Cathay Pacific (CX)
- Flight: CXÂ 777
- Class:Â Business
- From: Hong Kong (HKG)
- To:Â Jakarta (CGK)
- Duration: 4hr50
- Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
- Seat: 19A (mini-cabin)
- Total Cost: Europe to Asia for 100k US Airways Miles in First/ Business
- Full route: LHR-HND-HKG-CGK-NRT/HND-HKG-LHR
- Click here for booking info
- Flight date: October 2015
[some very inventive censorship of Kamara’s sleepy face]
[yet more inventive censorship of K’s sleepy face]
At this stage I think we’re all familiar with the Cirrus seat. A breakthrough in design and the benchmark against which all long haul business class products are now measured. Being in the bulkhead row (seat 19A), means that you have a lot more foot space and can even sleep with your head in the footwell for a totally private, cocoon-like sleep, although I’d put a blanket down as a protective sheet first)Huge amount of leg space. No ‘foot coffin’ here.
The same generic headphones as we got on the short First Class sector between HND and HKG.
Thankfully these were able to block out a lot of the noise from a shrill and goblinesque child, who was intent on disrupting the cabin.
Upon finishing his PDB: [shouting at FA] “somebody needs to take away my water”!
[mother putting seatbelt on him] “Ow, you can’t do that, you’re hurting me”!
And best of all, after watching the safety video and learning a new word, he took to shouting, “BRACE! BRACE”! periodically throughout the flight.
Good for him though, mummy was there to make sure that her little emperor was immediately coddled and reassured whenever he became disruptive
I wonder if anybody has ever used the RCA or S video ports?
The most ridiculous thing about the control design. Bear in mind that this is the exact charger that all HK and UK Macs use. CX installed an S-video port but didn’t think to check whether the charger for the most popular laptop on Earth would fit? (luckily I travel with the US adapter too, so was able to flip the charger around to make it fit)
Given that a lot of people went straight to sleep, the service was very prompt and efficient.
I tried the dim sum, hoping that it would be an improvement over the lacklustre offering in The Pier. Thankfully it was. The coffee on the other hand…
Much like BA, CX don’t actually make espresso based coffees available in Business, only in First. They advertise espresso etc. but what you get is just a smaller measure of the same watery swill. A Nespresso capsule costs 10p wholesale; nickel and diming Business Class passengers like this is not cool.
What is cool though, is being able to eat breakfast, use the IFE screen for the moving map and edit photos on my Mac, whilst still being able to get out of my seat whenever I want. This is why reverse herringbone seats are so good.
After the dim sum I opted for the fruit, once again this was excellent.
Post breakfast I carried on editing photos for my trip reports and was pleased to find Violator by Depeche Mode and Purple Rain by Prince loaded on the IFE. Not quite as surprising as when Singapore Airlines had Mar1lyn Man5on and Slipknot on the IFE but very cool nonetheless.
Around an hour or so before landing I was quite hungry, unfortunately short flights like this don’t have a snack menu so I just went with a diet coke and some cashews to tide me over. An FA came immediately over as soon as I pressed the call button and returned within a minute (try than on a European or North American carrier).
Conclusion
The Cirrus seat is great to have on a flight of this length. Save for a few exceptional routes, we can only dream of getting something this good in Europe.
Cathay Business Class service is also prompt and efficient but totally unmemorable. The FAs didn’t engage meaningfully with anybody. They served and disappeared.
The food was decent but not substantial enough for a flight of this length. Some sort of snack menu would be great.
CX need to sort out their Business Class coffee. It is horrendous.
Overall, well worth taking over Economy but not exactly a luxury experience.
- Part 1:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class Lounge – London Heathrow T3
- Part 2:
- JAL : First Class – London to Tokyo Haneda
- Part 3:
- Park Hotel Tokyo
- Part 4:
- JAL First Class Lounge – Tokyo Haneda Airport
- Part 5:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong (Take 1)
- Part 6:
- Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
- Part 7:
- Cathay Pacific : The Pier First Class Lounge – Hong Kong Airport (Breakfast service)
- Part 8:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – Hong Kong to Jakarta
- Part 9:
- Mesastila Resort, Central Java : Arum Villa
- Part 10:
- Garuda Indonesia : Economy Class – Semarang to Bali
- Part 11:
- Villa Bulung Daya – Tabanan, Bali
- Part 12:
- Villa Amrita – Ubud, Bali
- Part 13:
- The Definitive guide to Food, Culture and Nature in Ubud, Bali
- Part 14:
- The Edge – Uluwatu, Bali
- Part 15:
- What to do in Uluwatu, Bali
- Part 16:
- Garuda Indonesia Business Class Lounge – Bali Denpasar Airport (Domestic Terminal)
- Part 17:
- Garuda Indonesia : Business Class – Bali to Jakarta
- Part 18:
- Pura Indah ‘First Class’ Lounge – Jakarta Airport
- Part 19:
- JAL : Business Class – Jakarta to Tokyo Narita
- Part 20:
- Conrad Tokyo : King Executive City Room
- Part 21:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong (Take 2)
- Part 22:
- Intercontinental Hong Kong
- Part 23:
- Cathay Pacific : The Pier First Class Lounge – Hong Kong Airport (Lunch service)
- Part 24:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Hong Kong to London Heathrow
2 Comments
I was unsure whether or not we would all have access to The Wing as they were arriving in first, but continuing on in business class.
It depends how long your connection is and how long the two flights are.
To access the Wing and Pier First class lounges:
If the connection is less than 24h and the First class flight is longer than the business flight, you should be ok.
If you are arriving in F from HND-HKG and then connecting on to a longhaul flight in business, you may be able to charm your way in but don’t count on it.
In any case, at a minimum you’ll be able to access all of the business class lounges, of which The Pier Business Class is absolutely the best. If your flight departs from a lower numbered gate and you’re short on time, I would take the Qantas Lounge over all of the CX lounges.