan Airlines flies Seattle-Beijing. To many, they’re just an obscure Chinese airline. To savvy flyers, though, they’re probably the cheapest ‘out of pocket cash’ airline to upgrade with between the U.S. and Asia. Their frequent flyer program is the Fortune Wings Club. The only Western carrier they partner with is Air Berlin. But you can transfer Wyndham Rewards points into Fortune Wings Club miles. International upgrades are permitted — without cash co-pay — from M fares and above. I’m currently seeing M fares from $1390++ roundtrip on…
Why Can’t US Airlines Provide Great Service Like the Asian Carriers Do?
Over at Lucky‘s blog yesterday he wrote about the American Airlines 777-300ER flight he and I were both on from New York to London last month. He noted that some of the flight attendants on this flight were less than endearing, and one in particular was downright rude. At the same time, he also mentioned that his return flight (he hasn’t posted that part of the trip yet) featured a fantastic crew. And though we were on different flights coming back across the Pond, my return crew was excellent as well. In fact, here’s what I said about the service on the return: The return flight was a different experience entirely. .. the cabin was mostly empty and the crew was in fantastic spirits. The flight attendant serving my aisle, Vanessa, could easily have been…
Deep Discount Award Tickets For Flying Around Southeast Asia
Reader Troy R. passes along a tip that I think I noticed back in November but never fully internalized the significance of. He was reading my trip report on burning Hilton HHonors points at the Conrad Koh Samui — one of the really aspirational properties in the Hilton portfolio, and a great redemption value at 50,000 points per night through March 28 when the bottom falls out of the best redemptions in the Hilton program (this property becomes 95,000 points per night for 10 months of the year). All the rooms at the resort are standalone ocean villas with private pools. The food and service are good. The two downsides I note are that the hills are such that you have to take golf carts pretty much everywhere (golf carts are always at the ready…
Marriott Adds Possibility of Suite Upgrades for Elites at Asia Pacific Hotels
In May, Marriott Rewards reduced their minimal elite upgrade benefit language with the condition that Golds and Platinums were entitled only to a one category room upgrade. This likely didn’t change much in practice, but it was disconcerting to see the language of their benefits being reduced at a time when other programs were becoming more generous. Marriott has the toughest top tier to qualify for at 75 nights. Hilton recently removed the suites exclusion from Diamond upgrades, though Diamonds at Hilton aren’t entitled to suites. Starwood has long given their top tier Platinums the right to standard suites that are available at check-in, and now they’ll confirm that upgrade a few days in advance giving Platinums who earn their status by nights (rather than stays) 10 nights a year where they can express priority…
Good Lie Flat Business Class Award Space to Asia Using Delta Skymiles
Delta Skymiles partner China Southern is introducing an Airbus A380 on the Los Angeles – Guangzhou route starting October 12th. They’ve got a new lie-flat business class product, and award availability (per Expertflyer) appears to be wide open. You can fly to destinations beyond Guangzhou without too much difficulty, as intra-Asian award space tends to be pretty good. Delta does add fuel surcharges onto China Southern award tickets, but they’re usually pretty modest — under $300 in most cases rather than $500 per ticket (in addition to taxes). And if it gets you business class award space using Delta miles, you’re already way ahead of the game. Of course, this does require you to find a Delta call center agent that has heard of China Southern, believes that China Southern is a Skyteam member, and…
Asiana’s New First Class and Virgin America’s New Elite Levels
This isn’t quite ‘bits ‘n pieces’ with only two items that I’m sharing, they struck me as worth noting but also not things I was inspired to offer longer treatments on. Still, worth passing along. Asiana is introducing a new first class seat – true suites with doors and a 32″ television. This is apparently going into their 777 aircraft, and the Chicago – Seoul route is having first class re-introduced and award space appears possible. I really enjoy the food, service, and amenities on Asiana but the seat is a full generation behind so this is really good news. Lucky links to a video in Korean that shows off the new seat. Wandering Aramean reports on Virgin America’s new silver and gold elite levels. The co-branded credit card lets you get halfway to silver…
