One evening at dinner, my youngest son and I started discussing Southeast Asia and since he’d never traveled there before, an idea began to percolate. Before the night was over, we had made preliminary plans for a “Boys Trip” over a 10-day period several months hence and decided we’d visit Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong. It took just about that long to iron out all the details, including award flights and hotel stays but everything finally came together perfectly. He was living in Washington, DC at the time and we were in Florida but I flew up to the capital the night before so we could begin our journey together from Reagan National Airport on American Airlines‘ morning flight to Chicago.
The first flight of the trip departed at 8:35 in the morning. After a seamless check in, we headed for the Admirals Club in Terminal C, located on the mezzanine level after the Security check point. The club was quiet on that midweek morning and, after a friendly greeting from the staff, we found some seats with a great view of the tarmac. I loved all the natural light flooding into this rather large club and the food and beverage offerings sure were plentiful. They included coffee, tea and juices along with oatmeal, cereals, muffins, bagels, fruit and assorted buffet breakfast foods to satisfy most cravings (remember, this was pre-COVID). Our flight left Washington on time on a B737-800 aircraft. Since I hadn’t eaten a thing at the club, I enjoyed the breakfast service onboard. But the best part of the flight was the birds-eye view of downtown Chicago we had coming in over Lake Michigan on descent into the city’s O’Hare Airport.
American uses Terminal 3 in Chicago and after landing we made our way to the Flagship Lounge, then reserved for International First Class passengers. It's located in the middle of the airline’s operations between Concourses H and K. The first thing I noticed after our entry was the sheer size of the place. With some 17,000 square feet, this lounge includes any number of seating areas arranged into a series of semi-separated rooms. At the time, the Flagship Lounge included a large dining area with an amazing array of food spread across rows and rows of trays. While most of the food was self-service, there was one station with a friendly lounge attendant serving “Chicago Style” Italian Beef Sandwiches. Like most of the food, drinks were also self-service and the main bar area included a wide selection of premium spirits. This lounge also featured a wine bar with an assortment of better quality wines and champagnes and, after wandering about, I noticed that shower service was available on request. The Flagship Lounge was a real step up from the typical American Airlines Admirals Club experience providing a relaxing time in an upscale setting. I even recall the lounge attendant personally advising us when the Tokyo flight was open for boarding. Now that’s special service!
Our flight was on a B777-200 aircraft, then equipped with a First Class section (American has since discontinued First Class on these aircraft and they now feature Business, Premium Economy and Economy seating). The cabin was quite large, taking up the entire space between doors one and two. There were 16 seats, spread across 4 rows and the 1-2-1 layout gave everyone direct aisle access. Each of the seating areas had an ottoman which functioned as a foot rest or, when the seat was placed in lie-flat mode, as the lower portion of the “bed.” These seats swiveled 90 degrees so that they faced forward or towards your seat mate. We took our seats in the middle of Row 2 and found pajamas waiting for us along with an attractive Cole Haan amenity kit that doubled as a tablet case. It contained all the usual items necessary for a long trip like socks, eye mask, a toothbrush with toothpaste and a few I found noteworthy, including headphone covers and a company coupon for $75 off a $250 purchase. We enjoyed pre-departure champagne while listening to the announcements from the flight deck, learning that our journey to Tokyo’s Narita Airport would take 13 and a half hours. The route of flight would take us northwest over Alaska and then on a more southerly course towards Japan. All we had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride!
About 20 minutes after take off, our flight attendant offered us a choice of cocktails, wine or beer served with warm mixed nuts. For the appetizer course, I selected the White Crab and Avocado Salad with caviar and brioche toast and enjoyed a glass of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle Champagne. A bowl of Squash Soup with coconut yogurt and coriander followed, accompanied by an assortment of gourmet breads. We were then served a salad of Fresh Seasonal Greens with pear and endive and a choice of either balsamic vinaigrette or blue cheese dressing. There were 4 main course selections to choose from and I was happy wth the Asian-Style Beef with soy chili glaze, sugar snap peas and rice. My wine with lunch was the flavorful Penfolds Kalimna Shiraz from South Australia which has been produced for over 60 years! A gourmet cheese board with Cenarth Brie, aged cheddar and Yorkshire Blue Cheese was served with fruit and crackers. We were also offered a glass of either Semillon Dessert Wine from South Wales, Australia or Quinta dos Muros Vintage Port from Portugal. For dessert, I couldn’t say “no” to American’s Traditional Sundae with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, seasonal berry toppings and whipped cream. What a meal! Luckily, we had already gotten comfortable in our pajamas and took advantage of the premium turn-down service which meant it wasn’t long before I settled into a good 5-hour nap (most likely because I was in a “food coma”).
Waking up to discover there were several hours of flying time left, I was thankful they passed fairly quickly being so comfortable and so well entertained with the video choices. Eventually, we touched down at Tokyo’s Narita Airport in the late afternoon on the next day after 13 hours and 40 minutes’ flying time. Narita is a huge airport and it took nearly 20 minutes after landing before we arrived at our gate in Terminal 2. This is where I must compliment the global airline alliances (in this case One World) for making travel easier for connecting international passengers. We arrived in Terminal 2 on American and were scheduled to connect on Japan Airlines to Bangkok and both carriers share the same terminal. Once clearing the additional security check, we were anxious to visit the JAL Sakura Lounge. This lounge was fairly busy on that late afternoon but the staff were actually helping visitors find unoccupied areas to sit and relax. Snack stations were located on the first floor and the main dining area was upstairs on the mezzanine level. Even though we weren’t hungry after the “feast” we enjoyed onboard the American flight, we very much enjoyed exploring the lounge while contenting ourselves with a few snacks and beverages. Especially noteworthy was this brief taste of welcoming Japanese hospitality!
It was soon time to board our flight for the 6 hour and 15 minute trip. We were flying on a B767-300 aircraft equipped with Business, Premium Economy and Economy seating. There were 24 seats in the Business cabin, spread across 6 rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. Overall, it’s a fairly sleek-looking cabin and we took our places in the middle section of the second row. There were several “goodies” placed on our seats upon boarding, including headphones, a blanket, a foam pillow, slippers and a small bag with amenities. The slippers even came with a shoe horn! With typical Japanese efficiency, flight attendants quickly secured the cabin in preparation for takeoff. Once we were airborne, it wasn't long before the seat belt sign was turned off. We were then offered a beverage of choice along with Japanese rice crackers. The dinner menu contained both Japanese and Western-style dishes. My son slept through the meal service but woke up about 2 hours out of Bangkok. Our JAL flight attendant, noticing he was now awake, asked him if he would still like dinner. He said yes and she served it in a leisurely and friendly manner even though everyone else appeared to have finished their meal. That's a high level of service no US airline in any class of service would normally match!
After traveling for well over 24 hours, we arrived in “The Land of Smiles” late in the evening. I was glad to have made arrangements for us to be met on arrival by the car service from the Grand Hyatt Bangkok Hotel. It didn’t take long for us to “hit the hay” after check in. I’ll tell you all about our visit to Bangkok in a future post.
Until next time…stay safe.
George - it is a good thing that flights are restricted or you would weigh around 300 lbs!!!