China Eastern Airlines Business Class Xi'An to Shanghai to Singapore Flight Review

We fly China Eastern Airlines Business class, back to Singapore from Xi'An, after a wonderful holiday in Xi'An! 

Our fight plan was as follows:

MU 5010 - dep Xian 0850, arr Shanghai 1125
MU 565 - dep Shanghai 1435, arr Shanghai 2010

As our flight departed Xian somewhat early that morning, we decided to stay at the Regal Airport Hotel for one night, so that our departure could be smooth and easy.   Our flight home would be much smoother than our exciting adventure some days earlier on getting to Xian!

Xian Xianyang Airport Terminal 3 had a dedicated check-in area for China Eastern, which was very near the security clearance.  After checking in (our luggage would be checked through to Singapore), clearing security was quite quick (there were priority lines for Premium Pax) and we quickly found our way to the China Eastern Lounge.  Just follow the signs, not difficult.  The entrance to the lounge looked like this.  I read online that China Eastern operated another lounge at the other end of the concourse.  But this lounge was very near our gates, so made a lot more sense to wait here, at the V1 lounge.

Busy Lounge
Inside the lounge, we found it quite busy indeed.  I made a video of the lounge, and you can see the crowds at the dining area.  There was a decent selection of food, and China Eastern served their signature beef noodles in this lounge too.   Indeed, the Chinese love their noodles, no doubt about that.


Nice Blue Seats
Here are some photos of the lounge.  Nice blue seats.  They looked traditional, but they were pretty comfortable.  You could actually snooze on them (we did for a while) by lounging forward.  The seats gave good support to the next! There were charging points on the floor, in between the seats, making it convenient to charge our devices.  Of course, I had to use my universal plug. You can watch my video at 5:54 to see the charging points.

Rather Sunny!
At times, it felt rather warm, because the morning sun was pouring in.  Yes, this lounge gets the morning sun.

First Class Ticket?
Was a bit tickled when I saw my boarding passes (Red) which stated First Class.  No, we didn't buy First class tickets, ours was Business class fare.  However, it seems that within China, they seem to mix Business and First.  Maybe the concept is like in the USA, where they call domestic business as First Class.  Anyway, it didn't matter, as long as we got our seats!

Our flight was delayed by almost an hour, due to late arrival of aircraft from Moscow.  Apparently MU5010 is a service from Shanghai to Moscow, via Xi'An.  So the plane came in from Moscow.  Didn't bother us too much since we had sufficient layover time at Shanghai as buffer, and waiting in the lounge was comfortable (we found a spot which didn't have the morning sun).  We could wait until the boarding announcements were made before heading to the gate.

MU 5010 Xi'an to Shanghai
Again, we had to take a bus from our gate to the airplane.  Truly, a bus airline!  We got up the mini-bus for Premium Pax, and the ride was about 5 minutes to the aircraft.  I made this video of our flight experience from Xi'An to Shanghai, on board the China Eastern Airbus A330-300 series aircraft.


This Airbus was also retrofitted with their latest cabin product, which looked very similar to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that we flew on from Singapore to Shanghai.  Some pictures of the cabin (in a 1-2-1 configuration) below.

Notice the slightly staggered layout of the window seats - alternate between true window seat and nearer the aisle seat.

A 1-2-1 formation.  Very spacious, private feel.  Overall, a very solid hard product.

The IFE screens were fairly big.  Good enough for me to watch a movie.

When we flew from Shanghai to Xi'An a few days back on a late flight (dep 2130hrs), the catering was extremely underwhelming - 2 tarts and 5 slices of fruit!  So, I was curious, this time what would we get for a morning flight?  A slice of bread and a drink perhaps?  LOL!

Asian or Western style breakfast?
Fortunately, China Eastern did better than that.  We had a choice of Asian or Western style breakfast.  I chose Asian, not knowing what it entailed. But at least we were decent a decent breakfast (local Xi'An style), which I quite enjoyed.  Bear in mind this is a 1hr 50min flight, so my expectations weren't sky high.  Here is breakfast I enjoyed.  Do watch my video if you want more details of the food, as I examine the food tray more closely.

The flight path from Xi'An to Shanghai wasn't straight.  Wonder why.  Maybe to avoid weather, or traffic congestion, or military airspace.  Well, as long as our pilot got us to our destination safely, I can't complain.

Weather was bright and sunny as we approached Shanghai Pudong.  Managed to get a very nice view of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport from the air.  There was an aircraft landing on the runway too. Cool!


Arrival into Shanghai Pudong
Landing was smooth. Recall, when we arrived in Shanghai en-route to Xi'An, we had assumed that our onward flight was on track. This time round, I immediately turned on my flight app which could show me the arrivals/departures at the airport. Yes, our onward flight was on schedule.  Of course, don't just trust the app, check the departure boards in the airport itself.  It looked ok.  Phew!

So we made our way past security and immigration, to the departure area for international flights at Shanghai Pudong, and took the escalator up to the China Eastern Lounge.  This was supposedly China Eastern's flagship lounge.  It was rather crowded when we got there, as it was lunch hour, but we could still find a nice table for the two of us on the first level.

Food - I had 2 servings of this Nasi Goreng style rice with fish, and I couldn't resist trying that bun.

The second floor of the lounge was a lot more quiet, with many seats and very few passengers.  Head up here if you want a quite place to nap or chill. Of course, don't forget to set your alarm for your boarding time!

Another angle of the second floor.  Yes, the boarding announcements were made, but they weren't that loud.  You could miss them if you are not careful.

Boarding Time
It was time for us to board the aircraft (we waited till the boarding announcement), and we headed off to our gate.  Our aircraft was boarding from Gate 212, which was a bus boarding gate.  When we reached the gate, they had already started general boarding.  It didn't look like there was a line for priority passengers!

Well, we just followed the other business class passengers who went to the front of the line, showed the staff our tickets, and they let us through.  We headed to the mini-van for premium passengers and enjoyed our final ride on this same type of mini-bus.  We have had so many bus rides on this trip that I've lost count!

The aircraft that would be flying us to Singapore was a rather new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Every passenger, premium or not, had to use the same staircase up to the airplane.  I took this photo to show my parents.  The steps were steep.  Given their age, I had advised them not to take China Eastern.  Not sure if my mother can make her way up and down such steps.

Another look at the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Pretty neat!  We weren't in any rush to board, so we let the other passengers board first.  The weather was great, and I took many photos of the plane.  See the front gear - serial number of this plane was B-209N.  She was delivered to Shanghai Pudong on 31st March 2019.  Very new!

Flight Review - Shanghai to Singapore on the China Eastern Dreamliner in Business Class
Here is the flight review video on this Shanghai to Singapore leg.


The cabin was beautiful.  Very classy.  For this flight, I was seated in 8L, which was a window seat. (as in right next to the window)

The welcome drink was champagne, orange juice, or water. I chose the champagne. This time round, the menus were placed at our seats. I took a glance through, and from the applicable menu for our flight. China Eastern has the habit of printing a single menu that can last them for many, many months. If you watch 3:30 of my video you will see that the menu is colour coded - Red for Odd month 1st to 15th, Orange for Odd month 16th to 31st, Blue for Even month 1st to 15th and Green for even month 16th to 31st.

I guess this system saves them printing costs. For my dinner, I chose the 3 cup chicken with rice. The cabin crew asked whether I would like dinner to be served immediately upon takeoff, or later. As our takeoff time was about 2:30pm (i.e. too early for dinner), I asked to be served later. The crew said the service would be at 5:30pm, as landing was slightly past 7pm. I said ok. After the flight took off, cabin lights were dimmed, and most passengers were watching movies or took an afternoon map. The crew came around with drinks service, and I got some white wine to go with the mixed nuts that they gave out. It was good. The seat could be converted into a flat bed easily (push button) and I took a short nap. For some reason, I woke up automatically, just before dinner time. Perhaps I was getting hungry! Dinner was served. It wasn't like gourmet food, but the taste suited me just fine.

My tray table was ready for dinner service.  They gave me the red wine first.

My 3-cup chicken with rice meal.  The taste wasn't bad at all!

Well, that pretty much wraps up my Trip Report, Xi'An to Shanghai to Singapore on China Eastern Business class.  This was our first time on China Eastern, and putting aside the slight trauma we had with delays and cancelled flights on Singapore to Xi'An leg, it was a great experience for the price we had paid! 

Would we fly with China Eastern again?  Yes!  But we would also know that their flights may be delayed/cancelled etc, so we would be mentally prepared for it all. 

Thanks for reading and watching my videos!

Getting Flamed by Vietnamese on YouTube - Vietnam Airlines Business Class

Now, this is an interesting experience.  In the video below, I review a flight on Vietnam Airlines Airbus A321, Hanoi to Singapore.  As the plane was powering down the runway, I shared my thoughts, saying at 3:37:

"Looks very rural and undeveloped" and then "As a whole, Vietnam is still rather undeveloped, but a country with plenty of potential."



FLAME TIME!

My innocent comments certainly riled up a few people!  Check out their (rude)
responses:

And then,









And that wasn't all.  Check this out:

What can I say?  I leave you, the reader, to come to your own conclusions.

Anyway, since you are reading this, why not watch my other videos on Vietnam Airlines Business Class:


And Part 2:



Have a good day!

Vietnam Airlines Business Class Singapore to London Heathrow Dreamliner Flight Part 2

Blessed Christmas one and all.  This post continues from my previous post (Part 1), where I showed you our flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh.  Recap, we flew on an Airbus A321, from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh, and had a restful time at the Lotus Lounge in Ho Chi Minh.  Now it was time to board the Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner bound for London Heathrow!

Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
In the following two videos, I show you the complete experience of flying with Vietnam Airlines in her premium cabins on an almost brand new Boeing 787-9 aircraft.  We flew from Gate 20, which was a very short walk from the Lotus Lounge.  The Business class on this Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was the industry leading reverse herringbone configuration, with a 1-2-1 configuration, where every passenger had direct aisle access.  As expected, the seat felt very private. In the first video, I show you the boarding (we boarded early, at the first call for Business class passengers), and quickly settled into our seats.  Even though it was late, and we were tired, there was still a palpable sense of excitement!  A welcome drink was served (I took a champagne) and newspapers were handed out. I show you the amenity kit, which came in a very nice bag.  After take-off, the crew came around to take orders for supper.  I show you the supper, which was pretty good! This was a red-eye flight so the service was faster than a non red-eye flight.  Useful because passengers would want to eat and then go to sleep.


Part 2 - Bed and Breakfast


I show you in some detail the lie-flat bed.  In fact, I had experienced some problems with it because I could not deploy the bed fuller.  I soon realised that it was my own fault, I put my backpack and shoes in front of me and the bed could not fully deploy!  I show you with some detail on how to avoid this situation.  I also show you the wonderful breakfast we had on board, it was the Vietnamese Pho! Awesome breakfast.  The soup tasted great.  I drank up every drop.  Check out Vietnam Airlines Business Class on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner!  Very cool.

Thanks very much for watching & hope you have a Blessed Christmas.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Wellington-Canberra-Singapore Capital Express

After a successful trip to Wellington, it was time to head home.  This is the return flight, on the Singapore Airlines Capital Express, connecting Singapore-Canberra-Wellington, the capital cities of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand respectively.

Intercontinental Hotel, New Zealand
In Wellington, I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, which was the biggest hotel in town, so I was told.  This video review shows you the deluxe room that I stayed in. You could watch TV from the shower, quite neat.


Wellington Airport Air New Zealand Business Lounge
The airport was not too far away from the hotel.  I took a cab, and the cost was about NZ$30.  Wellington Airport is not a big airport.  In face, the runway at Wellington Airport was rather short, under 2,000M!  Good thing the Boeing 777-200 aircraft used by SQ on this route could still land and take off safely.  Check-in at the airport was smooth and very soon, I was resting in the lounge, waiting for my flight.  Singapore Airlines uses the Air New Zealand Business Lounge, and here is a review of the lounge.


Singapore Airlines SQ 292 Wellington to Canberra
The first leg of this flight from Wellington to Canberra.  This was a 3 hour flight, and a very good dinner was served on board.  For this flight, I had an empty seat beside me, so that made the flight even more comfortable!


The plane landed in Canberra and we had to transit for about 1 hour and 15 min.  There was no lounge for premium passengers at the Canberra airport transit area, however, I found out that Business class passengers got an A$20 credit to buy food and drinks at the bar, which was located in the middle of the lounge.   As I was very full, I did not utilize this perk.

SQ 292 Canberra to Singapore
Soon it was time to board the flight for Singapore. This time round, the flight was around 8 hours.  By this time, I was more tired.  Similar to the earlier experience, passengers were given the option of going to sleep immediately after take-off, and take our meal only before landing.  I chose this option because I was already very full from the earlier Wellington-to-Canberra leg.  I had a good sleep, and was woken up about 1.5hours before landing.  Breakfast was pretty good.  I had the noodle option.


Landing was very smooth and I was home!

Thanks for watching.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Singapore-Canberra-Wellington Capital Express Flight Review Videos

I fly on Singapore Airlines Business Class, from Singapore to Wellington via Canberra.  This was the new "Capital Express" route, connecting the three important capitals of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.  This route commenced 21 Sep 2016. This would mark the first regularly scheduled international service into Canberra.  SQ uses the Boeing 777-200 on this route, with 38 Business class seats in 2-2-2 configuration and 228 Economy class seats in 3-3-3 configuration.

SilverKris Lounge Changi Airport Terminal 3 Teochew Cuisine
Check in at Changi Airport Terminal 3 was very smooth. I start my trip with a visit to the SilverKris Lounge for SIA Business Class passengers.  They were offering authentic Teochew cuisine and I had a good meal there.


Singapore Airlines SQ 291 Part 1
SQ291 would depart Singapore at 2300hrs, or 11pm. Today, we departed from gate B10, which was a very far gate from the main area in Terminal 3.  In fact, at gate B10, you are almost at Terminal 1. Anyway, I didn't mind the walk.  Boarding was smooth and this first video shows boarding, and I get settled in my seat for this first leg, which would take around 7 hours.  Turns out that passengers can choose whether to have the meal service shortly after take-off, or before landing, or both.  So I chose to get some sleep shortly after takeoff. 

Singapore Airlines SQ 291 Part 2
In Part 2, I show you the meal before landing. The cabin lights were turned on about 2 hours before landing and the pre-landing meal (in this case breakfast) service began. Starting with a bowl of fruit, we went on to the main course. I had 'Booked the Cook', so I got the Chargrilled Soya Beef for breakfast. A most interesting breakfast indeed! However, I wasn't too hungry and didn't eat much.


Canberra Airport Landing and U-Turn on Runway
Landing into Canberra airport was smooth.  The runway felt pretty short and the Boeing 777-200 jet had to do a U-turn at the end of the runway, before taxi-ing to the terminal.  An interesting experience!  Here is the landing video, in bright glorious sunshine.

Canberra Airport International Departures Lounge
We had to wait at the Canberra Airport for about 1.5 hours before we could re-board the plane to resume the journey.  Here is a short snippet of the Canberra Airport international departure lounge. This lounge was opened to all passengers, not just premium passengers.


Canberra to Wellington Flight and Landing
This was the final leg of the flight, from Canberra to Wellington. The flight took about 3 hours.  I was very tired and slept throughout most of this flight.  I didn't eat at all.


Here is the Press Release by Singapore Airlines on the launch of the 'Capital Express' Service from Singapore to Canberra and Wellington.

Singapore Airlines Launches 'Capital Express' Service To Canberra And Wellington

21 September 2016 - Singapore Airlines has launched its new ‘Capital Express’ service, linking Singapore for the first time with the capital cities of both Australia and New Zealand.

The inaugural flight, SQ291, departed Singapore Changi Airport at 2300hrs local time last night and arrived at Canberra Airport at 0815hrs local time this morning. Following a short stop-over at Canberra, it continued on to Wellington and arrived shortly after 1500hrs local time.

Customers departing from Singapore and Canberra were treated to an assortment of food and beverages at special boarding gate events held to commemorate the inaugural flights.

The ‘Capital Express’ service will operate four times per week on a Singapore-Canberra-Wellington routing, with return services operating on a Wellington-Canberra-Singapore routing.

Singapore Airlines is the first airline to operate regularly scheduled international services to and from Canberra. It is also the first airline with flights between Canberra and Wellington.

Flights will be operated with 266-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats.

The new Canberra services will add to Singapore Airlines’ already extensive Australia network, which includes flights between Singapore and Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Regional arm SilkAir also serves Cairns and Darwin, while low-cost subsidiary Scoot serves the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The new Wellington services will complement existing services between Singapore and both Auckland and Christchurch.

Singapore Airlines’ network in Australia and New Zealand is further enhanced through its extensive partnerships with Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand.

Thanks for watching!

British Airways London to Dublin and return in Business Class plus Dublin Airport DAA Lounge

British Airways - London to Dublin Flight in Business



British Airways - Dublin to London Flight in Business


Dublin Airport and Lounge
I was flying from Dublin to London, this was in late 2013.  Here I was, check-in counters of Dublin Airport.

Flying Club Europe today.

Terminal 1 Lounge.  I read somewhere that you could access this lounge for 20 Euros per passenger.

Lounge was not full when I got there, but it quickly filled up.

Self-service area.

Alcoholic beverages were limited to two per person.  I can't drink so much anyway.

Cereals for breakfast.

Crackers.

Irish stone-ground whole wheat.

The King standing on the King of Beers.

What about a King on a Guiness.

Thanks for reading.