Category Archives: Cathay Pacific

Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class HKG to SFO

Although I’d flown Cathay Pacific long-haul multiple times, this was actually my first time flying them long-haul in business class.

My initial impressions of the cabin were not great. The cabin did not seem to be adequately cleaned before the flight, and some things seemed to be falling apart. Part of the armrest was coming off (and you could see wood underneath), there was a napkin left at my seat, there were stains, etc. It seemed like the plane needed a little love.

Business class seat

Business class mini cabin

Foot space and IFE screen

Controls and storage

Tape fixes all

I was seated in the mini-cabin right behind first class. This is just two rows of business class, so it feels pretty intimate and private. The bulkhead also has additional foot space since it’s the bulkhead. There was a pillow, blanket, and headphones already at the seat, and the flight attendants came around offering pre-departure beverages.

View into first class

In spite of my quibbles about the cleanliness of the cabin, it’s still an awesome hard product. There’s space to put things under the ottoman, there’s a shoe compartment, storage on the side, counter space, etc. The seat goes lie flat and has good privacy, and it feels plenty wide.

Business class bathroom amenities

This flight was catered as supper, snack on demand, and then breakfast prior to arrival. I’m not sure why they serve breakfast prior to arrival as the flight lands at 8pm. While the more typical lunch and dinner menus often have one vegetarian option, there was very little vegetarian food on this menu, so make sure to order a special meal if you’re a vegetarian on a supper flight.

Business class amenity kit

For my supper meal, I had pre-ordered a Jain vegetarian meal. The VJML supper consisted of a cold, spicy chickpea salad, fruit, rice, lentils, okra, and green beans. Pretty decent for a special meal.

VJML supper

After supper, I slept for about five hours. The seat was super comfortable, and the blanket was large and not too hot.

Breakfast was served prior to arrival. I started out with fruit and bread. One thing I noticed was that the VJML fruit plate was different from the fruit plates that other people were getting–not entirely sure why since fruit is obviously vegan.

Fruit plate

After fruit and bread, people were offered cereals and yogurt.

Granola

For my VJML entree, it was a main of Indian breakfast items. I honestly can’t believe it was meant to be served as I received it, since there was very, very little curry in the container. It looked like the curry had spilled out of the container, but there was nothing to replace it, so it was mostly just white carbs.

VJML breakfast

Overall, I was a little bit disappointed by this flight. While Cathay Pacific has a great hard product and can sometimes have amazing service, the service on this flight wasn’t very good. The service felt cold, I wasn’t welcomed on board, I was never addressed by name, etc. Heck, I’ve been addressed by name flying economy class on Qatar (and on Cathay for that matter).

Review: Cathay Pacific Regional Business Class Boeing 777 DPS to HKG

Flight Review: Cathay Pacific First Class BOS to HKG (CX 811)

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On most flights, I typically like to sit on the right-hand side of the aircraft, but in Cathay Pacific first class, the seats on the left (1A and 2A) are more private since the center seats open up to the right-hand aisle. So on this flight, I had selected seat 1A. I will say that it seems like the flight crew defaults to using the left-hand aisle to pass through the cabin so as to disturb fewer passengers, so there is slightly more foot traffic on the left-hand side.

Cathay Pacific doesn’t have overhead bins in the first class cabin, so it feels more spacious. Instead of overhead bins, there are lockers at every seat for you to store your belongings.

My seat, 1A

Footrest and IFE screen

Seat and IFE controls

Storage closet

I was soon offered a pre-departure beverage of water, juice or champagne. I was also offered an amuse bouche of prosciutto and cauliflower, but I asked if they had a vegetarian option instead since I had requested a vegetarian meal. The flight attendant scrounged around for a bit and brought me a flaky pastry filled with hummus, an olive, and marinated sun-dried tomato instead. I was then given Bose headphones, PYE pajamas, and an amenity kit (I requested the female one to give to my sister since I already had several of the male amenity kits).

Headphones, amenity kit, pajamas

Vegetarian amuse bouche

For this flight, I had pre-ordered a special VJML (Jain vegetarian meal). I was still provided a menu and wine list for the flight, and I was told that I could order off the menu after the flight attendant asked the other passengers for their selections.

After takeoff, I was given warm cashews and almonds to start. I ordered a Cathay delight to drink.

Nuts to start with Cathay Delight

I started my meal service off with the caviar service. I prefer blinis to toast, and I like the spoon that Cathay uses, which makes Cathay’s caviar service one of my favorites. I was also offered an entire warmed breadbasket, although there was no handwritten card.

Caviar service

I next had a soup of white asparagus with some freshly ground black pepper. If you like soup and asparagus, then it was pretty tasty.

White asparagus soup

The salad that I was served was the salad off the menu without the lobster. It was a little odd to eat without the lobster, since the salad was mostly just frisee otherwise, but I could imagine that it would be good with lobster.

Salad

My VJML entree was not very good. There were cut green beans and cauliflower in a brown sauce. I wish there had been lentils or chickpeas or something with more protein.

Pretty bad VJML

The fresh berries in rose syrup, though, made up for my sub-par entree.

Berries in rose syrup

And since I’m a glutton, I also tried the pistachio cake with ice cream. A little too sweet for my tastes, but still good.

Pistachio cake and ice cream

After dinner chocolates

After dinner, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and when I got back to my seat, the bed had already been made. In general, I found the service on this flight to be good and proficient, but maybe not quite as personable or memorable as crews I’ve had on the past on Cathay Pacific.

One benefit of the departure time of this flight is that I found it easy to sleep. I slept soundly for about 9 hours, and I find the Cathay Pacific seat and bed to be one of my favorite hard products. It’s nice and wide, and the bedding is comfortable.

Bed

For breakfast, I started with a fruit plate that was pretty delicious. I also ordered some earl grey tea which came pre-steeped.

Fruit plate

The VJML pre-arrival meal was way better than dinner. It consisted of okra, cauliflower, potatoes, and peas in a spicy and flavorful sauce.

Much tastier VJML pre-arrival meal

Overall, this was a solid flight on Cathay Pacific. It’s one of my favorite hard products for sleeping, and I felt that the service was pretty good.

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)

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The Cathay Pacific lounge at CDG is located right beside the American Airlines lounge, and unless you get your access to the AA lounge via an Admirals Club membership or credit card, you probably have access to either lounge.

The lounge is just a large room, but it’s decorated and furnished according to Cathay Pacific standards. It’s the same color palette for chairs, the same solus chairs, the same white marble bar that you find in these lounges around the world. There’s plenty of seating, with both a dining area and lounge area, and the lounge was overall less crowded in the morning compared to the American lounge next door.

Typical Cathay decor with solus chairs

Lots of seating

More seating

Newspapers

Views from the Cathay Pacific lounge

Besides the dining room and seating, there’s a computer room, luggage room, and showers. There are some nice large windows with good views of the apron, and electrical outlets were plentiful (albeit with European-style outlets rather than universal ones).

Business center

Dining area

The breakfast options in the Cathay Pacific lounge were not quite as good as the breakfast options next door, but there were some fun drinks like Orangina, canned oolong tea, and canned soy milk.

Breakfast foods

Coffee

Drinks

Alcohol

Carbs

Desserts

Breads and condiments

Drink fridge

There is a noodle bar in this lounge, but it doesn’t start serving food until 10am. I’m just going to come out and say it, but I really don’t think Cathay Pacific’s dan dan noodles are very good… Lots of people seem to like them, but I don’t think they’re very flavorful, and the little flavor they do have just isn’t quite right.

Noodle bar menu

Dan dan noodles

Even if this lounge is slightly lacking in the breakfast department, it’s significantly better for lunch than the AA lounge (mostly because the AA lounge doesn’t actually transition to a lunch buffet). There’s a salad bar and a variety of hot food options, in addition to the aforementioned noodle bar.

Salad bar

Lunch buffet

Overall, it’s a solid Cathay Pacific lounge with better-than-average food for an outstation lounge. If you’re choosing between the two oneworld lounges, I’d probably go to the AA lounge for breakfast, the Cathay Pacific lounge for lunch, and the Cathay Pacific lounge for a somewhat quieter experience.

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge Bangkok Airport (BKK) Renovated

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Cathay Pacific renovated their lounge at BKK recently, and I have to say that this new lounge is a MASSIVE improvement over their old lounge. Their old lounge was tiny and crowded and had bad food options, and this renovated lounge is just so much better. It’s very similar in decor and feeling to their renovated Pier lounge at HKG, and I was such a fan of that lounge that it’s no surprise that I loved this lounge as well.

The Cathay lounge is located near the G gates, and the entrance is relatively understated.

Entrance to the lounge

The lounge is quite long with a variety of seating areas, a cafe-type area, and a noodle bar. To the right is where most of the lounge seating is located. There are a variety of seating options and configurations, and all of the furniture is quite comfortable and functional. There are also outlets everywhere (they’re located in the desks if you don’t see other ones), which is such a great thing to have in a lounge.

Seating area

More seating with loungers overlooking the apron

Looking down the lounge

Computer stations

More seating, including the semi-private green chairs

I enjoyed sitting in the loungers which face the windows so you can do some airplane spotting, as well as the semi-private green chairs which are great for getting work done.

Apron views

The right-hand side also includes a full-service bar. I’m not a big alcohol drinker, so it’s great that Cathay offers a couple of non-alcoholic cocktails, including their signature Cathay Delight! So tasty.

Full bar

Bar menu

Right in front of the entrance to the lounge (so in the middle of it lengthwise) is a cafe-type area with some standing tables, some bar seating, and a variety of lighter foods on offer. There are salads (lettuce, papaya, bean, and fruit), some snacks (mashed potatoes and some sort of macaroni), fresh fruit (including rambutan!), yogurt, sandwiches, cookies, and desserts (creme caramel and pandan cake). I love that they have rambutan on offer (even though I don’t actually like rambutan that much), as I just think it’s so great when lounges can offer local, seasonal fruits rather than just the same old melon selection. The creme caramel and pandan cake were also delicious, although I have a major sweet tooth.

Cafe food area

Salads

Fresh fruit and small snacks

Desserts, yogurt, drinks

Sandwiches and cookies

Finally, at the other end of the lounge (or the area to the left as you enter) is the noodle bar. The noodle bar has tons of seating with both booths of varying sizes as well as some communal tables. They have the typical dan dan mien that you expect from Cathay Pacific, but they also have pad thai on the menu as well as some dim sum. I also LOVE the fact that they have a separate vegetarian menu.

Noodle bar seating

Communal tables and booths

Noodle bar

Noodle bar menu

I sampled the veggie pad thai, the sago dumplings, and the mushroom noodle soup. The veggie pad thai unfortunately tasted ketchup-y and lacked the wok hei (wok breath) that makes pad thai so great, but at least they had the full selection of pad thai accompaniments (peanuts, limes, sugar, chili flakes, vinegar with chilis, etc.) so you can adjust the flavoring. The sago dumplings were absolutely delicious, though, and the mushroom noodle soup was decent as well. The portions are on the smaller side, so don’t feel shy about ordering multiple portions! I saw a table of two guys put down about 10 dishes between the two of them.

Veggie pad thai and sago dumplings

I must sound like a total Cathay Pacific fanboy given how much I’ve raved about their renovated Pier lounges at HKG (both the business class and first class lounges), but I just think Cathay Pacific has done such a good job with their rebranding and lounge redesigns. This lounge is no different. I love the design, and the lounges just feel so cozy and have such solid amenities. If I have any criticisms, the wifi is a bit slow, the lounge can get a bit crowded, and the cushions in the booths have this weird thing where they’re not attached in the backs so if you sit forward too far the cushion comes up. But this is an awesome, awesome lounge, and one of my favorite non-hub airline lounges that I’ve visited.

Flight Review: Cathay Pacific Economy Class A330 BKK to HKG

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s RENOVATED The Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Airport (HKG)

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I’m currently transiting through Hong Kong airport, and I have the good fortune to be transiting just a week after Cathay Pacific reopened their Pier Business Class Lounge. I’ve reviewed the renovated Pier First Class Lounge before, which is one of my favorite airport lounges in the world.

I’ll just go ahead and say that I think the Pier Business Class Lounge might be my favorite business class lounge in the world. It’s a GORGEOUS lounge with everything that you might want in a lounge. People often rave about Turkish Airlines’ business class lounge in Istanbul airport, but I think the Pier is way better.

The Pier Business Class Lounge is located near Gate 65. It’s just one gate further past the entrance to the Pier First Class Lounge. It’s true that this gate might be a little inconvenient depending on your departure gate, and the people mover in the airport only goes one way, but it’s really not that far of a walk to walk from the Pier to the Wing (maybe 15 minutes if you walk briskly).

Entrance to the Pier Business Class lounge near Gate 65

I was immediately impressed by this lounge. I love the decor and feel of the renovated Pier lounges. They use much darker and richer colors than they use in the Wing, and the Pier Business Class lounge just seems to keep going on and on.

Entrance hall the lounge

Directing you to some of the many rooms of this lounge

One thing that’s a nice feature is that they offer luggage lockers if you want to store your bags for a while. Helpful if you don’t feel like leaving your bags unattended in the lounge.

Luggage lockers

As you enter the lounge, there’s an office room of sorts on the right hand side if you want to get some work done. There are computers available for use, as well as comfortable semi-private chairs. And there are tons of outlets everywhere, which is great.

Bureau/office area of the lounge for working

Looking from one end of the lounge down to the other

As you walk left from the entrance, you first come across the Food Hall. This seems to be an area for western options. For breakfast, there was everything you might expect for a western breakfast (e.g. eggs, hash browns, baked beans, sausage, muesli, pastries). They also have paninis, which is somewhat novel.

Food Hall

There’s a coffee bar staffed with a barista in this area as well.

Coffee bar

Seating in the Food Hall

Salads and such

Cheeses and meats

Western hot breakfast items

Muffins and sweet breads

Pastries

Paninis and rolls

Drink fridge

Past the Food Hall is the Bar area. Lots of comfortable seating and a very large bar.

Bar area

Bar

Seating in the bar

One of the things that’s incredible about this lounge is the size and variety of seating options. There’s countertop seating, two-person tables, communal tables, lots of sofas, etc. And everything that I sat in was super comfortable. The seating along the windows also features great views.

Seating along the windows

Apron views

Lots and lots of seating

Past the bar is the Noodle Bar. This is a staple of many Cathay Pacific lounges around the world. The Noodle Bar features Asian food items (e.g. they had fried rice, stir fried vegetables, congee, and assorted dumplings available for breakfast), as well as a noodle bar where you can order made-to-order noodles (e.g. dan dan noodles). The Noodle Bar opens at 7:00am while the lounge opens at 5:30am.

Seating in the noodle bar

Dim sum in the noodle bar

Noodle bar

Past the Noodle Bar is the Tea House. The Tea House had teas (obvi), but also a number of Asian and western sweets (e.g. glutinous rice balls, apple cake, earl grey tea cookies) and some tasty-looking juices.

Seating in the tea house

Sweets at the tea house

Juices in the lounge

Tea menu

Past the Tea House, there’s a desk where you can request a shower, and then at the far end of the lounge is their relaxation area. There are a number of comfortable loungers where you can rest and perhaps take a nap. It’s not super private, but it’s significantly better than what most lounges offer.

Chairs in the relaxation room

Overall, Cathay Pacific did an INCREDIBLE job with this renovation. The lounge is beautiful and functional and an awesome place to spend some time before your flight. Lots of delicious food options, tons of seating, outlets everywhere, decent wifi, showers, areas to take a nap and relax, etc. What more could you ask for?

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Class Lounge (Renovated) Hong Kong Airport (HKG)

Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 3

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There are 3 oneworld lounges in Terminal 3 of London Heathrow, and they’re all pretty close to each other. My personal favorite is the Cathay Pacific lounge, which is reviewed here. (Note that this lounge is currently closed for renovations and is scheduled to reopen in June 2016)

Entrance

The lounge isn’t huge, but I’m impressed by it. In the times that I’ve visited, it’s never been very crowded, so that may have contributed to my positive impressions. But there’s plenty of seating, and it just feels calm and serene.

Window seating

Main seating area

Seating

Solus chairs

View of the apron

The drink options are extensive for such a physically small lounge. The liquor selection might not be as good as the British Airways Galleries First lounge, but I don’t drink much, so that doesn’t matter to me. What does matter to me is that they have fun non-alcoholic drink options like coconut water, mango juice, and soy milk.

Liquor

Beverages

Refrigerated beverages (including soy milk!)

The food options are also extensive, and it reminds me of a mini Asian hotel buffet. For breakfast, they have English breakfast items (e.g. baked beans, eggs), a noodle bar, smoothies, congee, pastries, oatmeal, yogurt, etc. So lots of options, even though it’s a small space. The rice pudding I had was delicious, and the dan dan noodles were very peanut buttery, which I liked (even if it’s not authentic).

Written menu

British breakfast foods

Continental breakfast items

Cereals

Pastries

As for getting actual work done, there were a decent number of power outlets, and it wasn’t very crowded, so there’s lots of space to spread out. The wifi speed was decent with about 3-4 Mbps down and 1-2 up.

Again, this is my favorite oneworld lounge in LHR Terminal 3. Maybe it’s just because I’m Asian, but I think this lounge has the best food options, and it’s not as crowded as the other oneworld lounges, so it’s the most peaceful and pleasant to just sit in.

Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class A330-300 HKG to NRT

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I had the pleasure of flying Cathay Pacific’s A330-300 from Hong Kong to Tokyo. This was three-class configuration (business class, premium economy, economy) with lie-flat seats in business class.

The seats are reverse herringbone, and they’re almost identical to the seats in Dragonair’s first class cabin on the A330. This plane felt a little bit older, and there’s more leather in the finishings. For flying from Hong Kong to Tokyo on Cathay, there are a lot of choices in terms of planes and configs, but this is the nicest in business class–for first class, you have to fly to Haneda instead of Narita.

Cathay Pacific A330-300

The business class cabin was pretty full. I was offered a pre-departure beverage and a blanket that was unwrapped in front of me. They also passed out hot towels, as opposed to the wet towelettes that you get on Dragonair.

As other examples of small things that can make service great, I asked for a pen from one of the flight attendants who happened to be filling out paperwork. She literally just gave me the pen that she was using. The in-flight service manager also came around to greet me and thank me for flying Cathay.

Business class cabin

Business class seat

Seat controls

IFE screen and foot space

Shoe storage

Fair amount of privacy

When the beverage cart was going through the aisles, I noticed that the flight attendant had a cheat sheet attached to the cart with passenger last names, special meal orders, and indication if the passenger was a oneworld emerald. For my beverage, I asked for a chilled Hong Kong style milk tea, which is not on the menu, but they produced a good beverage for me. Not as good as the canned stuff on Dragonair, but I appreciated the effort.

Food menu

Drink menu

Chilled Hong Kong style milk tea

For my meal, I pre-ordered an AVML or Asian vegetarian meal. First up was spiced chickpeas on something that was cold and green and mushy. It was perhaps made of smashed peas. The roll was served nice and warm, but the silverware was bone-chillingly cold.

AVML entree

For my main course, I was served some rice with lentils, okra, and green beans. It was tasty, spicy, and cooked well. I was very happy with this dish.

AVML main course

For dessert, they first offered fruit and cheese from a cart. Then it was Haagen Dazs ice cream with coffee and tea. And then pralines. The meal service was pretty lengthy, as it took them about two hours to finish up on a flight that’s less than 4 hours of flight time.

Cathay is definitely one of my favorite airlines. The service is great, the hard product is great, and the food can be great.