Welcome to my next trip report, which will detail my recent round-the-world journey to Hong Kong on Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, and (unexpectedly) American Airlines. This was a “bucket list” trip in that I finally got to fly Korean Air in first class.
A Return To Hong Kong On Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Finnair
After years (seven years to be precise…) of waiting, I finally was able to use my 80,000 Korean Air Skypass to book a Korean Air award from Atlanta (ATL) to Incheon (ICN), which is the longest 747 flight in the world, with a connection in busienss class to Hong Kong (HKG). That ICN-HKG connection was icing on the cake: I would have probably flown to Osaka on the brand new A350-900 had there been award space, but was very happy to return to Hong Kong for the first time since the pandemic.
Note that I successfully used the Korean Air Skypass waitlist feature to score a seat on this flight, which I outlined here.
> Read More: Korean Air Standby Award Booking: Success!
I booked a redeye flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta for $165 in economy class. In Hong Kong, I booked a night at the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour, which was cheap and quite comfortable (though of course, the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong is a lovely hotel).
For my return, I had many options. I considered flying “Qatar Pacific” (an ex-Cathay Pacific 777) in first class to Doha, but I did not like the onward connecting options, so instead I booked Cathay Pacific business class to Amsterdam on the A350-1000 with a connection to Helsinki for 75K AA miles. Then I booked Finnair from Helsinki to Los Angeles (and misconnected…sigh) for 57.5K AA miles. I ended up flying via New York on Finnair and American Airlines.
It was a very quick trip, but a very lovely one. Here are the segments I will cover:
- Delta Air Lines A321neo Economy Class (LAX-ATL)
- I Visited All 9 Delta Sky Clubs In Atlanta…In 3 Hours!
- Delta T6 Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- Delta Concourse A Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- Delta A17 Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- B18 Sky Club (+ Grab And Go)
- Delta C37 Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- Delta E15 Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- Delta Concourse F Sky Club Atlanta (ATL)
- Korean Air 747-8 First Class (ATL-ICN)
- Korean Air First Class Lounge Seoul (ICN)
- Korean Air 777-300 Business Class (ICN-HKG)
- Hong Kong MTR: Smooth Airport Transit
- Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Photo Essay
- Great Coffee In Hong Kong
- Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Lounge (HKG)
- Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge (HKG)
- Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Lounge (HKG)
- Cathay Pacific A350-1000 Business Class (HKG-AMS)
- Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam (AMS)
- Aspire Lounge (No.26) Amstedam (AMS)
- Finnair A350-900 Business Class (AMS-HEL)
- Finnair A330-300 Business Class (HEL-JFK)
- American Airlines A321T Business Class (JFK-LAX)
(I won’t review the two D Concourse Sky Clubs in ATL that have now closed)
As always, if there is something specific you want me to focus on or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Looking forward to this series!
Hoping you will ask Koreans about their “Dear Leader”……
Cairns
South Koreans? or the dictator you so cherish?
I flew Korean first class a month ago using my last 80,000 miles with that airline. Such a great flight. It’s a shame I probably won’t get to fly with them again.
Great coffee in Hong Kong ? HK is the pearl of milk tea. Which flight were you most tired ? Kicking things off with a red eye in the opposite direction ; the anticipation must have been exciting. How did you handle the missconnection ?
That may be, but I love coffee wherever I go and found a couple of really nice places in Hong Kong.
A “great coffee at ATL airport” would be fun, but in reality it would probably mean, “the best Starbucks at ATL”
Exactly. (Unless I missed it…)
how was the ICN-HKG leg of your trip. I somehow hear intra asia flight are not that great
Was good.