Cathay Pacific Airways

Flew HKG-MEL on an A330-300. Went on board with great expectations and was left wanting to be honest. First the good things dedicated check in and boarding which some of the other airlines that fly PE could learn from. The gluten free meal I was served was tasteless and the entertainment system I found was nowhere near as good as the BA one was. Service was sketchy at best couldn't recommend them.

FRA to HKG return plus a PVG-HKG sector in between (in Ordinary Econ). All flights on 777-300ER. Each on time arrivals. Find the PE seats a definite notch up from the Econ ones as you would expect. The front row middle section is nice because of the extra legroom but I found the leg rest fiddly and not terribly comfortable. Also as others have noted the S/B side toilet means a lot of people have to clamber past you to use it which gets tiresome. Food and drink tasty and plentiful surprisingly for a HK based carrier the western option was better than the Chinese one ! There seems to be a running debate on here as to whether PE is worth the difference over Econ. I'd say it all depends on the extra fare demanded. In my case it was about 30% more which to my mind is worth paying. I've seen some instances where it's nearly double the Econ fare which I'd not feel justified in paying. Overall CX's is better vfm than the BA or Virgin product but still well behind that of Air New Zealand.

CX829 and CX723 YYZ to HKG and onto KUL on 24 Aug. In contrast to the outgoing flight I must say I was more than satisfied with my return flight. Early morning departure from Toronto we were the last flight to leave. Full flight boarding was organized and efficient and the ground staff were pleasant and accommodating. I had an empty seat next to me which helped. The meals were disappointing in terms of size but were tasty. Snacks were provided on the 15 hour flight to HKG but you had to ask. Good quality shortbread cookies and hot cup noodles were provided. Staff were pleasant and the cabin manager was very sweet. As I had a cold she made me a cup of tea with honey and lemon and checked on me later to ask if I wanted another one! Seats were ok not great and in flight entertainment was adequate. No real complaints. All flights were on time toilets were clean so all in all a slick operation.

CX829 YYZ-HKG 24 Aug and connecting to CX723 to KUL. YYZ to HKG was a 15 hour flight in Premium Economy and was as perfect a flight as you could have wanted it to be! I was sick with a cold and the stewardess brought me a box of tissues and made me hot tea with lemon and honey. She enquired if I needed more and was quite attentive. When I told her I recognized her from my outbound flight on 4 Aug she was thrilled that I recognized her. Seats were spacious great leg room but I would have appreciated another 2 inches of recline to make sleeping that more comfortable. The downside was the food what was served was tasty but the portions were small and served on a tray not much larger than an A4 size piece of paper. The meal service was rushed and as it was a night flight there could have been more patrols with drinks and snacks. They need to improve on their snack quality which mainly consists of processed food. A few choices like fruit and sandwiches would have been nice. Would definitely fly with them again especially in PE.

LAX-HKG-BOM in Premium Economy. Seats are very comfortable. Food and drinks were good quality and sufficient. Crew were really good and responded quickly to requests. Definitely good value for money.

AMS to HKG Aug 3 and then HKG to SYD Aug 6. 6 ft passenger and 5 ft 6" passenger Seats 32EG and then 31D E. On both flights the seats were superb - I can't sleep on flights but I felt very comfortable the whole time. Hindu Vegetarian food was excellent. On the 1st flight on the A340 there was only 1 toilet in Premium Economy and on the 2nd flight on the A330 there were no toilets - very annoying and not what you would expect when paying double or triple the economy price. Both flights were very late departing.

Sapporo - Hong Kong 747-400. AVOD has a lot of latest movies and TV shows. The cabin crew serve drinks after take-off. After that they serve dinner. The food is so-so. I arrived Hong Kong 10 mins ahead of schedule. I had to wait 20 mins for my baggage but HKIA is always slow to send baggage.

CX790 KUL to HKG and CX826 to Toronto. Premium economy seats all the way. The seats are comfy and have great legroom but still feel cramped when the seat in front reclines. On the first leg KUL-HKG there was no drink service before takeoff or a hot towel in sight something Cathay hypes about in their commercials for premium economy. I was disappointed with the meal service as although we were served economy class meals the portions were tiny for a 14.5 hour flight. Staff were great pleasant and courteous and it was always service with a smile. They weren't around much after the meal service but did respond to calls. Personally I do not think these seats are great value for money due to the inadequate meal service and the general similar cramped feeling of economy. The seat mechanism was difficult to work and my seat would not go upright without the help of a steward who said that they were having problems with the premium economy seat recline mechanism.

Flights were really nice. Premium Economy seats were plush and service was excellent (on one leg - kind of standard on the outbound). Food was generally good but comparable to Economy. Given the similar price point I'd go with CX Y+ over SQ Y. For the regular traveler I'd go with CX Y+ anytime. Too bad the price point is HK$8000+. I'd choose CX Y if not on miles.

PVG-SYD. Dragonair Business to HKG Cathay Premium Economy CX101 HKG-SYD. After many years of flying the Shanghai- Sydney route decided to try Cathay PE. While it was acceptable it is certainly nothing to get excited about. As with many other comments I agree it is slightly better than standard economy and far inferior to Business. While not being so interested in the food or entertainment both of which were fine I am much more interested in the comfort factor. Cathay PE does not meet my requirements. Both meal services dinner on departure and breakfast before arrival the empty food trays sat for far too long obviously the staff serve PE first then do the economy cabin service so it can be a long time before they return to collect the food tray. Cabin lights remained fully lit well into the 23:55 flight departure. They advertised an amenity kit that provides eye shades but I was never offered one. A pillow over my face eliminated some of the light. Bathroom is shared with economy this is not good. The economy flight crew work the PE cabin while we all sat there with empty food trays in front of us Business Class crew and the purser made a number of trips through the cabin and completely ignored the fact that the cabin needed service. My result is either take a daytime economy flight or upgrade to business. PE is not value for money a separate bathroom and a couple of dedicated cabin staff would make the experience better. Cathay need to learn something from Turkish Airlines their Comfort Class works very well.