Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - J Class seats on CX 731 ~ 777 to Dubai

Hi all,

We are booked on CX 731 to Dubai later this week and it shows as just a 777. Can anyone advise of new/old seat type and likelyhood of in seat power, etc on this aeroplane?

Thanks

If you have a choice, I would try to get on the flights using the 330... I think those are configured in 3 classes and have the NBC seats... the 777 I think just use the regional business class seats...

If you have a choice, I would try to get on the flights using the 330... I think those are configured in 3 classes and have the NBC seats... the 777 I think just use the regional business class seats...

We were booked on another day with the A330, but unfortunatly had to change and the 777 is showing as the designated metal, so no choice. :(

Presume that the regional seats are old style, not the new seat types? Are all CX 777's the same configuration, or some better than others?

Thanks.

Hi all,

We are booked on CX 731 to Dubai later this week and it shows as just a 777. Can anyone advise of new/old seat type and likelyhood of in seat power, etc on this aeroplane?

Thanks


The 777 code denotes the flight is scheduled to be operated by a B772. It is the old J seat (OBC), with the exception of 1 (B-HNL), all other aircraft should be fitted with a data port and in-seat power in each J seat. There is also an intergrated handset but with the standard entertainment system (No AVOD).

But there is always hope that CX would play 'musical planes' and substitute another plane for the B772. ;)

Even if you are on an A330 make sure it is a three class one (333). They have been using some 330 on the DXB route recently.

The OBC and NRBC seats are dreadful.

I'd actually suggest you to avoid 777 and 2 class A330 as possible. The
Reagoinal Business Class Seats are no different to BA's World Traveller
Plus, SQ's Exec. Economy or Thai's Prem. Economy (only 3" more than
Thai's Y+). It is simply not worth it to pay the price of J for a seat of
Y+, plus no AVOD, also the 744/333 flights to DXB have less stops or
no stops as well.

I'd actually suggest you to avoid 777 and 2 class A330 as possible. The
Reagoinal Business Class Seats are no different to BA's World Traveller
Plus, SQ's Exec. Economy or Thai's Prem. Economy (only 3" more than
Thai's Y+). It is simply not worth it to pay the price of J for a seat of
Y+, plus no AVOD, also the 744/333 flights to DXB have less stops or
no stops as well.

Thanks for the above advice.

We have little flexibility with dates as travelling on business... However, we are booked on the direct flights in and out of DXB, which on most days seem to be A330-300, but when we changed flights by a day, the HKG-DXB leg came up as 777. I guess that 3 out of 4 legs on the 333 is not bad, but do agree that getting old style product as described above is not good enough when paying the J class fare.

It is bad enough having the lottery when an airline is upgrading its product over a long period of time (a la the QF skybed or the similar SQ J class 'flat bed style' seats), where you are not sure from one flight to the next whether you will score the new product or not. However, when an airline does upgrade its product it should be across all fleets, particularly for overnight flights. I sympathise with those in 'regional' ports, and if it was me I think I would just vote with my feet and fly with the opposition.

Cheers.

Frankly I think that service into Dubai is inferior. CX, TG, SQ and even EK opperate subpar product into this market on a regular basis. It is a long flight and we pay a lot for it. I think the worst is SQ F on its 777-300. It is always full on that sector and the cabin crew can barely keep up. Thank goodness everyone on these flights sleep.

I will not fly CX 777 on this route in J would rather fly Y.

Does anyone have an update on this? Are the J seats on DXB-HKG still the old fashioned 'economy plus' type?

Yes, unfortunately they are. And there is no end to this in sight.

Does anyone have an update on this? Are the J seats on DXB-HKG still the old fashioned 'economy plus' type?

Having flown HKG-DXB return in March and November 2006, I can confirm that these pitifully inadequate CX J class seats are still in regular use. Of the four sectors, we had the bad seats on three (got lucky with an A330-300 on the other). In fact on the most recent of these sectors (standard 2-class A330), we had the worst J class seats I have experienced for many years, anywhere in the world. (In fact, QF short-haul domestic J class seats are superior.) Not only were they old style, but they also had some kind of tech box installed at the rear of the seat in front, making it impossible to even put your feet under that seat. For someone tall, let alone others, it makes this overnight trip very uncomfortable.

Of course the crew can do nothing, so given that I had a few hours to kill I spent one of them writing a pointed complaint to the airline. I eventually received a sycophantic and patronising reply, in effect saying nothing, which would have made Sir Humphrey proud of the meaningless rhetoric within. :mad:

It is a disgrace for such an otherwise "good" airline to sell this as business class product. Their justification is that it is a "regional" flight ~ since when did an eight hour overnight trip qualify as regional? Some airlines call this intercontinental...

Having stated that they cannot improve the situation in the short term, the least that CX should be doing is offering a lower price for this clearly inferior "J" class product. Far from that, they have just announced price increases on this route. :confused:

We are now regular travellers to DXB, but will be voting with our feet and travelling with the opposition (the current MAS schedule and price looks pretty good) until CX does something that indicates they are treating this ongoing problem seriously.

Very poor show Cathay Pacific :td:

tb

Is it the same story on J seats into Bahrain?

Yes - all Middle East routes from HKG are "regional". Note that some Australia routes (BNE, CNS, PER) are also "Regional" and get the same woefully inadequate seats (and IMO just as important - no AVOD).

(In fact, QF short-haul domestic J class seats are superior.) Not only were they old style, but they also had some kind of tech box installed at the rear of the seat in front, making it impossible to even put your feet under that seat. For someone tall, let alone others, it makes this overnight trip very uncomfortable.

Really? The only QF Domestic J seats I find superior to CX regional J are those on the 763 in the 1-2-2 configuration which I believe used to be the intl J product.


Having stated that they cannot improve the situation in the short term, the least that CX should be doing is offering a lower price for this clearly inferior "J" class product. Far from that, they have just announced price increases on this route. :confused:

Inferior to whom? EK configs their 330s on this route with 2-3-2 seating in J with the same pitch. And their schedule is terrible.

Economics at play my friend. CX are still the best option on this route, with a better schedule, better service, and sometimes a very good (lh) product.