[christ]

Currently on board the 150pm Cathay flight (wed 23) from Hong Kong to London.

Luckily I was able to get business class with Avios (going back on Qatar to seoul (gbp 2k one way) and after a holiday in seoul back on cathay to HK.

Check in at HK was outstanding as I arrived 90 mins before my flight. All desks were open and whilst one world emerald and flying business, the lady ushered me to the first one which was economy and where 2 people checked me in, it was that quiet. Check in were quite friendly and efficient and I was impressed how well staffed they were (it was a relaxing experience). I should say a friend also travelled to SFO last week with Cathay and I went with him as he was on a 1am flight and it was the same experience except he had an amazingly super helpful young guy eager to assist.

I suspect london will be a shock but at HK all the security lanes for hand luggage were open and I just had 1 person in front of me and was through in less than 5 mins. Security were helpful. Then scan HK ID card and off to the lounge.

I went to the first lounge (I think is the wing near gate 1 – left out of security and are there in 2 mins – none of this lhr t5 rubbish of up and down escalators to get to the lounge. Staff were friendly and I had to scan leave at home safe app and show vaccine evidence. Lounge had maybe 15 people or so and I ate in the restaurant. I had a duck terrine and some wraps – the food was a little disappointing when you compare London T3 cathay offerings and as was the service – however it was adequate. I should have looked at the buffet.

Went to the shower facilities and were large and exceptional.

Unfortunately my gate could not have been further away – gate 36! No idea why they use when most gates are sitting empty. Walking through terminal was quite quiet and quite a few shops open but some looked closed for good (ie moncler).

I only arrived at gate 15 minutes before closing (cut off is 10 minutes which seems very good for long haul). There was no queue and the lady was helpful getting me through the gate. No queue to get on the plane and they had separate economy and business / first entrances.

The crew were a bit cold when boarded as unlike ba there were no smiles. However once I got to my seat (row 12 and which is the second from the front as no first class today), the guy crew member was very helpful and putting luggage in the bins for me. I also noticed the lady crew member the other side helping those her side.

Initial impressions of the a350 – 1000 was that it felt like I was in a doctors surgery as very white. I quite like the seats but it does not compare to ba club suite on the a350 by any means as no door (however probably better than the old ba club seats and better than the Qatar non – q suite seats). However what does stand out is the huge amount of storage in front – it is very cleverly designed. I also like the big table at the side of the chair as well as the pull out table which slides sideways so you are never trapped in the seat. Seat has set functions which are good. No air vents.

Champagne and other cocktails were offered pre – take off. Also they have a very nice printed menu and orders were taken before take off on an I pad equivalent and asking what drink wanted once in the air and with the meal. It was from this stage the the young guy serving also spoke by name.

The pre drinks came out in about 30 mins (they don’t take trolleys down the aisles except when clearing plates – I almost think trolley could be quicker). Food was served in the following hour and so quite quick. Whilst on the small side, the quality was excellent as had a soup, rack of lamb (very tender and cooked perfectly) and cheese.

After dinner they took orders for the next round of service and then lights out at 5pm (feels quite early but gives everyone an option re sleep). Frequent offer of too ups for drinks.

Big tv screen and good selection (bigger screen than BA first). WiFi not so great but that is the same with most airlines.

So I was impressed with the HK ground experience and the service and seat are good. However I don’t think I would pay a big premium to go cathay over ba but would over Qatar unless q suite or need the extra tier points from 2 flights.

My flight from seoul to hk is also a cathay a350 and was very reasonable priced as was about HKD 4500 (it was cheaper than Korean air and who I would have tried if they had kept the a380 on the route but they took it off).

Overall a pleasant experience and I have to say HK has to be the best airport to depart from as just relaxing and so many staff at every point (cathay or airport) – Europe could learn a lesson from.

11 users thanked author for this post.

superchris, jwhi56, Polly, CathayLoyalist2, pdwtrip, cwoodward, sparkyflier, Montysaurus, Bullfrog, Tom Otley, GivingupBA

[christ]

I thought I would write up the second half of my journey. Despite some other reviews I have read, the crew were active going through the cabin after the first meal, though many were sleeping. The snacks in the galley were quite poor as they did make BA’s club kitchen look impressive (and I do not remember it being great). There was a biscuit, crisps, nutrigrain kind of bar and fruit. Additionally as I found out later on, there was movenpick ice cream which was excellent.

About 90 mins before landing, the second meal (called a light dinner but to me seemed a big dinner) and was excellent. There was fruit to start with and then i ordered wok beef noodles and then there was a meringue. When you compare this with BA’s usual miserable sandwich offering, this was outstanding.

I have to say I really enjoyed both my main courses of lamb and the wok beef – I have not flown BA on the HK route since May last year but i certainly do not remember 2 excellent meal services.

I also liked that they were very pro active in giving big bottles of water v tiny glasses.

We landed about 20 minutes early and getting off the plane was efficient as they waited for all business passengers to disembark.

Must be my bad luck as we must have been at the furthest gate at T3 (the theme continued as at the JW London, my room was the second to the end of the corridor). No queue at security (and for non – UK / EU, the queue did not look long – maybe 100 or so passengers but most of the desks open). I had a lot of luggage and was worried about it getting lost with all the stories of LHR. Well priority baggage works with Cathay as my bag was off the belt and in a little segregated area with other priority baggage – what outstanding service and this made me so impressed when I was tired.

Quickly out of terminal and into a somewhat expensive black cab to Park Lane (£80) and a rude black cab driver which made me realise how much i miss HK already! Nice to have a break but I look forward to returning in a few weeks.

So overall, it seemed a painfully long flight at 14.5 hours flying time but:

a) Cathay on the ground service was amazing at both ends;
b) Cathay HK first lounge excellent, although food not as good as Cathay T3 lounge;
c) Excellent business seat and with a huge amount of storage in front of the seat and full overhead bins (I know some like the qatar with no middle overhead bins but the plane still felt bright and I would rather be able to store hand luggage safetly). Also whilst there are no doors for the seats, it felt very private with the way the seat is designed and even though I was in the middle and the 2 seats faced inwards, I never saw my neighbour;
d) Crew could have been more friendly and smiling but were very young but every request was met and quickly and apologising for any delay when there was not really a delay – I was probably lucky as had 2 young guys my side who remembered everything where as the other side did not seem to have such service;
e) Outstanding food and almost to me cooked to restaurant standard – I think it is the best airline food I have ever had (both main meals);
f) Never ran out of champagne or wines etc (the only thing they seemed to run out of at the very end was coke and they were so apologetic but sill had diet coke and coke zero……BA runs out well before that of multiple things in my experience;
g) Priority luggage.

I do still think Cathay is on the high side price wise and perhaps (as I get bored easily), I enjoy the interaction with BA crew more and which is a personal preference (despite 95% of my closest friends being HK locals). However overall I was very impressed and would recommend 100% without a doubt and would have no hesitation of booking again (plus the HK airport experience is excellent now – so efficient). I think if BA and Cathay were the same price, I would go one way Cathay and one way BA! Nonetheless, not losing luggage or waiting hours is important to me and that is something I would consider justifying paying slightly more along with the excellent food.

As an aside I have had to change my Cathay flight back from Seoul tp HK and was expecting a change fee as I bought a cheaper business ticket – however no change fee as they still make all tickets flexible. Also as my fare is lower, they even processed a refund!

BA club to Warsaw on Monday. I am looking forward to the first lounge (not sure why as will not compare with Cathay in HK but will make a change). Not overly excited about the whole BA short haul experience though. Also as I had to change my flight from Warsaw to Seoul, I get to experience Q Suite on one flight and so it will be interesting to compare – it will take a lot to beat my last Cathay flight!

4 users thanked author for this post.

jwhi56, Polly, CathayLoyalist2, pdwtrip

[MartynSinclair]

@Christ – great review

[quote quote=1247200]BA club to Warsaw on Monday. I am looking forward to the first lounge (not sure why as will not compare with Cathay in HK but will make a change). Not overly excited about the whole BA short haul experience though.[/quote]

Glad to see you are managing your expectations about BA short haul verses CX similar length flights. When I was using CX for the HKG-BKK-HKG sectors it was generally on par with a long-haul club offering…No F lounge in the UK comes close to the lounge offerings in HKG, SIN or even BKK.

Crew Interaction – this is interesting, I find the more mature crew on BA making me feel, I should thank the airline for offering me a seat on their aircraft, yet the younger Asian crews (male and female) always make me feel how appreciative they are about passengers choosing their airline.

I generally used BA service to HKG in the past purely down to cost and there was more room upstairs on the 380 over the 777/350

3 users thanked author for this post.

cybertravller, jwhi56, Polly

[christ]

I am looking forward to my Cathay business flight from Seoul to HK (it is also on an A350) as it will be my first on Cathay within Asia – my expectation was that it will be similar to a BA club long haul service and so thanks for confirming. Crazy to think flights such as Larnaca on BA are club europe!

I have BKK to HK on Cathay in January. I was going to book Emirates but the high quality of the Cathay flight the other day made me want to book Cathay – it was HKD 1,800 more than either Emirates or Thai.

I think BA is very hit or miss crew wise as I have had some excellent short and long haul but also some awful ones (more short haul). I do find BA funny hearing the Galley FM stories which probably is not very professional. The younger Asian crew who served my side were very good and I do agree that they were appreciative for customers flying with them.

The BA A380 was a big factor for me choosing BA in the past on the HK route as I really like the A380 (the only other A380 I have been on was Singapore Airlines in first for from Singapore to HK just to experience the suite and obviously that is in a different level). However it looks like when BA return in the coming days it is a 787 and then from the summer the 787 and an A350 when there are 2 flights a day.

[stevescoots]

Have been flying CX a few times during covid and last flight was LHR to HKG last Wednesday. one of the few, not great, experiences with them. very rare. F Lounge in T3 as always was excellent. However the flight not so much. At these “covid times” my seat was dirty with what can best be described as ketchup splashed on the back of the seat in front of me. I had to wipe it off because I wanted to hang my jacket which surprise surprise crew said due to covid they do not hang jackets which I know was not true as my last 3 flights on CX they have. Previous passengers half empty water bottle left in the storage bin.
I usually fall asleep even before take-off so when the CSM came round to do the Diamond welcome she took my food order and said they would wake me for food service as per my request, of course crew did not and when I woke I was told service over need to choose from the light bites. One of the few times I have had a “I want to speak to the manager” moments. Who immediately said no problem, apologised and arranged my food. Other than that uneventful flight. I know the dirty seating would not happen on Ex-HKG so can only blame typical Uk ground agency lack of attention

Cx pricing ex LHR is very high, and the loadings in J i can see why. I did manage to earn my diamond renewal before end of Oct and was looking forward to my special gift from Augustus, maybe a nice, branded bag? A model 777? Freebie Holdall? Free upgrade voucher to use any time?…no…400 free status points to mid-tier rewards that are pretty much useless to me anyway. Oh well

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[frustratedflyer]

I am flying to HKG next week with Cathay. The prices from LHR were eye watering. In the end I booked a trip via Madrid (one ticket) with BA and then CX for a third of the price of a direct ticket! A slight diversion to save £’000s. Might be worth looking for anyone looking to do this journey. Tickets were not shown on CX on any booking engine so had to use a travel agent.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Polly, GivingupBA

[Kopite]

As I’m now retired, (after a 40 year career in Asia Pacific with almost weekly flights), my priorities have now changed a bit.
I still want the luxury of a premium cabin but I’m now very price driven.

I’m surprised that CX is so expensive out of London but of course all airfares are ridiculously expensive right now and surely things have got to return to normal in 2023 once the pent up demand post Covid settles down and yields drop.

My experience pre Covid was always:

Most expensive carrier out of LHR = BA

Most expensive carrier out of HKG = CX

Most expensive carrier out of SIN = SQ

I live in Singapore but often don’t travel with SQ as it’s much more than BA, EK, QR, TK, TG etc on any route.

However it seems that this pricing dynamic isn’t a given anymore ?

Conversely the cheapest J class always used to be any fifth freedom carrier and for 30 years I regularly flew

SIN-BKK on CX
SIN-NRT on UA

This is always one way to get a cheaper business class ticket.
But as I stated above I’m much more price driven now than many board members.

2 users thanked author for this post.

jwhi56, Polly

[stevescoots]

Kopite,

always the way, the home based carrier charges most. thats why the old Ex-EU wheeze on BA could at times save over half the cost, way back when, about 10 years ago i would often fly CX CAN-HKG which is about longer taxi time than flight time and then to LHR, it would save on average 30% compared to just HKG-LHR

3 users thanked author for this post.

AMcWhirter, jwhi56, Polly

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1248467]thats why the old Ex-EU wheeze on BA could at times save over half the cost[/quote]

My cheapest (J) ex-Europe AMS-LHR-HKG-BKK return plus (on BA and CX) was sub E1,500. With the bonus the avios earned would generate at least 9 shorthaul avios legs. Yes there was a positing flight which had to be paid for (cash or avios).

Right now you need to be a brave person to attempt an ex-Europe ticket unless without and overnighter with the positioning flights.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[christ]

I found BA to usually be relatively cheap for business and first from lhr to HK as long as booked a little in advance – however found their prices very high if originated from HK (maybe I was unlucky).

Interestingly on the hk route, I have noticed prices have suddenly dropped significantly for December on ba / Qatar (although still expensive). I have not checked cathay. Further out there are good business fares of about 2.3k return (I think the lowest I paid was about 2k).

On my current trip, I had considered seeing friends in Glasgow but domestic ba prices seem out of this world (and some European ones). My one way club to Warsaw form London wasn’t too bad as was 160 pounds.

Definitely some good deals Ex eu and especially Poland. A business return on ba from Warsaw to NY (and most of US) last minute is less than 2k and is a completely flexible / refundable ticket (the flexibility goes away if you mix with American for some reason).

I look forward to the return of some normality re pricing!

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1248494]

from memory mine was £1300 Rtn to HKG ex AMS and i used points to get there, i think it was the first one i did after reading about the loophole it on here from you many moons ago 🙂

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[cwoodward]

It seems that every Cathay flight to UK is ‘at the moment’ full or overbooked hence the high fares. As soon as more flights are available the price will reduce as they already have around Asia and to a great degree down to AU and NZ where the fares are fast getting to something like they were pre pandemic.
Its perhaps being a little tough to criticise Cathay for milking the opportunity to charge a premium where possible after being hit so very hard by the pandemic for almost 3 years .

I was talking yesterday with Cathay re the possibility of redemption ticket availability to LHR in late March and they mention that they would be releasing a beefed up schedule to LHR for the first 6 months of 2023 prior end December and that some redemption tickets would then be available once again also that fares would probably be reduced. This is of course the time that BA flights to HKG become available.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[CathayLoyalist2]

[postquote quote=1252764]

I was talking with CX last week about redemption tickets and the lack of availability, which I quite understand, and they have extended the expiry date of my Asia Miles from 31st Dec 2022 to 30th Sept 2023. which was much appreciated.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[FormerBA]

Flew CX one way DPS HKG LHR. Fare was £1750. The flight from DPS was a A321Neo and the hard product was awful. The 2×2 seating on a 5 hour flight would not by itself be a problem, indeed previously CX have had such seating but an older product and larger twin aisle aircraft. This seat was uncomfortable and it was impossible to find a comfortable seating and relaxing position.

Crew and food were good, the flight on time, but on arrival we were parked as far as you can get from transit security and a very very long walk was required.

The connection was 777 and a 14.5 hr flight to LHR. This time the seat was great but the supper, while delicious, was simply too small.

The seat cover and blanket ensured I got around 6 hrs of sleep.

The crew were not good and service was disorganised and slow. 9 hrs in, and a call bell request went unanswered. I requested mint tea and biscuit. The tea arrived but no biscuit was delivered. Breakfast was good but coffee refills were non existent.

When the seat belt sign was on no hot drinks were served, understandably perhaps, but it was dragged out.
The flight time is incredibly long as Cathay rightly avoids Russian airspace.

1 user thanked author for this post.

jwhi56

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Looking at CX tomorrow – busy but not full – lowest yield seats in Business and Premium available:

1 HKG LHR13/ 2220#0500 CX 251 F3 A0 J3 C3 D3 P3 I2 W2 R2 77W C*E
«B» E2 Y9 B9 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0
N0 Q0 O0
2 HKG LHR13/ 2345#0620 CX 255 J4 C4 D4 P4 I2 W9 R9 E9 Y9 351 C*E
«B» B9 H9 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0

Economy busier

Wednesday still ok in Business / Premium:

1 HKG LHR14/ 2220#0500 CX 251 F2 A0 J7 C7 D7 P6 I4 W1 R1 77W C*E
«B» E0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0
N0 Q0 O0
2 HKG LHR14/ 2345#0620 CX 255 J8 C8 D8 P8 I2 W2 R1 E0 Y2 351 C*E
«B» B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
O0

Even Thursday:

1 HKG LHR15/ 0825 1500 CX 257 J3 C3 D3 P3 I2 W1 R1 E1 Y9 359 C*E
«B» B9 H9 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
O0
2 HKG LHR15/ 1345 2020 CX 253 J3 C3 D3 P3 I2 W2 R2 E2 Y9 359 C*E
«B» B9 H9 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
O0
3 HKG LHR15/ 2220#0500 CX 251 F3 A0 J7 C7 D7 P5 I3 W1 R0 77W C*E
«B» E0 Y1 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0
N0 Q0 O0
4 HKG LHR15/ 2345#0620 CX 255 J9 C9 D9 P9 I3 W3 R2 E1 Y3 351 C*E
«B» B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
O0
Friday even has seats – but a bit busier

Certainly not as bonkers busy as other routes at the moment.

2 users thanked author for this post.

jwhi56, cwoodward

[Author]

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