[AndrewinHK]

I returned yesterday from a 2-week break, whilst this was a leisure trip, it involved J-class travel, and we covered 7 countries, and 5 airlines so I thought insights into airport/airline experience would be worth a post.

I am a CX top tier member and my airline of choice, lately more to do with convenience is CX, this trip though CX had no direct to either of the start/end point destinations (Milan and Munich) whilst CX flies to Milan the route is not back to daily yet. So with a 1 stop itinerary needed, we chose Qatar as they were 35% cheaper than a CX itinerary.

Flight 1 – Hong Kong to Doha (Qatar Airways 777 J class)
We arrived at HK airport, and the check-in experience was swift, but security was busy, HK doesn’t have CT scanners yet, it took around 20 mins to clear security. We decided our first stop would be the newly reopened Qantas lounge, which is a very spacious and nicely designed lounge, it was also very quiet, I would recommend a visit. Qatar uses gate 5 which is close to the immigration checkpoint, so the Qantas lounge is also the most convenient option. Our second stop was the ex-Dragon now Cathay Lounge The Deck. It is also a lovely space but can get crowded.

Boarding was on time, firstly everyone should be aware that the aircraft Qatar are using currently on the 817/818 rotation is a leased 777 from Cathay (this is not advertised during booking, but you can check flight radar and see every rotation is being operated by this aircraft type), the aircraft is in Qatar colors, now has a Qatar registration, Qatar crew, service, IFE, and food, but the CX seat. It was a strange experience, seeing the slight detail changes to the CX aircraft, but gave me a good opportunity to compare the service and experience of Qatar and the CX seat.

I shan’t bore you with a review of the CX seat, it is good, comfy, spacious, but a bit old now, especially on the 777. The Qatar crew on this rotation were excellent, and the Qatar catering was superior to CX, in presentation, portion, choice, and taste. I was again impressed. Arrival in Doha was on time, but to a bus gate, in fact, 100% of the flights I took through Doha were bus gates this trip, 4 out of 4, which is not good at all.

Flight 2 – Doha to Milan (Qatar 787-9 J class)
We made a brief stop in the Al Safwa lounge, which is the best lounge I have ever been to. Boarding was via a bus gate, and a very strange experience, priority passengers were asked to wait, whilst they boarded economy passengers first, which resulted in many looking very confused, what you realize is they do this because they are waiting for business/first class buses to arrive, which are very nice indeed, but you then arrive at the aircraft behind the economy bus, and have to wait for the passengers ahead to board, its a very weird process, and it happened on the return journey too. The 787 J seat is comfy, but the space above your knees does feel a bit restrictive. The crew were again very good, the food and drink service flawless, and arrival was on time in Malpensa. Malpensa allows UK passports to use the E- Gates, the line for other passports was very long (I would guess at least 1 hour). Bags were delivered within 20 minutes.

Our stay was at the relatively new Mandarin Oriental Lake Como, which is exquisite, the location, view, room, and dining were all incredible, I would highly recommend either staying, stopping by for a drink, or dining at L’Aria.

We day-tripped to Lugano, what a stunning place. We took the train from Como to Lugano, which takes around 1 hour, the trains are modern, clean, and fairly priced. We took First both ways, outbound was Trenord and a regional train, on return, we took SBB which uses a long-distance train that has a nicer seat.

Flight 3 – Milan Bergamo to Zagreb (Ryanair – operated by Lauda A320)
We had little choice, as Ryanair is the only operator of this route, the flight was very cheap, only cost us about 50 euros each. Bergamo airport is almost entirely a Ryanair operation, our flight was at 8am the flight was delayed (30 mins). Check-in was very quick, we paid for the fast-track security, which probably saved us 5 mins versus the normal line. Lauda operated the flight, using an A320, and the experience was perfectly acceptable. The bags arrived within 30 minutes.

We stayed at the Westin in Zagreb, using it as a base to take day trips to Ljubljana and Plitvice Lakes. I would highly recommend Plitvice Lakes National Park, it is around a 2-hour drive, and a beautiful place. The Westin was acceptable, we are Bonvoy Titanium Elite, so we are spoiled, and have become accustomed to early check-in, this was not possible, and we were told to come back at 3 pm. On check-in we were upgraded to a suite on a newly renovated floor, speaking to a few other guests, it seems not all floors are renovated, so request a renovated floor. We found the people in Zagreb to be quite stern, and not always of a service mindset, some very simple requests were made to seem almost impossible, and staff at times rolled their eyes or said things in the local language which were quite clearly derogatory comments. We spoke to some other guests who had asked to borrow an adapter, it took the hotel 2 days to provide one.

Flight 3 – Zagreb to Dubrovnik (Croatia Airlines a320, J class)
Zagreb airport is new, and was very quiet, with speedy passage through security. Boarding was on time, we were then held on the jetbridge which got stuffy for about 10 mins before actual boarding started. Croatia Airlines block the middle seat for J class, service was sparse, and the cabin was full. On-time arrival. The bags took 30 minutes to arrive.

We stayed at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riveria, which is halfway between the airport and the city. This is a new hotel, and the design is modern and sleek, with 2 pools, and a beach, the rooms are spacious, we were upgraded to a pool/ocean view, and the outlook is really superb. Hotels closer to Dubrovnik town are generally smaller, the Sheraton is a good option for anyone wanting a more resort-style feel. We used Uber to get around very easily, it takes around 10 minutes to reach the Old Town, and using Uber we never had to wait longer than 5 mins, and cost around 8-12 euros. Dubrovnik is quite an amazing place, certainly not cheap, main courses at most restaurants started at 28-30 euros. We stayed 2 nights, which for us was the right amount of time. We then hired a driver to take us to Split, via a quick stop in Mostar, Bosnia. The border crossing was speedy, and Mostar is worth a quick visit. I was taken by how good the road network is in that area, all new roads, we reached Split in around 6 hours (with 1.5 hours of stops along the way).

We stayed in Split for 2 nights at the Piazza Heritage Hotel, excellent location, and very friendly staff, we found the people in Dubrovnik and Split to be much nicer than people in Zagreb.

Flight 4 – Split to London Heathrow (British Airways a320 J class)
We took a quick trip back home to Hampstead, this was not in our original plan, but seeing how lovely the weather was in London, and checking we saw BA had a direct flight from Split, so off we went. The flight was 30 minutes late, actually many inbounds were late due to thunderstorms around Europe. The flight crew were great on this sector, happy, and very friendly, the flight was full. We enjoyed a nice platter with bread, hummus, some cold meats, and sparkling English wine. Arrival in LHR was about 40 minutes late, this flight seems timed more for point-to-point travel, it arrives at 6.05 pm (if on time) and most passengers seemed to hail from the UK. Immigration was thankfully very speedy using the E Gates. Bags took about 30 mins.

Flight 5 – London Heathrow to Munich (British Airways a320 J class)
Check-in via the First check-in was very quick, with very friendly staff, and quick passage into the lounge which was very busy, but this time seemed to have plenty of staff cleaning, and interacting with guests. We were happy the flight departed from A gates and was on time. The flight was full, service on this sector was good, but less friendly than the previous flight. Arrival in Munich Terminal 1 involved some holding, due to thunderstorms. Bags took 40 minutes to arrive (the slowest of the entire trip).

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Munich, the hotel was renovated and reopened in 2020. The renovation is of very high quality, with a super luxe feel throughout the property, including the elevator and hallways, the attention to detail was fantastic. MO Como is a special and very unique property thanks to its surroundings, but I for some reason was more taken by MO Munich. We were lucky enough to stay in a suite, which had an incredible vaulted ceiling with windows flooding the lounge area with light, the room was whimsical and unique, and the design is classic but modern. The rooftop bar Mahjong is worth a visit, albeit it was a bit blustery when we went, the view over the city is very pleasing indeed. We always enjoy Munich, the English Garden is one of my favorite places, it happened to be over 30c for one of the days we were there, with many filling the park, and swimming in the man-made waterways, I certainly enjoyed a refreshing dip.

Flight 6 – Munich to Doha (A350 J class)
Qatar uses Terminal 1 at Munich, which is definitely unremarkable, check in was quick, and the security check-in Zone A next to the Qatar check-in was closed, so we walked to Zone B (only a few minutes away). Fast Track, is strictly policed and gated, it probably saved us 5 minutes versus the regular line. Munich airport doesn’t allow UK passports to use the E-Gates, which is very bizarre (they allow Brazil/UAE and many other countries), the passport line was very long, it took 45 mins to clear, with a mild interrogation lasting some 2 mins and thorough look of my passport, again I found it very odd. Qatar uses the Airport World Lounge, it is spacious, bright, no real view, and is quite modern. The spread included some hot dishes and a very simple wine selection. Qatar’s a350 seat is slightly different from the 787, but to most, you won’t really notice. The cabin seems more open and spacious, the seat lacks the privacy of the CX seat, but was perfectly comfortable. Food and crew were consistent to previous flights. Arrival at a bus gate. This time onto a first-class bus, which haD chairman-style seats, probably the nicest bus I have been on.

Flight 7 – Doha to Hong Kong (777 J class)
Again this was a leased CX aircraft, I enjoyed a 6 hours sleep on this 8-hour leg, service again was good. Arrived in Hong Kong at Gate 5, which is right next to the immigration area, quickly through the automated HK Resident lane, waited 5 minutes for our bags, and onto the Airport Express within 15 mins of deplaning, for me, Hong Kong Airport is the best in the world, it consistently excels.

Overall we had a fantastic trip, we were happy to have a generally smooth experience through all airports, and again traveling in June for vacation before the July/August rush, seems to have paid off. Qatar for the price I would consider again, I still feel quite loyal to CX, and if the price was within 10-15% I would still choose Cathay. Doha airport cannot be considered a world-class facility in my view when you have a large number of flights boarding via bus.

19 users thanked author for this post.

PlaneSpeaking, Bullfrog, JonathanCohen09, DavidGrodentz, AlanOrton1, FDOS, Johnnyg, LuganoPirate, RomP, AMcWhirter, CathayLoyalist2, MartynSinclair, sparkyflier, theflyingnurse, DavidSmith2, Jacob, onajetplane, christ, Ekond222

[esselle]

Quick question. How did you manage to access the Al Safwa lounge if you were travelling in business class?

[AndrewinHK]

@eselle, we bought access to Al Safwa. My understanding is this permitted for passengers travelling in business class on Qatar only, and is only allowed if the lounge isn’t too busy, we paid from memory about $170 each.

1 user thanked author for this post.

esselle

[sparkyflier]

AndrewinHK – this is a terrific trip report with some lovely details and nuance. And must have taken a fair amount of time to do, so thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts with this forum.

1 user thanked author for this post.

AndrewinHK

[TominScotland]

AndrewinHK, thanks for a really interesting report!!

Lounge access was US$170? Was that good value for money, given that you “made a brief stop in the Al Safwa lounge”?

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AndrewinHK

[MartynSinclair]

Thanks for the trip report Andrew.

Does HKG have fast track for security?

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AndrewinHK

[AndrewinHK]

Hi TominScotland, it was an indulgence for sure! Probably not worth it unless you have 3 hours + in transit, we stayed this time for around 70 minutes and I managed shower and a spa bath. Hi Martyn, Hong Kong does not have fast track for security, most of the time it is very quick, but the use of old scanners doesn’t help as travel volume resumes.

[stevescoots]

it does if you are flying CX F or J as Diamond member (not sure if applies to Y as Diamond or other OW members)

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cwoodward

[AndrewinHK]

Hi Steve, we were told that CX Diamond still needs to pay for access. My previous entry into Al Safwa I was flying first so entering was straight forward, but this time the staff at the desk were adamant only First or Top Tier Qatar are permitted free access and paying for access is only available if your are flying on a J class ticket with Qatar only in a fare class that permits Al Majoran Business lounge access. Perhaps I got fleeced, have you entered for free as a diamond member?

[christ]

AndrewinHK – thanks very helpful. I had not realized the HK to Doha section on Qatar was a Cathay 777. I had been put off a little as the Qatar 777 is old business class seats and seem to have little privacy. Previously I had a mix of A350 (Q Suite) which was excellent and 787 which was pleasant.

It certainly has made me reconsider as I would also like to go on the Qatar A380 before it disappears – on the outbound the one with a 2 hour connection is an A380. It also appears to be a similar connection time on the way back. Actually I am tempted to try first for the LHR leg as it is still cheaper than Cathay business and only marginally more than BA.

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AndrewinHK

[AndrewinHK]

@Christ, we flew the 777 in December on the 818 leg and it was Q-Suite, but currently it is as mentioned the CX seat, and seems to have been for a while looking at the history. I saw the a380 on the ground in Doha, one good thing if you fly it, you are more likely to get an actual jet bridge gate. I can’t imagine they would ever use a bus gate for the whale, and of course as part of your trip is in first you will get access to Al Safwa. One of the quirks of Qatar (and one we took advantage of in December) they sell some regional routes as First class, Cairo for example, of course the seat and product is business, but because it is sold as first you get Al Safwa access even if your onward transit is in J.

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christ

[CathayLoyalist2]

If I miseed this my apologises. Did you plan/manage this trip yourself or use an agent?

[AndrewinHK]

I planned myself, I get quite a bit of enjoyment out of itinerary planning.

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CathayLoyalist2

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks AndrewwinHK, that was a very interesting report. I’ve also heard great things about the Mandarin Oriental Lake Como, and despite living in Lugano have not yet been there. I’ll speak to Mrs. LP with a view to having dinner there this week or next.

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AndrewinHK, cwoodward

[AlanOrton1]

Excellent report – many thanks.

Like you, I’m due to fly a Qatar 773 leased from CX later this year. Be interesting to compare with their A350 / 787 seating.

I’ll re-double my efforts to visit the MO in Munich.

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AndrewinHK

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