Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Meal Service on CX 531 TPE-HKG in Y

Just flew on this route yesterday evening. I haven't flown CX TPE-HKG for a few years now, but I was quite surprised at the meal service. We were served a hot sandwich (wrapped in aluminum foil), a 75ml cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and a beverage. Maybe I was mistaken, but didn't CX used to offer a "full" meal service even in Y? By "full", I mean on CX cutlery and tray, etc.

Could it be because CX 531 was the second leg of the NGO-HKG route, and the passengers already had a full meal from NGO-TPE?

What are the other TPE-HKG flights like for meals?

Only 2 shorter flights I know is now sandwich class in Y. It happened during SARS and people are happy to eat sandwich and less work for the crew.

According to a South China Morning Post report, the TPE and MNL meal service in Economy consists of a hot baguette service.

The official line from CX is that passengers like the new simplified service. As long as the sandwiches are of good quality, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary, it sounds like a pretty good idea for the shorter flights.

The flight is really short... and really now, people... do you think you'd even get this sort of service in North America??

Actually, I've been taking China Airlines and EVA Air most of the time between TPE and HKG and have got full meal service always. I really do recall CX offering this before, so it's not a question of what I or other passengers expect; just want to clarify whether there was a difference between CX 531 and other flights.

I think it is unacceptable to serve so little food... I know it is an hour flight, but the fare these people is paying does not justify such cuts.

Well, just don't fly the breakfast runs, they only serve a muffin and a croissant for snacks... that is even worst.

China Airlines has resumed all hot meal services on its TPE to HKG flights since earlier this month. I am not sure about EVA, but I think CI will follow.

For EG, it is always cold meals with sandwich, yogurt and onigri (Japanese rice rolls)...

For TG, it is cold sandwiches and fruit tart on HKG to TPE, and then a hot noodle entree with fruit tart on the return.

About a lot of people like the simple simplified service... I am not sure about that comments. But the F/As love it... of course, slightly less work... (not really... well, you still need to serve a meal in some manners)...

After all those cut throat price was on the post-SARS era, it is time to bring back those meals. There is no de-regulation on this market... price is back to normal so meals are supposed to be back to normal too...

Carfield

I love the simplified meals in Business Class on the short hauls. I usually have a long-haul connection flight where I get a full meal. Half of the time I don't eat on TPE-HKG anyway.
As for those "fares these people are paying" -- last time I checked Y subclasses were offered for less than TWD 6000+tax or about USD 175, that is about the same you'd pay for a 1 1/2 flight in the US. Also, the majority of people transit through Hong Kong, so they don't really pay anything for TPE-HKG -- given that most biz and Y tickets to the US and EUR are much cheaper ex TPE than ex HKG.

But you certainly have a much heavier amount of full fare Y travelers, which want flexibility with their tickets.

Well, don't compare intra-Asian flights with US domestic flights! Two different worlds... although it may change in a few years http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif !

Carfield

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mhtaipei:
Also, the majority of people transit through Hong Kong, so they don't really pay anything for TPE-HKG -- given that most biz and Y tickets to the US and EUR are much cheaper ex TPE than ex HKG. </font>

I thought the majority of TPE-HKG passengers would be continuing onward to mainland Chinese destinations with a different airline.

I took this flight a few years ago when they had hot-meal service in economy -- even for breakfast. It was hot noodles with or without chicken, bread and fruit. I don't remember a western choice.

I can be happy with a hot baguette sandwich. If it's one of those cold sandwiches like they serve on domestic US flights, then I'd be disappointed.

[This message has been edited by bkong (edited Dec 02, 2003).]

CX serves two warmed breakfast pastries (muffin and some kind of Danish) for breakfast on short haul Asian flights.

China Airlines serve hot breakfast -- rice porridge or also known as "congee" by Chinese... no choice of entree...

These flights are usually filled with Asian especially Chinese passengers, so things tend to be more Chinese...

Carfield

[This message has been edited by Carfield (edited Dec 01, 2003).]

Congee or rice porridge? Hmm, in my book they are the same thing...