Round The World and other travels

A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries

This is: Round The World 2006-07

Cathay revisited

Today was always going to be given over to flying - yet I hoped that, in terms of flights, it would turn out to be the highlight of this part of the trip. (As we shall see, my hopes were to be fulfilled!) I allowed myself the luxury of a reasonable lie-in and eventually made my way down to the hotel's very quiet restaurant - had everyone else gone already? - for breakfast. I then packed, checked out and transferred to the airport, where I was rescued from the general check-in by an eagle-eyed Cathay Pacific agent who came over and whisked me off to the completely separate premium check-in. It was an easy passage through Security and I was soon in the CX First Class lounge, not far at all from the familiar territory of the BA Terraces. As is my normal practice, I left for the gate in plenty of time.

(Link to flight log in side panel)

Immigration was a bit of a nightmare, as we arrived at the same time as a BA flight from London and there were very few agents on duty. At least the fact that I still had the I-94(W) stub from the main part of my visit didn't cause any trouble at all - phew! Transfer to the Crowne Plaza, although reasonably straightforward, nevertheless took forever, largely caused by the wait for the hotel's shuttle van. It occurred to me as I waited that I could easily have been in Manhattan by now   Unfortunately, my growing opinion that I had made a poor choice was reinforced on arrival, the hotel being not the best advert for the brand. I didn't care, though - my memories of CX888 were fresh and that kept me contented