Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Disappointing CX F

It's been a little while since I last flew F on CX and following my experience during the last two segments (SYD-HKG; HKG-LHR) I am wondering whether I will ever do so again.

The choice of food on both legs was poor - particularly if you don't eat seafood - and from what I was able to order I was distinctly underwhelmed by its quality. The garlic rolls in particular were a disgrace.

As for drinks, refills weren't anticipated but had to be asked for each time. Is it usual to offer just one glass of wine on a ~ 13-hour flight? :mad:

The lavs weren't terribly pleasant either. Stickiness underfoot on both flights made me wonder whether the floor gets cleaned??

Finally, I was a bit peeved by one of my suitcases being the last to drop on to the carousel at LHR this morning. Until it appeared, ground staff had no way of knowing whether it had even been loaded on to the flight. Priority baggage handling? I don't think so...

These might seem like minor niggles but after around 20 long haul legs in F during the last couple of months on a variety of carriers, I can only benchmark these 2 CX flights against the competition and it has to be said that CX compares poorly - even against the inconsitency that now characterises BA's F experience.

Moreover, I've always previously found every aspect of CX's J product (aside from the slopy bed) to be fantastic.

I mentioned some of my concerns (minus the baggage bit which hadn't yet come to pass) to the FSM just before we landed at LHR. While she did try and offer a gesture of goodwill, I thought it would be rather tacky to accept an opened bottle of Krug which had been 2/3 consumed by us and fellow pax.

All in all, nothing that makes be think CX F is particularly bad, just a disappointment compared to the equivalent product on carriers such as BA, QF and SQ. But sufficient to make me consider these airlines in preference to CX next time round.

Is it worth putting any of this to CX?

I have to say that I have usually had excellent experiences on CX in F. I had 3 flights last week, which ranged from very good to superlative. I have had flights from time-to-time which were not that good (the distrinction is always a result of the staff quality), but they have been the exception.

CX is usually very good with luggage retrieval

Whilst I find SQ to be more consistent than CX, on its day I prefer CX to SQ. BA continues to disappoint because of inconsistency, poor IFE and hardware snafus.

If you have been happy with CX's J product, CX F is usually signifcantly better. Perhaps you have just been very unfortunate with your 2 flights. I would urge you to try CX again.

I can understand your disappointment and the frequency in one trip. Overall, I am a big fan of both F and J with CX and albeit have had a few mishaps along the way, it has been better than others I have flown. Will be on CX 873 to HKG in ten days and looking forward to another great trip. Hope you can consider the most recent one a fluke and give them a chance to make up.

Sounds like a 1 off experience to me. My Mom & Aunt have flown in J or F at least 2-3x a year on transpac flights (JFK & SFO) and have nothing but the best to say about their experiences. I would send in a letter/email to them to just let them know about your recent experience and see what, if anything, they might offer to comp you for the less then stellar service. No harm in trying, right?

I mentioned some of my concerns (minus the baggage bit which hadn't yet come to pass) to the FSM just before we landed at LHR. While she did try and offer a gesture of goodwill, I thought it would be rather tacky to accept an opened bottle of Krug which had been 2/3 consumed by us and fellow pax.
Has CX brought back the metal cultery on its LHR flights?

Has CX brought back the metal cultery on its LHR flights?

No, it's still plastic (fork and knife). On the HKG-SYD run it's a metal fork and a plastic knife. As one of the FA's remarked to me, it's all a bit pointless when you consider that there's probably more danger from the glassware used.

And it's still plastic cutlery in The Wing.

Particularly since BA brought back metal (albeit somewhat tacky metal) some time ago...

I don't like seafood either. I ordered the Western Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian meals on my recent flights. The meal from HKG-BKK and BKK-HKG were very good, although I cannot remember what they were. Too much Billecart-Salmon. :D

Do CX management read these threads? I would think they do. If so, what's the point in wasting a whole hour composing a letter?

Letters of complaint rarely bring any tangible benefit in my experience. These days, I only write complimentary letters when I do receive outstanding service (which is rare, obviously). That way, everyone can feel good instead of me feeling bad that I complained and no one gave a damn.

At least SQ have metal knives in their airside SFO lounge. It isn't too much of a danger though, I'm pretty sure that the finest of airline plastic knives are far sharper.

Do CX management read these threads? I would think they do. If so, what's the point in wasting a whole hour composing a letter?

Letters of complaint rarely bring any tangible benefit in my experience. These days, I only write complimentary letters when I do receive outstanding service (which is rare, obviously). That way, everyone can feel good instead of me feeling bad that I complained and no one gave a damn.

I do know that CX management in YVR and SFO are aware of the 'other' thread with their namesake. Some people might know of FlyerTalk but may not have commented on it.

No, it's still plastic (fork and knife). On the HKG-SYD run it's a metal fork and a plastic knife. As one of the FA's remarked to me, it's all a bit pointless when you consider that there's probably more danger from the glassware used.
BTW, would you mind posting the menu you had for the HKG-LHR segment. I assumed it was the February menu you had as I will be taking the same flight at the end of March and I assume the menu would be the same or at least similar. Hope I am not asking too much. Just curious for my upcoming flight. Thanks. :)

BTW, would you mind posting the menu you had for the HKG-LHR segment. This has already been posted LHR-HKG http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=525743

Obviously the menus vary quarterly with substantial changes and sometimes even daily with catering conditions. But the meal quality and price point has been remarkably stable for years now, with CX spending substantially more for its F catering than most other airlines (including SQ and EK).

But the meal quality and price point has been remarkably stable for years now, with CX spending substantially more for its F catering than most other airlines (including SQ and EK).

Well maybe the spend should be re-prioritised? I thought the food (choice aside) on SQ to be substantially better on both short and long haul F segments.

Well maybe the spend should be re-prioritised? I thought the food (choice aside) on SQ to be substantially better on both short and long haul F segments.CX has considerable diversity in its menu based on route and time of day. This does lead to some strange menus. For example on JFK-YVR-HKG the main meal is on the short 5 hour JFK-YVR leg and has a lavish dinner. Always with choice of some prime meat (rack of lamb, veal tenderloin, etc.) that is NY steakhouse quality, grilled lobster, and chinese and vegetarian dishes. Also the caviar service is on this leg. By contrast, the 14 hour YVR-HKG leg gets a 3-course "snack supper" which will leave you hungry if you had not eaten dinner that day ... but the flight leaves YVR at 2 am, hence the small size of the meal. Followed by a nice breakfast. I would guess that the catering cost JFK-YVR is 3-4x the cost of the YVR-HKG sector.

A year ago I commented that CX had some catering problems in SYD and the food was not as good on SYD-HKG as on MEL-HKG with conspicuous differences (despite SYD getting the better schedule and planes). Looks like that is still true.

As for the ever-present metal cutlery question, all cutlery in CX F is metal, both knives and forks, on every flight that I've been on in the past couple of months. This includes to and from the US. The policy is out of airline control and changes every few months.

...And it's still plastic cutlery in The Wing.Plastic knife and metal everything else (unless they run short or the dishwasher is broken). Onboard is metal knife and fork, even in/out of the US. Don't know about the UK this month but it was plastic knife in December. Rather ironic if the US allows metal knives now but UK and Australia do not. Obviously some routes still don't allow it, hence the HKG lounges being stuck with not having any metal knives.

Plastic knife and metal everything else (unless they run short or the dishwasher is broken). Onboard is metal knife and fork, even in/out of the US. Don't know about the UK this month but it was plastic knife in December. Rather ironic if the US allows metal knives now but UK and Australia do not. Obviously some routes still don't allow it, hence the HKG lounges being stuck with not having any metal knives.I'm not convinced by this - BA has had completely metal cutlery (albeit not very high quality stuff) on flights into the UK for several months now (for example I took EWR-LHR in BA F in December and it was all metal), so it can't be as simple as a government restriction. I wonder if it is something to do with the weight of the knives or the length of the blade? The BA ones were particularly small, lightweight and tacky.

flew from SFO - HKG today and the balik salmon has been replaced with thinly sliced fine salmon of no brand. is this the new menu for feb ? we flew f on LAX route in Jan and it was still balik.

flew from SFO - HKG today and the balik salmon has been replaced with thinly sliced fine salmon of no brand. is this the new menu for feb ? we flew f on LAX route in Jan and it was still balik.It is a supply issue. Westbound from North America is using non-Balik salmon (not bad but not comparable) and eastbound from HKG is using Balik. At least this has been the case for my flights in the past couple of months.

we did a flight from YVR last year and a flight from JFK and they were serving balik.

flew from SFO - HKG today and the balik salmon has been replaced with thinly sliced fine salmon of no brand. is this the new menu for feb ? we flew f on LAX route in Jan and it was still balik.

I flew both SFO-HKG, LAX-HKG, both twice in the past 16 months, and all of them were "Fine Smoked Salmon" instead of "Balik" Salmon. Flights originating from HKG served "Balik," including those to AU.

we did a flight from YVR last year and a flight from JFK and they were serving balik.

CX usually uses Fine Salmon from outports, Balik is only from HKG becos they hv a contracted supplier.....