Cathay Pacific Airways

I am usually a fan of Cathay but they dropped the ball this time. MEL-HKG Scheduled 00.40 am take off came and passed before they let us known there was a problem. Kept telling us they would update us in 15 mins this went on for 2 hours before we received an SMS saying the plane was delayed to 3pm. This saw passengers approach staff at the desk who had no idea what was going on or about the new take off time. Finally they told us the plane needed a part which would be flown in from Brisbane so we would have to go home as there only a few hotel rooms available. After several hours we were given a cab voucher and finally had to leave through immigration and customs all off whom looked really peeved. Left the airport at about 4am to find no taxi's. Melbourne Airport staff made frantic calls to taxi companies. 45 mins later we were on the way home. Up at 11 am to get ready to head back to airport to find an SMS saying the flight was delayed to 10.30 pm that night. Finally boarded to find another problem with plane which thankfully they fixed and off we went. Service on board was fine PE seats ok with added leg room. Far to tired to care and tried to sleep most of the way. Cathay staff at Melbourne lost the plot when confronted with a problem. Get your act together.

CX565 from Osaka to Hong Kong 20th Sep 13. This flight stop over is in Taipei. Staff on this flight not very courteous and not very helpful. When we reached Taipei the crew just hid they acted as if they had nothing to do with the passenger cleaners hopped on anto d clean up. A female crew came over to ask whether my child wanted a children's meal. I said there was no need to prepare a children's meal. I also have a baby I asked if my baby could have the children's meal. After a while a staff member came over to tell me that because the baby travels for free they are not supposed to have a meal. I just didn't realise the service from Business to Economy could can be so different.

LAX to MNL with my handicapped sister May 2013 took business class to make sure that my sister was comfortable since she could not move the left side of her body and was in a wheelchair. Although I was told before I booked my flight that I will have to be responsible for transferring my sister to and from the wheelchair to her seat I was hoping that there would be kind people willing to help me out in case I needed it. Anyway I was pleasantly surprised that the airplane we took had some apparatus that would aid the handicapped to transfer to their seats (one was a long board that she could sit on and would slide her to the seat while the other was a lift sling that needed 3 people to carry her to her seat). The flight attendants were trained to do the manoeuvres although it did seem that not all of them were so familiar with how to use it but they were very eager to help us out. Although a mechanical error occurred during our flight from HKG to MNL and caused us to go back to MNL 20 mins into the flight to change airplanes (meaning repeating the whole process of transferring her from her seat to an inflight wheelchair to a regular wheelchair and then back to an inflight wheelchair and onto her airplane seat again). I was just very thankful that the staff of Cathay Pacific were very accommodating to us and would recommend this to those who have to travel with someone who is handicapped.

HKG-YYZ a few months ago. First of all got thoroughly duped on their website with their infamously tricky pricing process. When they say 'total price' they still have not added their 15-20% additional carrier fees which they disguise as taxes. After arriving at the airport I am informed the flight is delayed 30 minutes. Once arriving at the gate I am then informed they have changed the gate and that the flight is now 45 minutes delayed. When I arrive at the new gate they have extended the delay by 15 minutes and then a few minutes later they covertly increase it by 15 minutes. So we're an hour and 15 minutes late out of the gate and the captain comes on and blames the typhoon (which was only a T1 and no other flights were delayed that I could see). The aircraft is tired and the cabin crew look about the same. After 15 hours of a very uncharming and shameless money grabbing experience (advertisements everywhere - before every video you watch about 3 of them and about 5 reminders of the duty free items being offered) we arrive at YYZ with the pilots not having made up any time at all likely to save fuel. The airline is obviously in financial distress (see the latest report) and it's been consistently poorly managed for the last few years. Another legacy carrier to add to the 3-4 star category methinks.

MEL-HKG-AMS on 340-300. Truly terrible. Long Haul from HKG-AMS was 13 hours and was given 1 meal then 10 hours later we got breakfast which consisted of a sloppy omelette. Sure everyone complains about economy class food but 10 hours without even a cracker and cheese? I counted 7 hours without even being offered even a glass of water. If I needed a drink I had to take my water bottle to the rear and ask for it to be filled. The seats - they don't recline at the back but the bottom of the seat the part you sit on slides forward so your knees are pushed into the seat pocket in front offering no support whatsoever for your lower back. The seat pocket the elastic edge had lost it spring so did not hold magazines etc but just flopped onto your knees. And what is with the pouch that is on the strap of the seat beat so uncomfortable and bulky. Seat is very hard too and for a 13 hour flight very bad for circulation. The service was the worst of it I just don't understand where the staff were during all that time they were absent in the cabin. I'll never fly them again except I the return ticket for this trip I've already purchased.

LHR-HKG-LHR in Premium Economy class. No pre boarding for PE class passengers once onboard offered pre take-off drinks which included champagne on both flights. Excellent meals both flights offered Dinner and Breakfast and snacks were available during the flights. The seat is fairly comfortable and I'm 6ft 1in and found the legroom more than ample in fact on both flights I managed over 8 hours sleep. Lots of choices with entertainment movies TV during the flight. I would recommend Cathay Premium Economy Good value excellent Service I think people who write negative reviews about this class are expecting business class but need to remember this is not!

HKG-Bali-HKG in Economy class on 777 (old shell seats). Flight time from HK to Bali changed twice prior to departure from 10.30am to 22.40hrs the evening before. Flight out only about 100 people on board so had plenty of room to spread out return flight full. Crew very attentive on both legs meal good and entertainment excellent Only complaint is the 'Shell Seats' I know Cathay are phasing these out and I can understand why these are not comfortable in the slightest and this flight was only 4.5hrs so I would dread to think what it would be like on a Long haul flight. Legroom for Economy was actually quite good at 6ft 1in I had no problems evening when I reclined the seat (which slides forward to the seat in front).

My wife and I flew PVG-HKG-KUL and back between the 28/9 and 6/10 on a variety of aeroplanes B744 A773 2 x A333 respectively. We found the website excellent to use (although had problems with payment) and it was great to be able to reserve seats at the time of booking. Check-in was perfectly adequate too. Sadly Cathay's planes are looking a bit ropey: the ones we had must have had an average age of about 17 years so the in-flight entertainment was poor (about six looping channels) and the whole cabin seemed tired. The cabin crew were very professional but some of the food was iffy. We found it poor that Cathay did not use a jetway to board passengers on the HKG - PVG flight. 300 people on shuttle buses is ridiculous. Overall they were alright better than the other Chinese airlines but nowhere near Malaysian Singapore or Korean airlines.

Rating : 9/10 Cabin Flown Economy Value for Money Seat Comfort Staff Service Catering Entertainment Recommended

Recently flown from SFO to HKG and returning flight from HKG to SFO on CX 873 and 872 respectively. I have flown this route many times on their business class. The recent experience confirmed the complaints that I have heard from my peers. CX has definitely moved to cost cutting affecting their most profitability section - the business class customers. During the inflight drink service the flight crews normally present the drink and a small plate of warm almonds On both trips they only offered the drinks and I would have to request for those warm almonds. Selection of food has reduced from 3 to 2. Amenities like salt and pepper that came in the beautiful shakers are removed completely. Upon asking you are presented with salt and pepper in small plastic container.