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Making the trip to Australia in business. Cathay and Emirates are the 2 options from London into Sydney and out of Perth (timing and price driven). Havent flown Cathay for an extended period and the OW miles are preferred but after a recent flight from Auckland to Brisbane the Emirates product seemed far superior. New Cathay seat not available on longest sectors. Travelling with a companion so side by side less of an issue. Any thoughts?
@Foreignescape, whilst I don't fly either of them as often as many others on this site do, (so their experiences may be much more valuable to you), what I can say from my experiences is that Cathay for me has always been the more professional and service oriented. I found Emirates to be all song and dance but little substance. Impressive, but the service can be sketchy at the best of times. I also very much prefer the food served on CX. Transitting in Dubai, however, is great!
I second dutchyankee's comments. You mention a travelling partner, with this in mind: The Cathay seat is more private and doesn't allow for a whole lot of interaction with any travelling partner when sat in adjacent seats. I find it great when travelling with colleagues as it means I get my own personal space that they cannot encroach on which I know, doesn't suit everyone. All that said you should check which product is offered on Cathay's Sydney and Perth flights as I remember some discussion a few years ago that these featured Cathay's "Regional" Business Class Cabin, which is a cradle style seat. By contrast the business seating on (most) Emirates flights is side-by-side so allows for much more interaction with your fellow traveller, so you get a feeling of travelling with someone (not just on the same plane as them).
Hong Kong for me is a preferred stop over .. not Dubai.
I've always rated Cathay's service ... and their new herringbone business class seat is superb.
Perth to London is a lot longer via HKG, and the new Cathay business seat is not available to Perth as far as I know.
LHR PER via anywhere other than SIN would need to come a great price. I love CX especially First but their old mortuary seats in business class are hideous. Did 2 x 5 hour sectors in August and the flights were great, crew were excellent, food fabulous and IFE system and content superb. The seat was ghastly however and certainly not something I would want to do 12 hours in overnight plus a further 8 to PER.
What about QF and the A380? I found their SIN PER on the A330 very good and the service and crew were great. The slide in business was a pain but for just over 4 hours very bareable.
All depends on the fare though and if saving several thousand on the BA/QF stitch up on the JSA runs then CX would be worth the punt.
LHR PER via anywhere other than SIN sub 20 hours would need to come a great price.
I love CX especially First but their old mortuary seats in business class are hideous. Did 2 x 5 hour sectors in August and the flights were great, crew were excellent, food fabulous and IFE system and content superb. The seat was ghastly however and certainly not something I would want to do 12 hours in overnight plus a further 8 to PER. Once the new one launches on LHR HKG and beyond then it will be a force to be reckoned with.
What about QF and the A380? I found their SIN PER on the A330 very good and the service and crew were great. The slide in business was a pain but for just over 4 hours very bareable.
All depends on the fare though and if saving several thousand on the BA/QF stitch up on the JSA runs, then CX would be worth the punt.
Well, nothing that makes me angry or to write about it. I didn't experience any rude agents or disruptions.
It was such a miserable experience that I just promised to myself not to go there again (DXB, I am not talking about UAE or Dubai),. The airport was full of people sleeping on the floors (like snow disruption but with not any disruptions) and the lounges were awful with people sleeping in the sofas and everywhere.
Overall, I just didn't like it. There is nothing to moan about.
To the initial question, I would go with EK in order to experience the A380 but as he collects miles with Cathay I have to suggest him that one.
The new CX C seat is not available LHR-HKG at present but is available HKG-SYD. It's excellent, probably better than the new BA F seat.
I would have thought LHR would have been one of the first routes. Anybody know how to find out?
I was just reading that only the A330 and 777-300ER will get the new seat; look out for these planes when you book.
The seat does look at least as good as the new BA first, and I may choose CX for my next Australia trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-qeRWO0_0E
Thanks for all the feedback, Emirates not gaining a lot of votes.....my concern is ending up with a cradle seat PER-HKG.
Regarding price, Emirates and Cathay a very reasonable 3k, Singapore 4k and QANTAS 5k.
Etihad is having a sale which ends Wednesday; not sure if they fly to PER (but might do so on a codeshare).
Watch out for lengthy connections!!!
http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/etihad/uk/en/home/Pages/sales.aspx
LHR on CX is either the A340 or the 747, I believe neither will be retrofitted with the new C seat although of course plans may change.
Yes, 3 x 747 and 1 A340 daily. The 777 does come to LHR occasionally though, and will do so more frequently as the 747s are retired; the youngest is now over 16 years old.
I would have thought they would put their best equipment on a route like LHR, but as the 747 has a lot more seats then maybe they need the capacity.
I regularly travel on this new Biz seats from HKG to SYD but at the moment there is only one flight per day in each direction using this A330. To me the combination of the nicer new seats and the refined CX cabin service is unbeatable. The most wonderful thing for me is the wider space for the feet enabling freer movements while sleeping whereas many other airline Biz seats have narrower feet space.
I've just seen a CX advert on Sky News - 'fly Cathay Pacific 4 times daily to Hong Kong and beyond''
The new business class seat was shown, and at the end a 777-300 flying through the sky.
The new seats/777 are not scheduled to London and yet they run these adverts. A little misleading.
Foreignescape, use the booking function on the CX website (obviously without going through to payment) and you should be able to see which plane they are using on the route - click on it, and you will be able to get the seating plan which will tell you which type of seat it is. If the configuration is herringbone, it is flat bed. If it isn't, it is the (awful) regional seat. If it shows "EQV" (equipment varies), though, you would have to call to find out which plane it is
Having been to both DXB and HKG - I prefer HKG transit anytime. The sight of "bodies" lying everywhere is not very welcoming.
Flew EK last month from SYD-CHC on Business and prior to that on CX HKG-LAX (old business - i.e. casket seats). You definitely get more privacy on CX; the TV screen on EK is fantastic! But I find the service on CX far more superior to that of EK. I also prefer CX lounges anytime compared to EK ones.
Unless you're on the EK A380, I would go for CX (even if it means older Business seats).
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