CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  19 April 2009 : by P Anda   (Australia)

MEL-HKG. At checkin, we were asked for our paper tickets. I assured staff that the booking had been electronic; they were not sure. Check in took approximately 30 minutes while they sorted this issue out. As we were travelling to HAN on Dragonair, we asked to be checked through. Again we were asked for our paper tickets, again the supervisor came up and again they weren't too sure. Bags finally checked to HAN however boarding passes required to be collected in HKG. Poor start to a holiday. Lounge in MEL has a poor selection of food, drink and reading material. Thank goodness for the exemplary service onboard. Flight crew attentive, informative and service seamless. A delight to fly with. Ground service in HKG trying to get boarding passes to HAN were a disaster and dampened what should have been a great start to a trip.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  16 April 2009 : by Nick Fortuna   (Australia)

BNE-HKG-KIX-HKG-BNE in Y with wife, child and baby. Trip started poorly when the etix confirmation failed to arrive. Online check-in was only offered on BNE-HKG and for some reason we weren't able to check in the HKG-KIX. Ground service in BNE is contracted out, and it really lets the airline down. A polite, older gent tried to check us in, but he really struggled. Because of internet check-in, they somehow could not check bags through. Then the infant's check-in details went missing. And to get our onward boarding passes HKG-KIX the next day, we had to be un-checked and re-checked. This procedure took almost 1 1/2 hours. Not good enough. And we weren't even seated together. Somehow, the child meal request went missing, though the infant meal was loaded (even though we did not request it). Bassinets are fabulous. Flights were uneventful. For some reason, the child meal was provided on HKG-KIX-HKG. The latter leg also saw me upgraded. When I requested to stay with the rest of my family in Y, they told me that my seat had already been given away. So my wife struggled with infant and toddler. HKG-BNE was the new afternoon flight with the new interior fitted. Great AVOD, seats though are OK for daytime flights. I would hate to have to sleep on them because the padding is very thin. In the air, CX is great. However, check-in, even for a family with lots of luggage should not take 1.5 hours.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  15 April 2009 : by Roger Stone   (Australia)

BNE-HKG-DEL-HKG-BNE and very mixed feelings about these flights. As others have noted on this page, the seat allocation system on Cathay Pacific can go terribly wrong. Despite being a OneWorld Emerald, which is supposed to have preferred seating preferences honoured on OneWorld carriers, they certainly weren't this time. Check-in at Brisbane Airport (after a 3 hour drive) was pretty awful and I was allocated seating quite different to my booking standard seating and listed preferences. I noticed that families on-board were not seated together and so a sort of seat raffle started with people trying to trade seats. Qantas Club people told me that it is common practice these days for OneWorld member airlines to really only look after their own passenger loyalty club members and other OneWorld carrier's needs come a distant second. However, onboard service on all flights was usual Cathay top standard, although the wine in economy was terrible. Return Hong Kong-Brisbane, in particular, was very good. It was almost as if my complaints and profile had finally filtered through the CX computer system - I even managed a part upgrade for the last few hours of the flight. Cathay Pacific do have excellent scheduling for their flights, including a very useful and relaxing afternoon/evening service into Brisbane from Hong Kong on 4 days a week, which is better that the otherwise very tedious overnight flights on both Qantas and Cathay. After the poor start to this run of flights I was going to cancel all my remaining Cathay Pacific flights booked fo rthis year, including a business class flight to Europe. However, on the basis of this good final flight from HKG-BNE, I will now maintain most of these bookings. A general comment is that airlines should realise that some of their business class passengers also have to occasionally or frequently travel economy class with them and poor experiences in economy can mean a loss of good business for the airline concerned for the future!

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  15 April 2009 : by A Mendoza   (Philippines)

MNL-HKG-BKK return with 3-day stopover in HKG on business class. Used new seat configurations on the first 3 flights, and old 773 on last leg. The new seats are quite a production to get used to. Every little move leads to a body part hitting something. Couldn't cross my legs, stretch out my arms, or lean on any side. The full flat position was great for sleeping and must be excellent for long haul. The high walls give great privacy, but not good for traveling with company. My companion had a better conversation with me when he was seated behind me and not across the aisle from me. AVOD was great with a large and clear screen, though there were no movies available for short-haul. Food service was adequate, though the main course felt like it was an economy meal on a better dish. Steak was overcooked and bland. Drinks free flowing, FA's very efficient and cheerful. The Wing lounge in HK very large with okay selection of food and drink, but the staff was quite cold. Overall an adequate experience, though I wouldn't spend the extra money for business class on such short trips unless I do a multiple-city holiday again.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  9 April 2009 : by Rahul Solanki   (India)

B747-400 from Mumbai to Dubai on the new economy class and happy to see that the staff greet and assist you from check in. Onboard there was ample legroom. I was a bit unsatisfied with the amount of meal they served. Baggage delivary was good and overall a good and pleasant journey - good going Cathay with reasonable and cheap rates. Inflight entertainment was excellent - could watch more of movies due to the delay. Hope to fly this 5 star airline again in the future!!

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  7 April 2009 : by David Harrison   (UK)

London to KL via HK. New interior so seats do not recline just slide forward. I found this ok but my wife did not like it. The food was good for airline stuff. The inflight entertainment was good. Only downside the checkin staff managed to sit us at opposite sides of the plane HK to KL. How do they manage this? Still we got sorted but you can do without it after being awake for 24 hours. Best of all the cost was £420 return.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  7 April 2009 : by Christophe Ouvrard   (Germany)

FRA-HKG economy class new seats. These seats are terrible. Seat slides forwards but your head stays vertical. So you don´t lay back and your head falls forward when you fall asleep instead of falling back.I will not fly Cathay again because of the seats. Although I have enough miles for an upgrade, Cathay always finds an excuse for not offering it.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  21 March 2009 : by A Sanderson   (Belgium)

Auckland to Hong Kong. Problems started at check in at Auckland. Reserved seats were not available due to change of aircraft. First meal served (breakfast) was about the worst aircraft meal I have ever had. Directly after meal service cabin crew insisted on closing window blinds. This was a daytime flight, Auckland 0900 to Hong Kong 1600. Now that we have individual video screens it is not necessary to have all blinds closed. We were selected to fill in a flight questionnaire which invites you to request an additional comments sheet. When requested received cross examination from FA. My wife and I fly regularly to New Zealand and this was, without any doubt, the worst long leg we have ever made. The subsequent Hong Kong to London on British Airways was everything that a long distance flight should be. Cathay Pacific should learn from them

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  20 March 2009 : by David Walker   (UAE)

BKK-HKG-MEL, SYD-HKG-BKK. Old style seating on BKK-HKG return is old ! Fabric coming away from seats, limited leg room, recline etc. Food above standard for short flight thought. HKG-MEL and SYD-HKG on new style herringbone A330. Great if traveling alone. When in recline position, extremely comfortable, and managed to sleep for the majority of the flights. Food average, selection of drinks good. Would fly them again if on long haul overnight flights!

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  19 March 2009 : by Eugene Engelbrecht   (South Africa)

JNB-HKG-BKK return. Every flight was delayed except for one (flight almost empty). Crew on first flight absent for most of flight. Food average except for one mediocre meal back to JNB. Old seat configurations and extremely cramped. Flight to JNB had only two toilets for a very large section of the plane so that there was a permanent long queue for the toilet. Food selections never available. AVOD non-existent and it was almost impossible to watch any movie or programme as there was no way to know when the airline might put it on. Had to wait for every film and programme to end and the "tape" to rewind before maybe being lucky to catch a rerun of any programme or movie. On three flights, my monitor did not work. On one of these (the empty one) I moved and found another monitor that did not work. Eventually found one that worked. On the flight from BKK, movies that were not scheduled for that route suddenly interrupted something I had nearly finished watching shortly before landing in HKG. The air circulation was poor to bad on most of the flights. The plane from JNB was very old and run down. I was asked on two flights to fill in feedback forms. Why did I not get these om the other two flights? They asked if I wanted to be entered into a draw to win return flights on Cathay Pacific and I said no. They may have been a five star airline at one time but they certainly are not that any longer. In future, as I told Cathay, I will stick to Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines in that part of the world.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  12 March 2009 : by V Berjot   (France)

CDG-SYD via HKG return - new business product is excellent. The full flat bed is very comfortable (it comes with a real duvet) and offers a lot of privacy. The herringbone configuration, despite being a bit strange at first sight, is a must when you travel alone because it offers independance from the other passengers - it is more pleasant on the upper deck of the B747 than the A330. Service onboard attentive and smiling, passengers being adressed by name and purser coming to introduce herself to business class. Food good and plentiful. CX studio offers VOD on large individuals screens, with big choice of movies and TV series. Aircraft very clean. All flights on time. Nice shower rooms at the Pier in HKG. In SYD, CX uses the Qantas business lounge.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS review :  10 March 2009 : by S Kamaru   (USA)

Economy SFO-CGK. SFO-HKG and return on new economy seat. I found the seat to be rather uncomfortable. New AVOD with 9 inch screen is great though. I can't find a comfortable position to sleep. Food was OK but portion is small for 14 hr flight. We had to make unscheduled stop at TPE for refuel as we faced a strong head wind. We arrived one hour late and the ground crew make their best effort to expedite passenger with tight connection by escorting them thru security checks. HGK-CGK leg was A330. The cabin probably need an update. Again food is OK. Cathay is better than most American carriers such as United, Northwest but nowhere near Singapore Airlines