Cathay Pacific B777-300ER (four class with Premium Economy) Economy

I transfered from a domestic flight to this flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong and headed to the BA First Lounge, having used the CX Lounge a number of times recently when flying Finnair. The Lounge was virtually empty and I was able to settle back and listen to radio commentary of the Saints thrashing Chelsea!! Food options were good and the sense of space fantastic, well before the evening rush.

I headed to the gate in good time and was able to walk straight aboard to my seat, 40D, in the second row of economy. Cathay’s 3-3-3 configuration on the 777 combined with cabin height gives a real sense of space and the seat construction is such that, even with a reclined seat in front of me, I was able to wok comfortably on my laptop. With my short legs and standard frame, the seat was also plentiful in size and comfortable for all positions.

We pushed back on time and were soon airborne. Drinks were soon served, followed by three choices for dinner of which I chose the lemon chicken which, even though I was not very hungry, was tasty. Cabin crew were smiling and helpful throughout, explaining the IFE and usb/ light control system to me as I had not encountered what proved to be a very user friendly system such as this, before.

Particularly impressive was a visit from the CSD to greet me by name and ask if there was anything she could do to make my flight more comfortable. I am not a CX FF – BA Gold,yes – and have never been greeted like this on a oneworld partner airline before when flying with IB, QF and AY. For that matter, neither do I recall this courtesy when I had a bmi Gold card and flew longhaul in Business with LH, LX and SQ where cabin crew would ignore you unless you were part of THEIR FF family. So a real bonus and a plus for CX.

For the second time in just over a week, I slept like a baby on a long-haul flight in Economy – the previous time was on BA – so I can readily vouch that the highfalutin airs and graces of those on this forum who would not deign to fly economy are, perhaps, exaggeration born of status sensitivity rather than direct experience. It ain’t so bad at all and 7.5 hours of undisturbed sleep is testimony to this.

I woke up in time for a peruse of Cathay’s adequate but unspectacular IFE system and, unusually for me, watched a movie while enjoying a tasty omlette for breakfast.

We landed some 20 minutes early and, after a very short taxi, were at the gate. Even though I have a connecting flight from Hong Kong, with plenty of time in hand, I made my way through Immigration in order to register for e-immigration for future visits. The main immigration lines were non-existent and there was no queue for the easy e-registration process which proved a real boon on returning airside, by-passing a very long Visitors line. Then a short walk to the Cathay Wings First Lounge and a wait for my next flight.