Category Archives: Trip Reports

A Cathay Present: American Airlines Admirals Club JFK

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It does seems that I have been praising AA too much these days, now, let me bring them back to earth! While there used to be 2 Admirals Club in JFK, one of them became the current Flagship Lounge. The remaining one was located in another concourse and near gate 42! It was a short walk there. The Admirals Club is kind of like a membership lounge and you can pay to have access. Besides elite status, you can have access as well if you hold a Admirals Club Membership, which is actually pricy or a Citi AAdvantage Executive World EliteTM MasterCard primary cardholders. Oneworld elites get access as well. I don’t see that you should pay for access since they are pretty crap. It is nice to see that US Military get access as well when travelling.

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A Cathay Present: Flagship First Dining JFK

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Previous, I have shared about my visit to the mind blowing Flagship Lounge in JFK, this time around, I will share on the cream of the crop. Something even more mind blowing in the lounge. In the recent years, AA repackaged their premium products and even come up with Flagship First Dining. A first class dining experience and facility specially designed for their international first class passenger and 3 class transcons first class pax. Thankfully there is an agreement with Cathay for CX First customer to get access to. This is awesome since it is the best part of the Flagship Lounge. I am thankful, since this is the best part of the lounge. While I will not call it a separate lounge for First Class since it is located within the Flagship Lounge. It is a dedicated fine dining facility for first class passengers and Concierge Key members do get a few passes for access every year.

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A Cathay Present: American Airlines Flagship Lounge JFK

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As this post goes on, be prepared to be wow, be enlighten because you will never expect this to come from a company called American Airlines. You will be impressed! This lounge and product is definitely a game changer in the country and in fact elevate it it standing among the Big 3. In fact in the recent times, both AA and United have repackage their premium products as Flagship and Polaris respectively. Leaving Delta way behind! The Flagship represents a new milestone for the company, from Flagship First Class to Flagship Check In as well as their Flagship Lounge. In this post I would like to cover my visit to the Flagship Lounge JFK which will blow your mind off. It is such a leap above the old Admirals Club and in fact, you will see so soon since I will be sharing the Admirals Club!

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A Cathay Present: New York City

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New York, New York! What else can I still say about NYC! I can’t believe that the withdrawal actually hit me so much and I really miss this little big apple so much right now. Prior to this trip, I have always thought, I will probably just be back, walk around and have nothing much in mind to do, since I am just here 2 years back and did all the touristy thing. But right now, I just want to experience and hope I would have a chance of living in NYC! Back to my time in New York City, I had about 3 days in the city and this time around, I really did some different stuff from what I did on my first trip here. Most of the trip planning is hunting down some of the awesome food the city provided. Besides that, I also went shopping in Century 21, which is definitely something that you guys have to mark on your maps. I would also like to share a little on some districts and areas that I have been to.

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A Cathay Present: The Renwick Hotel New York City, Curio Collection by Hilton

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For my second night in NYC, I decide to change hotel to another hilton properties since the rates are much cheaper if I book them separately, it is also a great opportunity to be able to try and review another property from Hilton as well as in NYC. The Renwick Hotel is also part of Hilton, under the Curio Collection, which are more quirky and unique, they have a certain flair that might not suit the normal hotels groups. It might be fun staying at such properties since they might be usually housed in a special rebuilt or renovated buildings. Previously, I have raved about the location of my previous hotel. The Renwick is awesome as well, for checking out midtown and uptown. Perhaps more suitable for the typical tourists since you are super close to Times Square, Empire State, Rockerfeller, Central Park and definitely shopping down the world famous 5th Ave. Heck, Grand Central Terminal is just next door. You are practically at the heart of everywhere! 

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A Cathay Present: Hilton Garden Inn NYC Financial Centre

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I was actually due to stay at the Conrad NYC and was really looking forward to it. I do not know why but the rates for the night that I was staying at in NYC were really cheap, in comparison to the others. My Conrad rates were a flexible one, I originally had it at about 240USD per night. However roughly about a week before my stay, I went to do another check and realised that all of the rates for the hotel have drop and in fact, for the friday night, I could find properties that were even at around 120USD. Couldn’t give up this opportunity, I cancelled my conrad stay. I found the Hilton Garden Inn NYC Financial Centre going for only about around 120USD and after taxes and fee, I paid about 147USD. Furthermore,  I am going to get some points and clock towards my Hilton Gold as well. The location was pretty good as well. It is located right at the edge of the banks, in Wall St, in fact just opposite the Subway as well as the Staten Island Ferry. The location makes it a perfect choice to explore lower manhattan, world trade centre and even Tribeca and Soho. I love how sometimes in the Wall St, especially on the weekends and holidays, it become quiet and rates are oftenly low.

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A Cathay Present: Bus Travels in USA

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Before I continue on to the next episode in my trip, I would just like to digress a little and share about the Bus Travels in USA, since this is basically the main form of transportation when in country, especially when you are travelling solo. America is a place where there is high importance on road travels, but of course, renting a car might not be the most cost effective way when you are travelling alone or on a budget. Trains travels are also not as well developed like the Europe, furthermore the Amtrak, holds such a great Monopoly that I would say that trains tickets are way too overpriced. That leaves the flights and buses as the main form of transportation around cities and getting by. Flights may not be ideal for certain distance, together with the cost of getting to the airport, leaving long distance coaches as the remaining solution. On a rule of thumb, I would go for a coaches if it is less than 5 hours. In this post, I just wanna share a little on what you can expect to get during bus travels.

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