Nathan's Insights

So it’s over 4 months since I returned to so-called reality of the working life. A necessity for sure in the economic world we live in, I need that money to travel the world. So unlike the aftermath of other big trips which usually means 2-3 years before travelling again this time I have a short 17 day trip around Kathmandu and Nepal via short one day stopovers in Hong Kong.

Flights Booked
So I’ve booked my flights, starting with a paid economy one way ticket to Hong Kong with a mid morning flight on 12 October for $448.64. The mid morning flight means Qantas First Class Lounge time in Melbourne 🙂 From here I booked a return business class award on Cathay Pacific for 76,000 points and $593 HKD ($100 AUD). And finally another award ticket in Business Class on Cathay Pacific costing 65,000 points and $471 HKD ($80 AUD).

By Hong Kong (SAR) law airlines can only add charge actual taxes to award redemptions and not additional airline fees which is why I booked award flights from there but paid for the flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong. If I had booked award flights from Melbourne it would have cost about the same money and a lot more in precious points. This cost me $628.64 and 141,000 points for 1 economy flight and 3 business class flights. Booking all this flights as award redemptions would have cost $603 AUD and 169,000 points so I’m happy to pay $25 extra to save 28,000 points to go towards another business or first class flight in the future. I think I’ll use Hong Kong to position more award flights in future.

The flight up with Qantas will be on the A330-300 in economy (see a review here) as a Platinum member I have a small chance of having an empty aisle seat next to my window seat, I guess I’ll see. The Hong Kong to Kathmandu return business class flights is also on a A330-300 in Business Class but this isn’t like the modern long haul international (see a review here of this regional product) but will be fine for 5 hour flight even if the return flight is overnight.

But the real highlight is the return nine hour fifteen minute Cathay Pacific flight in business class on their new A350-900 service. This flight leaves Hong Kong at midnight and I’m sure I’ll enjoy when the seat turned in at flat bed (see review here).

Lounges
One of the reasons I booked this flight this year is to take advantage of my Qantas Platinum membership. This gets me into the First Class lounges in both Melbourne (Qantas) and Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific) along with standard lounge in Kathmandu.

I’ve been to the First Class Lounge in Melbourne most recently as part of the Emirates First Class flight back n November 2017 (review here). Hopefully this time I might get to use the massage service.

The big chance here is to visit the large range of Cathay Pacific Lounges in Hong Kong. These are:

• The Wing (First and Business Class Lounge) – Gate 1
• The Bridge (Business Class Lounge) – Gate 35
• The Cabin (Business Class Lounge) – Gate 23
• The Pier (First and Business Class Lounge) – Gates 62
• The Arrival (Business Class Lounge) – Passengeway between Terminals 1 & 2
• The Deck (Business Class Lounge) – Near Gate 16

The Wing even has a private Cabana!

The Cathay Pacific Lounge review here is something I’ll be reading a few times to plan my two visits to Hong Kong.

I might even find time to visit the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge (review here) as well but I’ve been there before and while I recall it was very good I think compared to Cathay Pacific’s Lounges I known where I’ll be spending most of my time 🙂

Now for the actual trip in this three places which I’ll cover in my next post.