Dragonair First Class: HKG-PVG-HKG

[YK@HKG]

After experiencing my first Business Class experience onboard KA on Changsha-Hong Kong, I did mention that I will travel on KA premium cabin yet again. Eventually, I choosed to travel in KA F, my first experience paying full-fare F ticket, which was slightly less than US$1k for the return-trip

The outbound flight to PVG was on Thursday, 15th Nov. KA has dedicated counters for First-Class passengers as well as for Marco Polo members and Business-Class passengers. The BP colours for the respective classes are: Gold for First Class, Blue as usual for Business Class and Red for Economy Class.

Check-in and immigration were smooth as always at the HKIA. The same cannot be said at Pudong International Airport this time round and I will elaborate more later on. My boarding number was 6 on KA804, which was scheduled to depart at 11am. Since I arrived at the airport very early that morning, the gate agent asked whether I would like to travel on the earlier flight at 10am. KA has 16 daily flights to PVG, from 08:00 to 20:40 Since the earlier service would be served breakfast, I declined and decided to experience the full lunch service. I was allocated seat 1D and luckily for me, the next seat was empty. In fact, that was the only empty seat in the F cabin for my flight. The assigned gate number was 1, which was near to the Wing and it also marked my first experience at the First Class lounge there.

Again, since it was till pretty early, only buffet breakfast was served in the Haven, with Dim Sum, pastries, noodles, and congees. I had a full breakfast there and spent the remaining time sipping a couple of glasses of Moet-Chandon and browsing the web. I also toured around the lounge and was quite impressed with the bath-tubs in the Cabanas.

I wish I had more time in the lounge, but, soon enough, it was time for boarding.....

TO BE CONTINUED (with photos).

[ny911]

Can't wait to read your report

[SINFJ]

Can't wait for your TR. Daddy told Elmo he and cookie are going to take Dragonair from PVG to HKG next mth

[YK@HKG]

My boarding pass:



Dragonair A330-300:



First Class is available only for Dragonair A330-300 Type 1. Dragonair typically serves regional routes, within 1-5 hrs range and A330-300 is only available for some popular destinations like PVG, PEK, TPE, and KHH. The seat is a standard lie-flat type, similar to Singapore Airlines's SpaceBed and Cathay Pacific's Business Class and it is comfortable enough for a 2hr journey from HKG to PVG.

The cabin consists of 2 rows and a total of 12 seats (2-2-2). It was nearly full for my flight, with 11 out of 12 seats taken. The business class was also full Look's like KA is making lots of money from the premium cabins for PVG and PEK routes.

Some pics of the F cabin:





The seat in recline position:





...and for those "legrom shots" fanatics :


The flight was scheduled to leave at 11am and we took off pretty much on time. The service was excellent and I really had a good time, especially since a full lunch service was served The only downside was the lack of inflight entertainment, but, that was expected given the short-flight. For flights to PEK (and others with more than 3-hrs), there's some inflight movies to keep you busy.

Overall, given the reasonable rate on business and first class to PVG and PEK, I think I will definitely travel more on KA in the premium cabins.

The pics for the food are available in the Menu thread.

[YK@HKG]

Unlike my previous trip to PVG 2 years ago, there were not much crowds at the immigration and I breezed through it in a matter of minutes. The wait for baggage was also not long and soon, I was ready to leave the airport.

For those of you who have yet to try the Maglev Train, it's a must. The train station is located just one level up from the Arrival zone. It will cost you RMB40 for a trip to Luoyang Station, still in Pudong area. The trip is about 7 mins long, covering a distance of 30km. The train itself can reach a maximum speed of 430km/hr True enough, the journey was too fast for us to savor. It's a pity that the Maglev is only available for the Airport line. There is some rumour that it will serve the neighbouring cities like Hangzhou and Suzhou, which will be good news for tourists like us

The Maglev train:



Cabin:



Speed indicator:



For those of you who would like to stay in the Shangrilla and Grand Hyatt, it will be another 15-20 mins ride by taxi or subway to Lujiazhui station. For those who are staying in the shopping area (Nanjing Road), then taxi will be preferable and it will take you another 20-30 mins.

I stayed at the Four Points By Sheraton Shanghai, Daning in my first 2 nights and the taxi ride was about 40 mins. I will write more about the hotel in the thread on SPG Properties

I ventured to Nanjing Road in my first night and had a hairy crab feast at the Wang Bao He Restaurant, which is quite famous for its hairy crab and yellow wine (Huang Jiu), esp for Japanese tourists. I think they have more Japanese customers than mainland Chinese customers, to the extent that the waiters and waitresses can speak some Japanese. FYI, the hairy crab is only available during October-January and it's a favorite for many HKG tourists. You can get a cheap one in other restaurant, but Wang Bao He charges RMB380 for 500-grams. One crab is usually 190-220g. I was given a male crab about 210g. I also ordered fried noodles in crab roe and their famous yellow wine (served warm). The total cost of the meal was around RMB310 (less than S$60), which is considered pretty expensive for Shanghai standard. I was treated by my friend in another restaurant which charged a mere RMB60 for one hairy crab.

The signboard in front of the restaurant:



The hairy crab:





Noodles in crab roe:

[ny911]

How's the F meal in KA? KA should have cut cost of the meals,but the situation shouldn't be as bad as CX according to my experience in J.

Were you traveling in Monday morning? I am surprised to see PVG flights that full at 1100. KA J loading on PEK and PVG is very high as the price is reasonable comparing to other routes offered by other airlines.

I try to avoid seafood in China as the restaurants always cheat their customers. I would say HK is still the best place to have seafood in the world.

Thanks for sharing.

[YK@HKG]

How's the F meal in KA? KA should have cut cost of the meals,but the situation shouldn't be as bad as CX according to my experience in J.

Were you traveling in Monday morning? I am surprised to see PVG flights that full at 1100. KA J loading on PEK and PVG is very high as the price is reasonable comparing to other routes offered by other airlines.

I try to avoid seafood in China as the restaurants always cheat their customers. I would say HK is still the best place to have seafood in the world.

Thanks for sharing.

If u want to experience a full-meal service, try the flights offering lunch and dinner. I was lucky to have lunch service onboard KA804. The meal was fantastic and I rate it as among one of the best onboard catering.

I was travelling on Thursday morning. The Business Class was full in both my flights. The First Class was almost full with only 1 seat empty (next to me) on HKG-PVG.

Well, depending on the restaurants u go, I think it's still okay to have seafood in China. Some restaurants (like Wang Bao He) are expensive, but, its still cheaper compared to HKG standards. I won't go to the extent of saying that they cheat on the customers The price is as displayed on the menu.

[StarG]

Thanks for sharing, YK@HKG.
KA F seats look like CX's long haul business class seats.

[YK@HKG]

Thanks for sharing, YK@HKG.
KA F seats look like CX's long haul business class seats.

Indeed, and dare I say slightly more comfortable than the CX's long-haul J seat.

[ny911]

Indeed, and dare I say slightly more comfortable than the CX's long-haul J seat.

Would you have chance to take KA 33L (2 class plane,but with lie-flat J seat)? My fd who works in KA thinks 33L J is better than 33R F.

[jhm]

I took KA F between HKG and PVG last December 3 times and didn't find it particularly crowded in F, e.g. I was the only pax in one of the flights.

I found the Chinese menu much better than the western menu which is to be expected I suppose! I certainly enjoyed the shorthaul CX F food more than the KA F western food.

The Maglev is a gimmick IMO - it doesn't go anywhere useful and I understand you may have to wait ages for a taxi. The first time, I did a return trip on the Maglev (for the experience) and then caught a cab from the airport. There's a first class on the Maglev but having tried it once, it's not worth it at all - no service, just a better seat for the very short journey!

Anyway, thanks for the TR, YK@HKG!

[SQflyergirl]

...and for those "legrom shots" fanatics :

Yeah, there's a couple here on SQT

Anyway, great report! enjoyed it.

[WSSS]

Thanks for sharing the trip report. I enjoyed reading it.

[KeithMEL]

Cheers for the interesting report mate - the Maglev is something i'm deffo looking forward to.

[YK@HKG]

Thanks for your feedback

I will write more tonight (the drama on the return trip) and post more pics on the beautiful Shanghai night life.