My review of No.77 First Class Lounge, Shanghai Pudong
Shanghai is a city that you won’t miss when visiting China, and it is very likely that you’ll pass by the Pudong Airport, which in the main international travel hub of Shanghai. Despite having grown up close-ish to Shanghai, I haven’t travelled through Pudong many times and it is my first time flying an international route today.
Etihad Airways uses Terminal 2 of PVG, and contracts with the China Eastern First Class No. 77 Lounge. There is another No. 69 Lounge at Terminal 2, but words are it’s a lot worse.
The name may sound strange, but it is a very common way to name airport lounges in China. They are very often just called No. XX First Class Lounge, where XX is the nearest boarding gate. I find it not bad as locating the lounge is made super easy.
As you have guessed, China Eastern is the main sponsor of the lounge, although it’s also the contract lounge for dozens of other airlines. It is operated by Plaza Premium, which means you can enter for free with any Amex Platinum card.
My departure is in late December, and at this time China’s international travel is still pretty much non-existent. There are very few passengers in the lounge, and some areas are shut because of that.
There are some big sofas when you enter. This area is far from the dining area which makes it a lot quieter.
Going in, there are some open-plan rooms on the left, and armchairs on the right.
There’s a kitchen a buffet area at the very end of the lounge. The buffet is decent, with the following options available on the day:
- Braised beef with red wine
- Grilled fish with chillies
- Oyster mushrooms
- Fish tofu with Thai sauce
- Laoganma fried rice
- Pasta
- Buns
- Sour and spicy soup
- Sweet potato soup
Drinks and snacks:
China Eastern lounges are famous for their signature noodles, and I ordered one with high expectations. It turns out that they have outsourced catering to a third-party supplier at the moment unfortunately, and the noodles are very disappointing.
The No. 77 China Eastern First Class Lounge at Pudong Airport isn’t an outstanding lounge, but the catering is decent (and should have improved since China ended all the restrictions), and you can get in with an Amex Platinum card or DragonPass.
My review of St Regis Shanghai Jing’An
This is not gonna be any other review that you’ve seen of a hotel – before returning to the UK I had a two-day layover in Shanghai, and it’s when China had the massive covid outbreak and everyone was catching the virus. Your future experience staying at the same hotel will be very different to mine, but it could still be an interesting read 🙂
Shanghai has many hotels, but not so many outstanding ones by China’s standard. I was told that the St Regis Jing’An hotel is decent, and at 34,000 points per night it seems to be a good deal. If you are a first-time visitor, I recommend the Waldorf Astoria for its history, location and great view.
The St Regis sits in the Jing’An district, which is probably the most central area of Shanghai
The hotel looks quite low-profile from outside.
The lobby is quite ordinary for a five-star hotel in China which hasn’t been refurbished for a while.
This is a rare St Regis hotel that features a Club Lounge. Marriott elite members are not entitled to Club benefits at the St Regis brand, but if your suite night award clears into a room type with that feature then it’s granted at this property. My two SNAs cleared and I was upgrade to the Caroline Astor Suite.
The lobby is very quiet. As I had expected most of the hotel staff are sick and the shortage has been going on for a while. The receptionist informs me that most of the services such as housekeeping are cut or heavily reduced right now.
My Caroline Astor Suite catches her by surprise. She says that no room is available yet but it may take two hours for one to be cleaned. Remember that it’s already 4pm when I arrived.
I don’t understand why they couldn’t have checked what room types were booked on the day and make arrangements beforehand. She didn’t even try to apologise at all, which made me uncomfortable.
Fortunately I ran into the manager Douglas when I just sat there trying to figure out what to do next. He came up to me and said hi, and I took to chance to complain about my situation. He’s very generous and offered me a two bedroom apartment in the residence!
Regular rooms (and suites) are located on the 61th floor and below, whereas floor 62-68 is the St Regis Residence for long-stay guests only. You can’t book the residence on marriott.com, instead you need to talk to the hotel’s sales department.
The living room is very bright with a great view of Shanghai’s skyline.
The kitchen is fully equipped with a fridge, an oven and hobs.
There’s a small guest bathroom to the right, with a walk-in shower.
A study squeezes in between the bathroom and the guest room.
Guest room:
The master bedroom is a lot bigger:
And it comes with a walk-in wardrobe and a dressing table.
The main bathroom is also fairly big with a bathtub.
According to their website the apartment measures 109 sqm but it feels even larger. On the other hand it doesn’t feel like a hotel room anymore, which may be to some people’s liking but not to the others.
This is a list of the original club benefits.
Unsurprisingly the Club Lounge is closed. In fact the only eatery still open is the Social Restaurant on the ground floor.
Oriental buffet:
English breakfast:
Food stations for noodles and omelettes etc.
Salad, fruits and desserts.
I don’t the noodles, but otherwise it’s all ok.
As the Club Lounge is closed, we are invited to have lunch and dinner at the Social Restaurant instead, whereas the afternoon tea is cancelled. You can order one soup and one main from the menu:
A few items from the menu weren’t available anymore during lunch, and it became much worse at dinner.
I tried the tenderloin and fried rice, which are anything but tasty.
They don’t even offer any drinks for free, although a lot of alcohols were at display (for purchase) during the “Happy Hour”. From what I’ve heard the Club Lounge’s usual offering is very good, but sadly the execution is just terrible at this special time.
The swimming pool is nice though. You need to wear a swimming cap but it’s provided for free.
The gym:
My unique experience is unprecedented, and unlikely to act as a reference point for anything in the future. I’m grateful to the manager Douglas for a chance of trying out the two bedroom apartment, but to be honest the service I experienced here is well below par.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic relaunches Shanghai with great reward availability
After being absent from China’s market for three years and having permanently discontinued Hong Kong, Virgin Atlantic is resuming its daily service between London Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong on the first of May.
Reward availability was released this morning, and you can book literally any single day, although seats over China’s festive periods are selling fast.
Here is a reminder what a one-way ticket in Upper Class costs, and the respective fees from Shanghai / London:
- Economy: 12,500 points + 833 RMB / £208
- Premium Economy: 22,500 points+ 1,565 RMB / £360
- Upper Class: 57,500 points + 1,719 RMB / £411
You need to add another 10,000 points if flying at peak. Shanghai is operated by the older B787 aircrafts, although I think they are less bad compared to the A350 suite.
British Airways on the other hand, is also relaunching Shanghai on April 23rd and Beijing on June 3rd. However Avios seats have been available for quite a while now so it’s not as exciting.
BA’s new RFS pricing wants 200,000 Avios + £550 for a return trip to Shanghai, which is ridiculous. Unless you are looking to book first class with a companion voucher, Virgin Atlantic is the more favourable option by a large margin.
Marriott ceased benefits on third-party bookings
Hotel groups have different interpretations when it comes to elite benefits on third-party bookings. Marriott for example, has made it clear in their terms and conditions that elite benefits only apply to qualifying stays.
4.1.c. Benefits of Elite membership apply to stays on Qualifying Rates (as described in Section 2.1.e.) and are reserved for Members only and apply solely to the one guest room in which the Elite Member stays.
There has been one exclusion though, although not written in the terms and conditions but it has been communicated to individual hotels through the loyal program guide: hotels in Asia Pacific should honour elite benefits even on third-party bookings.
Unfortunately, that perk has also come to an end. As shared by my friend on a Wechat post, someone obtained a copy of a recent communication from a Bangkok Marriott hotel lately.
Staring from January 16, 2023, Asia Pacific excluding Greater China will adhere to the global policy as listed on page 57 of the Loyalty Program Guide. Member benefits will only be available to members who book qualifying rates. Reservations made though third parties, including OTAs and wholesalers, would no longer be eligible for member benefits, regardless of member status. We believe this will create greater consistency with hotels globally.
If you book a Marriott hotel in Greater China via any OTA, count yourself lucky as it is now the only region in the world where your elite benefits are guaranteed. Otherwise, just hope for the best but prepare for the worst!
2023 Tier Last Call – Stay once to maintain your Hilton Diamond / Gold status (live)
Hilton quietly released their 2023 Tier Last Call promotion one week ago, which makes it super easy to maintain your Hilton status for another year. I’m still waiting for more details to come through, but in the meantime it’s worth sharing what I already know.
First of all, the offer is by-invitation only. It was made crystal clear at the beginning that only residents of Greater China could participate (based on your account address on 01/01/2023), however such wording no longer appears on the official FAQ.
I’m not sure if the eligibility criterion has changed, but it’s possible. I changed my account address to China last year, hoping that there might be special extension policies for their residents, but then changed it back to the UK in December thinking that all dust had settled. When I learned of the news last week I changed it back to China again (!!), which should have been too late per the original terms.
However, I can see the promotion in My Offers now:
Which means that they’ve automatically enrolled me, yay!
Eligible members need to stay once, twice or three times by March 31 to maintain their Diamond or Gold status through Feb 2024. The registration links are as follows:
- One stay to maintain Gold
- Two stays to maintain Gold
- Three stays to maintain Gold
- One stay to maintain Diamond
- Two stays to maintain Diamond
- Three stays to maintain Diamond
In theory the more you have stayed in 2022, the less you need to stay in this challenge. An email has just sent out clarifying how many nights are required from each individual:
Remember that you have until March 31st to complete the challenge, and reward nights should count.
Onboard China’s high speed train in First Class
China’s covid restrictions were finally coming to end and I took the chance to visit my family after not being able to return for more than three years. 95% of the time I was just staying home so I don’t have much travel-related stuff to write about, but I did take the high speed train once, which is worth a brief review and comparison with what we have in the UK.
China’s high speed rail (HSR) network officially came into operation in 2008 and has been developing incredibly fast ever since. By now it has reached almost every populated corner of the country, and has some super long routes. For example, you can travel from Beijing to Hong Kong (paused during the pandemic but set to be resumed soon), a journey of 2,440 km or 1,516 miles, for just under 9 hours.
I’m from a small city in east China (with a population of nearly 5 million). When I went back last time in 2019 there wasn’t a high speed rail station yet, but it is now open with more than 150 trains passing by every day.
My destination is Shanghai with a travel distance of about 400 km or 250 miles. As my hometown isn’t a major city there aren’t any very fast trains available yet. They have quite a few stops along the way so the whole trip takes around 3 hours.
HSR has a special fleet called FuXingHao, which was built more recently with advanced technology and is supposed to be more comfortable. However, I just picked my train based on the timing instead and didn’t get a FuXingHao.
HSR has three cabins on board, with the respective price for my itinerary:
- Second Class: 187 CNY / £22 / $27
- First Class: 298.5 CNY / £36 / $43
- Business Class: 617.5 CNY / £74 / $90
Interestingly business class is superior to first class, which sort of shadows Eurostar’s naming convention (Business Premier > Standard Premier). First class is about 60% more expensive than second class, whereas business class has a much higher premium of around 110% compared to first class. Such pricing practice is consistent across the entire network.
Unlike in Europe, you don’t get any discount for booking in advance as prices are virtually fixed. They do have a loyalty program though which I didn’t dip into.
This is the station of my hometown.
When it’s time to board there are long-ish queues for second class, but the first class carriages are pretty empty. China is having a massive covid outbreak which also contributes to the low passenger volume.
The first class carriage is four-seat abreast with an aisle in the middle, and here’s how it looks like:
The seat comes with a headrest and reclines nicely with a decent angle. Legroom is great.
Power and radio sockets are available.
And a small tray table, which is similar to what you get on a plane, can be used for holding your laptop or food. You don’t get free food or drinks in first class though.
Somehow wi-fi isn’t available on board, although if I remember correctly it should be on most HSR trains. China’s 5G coverage is very good everywhere though, so it’s not a major issue.
The foremost of the train is a small compartment for business class passengers. The seat contour is shaped like a pod, and it is lie-flat just like the business class concept on an airplane.
You also get complimentary meals on longer itineraries. This time I can’t really justify paying £40 more for my trip, especially since first class is already a very good product itself.
It’s safe to conclude that China’s HSR and their first class cabin are much better than UK’s counterparts. I’m also looking forward to trying out Shinkansen when I visit Japan next time, which is much more familiar to the western world.
Impressive deal: 1088 HKD for Accor Plus membership and a free night!
You probably know Accor, but not Accor Plus unless you live in Asia Pacific. Accor Plus is a paid membership that targets specific countries in that region which offers dining discount amongst other benefits.
Accor Plus Hong Kong is running an impressive deal, probably as a double-eleven promotion but it’s unclear when it ends. If you are interested, purchase the Explorer package that costs 1088 HKD (~£117 or $139) as it includes one complimentary night at participating hotels.
(UPDATE: Accor Plus Malaysia sells a membership that includes two complimentary nights for 1090 MYR / £199 / $235)
You may redeem the free night at almost all hotels in Asia Pacific, including the aspirational properties such as Sofitel Legend Hanoi and Fairmont Singapore. Availability may not be great though, and unfortunately it’s impossible to check unless you have an active membership.
The Accor Plus membership is valid for one year at countries such as Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Personally I think its most valuable benefits are:
- Red Hot Rooms: hotels on sale could offer up to 50% off, exclusive to Accor Plus members
- Dining Discount: one-person-free when dining at participating restaurants, or 25%-off if it’s a one person only. It works best for two people as it’s essentially half-price
You also get free Accor Silver status but it’s not really useful. If you plan to visit Asia in the next 12 months I think you should seriously consider signing up.
You need a Hong Kong address to sign up, however as you only need an electronic membership card I don’t think that’s a blocker.
Free airport fast track security with Mastercard
Mastercard has launched a new initiative to its cardholders in Europe, which offers airport fast track security, dining discounts and more.
You can check more details and sign up here. If you are eligible, you are entitled to complimentary fast track service at select airports globally, the list of which can be found here. The following UK airports offer such benefit:
- Aberdeen
- Bristol
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Liverpool
- London Gatwick
- London Luton
- Newcastle
- Southampton
With quite a few other locations across Europe and China.
You can pre-book the fast track security for free if you manage to create an account. In addition, even more airports have restaurants that offer dining discounts, which means you can get say 20% off your bill by scanning a QR code.
Airport transfer is another advertised benefit, although I doubt you can get it for free. These benefits are provided by Dragon Pass, and it’s in fact a well-established business model in China, so they are expanding their credit card partnership to other territories.
Here comes the problem – the website doesn’t tell you which cards are eligible, and there’s no way to tell except for trying it yourself. So far only two UK-issued Mastercard have successful reports:
- Curve
- Currensea
However, it seems that even if you have the right card, you have to be very lucky to be accepted. I have no clue what the trick is. I thought it might be related to the BIN (first 6-digits), but even cards with the same BIN end up differently.
The UK cards appear to come with three complimentary fast track visits per year. Interestingly, there are successful reports from Chinese cards too, with even more generous offer:
- Bank of China – four complimentary visits annually
- China Merchants Bank – unlimited visits
- SPD Bank – unlimited visits with one guest
Amusingly, upon registration the website suggests that the card issuing country is Belgium or Spain, which is obviously wrong. It’s unclear which cards are actually intended for this program, but their backend system is definitely buggy.
If you have a Mastercard, whether issued in Europe or not, you may want to give it go and be in for a surprise. I’ve tried all my UK and US cards and nothing works unfortunately 🙁
(H.T. Headforpoints)