Carfield
Jul 6, 04, 1:52 pm
Hi everyone,
Here is the detailed trip report on CX’s brand new JFK to Hong Kong nonstop flight… photos are not available yet, but I will add the link once I finish the current roll of film – maybe in August.
Photo link
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?Ucollid=359877235105&Uphotoid=363087235105&collid=359877235105&page=1&sort_order=0
July 5, 2004
CX 831 JFK-HKG Lv1550 Arr2010+1 Airbus A340-600 B-HQB
A pretty cloudy day at JFK this afternoon… I flew into La Guardia around 10:30am through Air Tran and got to JFK around 11:30am. I waited till noon, when the BA staffs showed up at the CX desk. Bags were carefully weighed, including hand carryon bags. The limit is 10lbs for hand carry and the agent was apologetic, but told me that this flight was very weight restricted. I was made to check in my roller on bag, which is 5 pounds over weight due to my laptop. Then the agent did not charge me but told me that one of the bags was on standby and I said that was fine, since one of the suitcases were all stuffs for my family, and will be in Taipei for a day. Nevertheless, the third bag made it to the flight and it was the first bag to come out –- they really waited till last minute. The BA agents were not particularly friendly and not familiar with CX procedures yet. There was also a lack of CX uniformed agent, which was unusual. Usually one CX staff will standby at the F class desk. Anyway, I think CX needs to hire its own agents at JFK soon – with two flights a day, there is no excuse to use BA check in staffs, which have a relatively weak record from the past – only applied to JFK staffs.
I headed to McDonald for a quick bite, since no real food was offered in the BA terrace lounge. I was in the first class lounge this time, but the food and beverage selection is identical to the business class lounge – fruits and junk food from both the UK and the US – no Chinese newspapers in sight – only one computer is available. Fortunately, I was in the lounge alone for the first two hours… the lounge was comfortable and was more formal than business.
I headed to the gate around 3pm but boarding did not begin till 3:11pm, but everything was in order with separate first and business line, although only door two was used. The usual routine was offered, such as pre-takeoff beverage, amenity kits, newspapers, and various rituals, but the F/As on this flight look very exhausted or tired. I don’t think CX is cutting their layover time – I will guess twenty-four hours is too short, but anyway, the crew is very average. I also think that the ISM, Andy, was not particularly helpful and friendly. He was not too keen in interacting with passengers and facilitating service. Well, during the flight, the F/As did not pass around snack trays or ask if you want beverage or refreshments throughout the long flight, unlike my AKL-HKG flight a month ago, in which the F/As were active in asking if you are hungry. Those are these details that differentiate between a good and average flight. Door was closed early at 3:44pm but we did not push back till 3:52pm. Traffic was pretty slow at JFK with the rainstorm and taxing was extremely slow. Finally after a LH’s Airbus A330-300 D-AIKA took off from R/W22R, we began our long takeoff roll at 4:21pm. This Airbus used every bit of the runway this afternoon.
The routing was fascinating – we passed by Stamford, CT, Manchester, NH, and Berlin, Maine, before reaching 33,000feet. We continued our north track through Quebec, Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay, Iqualuit, Davis Strait, crossed through Greenland, before climbing to 34,000feet and then 35,000 feet before we crossed the North Pole around 10:30pm EST (about six hours into the flight), and then we raised to 36,500feet after entering the Russian sky, and then 38,000feet before entering Patom Plateau and Mongolia. Then we dropped to 37,500feet, when we entered Northern China, and then climbed to 37,500feet and finally at 39,500feet when we reached Baoding, Wuhan, and then Shaoguan.
Well the service of the flight was very typical of transpacific flight – only one cold savory, and no choice for desserts. CX does not pay any additional or special attention to the meals of this supposedly special flight. Well a full dinner was offered after takeoff and then a full breakfast prior to arrival.
Here is the wine list:
Champagne
Champagne Deuz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Louis Max Saint Veran 2001
Wente Vineyards Reserve Riva Ranch Chardonnay 2001
Red Wines
Geyser Peak Sonoma County Shiraz 2000
Louis Max Mercurey Domaine La Marche 1999
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled vintage Port 1997
Here is the menu transcript
Dinner
Cold Savory
A smoked duck breast with cranberry jam on top of walnut-raisin bread – actually tasted fine and smoked duck breasts were quite tender and tasty
Salad
Marinated Portobello Mushroom with cherry tomato
Meslcun greens as I add and the salad dressing is Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette
Appetizer
Fine Smoked salmon
Two pieces of Japanese style smoked salmon (just like first class) and then a smoked salmon rosette – nice and fresh!
Main Courses
Sauteed Prawns and Cucumber with chili paste, steamed rice and baby Chinese Cabbage with Straw Mushroom
Grilled Lamb chop with fresh herb and mint lamb jus, lyonnaise potatoes and grilled mixed vegetables
Wild Mushroom Lasagne
Light Choice
Noodles in soup with Barbecued duck
The prawns were a special marked item, and I had the lamb chop, which was the opposite of the lamb chops on LAX to HKG flight last month. This lamb chop was overcooked, small, and tasteless – the lamb was too think – and the entrée size was very small. You can tell from the pictures!
Cheese Board
White Cheddar, Emmental, and Gorgonzola with crackers and grapes
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Mango, melon, cantaloupe and pineapple
Dessert
New York Cheesecake with Strawberry sauce
Delicious and rich
Assorted Breads and rolls
Focaccia Garlic, Focaccia rolls and some kinds of multi-grain rolls
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Refreshment
Noodles in soup with barbecued duck
Warm Reuben sandwich
“Joe Shanghai” Crab Dumplings served with Dark Vinegar and Ginger
Haagen Dazs ice cream
I sort of expect a formal trolley rollout service at midnight, but it did not happen. After I got up from my nap, I had the Crab Dumplings, which tasted better than I think, but too small – only two pieces. Joe Shanghai was a famous restaurant in New York City – the soup dumplings were delicious, and CX chooses to serve the crab version this month – same soup dumplings with crabmeat. Of course, it will taste better in the ground, but is not too dry – still tastes the soup. But I recommend you getting another item as well.
Snack basket had the usual stuff plus turkey sandwiches and Museli bars. I slept for the first part of the flight and then watched short subjects till the end. Entertainment is great as usual. Lights were turned on at 5:47am EST, and here is the breakfast menu:
Breakfast
Juice Selection
Appetizer
Fruit plate
Pineapple, papaya, melon, strawberry, blueberries and boysenberry
Yogurt and Cereals
Fruit yogurt (Red Raspberrry), Corn Flakes or Raisin Bran
Main Courses
Ratatouille Omelette
Grilled Canadian bacon, hash brown potatoes, and cherry tomato
Abalone Clam and Mushroom Congee accompanied by Pan-fried pork bun
Imperial Fried Noodles and Chinese Dim Sum
I had the dim sum, which was the usual combination of shrimp dumpling, chives dumpling, and pork dumpling (Siu Mai).
Assorted breads and rolls
Cinnamon-raising bagels, croissants, and blueberry muffins
Tea and coffee
During mid-flight, water bottles were passed out, as well as a box of Chinese candy – must be some promotions. Anyway, we began descent at 7:08am EST, and touched down at 7:53pm Hong Kong local time at R/W25R, and we parked at gate 3.
Well, I met our fellow flyer talker at 14D, and we did not chat much, since I was pretty much out of my mind due to the redeye flight preivious evening and the comfortable CX seats. The entertainment system kept us entertained.
Anyway, I am glad that CX launches a new long haul flight, but the services needs to improve for sure…
If some of you are flying the HKG-JFK route, I will appreciate if you can share the menu… just wonder what CX is going to offer on this flight.
Also with the F/As on my flight, I am against CX plan to cut F/As rest time from five to four hours... Service really suffers this time... the F/As are definitely more tired than usual. The union requests additional seven F/As -- of course I don't think that is possible, but I think CX should add one or two additional F/As though especially for the premium cabin.
Carfield from Taipei
Here is the detailed trip report on CX’s brand new JFK to Hong Kong nonstop flight… photos are not available yet, but I will add the link once I finish the current roll of film – maybe in August.
Photo link
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?Ucollid=359877235105&Uphotoid=363087235105&collid=359877235105&page=1&sort_order=0
July 5, 2004
CX 831 JFK-HKG Lv1550 Arr2010+1 Airbus A340-600 B-HQB
A pretty cloudy day at JFK this afternoon… I flew into La Guardia around 10:30am through Air Tran and got to JFK around 11:30am. I waited till noon, when the BA staffs showed up at the CX desk. Bags were carefully weighed, including hand carryon bags. The limit is 10lbs for hand carry and the agent was apologetic, but told me that this flight was very weight restricted. I was made to check in my roller on bag, which is 5 pounds over weight due to my laptop. Then the agent did not charge me but told me that one of the bags was on standby and I said that was fine, since one of the suitcases were all stuffs for my family, and will be in Taipei for a day. Nevertheless, the third bag made it to the flight and it was the first bag to come out –- they really waited till last minute. The BA agents were not particularly friendly and not familiar with CX procedures yet. There was also a lack of CX uniformed agent, which was unusual. Usually one CX staff will standby at the F class desk. Anyway, I think CX needs to hire its own agents at JFK soon – with two flights a day, there is no excuse to use BA check in staffs, which have a relatively weak record from the past – only applied to JFK staffs.
I headed to McDonald for a quick bite, since no real food was offered in the BA terrace lounge. I was in the first class lounge this time, but the food and beverage selection is identical to the business class lounge – fruits and junk food from both the UK and the US – no Chinese newspapers in sight – only one computer is available. Fortunately, I was in the lounge alone for the first two hours… the lounge was comfortable and was more formal than business.
I headed to the gate around 3pm but boarding did not begin till 3:11pm, but everything was in order with separate first and business line, although only door two was used. The usual routine was offered, such as pre-takeoff beverage, amenity kits, newspapers, and various rituals, but the F/As on this flight look very exhausted or tired. I don’t think CX is cutting their layover time – I will guess twenty-four hours is too short, but anyway, the crew is very average. I also think that the ISM, Andy, was not particularly helpful and friendly. He was not too keen in interacting with passengers and facilitating service. Well, during the flight, the F/As did not pass around snack trays or ask if you want beverage or refreshments throughout the long flight, unlike my AKL-HKG flight a month ago, in which the F/As were active in asking if you are hungry. Those are these details that differentiate between a good and average flight. Door was closed early at 3:44pm but we did not push back till 3:52pm. Traffic was pretty slow at JFK with the rainstorm and taxing was extremely slow. Finally after a LH’s Airbus A330-300 D-AIKA took off from R/W22R, we began our long takeoff roll at 4:21pm. This Airbus used every bit of the runway this afternoon.
The routing was fascinating – we passed by Stamford, CT, Manchester, NH, and Berlin, Maine, before reaching 33,000feet. We continued our north track through Quebec, Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay, Iqualuit, Davis Strait, crossed through Greenland, before climbing to 34,000feet and then 35,000 feet before we crossed the North Pole around 10:30pm EST (about six hours into the flight), and then we raised to 36,500feet after entering the Russian sky, and then 38,000feet before entering Patom Plateau and Mongolia. Then we dropped to 37,500feet, when we entered Northern China, and then climbed to 37,500feet and finally at 39,500feet when we reached Baoding, Wuhan, and then Shaoguan.
Well the service of the flight was very typical of transpacific flight – only one cold savory, and no choice for desserts. CX does not pay any additional or special attention to the meals of this supposedly special flight. Well a full dinner was offered after takeoff and then a full breakfast prior to arrival.
Here is the wine list:
Champagne
Champagne Deuz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Louis Max Saint Veran 2001
Wente Vineyards Reserve Riva Ranch Chardonnay 2001
Red Wines
Geyser Peak Sonoma County Shiraz 2000
Louis Max Mercurey Domaine La Marche 1999
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled vintage Port 1997
Here is the menu transcript
Dinner
Cold Savory
A smoked duck breast with cranberry jam on top of walnut-raisin bread – actually tasted fine and smoked duck breasts were quite tender and tasty
Salad
Marinated Portobello Mushroom with cherry tomato
Meslcun greens as I add and the salad dressing is Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette
Appetizer
Fine Smoked salmon
Two pieces of Japanese style smoked salmon (just like first class) and then a smoked salmon rosette – nice and fresh!
Main Courses
Sauteed Prawns and Cucumber with chili paste, steamed rice and baby Chinese Cabbage with Straw Mushroom
Grilled Lamb chop with fresh herb and mint lamb jus, lyonnaise potatoes and grilled mixed vegetables
Wild Mushroom Lasagne
Light Choice
Noodles in soup with Barbecued duck
The prawns were a special marked item, and I had the lamb chop, which was the opposite of the lamb chops on LAX to HKG flight last month. This lamb chop was overcooked, small, and tasteless – the lamb was too think – and the entrée size was very small. You can tell from the pictures!
Cheese Board
White Cheddar, Emmental, and Gorgonzola with crackers and grapes
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Mango, melon, cantaloupe and pineapple
Dessert
New York Cheesecake with Strawberry sauce
Delicious and rich
Assorted Breads and rolls
Focaccia Garlic, Focaccia rolls and some kinds of multi-grain rolls
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Refreshment
Noodles in soup with barbecued duck
Warm Reuben sandwich
“Joe Shanghai” Crab Dumplings served with Dark Vinegar and Ginger
Haagen Dazs ice cream
I sort of expect a formal trolley rollout service at midnight, but it did not happen. After I got up from my nap, I had the Crab Dumplings, which tasted better than I think, but too small – only two pieces. Joe Shanghai was a famous restaurant in New York City – the soup dumplings were delicious, and CX chooses to serve the crab version this month – same soup dumplings with crabmeat. Of course, it will taste better in the ground, but is not too dry – still tastes the soup. But I recommend you getting another item as well.
Snack basket had the usual stuff plus turkey sandwiches and Museli bars. I slept for the first part of the flight and then watched short subjects till the end. Entertainment is great as usual. Lights were turned on at 5:47am EST, and here is the breakfast menu:
Breakfast
Juice Selection
Appetizer
Fruit plate
Pineapple, papaya, melon, strawberry, blueberries and boysenberry
Yogurt and Cereals
Fruit yogurt (Red Raspberrry), Corn Flakes or Raisin Bran
Main Courses
Ratatouille Omelette
Grilled Canadian bacon, hash brown potatoes, and cherry tomato
Abalone Clam and Mushroom Congee accompanied by Pan-fried pork bun
Imperial Fried Noodles and Chinese Dim Sum
I had the dim sum, which was the usual combination of shrimp dumpling, chives dumpling, and pork dumpling (Siu Mai).
Assorted breads and rolls
Cinnamon-raising bagels, croissants, and blueberry muffins
Tea and coffee
During mid-flight, water bottles were passed out, as well as a box of Chinese candy – must be some promotions. Anyway, we began descent at 7:08am EST, and touched down at 7:53pm Hong Kong local time at R/W25R, and we parked at gate 3.
Well, I met our fellow flyer talker at 14D, and we did not chat much, since I was pretty much out of my mind due to the redeye flight preivious evening and the comfortable CX seats. The entertainment system kept us entertained.
Anyway, I am glad that CX launches a new long haul flight, but the services needs to improve for sure…
If some of you are flying the HKG-JFK route, I will appreciate if you can share the menu… just wonder what CX is going to offer on this flight.
Also with the F/As on my flight, I am against CX plan to cut F/As rest time from five to four hours... Service really suffers this time... the F/As are definitely more tired than usual. The union requests additional seven F/As -- of course I don't think that is possible, but I think CX should add one or two additional F/As though especially for the premium cabin.
Carfield from Taipei