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Airline Reviews Cathay Pacific Reviews

Airline Review: Cathay Pacific – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER Business Class with True Flat Beds) : Los Angeles – Hong Kong(CX 883)

Flight:  Cathay Pacific CX 883 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong Duration: 14 hours 45 minutes Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business Seat: 15A (Bulkhead Window seat with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 21 ” Cathay Pacific Business Class on the Boeing 777-300ER is one of my most frequently traveled hard product along with the EVA Air on the same aircraft. This was the first time I was flying Cathay Pacific post-pandemic and what a difference it was compared to before. I ordered the wok-fried cod on corn sauce. It was very bland and had …

Airline Reviews EVA Air Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER Royal Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Taipei – San Francisco (BR 18)

Flight:  EVA Air BR18 from Taipei to San Francisco Duration: 11 hours 15 minutes Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business (Royal Laurel Class) Seat: 2D – 2G (2 Middle seats each with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 26 ” For its long-haul routes EVA Air operates its Boeing 777-300 ER with the industry standard 1 x 2 x 1 seat configuration in Business class. The only thing different on this flight was a different color scheme in the cabin (compared to my previous flights on EVA Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft). I have traveled probably the most times …

Airline Reviews EVA Air Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Airbus A330-300 Premium Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Cebu – Taipei (BR 282)

Flight:  EVA Air BR282 from Cebu to Taipei Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes Aircraft: A333(Airbus 333-300) Class: Business (Premium Laurel Class) Seat: 7A – 7C (Window + Aisle) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 62″. Seat width: 22 ” EVA Airways operates lie-flat seats in 1 x 2 x 1 configuration in mostly long-haul routes (branded as Royal Laurel Class) and in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration in mostly shorter routes (branded as Premium Laurel Class). On our Airbus A-330 flight from Cebu to Taipei it was the latter. Oddly Seatguru marks these seats incorrectly as angled-flat which …

Hotel Reviews Independent/Non-Major Chain Reviews

Hotel Review – Hennan Prime Beach Resort, Boracay

Hennan Prime Beach Resort Station 1 Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, Philippines Hennan Prime Beach Resort located in Station 1 of Boracay White Beach belongs to the Hennan Chain of resorts that have several other properties in Boracay. The hotel is divided into 2 wings – the beach wing that is on one side of the road and the East Wing that is on the other side of the road away from the beach. We stayed in a double room in the Beach wing. One big difference between the wings is that the East Wing has a much nicer and spacious …

Hotel Reviews Independent/Non-Major Chain Reviews

Hotel Review – Ambassador In Paradise Resort, Boracay

Ambassador In Paradise Resort Station 1 Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, Philippines Ambassador in Paradise is a non-chain hotel property located towards the northern end of Station 1 at White Beach in Boracay. The resort features a decent size pool right on the beach with an adjacent restaurant where you can dine with toes on sand. We stayed 4 nights at the resort making up the bulk of our stay in Boracay. The hotel provides transfer option for bus + ferry from the airport but we had opted for a different company. Check-in was quick and easy however one thing to …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

Trip Report – Boracay, Philippines

  Day 1: We arrived at Caticlan International Airport on a short 1 hour Philippines Airlines flight from Cebu International Airport. I had already pre-booked a transfer package for seamless transfer for the trip. It included Bus transfer from Caticlan Airport to Jetty – ferry from Caticlan to Boracay – Bus transfer from Boracay Jetty to hotel and back in reverse order at the end of our trip. Total cost was 20 USD per person round-trip. It was late afternoon when we checked into Ambassador in Paradise hotel in Boracay (located in Station 1). We decided to have dinner at …

Hotel Reviews IHG Rewards Club Reviews

Hotel Review – Holiday Inn Cebu City

Holiday Inn Cebu City Lot 5 & 6 Block, 20 Samar Loop, Cebu City, 6000 Cebu, Philippines Holiday Inn Cebu City is located 12km from Mactan International Airport and just 10 minute walk from the famous Ayala Mall of Cebu City. I booked a Grab taxi from the airport to the hotel and came out to about $8 USD one way. We stayed 2 nights at the hotel, first stay was with points (11,000 IHG points per night) and next with cash ($75 USD per night). We arrived early around 10 AM and front desk informed us that they could …

Airline Reviews EVA Air Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Airbus A330-300 Premium Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Taipei – Cebu (BR 281)

Flight:  EVA Air BR281 from Taipei to Cebu Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes Aircraft: A333(Airbus 333-300) Class: Business (Premium Laurel Class) Seat: 7C – 7D (Window + Aisle) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 62″. Seat width: 22 ” EVA Air operates Airbus  330-300 between Taipei and Cebu. The business class consists of 5 rows of seats in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration. The seats are actual lie flat and branded as “Premium Laurel Class”. We had pre-booked our entrée online. I chose “Steamed Halibut with mushroom in white wine cream sauce served with assorted vegetables and duchess …

Airline Reviews EVA Air Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER Royal Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Los Angeles – Taipei (BR 11)

Flight:  EVA Air BR11 from Los Angeles to Taipei Duration: 14 hours Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business (Royal Laurel Class) Seat: 2D – 2G (2 Middle seats each with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 26 ” EVA Air operates 777-300ER for three daily flights out of Los Angeles, all with the Royal Laurel Class. The Royal Laurel Class differs from the Premium Laurel in that the former has flat bed seats in 1 x 2 x 1 configuration while the later is flat bed with 2 x 2 x 2. These Premium Laurel seats have direct aisle …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

Mar’ 23: Boracay, Philippines Trip – Introduction

One of the bucket list places I have been meaning to visit is Boracay, Philippines. I remember reading a few “Top 10 beaches in the world” articles a decade ago and Boracay featured in a few of those. Well March 2023 is when we finally were able to check this one off of our places to visit finally. It was a long distance away from West Coast but it was very much worth it. I will be posting the following reviews for this trip. Airline Review: EVA Air Business Class from Los Angeles to Taipei Airline Review: EVA Air Business …

Airline Reviews JAL Reviews

Airline Review: Japan Airlines – Business Class (Boeing 787-800 with Lie Flat Seats): Osaka – Los Angeles (JL 60)

Flight:  Japan Airlines JL 60 from Osaka to Los Angeles Duration: 9 hours 45 minutes Equipment: B788(Boeing 787-800) Class: Business Seat: 8A (Window) Seat Specification: Lie Flat Seats, Seat pitch: 74″, Seat width: 25.5″ This was my first ever Japan Airlines Business class flight and so was pretty psyched. The JAL Skysuite on 787-8 features 38 APEX Suites (similar to Korean Air). The seats are in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration with all seats having a direct aisle access. The seat felt extremely private especially with the privacy divider up. For pre-departure beverage I opted for champagne and while up …

Airline Reviews Malaysia Airlines Reviews

Airline Review: Malaysia Airlines – Business Class (Airbus A330-300 with Lie Flat Seats): Kuala Lumpur – Osaka (MH 52)

Flight:  Malaysia Airlines MH 52 from Kuala Lumpur to Osaka Duration: 6 hours 20 minutes Equipment: A333(Airbus 330-300) Class: Business Seat: 1K(Window) Seat Specification: Lie Flat Seats, Seat pitch: 43″, Seat width: 20″ This was my first time experiencing Malaysian Airlines business class so was looking forward to this trip. The Malaysian Airlines has 6 rows in its business class on Airbus A330-300 with some rows having  1 x 2 x 1 and some 1 x 2 x 2 seating. The seats are true flat beds and I was happy to have snagged a throne seat on 1st row. The seat …

Hotel Reviews IHG Rewards Club Reviews

Hotel Review – Holiday Inn Express Bangalore Whitefield ITPL

Holiday Inn Express Bangalore Whitefield ITPL Plot No. 4, EPIP Zone, Krishnarajapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560066, India Holiday Inn Express Whitefield is located in Whitefield locality, about 35 km from Kempegowda International Airport. My previous stays in Bangalore have all been around Marathalli area and for some reason all the hotels in that neighborhood were going much higher that week,  so I decided to give this hotel a try. The room was quite small with the vanity area right next to the bed. The hotel being a Holiday Inn Express, has complimentary breakfast for all guests. Menu was mostly fixed for …

Hilton HHonors Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review – DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Bangalore

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Bangalore Iblur Gate Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar Road, Sarjapur – Marathahalli Rd, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102, India DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Bangalore is located right next to Manipal Hospital Sarjapur Road on Marathahalli-Bellandur-Sarjapur Outer Ring Road, about 50 km from Kempegowda International Airport. I stayed 5 nights at the hotel using 30,000 Hilton points/night (with 5th night free for elite members). I had breakfast at the hotel for 3 out of the 5 days I stayed there. The breakfast buffet had a variety of items on rotation and I got to sample different indian delicacies. Thumbs …

Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, Mexico

Trip Report – 3 Days in Big Island, Hawaii

Day 1: We arrived at Kona International Airport from Los Angeles early afternoon. After picking up our rental car, we drove to our hotel for the first night, Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. After checking in, we went wandering along the hotel grounds. The water being very cold for January, we spent a couple of hours by the hotel pool instead. We used our welcome drink vouchers from check-in at the pool bar and took it to our room to enjoy the view from our patio. After enjoying the drinks we left the hotel for dinner. After …

Hotel Reviews Independent/Non-Major Chain Reviews

Hotel Review – Alii Kane Cottages

Alii Kane Cottages 11-2932 Alii Kane St, Volcano, HI 96785 Alii Kane Cottages is a collection of cottages located about 6 miles from Hawaii Volcano National Park. This property is located off of Highway 11, nestled amongst lots of trees. We stayed 1 night after booking a cottage from booking.com @ 160$/night. The owners are very responsive and they emailed me a couple of times before the stay, informing me on how to get there and providing additional information regarding the stay. When we checked in late evening, the owner came by and explained various amenities in the property. This …

Hilton HHonors Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review – Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo – a DoubleTree by Hilton

Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo – a DoubleTree by Hilton 93 Banyan Dr, Hilo, HI 96720 Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo is an ocean-front Hilton property located just 4 miles from Hilo International Airport. We stayed at the hotel for just 1 night by redeeming 50,000 Hilton points. Check-in was very quick and it being a Doubletree brand, came with freshly baked warm cookies. The front desk agent upgraded us to a King room with Lanai and great views. He also gave us 4 drink vouchers as welcome amenity. 🙂 Because Hilton has phased out complimentary breakfast for Diamond elites, we were …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review – Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel

Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel 75-5660 Palani Rd, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel is a beachfront hotel property located about 8 miles from Kona International Airport. The hotel is at a prime location with lots of great dining options nearby. We had booked 2 stays (1 night each) at this hotel at the beginning as well as the end of the trip. The points required for a redemption stay varies by time of the year and we paid 42,000 Marriott Rewards points for 1 night redemption stay. The bed and linens …

Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, Mexico

Jan’ 23: Hawaii Big Island Trip – Introduction

We had been planning on going to the Big Island in Hawaii for a while. Back in 2018, we had a trip to the Big Island already booked but due to increasing volcanic activity we changed our trip and ended up in Oahu instead. When Hawaiian Airlines had a good airfare sale, I jumped on another chance to visit this island during the January long weekend (Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday). We ended up having a great time on the island along with once in a lifetime opportunity to view active volcanic activity from a distance. Hotel Review: Courtyard by …

Airline Reviews Korean Air Reviews

Airline Review: Korean Air – Business Class (Boeing 747-8 with Lie Flat Seats): Seoul – Los Angeles (KE 17)

Flight:  Korean Air KE 17 from Seoul to Los Angeles Duration: 10 hours 45 minutes Equipment: B748(Boeing 747-800) Class: Business Seat: 19A(Upper Deck Window) Seat Specification: Seat pitch: 75″, Seat width: 20.1″ I had already tried Korean Air Business class on A-380 and Boeing 777-300. When my A-380 aircraft between Seoul and Los Angeles was swapped with a Boeing 747-800, I was extremely happy as this is my favorite aircraft. The upper deck is not too large and only has premium cabin making for a better experience. Korean Air features 747-800 business class with 6 rows of 2 x 2 (except …