Welcome to my next trip report, where I’ll be writing flight, lounge, and hotel reviews that I experienced on a recent trip to Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Fukuoka. I’ll be writing reviews of my experience flying Cathay Pacific’s A350 and 777 economy class, Qantas’ 737 business class, Air New Zealand’s 787 premium economy, and ANA’s 777 premium economy. I’ll also be reviewing Korean Air’s 737 economy, ANA’s 787 economy, StarFlyer’s A320, and ANA’s domestic 767 economy class, and will review numerous lounges and hotels in the process as well.
In this post, I’ll be detailing how I booked each of the airlines and hotels in this trip, as well as introducing the lounges that I visited.
Why I Went To Australia
J and I went to Australia to attend a friend’s wedding in March 2026. The original plan was to pick up a couple of one-way fares – at one point a Chinese airline even put out an attractive fare. I wanted to grab the opportunity to review a few premium economy products (as this blog specialises in that, and I don’t have the opportunity to be in Australia often), though otherwise I would’ve been keen.
In terms of what happened, we spent quite a few days with family and friends in Sydney. While J stayed a bit longer (and simply booked a cash roundtrip on Cathay Pacific), I began the journey back earlier, as I originally had reason to be in London earlier. I ended up piecing together a journey that would let me try some products I’d wanted to review for a long time, and was a little crazier than I anticipated.
Booking my flights to Australia
I wanted to fly with J on at least one of the legs of the journey, and it worked best to fly together on the outbound. Since there was Cathay Pacific award space, I redeemed a one-way economy ticket from London to Sydney via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.
While Cathay Pacific’s premium cabin award space is getting more and more expensive on points, I was pleasantly surprised by the the relatively modest price point to get literally to the other side of the world, which cost 38,000 Asia Miles. Sadly the carrier surcharges and APD added up to be hefty, costing HK$3,512 (£330).
Cathay Pacific priced as one of the cheaper options for J’s roundtrip (which cost £870, though would’ve also included the APD). However, we consciously chose to fly them over alternatives such as Qantas’ A380 – there was even award space. Why? Well, mainly, we could pay my family a quick visit. However, from an airline standpoint, I also haven’t reviewed Cathay Pacific’s longhaul economy class before, plus there was WiFi (J was happy to accommodate).
Cathay Pacific has multiple frequencies between Hong Kong and Sydney, and flies their newly refurbished 777s to both destinations. I was quite keen to fly their 777 on at least one of the frequencies, and one of their variants of A350 seat on the other. The timings worked out best for us to fly the A350 down to Hong Kong, and their new 777 down to Sydney (of which I’ve now reviewed all three cabins after I write the review – my Aria Suite and premium economy reviews are here).
Cathay Pacific’s 777 economy class, which we flew from Hong Kong to Sydney
Our Cathay Pacific itinerary was as follows:
01/03/26 Cathay Pacific 256 London (LHR) – Hong Kong (HKG) dep. 20:15 arr. 16:55+1 (Economy Class)
02/03/26 Cathay Pacific 101 Hong Kong (HKG) – Sydney (SYD) dep. 23:55 arr. 12:00+1 (Economy Class)
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class
I’ve gotta say, I found reviewing economy class more fascinating than I was expecting, and am looking forward to writing a couple more of those reviews in the future.
Booking my flights from Australia
J and I wanted to get down to Australia fairly quickly, so that itinerary was relatively straightforward. However, I was willing to be a bit more chaotic on the return.
There was one flight I knew I wanted to book. A few months before I had plans in Australia, I knew I wanted to fly ANA’s premium economy (especially because I wanted to compare it with Japan Airlines, which I’d reviewed in January), and had just caught my eye on a very reasonable one-way fare from Seoul Gimpo to London via Tokyo Haneda. This fare worked out for my dates, so I booked this itinerary, which consisted of a leg on ANA’s 787 economy class and a leg in ANA’s 777 premium economy – on the same aircraft featuring their famous The Suite and The Room first and business class products.
ANA 777 Premium Economy
The fare was £803 (HK$8,501) one-way, and included the following flights:
12/03/26 ANA 862 Seoul Gimpo (GMP) – Tokyo Haneda (HND) dep. 07:45 arr. 09:45 (Economy Class)
13/03/26 ANA 211 Tokyo Haneda (HND) – London (LHR) dep. 10:05 arr. 15:45 (Premium Economy)
The itinerary was also interesting as it gave me the opportunity to fly ANA in economy class onboard their 787, which I haven’t done before. I did want to get on one of the flights later in the day, which would’ve allowed me to fly a 767 for the first time – however, ANA wasn’t pricing either of those frequencies at the same price on my day of departure.
ANA 787 Economy Class
Additionally, it was also my first time flying out of Gimpo Airport, and I was excited to have a 24h 20m layover in Tokyo…stay tuned.
In order to get catch this flight, I had to find a way to get to Seoul. After doing some digging on Google Flights, it became apparent that Air New Zealand was running a fare sale. Since I booked fairly last minute, the flight that I managed to snag was one from Auckland to Hong Kong, which cost NZ$1,500 (£653/HK$6,908).
Sadly, even though Air New Zealand occasionally operates their brand-new 787s with refurbished interiors to Hong Kong, I got unlucky with the old layout, so will be reviewing that this time round. My itinerary was as follows:
11/03/26 Air New Zealand 81 Auckland (AKL) – Hong Kong (HKG) dep. 10:10 arr. 16:20 (Premium Economy)
Air New Zealand was one of the first airlines I tried after getting into aviation, though that was over 12 years ago – I was excited to try them again, after learning a lot more about the industry!
Air New Zealand 787 Premium Economy Class
This left me with two positioning flights to book – one from Sydney to Auckland, and one from Hong Kong to Seoul.
From Sydney to Auckland, I had some time constraints to work around. I ended up booking a Qantas business class flight, which cost 33,000 Asia Miles and HK$935 (£88) in taxes. Sadly this wasn’t one of the frequencies operated by one of Qantas’ longhaul aircraft on the route, though I did appreciate having a very representative sample on my first-ever trans-Tasman flight.
Given I have Asia Miles and this was my first trans-Tasman flight, I decided that it was worth trying out the full business class experience albeit the short length, especially since the taxes were identical in economy (which seemed a bit high for me).
The itinerary was as follows:
10/03/26 Qantas 149 Sydney (SYD) – Auckland (AKL) dep. 19:15 arr. 00:25+1 (Business Class)
Qantas 737 Business Class
Then from Hong Kong to Seoul, the only flight with a schedule that worked for me was a Korean Air flight from Hong Kong to Seoul. This flight was operated by a 737 – the airline has since swapped this flight to be operated by a much more modern A321neo, though these 737s still feature on other routes within the network. I had some Korean Air SkyPass miles knocking about (not enough for a business class ticket), so redeemed 15,000 miles and US$70 (£51.74/HK$548) for this ticket.
The itinerary was as follows:
11/03/26 Korean Air 2006 Hong Kong (HKG) – Seoul Incheon (ICN) dep. 18:10 arr. 22:45 (Economy Class)
Korean Air 737 Economy Class
I have a 24h layover in Tokyo. Awesome!
When I first pieced together my itinerary, I was quite happy to have some time in Tokyo. However, I was a little disappointed that I was missing out on flying a 767, given that I hadn’t managed to secure one of the 767 flights going from Seoul Gimpo to Tokyo Haneda (the lower fare applied to those flights for some other dates, just not the date that I needed to fly).
I very quickly caught myself trying to find afternoon excursions from Tokyo that I could do, in order to fly one of the 767s flying regularly within Japan. I’ve never flown domestically within Japan before, and I figured if I could find a way to get back to Tokyo by the evening (where I’d made evening commitments), I’d really enjoy that. The same week I was planning this, I got into a rabbit hole researching boutique Japanese airline StarFlyer, so figured I’d piece it all together into an itinerary.
After researching a number of Japanese destinations that I could fly to, I found a way to sample both StarFlyer and an ANA 767. The destination that tied it all together ended up being Fukuoka, as it would allow me to try one of the longer domestic flights within Japan.
StarFlyer A320 Interior
The StarFlyer flight cost 15,060 JPY (£70/HK$740) one-way, and I called Virgin Atlantic to redeem a one-way economy ticket on ANA on the return flight, costing 7,500 points and £2.60 (HK$28). The itinerary was as follows:
12/03/26 StarFlyer 47 Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Fukuoka (FUK) dep. 12:20 arr. 14:25 (Standard Class)
12/03/26 ANA 1078 Fukuoka (FUK) – Tokyo Haneda (HND) dep. 17:30 arr. 19:10 (Economy Class)
I did feel that there was an opportunity cost this time round – I could’ve pitted Japan Airlines’ and ANA’s latest-and-greatest domestic products (either in economy or premium/first class) head-to-head, though chose to compare some older cabins instead, mainly to cross out the 767. However, I’m sure I’ll be back in Japan soon, and can review Japan Airlines and ANA’s newest domestic fleet properly then.
ANA 767 Domestic Economy Class
Overall, this was definitely one of the craziest routes I’ve ever taken, spanning 26,700 miles. While the journey was tiring, I absolutely loved it, and can’t wait to share all about it through these reviews.
Booking my hotels on this trip
In Australia, I picked up an Airbnb close to J’s family, which I won’t be reviewing. However, the above itinerary left me one night in Auckland, one night in Seoul, and one night in Tokyo. In all cases these were quick overnights, so I was interested in getting a room for as low a rate as possible.
At Auckland Airport I stayed at the ibis Budget a 20-minute walk from the airport (or a regular bus, or a 2-minute drive), which was the cheapest option for a quick overnight. This cost £85 (HK$900).
ibis Budget Auckland Airport
Meanwhile in Seoul the aim was to stay as close to Gimpo as possible before my morning flight. I booked the Royal Square Hotel Seoul, which was located a two-minute metro ride away from Gimpo Airport (and a few minutes’ drive). This cost £59 (HK$625) for my one-night stay.
Royal Square Hotel Seoul, by Gimpo Airport
Then by Haneda Airport, last time I tried the Hotel JAL Haneda West Wing, though this time I wanted to try something different. Specifically, I booked the Villa Fontaine Grand Hotel at Haneda Airport, directly connected to Terminal 3. While I was flying in and out of Terminal 2 (and thus the direct connection to Terminal 3 wasn’t advantageous for me), I was keen to review this mega-airport hotel, as I’d heard a lot about it. This cost £69 (HK$730) for my one-night stay.
Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand at Haneda Airport
These were three comfortable airport hotels that I enjoyed my time in, albeit none of my stays being particularly long. I’ll be reviewing each of them in this trip report series.
The lounges I’ll be reviewing on this trip
I had the opportunity to visit quite a few new lounges on this trip, which I’ll be reviewing.
In Sydney, I visited Qantas’ temporary business class lounge – they’re in the process of refurbishing their business class lounge to open in 2027, so I’ll be reviewing the space they’re temporarily using. Qantas passengers can also use the Emirates lounge (which was open at the time I was at the airport), so I’ll be reviewing both.
I also visited the AmEx Centurion Lounge at Sydney Airport as well as the Plaza Premium lounge, both of which I accessed with my Platinum card. I’ll be writing reviews of those lounges as well.
Emirates Lounge, Sydney Airport
In Hong Kong, the Chase Sapphire Lounge was recently rebranded as a Kyra Lounge. This is the second lounge in Hong Kong under the new Kyra brand, and I reviewed the other one in 2024. I’ll be writing a review of this new Kyra lounge as well.
Kyra Lounge (Gate 40), Hong Kong Airport
Then at Haneda Airport, ANA gives premium economy passengers lounge access as well. I was flying out of Haneda’s Terminal 2, so will review ANA’s lounge at that terminal.
ANA Lounge, Haneda T2
I’m excited to share these lounge reviews, particularly to compare ANA’s lounge to other flagship lounges within the region (including Japan Airlines’), complete my overview of lounges at Hong Kong Airport, and compare some of the lounges at Sydney Airport.
All of the reviews I’ll be writing in this trip report series
This is a lot of information, so here are all the reviews I’ll be publishing in one place:
- Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class (LHR-HKG)
- Cathay Pacific New 777 Economy Class (HKG-SYD)
- Qantas’ Temporary International Business Class Lounge, Sydney (SYD)
- Plaza Premium Lounge, Sydney (SYD)
- Emirates Lounge, Sydney (SYD)
- AmEx Centurion Lounge, Sydney (SYD)
- Qantas 737 Business Class (SYD-AKL)
- ibis Budget Hotel, Auckland Airport (AKL)
- Air New Zealand 787 Premium Economy (AKL-HKG)
- Kyra Lounge Gate 40, Hong Kong (HKG)
- Korean Air 737 Economy Class (HKG-ICN)
- Royal Square Hotel Seoul, by Gimpo Airport (GMP)
- ANA 787 Economy Class (GMP-HND)
- StarFlyer A320 Review (HND-FUK)
- ANA 767 Domestic Economy Class (FUK-HND)
- Villa Fontaine Grand Hotel, Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND)
- ANA Lounge, Tokyo Haneda T2 (HND)
- ANA 777 Premium Economy (HND-LHR)
Taking this trip was a blast, and I’m hoping the reviews will be useful to many of you as well
Conclusion
My trip to Australia involved flying Cathay Pacific’s economy class on the long route from London to Australia, as well as flights in Qantas business class, Air New Zealand premium economy, ANA premium economy, and more. I also stayed at a variety of airport hotels, and visited quite a few airline lounges.
This post detailed my thought process as well as the booking process, and I can’t wait to share the individual reviews with you. I’ll also endeavour to keep up some regular, hopefully thought-provoking non-review posts (guides, insights, etc.) in the process, so please let me know if you have any ideas.
Which review are you most excited to read?
