Oasis Airlines - Businesss Class Review HKG-LGW

Closed Thread
  1. #1

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    15,557

    Oasis Airlines - Businesss Class Review HKG-LGW

    I had to fly back to London in July and ended up booking an Oasis flight. The main reason was they had the business class 2 for 1 offer. My ticket came out to HK$24k with a free ticket. I ended up transferring that to someone else. I thought it would just be a straight transfer, but found out that there was extra tax on the second ticket. Therefore the total price of two tickets was around HK$26k (HK$13k a ticket), which, especially after flying with Oasis, thought that was very good value.

    I had problems booking my ticket online (it wouldn’t accept my credit card). In any case I was able to book over the phone. Very efficient service, no issues. Once I had my booking ref I was able to go online and choose my seat (top deck for both flights). I was not able to select meal choice (I needed to book a special meal) but was able to call up and sort that out. Was charged HK$150 for my vegetarian meals for my two flights.

    I was able to check in online for my flight. Thought it was 24 hours in advance, but in fact can check in 72 hours in advance. By the time I checked in, all seats were taken. Luckily I had already pre-selected 15H on the top deck.

    Day of flight I checked in using In Town check in where I was given my boarding pass and my lounge invitation. I then to airport express to HKG.

    HKG now has two terminals. T2 is used by Oasis and Emirates and everyone else uses T1. T2 is only for check in. It’s a HUGE terminal with lots of shops and facilities, but very quiet as there are only two airlines that use it (one flying just to BKK and DXB and the other flying to LGW and YVR) therefore its not that busy. Anyway I digress slightly. The point is that for departures the airlines still use the main terminal. So what this means is one checks in at T2, goes through security and then has to take a train (and maybe another one) to the main terminal. The total time of doing this is about 20 – 40 minutes.

    Now as I already had my boarding pass, there was no point of me going to T2 and I was able to deal with security at T1 (I still don’t know the point of having T2 if people are able to bypass T2 all together like I did). T1 security was very quiet, so I was through security in about 5 minutes.

    I had arrived to the airport about 3 hours before the flight, so I had plenty of time to kill. First thing I did was go to the BA lounge. There I had some food and a shower. Spent about an hour there. I then went to do a bit of shopping and got myself a complimentary back massage thanks to my Citibank Cathay card.

    I then proceeded to the CNAC lounge near gate 16 (the lounge Oasis use). It is a very spacious lounge overlooking gate 16. However it felt a tiny bit sterile, unlike the BA lounge, which while smaller felt much more comfortable. However there was a decent food selection including warm food (pasta and noodles) along with a decent drink selection. There was also free wifi (password provided at the front desk). The lounge also had several computers and a quite section with loungers. In all a decent lounge.

    The flight was slightly delayed and we were eventually called to board. Seemed as though it was a full flight but there was a separate line for biz pax. Anyway proceeded to board. Entered the plane at the front of the plane. There the front section was also biz seats. However there was LOTS of room up at the front of the plane near the nose (I’m thinking about trying to get a seat at the front of the plane for my return flight).

    I went up to the top deck to get to my seat. The overhead bin was too small for my roll bag, so the FA took it away and put it in the closet. The FA’s were also taking peoples coats to store. Up top the configuration was 2-2 and there were about 20 seats. The window seats had a little bin to put your stuff in. Row 14 was the exit seat row, I think for future I would try and get a window seat in row 14.

    The seats themselves were very large, comfortable and spacious. They were cradle seats, and while not fully flat they did recline to about 60%. The room, even after the person in front of me had reclined, was plenty. The cabin was very clean, if slightly dated. The seat electronics were also a tiny bit worn. The IFE was a pretty small 7 inch screen and was stowed in the arm rest.

    Oasis provided headsets and the FA’s walked around offering eye mask, socks and ear plugs. Along with a blanket, that was it in terms of amenities. Oasis now have an in-flight magazine, which isn’t all that bad.

    Once boarded the FA came round offering water or OJ and hot towels. We then had the safety brief. This was by way of a pull down screen at the front of the plane. Because of the size of the seats, I couldn’t see the briefing at all!!

    Once we took off the FA’s came round offering champagne (I think it was Piper Heidsieck Brut reserve). I also got some veggie canapés with my champers. Pretty tasty actually (but cannot remember what they were). Dinner came shortly after that. Everyone else had a choice of a western or Chinese meal. I got my veggie meal which was a pasta. There was also a salad, some buns and a dessert. The food was fine, nothing worse than other airline food in econ. The food was laid out on a try and everything was already opened (I suspect in econ you would have to open everything up). Wine and other booze was offered, but I declined.

    I sat down to watch a movie while I ate dinner. The IFE on Oasis is pretty limited. In econ I think there is a choice of 16 video channels and in Biz its three extra. The mix of channels are a few western movies, a few Chinese movies and a few generic channels. The extra biz channels had some more recent movies. I watched Last King of Scotland. After the movie was over I put the seat the full recline, but my MP3 player on and fell asleep.

    I awoke to the smell of airline breakfast and daylight outside. I think I got just over 8 hours pretty much solid sleep. Breakfast was served about 2 hours before our arrival. For me it was omelette and mushrooms and hot muffins and croissant along with some fruit and yoghurt. For everyone else there was a choice Western and Chinese breakfast.

    We landed about 30 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. There was a five minute delay while they had problems trying connect something (I wasn’t paying attention). Biz pax disembarked first.

    Made it to immigration in about 5 mins. Seemed quite a few flights had arrived at the same time, so this would mean a chav charter scrum (Gatwick South is the airport gateway for the chav masses). However BAA were surprisingly efficient and had all their counters open and ready for the scrum. Luckily I was able to use IRIS, so breezed through.

    The baggage hall was packed, and there were no spare trolleys to be found (I eventually found them at in corner, the other side of the hall from the Oasis belt). Anyway the belt had already started by the time I had arrived there and baggage came shortly afterwards (very very surprised at the efficiency of BAA on this point). My bag was priority tagged, however it seemed econ bags were arriving before the biz pax bags. Saying that I didn’t have to wait too long for my bags.

    Made it out to the departure lounge to be greeted by the families of the chav masses and a very busy Gatwick South.

    Overall a very very good flight on Oasis. The Oasis business class product is very good and extremely competitively priced, I was impressed. A few issues, but overall very happy. One major thing, is that I would have so much liked Oasis to have used the much calmer Gatwick North rather than chav charter heaven (Gatwick South). I am not looking forward to dealing with Gatwick South departures when I fly back to HK.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    mid-Levels
    Posts
    873

    Pin

    Fantastic, detailed report - thanks very much.

    Not a bad price for a biz class ticket if its below 15k HKD (I still measure things in punds and GBP1k is not bad for a biz class flight)


  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    4,279

    Yes thanks pin for that useful and very informative report. I'm still looking for cheap business class tickets to Australia (Brisbane) preferably on Qantas. If anyone knows of prices cheaper than Zuji please please let me know.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    15,557

    Cheers guys. I fly back today, so will do a return trip report when I get back to HK. I think the check in process and the security situation in LGW will be of interest.

    I suspect the flight itself will be very similar to the outbound journey.

    Annoying thing is I've checked in online and all the seats were already taken so I didn't get the seat I was hoping to get.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Cramped island
    Posts
    5,585

    how do you get a complimentary massage with cathay citi card ?


  6. #6

    I am interested in a one way business class ticket to VanCouver. For some reason I cannot access the Oasis site.
    Have any of you tried for one way fare quotes?


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    15,557

    Return Journey

    This is a report of my return trip on Oasis business class from LGW to HKG.

    Oasis flies out of LGW south, which is the by word for chav scum charter flights hell. I had really hoped Oasis would have used the much nicer. Anyway arrived at LGW for check in. Separate counters (about 4 ) for biz and econ. The lines were pretty longish for both. However the biz line did go fast (waited about 5 mins).

    Flight was fully booked, I had asked to see if I could get a seat at the nose of the plane. She said I could have 18 something. Didn’t realise that was actually the very front of the plane, so I declined thinking it was in the middle of the plane, doh!! My seat was a window seat on the top deck (two away from the exit row). The baggage belts weren’t working, so I had to walk my bags over to the other side of the terminal to oversize baggage to get my bags checked in.

    This being LGW south meant that security was pretty long, esp as it was the middle of summer and peak time for charters. However (and surprisingly) security only took about 15 minutes to clear as all the xray machines were working. After security the terminal was heaving and there literally wasn’t a spare seat in the house. On top of that LGW south is a terrible terminal.

    I headed to the servisair lounge on the second floor. I’ve used this lounge before and its pretty small with some food and booze, but nothing much more. However I was told this was full and use the lounge downstairs, another servisair lounge. This one was a bit better, bit more spacious. Some booze and some food, a TV and some magazines.

    Was in the lounge for about 30 - 45 minutes and was getting bored, so I decided to make may way to the boarding gate, as it was a bit of a long way away. The boarding gate was about 15 minutes walk away. The plane was not ready to board so I hung around the gate.

    When they called the boarding announcement they had two separate lines, one for biz and one for econ. I boarded up and settled into my seat. This time I wasn’t greeted by name, but the staff were still very friendly. I had a welcome OJ and settled in. The FA came round with toiletries (socks, ear plugs, eye mask and this time toothbrush/toothpaste).

    I had taken the window seat. This meant I had extra space for my stuff, with the window seat bins on the side. I’m not a fan of window seats cause I like to get up during the flight. However have to say it was fine.

    Flight itself was pretty much like the outbound. We took off, champers was served, then there were some nibbles. After nibbles dinner was served. I got some pasta based dish. Was OK, not that amazing. I had dinner while I watched a movie. The IFE was a bit messed up, some of the channels were working and others were not.

    I don’t think I mentioned it last time, but dinner was served on trays and all the food had been opened up (I suspect in Econ this wouldn’t be the case). Also the food was bought to you individually rather than on a trolley. One thing though, was plastic cutlery was used. I thought would have been a nice touch to have metal cutlery. Also trays were cleared individually (as opposed to econ where they would have come round with a trolley).

    I then tried to get some sleep, with limited luck. However this was no fault of Oasis. Again the seat was very roomy and comfortable, esp in full recline. The blanket was a bit on the small side, but you could easily ask for two if you wanted. I did manage some sleep and like last time woke to the smell of breakfast. This was served a few hours before landing. This time breakfast was something potato based. Again it was OK, nothing special. I have to say the food in general on Oasis was OK, however the food from HKG was slightly better than the food from LGW.

    We landed about 20 minutes behind schedule, so not too bad. Getting through HKG was a breeze as usual. I was at the baggage carousel within 10 minutes of landing. My bag arrived about 10 minutes later.

    Overall another very comfortable relaxed trip on Oasis. There are some faults with the airline, but they do not by any way outweigh the cost of flying with them. I have to say it is excellent value for money and for the price I would without a doubt fly with them again for the price.