Cathay Pacific Airways

Flew CX 0690 SIN-HKG and CX 0103 HKG-CNS. Both in Business Cabin both the recent new herringbone 1-2-1 config. The seat is good but everything else was mediocre at best. Lounge at Changi airport dreadful no proper business class queue at gate. No priority passport lines either at Changi or Hong-Kong airports. Walking distance from Lounge to departure gate at HKG is insane. In-flight service on both flights was all done in a hurry by noticeably overworked crew. Food was very mediocre. have had much better meals on many coach flights. Seat folds out to flat bed but on the A330 service HKG-CNS the small cubby hole where Your feet go the feet feel claustrophobic and it was boiling hot in there. The only Kudos for Cathay is the WING 1st Class lounge at HKG Airport with its great Cabanas and menu-restaurant dinner.

16/7/14 CX505 NRT-HKG. B777-300 aircraft registration B-HNN. Got these 4 flights at S$660 so it was the best value for money. Checked in online. There was a separate line for online check in at NRT so we breezed through check-in in a jiffy especially since there was almost no queue due to our early arrival. The plane was old and dated but with a refurbished interior with AVOD entertainment a huge difference from their ancient A330s and a few un-refurbished B777-300s and B777-200s. The AVOD was easy to use and had up to date movies. Music selection was really good for Asian music with new mandopop albums available. Inflight service was efficient and friendly. A full bar service with peanuts distributed followed by dinner meal service and trays of drinks after that with bar service on request. Food was decent and edible but nothing to write home about.

11/7/14 CX736 SIN-HKG. B777-300 aircraft registration B-HNI. Got these 4 flights at S$660 so its the best value for money. Checked in online. There was a separate line for online check in at SIN so we breezed through check-in in a jiffy. SIN is always efficient anyway. Boarding was on time and by seat numbers. The plane was old and dated but with a refurbished interior with AVOD entertainment a huge difference from their ancient A330s and a few un- refurbished B777-300s and B777-200s. The AVOD was easy to use and had up to date movies. Music selection was really good for Asian music with new mandopop albums available. Inflight service was efficient and friendly. A quick service of water juices and beer on a tray with peanuts distributed followed by meal service and nothing after that service by request only. We had a choice of chicken penne with tomato sauce or sweet and sour fish with rice and Haagen Daz ice cream. Food was decent and edible but nothing to write home about. My companion asked for an additional main course since he found the portions small. His request was granted after the meal service ended. Great service.

11/7/14 CX500 HKG-NRT. B777-300 aircraft registration B-HNI. Got these 4 flights at S$660 so its the best value for money. Transited through HKG from CX736. Boarding was on time and by seat numbers. The plane was old and dated but with a refurbished interior with AVOD entertainment a huge difference from their ancient A330s and a few un- refurbished B777-300s and B777-200s. The AVOD was easy to use and had up to date movies. Music selection was really good for Asian music with new mandopop albums available. Inflight service was efficient and friendly. A full bar service with peanuts distributed followed by dinner meal service and drinks on a tray brought about twice. We had a choice of vegetarian mushroom fusilli with tomato sauce or pork with Chinese sauce with rice and Haagen Daz ice cream. Food was better on this leg. On this flight I had this fantastic female cabin crew member serving our side. During the bar service I asked for a gin and tonic and while making it she asked for my nationality then began chatting with me. I requested a set of playing cards as a souvenir and was given a writing kit in addition to the cards. I have flown 10 flights with CX and this was by far the best flight.

17/7/14 CX659 HKG-SIN. Sparkling new B777-300ER aircraft registration B-KQO hardly over a week in service. This was the aircraft's 8th flight. Got these 4 flights at S$660 so its the best value for money. Transited in HKG from CX500 and had a 3hr layover. Boarding was late by 15 minutes and had no seating order all economy passengers just boarded at the same time. Full flight. The plane had a new fresh cabin smell with the latest seats and AVOD entertainment. The AVOD was easy to use and had up to date movies. Music selection was really good for Asian music with new mandopop albums available. Inflight service was conducted but there was barely any 'proper' service. Due to the midnight flight we were given a snack box containing cold food. Terrible offering. A box of iced lemon tea was given. Service was by request after that and I got a gin and tonic on request. Trays of water were carried out twice. I feel CX should at least offer a proper meal tray for being a 5 star airline not a snack box. At least people have the option whether they want to eat supper or skip it.

HKG-NGO-HKG in June 2014. Both segments were on B777-200 with older regional product in-flight so the entertainment system is older and not on-demand. Other than that the whole experience from check-in (online check-in is easy and quick and dropping bags has separate short line) boarding and in-flight (meal and services) are excellent.

Bangalore to Los Angeles leaving Bangalore by KA 153 to travel on 4 Jul. (Seat No 29 A and C). The flight got delayed and left Bangalore at 05.55 hrs. We were accommodated on a connecting flight No CX 882 (Seat No 40 A and B) leaving Hong Kong in the afternoon. We had requested for Asian Vegetarian food which we got on the flight from Bangalore to Hong Kong on Dragonair. To our surprise in the menu card on CX 882 the first meal was vegetarian pasta. On requesting this the hostess said they had no vegetarian food and offered us cup noodles. Vegetarian food needs to be provided on all the flights.

LHR-HKG-LHR. Seasoned traveller. Very disappointing service and food availability. Take-off delayed by over 2hrs due to 'troubleshooting' and only offered cups of lukewarm water after 1.5hrs of sitting on an uncomfortably warm full plane parked at the gate. First drinks service was very slow and ran out of a number of soft drinks (surprising as this was the first drinks service and we were in 5th row they served). Highly disappointed to be told during lunch service that had ran out of chicken (I reiterate we were in the 5th row they served) and only beef or vegetable pasta were available. More foresight needed when planning food demand or perhaps need better menu options if the majority of passengers were rejecting the beef? Food portions were also smaller than on other airlines and a mini KitKat does not constitute a 'dessert' when most other airlines would offer the KitKat as an addition to the 3 courses. No tea/coffee offered proactively after the lunch service needed to ask the FA for this. Only one meat option available again at dinner service (other meat option had again 'run out') or vegetable option. To their credit cabin crew were very apologetic and seemed almost embarrassed to tell us that it had happened again. Snacks counter was set up in the galley with a small assortment of sweet and savoury snacks that were regularly replenished. Cabin crew were very obliging when asked for non-alcoholic drinks. Seat seemed narrower than other airline economy seats and age-old problem once seat in front is fully-reclined does apply here; near impossible to reach my bag on the floor. Toilets were very clean and I did witness cabin crew doing regular checks of the facilities armed with air freshener. Inflight entertainment system was very good with many new movies available for viewing - adverts before every film/TV episode is annoying but you can fast forward through these. Overall poor flight experience but credit to good cabin crew. Only chose Cathay Pacific this time as flight time was more suited to my schedule but will definitely not choose Cathay over Emirates ever again.

Overall a good airline but seats could be more comfortable. My biggest complaint is that after meal service the crew disappear and it is almost impossible to drag them out of the galley for service. This is not the first time I have experienced this on Cathay Pacific. Food is good but portions are very small.

We have just flown CX 111 Premium Economy to Rotterdam. Unfortunately the airline code shared from Hong Kong to Heathrow and then Rotterdam with British Airways. Cathay Pacific was light years better than BA. The plane was quieter the food and drinks much better the staff more attentive and friendly and the seats much much more comfortable compared to BA. The seat cushion was softer and the recline better the pillow almost full size and the blanket softer and larger. The entertainment system on BA kept cutting out. I would give Cathay 8 out of 10 and BA 6 out of 10.