I'd like to offer a word of thanks to all of you on this board who so patiently answered my quesions earlier this season about overseas travel to SE Asia.

I'm just back from vacation, and now provide you with a brief flight summary of my transpacific trip.

I had successfully bid at auction for a round-trip business class ticket JFK - HKG. The ticket was issued correctly, and the reservation appeared on the Northwest website within 24 hours. I was assigned to NW17 outbound and NW18 homebound.

I selected a seat in the forward cabin on the B747-400 on the outbound leg; and in the upper deck on the same aircraft on the homebound leg. After experiencing both locations, I find that I prefer the forward cabin of the main level; I actually enjoy the hustle and bustle of the flight and rarely have a desire to sleep.

For both flights I had one of the well-advertised million-dollar seats that NWA has recently installed. I found that the seat does indeed have about 10 different adjustments, and does recline to about 175 degrees. The seat was comfortable for me only for the first 13 hours (until we arrived in Tokyo); after that, it was simply uncomfortable for me. I especially felt discomfort in my elbows and hips. I think that the seat is just not comfortable enough for so long a flight. I noticed that there was a metal plate behind the back cushion and another metal plate below the seat cushion; the padding seemed thin to me.

Inflight service was good, efficient, and friendly. There was a meal shortly after take-off, a snack at the half-way point, and another meal about 1 hour before landing.

The inflight entertainment seemed to work, although I myself was enchanted with the Airshow displaying the path of the plane.

All is all, a mostly good flight experience with the exception of the uncomfortable seat.

Once again, thank you all so very much for sharing your earlier experiences and knowledge with me.

May I ask you where you get your tickets and how much did you pay? Just curious.

While NW has a decent WBC product, they really cannot compete with CO or CX which both have non-stop NYC-Hong Kong service. Travel time is much less with those Polar routes.

Also, may I ask which hotel you ended up getting in Hong Kong, and how much did you pay for the last night at the Regal Airport?

Hello again, rkkwan! You were one of the persons who cheerfully and thoroughly responded to several of my earlier travel questions, so please accept my direct thanks to you for your helpfulness. I appreciate the info that you freely shared previously.

On to your questions: I bid for my round-trip business class ticket on SkyAuction.com The ticket was auctioned as LAX-HKG; I was successful at $2295. I then selected the JFK add-on for $650. My total bid cost me $2945.

For the beginning of my trip, I booked five nights at the New World Renaissance in Hong Kong through PriceLine.co.hk for $US 108 nightly including tax and service (but not breakfast).

For the last night of my trip (a month later), the HKIA Regal Airport Hotel charged me a reservation fee of $HK 25, with the room itself costing $HK 1356. That room rate was said to be discounted for AARP members, although they did not check my AARP card at all. I guess I looked grizzly enough at that point to easily pass for Methusalah.

By the way, if you know of a consolidator for CO or CX could you let me know? The prices I found on my onw for their flights to HKG were simply too expensive.

Cordial regards, JohnWM.

That's a very nice fare you pay for your WBC tickets. I've never seen any business-class tickets to Hong Kong for under $4-4.5K. I may investigate that for my parents for future trips.

I assume you still get frequent flyer miles (and WBC bonuses) for your trip?

That price for the NW Renaissance is fair, though I wonder if you tried bidding 5*? As I see that people have been getting the Sheraton ~$100 + fees/taxes.

We usually fly CO from Houston. My mom's friend is an agent at one of the larger Chinese-run travel agents here, and they can get fares from several huge consolidators. However, for travel under 30-day return, the fares are usually the same or better on continental.com; and even the agent will just tell us to book it ourselves. For tickets over 30-day return, then they're still cheaper.

However, I wouldn't recommend her to you as I personally don't like her style of doing business. For my mixed CO/CX itinerary to Hong Kong last Christmas (which wasn't avilable on continental.com), I booked it on Orbitz.com. The fare is about the same as travel agents can book them, though Orbitz charges $10 fees and cost for FedExing the paper tickets to me. However, I find that experience in general better than going through a Chinese agent.

If you live in NYC, try a Chinese travel agent in Chinatown or Flushing. Any one will have access to the large consolidators. [Most large consolidators don't have access to all airlines. One may have NW/CX, another may do mostly UA. It's easier to go through a Chinese travel agent.]

Yes, the SkyAuction.com fare did generate Northwest frequent flyer milage credit for me. The ticket was a Z-class business fare, and yes, I was eligible to use the WBC Lounges at JFK, NRT, and HKG. Actually, the fare that I paid was magnificent!

Thanks for the tip on using Priceline and requesting a 5* hotel; thanks also for the suggestion about seeking out a travel agent in Chinatown, since I do plan on returning to Asia next year.