Cathay Pacific Airways

Not Verified | I booked "premium" economy after reviewing the amenities on the website and discussing them with a live agent. (Wait time on the telephone was over 1 hr both times I called!) The flights from JFK - Hong Kong - Siem Reap were fine and the amenities, provided. The flights from Ho Chi Minh to Hong Kong to JFK were awful. Cathay had a delay which caused me to miss my connecting flight. I was promised an upgrade by the gate agent because of the long wait I would have to endure. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, I was denied the upgrade and moved from my window seat to a center seat in the row of 5 seats. After much arguing, they miraculously found a window seat for me. They offered to provide a car in NY to transport me home which, after waiting an hour, they reneged on. However, the most disturbing issue is the advertising of amenities in "premium" economy: calf rests at the seat, separate check in and boarding lines and a champagne welcome. None of the amenities were provided. Other than being wider, the seat was no different than flying regular economy. The lines to check in and board were ridiculous and service aboard was awful. Attempts at resolving these issues have been met with a stubborn refusal to acknowledge that they did not provide a "premium" experience. Airline has no concern for customer satisfaction. I would never fly them again and certainly, do not recommend spending so much more money for "premium" when they don't deliver the product as advertised.

✅ Trip Verified | In August 2018, I flew Cathay Pacific from Vancouver to Johannesburg via Hong Kong in Economy Class My return trip used the same route but on Premium Economy. Departure time was delayed, food was average, perhaps because I ordered a special meal (Moslem meal). On both outbound and inbound trips, I was served food with lack of politeness. I had the impression that I was being sort of punished for ordering a special meal: I was once denied bread, my claim for coffee many times ignored. However, I refrained from complaining. Seats were fair on Economy and very good on Premium Economy. No particular complaint over seats. Inflight entertainment was excellent. Being a Marco Polo Green member didn’t really give me the kind of treatment I was expecting. Above all I was struck by the rudeness of stewardess I dealt with on both outbound and inbound flights.

✅ Trip Verified | Sydney to Hong Kong. I spent just 20% more for premium economy compare to a basic economy ticket. Compare to economy the airline offered better seats, food and service. There was a dedicated check in counter for premium passengers. Seats can recline more and the meal was more better than the economy product. Also, a small amenity kit was also available. However, I don’t like the lighting in the 777 which makes the cabin look a bit worn out.

✅ Trip Verified | Booked last minute as this is the cheapest flight I could find out of NYC to my home country Philippines. I chose CRK as I would not want to trouble myself getting out of MNL Airport. Last time I flew CX was in 2009 to RUH. The service and food then was great so I trusted that it would be the same or better. Flight date is 08 June. Check in was brief, pleasant. Felt at home as there were a lot Filipino staff in EWR. Airplane is new, legroom was good. In flight entertainment was great! This is a 15+ hour flight and we had 2 meals and snacks in between. I had dinner around 8 PM. We flew out 1:55 AM. Most of the restaurants near the gates were closed and besides food the airport was expensive. After supper (which was very good. I had beef, fried rice and veggies) I was still hungry. The menu said that they offer cup noodles upon request. The FA gave me another entree! As really am not able to sleep during flights, I walk around. I went to the galley at the back of the plane and they have snacks. Few hours passed, I went to the back and asked for toothbrush. I noticed that they do not provided amenity kits unless you asked. I asked for socks at the beginning of the flight. I think I asked both of these from the team lead FA. She is not smiling, very serious and does not even respond back after saying thank you. I had a feeling that she does not like serving Filipinos because she was from Hong Kong. There was an Indian flight attendant serving my area and I thought it was nice for CX to have diversity in their crew. But I was really disappointed the way this team lead FA treated me. I have read a few reviews and it feels very tight. I guess I have gotten used to western airlines that offer small chats. So snack time came and they were serving cup noodles. I am hungry so I requested for one. The FA was apologetic and told me I can only have one and I did have mine already. But other people are not even having a snack. They served breakfast late.30 mins before landing they are still serving breakfast. Overall I did not enjoy this leg of the flight. Transferred to Satellite terminal in HK. It was packed flight. Flight was delayed. Baggage was delayed. And snack was served on a paper bag. Crackers, candy and water. Not even coffee. CX went below my expectations. I guess airline services across the board is getting worse.

Not Verified | Perth to London via Hong Kong. Decided to treat myself and booked premium economy, waste of money. Perth to Hong Kong was good, wide comfortable seats good service. Hong Kong to Heathrow was terrible, plane was old and didn't seem any better than economy, I walked to back of plane and checked. On both flights there and back, one toilet was marked 'out of order', I saw female attendance using them , had to walk to back of plane and queue to use economy toilets. Premium Economy was so similar to Economy, not worth twice the price.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Sydney via Hong Kong. What a terrible waste of money it was spending just under 1925 GBP to travel Premium Economy with Cathay Pacific. I will never fly with them again. I booked and paid in May 2017 for a Premium Economy flight to Sydney. I was flying out to Australia on 26th September 2017 and returning 25th April 2018. At 73 years of age and travelling alone, I thought that I would treat myself and incur the extra expense of being able to book my seats in advance. However when my date for return to the UK came around I was shocked to find when using online check-in the day before travel that my previously booked window seat on the 9.5 hour leg from Sydney to Hong Kong had been allocated to somebody else. I had been bumped to an aisle seat at the back of the cabin and just a couple of feet from the economy class cabin. I queried this at Sydney airport on my departure day. They were unwilling to do anything about it. I asked the lady in my previously booked seat, how she got it. She had booked 9 months after me and was not related to the person sitting next to her, so it was obviously a Cathay malfunction. At no stage did I receive any notification of the seat change. I complained to Cathay Pacific and eventually got the promise of 100USD compensation. Still waiting. That is under 4% of the ticket price. This was a terrible experience and I will not be risking a repeat of it. My advice is to avoid Cathay Pacific.

✅ Trip Verified | This was the CX754 from Bangkok to Hong Kong taking off around mid-day. There were two distinctive features about this flight, at least as far as I was concerned. The first is that I hadn't previously flown on the A350 and I must say that I was suitably impressed. Cabin design excellent with spacious overhead lockers, decent sized toilets (no dedicated PE one but it didn't matter) and best of all vastly improved PE seating, both more comfortable and better leg-room than the 777, at least it felt that way. More 350s please! The one downside on this trip is that they served us economy class food for lunch and it was rubbish. Never complained about PE food before (never had to) but this time I am. One additional point to note is that the back row of PE on both sides overlaps with the economy cabin so be advised.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Auckland. Not exactly what I expected from a '5 Star' airline. There was enough space from the seat in front, but the seat was very narrow! Meals were acceptable considering the class flown. Flight attendants were almost non-existant during the flight, very poor service in premium economy! They appeared to be more concerned with keeping the economy passengers happy!

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Bangkok to Toronto via Hong Kong. Bangkok Check-In was smooth and professional. Staff informed me of a possible seat upgrade and asked for my seat preference if upgraded. Cathay's lounge in Bangkok was fairly chaotic, as a British Airways flight was delayed and hence resulted in a higher volume of number of people. Bangkok to Hong Kong on a 3-class A330-300. The flight was full and quick, flying time was 2 hrs 9 minutes instead of usual 2 hrs 30-45 minutes. Crew were mostly Thai and were extremely pleasant over meal service, showing Thai hospitality and Cathay's core value. Otherwise, flight was uneventful and the plane arrived Hong Kong earlier than scheduled. I had booked an itinerary that would require an overnight layover in Hong Kong. Heading to the lounge, the staff was welcoming and informed me the lounge would close at 12.30am. I visited 3 lounges and I found the Pier to be the most suitable for a nap as there is a nap area. I returned to the lounge at 5.30am, when it reopened, prior to my flight to Toronto. Hong Kong to Toronto on CX828. Once again a full flight in Economy and I was upgraded to Premium Economy for the flight. Seat next to me was empty. Amenity kits, headphones, a blanket and a pillow was placed at the seat prior to boarding. Seat provided extra legroom that would normally be found on bulkhead Economy seats. The seat storage was adequate and the focus on details was truly amazing. Tray table was easy to operate and was of a good size to fit a laptop. Flight departed Hong Kong slightly late but arrived Toronto half an hour ahead of schedule. The crew on this flight were pleasant, offering several round of drinks throughout the flight. However, despite all the positives, the biggest let down on this trip was catering. Especially on the Premium Economy sector, I chose the western option for lunch and the mashed potatoes were soggy and grainy. Dinner was standard, but for the most part, meal was similar to that of Economy's. Although the plus is getting actual metal cutlery instead of plastic ones. Overall, an average experience. I would still fly with them, given their flexibility and frequency of flights I have mentioned in my previous reviews.

✅ Trip Verified | I have always flown Cathay (B777) from London Heathrow, mainly because of Cathay's superb lounge in T3. However this time I thought I'd try out Cathay's Premium Economy Class on their A350-900 from London Gatwick. While at Gatwick's South terminal and being a One World Sapphire member I got to use BA's lounge and the First Class lounge at that! To be honest I was really disappointed and not a patch on even Cathay's business lounge at Heathrow. Moving onto the flight. The new premium economy was superb! The new darker colour scheme made the seat feel cosier, modern and sleek. The seat was comfy, in fact it was the first time I've actually had a proper sleep on a premium economy seat. The noise levels are definitely lower than the B777 and certainly noticed my skin and throat didn't feel dry with the new air filteration system. The updated IFE with a wider screen than the B777 is probably one of the best on any airline and, in my opinion, far better than compared to Emirates. It was easier to navigate through and just worked (a month before, I took a return Emirates A380 flight from LGW to Dubai and on both legs the IFE stopped working!). My main gripe with the new A350 is that the headphone sockets now only take a 2 pin adaptor where one pin is 2.5mm and the other 3.5mm - hence my Bose QC35's adaptor no longer fits which was really annoying. I even enquired with Bose to see if they had a suitable adaptor which they didn't - so really bummed about that - if Cathay can provide a suitable adaptor I'd be really happy! I really shouldn't complain about the food on Cathay anymore after sampling the awful food on Emirates. Staff were, as you'd expect from Cathay, to be professional and courteous. All-in-all an enjoyable flight.