Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - I don't think CX First has the best food, but it may be the best all around....

IMO, I have not been wowed by CX's FC food.

1. Taste: spotty.

2. Quantity: on a full flight, it's limited...whereas years ago they served from a trolley with whatever you wanted, I couldn't even get any fried rice with my beef selection from LHR-HKG because all the fried rice was taken by other people's entrees.

3. Side menu of other stuff for long flight: not tops.

On the other hand:

1. Cabin crew: great.

2. Caviar, wines, champagne and JW Blue: +++ (I value this highly).

3. PJs: +++, so far, the best I have found.

4. IFE: +++

5. Wing/Pier: +++ (except, no premium wines, champagne or JW Blue).

6. Seats: tie with many airlines.

All in all, CX may be better, but not by the margin I expected.

Ignoring Emirates, and having not flown SQ, IMO:

JL has better primary meal food (including same caviar), equal champagne, amazing and interesting sake and other drinks, much better blankets, and much more secondary food selections...but worse IFE, no personality with the cabin crew and crummy FC lounges.

BA has pretty darn good food, but no caviar, decent champagne, but not Krug, worse wines, JW Blue, excellent IFE (nothing is as good as CX) but BAD headphones, wimpy PJs, excellent LHR lounges with MB massages and one of the few lounges to serve premium champagne (Concorde Room) and JW Blue (LHR Concorde and First Lounges). But BA has been cutting back...and it's starting to show.

My key question is whether I would take CX vs. BA from LHR-HKG...I am not so sure anymore, and may be leaning towards BA, particularly, if:

1. I was connecting from BA at LHR;

2. Had time for MB massage;

3. Had plenty of PJs and didn't care about taking them off the plane; and

4. Carry my own headphones, which in my case are these amazing Sure in ear bud headsets that Scott C and other turned me onto...

That's my opinion...

On the plus side....

* Served when you want and what you want.

* FA's who really care about what they serve and how you feel about it.

Look, it's an airplane. Not a 4 star restaurant with a controlled kitchen environment and chefs and waiters whose only job is to prepare and serve food at precicely the right moment within ideal conditions.

On a relative basis, has it gotten any worse than what it was a year or two ago? Maybe. But I think CX is constantly concerned about it and looks for ways to make it better within the constraints of SARS, bird flu and whatever health issue they need to deal with on an global basis.

Hey, CX! Don't make a putz out of me. You're doing a good job but don't drop the ball. Strive to do better! Don't pull an AA on us and "eliminate the olive".

The IFE is one of my main draws to CX J and F. There is always something I want to watch, whether it is "The Munsters", "I Dream of Jeannie", British comedies, news or sports, the latest films, or what I find most encouraging a few classic hit films from my younger days such as "Rocky", "Twister", Bond, "X-Files" (the "X-Files" were a few years back), etc. Food is better than the rest and the service is just plan excellent. I'm hoping they start loading some classic Star Trek: TOS, TNG, VOY episodes as well on that hard drive, especially some ST: Voyager 2 parters, whatever it takes. I love that stuff!

BA just doesn't draw me in and since I don't carry a laptop (and probably never will), I can use the CX lounges to do my work without one by connecting through the Net using one of their terminals. If I did have one, I hear its WiFi is above the rest. The food at the F lounges saves me a fortune and the service is top of the line.

Everything above and beyond that like the Krug, caviar, the great food and the girls are bonuses which keep my efforts to stay. If I can close the deal in Japan, I'll be with them forever and really pay them a bundle! It was the first reason to re-qual for EXP this year even if AA pulls an AA on me, so I can escape from AA to CX and simply be home.