Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai – World’s Third Tallest Hotel

Upon checking out of the Park Hyatt Shanghai, I walked over to the Grand Hyatt Shanghai located across the street. Just like the Park Hyatt, the Grand Hyatt is located within the upper floors of a tall skyscraper, and is coincidentally the world’s third highest hotel.

Rates at the Grand Hyatt starts at a around $240 a night after taxes. Instead, I decided to use Hyatt Points + Cash, which allowed me to book a standard room for 7,500 points + $100.

I then used a Diamond Suite Upgrade to upgrade to the Grand Suite, which typically retails at over $500+ a night.

Since the Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt are located right next to each other, the Park Hyatt concierge grabbed my luggage without hesitation and escorted me like a VIP all the way to the Grand Hyatt lounge, which was quite unexpected but greatly appreciated due to the scorching weather.

The main lobby, located on the 57^th floor, was quite crowded with guests waiting to check in, so I highly recommend going up to the lounge to check in if you’re a Hyatt diamond member.

Upon checking in at the lounge, I was led to my Grand Suite King, located on the 87^th floor. Outside my suite below was the quite unique hotel atrium composed of numerous spirals and circles.

Whereas my previous suite at the Park Hyatt was simple and modern, the Grand Hyatt fully embraces its Chinese heritage.

The living area is well designed, with a huge Chinese traditional brush painting as the backdrop, with a red sofa and small coffee table underneath.

You’ll notice quite a bit of red furnishings in the room, which is done by design as red has traditionally been regarded as a symbol of happiness and good luck.

To get to the bedroom, you open a sliding door, typical to what the ancient Chinese did in their homes thousands of years ago.

The bedroom features a standard king sized bed underneath a poem written in Chinese calligraphy.

The bathroom is covered with marbled tiling, multiple mirrors, and has even a traditional Chinese vase.

The sink area is completely covered in mirrors and comes with a transparent sink. The comfort room has a Toto toilet, which features a sensor that detects movement and automatically opens whenever you enter the room.

As the diamond welcome amenity was just a bottle of water and some cookies, I opted for 1000 bonus points instead. However, the customary plate of fruit was present.

While the suite was located on the 87^th floor, unfortunately the building’s design meant much of the window was blocked out by iron cross bars. The end result is a much less immersive viewing experience then the Park Hyatt and really does take away some of the wow factor.

Nevertheless, the views are still quite from the 87^th floor overlooking Shanghai.

Another drawback was the presence of a really peculiar strong musky smell that was present throughout the hotel and extremely noticeable in my room. It’s hard to describe, but if you’re sensitive to strong odors, this may be a problem as at times it was overbearing. The housekeeping lady that came by remarked that she couldn’t smell anything at all, but doused the room with febreeze nonetheless.

I found the service to be attentive, but like the Park Hyatt conversational fluency in English is quite limited.

Grand Club

The Hyatt Grand lounge is located on the 83^rd floor and can be accessed by Hyatt diamond members and club room guests. The lounge is divided into two main seating areas with the buffet area in the middle.

 The views from the window seats are quite spectacular as you can see the Bund and the Pearl Tower in the distance. 

As expected, the window seats are taken quite quickly, so I suggest arriving a bit early.

The grand club has evening cocktails, which serves complimentary alcohol & food from 5:00-8:00 PM. I found the quality of the food spread to be superb and the service was amazing.

The alcohol selection is quite standard, and surprisingly the sparkling wine was quite tolerable, especially for a hotel lounge in China.

Breakfast is served until 10 AM on the weekdays and 11:00 AM on the weekends with vast spread of cold cuts and pastries.

There’s also a dedicated chef that cooks you various egg dishes and freshly made wonton soup, which was quite savory!

Overall, I really enjoyed visiting the Grand Club Shanghai. The food is of high quality, service is phenomenal, and of course you’re spoiled with stunning views of the Shanghai skyline.  

Up Next: Hyatt on The Bund – Postcard Views of Shanghai

Previous Post: Park Hyatt Shanghai’s 85th Floor Pool

Park Hyatt Shanghai 85th Floor Pool & Shanghai’s Most Interesting Happy Hour

One of the best perks of staying at the Park Hyatt Shanghai is having complimentary access to its 85^th floor infinity pool overlooking the Bund. Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a dedicated pool attendant and are provided with towels and a complimentary bottle of water.

The pool has a 180 degree view of the Shanghai skyline and there are numerous lounge chairs laying around the pool for guests to grab drinks and snacks.

If you’re lucky you’ll see clouds drift by while you swim, making this pool one of the few places in the world where you can swim above clouds.

Remarkably, during my stay the pool was usually quite empty, with most of the guests preferring to lounge around and enjoy the view.

Adjacent to the pool area is the gym. The gym was a bit cramped and had a limited selection of free weights and machines.

There are also a handful of elliptical machines that have a view of the Bund.

The gym was nothing too grand, but certainly more than enough to get in a quick workout.

Breakfast In the Sky

Each morning the Park Hyatt Shanghai offers complimentary breakfast for Hyatt Diamond members at the dining room on the 91^st floor.

There’s plenty of seating with most of the tables having a view of the Shanghai skyline below.

The selection was food was vast and the buffet area had western, Japanese, and Chinese dishes.

Many of the hot entrees are served in an open kitchen format, and I found the food preparers to be particularly warm and friendly.

The primarily egg based entrees were absolutely delightful and on par with some of the top restaurants I’ve eaten breakfast at, with my favorite entrée being the eggs benedict.

While the food was excellent, I found the service from the wait staff to be below typical Park Hyatt standards, with the wait staff seemingly just going through the motions. I did also witness one incident where a waiter was picking at his hand calluses with his mouth! Not the prettiest of sights at a five star hotel. 

Shanghai’s Most Interesting Happy Hour

On the 92nd floor lies the music room. Usually it’s quite empty, but on Wednesday night the bar has an all you can drink free sparkling wine event for the ladies from 8:30 PM – 10:30 PM. For the gentlemen, typically there is a cover charge, but since I was a guest of hotel, the cover was waived.

I went with a friend and we found ourselves in the middle of a sea filled with women.

At the main bar at least 50 mostly foreign ladies “lining” up the local way, while on the dance floor the DJ was pumping out popular tunes from the 90’s and the 2000’s.

It’s hard to describe such a scene, so imagine a Gatsby party with 10 ladies for every gentleman; with a mysterious brand of sparkling wine being poured freely instead of Champagne.

While the ladies were gorging on their free wine, a mixed drink for the gentleman will run you around 100 RMB, which is the norm for the expensive Shanghai nightlife.

Afterwards, the crowd moves across the Bund and party the night away. We later went to Bar Rouge, a rather rowdy establishment with an amazing view of the Bund filled with drunken tourists, college students, and professional companions.

Next Up: Grand Hyatt Shanghai – Old meets New

Previous Post: Park Hyatt Shanghai – Bund View Suite 

How to avoid & beat long airport security lines

By now, if you live in the states, you are probably aware and may have experienced the huge security lines snaking around major US airports. 

It is now quite common to have security lines over an hour long; with no relief in sight as the peak summer travel season is underway.

What’s the cause?

While the TSA insists the long lines are due to the lack of funding, the reality is TSA prematurely cut staff numbers based off rosy projections that many Americans would sign up for TSA precheck, a service which allows passengers to undergo expedited security checks.

What they failed to realize was that $85 is quite a bit of change for the casual traveler who takes a couple trips a year. 

As a result, the regular security lines are filled to the brim, with less TSA agents handling security. Another compounding factor is the TSA traditionally using scheduled rotations without taking into account factors on the ground, which means if flight delays happen lines can quickly be overburdened.

How do I get around the long lines?

Sign up for Global Entry

You may have heard of TSA Precheck, but for only $15 more you can get Global Entry, which allows you to have expedited access through immigration and also allows you to use the TSA pre-check line.

Global Entry usually costs $100 and is valid for five years. However, many credit cards, such as the American Express Platinum card and the Citi Prestige card, offer a $100 Global Entry fee credit, so your effective cost is $0. 

Reports are coming in that wait times for an interview are currently running around 1-2 months, so if you’re flying out in the next couple weeks, you may be out of luck.

Use Any Elite Status Card

Now this is a grey area and YMMV, but most airports have premier access lines, which are typically reserved for those with business class tickets and elite status holders. Technically, you’re only supposed to have access to the premier line if you hold elite status on your ticketed airline. 

However, in practice it seems like as long as you have elite status with any airline, usually you can flash your elite status card and the line agent will waive you through. There are even reports of passengers flashing an obscure airline base level frequent flier card and being waived through by the security officer.

 Since I have Global Entry, I’ve personally never used this method, but various reports from acquaintances report a near 100% success rate. Now again this is extremely YMMV, so I’d suggest only trying this if you’re close to missing your flight.

Review: Park Hyatt Shanghai – Bund View Suite

After my verbal altercation with the taxi driver, the concierge helped me with my bags and we headed up to the lobby of the Park Hyatt Shanghai.

The Park Hyatt Shanghai is the world’s second highest hotel in the world, occupying the 79^th to 93^rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center, which looks like a bottle opener from a distance.

Base rates at this hotel aren’t cheap, with rates typically going for around $350 a night before taxes and fees.

Instead, I decided to use Hyatt Points + Cash, which allowed me to book a standard room for 10,000 points + $123.

I then used a Diamond Suite Upgrade to upgrade to the Bund View Suite, which typically retails at over $1200+ a night, making this reward redemption an incredible value. Alternatively, you can book this suite at 32,000 a night with a minimum of 3 nights.

The Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies a small portion of the upper floors in the Shanghai Financial center, with its own separate small driveway and lifts. The entrance itself is a bit of a maze, as you need to walk through multiple doors before arriving at the lifts that take you to the lobby, located on the 87^th floor.

Upon arrival, I was warmly greeted by the reception desk. The diamond benefits at this property are by the book: the usual complimentary breakfast and a late 4 PM checkout.

I was then lead to my Bund View suite. At 1300 square foot, the base suite at the Park Hyatt Shanghai is one of the largest base suites in the Hyatt network. To say its huge is an understatement, as this suite is probably larger than most downtown apartments.

As you enter you’re instantly greeted by an expansive dining and living room area. Instead of your standard work desk, the Park Hyatt has a long mahogany table that runs parallel across the entire wall of the room.

Next to the work table is a lounging chair, with a basket of fruit that was replenished daily. The views were spectacular and I spent many hours lounging on the chair and staring at the city down below.

The living room area consists of a standard sized sofa along with two swivel chairs. Personally I found the sofa to be a bit stiff, but the seats were quite comfortable.

There is also a small coffee table, with a diamond welcome amenity of strawberry shortcake and a bottle of wine, which I later found to be quite delicious.

What impressed me the most about the living room was the excellent entertainment system, flanked by a set of B&O speakers, a rarity even among luxury hotels.

Adjacent to the dining room is the bedroom flanked by a king sized bed with a stunning view of Shanghai in the background. On a clear day, you can see the Shanghai skyline stretch endlessly into the horizon.

At night the room is lit aglow by the thousands of lights shining through the window

The bath area consists of a stone lined floor, sunken, tub and a rain shower.

Now this wasn’t your run of the mill light rain shower, instead it shoots out jets of water like you’re directly under drenching thunderstorm.

Adjacent is the vanity area with two sinks and interestingly enough a small TV hidden within a mirror.

Hidden TV Turned On. Tony Montana would approve.

The bathroom is even wired to the living area sound system, so you can listen to your favorite tunes while basking in the rain.

There are not one, but two comfort rooms in the suite, both equipped with high tech TOTO bidet toilets, which open up automatically when you enter the room; because touching the toilet would spoil your delicate one percenter hands.

I found the housekeeping service to be respectful, polite, and quite warm. I did notice that while the staff could utter a few basic English phrases, they were clearly more comfortable speaking in Mandarin.

Overall, I loved the clean and simple design, as the focus of the room is the stunning views of the city. Since the hotel is located so high up in the air, low level clouds frequently pass underneath your room, giving you the illusion that you’re flying above the clouds.

At night, the city lights up like a million stars, and the Bund View Suite offering a unique high level back end view of the Pudong skyline.

As the hotel is so high up, buildings look more like miniature figures and the relatively tall Pearl tower looks more like a blip in the skyline.

If you’re lucky and the weather gods co-operate, you’ll see a mix of cloud and the lit up skyline as the low level clouds rise upwards due to the wind tunnel created by the hotel.

The suite is huge and an incredible use of a Diamond Suite Upgrade, with the suite giving me more of a Lost In Translation feeling then the actual Park Hyatt Tokyo.

This is one of the best uses of a DSU in the entire Hyatt chain, and I would even consider flying to Shanghai just to stay at this hotel. 

Tip: Typically a DSU upgrades only to Park View Suite, but it doesn’t hurt to email the hotel the day before to see if they’ll let you switch to the Bund View suite. While the room layouts are identical, the view from the Bund View suite is significantly better as you see the Pudong skyscrapers and the Bund, while with the standard suite you’re looking at endless mid-rise apartments.

Up Next: Breakfast on the 91st Floor & Shanghai’s Most Amazing Swimming Pool 

Shanghai Disneyland & $1000 Suite Life above the Clouds

Shanghai is a fascinating city, where the postmodern Pudong district blends with colonial styled buildings on the Bund. Ever since watching the movie Skyfall, I’ve always been curious to visit China’s financial nerve center.

Opportunity came knocking when I heard the $5.5 billion dollar Shanghai Disneyland was set to open in June, and decided to book a bargain flight from the Philippines and visit the newest happiest place on Earth.

Hotels in Shanghai aren’t cheap, with rates at western styled hotels among the highest in all of China. Coupled with high demand due to the huge influx of Disneyland tourists, using my hotel points seemed like a no brainer. 

Fortunately, Hyatt has a large presence in Shanghai, with its flagship hotel being the Park Hyatt Shanghai.  The world’s second highest hotel is located so high in the sky that low level clouds fly underneath. I ended up paying $375 + 30,000 Hyatt points for three nights in a 1400 square foot suite that would normally cost over $4000.

To learn how you can book your own $1000+ a night suite using points, click here.

At over 80 floors above the ground, skyscrapers look like miniature toy buildings, and the views from my bedroom seemed like a scene straight out of Lost in Translation.

Occasionally at night small clouds will drift by, creating the illusion that you are floating above the clouds.

Of course no thousand dollar suite would be complete with a hidden TV within the bathroom mirror.

Even relatively simple tasks such as eating breakfast turn into something enchanting.

After my stay at the Park Hyatt, I spent two nights at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, which coincidentally the world’s third highest hotel.

Located right next door the Park Hyatt

The hotel atrium looked like it belonged on the set of Inception and I especially enjoyed the views from the one of the world’s highest hotel lounges.

My final nights were spent at the Hyatt on the Bund in the Bund View suite, which has probably the most picture perfect view of any hotel in the city.

All Bund View suites have a small balcony, which allowed me to see the striking difference between the old and new Shanghai.

I paid $470 + 30,000 Hyatt points for four nights in two suites that retailed over $2200.

In total, through a combination of cash, points, and Hyatt diamond suite upgrades, my out of pocket costs was $845 + 60,000 Hyatt points for a weeklong stay that would normally cost $6200. It certainly wasn’t the cheapest of trips, but quite a bargain for staying in some of Shanghai’s finest hotels.

Swimming on the 85^th Floor, Park Hyatt Shanghai

Even with amazing hotels, the main highlight of the trip was visiting Shanghai Disneyland and trying out first hand Disney’s newest attractions.

I was particularly interested in riding two particular rides, TRON LightCycle and the newly updated Pirates of Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure.

I knew going in that wait times and crowd control was an issue, especially with the lack of local etiquette making the news.

During my visit, I rarely saw anything extremely egregious and for the most part most park goers did adhere to the rules. However, the lack of line discipline made waiting outside during the summer heat dreadful, and many visitors treated covered pathways as a place to picnic, rather than walk.

Not very magical

However, I thanks to a relatively hidden loophole, I was able to ride Tron LightCycle 8 times over the span of 90 minutes and kept the waiting times at Pirates of the Caribbean to a minimum.

How to Skip the Line at Shanghai Disneyland like a VIP

No line at TRON LightCycle

Let me say that without a doubt that those two rides are among the best amusement park rides I’ve ever ridden, and are unlike anything that currently exists.

For the first time, I felt truly immersed in a fictional world and couldn’t believe how far Disney has come from its rather ancient Tomorrowland at the original DisneyWorld.

Amazing Deal! Up to 75,000 JetBlue TrueBlue Points for almost nothing!

An amazing points promotion by JetBlue has just been announced, and it’s one of the best deals I’ve seen in a while.

JetBlue is currently offering a points match promotion based off the number of Virgin America Elevate points you currently have. Here is the full chart:

75,000 Jet Blue TrueBlue points are typically worth around $1000-$1250 of air fare, so this is a fantastic opportunity to quite literally earn free airfare.

There are a few rules:

You must email a screenshot of your account balance to pointsmatch@jetblue.com by July 4th 2016.  Make sure to have your full name and points balance in the screenshot. Here’s a sample screenshot:

Once you are registered for the promotion, you must book and fly a JetBlue operated flight by August 31, 2016

Most of you probably don’t fly Virgin America often; however Virgin America is an airline partner of multiple credit card award programs including American Express, Citi, and Starwood.

This means you can convert your credit card miles into Virgin America miles, take a screenshot of the updated balance, and then submit your points match to Jet Blue. 

Unfortunately, American Express & Citi points convert at a relatively poor 2:1 ratio. However, Starwood SPG points transfer at a 1:1 ratio with Virgin America.

Not only that, since Starwood gives you a bonus of 5,000 points each time you transfer 20,000 points, you will receive 25,000 Virgin America miles for every 20,000 Starwood points transferred.

This means for 41,000 miles SPG points, you’ll receive 51,000 Virgin America Miles + 75,000 JetBlue Miles, which is one heck of a deal.

Starwood points to Virgin America transfers typically complete within 24 hours. After transferring your miles, simply take the required screenshot and email JetBlue. Once JetBlue has confirmed you’re registered for the points match promotion, take any round trip JetBlue flight and your points will be deposited within 6 weeks.

One important caveat is JetBlue could theoretically change its terms & conditions and exclude mileage transfers; however that is quite unlikely to happen.

Visit the $1000 a night Sveti Stefan Islet (Aman) for only 20 Euros

Among the many beautiful spots along the Adriatic coast, perhaps none is more picturesque than Sveti Stefan, with its stone villas jutted onto the clear blue sea.

The islet originally was a fortified village, before being taken over by the former Yugoslav government and converted into luxury resort, where it was visited by numerous celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor and Bobby Fischer.

These days, the islet is owned by Aman hotels, and in the past the only way to get onto the islet was to either stay at the hotel (rates start at around $1000 a night) or book a reservation at the restaurant ($100+ per person).

However, there actually is a third option. After emailing the hotel, it turns out the Aman offers a “secret” (unpublished) guided tour for a very reasonable price of 20 Euros per adult.

My Dad and I decided to jump at the chance at seeing the inside of this exclusive resort and we arrived at the entrance of the hotel at 2:00 PM.

The tour began promptly, with one of the Aman staffers as our tour guide and “chaperone”.

No wandering around

A beautiful walkway surrounded by two beaches connects the resort itself with the mainland.

We headed through a rather inconspicuous entrance. As expected security is paramount, and I noticed quite a few security cameras placed at the exterior entrance, to warn security of any uninvited guests.

Each walkway is a street with its own signs. Keeping true to the original layout of the islet, the walkways are narrow, with the stone lining completely redone.

There are numerous olive trees throughout the property, given many places on the islet a stunning Mediterranean look.

Unfortunately, we were unable to tour inside villa, but from what I can see on the outside, space and privacy would be a non-issue.

I really liked how they kept the exteriors intact, including the beautiful terra cotta roofing.

Overall, I was really impressed with the design of the resort, which kept the essence of the original Sveti Stefan. You really did feel like you were inside a medieval village.

As the country is predominantly Orthodox, the islet has not one but two chapels. We first visited a smaller chapel located in the middle of the islet.

A second more ornate chapel on top of the islet was a visual spectacle, and happened to be the place where tennis star Novak Djokovic took his vows.

The highlight of our tour was the outdoor lounging area, which is the only part of the islet that was newly constructed.

The views up top are drop dead gorgeous, and I could see myself lounging all day with the Adriatic breeze on my back.

Alas, our one hour tour was soon over, and we headed back to the check in area to pay for our tour.

Overall, I found the tour to be informative and also a great way to take a quick peak of the islet’s interior.

It does seem a bit odd that the hotel offers a public tour given the typical high end guest that stays here, but my guess is the government must have nudged them to offer some sort of public access to one of Montenegro’s cultural treasures.

How to Book:

Tours are conducted every day at 11:30 & 14:00 during the summer. It is highly suggested to contact the hotel to confirm tour availability.

Deal Alert: 25% off Award Tickets to Europe on United & US to Europe for low as $430 RT

United currently is have a mileage promotion for flights between North America & Europe, where if you book an ticket round trip in economy, the amount of miles needed is discounted by 25% from 60,000 to 45,000 miles.

There are a few caveats:

You must book your flight by 6/28/2016.

Your flights must all be on United, which means you’ll have to make sure United flies directly to your city of choice in Europe as United does not fly intra-European flights.

Your first flight may depart no earlier than 8/23/2016 and your last flight my not depart no later than 3/31/2017.

Normal mileage rates apply between 12/15/2016 – 1/8/2017.

I personally wouldn’t use my miles to fly in economy in coach on United, as sales pop up quite frequently.

In fact, currently round trip tickets going to Europe from the US start at only $437!

Insider’s Tip: Almost everyone in the industry gets their airfare deals from a handful of sources. The best one by far is SecretFlying, which I subscribe to.

However, if you’re looking to save your miles and get your entire family to Europe, this is a deal worth looking at.

Review: Brand New Hyatt Regency Amsterdam – Opening Issues

After navigating the crowded Amsterdam Metro, I arrived at the newly opened Hyatt Regency Amsterdam, which is located in the Plantage district, a residential area on the outskirts of downtown Amsterdam.

Upon checking in, I was informed that the lounge was still not opened. Instead I was offered a voucher for two drinks and a “snack” for my stay. Drinks in the mini bar were also complimentary. Considering the voucher was given once per stay, I considered this arrangement inadequate.

When inquiring about an upgrade to the Regency Suite, which is a benefit for Globalists, I was told there were no rooms available which was a bit odd considering the hotel was actively selling the Regency Suite on Hyatt.com

I was assigned a deluxe room that resembled a loft, with sloping ceilings and a rather unique angled window where seagulls frequently flew by. Although the hotel is located next to a canal, there is a tree that pretty much prevents you from getting any sort of view.

This resulted in a rather cramped looking desk space and an oddly placed chair.  The room had a funky paint smell that was quite strong. Whether this goes away as the hotel ages remains to be seen, but in the meantime I’d ask to check the rooms before settling in.

The highlight of the room was the bathroom mirror, which looked like it came out of the set of TRON.

Since there was still no lounge, breakfast was given at the restaurant downstairs, and Globalists could order a hot dish on top of the buffet spread.

Newly opened hotels are always a risk to book, as they are prone to hiccups. The Hyatt Regency was no exception as there were a few service issues during my stay. My room wasn’t cleaned when I arrived back at the hotel after a long day of touring around, and the Wifi frequently crashed.

During my second night, the room kept making some sort of buzzing noise, similar to what a chainsaw would sound like from a distance. As a result, I didn’t get too much sleep. On my return visit, the hotel informed me there was an issue with the air-conditioning and that the issue had been fixed.

Overall, I had mixed feelings about my stay, especially given the noise problems within my room. It’s always a risk to book a room during the opening stages of a hotel, as the kinks have yet to be worked out. Upon informing the manager, she did profusely apologize, and eventually upgraded me to the Executive Suite for my one day stay.

I’d personally wait a couple months before booking a stay here, as the hotel should be fully operational and “settled in”.

Paid rates start at around 240 EUR a night. I used 7,500 Hyatt Points + 90 EUR a night, which is pretty much the limit I would spend at this hotel, given the saturated nature of AirBNB in Amsterdam.

Review: Eva Air Hello Kitty Flight – Business Class – Manila to Tokyo (Premium Laurel Class)

Note: I took this a flight a couple years ago, but wanted to share with you what a typical Hello Kitty flight looks like.

I arrived at Taipei Airport excited to finally fly my first Hello Kitty flight. First launched in 2012, the Hello Kitty flights have been a huge hit in Taiwan and around Asia and I was curious to see what the fuss was about.

The Hello Kitty experience starts at check in as Eva Air has a self-serve Hello Kitty check in area.

However, since I was flying in business class, I opted to check in at the manned business class counter instead.

Upon passing through security and immigration, I headed to the Infinity lounge to grab a quick snack before my flight.

Soon it was time to board, and I headed down to the gate, and onto the awaiting Hello Kitty A330 Hello Kitty Jet.

The A330 features an older generation business class product in a 2-2-2 configuration, which means if you want direct aisle access, I’d suggest selecting a seat in the middle section.

The angled flat Premium Laurel business class seat has plenty of legroom, especially for a relatively short flight.

At the front of the plane is a full sized Hello Kitty picture, which eerily stares at passengers seating in the middle of the first row.

Each seat is fitted with a full sized Hello Kitty pillow and the seat pocket is lined with a Hello Kitty safety card and magazines.

Once I finished settling in my seat, a flight attendant came by and offered me a glass of bubbly. 

After takeoff, the flight attendants put on their Hello Kitty aprons and took my breakfast order. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a clear picture, but here’s what the uniform typically looks like.

On this flight, I was delighted to see a menu from Ding Tai Fung, famous for its Xiaolongbao, a type of steamed dumpling. I was first served a small shrimp appetizer and Chinese pork soup.

This was followed by the steamed dumplings, which retained much of its juicy soup flavor, not a small feet considering we were flying at 40,000 feet.

After breakfast, a flight attendant came around asking if we would like to purchase anything from the onboard store. There’s pamphlet listing various Hello Kitty souvenirs you can buy, ranging from the normal to the more unique, such as your very own Hello Kitty apron.

The bathroom had various hello kitty themed sanitizing products including Hello Kitty toilet paper.

I then watched a few TV episodes and the movie Wolf of Wall Street until we began our descent and landed in Tokyo.

Overall, I had an enjoyable my short flight to Tokyo. Besides the huge Hello Kitty picture in the front of the cabin, most of the branding was done in a subtle way, which I’m sure most of the business class passengers prefer.