China Airlines Review

I took China Airlines from Tokyo's Narita Airport to Taipei Taoyuan and back during my last trip to Taipei. I was amazing home many nonstop flights there are every day between the two cities. China Airlines has at east four flights a day, and they're not even the only airline between the two destinations. There's also Eva Air, Jetstar, Scoot, Tiger Air, and Vanilla Air. 

I've never actually been on those other airlines, but I can say with some certainty that China Airlines is the best. I was so impressed with both the comfort of the airplane and the amenities in economy class that I had to write about it. 

First, this was an Airbus A350, which is the largest plane I have been on. There were three seats on each side, and three seats in the middle, but it didn't feel cramped at all. The aisles were wide and there was probably about 6" more leg room in front of me that on Delta's Boeing flights. 

It's a small thing, but even the decoration of the walls and seats were interesting. They used a faux-wood wallpaper to give the lounge-like ambiance. 

At dusk, the plane's interior lights mirrored the outside with a radiant orange. 

In addition to the typical offerings of movies, TV shows, music, and games, their in-seat entertainment also included some useful things, like airport maps, immigration procedures, and connecting flight information. 

Their bathroom was the most spacious airplane bathroom I've ever been in. It was also the cleanest. In the course of the three hour flight I saw the attendants clean it multiple times, including spraying a scented mist every once in a while. 

Music also played in the bathroom on a loop. It was a string quartet when I went it. 

I took this photo to show how clean it was, and perhaps you can get a sense of the scale since I'm not standing right up next to the sink. 

Like most flights, I didn't eat the food, but I still appreciated the Black Tea Cookies they gave us, which were tasty and unique. 

I was also really excited and surprised to see that their juice offerings were from Greece! What is Greek juice doing on board a flight between Taiwan and Japan? Globalization....

The meal and drink service was also much more frequent that U.S. airlines. We were served one meal and three drinks in the span of a three hour flight. 

Once we landed, the airlines began playing a montage of nature images with soothing music. I assume this is to try to calm people as they get off the plane - usually they are in a frantic rush but with the video playing, the deplaning felt more relaxed. 

Aegean Airlines Review

I rode Aegean airlines from Amsterdam to Athens one summer and was surprised by a few new things.

After an initial negative experience in Schipol Airport, in which I discovered that we would need to pay $100 USD to check out three suitcases, I ended up liking Aegean airlines again once I got onboard.

First of all: the food.

In our brief 4 hour flight, we were fed a meal which was actually partly decent.

A cheese and tomato pasta is a perfectly acceptable dish reheated on an aircraft, and I enjoyed the sesame honey bar that came with it.

I was also excited that we got a complementary bottle of red wine...which I felt entitled to after paying them $100 for luggage.

My favorite brand of butter in the world is Noy Noy from Greece and I was overjoyed to see NoyNoy butter on the plane.

I know that every airlines outside of the U.S. actually employs attractive women as its stewardesses, but I was surprised by how truly pretty Aegean airlines flight attendants were. They were so pretty they gave me low self esteem because I am not such a pretty Greek women. (However, once I landed on my island and saw all my old grannies, I felt prettier again).

It’s been about a decade since my dad went to Greece, and since that time, the airplane seats got smaller and my dad got bigger. Putting the tray table down was not an option.

Isafjordur: the epic journey there and back

Isafjordur on arrival

Getting to Isafjordur in the winter is an adventure in and of itself. What is a popular tourist destination by ship and by car in the summer becomes inaccessible by both modes in the winter. The roads are often to treacherous to pass and the boats stay docked until spring. Therefore, our only way was by plane.

Flying domestically in Iceland is risky business. Not because of accidents, but because of delays and cancellations. Weather is very unpredictable and the strong winds and sudden storms make flying uncomfortable and turbulence frequent and severe. I knew all this before I booked a one-day trip to Isafjodur via plane. But I learned the hard way.

Walking to the airport at 9:00am

We awoke before dawn to board our flight. “Before dawn” meant 9:00am because Reykvakik darkness in the winter extends to practically 11:00am. We were lucky enough to be staying near the city center, so instead of taking a taxi or bus to Reykjavik Airport, we walked 30 minutes. It is a small airport and the walk is easy, with sidewalks all the way and only one terminal with one entrance and one gate.

boarding our propellor plane

We hung out by baggage claim while we waited to board. We really didn’t need to show up until 30 minutes before flying, but our American instincts made us arrive an hour early.

departing Reykjavik

The flight to Isafjordur was pretty smooth until we went in for our descent. That’s when the bumps and shakes started and they only became more extreme as we approached the ground. I looked out the window and saw a menacing snow storm brewing. Suddenly I felt the plane begin  rapid ascent back into the air. When we were back in stable air the pilot announced that a sudden snow storm had overtaken the town, and the strong winds were preventing us from landing safely, so we had to hold in the air and wait for the storm to pass. As the plane dangled in the air like an ornament on a Christmas tree, I felt the storm shake us from below. We were wobbling us and down for what felt like an eternity. Then with warning, the plane rushed down to the ground, and with a few big final shakes, landed smoothly on the runway of Isafjordur airport.

descending into the menacing snowstorm

I had emailed the tourist bureau before our trip and they informed me that the only way to the town was by a red shuttle. The shuttle service was one man who made his living from taking tourists and local to and from the airport on the one flight a day. The bureau also informed me that is was cash-only. This is very unusual for Iceland, because everywhere is Reykjavik takes credit cards, so it is almost completely unnecessary to every handle cash in the country…except when you take the red shuttle from Isafjordur airport. So we came prepared with cash is small bills, which the guy greatly appreciated, and no other tourist seemed to know the protocol. It really doesn’t matter where he drops you off in town, because you can talk across the whole place in 20 minutes.

we made it!

the shuttle bus into town

When it was time to leave I assumed the process would be just as simple. But oh how I was wrong…

First our flight back was delayed two hours for unknown reasons. We passed time by hanging out in a local restaurant and heading to Isafjordur’s amazing library. Then at the library I checked again and found that our flight was canceled and that we would be rebooked on a flight leaving the next day. This was really annoying as we had to spend another night in Isafjordur which was not planned or budgeted. Then on the morning of the second day, our flight was delayed by an hour again. This was a bad sign, as yesterday’s delay was what lead to the cancellation of our flight, so I was worried about yet another delay, but thankfully we took off only an hour an a half later than expected.

At the airport we watched the incoming plane land, and could feel how strong the wind was that afternoon. The pilot warned us of a rocky ascent and a turbulent ride back to Reykjavik, but at that point, I was just glad to be on the plane.

leaving town for Reykjavik

the half-melted mountains below us

The Amazing Food on Iceland AIr

This might be the only airline I blog about twice. My fascination and love for Iceland began before I ever set foot on the land, and that’s all thanks to Iceland Air. Five years ago I blogged about Iceland Air and the amazing Icelandic candy bars I had on the plane and I haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since.

Now, before I get into food, I should mention that there are some other notable differences on the plane. 

A safety video without an airplane.

Iceland Air advertises it’s country to you at every opportunity. They even use their safety video to feature their county’s amazing geography and outdoor opportunities. Honestly, for someone with flight anxiety, it was calming to watch a  safety video with the same standard instruction, overlaid with images of the aurora and waterfalls. It made me feel like I wasn’t actually on a plane.

Elves on the luggage bins

Each of the overhead compartments are guarded by elves. I don’t know if that’s lucky or just by design.

The food
I’m one of those people that almost always cannot stomach food on an airplane. Not only are those meal trays disgusting, but the general experience of being in that circulating air makes me feel sick, so I usually never eat anything but a few dry snacks on a plane.

For Iceland Air I made an exception: I knew I wanted their Icelandic chocolate  bars again, but this time when I saw their gorgeous new menu of offerings, I ended up eating everything they had.

On the way from Seattle to Reykjavik I ordered the Tapas Bar, which consist of two Spanish cheese (Manchego and something else), prosciutto, salami, and crackers. The meats and cheese were of exquisite quality, comparable to the finest I’ve purchased from local markets.

The drink in the picture is called Malt-Applesin, which is one part malt soda and one part Applesin soda, an sweet, malty, creamy, frothy, delicious holiday mix.

My partner ordered three mini cheeseburgers which were hot and tasty, as well as an Applesin (which by itself tastes like Orange soda), and a Kropp bar, which I ate most of.

The whole way to Iceland I had my eyes on the Christmas feast special, but it was only available on flights from Iceland, so I had to wait until the end of my trip to try it.

When I boarded the plane on the way  back I was ready:

2 kinds of fish, 5 kinds of meats, 3 breads, butters, and jelly.

It was excellent and expensive, but worth every krona.