Trip Reports - Cathay F Hong Kong to Taipei

Date: 25th April 2012
Airlines: Cathay Pacific Airways
Flight: CX 470
Route: HKG-TPE (Hong Kong - Taipei)
Aircraft type: Boeing 747-400
Registration: B-HUG

Photos please click here (http://www.journalonjourneys.com/2012/06/cx-470-cathay-pacific-hkg-tpe.html)

Continuing on the second part of the journey after arriving from Tokyo (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1355517-cathay-f-tokyo-haneda-hong-kong.html), B-HUG operating as CX470 would fly me from Hong Kong to Taipei.


Upon check-in staff's comment about The Pier is the only lounge which is not shared with Business Class, I opted for it until later I learnt the renewed "Wing" would have been a better choice.


Thanks to the delay of the flight that I had 2 extra hours in the lounge, and I could truly enjoy the time being there.


Unfortunately The Pier was simply disappointing, 5-star decor with 2-star quality food and 3-star service level. Food at buffet bar often went empty before refilling (therefore please forgive the poor presentation of food in the photos :cool:), waiters never notice I have finished my drink and offer refill, collect my unfinished dish without first asking, and had along collected the fork without giving me back one. No information about noodle offering until asked, he dropped the chopstick onto the table from midair, and did not position the bowl of noodle to right in front of me after collecting my empty dish, more like tea-cafeteria quality service in downtown Hong Kong. Staff at bar had casual chats and laughed among themselves in front of me which was in fact no big deal but very unprofessional.


Concerning the food, I believe those offering in Plaza Premium Lounge would have quality and taste easily surpassed that of the majority offered at The Pier. Even the renowned noodle from the noodle bar was not anything special or outstanding. Probably smoked salmon, white chocolate, and the Haagen Dazs Cream n' Cookies were the only things that I would give a thumb up.


Shower required queuing, and soap/shampoo dispenser does not function well.


Hub to Hub comparison, SQ Silver Kris Lounge Business Class section's quality is way ahead of The Pier's First Class section.


For the flight, I was of ultimate pleasure to be the only one in the F cabin, Ms. Honey from Thailand and Ms. Tomoko from Japan served the whole cabin (i.e. serve me only). Had some chat before departure and Honey was very excited and keen to introduce me the "new-P-E-Y", or new Premium Economy seats which was available on the aircraft of the day. Upon her suggestion I stayed behind after everyone disembarked to take some photos of the new PEY seats.


As I was the only one in the F cabin, surely all 3 choices of main course had been prepared only for me, and I believed under normal circumstances two of them would go straight into garbage (I suppose there's almost no time for HKG-TPE flight for the cabin crew to consume the unchosen choices themselves). Therefore I requested that all 3 main courses be prepared so I could take photographs of them. Probably it was an unusual request, that even Tomoko the Japanese cabin crew could not resist to take photos by her iPhone as well. I must thank both Honey and Tomoko for their extra effort in accommodating my request.


For the 1 hour 18 minute flight I had been busying and rushed to take photographs of everything in complete freedom. The flight however took longer than usual as it circled over Taipei due to weather.


To conclude, apart from the lounge experience at The Pier, it would have been another perfect flight.

For the flight, I was of ultimate pleasure to be the only one in the F cabin, Ms. Honey from Thailand and Ms. Tomoko from Japan served the whole cabin (i.e. serve me only). Had some chat before departure and Honey was very excited and keen to introduce me the "new-P-E-Y", or new Premium Economy seats which was available on the aircraft of the day. Upon her suggestion I stayed behind after everyone disembarked to take some photos of the new PEY seats.



I saw your pictures of the PEY seats, wow, very nice, having flown turkish in their PEY and was VERY impressed with the level of service as well as seats, CX might give them a run for their money..

I saw your pictures of the PEY seats, wow, very nice, having flown turkish in their PEY and was VERY impressed with the level of service as well as seats, CX might give them a run for their money..

Yeah the CX Y+ seats look pretty nice, but I don't think they're better than the TK seats. The TK seats are thicker and look like they have more leg room.

The incrediable thing about this report is that they did not do a last minute substitution to an aircraft without F!

A la Cathay style on that route - you are really playing aircraft roulette!

I saw your pictures of the PEY seats, wow, very nice, having flown turkish in their PEY and was VERY impressed with the level of service as well as seats, CX might give them a run for their money..

Yeah the CX Y+ seats look pretty nice, but I don't think they're better than the TK seats. The TK seats are thicker and look like they have more leg room.

To me, only the first row of PEY worth as there is extra legroom and for its "legrests", others are just "footrests"


The incrediable thing about this report is that they did not do a last minute substitution to an aircraft without F!

A la Cathay style on that route - you are really playing aircraft roulette!

Shortly after entering the lounge, a staff approached me notifying my flight was going to delay by roughly 2 hours and asked if I would like to swap for an earlier flight, but on J instead. I was more than happy for the delay for the extra time in the lounge and expressed my intention of flying on the flight I booked, and to make things sure, I double checked with her if my flight would be operated by "74A", which later she checked and returned by saying "No, but it is a "74K" instead, however it has identical First class seats layout as 74A".

I double checked with her if my flight would be operated by "74A", which later she checked and returned by saying "No, but it is a "74K" instead, however it has identical First class seats layout as 74A".

can never be too careful ^

As I was the only one in the F cabin, surely all 3 choices of main course had been prepared only for me

This is crazy awesome ... 3 full meals in first class in basically less than an hour of flight time before descending ... ^^^^^^^

Thanks you convinced me to spend 13500 Avios for F on this flight instead of 9000 for business :)

Date: 25th April 2012
Airlines: Cathay Pacific Airways
Flight: CX 470
Route: HKG-TPE (Hong Kong - Taipei)
Aircraft type: Boeing 747-400
Registration: B-HUG

Photos please click here (http://www.journalonjourneys.com/2012/06/cx-470-cathay-pacific-hkg-tpe.html)

Continuing on the second part of the journey after arriving from Tokyo (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1355517-cathay-f-tokyo-haneda-hong-kong.html), B-HUG operating as CX470 would fly me from Hong Kong to Taipei.


Upon check-in staff's comment about The Pier is the only lounge which is not shared with Business Class, I opted for it until later I learnt the renewed "Wing" would have been a better choice.


Thanks to the delay of the flight that I had 2 extra hours in the lounge, and I could truly enjoy the time being there.


Unfortunately The Pier was simply disappointing, 5-star decor with 2-star quality food and 3-star service level. Food at buffet bar often went empty before refilling (therefore please forgive the poor presentation of food in the photos :cool:), waiters never notice I have finished my drink and offer refill, collect my unfinished dish without first asking, and had along collected the fork without giving me back one. No information about noodle offering until asked, he dropped the chopstick onto the table from midair, and did not position the bowl of noodle to right in front of me after collecting my empty dish, more like tea-cafeteria quality service in downtown Hong Kong. Staff at bar had casual chats and laughed among themselves in front of me which was in fact no big deal but very unprofessional.


Concerning the food, I believe those offering in Plaza Premium Lounge would have quality and taste easily surpassed that of the majority offered at The Pier. Even the renowned noodle from the noodle bar was not anything special or outstanding. Probably smoked salmon, white chocolate, and the Haagen Dazs Cream n' Cookies were the only things that I would give a thumb up.


Shower required queuing, and soap/shampoo dispenser does not function well.


Hub to Hub comparison, SQ Silver Kris Lounge Business Class section's quality is way ahead of The Pier's First Class section.


For the flight, I was of ultimate pleasure to be the only one in the F cabin, Ms. Honey from Thailand and Ms. Tomoko from Japan served the whole cabin (i.e. serve me only). Had some chat before departure and Honey was very excited and keen to introduce me the "new-P-E-Y", or new Premium Economy seats which was available on the aircraft of the day. Upon her suggestion I stayed behind after everyone disembarked to take some photos of the new PEY seats.


As I was the only one in the F cabin, surely all 3 choices of main course had been prepared only for me, and I believed under normal circumstances two of them would go straight into garbage (I suppose there's almost no time for HKG-TPE flight for the cabin crew to consume the unchosen choices themselves). Therefore I requested that all 3 main courses be prepared so I could take photographs of them. Probably it was an unusual request, that even Tomoko the Japanese cabin crew could not resist to take photos by her iPhone as well. I must thank both Honey and Tomoko for their extra effort in accommodating my request.


For the 1 hour 18 minute flight I had been busying and rushed to take photographs of everything in complete freedom. The flight however took longer than usual as it circled over Taipei due to weather.


To conclude, apart from the lounge experience at The Pier, it would have been another perfect flight.

Amazing!

Did u eat ALL the food or you just ask them to prepare for the photo shoot?
It is a waste of food as the FA can consume it during the turnaround in TPE.
Also the lounge photos are not that bad.

Did this route twice in August in F and really was impressed that they pulled off such a good food and beverage service ^

Did u eat ALL the food or you just ask them to prepare for the photo shoot?
It is a waste of food as the FA can consume it during the turnaround in TPE.
Also the lounge photos are not that bad.

Thank you for making an offensive assumption. :rolleyes:

Thank you for making an offensive assumption. :rolleyes:

How is this offensive? You either ate all the food or wasted all the food. It is a fact.

If I am hungry enough I have been known to down that much. The other thing to is I am not sure if you have flown CX F, but those dinners are not as big as they appear.

Thanks for sharing the this, it looks amazing for such a short hop.

How is this offensive? You either ate all the food or wasted all the food. It is a fact.

It is offensive because it is an accusation which has prejudice and without solid grounds, and you are nobody in making such accusation. (while I respect you have your right to voice out, this does not automatically mean you have the right to discredit others)

However, if it makes you feel good and happy to have a target on criticizing me wasting food, let me know and I am more than welcome to be your target. I know life is harsh and people on the other side of the internet forums always serve as a good place to vent on.

As I am working in food industry I am much more conscious than the general public in eliminating food wastage, as any wastage means money goes to the bin for my business, and more importantly, a waste of natural resources, no matter whose cost it is. Yet having said that, food safety should not be compromised.

I have been eating and drinking expired food and drinks products, some almost expired about 1 year, from wholesaler in Hong Kong, or they would have gone straight to landfill. Each year, supermarkets in Hong Kong are using their dominating market power, returning tonnes of products in good conditions to wholesaler with various reasons, and most of them unfortunately end up in landfill, and I purchase as much as I can consume before that happen.

What make things worse is, food banks and charity organizations requires donations having at least 3 months before expiry, made it impossible for these wastage to be channeled to those in need. Especially some of the food products only have 3 months of shelf life from production date.

I thought I have made myself clear in my original posting about requesting all 3 meals but sure they were not enough to avoid criticisms from people like you. This is one thing I hate sharing things in forum as everything mention and all photo will have to be screened and sanitized, and described in full detail to avoid misunderstanding or attracting criticisms from people fighting for moral high ground.

First of all, HKG-TPE would be too short for them to have the meal inflight, and crew have duties to perform during time on ground at TPE (e.g. cabin security check).

Secondly, for TPE-HKG, if there are pax in F, they would be serving the pax, otherwise, they would be helping in other cabin and enjoying F meal themselves.

Thirdly, the flight had been delayed significantly, and I do doubt if the aircraft will be operating TPE-HKG flight on return.

(In fact, crews in general don't really bother having meal on such short sector, if not tired of airline meal)

Fourthly, I have confirmed with the crew that my request do not IN ANY WAY affect their right to meal, and that the food would go to landfill with OR without me request them all. And that they would not be made unhappy for the extra workload (In fact the crew was stunned that I made such a lengthy question, putting so many assumptions and scenarios, and amazed how an F pax was kind enough to consider about food wastage, crews' well-being and stand in their shoes).

Fifthly, I did consume all 3 of the choices, despite in a hurry. (Perhaps now some people may criticize me for over-consuming world's resources for having 3 meals' quantity just for one meal, making myself obese and putting stress on public healthcare sector.)

"When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back to you."
Now I wonder if throughout your life, you ate ALL food that was provided, without wasting a grain of rice? Have you ever cross the road with red pedestrian signal even there is no traffic, even for once?
Have you gone to a buffet, and talk to the manager about food wastage? Have you eaten up all leftover meals especially Y meals for each of your flight?
Have you flown in an aircraft which produce carbon footprints and chemtrail?


The reality is, unfortunately, sometimes food has to be wasted, it is just a matter of at whose hand, seen or unseen, responsibility shared or not (as in the case of buffet/supermarket/restaurants where food wastage is responsibility of ALL customers), and it makes you feel better if it's not your hand, not seen, and responsibility shared (or even neglected).
Strictly speaking, same for all meat-eaters, it doesn't make you less guilty to eat meat just because the animals are not killed by your hands.

For my case, the food would have been MORE wasted if they have gone from original aluminium foil to garbage withOUT my photograph than with, not to mention I have consumed them.

It is offensive because it is an accusation which has prejudice and without solid grounds, and you are nobody in making such accusation. (while I respect you have your right to voice out, this does not automatically mean you have the right to discredit others)

However, if it makes you feel good and happy to have a target on criticizing me wasting food, let me know and I am more than welcome to be your target. I know life is harsh and people on the other side of the internet forums always serve as a good place to vent on.

As I am working in food industry I am much more conscious than the general public in eliminating food wastage, as any wastage means money goes to the bin for my business, and more importantly, a waste of natural resources, no matter whose cost it is. Yet having said that, food safety should not be compromised.

I have been eating and drinking expired food and drinks products, some almost expired about 1 year, from wholesaler in Hong Kong, or they would have gone straight to landfill. Each year, supermarkets in Hong Kong are using their dominating market power, returning tonnes of products in good conditions to wholesaler with various reasons, and most of them unfortunately end up in landfill, and I purchase as much as I can consume before that happen.

What make things worse is, food banks and charity organizations requires donations having at least 3 months before expiry, made it impossible for these wastage to be channeled to those in need. Especially some of the food products only have 3 months of shelf life from production date.

I thought I have made myself clear in my original posting about requesting all 3 meals but sure they were not enough to avoid criticisms from people like you. This is one thing I hate sharing things in forum as everything mention and all photo will have to be screened and sanitized, and described in full detail to avoid misunderstanding or attracting criticisms from people fighting for moral high ground.

First of all, HKG-TPE would be too short for them to have the meal inflight, and crew have duties to perform during time on ground at TPE (e.g. cabin security check).

Secondly, for TPE-HKG, if there are pax in F, they would be serving the pax, otherwise, they would be helping in other cabin and enjoying F meal themselves.

Thirdly, the flight had been delayed significantly, and I do doubt if the aircraft will be operating TPE-HKG flight on return.

(In fact, crews in general don't really bother having meal on such short sector, if not tired of airline meal)

Fourthly, I have confirmed with the crew that my request do not IN ANY WAY affect their right to meal, and that the food would go to landfill with OR without me request them all. And that they would not be made unhappy for the extra workload (In fact the crew was stunned that I made such a lengthy question, putting so many assumptions and scenarios, and amazed how an F pax was kind enough to consider about food wastage, crews' well-being and stand in their shoes).

Fifthly, I did consume all 3 of the choices, despite in a hurry. (Perhaps now some people may criticize me for over-consuming world's resources for having 3 meals' quantity just for one meal, making myself obese and putting stress on public healthcare sector.)

"When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back to you."
Now I wonder if throughout your life, you ate ALL food that was provided, without wasting a grain of rice? Have you ever cross the road with red pedestrian signal even there is no traffic, even for once?
Have you gone to a buffet, and talk to the manager about food wastage? Have you eaten up all leftover meals especially Y meals for each of your flight?
Have you flown in an aircraft which produce carbon footprints and chemtrail?


The reality is, unfortunately, sometimes food has to be wasted, it is just a matter of at whose hand, seen or unseen, responsibility shared or not (as in the case of buffet/supermarket/restaurants where food wastage is responsibility of ALL customers), and it makes you feel better if it's not your hand, not seen, and responsibility shared (or even neglected).
Strictly speaking, same for all meat-eaters, it doesn't make you less guilty to eat meat just because the animals are not killed by your hands.

For my case, the food would have been MORE wasted if they have gone from original aluminium foil to garbage withOUT my photograph than with, not to mention I have consumed them.


allow me to summarize in a nutshell correctioncx. four letters ought to suffice.

STFU.

allow me to summarize in a nutshell correctioncx. four letters ought to suffice.

STFU.
My word this TR on a short hop became awefully hostile, never expected on a TR forum.

I will say though having worked in Food service my self in high school what the OP mentions is unfortunately true. Those meals loaded onto the AC do go to waste if not consumed by the PAX, so one way or the other it is either going to the trash or down someone gullet.

Thanks for sharing the this, it looks amazing for such a short hop.

+1 !! Looks like great service for such a shorty flight. And thank you for sharing the food pics. Incidentally, Ms. Honey from Thailand ... Is she the one embroiled in the political incident ??! It would be a shame if CX lost such a great FA.

allow me to summarize in a nutshell correctioncx. four letters ought to suffice.

STFU.

Who r u to tell me stfu?:rolleyes:

Fact is food was wasted. The crew can eat the meals. I was just on the tpe flight and especially with such a low load they can have a meal whilst airborne.

Basically the meals were brought out purely because of photo shots. Just because supermarkets are dumping back food does not mean you have to as well.
But anyway I do appreciate the effort of the food and as I said before the lounge food does not look that bad.