Welcome to my next trip report, where I’ll be covering Air Europa economy class, China Eastern’s A350 premium economy and A330 economy class, Cathay Pacific’s refreshed A330 regional business class, and Finnair’s A350 premium economy class. (For anyone wondering, I’m very fond of all of the places I visited – MAD and HEL are the airport codes for Madrid and Helsinki, both of which I transited through on this trip.)
This trip came to fruition when I was looking for some flight content to review. This was partially because I felt like it was time for a longhaul review trip (I’ve only done one longhaul trip this year), but also because I’m trying to get some video content to generate leads for my new travel service and upcoming transferrable point, Alvia. If you’re a founder and think I don’t know what I’m doing, and mentorship is your way of decompressing, do reach out – you might be right, and I’d like to chat.
In this post I’ll chat through my thought process booking each of the flights, and I’ll post each of the reviews individually in the coming days.
Booking My Journey From Hong Kong to London
I knew that I was going to take a longhaul trip sometime this quarter, though the motivator behind the trip being to Asia (apart from seeing my parents) was that I had a ticket booked from Shanghai to London in Finnair premium economy. I’m back in Hong Kong for Christmas, and picked up a (changeable, but not refundable) ticket on Finnair for 5,370 CNY (£577.68/HK$5,883) one-way. I was quite happy to have found this fare, though ended up changing the ticket away from the New Year’s period, as I found what I consider to be a unicorn award seat on another airline.
While I could’ve used the ticket anytime within a year of January 2026 (so as late as January 2027), I figured this review trip was a good time to use the ticket up, just in case I had a drastic change of plans in the future. So I moved this ticket forward to November 2025, with the exact itinerary as follows:
21/11 Finnair 88 Shanghai Pudong (PVG) – Helsinki (HEL) dep. 21:00 arr. 05:15+1 [Premium Economy] 22/11 Finnair 1331 Helsinki (HEL) – London Heathrow (LHR) dep. 07:50 arr. 09:10 [Economy]
Both flights were operated by A350s, and I decided to assign myself a premium economy seat on the latter segment as well. I could’ve flown later in the day and sampled another Finnair aircraft, though in this case I had an afternoon commitment on the day I landed, so wasn’t able to do so. I also assigned myself a premium economy seat on the Helsinki-London segment, as I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to fly premium economy intra-Europe.
Finnair A350 Premium Economy
Since I was flying out of Shanghai, I needed to position there. Cathay Pacific award space was abundant, so I found the flight that best aligned with the time I wanted to get to Shanghai. This flight cost 28,000 Asia Miles and HK$510 (£50) in taxes.
I decided to book business class, mainly so I could re-review the Cathay Pacific lounges at Hong Kong Airport, which I haven’t done in almost ten years. This worked out well, as the flight ended up being operated by Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class, which I hadn’t flown before.
21/11 Cathay Pacific 380 Hong Kong (HKG) – Shanghai Pudong (PVG) dep. 15:05 arr. 17:45 [Business Class]
Cathay Pacific A330 Regional Business Class
Booking My Journey from London to Hong Kong
Once I had this ticket finalised, I had to get to Hong Kong. On Google Flights, I found that China Eastern was selling premium economy one-way tickets between Madrid and Shenzhen for £481 (HK$4,905). This was the cheapest premium economy one-way ticket between Europe and Asia that I’d seen in a while, so I pounced on the opportunity.
The itinerary had a stop in Shanghai (the stop in Shanghai in both directions was coincidental), and the Madrid to Shanghai flight was operated by a China Eastern A350, which features a “real” premium economy product.
China Eastern A350 Premium Economy Class
Meanwhile, the Shanghai to Shenzhen flight was operated by a China Eastern A330, as a “widebody domestic shuttle”. I specifically sought one of these flights out, and the route also priced out cheaper than if I’d flown directly into Hong Kong.
China Eastern A330 Economy Class
The China Eastern itinerary was as follows:
17/11 China Eastern 710 Madrid (MAD) – Shanghai Pudong (PVG) dep. 10:30 arr. 06:20+1 [Premium Economy] 18/11 China Eastern 5331 Shanghai Pudong (PVG) – Shenzhen (SZX) dep. 09:00 arr. 11:40 [Economy]
To position to Madrid, I wanted to pick up a cheap low-cost airline ticket or a ticket using miles, though pricing was inflated for the day I needed to fly. However, there was a business class award seat from London to Alicante, which would allow me to check out British Airways’ Club lounge at Gatwick – a lounge that I hadn’t reviewed before, and had heard great things about. I originally found this ticket on American Airlines AAdvantage (which then brought me to Madrid using Iberia business class), though decided to switch to Avios, so I could use fewer points.
Booking the Alicante-Madrid segment using Iberia Avios was such a pain that I ended up ditching Iberia completely, as I found a cheap Air Europa flight and wanted to try a new airline. The two positioning flights had the following itinerary:
16/11 British Airways 2656 London Gatwick (LGW) – Alicante (ALC) dep. 15:45 arr. 19:15 [Business Class] 16/11 Air Europa 4050 Alicante (ALC) – Madrid (MAD) dep. 20:45 arr. 21:55 [Economy]
I won’t be reviewing the British Airways segment, as it was very similar to the British Airways Club Europe flights that I’ve flown in past (this was operated by their older A320 Club Europe product, and not the new version that I flew from Amsterdam to London last summer).
Air Europa 737 Economy Class
From Shenzhen to Hong Kong, I took the high-speed rail, which got me home for cheaper than the Airport Express would’ve cost from Hong Kong Airport.
Booking The Hotel I Stayed At This Trip
When I was in Hong Kong, I stayed at home, which kept things simple (I also wasn’t feeling very well, so my parents took exceptional care of me at home). The only night that I otherwise had away from either my London or Hong Kong homes was in Madrid, where I stayed at the Hotel uVe Alcobendas.
I had a very short night here (my Air Europa flight was delayed), though I figured it’s at least worth a brief review, since it’s a budget option quite close to Madrid-Barajas Airport.
Hotel uVe Alcobendas Madrid
The Lounges I’ll Be Reviewing On This Trip
I went to quite a few airport lounges on this trip. Closer to my London home, I’ll be reviewing the British Airways Club Lounge at Gatwick Airport, which is available to those travelling in Club Europe and/or Club World out of Gatwick, or have Oneworld Sapphire status.
British Airways Club Lounge Gatwick Airport
In Shanghai I visited the China Eastern No. 35 Domestic Lounge prior to my Shenzhen flight, located at Pudong Airport’s Terminal 1. I had access on behalf of my AmEx Platinum supplementary card (which only worked because I was on a China Eastern flight – you can’t use the lounge with an AmEx card otherwise).
China Eastern No. 35 Lounge Shanghai Pudong Airport
In Hong Kong, I’ll be reviewing all three Cathay Pacific business class lounges – The Wing, The Bridge, and The Pier. I’ve never actually reviewed The Bridge since it opened in 2025 (my family wrote me a review to post, though), and my last reviews of The Wing and The Pier were written in 2016. Sadly I hugely underestimated how crowded the lounges would be at around 2 PM on a Friday afternoon, though I’ll be reviewing all three lounges anyway, as it’s about time. (Note that as a Oneworld business class passenger you also have access to the Qantas lounge, though I won’t be reviewing that this time round, since I recently reviewed the lounge in 2023).
Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Before my Finnair flight from Shanghai Pudong’s Terminal 2, I dropped by the No. 170 Lounge at the Satellite Terminal, which is open to AmEx Platinum cardholders (not to be confused with the No1 lounge chain). The Satellite Terminal opened in 2019, and this lounge felt brand new. I’ll be writing a very brief review of this lounge.
Shanghai Pudong T2 No. 170 Lounge
Finally, at Helsinki Airport, my AmEx Platinum Card also got me access to the Plaza Premium lounge, so I’ll be reviewing that as well.
Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki
All of the installments I’ll be writing in this trip report
The above is a lot of information (especially not arranged in chronological order), so here’s a rundown of what trip reports I’ll be writing:
- Lounge Review: British Airways Club Lounge, London Gatwick (LGW)
- Flight Review: Air Europa 737 Economy Class (ALC-MAD)
- Hotel Review: Hotel uVe Alcobendas (Madrid, Spain)
- Flight Review: China Eastern A350 Premium Economy (MAD-PVG)
- Lounge Review: China Eastern No. 35 Lounge, Terminal 1 (PVG)
- Flight Review: China Eastern A330 Economy Class (PVG-SZX)
- Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge (HKG)
- Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge (HKG)
- Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific The Bridge Business Class Lounge (HKG)
- Flight Review: Cathay Pacific A330 Refreshed Regional Business Class (HKG-PVG)
- Lounge Review: No. 170 Lounge, Shanghai Pudong T2 (PVG)
- Flight Review: Finnair A350 Premium Economy (PVG-HEL)
- Lounge Review: Plaza Premium Lounge Helsinki (HEL)
- Flight Review: Finnair A350 Economy Class, Premium Seat (HEL-LHR)
Conclusion
When I was younger, it was a dream for me to be able to publish these multi-segment flight reports, similar to many bloggers I look up to on the internet. As I get older and publish more of these myself, I realise what a huge privilege this is.
I’m keen to help you be able to plan a travel itinerary (or travel itineraries on the regular) as well, particularly if you enjoy flying in premium cabins. Shoot me an email or visit my website for more details, where you’ll be able to book an intro call.
Anyway, stay tuned for this trip report – it should be a fun one!
Which flight report are you most looking forward to?
