Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - CX or UA SIN-HKG in Y with no status and a big a**?

I'm going to do a quick jaunt up to HKG to wish GK a happy birthday during my trip to SIN in August. Best fares I could come up with are around 175EUR on CX and 190EUR on UA, both nonstops with good timing.

Since I have zero status on either airline, can anyone make a recommendation based on seating and comfort? Not interested in food or IFE, just (being a bit bigger than the average CX customer, I'd bet) some space. The CX flight is on a 330; don't know about UA.

Thanks everyone.

FA comfort, smile and service. CX.
Rude FA's, UA.

Join an FF Mileage program!

FA comfort, smile and service. CX.
Rude FA's, UA.

Join an FF Mileage program!

Not so sure about that piece of advice. UA has 80 plus seats on that flight in E+ configuration which is about 5-6 inches of extra legroom. That is a big difference. I would even give a nod to UA over CX in the regular Y - my recent flights to SGN and MNL out of HKG were really, really tight.

CX has it on entertainment by a long shot. Food wise, I'd give the nod to CX, though again, I am far from always impressed with their inter-asia Y fare. UA's food can be OK in Y.

UA defiitely has 'em beat on the rude FA's though!! Though there are some nice ones too.

If you want legroom, UA is probably your better choice, especially if you can swing into E+, which should be possible

If you want legroom, UA is probably your better choice, especially if you can swing into E+, which should be possibleWhy do you say that E+ should be possible for someone who has zero status on UA? I thought UA will keep E+ seats empty if no eligible passengers, and fill the E- seats instead (eligible requires UA status or sufficiently high fare, originally full Y but probably any mid level fare is eligible now). Can you share the secret of how to get E+ on UA when not eligible?

For space in Y I´d go with TG.

Been on CX A330 Economy class and found it uncomfortable. Here are some photos:

http://photos.yahoo.com/jetter1177
Click on the CathayPacific folder.

In one of the photos, you see my knees. I'm around 170cm tall. Seat width is not fantastic, and I suspect I might have a CX standard a**

Thanks for the replies everyone. I found flights on MH for around 60EUR more. I'll have to connect in KUL, but as a KL Plat I'll get miles, lounge access and preferred seating, so I'm going to go with that. Especially after JetE's photos.

Hi... for the EUR175 fare on CX, chances are that that this is a special promo that is going around Singapore these days.. and that this fare does not offer any miles. UA's fare however, does.

Why do you say that E+ should be possible for someone who has zero status on UA? I thought UA will keep E+ seats empty if no eligible passengers, and fill the E- seats instead (eligible requires UA status or sufficiently high fare, originally full Y but probably any mid level fare is eligible now). Can you share the secret of how to get E+ on UA when not eligible?

I know that the issue is now settled (I like MAS as well) but my experience is that there can be a fairly significant net loss of passengers on UA 869 after the stopover in Hong Kong. Odds are that after filling F, C and E+, you would be borderline on passengers with UA status. Even if they don't give it to you E+ at first (my wife has no status and when not flying with me simply asks and has a pretty good hit rate) , you can always ask to waitlist for a specific E+ seat of someone high on the probable upgrade list. When they clear a couple minutes before the flight, there you go. Neat trick - and it works.

Sorry, wrong forum.

And yes, the CX 330 is brutal in Y the 1:30 to Manila last week was plenty

Why do you say that E+ should be possible for someone who has zero status on UA? I thought UA will keep E+ seats empty if no eligible passengers, and fill the E- seats instead (eligible requires UA status or sufficiently high fare, originally full Y but probably any mid level fare is eligible now). Can you share the secret of how to get E+ on UA when not eligible?

My wife just did SEA-LAX on UA in Y.
She has no status on UA or SQ and did not put in any seat request.
But she received an elite (gold/yellow colored) boarding pass and it says "ECONOMY PLUS".