CATHAY PACIFIC review : 7 June 2008 - by B Stewart  (Hong Kong)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

HKG/SYD. I've now flown the new CX business class a number of times and admit to being a big fan. A flat bed and privacy - CX has delivered on both of these so I'm very happy. Sure it's not ideal for short haul but it's better than the CX regional business class. Compared to other long haul Business Class offerings, CX still gets my vote.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 3 June 2008 - by L Hoon  (Hong Kong)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Singapore Hong Kong in business, with a 747 fitted with the new business class seats. Made it by the skin of my teeth at check-in - thanks to the ground crew who were helpful. This was my 2nd experience with the new seats (first on the HK London route). I agree with all the reviewers who dislike the high walls and narrow structure, but it's a trade-off I am prepared to make as the new seats beat the old ones flat for sleep. AVOD screen is large and good, but feels cheap. Selection is unchanged from the old business class and was good. Food and service were typical of Cathay and good, but not to the level of SIA.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 30 May 2008 - by B Walberer  (USA)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SFO-HKG-BKK-SIN-HKG-SFO. SFO-HKG vv operated with B747 in new configuration. The updated economy class featured hard shell seats that do not recline in a conventional way, but where the seat slides forward and the back support slides down. I found these seats to be quite comfortable. IFE was AVOD and kept me entertained for several hours. The intra-Asian flights were operated by a mix of B747, B777 and A330 aircraft. The interiors of B747 and B777 planes on HKG-BKK and BKK-SIN segments appeared somewhat worn. Service was quite good, however food was ok, not great. My only major gripe is the cleanliness of the toilets on the long-haul segments. These toilets became quite messy mid- flight and were not regularly cleaned by the crew.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 30 May 2008 - by W Barry  (UK)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

LHR-HKG-SYD-HKG-LHR in Business Class. The first flight (744) was configured with the old business seats, the three other flights (333 and 744) were the new ones. Whilst initially seeming quite narrow, I quickly got used to the new seats, and consider them to superior to the old ones. The sleeping position is very comfortable (if only CX would use duvets instead of static-filled blankets), and the sitting position is absolutely fine. Food, drinks and service superior to many other J classes. , I can understand some of the criticism of the new seats - the main complaint seems to be the narrowness of them, which is no different to J on BA. The shape of the new seats takes a bit of getting used to, but I'm 6'1" and didn't have any problems.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 20 May 2008 - by Holger Meinke  (Netherlands)

Customer Rating : 1/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Amsterdam to Hong Kong Economy. On this route CX operates an old, retro-fitted A340-300 (at least on that day). The aircraft looked worn-out. Row spacing was so narrow that my knees constantly touched the seat in front of me. In economy class the rather large boxes for the entertainment system have been placed under the seats in rows A, D, G and I. I was unlucky enough to score seat 33D. This meant the limited leg room was further restricted to such an extent that any movement was near impossible. While this might be bearable for a 1-2 hour flight, it is unacceptable for a long haul flight like this. To make matters worse, the entertainment system, for which I had to sacrifice the seat comfort, did not work. Now to add injury to insult: In spite of the discomfort, I fell a sleep for a short while with my leg sticking out into the corridor (there was no other option). I was very painfully awoken by a service trolley rammed into my kneecap. The flight attendant was very apologetic, but my knee was swollen for several days. Hong Kong to Amsterdam, Economy. Not much better than the flight over. This time I made sure that I had a seat in row C (without the entertainment boxes that restrict your leg room below the bearable minimum). The flight was full and all the passengers around me bitterly complained about the lack of leg room and space in general. The crew was clearly very uncomfortable about this and obviously well aware of the untenable situation. The passenger in front of me had taken a sleeping pill and had his seat moved back for the entire trip. I didn’t want to wake him, but as a consequence I had to consume my meals standing in the corridor. I also had a couple of hours work to do on the computer, but it was physically impossible to open the laptop. The crew was kind enough to allow me the use of one of the staff seats during that time. Discussing the issue with the purser revealed that CX is using this clapped out A340-300 on its least profitable route (which happens to be AMS–Hong Kong) until they get a replacement. My recommendation: avoid this flight at all cost. If you have to fly CX try Frankfurt or any other airport! Better even: avoid CX. Staff were very apologetic and I ended up with a free bottle of champagne, but clearly this flight is sub-standard.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 20 May 2008 - by Nick Fielding  (USA)

Customer Rating : 2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

LAX-HKG-LAX. Please bring back the old seats. The new seat is fully flat but apart from that the product is poor. It's narrow, walls are too high, there's no space to move your arms relatively freely, construction is a bit shoddy and the TV gets in the way of service. On the plus side, catering was good as was StudioCX although this was more than outweighed by just an uncomfortable 14-hour journey.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 17 May 2008 - by J Johnson  (USA)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

SFO to HKG in their new business 747 upper deck. They are still flying both configurations as of this writing, so if the new business is important to you, be sure to call their reservations number as they can tell you which plane you'll have. Unlike other reviewers I like the new seats. They are a bit narrow and I miss looking out the window (it's behind you as you diagonally face the aisle) but my main intent on these trips is to sleep and watch movies, and this new seat is great for both. I had lots of extra space to stretch out - the head of the bed is wide and you can put your water bottle etc up there. Great video and music selection, on demand. Food OK, not great, and flight attendants on the way back HGK to SFO upper deck were stressed and slow. I looked down the aisle and all the water glasses and wine glasses were empty. I reported this to a purser and she said they only had two FA's on duty upper deck vs the normal three. Overall a very pleasant experience and I would fly them again.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 8 May 2008 - by V Lee  (Canada)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

JFK to HKG and back Economy in Boeing 777. The seats were roomier than other international flights I've been on. Food tasty, lots of snacks available. Good selection of entertainment, nice flight attendants. Main gripe would be the odd seatbelt with the airbag on one side, it made it difficult to stretch out with that in the way.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 30 April 2008 - by David Beggs  (UK)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

LHR-SYD and BNE via CNS to LHR. Variety of planes and configurations. Flight attendants excellent, non-horizontal beds not a problem, food and drink excellent. Business lounges at LHR and HK a delight. Return from BNE had regional Airbus 330 that stopped 1 hr at CNS. This was a comfortable and well-run flight. New configuration 747 fro HK to LHR was great. I accept previous comments regarding apparent lack of space and feeling a little enclosed, but this sector was comfortable - especially as it was a night flight and the lack of access to windows was irrelevant.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 30 April 2008 - by N Ho  (Australia)

Customer Rating : 3/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Economy from HK to Manila. My biggest gripe on this new 777-300ER is that all the seatbelts on the plane have this big bulge on half the belt . Flight attendent told me that it was an airbag(?). The problem is: this bulge took away a good 2 inches on the width of the chair and made the flight very uncomfortable with this bulge pressing against your thighs during the flight. And I'm not a person with a fat ass!

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 30 April 2008 - by Simon Loh  (Singapore)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SIN-HKG, HKG-TPE & return, all on B773. Check-in through internet and chose the seats 48 hours in advance. All flights depart on-time & arrive ahead of schedules, except one which has a minor delay due to technical fault. Onboard, no hot towel, no pillow, limited newspapers, and blanket provided on request only. SIN-HKG sectors offer one round of snack (peanuts) & drink, followed by the main meal, and that's all (no more rounds of drinks). Piping hot meals, lamb & chicken rice are great, and good choice of ice-cream given. On the shorter HKG-TPE sectors only one choice of meal, rice with pork meat, but its good too. CX meals are one of the better ones I've tasted. PTV available, it's not AVOD, but at least some good choice of movies. Cabin looks shabby, seat pitch ok, big IFE box underneath restricted me from stretching my legs, cushion for head rest is too stiff & uncomfortable while sitting upright. Unlike the rest, the B773 (B-HNQ) on TPE-HKG seems to be a newer plane, with different design of tray table & PTV handset, and slightly wider seat pitch. Head rest is more comfortable, seat seems to slide forward when recline, but its not those hardshell fixed seat design which I've read about. FAs quite friendly & courteous. On the ground, smooth check-in at SIN & TPE. Transit is a breeze in HKG, shops in HKIA keep us busy. HKG boarding comments at the same time for all rows, unlike SIN & TPE where it practice boarding in sequence. Baggage took too long to surface on the belt in TPE even if we've spend some times clearing the custom, which is annoying.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 28 April 2008 - by Steve Fenton  (Taiwan)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Was flown back to HKG from LHR due to Oasis going bankrupt. Economy class - checked in on line well in advance 23 hr and 54 minutes before take off to find all best seats already gone? Check in LHR was OK as I had checked in on line, this airport is dark, gloomy and overcrowded. Got in my seat to find the screen was broken on the TV and, a huge box on the floor in front of me and the recline would not work properly. I noticed many of the control units in the seats had the key pads worn out and in general the seats were very worn as well. Even inside the toilet is was grubby and seemed very old. Could not sleep so went to back to get a drink and stretch my legs. Got chatting to some of the crew which helped pass some time. Many people were unable to sleep and were having a drink, then for some reason they started to get flustered, telling people if they had more than two drinks in one hour they cannot have anymore? Breakfast was served and to be frank, it was really horrible. Staff were OK, but not 5 star by any means.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 27 April 2008 - by David Maton  (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LHR-HKG-SGN return Economy. LHR-HKG 747-400 seat pitch average but new style seating uncomfortable as seat back is rigid. Whilst this makes it pleasant for the person behind I found it very difficult to get a comfortable seating position. Food average. Cabin crew efficient and friendly. HKG-SGN A340-300. Good clean aircraft with friendly crew. SGN-HKG, due to Typhoon in HKG we were delayed in SGN, within 2 hrs Cathay had arranged food and beverages and within 5 hrs we were taken to hotel for overnight accommodation. Flight left the following afternoon which meant we missed connection to LHR. HKG airport in chaos however Cathay staff were on hand and quickly booked us on another flight to LHR where we arrived 24hrs late. Under the circumstances I felt Cathay did more than could be expected due to the backlog of flights and passengers.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 24 April 2008 - by Henry Lee  (New Zealand)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Family trip Auckland to Hong Kong and return with 4 adults and 3 children, pram and lots of luggage. checkin staff are friendly, no problem. for return trip, we checked-in all the luggage at Shekou Ferry port in Shenzhen China, Ferry took us to the airport, then security check, then airport bus took us to the departure gate straightway. Not recommended for business traveller, as if you don't leave a plenty of travel time for the ferry, you might not be able to check in at the ferry port in Shekou.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 23 April 2008 - by John Yardley  (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

LHR-HKG-SYD return. American Express Centurion have a special arrangement with Cathay Pacific that gives a reduced-price (about 50% full fare) which, more importantly, you can change or cancel at no penalty. I don't know if you can get the deal without having an Amex Centurion card though. The Cathay Pacific hub is in Hong Kong and statistically, this is where you are likely to spend most time. The business lounge facilities are a real pleasure to use - comfortable, airy, great facilities, free and reliable wireless Internet access. I tend to find the flight crews on the oriental airlines nicer and less patronising than some other airlines. On my first Cathay Pacific flight to Oz last year, the Business cabin on both legs of the journey had the older non-lie-flat seats. However, on this trip the HKG-SYD leg had lie-flat beds in a similar configuration (herringbone) to Virgin Atlantic planes. Although the Cathay Pacific lie-flat seats seemed less wide than the Virgin Atlantic ones, they had the advantage they could be completed reclined flat by the passenger by remote control. On Virgin Altantic, they seem to prefer the cabin crew to configure you bed for you - this involves folding down the seat back manually. Cathay Pacific food is nothing special.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 22 April 2008 - by Quek Keng Guan  (Singapore)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SIN-HKG return. Travelled Y class on B777-200. Seat pitch average, food on the average side with frequent rounds of drinks. No AVOD but a wide selection on the inflight entertainment. Return flight on B777-300, bulkhead seat where is there plenty of space. Ordered a high fibre food and it is very tasty. Inflight service excellent. Overall, will travel with CX again.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 21 April 2008 - by B Gochet  (Japan)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

HKG-NRT in the newly designed business class seats in CX 747. Have to agree with all the earlier commentators on the new seat. Seats too thin, too many walls obstructing views - even in my "window seat" it was hard to look outside. If you sit in an aisle seat you can not see outside at all. Not enough space to put personal items - puzzled that nobody noticed this during the design phase. In sum, these are the worst business class seats of the new generation I have seen. I do not understand why they ended up making this redesign - it may turn out to be a big mistake if not fixed. I for one will be checking for my next flight if my plane has the new seats installed or not, and may decide to fly another carrier. The FAs were very aware of the shortcomings and seemed to suggest that management is considering rolling back the change.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 14 April 2008 - by Lan Lim  (Singapore)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Singapore - Tokyo in Economy Class. Very, very average flights. Nothing bad about the service, but nothing especially good either. I got to my destination on time and in reasonable comfort, but there was no aspect of the service which seemed to justify a 4-star ranking.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 14 April 2008 - by Paul Ponte  (France)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Hong Kong to San Francisco in Business Class - 747, upper deck, with the new single seats. Although CX is as good as it always has been, the new seats really downgrade the travel experience. No visibility outside, all the space under the windows of the 747's upper deck is wasted. Of course service is complicated, you can't see (or talk to) your neighbor, perfect to inspect the socks of all your travel companions! I can't figure out who had that "great" idea and, worse, who has approved it. The diagonal position is so non-natural, that they had to add an extra seat belt over the passenger's shoulder. At take off and landing, there is no seat support on your back, and you hit the "shelf" walls. I prefer not to think what happens if a rough, or emergency, situation! Why did they change the previous new configuration? And as they are partners with British Airways (to me the absolutely best business class seat) why they couldn't license the BA concept, and maybe develop it? They tried to re-invent the wheel, and ended up with a very innovative solution: a square one.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 8 April 2008 - by Brian Corrigan  (Australia)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

BNE-HKG return. Seating was terrible, food average, inflight entertainment system kept breaking down, never to be repeated.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 7 April 2008 - by G Marcel  (Canada)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

CX Economy YY -MNL return. B777 non-stop to HKG and IFE worked wonderfully. Downside minimal seat recline. If you're over 6 feet tall, arrive 3-4 hours early at check-in to secure Bulkhead seats. Food selection solid and flight attendants attentive and professional. Flight to and from MNL on time and inflight team very efficient. HKG to YYZ also non-stop but this time on an older A340-600. Gate assignment in HKG was poor as we had to take a bus to the plane and boarded through an old- fashioned stairway. Trip to YYZ on time and crew helpful and efficient.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 7 April 2008 - by Jo Hedler  (Germany)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

FRA-HKG-AKL return with 2 young children. Boarding no problem as we were invited to go on first, large amounts of hand luggage also no problem with young children. Special meals were ordered online and we were served first. Service otherwise ok on all flights. Seating was no problem, but I did find I had to climb over the children to get out when the seats were back, there is no room to push past. Inflight Entertainment worked and was wonderful for the children, although they did repeat things. Have flown 8 times to NZ with children on various airlines this was the best journey we have had, stopovers are also short.

CATHAY PACIFIC review : 4 April 2008 - by Jarrad Brown  (Australia)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

MEL-HKG. Flight delayed but was kept informed by the staff at the lounge. Once in the air, service was great. Meals nice and the range of AVOD excellent. Was on a newer A330-300 so business cabin was in good order.