Tag Archives: Boeing777

Brian’s Travel Spot: Flying Business Class from Shanghai

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My China Eastern Boeing 777 waiting to take me back to London Heathrow from Shanghai's Pudong Airport.Since I’m about to embark on my latest adventure (two weeks in Miami, followed by two weeks in Arizona), I thought I’d better finish writing up my final set of flights from last year. In the first part of this instalment of Brian’s Travel Spot, my occasional series documenting my increasing travel experiences, I told you about my experiences flying to Shanghai in business class with China Eastern. This one’s all about the flight back.

I spent a week in Shanghai for work before catching the world’s fastest inter-city train to Beijing, where I spent a few days, then caught the sleeper back to Shanghai, where I spent a few more days before flying back to London on the equivalent return flight with China Eastern (which has one flight a day between London and Shanghai, as do British Airways and Virgin).

As I had on the way out, I was flying business class, the big difference being that while I flew out overnight, I was returning on a day-time flight, leaving Shanghai at 13.00 local time and arriving in London almost 13 hours later at 17.45 in the evening. Rather than sleeping, my plan was to spend the flight working…

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Brian’s Travel Spot: Flying Business Class to Shanghai

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Celebrating a successful flight in business class with China Eastern to Shanghai with some coffee made in my Travel Press and served in my Therma Cup.Welcome to another Brian’s Travel Spot, the occasional series documenting my increasing travel experiences. This year it’s gone from principally recording the trips themselves (its original purpose), to discussing the various flights I’ve been taking, starting with a pair of flights out to Phoenix and culminating in three trips from Manchester to Chicago, each one flying a different route with a different airline, United, British Airways and American Airlines. In between, when returning from Vietnam, I flew long-haul flight in business class for the first time.

This, my final trip of the year, sees me heading back to Shanghai for work. It also involves flying both legs in business class for the first time. This is largely down to self-preservation: due to prior commitments, I was busy the preceding weekend, so I had to forgo my normal practice of flying out midweek the week before my meeting and giving myself three or four days to get over the jet lag. Instead I flew out on Sunday night, arrived on Monday afternoon and went into a four day meeting starting at nine o’clock on Tuesday morning. Therefore, sleeping on the flight became a necessity, which meant flying business class…

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Brian’s Travel Spot: New York & Philadelphia, 2016

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My coffee travel kit on my BA flight to Newark: mini Porlex grinder, Aeropress, plus funnel, metal jug and Upper CupWelcome to the second of my occasional Brian’s Travel Spot series (or the fourth, depending on how they’re counted!). The first Travel Spot covered my adventures in the summer of 2015 as I flew to New England, travelled across America by train and then spent a week in the Pacific Northwest (the whole trip took three weeks, so I split the Travel Spot into three parts, hence this might be the fourth).

Semantics apart, the aim, as in the previous Travel Spots, is to provide a record of my travels, something a little different from posting the actual Coffee Spots I visit (which always takes place after the event). This trip took me to old stomping grounds: New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, back to New York and then on to Providence and, finally, Boston. As I did in 2015, I flew with British Airways, while all the internal travel in the US was on Amtrak, the US national rail network.

I say old stomping grounds since this was (and I think I’ve counted correctly) my 13th trip to the New England/New York/DC area (and the fourth with my Coffee Spot hat on). While it will only be my third visit to the likes of Philadelphia and Providence, it’s easily 10+ for New York and Boston.

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Brian’s Travel Spot: The Pacific Northwest

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The amazing Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge. There are two parts to the falls, the larger one dropping into a pool before passing under a bridge and over the second, smaller falls.Welcome to the third and final instalment of Brian’s Travel Spot, following my three week adventure across the United States. The first instalment, imaginatively entitled New England, covered my time on the east coast in New England: Boston, Providence and Portland, Maine, to be precise. The second instalment, Heading West, covered my journey west, by train, from Portland in Maine, to Portland in Oregon, a total of just over three days on the train, although I had a couple of stop-offs along the way. This, the final instalment, covers my week in the Pacific Northwest and my flight home.

I wrote Brian’s Travel Spot to enable you to follow my adventures as they unfolded. Unfortunately, as the trip went along, the Travel Spot got further and further behind, so now you’ll be reliving my adventures. As with the first two posts, I’ll update this post every few days, in between my normal Coffee Spot posts, the idea being to capture the highlights, with the emphasis on the travel rather than the coffees shops (although they feature too).

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Brian’s Travel Spot: New England

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A cappuccino from Render Coffee in BostonWelcome to a somewhat new direction for the Coffee Spot as we head off into the unknown with Brian’s Travel Spot. As my followers on twitter may already know, I’ve just embarked on a three-week adventure across the United States. The aim of this little (well, not so little by the time I’ve finished it) piece is to keep a record of what I’ve been doing.

The idea is that it enables you, dear reader (or should that be dear readers? Perhaps I’d better not be too ambitious and stick with dear reader for now), to follow my adventures as they unfold. I’ll update this post every few days, in between my normal Coffee Spot posts, the idea being to capture the highlights, with the emphasis on the travel rather than the coffees shops (although I’m sure they’ll feature).

I’ve never tried my hand at travel writing before, so it could be an adventure in more ways than one! So, if you’ve made it this far, take the plunge, and come along with me as I traverse the USA!

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