Cathay Pacific Airways

✅ Verified Review | Auckland to London Heathrow via Hong Kong. The aircraft, cabin staff and entertainment were excellent, however in-flight catering leaves a lot to be desired. The catering department obviously do not understand what gluten free means. While the normal menu offered choices the gluten free offering did not. The offerings were generally tasteless, even gluten free food from the main menu had been removed and the basis for the menu seemed to be vegetarian and dairy free, even butter and jam were taken out. We cannot understand what inspires a caterer to provide mixed boiled vegetables for breakfast! Having experienced this catering disaster outbound to New Zealand we addressed the issue with cabin staff on the return leg from Auckland to Hong Kong and the flight crew were extremely helpful and arranged more palatable meals from the main menu. They cannot be faulted. Needless to say we cannot recommend this airline to passengers with special dietary requirements until this problem has been properly addressed.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Mumbai to Da Nang (or tried to) via Hong Kong with my wife and our 21 month old daughter. Flight from Mumbai to Hong Kong was fine, crew also. The trouble started when we got to Hong Kong about 20 minutes late and were met at the gate to be told we had already been shut out of the connecting flight to Da Nang. The connecting time was 1hr 10 minutes. I question why Cathay sell this route if they are going to operate on such a tight tolerance. We were taken to the desk where the ground staff first tried to fob us off with a flight 24hrs later and hotel. No good, not least because my wife would have needed a visa to leave the airport. Next, we were told to come back in 2hrs, and they took our boarding passes and gave us some vouchers for breakfast. I suppose better than nothing, though this is what it gets you. Though we were business class, no lounge available as we were the wrong side. When came back 2hrs later to the appointed place, things took on a nasty tone. First, the ground staff said they knew nothing about our situation and could not help because they needed the boarding passes. They even told me our connecting flight had already left - thanks for that! After trying in vain to get them to move, in the end, asked them to sign a statement with me that they did not know anything and so could not help - I said I'd leave them alone after that, sort things out myself and deal with Cathay later. They would not sign anything and said it was 'meaningless' to do so. Finally, another supervisor came over and we were eventually put on connecting flight via budget carrier and Vietnam Airlines via Hanoi. The only positive of this was that at least there was a Cathay staffer helping me with going in and out of immigration and check in /out of bags, laborious though it was. I repeatedly asked them to ensure the bags were checked through, which they said was done. After that, we were left to our own devices for a few hours, no lounge or anything even though we were business class and had a young child with us. The replacement flights were all economy too. Cathay still weren't done with us yet. When we got to Hanoi, thought it would be safer to check - lo and behold our bags weren't checked through. So once more, had to laboriously lug them between terminals, check in again. One finally arrived in Da Nang, 12h late, wrote a complaint and cancelled the return leg. Asked Cathay to refund 50% of the unused ticket and any difference for going via another carrier (there was none, as it turned out) since they could sell it on and it was 2 weeks away. I guess it was naïve to think Cathay would treat this reasonably, alas, after waiting 3 weeks for a reply, Cathay rejected it, hiding behind no refund policies and other than apologizing and offering USD150 / adult in travel vouchers, that was that. Any further pleas were met with a delayed response, apologies for the delay and hiding behind those policies. So we ended up seriously out of pocket, (whilst Cathay probably resold the seat too) hacked off with appalling treatment on all fronts. Never again will I fly this airline.

✅ Verified Review | Jakarta to Beijing via Hong Kong. The flight was good, seats were nice, inflight entertainment is okay, food was okay to great. I do find it a bit weird since there are some lack of consistency in the service. The flight from Hong Kong to Beijing was operated by Cathay Dragon, and they actually had a better seat and better food - much better. The menu of the food is from the Grand Hyatt Hotel at The Bund and it taste very delicious, a privilege for flying economy. And there were discount on products for the Chinese New Year at Cathay Dragon but not on Cathay Pacific. This different service I found a little bit weird since a regional airline had better service than its international airline.

✅ Verified Review | Bangkok to Hong Kong. I was pleased with a good flight experience. Airlines in the region have cut back on quality of service, noticeable in aspects such as a lower quality of food, and cabins that are not as clean or upgraded as often as they could be. Cathay Pacific Airways still has a 2-3-2 configuration on its A330 planes and this configuration does not support a premium experience when business class customers still have to climb over someone to get to the lav. One must choose one's seat wisely. Despite this, I believe that Cathay remains the best of premium airlines in the region. FA service was top notch and when the my experience is compared to North American or European carriers on flights of a similar length, Cathay is superior. The meal served on the flight while not as good as it used to be was still respectable. Beverage selection was good. Baggage delivery, airport experience in both BKK and HKG was excellent. I feel confident with the flight deck crew of CX. The lounge in BKK was fine and although a very limited selection of food, the lounge was clean, well staffed and welcoming. One doesn't go wrong when selecting business class on its more popular routes.

✅ Verified Review | Bangkok to Hong Kong. On this fight, Cathay Pacific let me know it is a 5-star airline, even though I am in economy class. Boarding was fast thanks to the ground service in Thailand. The seat is very comfortable and cabin crew are very nice and some of them are from Thailand showing they care about the local passengers. Also the food is delicious and they served nice red wine in economy class.

✅ Verified Review | Cathay Pacific premium economy is it worth it? The answer is only if the airplane is new. We flew from Hong Kong to Vancouver, and aside from service and food, the seats were just a tad bigger than economy seats. On the return, it was really like flying economy with the seat configuration being 2-4-2. Seat pitch was narrow and cramped. The only time we felt we were on premium economy was the Manila to Hong Kong leg of the trip because we had flown with a new plane and seats was noticeably wider. However meal was like economy - a boxed juice and a boxed sandwich. It's a good thing we paid the promo price. Unless you are assured of flying the new planes, I do not see any difference flying premium Eco as compared to economy except for a better service than economy.

✅ Verified Review | Flying Business class on Cebu to Hong Kong route was a bit of a shock, as this plane has a 2x3x2 configuration. This resembled more like premium economy so a huge let down by this airline putting on substandard business class. Service was also like economy class - quick and fast with not much of a smile from cabin crew either. IFE was fine though. Food still average and these days its all Asian style food so if you want western food you out of luck. Unless they put on a new plane with the much more business class set up of 1x2x1 avoid this route. It was a let down.

✅ Verified Review | A big thanks to the staff of Cathay Pacific. I flew on 11th January 2017 from Toronto to Mumbai via Hong Kong. The baggage clearing staff was so very polite and good at the counter. The cabin crew was very polite and helpful to all the passengers, specially myself as I was to board a transit flight and was worried for the connection. The ground staff (guiding from CX825 to CX663) was very helpful on landing at Hong Kong airport, they got me to the connection just in time and so glad I did not miss my flight.

✅ Verified Review | New York to Manila via Hong Kong. I just had a very unpleasant experience with Cathay Pacific with the Hong Kong ground crew and facility. I was booked as handicapped and need a wheelchair. Was told only 2 wheelchairs are available and was asked to walk. Ground crew inconsiderate. Last time I'll use this airline.

✅ Verified Review | After a gap of almost 15 years, I booked a return ticket from Paris CDG to Bangkok via Hong Kong, as I was curious to see what had changed. A first inconvenience occurred when, for the return journey, I was rebooked from BKK to HKG on an earlier flight, without any explanation, this causing a much longer connecting time in HKG while waiting my flight back to Paris. The day of my departure from Paris happened to be the maiden flight of A350 between CDG and HKG. The plane was full, and, for the reason of late cargo loading, we got 55 minutes delay. At this moment, while still on the ground I knew my connecting flight to BKK would be missed. When arriving in HKG, 12 hours later, a new boarding pass was swiftly given to me, with an attached voucher reaching the generous value of a hamburger at any airport Mc Donald’s. I had to wait 4 hours instead of 75 minutes in terminal. A bit disappointed on this situation, its handling of passenger being a little careless. Besides this not-so-good story, everything went smoothly. Cabins clean and cabin crew delivering a top quality service, efficient and professional. The attendants were well groomed, responsive and pleasant. CX catering, if compared to Emirates, is a little below in term of product, but the food is tastier, aiming at natural non-sophisticated dishes, rather than fancy bland food, and wine is served in generous portions. The IFE is satisfactory, with a decent variety of movies and TV shows. Comfort inflight is correct for economy class. Seat configuration 3-3-3 on 777’s and A350, and seat pitch is good. I regret that footrests have disappeared. Similarly, no longer hot towels and amenity kits in economy class. I would not applaud the ergonomy of meal trays, slipping on tablets, with not well stackable cups, and equipped with plastic cutlery instead of stainless (by the way, spreading butter with such curved knives is a real challenge for a left-handed like me). By and large, I can still recommend Cathay Pacific on the Asia-Europe route. But, being not at lower price, CX should take care, in such highly competitive market, to give a little more than competitors, even small things.