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Airline Reviews Reviews United

Airline Review: United Airlines – Business Class (Boeing 767-300 with Lie Flat Seats) : Houston – Munich (UA 102)

Flight:  United Airlines 102 from Houston to Munich Duration: 10 hours 20 minutes Aircraft: B763 (Boeing 767 – 300) Class: Business Seat: 2A – 2B Seat Specification: Flat bed seats, Seat pitch: 75″. Seat width: 21″ United operates a Boeing 767-300 ER (2 Class Configuration) on Houston – Munich route. There are 30 Business class seats with 6 rows of 2 x 1 x 2 configuration. Since we were flying as family we selected the window-aisle seats instead of the middle single seat. The seats are fine if you are traveling with a family member but if traveling alone I would prefer to have the …

Trip Summary

Summer 2017: Central Europe Trip Report – Introduction

My parents are visiting me in the US this summer and after their month long stay we are going to be visiting Europe for a 2 week trip. I was in Europe for the first time during the summer of 2014 when we visited Amsterdam, London, Lucerne, Milan, Venice, Rome and Paris. This time around we will start in Munich followed by Vienna, Budapest, Prague and finally Berlin. In the following weeks I will publish the following reviews and trip reports. Airline Review: United Airlines Business Class – Houston to Munich Trip Report: Munich, Germany Hotel Review: Aloft Munich Trip Report: …

Airline Reviews Qantas Reviews

Airline Review: Qantas – Business Class (Airbus 380-800 with Lie Flat Seats) : Melbourne – Los Angeles (QF 93)

Flight:  Qantas QF 93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles Duration: 14 hours 25 minutes Aircraft: A388(Airbus 380-800) Class: Business Seat: 18 F (Not a true flat bed, Middle row with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 78 “. Seat width: 21.5 ” This was my first ever flight on Qantas as well as an Airbus 380 aircraft. I was very excited to fly on this behemoth of a plane. We made our way to the upper deck boarding bridge. The upper deck includes the business class in the front and premium economy and economy in the back. Karen boarded from the lower …

Airline Reviews Qantas Reviews

Airline Review: Qantas – First Class (Airbus 380-800 with Open Suites and Flat Beds) : Melbourne – Los Angeles (QF 93)

Flight:  Qantas QF 93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles Duration: 14 hours 25 minutes Aircraft: A388(Airbus 380-800) Class: First Seat: 3A (Open Suite, Window seat with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 79 “. Seat width: 22 ” MilesPointsTravel Disclaimer: This review is solely the work of Karen. I flew on Business Class on this flight. This flight happened to be a couple of first’s for me. First time on Qantas, first time on an Airbus 380 aircraft. I had experienced Singapore Airlines First Class (Hong Kong -San Francisco) and Thai Airways First Class (Bangkok – Sydney) so was excited to …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport

Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport 10-14 Centre Rd, Melbourne Airport VIC 3045, Australia Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport is located right next to Melbourne International Airport (Tullamarine Airport). The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle to airport although you can walk through the parking structure next to the hotel. A complimentary night here costs 35,000 IHG Rewards points. The hotel was pretty busy during our stay and it took about 10 minutes before we were checked in. The airport shuttle requires a prior reservation and we booked our time for next day early morning. The room was pretty basic but good enough for …

Destination Trip Reports Oceania

January 2017: Melbourne Trip Report

Day 1: After checking into our hotel (Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne), we walked to Queen Victoria Market which is located just 2 minutes away. Victoria Market is a fantastic place to do some souvenir shopping as well as trying out different ethnic cuisines. In addition to souvenirs, they had a variety of shops such as clothing, fruits and vegetables, artwork and handicrafts. After having some delicious Gozelme at a Turkish shop, we decided to do some late afternoon sightseeing. All the trams in the Melbourne CBD are free as designated by the free tram zone. Therefore it won’t cost anything …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne

Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne 380 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne is located in Melbourne CBD area next to Flagstaff Gardens. It is located within 2 minutes walk from Queen Victoria market which makes for lots of options of dining and souvenir shopping. A free night at the hotel costs 44,000 Club Carlson points. Check-in was very quick. The front desk agent was very courteous and genuinely caring. When we mentioned that my parents had a late night flight departing Melbourne, the agent was kind enough to give us a late checkout of 6 PM. Of …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza Auckland

Crowne Plaza Auckland 128 Albert St, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand Crowne Plaza Auckland is located just a couple of minutes walk away from Sky Tower in the heart of Auckland. It is about 20 km away from Auckland International Airport and you can use various mode of transportation (I recommend Skybus) to get here. A free night at this hotel costs 30,000 IHG Rewards points.   Check-in was quick and one of our two rooms was upgraded to a club floor.   TThe hotel is located right next Atrium on Elliott Shopping mall which also has a few dining options …

Destination Trip Reports Oceania

January 2017: Auckland Trip Report

Day 1:  We arrived from Queenstown in the afternoon on our Jetstar flight. After collecting our checked-in luggage we found our way to the Skybus counter outside the terminal building. By purchasing Skybus tickets online, you save a little bit of money in comparison to showing up at the airport counter. We took the airport shuttle all the way to the terminus at Queen street and from there we transferred to another complimentary shuttle service to take us towards downtown. After checking in at the hotel (Crowne Plaza Auckland) we had an early dinner at Elliott Stables which was right …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza Queenstown

Crowne Plaza Queenstown 93 Beach St,Queenstown, 9300, New Zealand Crowne Plaza Queenstown is located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and very close to the city center. The hotel is located just under 10 km from Queenstown International Airport. A complimentary night at this property costs 40,000 IHG points per night. We had booked 2 rooms for four of us. Both the rooms had awesome views of the lake. The bathroom was fairly small and felt cramped. We had rented a car for a day trip to Glenorchy and kept the car to drive to the airport next day. The …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa

Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa Kawarau Village, 79 Peninsula Rd, Queenstown, 9300, New Zealand Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa is a Category 7 Hilton Property located just 5 minutes from Queenstown International Airport. It is located next door to the other Hilton property in the area that I reviewed earlier, the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Queenstown. This hotel like the Doubletree does not offer complimentary airport shuttle and a cab costs about $25 NZD one-way. The hotel does offer complimentary shuttle (at designated schedule)  and also a water taxi ($10 NZD per person) to Queenstown city center. A complimentary night at …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Queenstown

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Queenstown Kawarau Village 79 Peninsula Road, Queenstown, 9300, New Zealand Doubletree by Hilton Queenstown is a Category 4 Hilton property located just 5 mins drive away from Queenstown International Airport. The hotel does not provide any complimentary airport shuttle and a cab ride is around $25 NZD one way. The hotel does provide a complimentary shuttle to the Queenstown city center at scheduled times or you can take the water taxi for $10 NZD per person. A free night at this hotel costs 20,000 to 30,000 Hilton HHonors points. I had booked my parents at this hotel while …

Destination Trip Reports Oceania

January 2017: Queenstown Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Queenstown International Airport around early afternoon on our flight from Sydney. In case you don’t already know, New Zealand exercises very strict bio-security at its airports (with huge fines for non-compliance) so we declared every single item that we were bringing in from Australia (packaged food, snacks etc). After clearing immigration and customs we took a cab to our hotel (Hilton Queenstown). We decided to walk along the trails leading from Hilton towards Kelvin Heights that ran beside Lake Wakatipu. We came across a mother teaching her daughter how to catch fish. After walking and …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

Sheraton on the Park, Sydney 161 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Sheraton on the Park Sydney is located next to Hyde park and also St. James station which connects to Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport via the Airport Link Train. However, if you are not traveling solo, I would recommend taking a cab to the hotel from the airport as its cheaper and more convenient. This hotel is a SPG Category 5 property with a complimentary night costing 12,000 SPG points. We checked in early in the morning around 9 AM and our rooms were not ready. The front …

Destination Trip Reports Oceania

January 2017: Sydney Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport early in the morning. After immigration and customs we lined up for the taxi line for a cab to the hotel. We were staying at Sheraton on the Park which is located right opposite of St. James station by Hyde Park. I had researched that we could take the airport train straight to St. James station but it would be cheaper to take a cab for the 4 of us and also avoid having to carry around our luggage. In fact throughout our Sydney trip, for short distances it came out …

Airline Reviews Reviews Thai Airways

Airline Review: Thai Airways – First Class (Boeing 747-400 with Lie Flat Sats) : Bangkok – Sydney (TG 475)

Flight:  Thai Airways TG 475 from Bangkok to Sydney Duration: 9 hours Aircraft: B744(Boeing 747-400) Class: First Seat: 3E-3F (middle seats together with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 76 “. Seat width: 21 ” Thai Airways operates  Boeing 747-400 aircraft on its Bangkok – Sydney route for its twice a day flights. Thai First Class on the 747 comes in two different configurations – a new first class with semi-enclosed suites and older with just plain open seats (with almost no privacy), both featuring flat-bed seats. Due to notorious aircraft swaps by Thai Airways (as reported by frequent flyers on …

Lounge Reviews Reviews

Airline Lounge Review: Thai Airways Royal First Lounge and Spa, Bangkok

Thai Airways Royal First Lounge, Suvarnabhumi Airport (Concourse D) I had read several outstanding reviews on Thai Airways ground service for Thai Airways First Class passengers departing Suvarnabhumi Airport. About 4 days before our Bangkok-Sydney flight on Thai Airways, I found award space for 2 passengers on Thai F and booked it right away for me and Karen. My parents were already booked on Thai F on the same flight months earlier. I was pretty stoked about trying out both Thai First Class as well as the Royal Thai First Class lounge in Bangkok. We had a 10 hour layover in Bangkok and it …

Airline Reviews Cathay Pacific Reviews

Airline Review: Cathay Dragon – Business Class (Airbus 320-200 with Recliner Seats) : Hong Kong – Kolkata (KA 168)

Flight:  Cathay Dragon KA 168  from Hong Kong to Kolkata Duration: 4 hours 15 minutes Aircraft: A322 (Airbus 320-200) Class: Business Seat: 10A (Window seat in 2 x 2) Seat Specification: Recliner seats Seat pitch: 42″. Seat width: 20″ Cathay Pacific operates Airbus 320-200 (Version 1) in its Hong Kong – Kolkata route which features 2 rows of recliner seats in Business and rest is economy cabin. For a 4 hour flight, it mostly serves its purpose although I have been on flights of that length that had full lie-flat seats or angled flat seats on other carriers. I was surprised when the FA’s showed up …

Airline Reviews Cathay Pacific Reviews

Airline Review: Cathay Pacific – Business Class (Boeing 777-300 with Lie Flat Seats) : Los Angeles – Hong Kong (CX 897)

Flight:  Cathay Pacific CX 897  from Los Angeles to Hong Kong Duration: 15 hours 15 minutes Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business Seat: 18K (single seat with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 21 ” MilesPointsTravel Disclaimer: This review is solely the work of Karen. I personally did not fly on this segment.  Cathay Pacific operates 4 daily flights between Los Angeles and Hong Kong of which all are on Boeing 777-300 ER. The aircraft features 53 flat-bed seats in business class in 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration. The veal chipolata was really tasty and did not taste anything …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok

Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok BTS Asoke Station, 16 Ratchadapisek Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok is one of 4 Carlson Rezidor Hotel properties in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok. It is located in the heart of Bangkok right next to BTS Asoke station as well as Sukhumvit MRT station. Because of its accessibility to both BTS and MRT lines right next door, this hotel can be an ideal base for exploring the city. A cab ride from Suvarnabhumi International airport and Don Meuang International airport takes around 40 mins – 60 mins in each case depending on traffic. A complimentary night at …