Ok so here goes. My first trip report. Please excuse my relative lack of recent writing experience, and make sure to let me know if you have any suggestions, and/or helpful criticism on how to improve. I’m going to try to keep the details short, especially regarding frequently reviewed products such as Cathay Pacific F and J, as well as unworthy of review products such as Philippine Air Y, and to post a lot of pictures to keep everyone interested. On the topic of photography, please excuse that as well, as all of the pictures were taken on my phone, and I am no photographer (yet
)
When I started writing my TR I somehow ended up writing several super boring paragraphs about my intro into the world of miles, as a very broad background to the intro of my trip report. To not get super bored please skip down until you see blue for the start of my trip planning, or to where you see green for the actual start of the trip. 
I originally typed up a longer background intro about how I got started with miles, but I decided to skip it. The short story is that I started to read about miles through dansdeals about a year and a half ago. I couldn’t believe that people were seriously getting insane vacations for almost nothing with miles, and that I hadn’t heard about it. As soon as I turned 18, which was also a couple of months before I headed to Israel for my first year of Yeshiva there, I dove headfirst into the world of miles.
Growing up in the U.S. northeast my family never went on big vacations. We either went on local trips, or went on trips visiting family in Ohio and in Maryland. I had never been to the west coast, or even to Miami. Once I got older, I decided that I wanted to see cool places and go on nice trips. Until I got into the mileage game, I was even planning on arranging a cross country road trip with my friends in the summer, so that I’d finally get to see LA etc.
Once I learned about miles, it all changed. Throughout the year in Yeshiva, I badly wanted to burn some of my miles, and to try out some of the first class products that everyone here and on the blogs rave about, and to go on some crazy vacations. Since I was busy studying in Yeshiva, I didn’t have the time. Finally, as summer started coming around, I decided that my first big trip would be on my way back to Israel, at the end of the summer. The reason it would be at the end of the summer was because I already had my nonrefundable tickets booked back home from Israel, months in advance, and I didn’t want to throw those away. Also I would have time to get some last cards and do some last minute spending, when I was back home in the beginning of the summer, before my trip.
Actual start of my trip planning:Eventually I decided that that I would take a 3.5 week trip, on my way back to Israel, and that I would make it as crazy and amazing as possible. In short the reason why I wanted to fit so much in, is that there were so many places that I wanted to go to, and things that I wanted to do, and the only time that I have the time to do any of them is in the summer. Basically I have a several week window once a year, to take off and do whatever I want, and I wanted to fit in as much as possible. Also, probably since I never went on any big trips growing up, and I finally had the opportunity to go on one, I felt the need to make it as crazy as possible.
I decided that the best option for a 3.5 week trip, as far as trying out some of the best products, and going to some of the nicest cities and vacation places (as well as getting decent value for it), would be an Asia and Middle East trip.
As far as the logistics of my trip, I settled on Tokyo, Japan as the city where I would spend my first Shabbos in. The best way to fly to Japan from the U.S. is in JAL First class. Space opened up on a date that would work out for me, but I decided that for my first internationally configured mileage flight (I flew to Toronto from New York in J on an Avios ticket, Whoopee!) I wanted to do better. I decided that I would wait on Cathay Pacific F from JFK to HKG, and book that together with Cathay F from HKG to Taipei, Taiwan, so that I would get to check out the new Cathay F lounge in HKG. I had my eye on a routing that I wanted to do, which would include a 10 hour connection in HKG to check out the lounge, then a night in Taipei, and then a flight to Tokyo on Thursday on an Avios ticket in CX J.
Space opened up on the flight that I wanted, a day and a half before the flight, on Tisha B’av. As I didn’t want to book on Tisha B’av, I planned on waiting until after the fast to book my flight, and hope it would still be there. Thanks to the suggestion of D93, I was reminded that I could put my ticket on hold, and then book it after Tisha B’av, which is what I did. I don’t think I was ever more excited up until that point, than I was on Motzei Tisha B’av, when I had my CX F flight booked for the following night, and when I told my parents that I would be leaving early on my trip back to Israel, and that I needed to pack up.
I feel like now is a good time to mention that the only flights I had booked up until that point, were my flights to Tokyo, as well as my last week of flights starting in Shanghai and ending in Amman (on a 30k AA J ticket). For the middle two weeks (and eventually 5 countries) I didn’t have a single flight booked. The reason for this was that there is a certain first class that flies between Tokyo and Bali that many top bloggers and miles enthusiasts rave about as potentially being the very best first class, and one that they hope to fly one day. As I wanted to go to Bali as my next destination anyway, and as I had committed to making my first trip as crazy as possible, I decided that I was going to fly it. The only problem was that I wasn’t sure if my miles were going to transfer in time to book the flight. Since I was flying by myself, and since many of my planned inter Asia flights were going to be on CX which has great last minute availability, I decided that I was fine booking flights last minute, and holding out for my NRT-DPS GA F flight.
Actual start of my trip:The following night I said goodbye to my family, and headed out to Flatbush with my father, to pick up my frozen POM meals. After I packed the meals in my freezer bags, and into my suitcase, we davened Maariv, and hung around to learn a little, as my flight wasn’t until very late. Eventually we decided it was time to go to JFK and headed to the airport.
It wasn’t until I checked in, and was on my way to the gate with my $17,000 boarding pass in hand, that reality finally started to sink in about how incredible the mileage game is. A year beforehand, my dream was to save up money to fly on a cheap economy ticket to Miami or to LA. Now, I was about to head out to the other side of the world in one of the nicest first class cabins.
When I got to the gate, there was still another 25 minutes or so until boarding, so I decided that now would be a good time to book my hotels. I had decided that I would do the Hyatt diamond challenge, of staying 12 qualifying nights in Hyatt’s in 60 days. The reason for that was because many of the places I would be going to had nice Hyatt’s, and many of them had good cash plus point’s rates. I calculated the amount of Hyatt points I needed, and transferred the amount from my Chase account (it transfers instantly). Right after that, I went to the side and called up Hyatt and signed up to the Diamond challenge as well as booked my hotels for the next few nights, including the Grand Hyatt Taipei for Wednesday night, and the Park Hyatt Tokyo for Thursday night. With that taken care of, I headed back to the gate to wait for my flight.
I’m not going to lie, but it was an awesome feeling (although admittedly a pretty vain and probably childish one) waiting to board, and seeing businessmen (many probably multimillionaires) wearing pressed suits, and holding $500 carryon’s with an attaché case hanging over the handle, waiting at the front of the line to board with their business class boarding passes; knowing that my ticket costs a few times that of a business class ticket, and that I got it for a tiny fraction of the cost of one.
CX F JFK-HKGFlight # CX845
Departing at 1:30 AM
Arriving at 5:15 AM (+1)
Seat 1K
Cost: 67.5k AA miles + $108.80
Cash value: About $17k
Eventually boarding started and I headed onto the plane. I entered the plane via the business class section, and as it was my first time seeing an internationally configured cabin in person I honestly thought for a second that I was in first class, until I realized that there were way too many seats. I handed my boarding pass to the flight attendant, and he immediately warmly asked if he can please escort me to my seat. Before he had a chance to do so, a second flight attendant, who ended up being one of the first class flight attendants, cut him off, and said that she would escort me to my seat. As I was already impressed with Business Class, it made First Class look that much better, as it was incredible spacious, and as it’s one of the most exclusive cabins, with only 6 first class seats.
I settled into my seat, accepted a drink of water, and changed into the comfortable Cathay pajamas for the 16 hour redeye flight.
CX F seat (hkg-tpe) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F leg rest (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F flower (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F Cabin View (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F Bathroom (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
A little while after takeoff, meal service started, and I was served a Regal Kosher Meal. The meal consisted of some sort of smoked fish, and I remember it as being edible yet unmemorable. Dessert was vanilla Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and Glenmorangie Signet Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. I’m sure you whiskey connisuers will give me flack for this, but I honestly couldn’t taste the difference between the Signet and Jack. It was pretty disappointing, as I always thought that one day when I tried nice whiskey, I would like it. Turns out that was not the case. (The Häagen-Dazs on the other hand, was terrific
.)
I said that I wasn’t going to get into detail about CX F, as it is frequently reviewed, but I feel like one thing regarding CX’s attention to detail is worth pointing out, as even GA F didn’t do this. Every F passenger is given a note handwritten by the flight attendants, wishing an enjoyable flight. I thought that was an especially nice touch.
After the meal, I had a few more drinks, and had the flight attendant make my bed. On the subject of the bed, I just want to point out that I was blown away by the size and spaciousness of the bed. I am 6”5 and even though my bed at home is extra-long and the longest that regular beds are made (as our research determined), my legs still hang over the end of the bed a little. On the CX F bed however, I was able to stretch out all the way without my feet touching the end! So I settled into bed, put on the Bose noise canceling headphones that Cathay provides, and watched a Movie before going to sleep.
CX F entertainment screen (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F Screen and Bed (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F bed (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F bed (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F bed (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F bed (JFK-HKG) by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
I eventually woke up after a long and restful sleep, ate breakfast, watched a couple of shows, and before I knew it we were landing in HKG. I say before I knew it more literally than you think, as despite being one of the longest flights in the world at 16 hours, it flew by. Friends tell me when trying to grasp such a long flight that even in first class, 16 hours would be too much for them. I tell them that they can’t say that until they’ve actually tried a nice first class, as I honestly felt that the 16 hour CX flight passed by faster than a 1.5 hour LGA-CLE flight.
After bidding the phenomenal crew farewell and deplaning, I headed through the gorgeous and massive HKG to the new CX Pier First Class Lounge, to await my flight to Taipei.
20150728_140303 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
Regal breakfast CX F JFK-HKG by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
Regal eggs CX F JFK-HKG by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
The Pier HKG
The Pier is absolutely stunning. Its design, and décor definite rival many high-end 5 star hotels, while the open bar obviously beats them. I settled down into a comfortable armchair with nice views of the runway and surrounding mountains, and took care of some planning, while occasionally breaking for some fresh fruit.
Eventually I decided to take a shower, and was blown away by their shower rooms. They were much nicer than any bathroom I had been in, and it was the first time that I got to use a rain shower, which was awesome, especially at my height.
Afterwards, I took a quick tour of the lounge. The daybeds looked great, as well as the business center with computers and desks for anyone to use. At the business center, I proceeded to put every single computer onto the DD homepage (I got your back Dan
). Hey! if one F passenger starts reading it, and because of that comes back to The Pier one day on a mileage ticket, it was all worth it
. I settled back into my armchair and made a few free calls on google voice back home to America, as well as chatted with GA and Citi to see if they could make my miles transfer faster. After a couple of more hours and a drink from the bar, it was time to head over to the gate for my next flight.
Seating area - The Pier HKG by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150728_175942 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_023139 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
CX F HKG-TPEFlight # CX472
Departing at 3:50 PM
Arriving at 5:40 PM
Seat 1A
Cost: Free (as part of my award from JFK-HKG)
Cash value: About $975
The flight from Hong Kong to Taiwan is really short, so I wasn’t even able to watch a full TV show, in addition to eating my meal. The meal was the highlight of the flight, as it was from Hermolis in London (as all CX KSML’s are ex-Asia), and was delicious. After the 1.5 hour flight, in a seat as comfortable as it gets for 1.5 hour flights, we landed in Taipei.
20150729_041542 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_042938 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_043157 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_053805 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
There was a really long line by immigration at TPE, but it wasn’t an issue, as people watching is a lot of fun when it’s your first time on the other side of the world. After about a 45 minute wait, (of watching and being watched
), I cleared immigration, collected my luggage, and caught a bus to the Grand Hyatt.
Cool sign in TPE :p by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_060013 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20160117_004920 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_070944 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
Grand Hyatt TaipeiCost: 7.5k Hyatt points + $100 for one night
Cash value: About $287
Although this was only a Grand Hyatt, my first reaction when I walked into the hotel, was that I was stunned. The lobby was magnificent as well as massive, with a ceiling several stories high. The reason that I was stunned was that this was the nicest hotel *by far* that I had been to in my entire life. The nicest hotel that I had been to up until that point, was the Doubletree by Hilton that my yeshiva goes to for their hotel Shabbos every year (which is quite nice actually).
20150729_080929 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_100814 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_100829 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
20150729_225552 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
I proceeded to walk across the room to the far left side of the lobby, where the check-in desks were located. At check-in I was thanked for being a Platinum member with them, and offered 2 PM late checkout. That was really cool as I didn’t realize the Hyatt diamond challenge came with platinum status so I assumed that I was a Hyatt nothing. Anyway, I checked in and was escorted to my room.
The room was average sized, tastefully decorated, and had a decent view. The bathroom had a great rain shower, although it didn’t have a bathtub. Overall, I though the room was very nice.
20150729_082157 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
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Tom Brady, on Flickr
As I was starving, and as my POM meals had been out of the freezer for about 30 hours, I unpacked my freezer bags, and removed the Ancho Marinated Steak from one of them, as that would be my supper for the night. I went down to the front desk, and they gladly took my freezer bags to freeze and my double wrapped POM meal to heat up.
About 45 minutes later my meal was delivered to me, and I sat down and indulged in the delicious steak, mashed potatoes and popcorn cauliflower. After Maariv, I went to sleep exhausted on my first night overseas on my own.
20150729_110517 by
Tom Brady, on Flickr
