While I’ve heard about the movie in which George Clooney plays a mileage addict before, this is the first real synopsis and timeline I’ve seen from the movie. Check it out:

From Jason Reitman, the Oscar® nominated director of “Juno,” comes a comedy called “Up in the Air” starring Oscar® winner George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home just as he is on the cusp of a goal he’s worked toward for years: reaching five million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.

This might be the first movie in a long time I’ll go the theaters to see, as opposed to waiting until it’s available on an airplane (like I did with Borat, believe it or not). You know, I’m kind of excited about this. While I’m no movie expert, I think it has the potential to become a hit, although maybe I’m just being a bit biased. I always have a hard time explaining mileage running to seatmates on a plane, so maybe after this movie it’ll be a bit more clear, somewhere along the lines of “Oh, so you’re like George Clooney in ‘Up in the Air?’” Yeah, well sorta….

As I always say, 100 miles isn’t the world, but it adds up (or may keep your account active, depending on your situation). Per this FlyerTalk thread, you can 100 miles for signing up a cell phone with MobileMiles, whatever it may be. There are several options to choose from, like Delta or Northwest miles. The catch is that you need to register a number (any number, it seems) starting with 372, the country code for Estonia. But come on, who doesn’t have a spare Estonian cell lying around?

This FlyerTalk post contains a memo to flight attendants which summarizes the standardizations taking place at Delta/Northwest. First I’d like to say that I think Delta has handled the merger relatively well. For the most part, the transition has been quite seamless, so kudos to them for that. No doubt there have been some bumps along the way, but we’re talking about merging two huge carriers here, which I thought would be a nightmare.

Most of the stuff in this memo is expected — common alcohol pricing, a new combined in-flight magazine, cross fleeting, etc. What sticks out is the part about domestic meal service in first class:

First Class meal windows and offerings: The current Northwest standard of First Class meals at meal times on flights greater than 900 miles and more will be expanded to many Delta flight segments. Cold meals will become the standard option on flights less than 1550 miles. First Class snack selections on all applicable flights will include peanuts, Biscoff cookies, Twix bars, Pretzel Crisps and fresh fruit.

This is good for Delta flyers and sucks for Northwest flyers. Northwest actually had a pretty good meal service policy domestically — hot meals on breakfast and dinner (and sometimes lunch) flights, even if they’re only two hours. I’ve had omelets on TPA-DTW flights and hot burrito dishes on TPA-MSP flights. Now passengers on those flights will be fed cold meals, probably cereal in the morning and sandwiches in the evening.

Delta flyers, on the other hand, get expanded meal windows, at least compared to a year ago. A major frustration for me has been no meal service on TPA-JFK in the past, which is often around 3.5 hours gate-to-gate (at least for JFK-TPA in the evening) during meal times. Now we’ll get a meal on that flight, but unfortunately it will be cold.

As far as the snack selection goes, Delta flyers are getting the short end of the stick. They had a more impressive snack selection, although I do love Twix bars and the Northwest Pretzel Crisps. Mmmm….

Part One: Introduction
Part Two: TPA-DFW-YYZ on American, and a fun afternoon in Toronto
Part Three: YYZ-HKG on Cathay Pacific and “The Arrival” in HKG
Part Four: Stay at the InterContinental Grand Stanford
Part Five: Visit to “The Wing” and HKG-MNL on Cathay Pacific
Part Six: Stay at the Crowne Plaza Manila
Part Seven: Stay at the InterContinental Manila
Part Eight: MNL-HKG on Cathay Pacific
Part Nine: Stay at the Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong
Part Ten: HKG-NRT on Cathay Pacific and NRT-JFK on JAL
Part Eleven: Stay at Holiday Inn Express JFK and JFK-MIA-TPA on American

———————————————————————————

Upon arrival we headed to the Marriott transfer desk located within the airport, since the hotel provides a free shuttle to the hotel. As we approached we were asked for our names, and within a couple of minutes we were escorted outside by one of the representatives, where a fancy black minivan was waiting for us. The guy couldn’t have been any nicer, and I have to say, it was a pretty nice minivan too!

Within a few minutes we were at the hotel, which is near the AsiaWorld Expo. The exterior is impressive, and not surprisingly the hotel looked new, given that it only opened a few months ago.

Marriott Hong Kong SkyCity

Hotel exterior

I’ve read good reviews about this hotel so far, especially when it comes to customer service. I couldn’t agree more. From the moment we walked in we were greeted with a smile, and even without asking were escorted to the front desk. There we were greeted by an equally friendly agent who spoke English well and checked us in quickly. He explained to us the hotel’s features and welcomed us no less than a dozen times. He informed us we were upgraded to the executive level as Marriott Gold members.

The lobby was well designed and modern, with huge windows. Unfortunately the view was of the Macau ferry terminal, which isn’t exactly breathtaking.

Impressive lobby

Panoramic views of….. the Macau ferry terminal!

After a quick elevator ride we were on the 12th floor, where our room was located. We were assigned to room 1243, conveniently enough right across from the executive lounge.

Room 1243

I’m not Samantha Brown so I won’t even attempt to describe the room, other than to say that it was beautifully appointed and still had the new room smell. My favorite thing had to be the beds. They were perfectly cushioned, as opposed to the hard-as-rock beds we had at the Crowne Plaza Manila.

Room 1243

Desk

Our view was also of the ferry terminal. Fortunately the rooms were still quiet, despite what are usually the noisy ferries on the hour every hour.

View from the room

The bathroom had all the amenities one would expect from a Marriott and even had a “rainfall” shower, or whatever it’s called.

Sink and toilet

Bathtub/shower

Conditioner, shampoo, bath gel

On the table was a bowl with three apples and a handwritten card from the front offer manager.

Dear Mr. Lucky,

We are all very pleased to have you staying with us. Should there be anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable, please let me know and allow me to be of service to you.

Warmest Regards,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Front Office Manager

 The fact that it was handwritten impressed me. Well done!

Welcome gift

There were also two bottles of complimentary Bonaqua water near the TV.

Bonaqua water

We made a quick visit to the executive lounge just to check it out. As we entered the agent introduced herself and said we should let her know if there’s anything we need. She explained that evening cocktails were served from 6PM until 8PM and that we could have breakfast either downstairs in the restaurant or in the lounge. Unfortunately there were no daytime snacks (not even minor things like chips, cookies, or nuts) as is the norm at most InterContinental hotels.

Entrance to the Executive Lounge

Executive Lounge

Being an airplane geek I loved the views of the airport from the lounge. Every 90 seconds we saw heavies land, so I could have sat there all day just watching.

View from the lounge

The lounge has three computers which can be used by club guests for free, which is nice. There are few things things I hate more than paying for internet while traveling.

Computer in the lounge

After checking out the lounge we tried to figure out if there was anything to do in the area. Unfortunately there’s nothing within walking distance other than the AsiaWorld Expo, which had nothing exciting that day. The closest thing other than that is the airport.

Since we had been walking miles a day for the past week we decided to take the afternoon easy and head to the pool, which is located on the ground floor. While we weren’t fans of the fact that it was indoors at first, it made sense on second thought given the proximity to the ferry terminal.

The pool was empty and well designed, with plenty of chairs. There was also a (small) whirlpool and sauna. It was a relaxing afternoon before what we knew would be a long day, flying from Hong Kong to New York via Tokyo.

Pool

Lounge chairs

Whirlpool

After showering it was already 6PM, which meant it was time for dinner at the lounge. As I’ve posted several times before (to the disappointment of many), we tend to have dinner in the club lounge.

We sat down at an open table in the lounge, which there were plenty of, and within moments a friendly waitress offered us drinks. We checked out the snack selection, only to see that it was a bit more limited than what we were used to at the InterContinental. More specifically, there were several people in the lounge doing the same thing as us, and the portions that the “chef” brought out were just too small. For example, the chef would bring out only three spinach squares at a time, which would be gone within about eleven seconds. Fair enough, that’s the spirit of “evening cocktails,” but it was still a bit more limited than what we were used to. For the first time during our trip we decided we were going to go out to dinner.

Evening drinks

Evening snacks

More snacks

We went to the concierge to ask if there were any decent restaurants in the area (other than the classy 7-11, which has a casual dress code), and we were informed that the closest place was the airport. Everything else was at least 15 minutes away by cab. Not in the mood, we decided on the SkyBistro, the hotel restaurant.

This is probably my biggest complaint about the hotel. The prices at the restaurant are astronomically high. They know there’s no competition in the area and it’s not practical to go out and eat, so they just charge whatever the hell they want. In this case, it was about $20USD for a satay appetizer (what my dad had) and $20 for a personal cheese pizza (what I had). They also had a buffet, which looked excellent, but cost about $50USD/person. Oddly enough it seemed like many of the patrons eating from the buffet were locals as opposed to hotel guests, which kind of surprised me.

Satay

Cheese pizza

We went to bed early given the long day ahead of us, although I hardly got any sleep for some reason, despite the comfortable bed. We got up at around 6AM, had a light breakfast in the lounge (in anticipation of a big meal on Cathay), and checked out. The shuttle was immediately ready to take us to the airport.

Overall I highly recommend this hotel. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a hotel with such uniformly friendly employees. Management deserves a pat on the back for training their employees well, and the employees deserve a pat on the back for being awesome. We noticed that the average age of the employees was young, probably mid-20′s at most. Given that we paid $110USD, this was a steal and I would definitely return the next time I’m in Hong Kong and have an early flight.

Through June 30, both American and United are offering substantial mileage bonuses for travel between the US and the UK. Both offers are only valid for travel booked after the start of the promotion (March 19 for American and March 23 for United). Only travel starting in North America qualifies, and there are some residency restrictions as well (exact countries vary, see the T&C’s).

American is offering 50,000 bonus miles for H fares or higher, while United is offering 25,000 bonus miles for coach fares that are H or higher, and 50,000 bonus miles for business or first class fares.

That can be a great deal, especially when combined with double EQM’s. I know United often has business class sales over summer in which they have fares under $2,000 all-in from the east coast to LHR, so that definitely seems like an unbeatable deal with 50,000 bonus miles. Sometimes H fares aren’t too high either, often as low as $1,000 all-in.

While this might not be fantastic mileage run material, it’s worth considering if you’re planning a trip to London and might have otherwise purchased a cheaper fare. You can register for the American offer here and for the United offer here.

Delta Offers Triple Miles Toward Medallion Status For Worldwide Travel

I was speechless when I saw that headline. It sounded too good to be true, but we’re talking about Delta here, and they’ve had plenty of “too good to be true” offers in the past. Only in this case it’s not. Basically high yield flyers earn triple MQM’s, while those on “discounted” economy fares earn double EQM’s. Mileage runners and those on cheap fares, on the other hand, get nothing. Delta flyers can register here and Northwest flyers can register here.

I still find this promotion to be somewhat deceiving. Look at their explanation of this offer:

For example, a member flying Delta round-trip, nonstop between Atlanta and Tokyo will receive 13,700 elite miles – the actual miles flown – on a deeply discounted Economy fare. With this offer, a member purchasing a premium fare for the same itinerary will earn 41,100 elite miles and a member purchasing a discounted Economy fare will earn 27,400 elite miles, both of which would qualify a member for Silver Medallion status.

 Well, a “premium fare” flyer would already earn a 50% bonus, so you’re not really tripling miles. You’re doubling when you factor in the high yield bonus, or multiplying the base mileage by 2.5, depending on how you want to look at it.

Overall it’s a decent enough promotion. Delta would have been stupid to offer a full out double EQM promotion given how many elites they have right now. This seems like a fair (enough) compromise.

Part One: Introduction
Part Two: TPA-DFW-YYZ on American, and a fun afternoon in Toronto
Part Three: YYZ-HKG on Cathay Pacific and “The Arrival” in HKG
Part Four: Stay at the InterContinental Grand Stanford
Part Five: Visit to “The Wing” and HKG-MNL on Cathay Pacific
Part Six: Stay at the Crowne Plaza Manila
Part Seven: Stay at the InterContinental Manila
Part Eight: MNL-HKG on Cathay Pacific
Part Nine: Stay at the Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong
Part Ten: HKG-NRT on Cathay Pacific and NRT-JFK on JAL
Part Eleven: Stay at Holiday Inn Express JFK and JFK-MIA-TPA on American

———————————————————————————

Ah, driving in Manila on Sundays is such a joy. For the first time in Manila our cab moved at an average of more than 5km/hour, so we made it to the airport in about 15 minutes. Our cab driver was rather cheery and started repeatedly honking his horn and making hand gestures to the cab driver next to us. For a while we couldn’t figure out why he was so angry, but then he laughed and said “he my friend.”

We arrived at the airport at around 9AM, a good two hours before our flight. The Manila airport security circus is a fun one. First the cab was searched as we arrived at the airport. Then our bags were scanned and tickets were checked as we entered the building, which was painless enough. Cathay check-in was right near where we entered, so we proceeded to the business class counter, which had no line (there was no first class counter, probably because most Cathay flights to Manila only have two cabins).

As we approached the counter we noticed a sign which read “WET PAINT,” so we kept our distance. The agent was friendly and gave us our boarding passes within no time.

We proceeded to security, although first we had to wait in line to pay our departure tax and have our passports stamped. Don’t worry, I won’t rant too much about departure taxes, but I find it to be one of the most annoying “taxes” in the world. Unfortunately the line was nearly half an hour despite only having about a dozen people in front of us. One bad part of getting used to premium travel is having no patience for waiting in lines anymore, unfortunately.

Eventually it was our turn, and the emotionless agent stamped our passports like some United flight attendants crush the ice pre-departure to let out their anger at Glenn Tilton (you United flyers know what I’m talking about).

After that came security, which makes the US look good. Not only were we asked to take off our belts, shoes, jackets, and told to take out our laptops and liquids, but everyone also gets a full pat down. When I say full pat down I mean full pat down.

We then found ourselves in the rather run down terminal, where we tried to find the Cathay Pacific lounge, which was located after yet another security checkpoint.

Terminal

OneWorld lounge

We were promptly admitted after handing the agent our lounge invitations, and he gestured that we go through the other door, which was labeled “FIRST CLASS.” Talk about feeling special!

Business class portion of the lounge

I wonder what’s behind the door?

On the other side of the door was a lounge that looked remarkably similar to the one we just left, down to the muffins they had on display.

(Not so) first class lounge

Incredible snack selection!

Dom or Krug?

Panoramic views of the bustling tarmac

As you can see, this is a world class lounge. If only The Wing and The Pier were modeled after this lounge, they’d be ranked higher than number five in the world.

Anyway, you get my point. While there was a wireless network, I couldn’t connect to it. The lounge was fine at first, though it got so full that there were hardly any empty seats after about 30 minutes. Furthermore there was a family of five with three of the most misbehaved kids I’ve seen in a lounge in ages. They ran around, screamed, and threw food at each other.

Passport, departure tax receipt, and passport

Given how bad the lounge was we decided to walk around the terminal for a while, despite boarding only starting in 30 minutes. As we left the lounge the agent told us boarding hadn’t started yet, and we explained we just wanted to walk around for a while. The agent gave us the most confused look, as if he couldn’t understand why on earth anyone would want to leave the luxurious confines of his lounge.

Outside the lounge was a walkway with a nice view of the active runway, where we watched planes touch down every few minutes. The traffic was interesting, from Gulf Air to some of the more shady airlines. We were expecting our plane to land from Hong Kong, but there was no sign of it yet. We headed down to our gate and asked one of the gate agents whether our flight was delayed, given that boarding was supposed to start in ten minutes and there was no plane in sight. He responded with “we are not informed.” I thanked him and we headed back to the area in which we could watch planes land.

Within a few more minutes we saw the Cathay 747 land, which was a beautiful sight. The 747 is still the queen of the skies as far as I’m concerned — so graceful yet beastly. OK, I guess the latter doesn’t typically describe a queen.

Our plane landing

At that point we headed down to the gate, where we had to present our boarding passes to enter into the gate area. I found the seating configuration in the gate area to be hilarious, because chairs were literally set up like rows on an airplane.

Gate area

Our beast

Passengers began deplaning right around the time boarding was supposed to begin, and the agents were acting frantically as if they’d never seen a delay before in their lives. They decided to push back the departure to 12PM, nearly an hour late.

We waited patiently for our boarding time of 11:30AM. It rolled around soon enough, and we were the first ones aboard.

Cathay Pacific 906, MNL-HKG, 747-400
Sunday, March 15
Depart: 11:10AM
Arrive: 1:10PM
Seat: 1K (First Class)

As we entered through door 1L we were greeted by one of our flight attendants, who introduced herself as Gladys and escorted us to our seats in the nose of the 747, 1A and 1K. The 747′s first class cabin is even nicer looking than the 777′s, if that’s even possible. It’s modern yet classy with the curvature of the nose, which I love oh so much.

The first class cabin in the nose

Newspapers and the “middle” seat

How fitting, eh?

My dad’s suite

First class cabin from my seat

My ottoman

Before we could finish settling in our other flight attendant, Paige, introduced herself and offered us drinks. My dad and I both went with champagne. That was quickly followed by Gladys bringing us hot towels and offering us newspapers and magazines, which we declined.

Pre-departure champagne

Seats 1A and 1K are great for people traveling together. While you still have the privacy of the suite, you’re closer to your travel partner, which is great. These seats are different than the rest of the first class seats in two ways. First, the personal closets were slightly smaller, although there’s a larger closet in the center which you can store stuff in if you need to. Second, the TV screens are at an angle and need to be taken out for viewing, as opposed to the screens in the other suites which you can watch even without taking out.

One more passenger joined us in first, seated behind me in 2K. I overheard Gladys carrying on a conversation with him, saying something along the lines of “So did you get your boarding pass without a problem?” While I didn’t hear the whole conversation, it sounded to me like he was doing a direct turnaround as he explained that he went to the transit desk for his boarding pass and it wasn’t a problem at all. Since the crew seemed so familiar with him I can’t help but think that he was on a mileage run, since there are some great premium fares out of Manila.

Eventually our captain, Captain Eaton, made an announcement welcoming us aboard. He explained that our flight time would be 1hr40min, and he apologized for the late departure.

Soon enough we pushed back and the safety video commenced. Since the screens in row one are at an angle the flight attendant had to take them out for us during the safety video.

We taxied out towards runway 06, where we waited for ages. While we were number five for takeoff, there was also one arrival for every departure, so it took quite a while. After a KLM 777 lifted off it was our turn, and we were airborne after a quick 6,000 foot roll.

The views of Manila were great as we climbed out.

Manila

One thing I forgot to mention in my other reviews of Cathay is the post-takeoff video they play throughout the cabin. It’s basically a five minute video with audio throughout the cabin about the entertainment, Cathay’s award winning service, donating to UNICEF, and exercises you should do on a plane. While I don’t have a problem with that on a 15hr flight, it gets quite annoying on a short flight where we want to watch a couple of sitcoms, especially since Cathay turns off their entertainment system during the initial descent stages.

Cathay’s post-departure video

As we continued climbing out the ISM, Candice, introduced herself and welcomed us aboard. Shortly thereafter Gladys offered us the menus for our flight, which read as follows:

Refreshment

Starter
Fresh seasonal fruit

Main Courses
Grilled beef tenderloin with potato gratin, baby carrots and

Braised fish with bean curd sheets, black mushrooms, steamed jasmine rice, oyster mushrooms and baby cabbage

Dessert
Baked cheese cake with blueberry compote

 

Drink List

Juices
orange, apple, tomato

Soft Drinks
Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale

Coffee
freshly brewed coffee

Teas
Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqi supreme Ti Guan Yin, Ceylon Japanese, Hong Kong style milk tea
organic selection: camomiles, earl grey and peppermint

Hot Chocolate

Wine List

Champagne
Curvee William Deutz Brut 1998
This charming champagne is crystal clear with a pale gold hue. The rich aromas of baked apples are followed by hints of preserved ginger and nutmeg. It is pure with complexity, which is the hallmark of the Cuvee William Deutz. This is an ideal wine for matching most of the delicate dishes offered onboard

White Wines
Henri de Villamont Meursault 2005
Meursault is a large village located in the southern part of the Cote de Beaune, Burgundy, France, which produces some of the best Chardonnay wine in the world. The 2005 Henri de Villamont Meursault possesses abundant ripe fruit with an added supple richness and hints of butterscotch. It is elegant with a stylish structure. Fish, poultry dishes with cream sauce and strong ripe cheese will pair wonderfully with this wine.

Helen’s Hill Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006
Helen’s Hill Estate is located in Yarra Valley – Victoria’s oldest wine region. This tempting Chardonnay is a light straw colour. The ripe peach and citrus characters are complemented by an attractive mineral layer, toast and vanilla cream. It has a great length with excellent balance. This is a great accompaniment to roast pork or chicken dishes.

Red Wines
Chateau Branaire-Ducru 2001, 4eme Cru Classe
Chateau Branaire-Ducru is an elegant Grand Cru wine from Saint Julien of Haut Medoc, Bordeaux. The 2001 vintage offers beautiful aromas of crushed berries and currants, with hints of violets. It is full boded with lively acidity giving the wine excellent balance. This seductive wine has soft and smooth tannins and a long and caressing finish. It goes perfectly with all kinds of red meat and stewed dishes.

Possums Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004
The vines for this delicious wine are planted in Blewitt Springs, an elevated sub-region of McLaren Vale, South Australia. The 2004 Possums Vineyard Shiraz has dark purple and vibrant violet hues. It displays intense aromas of blackberry and raspberry, which marry beautifully with the spiciness of the oak. It is full bodied and well structured with supple tannins. This wine matches well with stews and also many Chinese dishes.

Terrabianca “Campaccio Riserva” Toscana IGT 2004
This wine is produced from 50% Sangiovese and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. It offers aromas of red fruits, roasted coffee and liquorice with a touch of vanilla note. It is very rich on the palate and silky, with sweet tannins. A delicious wine that goes well with most meat dishes.

Port
Ramos Pinto Quinta de Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port
Produced from grapes grown in the vineyard Quinta de Ervamoira, this tawny offers all the maturity of an aged wine while still displaying the vigour of youth. It is smooth and full bodied, with aromas and flavours of apricot and plum balanced with vanilla scents from the aged casks.

Aperitifs and Cocktails
Campari
Martini Rosso
Matrini Extra Dry
Tio Pepe Sherry
Harveys Bristol Cream Sweet Sherry
Gordons Dry Gin
Stolichnaya Russian Vodka
Bloody Mary
Screwdriver

Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Canadian Club
Gentlement Jack Bourbon
Glenfiddich Ancient Reserve Single Malt Whisky

Cognac
Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition

Liqueurs
Grand Mariner
Cointreau
Drambuie
Kahlua
Bailey’s Irish Cream

Beer
International selection

CX signature drinks
Oriental Breeze
A sour-plum tea and cranberry juice based non-alcoholic drink with honey and fresh lemon juice and a hint of rose water.

Cloud Nine
A refreshing combination of Vodka, Cointreau and Sprite with a refreshing touch of lemon flavour.

Cathay’s menu options for a flight of this length are great, in my opinion. I’m a big fan of the fruit, which was uniformly fresh and tasty. My dad and I both went with the beef tenderloin for our main course.

As we had come to expect by this point in our travels with Cathay, the service was top notch. The flight attendants were friendly, efficient, paid a great deal of attention to detail, and were personable. They truly provided flawless service.

Starter

Main course

Beef tenderloin close-up

Cheesecake

Coffee

The food was excellent. I watched an episode of The Simpsons during lunch, but chatted with the flight attendants for most of the rest of the flight.

As we began our descent I paid a quick visit to the lavatory, which was once again the most nicely appointed one I’ve seen in the air.

Lavatory

As we were descending both Gladys and Paige thanked us for flying Cathay Pacific “in these tough economic times,” and after asking them about premium loads lately they explained how empty the premium cabins are. I assured them that their excellent service would lead to their continued success.

There were some stunning views during our final approach into Hong Kong, which I got a few pictures of.

On approach

On approach

After a smooth landing about 40 minutes behind schedule yet another incredible Cathay Pacific flight came to an end.

Our plane

We proceeded to immigration and our bag was once again the first off the belt, so we were out in no time. We headed towards the Marriott airport desk from which we’d be transported to the brand new Marriott SkyCity.

Part One: Introduction
Part Two: TPA-DFW-YYZ on American, and a fun afternoon in Toronto
Part Three: YYZ-HKG on Cathay Pacific and “The Arrival” in HKG
Part Four: Stay at the InterContinental Grand Stanford
Part Five: Visit to “The Wing” and HKG-MNL on Cathay Pacific
Part Six: Stay at the Crowne Plaza Manila
Part Seven: Stay at the InterContinental Manila
Part Eight: MNL-HKG on Cathay Pacific
Part Nine: Stay at the Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong
Part Ten: HKG-NRT on Cathay Pacific and NRT-JFK on JAL
Part Eleven: Stay at Holiday Inn Express JFK and JFK-MIA-TPA on American

———————————————————————————

We arrived at the InterContinental via cab, and this time our car got a more thorough search. It seems like the fancier the hotel, the fancier the security theater.

InterContinental exterior

We proceeded to check-in, where we were immediately helped by an older guy that was friendly and efficient. He even acknowledged my Royal Ambassador status, even though I was recently downgraded to Ambassador. I presented him with my buy one get one free weekend night certificate, which made this stay a steal, at $160USD for two nights in a Premier Suite with club access.

The lobby

We were assigned room 300, located at the end of the hallway on the third floor. While we would have preferred a room on a higher floor, the room was beautifully appointed and had a nice pool view, so we didn’t think traffic noise would be an issue.

Bed and couch

Dining room, which was pretty useless for us, but I still love that it was there!

Our view of the pool

I had to take a picture of the minibar!

Sinks

Bathroom

The welcome gift was impressive. There were two fruit plates, one with fresh, sliced fruit, a luggage tag, and a bottle of wine. With the exception of Bali, that’s about the most impressive array of welcome gifts I’ve received.

Fruit plate

Luggage tag

More fruit and wine

The number of times they came to our room throughout the stay with more fruit was unreal. I’m pretty sure we had enough fruit for Toucan Sam to make Fruit Loops for a whole year.

They even brought other snacks once in a while, like chocolate. Yum!

Chocolate stuff

The pool at the InterContinental was much nicer than at the Crowne Plaza, and was actually quite full during the day.

 
The pool

The Club InterContinental is on the top floor and boasts great views of the surrounding area. The service and offerings in the club were top notch, much better than the Crowne Plaza. Breakfast, which was served from 6:30AM to 11AM daily, included an extensive buffet, along with a menu with cooked-to-order options. Afternoon tea was served from 3PM to 5PM daily, which consisted of finger sandwiches and awesome desserts. Evening cocktails were served from 6PM to 8PM daily, with a huge variety of snacks and drinks.

Club InterContinental

Afternoon tea offerings

One of the great things about the InterContinental was the location. Unlike the Crowne Plaza, there was plenty of stuff within walking distance, so most of our sightseeing could be done by foot, which meant we didn’t have to sit in a cab for several hours a day.

Over the next couple of days we did a lot of random walking around, visited the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, went to a few shopping malls, checked out a variety of hotels, and much more. Since I don’t want to mess up too many of the details, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

The local bus, known as the jeepney

The American Cemetry

More of the cemetery

Shopping mall

Exterior of the beautiful Peninsula

Lobby of The Peninsula

One big weakness of the InterContinental was the pathetic concierge team. Either there’s absolutely nothing to do in Manila, or they should be fired. They failed to make any solid suggestions, so I started to do some research online. When I saw someone suggest visiting something 30km from the city online, I wrote down the name and asked the concierge about it. He asked whether we wanted to go my sea or air, insisting it was in fact 300km away.

We were happy to have visited Manila, although it’s not a place we have to return to. It was somewhat boring compared to the Hong Kong, Bangkok, or Ho Chi Minh City, for example. Based on what I’ve heard we should have visited some of the other parts of the Philippines, which are beautiful, from nicer towns and cities to incredible beaches and islands.

Part One: Introduction
Part Two: TPA-DFW-YYZ on American, and a fun afternoon in Toronto
Part Three: YYZ-HKG on Cathay Pacific and “The Arrival” in HKG
Part Four: Stay at the InterContinental Grand Stanford
Part Five: Visit to “The Wing” and HKG-MNL on Cathay Pacific
Part Six: Stay at the Crowne Plaza Manila
Part Seven: Stay at the InterContinental Manila
Part Eight: MNL-HKG on Cathay Pacific
Part Nine: Stay at the Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong
Part Ten: HKG-NRT on Cathay Pacific and NRT-JFK on JAL
Part Eleven: Stay at Holiday Inn Express JFK and JFK-MIA-TPA on American

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We arrived at the hotel at around 9PM, after a two hour drive from the airport. The drive was bumper-to-bumper the whole way, and combined with the scorching hot weather it was no fun.

By the time I got to the front desk I was just in a grumpy mood. After sitting in a cab for two hours, coming into the hot lobby, and being dead tired, I was in no mood to be smile, although I did my best.

As we pulled up to the hotel in the taxi our trunk was searched and we were waved in. There were also metal detectors in the lobby, which kind of surprised me. Does anyone know whether this is a new security measure since the Mumbai attacks, or whether this was in place before? Either way, it was painless enough, although seemed awfully superficial to me.

We proceeded to check-in, where we were expecting a club level suite. While we had booked a basic room, our room type showed online as a suite, which typically comes with club access. Furthermore, the reviews I’ve read on FlyerTalk of the property indicate that Platinum members typically get suite upgrades with club access.

While we were offered a suite at check-in, they asked whether we wanted to pay a supplement for lounge access. Being in a bad mood and not wanting to totally explode I did my best to politely explain to the guy that we should receive club access for free, but without showing him the confirmation I wasn’t getting anywhere.

At that point I was annoyed and figured I wouldn’t accomplish anything else at the front desk, so we agreed to pay the supplement of about $40USD per night, given that club rooms come with free internet (which would cost about $20/night otherwise), along with free breakfast and evening snacks.

We got to the room where we first turned the air conditioning to the coldest possible setting. The room itself was quite nice and spacious, with a large living room, bedroom, and bathroom.

Living room

Bedroom

Bathroom

There was a fruit plate along with a welcome card on the table.

Welcome fruit and card

While my dad went up to the executive lounge, I logged onto the internet and pulled up my reservation online and took a screenshot of it. Out of curiosity I also looked at the rate difference between a club room and a non-club room and I noticed that the difference is substantially less than $40! That really ticked me off, since the club supplement offered at check-in is typically cheaper than the actual cost of purchasing a club room to begin with.

I went down to speak with the duty manager and explained the situation, and also expressed my disappointment at the buy-up cost being higher than the published rate. He agreed with me and asked me to email him the confirmation I had, which I did. He said he’d get back in touch with me. Stay tuned for that.

I went to bed almost immediately for a good night of sleep, which I desperately needed after an almost sleepless three days.

The next morning we had breakfast in the club lounge. The spread was fantastic, with anything you could possibly want.

Club lounge

Club lounge

After breakfast we explored the hotel for a while, and found out that it’s actually connected to the Holiday Inn. As a result they share many of the same facilities, including the pool.

Crowne Plaza

 
Crappy Holiday Inn/Crowne Plaza pool

We went to the concierge for suggestions about what to do, and eventually decided on going to Intramuros, a 16th century district of Manila with Spanish influence, which also houses Fort Santiago. It was nice to walk around for a while, although it was HOT.

Cathedral

Fort Santiago

Buildings from Intramuros

After a few hours we went back to the hotel to relax until the afternoon. One thing we began to notice about the Crowne Plaza is that there’s nothing in the immediate area worth seeing, and the traffic in Manila is horrible, so getting anywhere takes an hour, even if it’s only 5km away. Fortunately Manila cabs are cheap. Even an hour cab ride is only $3-4USD.

In the afternoon we went to Roxas Boulevard, which is lined with palm trees and has a nice view of the water. We made the stupid decision of returning to the hotel in the middle of rush hour, which took over two hours. Getting pulled over by the police because our cab driver was driving in the bus lane only added to the experience.

Roxas Boulevard

Before sunset

We got back to the hotel just in time for the evening spread in the club lounge, which was quite good. One of the benefits of club lounges is the substantial savings in food/drinks, since we ate nothing but lounge food throughout our stay.

The following day we went to a variety of shopping malls, from luxury malls to cheap markets. Overall I’ve seen much better in cities like Hong Kong, but it wasn’t bad either. I was surprised to see that basically every building in Manila had metal detectors and bag searches. We went somewhere else that afternoon, but I forgot where to be honest.

I was also a bit disappointed to have not heard back from the duty manager regarding my issue with the club lounge rate, so I phoned the front desk and asked to speak with him. As it turned out he wasn’t working, but the manager on duty looked into my case and said he’d call me back. Within ten minutes I got a call saying our charge for club access would be waived. That was an impressive response, although I was a bit peeved that the other guy didn’t get back in touch with me to resolve the issue.

We had intentionally split our stay in Manila between the Crowne Plaza and the InterContinental, both to try out the different hotels and also to experience different parts of Manila. Our hope was that the InterContinental would be in a more lively area, which it was.

Overall the Crowne Plaza is an ok hotel, but given the small price difference between it and the InterContinental, I would definitely go with the InterContinental in the future. The staff members were friendly for the most part (as is typical in the Philippines), although the concierge was clueless and my experience with one of the duty managers was less than stellar.

In the past United has allowed customers to “refare,” meaning one could make a booking and get a voucher for the difference if the fare ever dropped. I think it was a great program, both for the airline and the customer. The customer wasn’t worried about booking early, and at the same time United only gave a voucher good for future travel, which costs them very little.

On Friday afternoon United snuck in a $150 “administrative fee” for refaring tickets purchased on or after March 20.

First of all, this sucks. In the past I’ve benefited from refares, although no more than $80 at once. Second of all, it ticks me off that they call this an “administrative fee.” United, are you telling us it costs you $150 to do this, and you were absorbing the cost all along? Of course not!

At the end of the day sites like Yapta, that send you email alerts when the fare drops, killed this. Originally refaring was a matter of looking on United’s website, and not automated.

Oh well….