How Do You Spell Relief? Seat Assignment!

I booked my flight to Saigon on Cathay Pacific way back last September.  I got a great rate of $705 from Vancouver - Hong Kong - Saigon, then returning Bangkok - Hong Kong - Vancouver.  Because I snagged an ultra budget class ticket, I wasn't able to make seat selections for the flights when I booked.  I read on the Cathay Pacific website that they were rolling out a plan gradually to allow fliers to pay for seat assignments, but every time I checked my reservation, I was unable to select seats . . . .  until yesterday. Yesterday I checked the reservation and Walla!  there was an option available to select seats. 

I made it easy for myself - I booked 64D on the flight to Hong Kong.  The plane is a 777 and has a 3-4-3 seating configuration.  64D is the aisle seat on the middle section.  I figure I'll only have one person in the adjacent seat wanting to access the aisle whereas if I was in the three seat configuration, I'd have two people periodically scrambling over me to access the restroom or to stretch during the 14 hour flight.

My home for the 3 hour HKG - SGN flight will be 64A, window seat.  The equipment is Airbus 300, so seating is 2-4-2.  It's only a 2 hr 45 min flight, so the window seat should be fine.

BKK - HKG, it's back in 64A again.

Then, for the long haul back from HKG to Vancouver, I'm back in old familiar aisle seat, 64D.

All of this cost me the princely sum of $108, but you can't put a price on comfort, especially on a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight.

Travel Arrangements

Did I mention I decided to go on vacation this winter?  Back in September, I booked a two week trip with Intrepid Travel, to Cambodia.  Intrepid specializes in small group tours - 10-12 people max.  I have never been a tour person, but a small group tour sounds interesting. They hire local guides who know their locale.  The tour leaves Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) February 2 and travels to Pnom Penh, Cambodia, then Sihanoukville, on the coast, then a home stay with a local family, and then on to Siem Reap and the temples at Angkor Wat.  The tour ends in Bangkok.

I am flying Cathay Pacific, arriving in Saigon at about 12:20 am on Feb. 1.  I ave reservations at the Townhouse 50 Saigon for my first two nights there.

Looks pretty good for $35 per night.

On the evening of the 2nd I will join up with the tour group at a hotel about a 10 minute walk away.

Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1:

 What Hotels.com says about the neighborhood:

Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ho Chi Minh City is on the western edge of District 1 and is renowned as the place where most backpacking travellers stay during their holiday. A 25-minute taxi ride from Tan Sot Nhat International Airport, it comprises numerous lanes and back alleys though the main thoroughfares include Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, Bui Vien, and Do Quang Dao streets. 

Set along these alleyways are western-style restaurants, coffee shops, and international bars, countless tour companies and kiosks, affordable motels, hostels and guesthouses (as well as many of the so-called ‘mini-hotel’ buildings usually with six to seven floors, rarely offering an elevator), internet cafes, pharmacies, and souvenir-and-craft shops. Pham Ngu Lao Street is not limited to only low-budget travellers. Its own unique vibe draws people from everywhere due to its close proximity to prominent landmarks in Ho Chi Minh City. As there is always something going on in Pham Ngu Lao Street, many visitors prefer to enjoy local street food or people-watching while enjoying the incredibly cheap bia hoi draught beer on the roadside.

Read more at: http://www.vietnam-guide.com/ho-chi-minh-city/pham-ngu-lao.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001