Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Preferential treatment of Y passengers noticed

I had to add a trip to TPE, HKG from NRT on my last trip just a week ago. NRT-TPE was in J (TPE-HKG in Y, its a money thing with my clients) but the flight back was booked through as Y.

Fairly uneventful during the trip over with very attentive service in J by a Japanese FA.

On TPE-HKG, all smiles in Y as short meals were served. The culinary part is just subpar but its under 2 hrs, what can you really expect? I don't have any beef with it.

But on the way back HKG-TPE, I noticed a BIG difference. The inflight crew was okay until meals were starting to be served. I noticed a Taiwanese/Chinese couple who could not speak Cantonese and a rude FA, who spoke Cantonese as said on her name tag (surprised she couldn't speak any few words of Mandarin), spoke back to them in English. She didn't bother to get anyone else to communicate with them, she just continued being incredibly difficult with the couple. :td:

From that point I ceased speaking Mandarin to any flight personnel and spoke English only so as not to incur the ire of the FAs. :td:

And then when asked if there was a choice by one of the Mandarin speaking passengers, another FA who did understand Mandarin spat back saying, "There are no other choices" :td:

When I declined a meal and only asked for beer, this same FA scoffed at me like I was too good for a meal :td:

I spoke with the purser (I forget the term CX uses) about this flight and she apologized profusely to me, wanting to give me a bottle of wine as compensation for all that I saw. She even arranged for an U/G on the continuation to NRT with ground personnel, seeing as I was OW sapphire (and I was successful).

Now I don't have to elaborate on reasons why I think the FAs were rude towards Mandarin speaking passengers. You can draw your own assumptions. But this negative atmosphere, I am pretty sure, did not affect just me. Maybe its also the fact that I haven't flown Y in a while on CX. The segment I usually sit on when travelling CX is 831 from JFK-HKG and vice versa in F. But if this is what CX Y has deteriorated into, its incredibly unfair to those Taiwanese who take this route fairly often. I'll dish out my own money to sit in J before I have to endure another flight such as the one I've mentioned.

That is, indeed, true... to so far that i've heard. A fd holding RoC passport was checking in at LHR with 27kg of luggage got scowled at. While I, when using either English(especially) or Cantonese, have never had similar problems when I was with more luggage(I once had 36 kg of luggage the nice (oldish) man in First let me through despite unloading like 1kg of coffee).

Not sure if its related, but surely got me pissed off when my friend told me that thing. Maybe its just SOME CANTONESE speaking FA, but all the other time I've heard good stories about CX. Including her,after that incident.

It is an unfortunate fact that CX's insistence on recruiting essentially only HK Chinese cabin crew now is dragging the average quality down because they can't find enough good ones. I really don't understand why they gave up with the Singaporeans, Filipinos, Thias, Malaysians and so on who, on average seem to me to be far better at the job.

I have to say, some of the best cabin crew that I've encountered have been from Thais, Filipinos, Japanese, Malays, etc. This is what makes CX so special. I wish they would continue hiring FAs from different parts of Asia, as opposed to being so HKGcentric.

I have written CX on numerous occasions regarding this matter. I hope enough people will write to them.

It is an unfortunate fact that CX's insistence on recruiting essentially only HK Chinese cabin crew now is dragging the average quality down because they can't find enough good ones. I really don't understand why they gave up with the Singaporeans, Filipinos, Thias, Malaysians and so on who, on average seem to me to be far better at the job.

i had a flight with a korean chief who unfortunately was quite scoff at me when i wanted to walk around to the back just to get feet circulation and i do get feet cramps quite often. This was in J cabin upper deck. I also had one flight in Y where the HKG FA was really nice and bubbly but admitted she couldn't speak much english but tried her best to communicate. The HKG FA sometimes will ask if you can speak mandarin or catonese if they cannot understand your english.If you think CX crew are scoff, maybe we could travel on an SQ flight where the FAs can be even more scoff in their spirit of being polite yet firm.

I do support CX policy of hiring HKG FA where preferable as its a HKG based airline. Isn't part of the love of travel invole mingling with crew from the country, the airline represented.

I have very good impression of CX crew who can pamper me so good that i gotten kiwi drinks, have crew chats in an empty F cabin, given extra amenities where possible and have even gone shopping with some of them,

I never saw the described situation in my flights to/from TPE. I am sure CX is monitoring these forums to see where they can improve.

2 things:
why CX no longer hires non HK FA: i thought its the govt's policy on employing HK locals. I suppose there are a reasonable amount of "foreign-blood" HKers around... why they never got into CX is another question.

For claiming for foreign FA. Personal preference. but i really prefer them. They usually go for the extra step...

2 things:
why CX no longer hires non HK FA: i thought its the govt's policy on employing HK locals. I suppose there are a reasonable amount of "foreign-blood" HKers around... why they never got into CX is another question.

For claiming for foreign FA. Personal preference. but i really prefer them. They usually go for the extra step...

Not true, CX is hiring FAs at least from LHR and SFO. They fly them to HKG for training.

On the other hand, CX may be more selective when hiring non-HKG FAs. The quality of those hired in the past, now ISMs and senior pursers, are very good.

Not true, CX is hiring FAs at least from LHR and SFO. They fly them to HKG for training.

On the other hand, CX may be more selective when hiring non-HKG FAs. The quality of those hired in the past, now ISMs and senior pursers, are very good.

erm yea.... in asia i meant for now...

But arent those mostly cantonese speaking as well? I mean I doubt many of the LHR/SFO/YVR entrants are non Chinese speaking...


Back to Preferential treatment... I've been Sh*tfaced by a purser(is s/he the 2nd top person on the flight in the serving staff?) once flying back from FRA. definately not the inflight manager she is. i can still remember her name and i think i can dig out the date of my flight. My mum keeps saying she's against HK-cantonese passengers(which, indeed, was true) but the funny thing is the caucasian baby who was up front and came to J with his dad kept crying when she was 'entertaining' him. Im wondering if i could write to anyone useful now?(It's almost 1 year after the incident)[of course the baby incident will be out...]

erm yea.... in asia i meant for now...

But arent those mostly cantonese speaking as well? I mean I doubt many of the LHR/SFO/YVR entrants are non Chinese speaking...


Back to Preferential treatment... I've been Sh*tfaced by a purser(is s/he the 2nd top person on the flight in the serving staff?) once flying back from FRA. definately not the inflight manager she is. i can still remember her name and i think i can dig out the date of my flight. My mum keeps saying she's against HK-cantonese passengers(which, indeed, was true) but the funny thing is the caucasian baby who was up front and came to J with his dad kept crying when she was 'entertaining' him. Im wondering if i could write to anyone useful now?(It's almost 1 year after the incident)[of course the baby incident will be out...]
One year after the incident? I doubt if anyone would be credible if he or she did write in about it.

It might help, though, if you're more coherent than in your post.

Not to stand up for CX or specific FA in any ways, but isn't this just part of life? You go to a Restaurant with nice clothing, you get better treatment than if you showed up in Jeans/T-shirts. You go to brand name boutiques in HKG looking 'rich', you get better treatment. It's just the way HK is, am I mistaken? :confused:

as per FAs being rude, I feel OP may have been a bit subjective and defensive. Or with a biased view, any subsequent events will appear worse than it seems.

I would not generalize the entire cabin-crew based on these rogue outliers. But personally speaking, being a native HK blood, I am able to understand the superiority complex some HKers may have towards people holding RoC passports. I'm not saying I'm one of them, I'm saying I can understand them.

Not to stand up for CX or specific FA in any ways, but isn't this just part of life? You go to a Restaurant with nice clothing, you get better treatment than if you showed up in Jeans/T-shirts. You go to brand name boutiques in HKG looking 'rich', you get better treatment. It's just the way HK is, am I mistaken? :confused:

as per FAs being rude, I feel OP may have been a bit subjective and defensive. Or with a biased view, any subsequent events will appear worse than it seems.

I would not generalize the entire cabin-crew based on these rogue outliers. But personally speaking, being a native HK blood, I am able to understand the superiority complex some HKers may have towards people holding RoC passports. I'm not saying I'm one of them, I'm saying I can understand them.

Wait wait hold on. So what you are saying is if a person looks a certain way, they should be scolded at while the FAs don't look for help but continue to be difficult?

I hold a United States issued passport but can speak very little Cantonese, to the point where I don't feel like I can communicate with any FA. I mean I am Asian, I look Chinese, and sometimes I feel at a disadvantage because of my appearance. And at the time I can't reply to an FA in cantonese, things go horribly wrong (it seems like).

I am not biased or defensive about this subject. Maybe its the fact I haven't sat in Y for the longest time. Maybe I should sit in Y on my usual segment JFK-HKG-JFK when I travel CX and maybe it is the same hostile environment as I mentioned in my original post. Maybe I have been spoiled by F with an attentive purser each time and the fact she understands that while I may look Asian, I don't neccesarily speak Cantonese.

FYI, I did NOT get difficulty whatsoever when I insisted on speaking Putonghwa around Hong Kong. The locals were actually very understanding and polite.

I have to say that I am surprised reading all of this. I like CX a lot though dont have rose coloured glasses and would say that one of their greatest strengths is their cabin crew and their great attitude on a consistent basis. Compare this with QF.

So I heard that there were some FAs being rude to Cantonese speaking people, and there were also some other FAs being rude to Mandarin speaking people or non-Cantonese speaking Chinese. I am lucky fo far. I have not seen rude FAs on CX (I mean being rude to someone in the cabins/sections I was in).

But arent those mostly cantonese speaking as well? I mean I doubt many of the LHR/SFO/YVR entrants are non Chinese speaking...Many of the LHR crew have Mandarin or Japanese as their Asian language - I don't think any of the gweilos speak Cantonese.

And at the time I can't reply to an FA in cantonese, things go horribly wrong (it seems like).Since you are fluent in English and all cabin crew must be reasonably competent also (but only some crew can speak Putonghua) I don't see why you would choose to speak Putonghua over English? Surely if you just talk English everyone will be happy?

Not to stand up for CX or specific FA in any ways, but isn't this just part of life? You go to a Restaurant with nice clothing, you get better treatment than if you showed up in Jeans/T-shirts. You go to brand name boutiques in HKG looking 'rich', you get better treatment. It's just the way HK is, am I mistaken? :confused:

as per FAs being rude, I feel OP may have been a bit subjective and defensive. Or with a biased view, any subsequent events will appear worse than it seems.

I would not generalize the entire cabin-crew based on these rogue outliers. But personally speaking, being a native HK blood, I am able to understand the superiority complex some HKers may have towards people holding RoC passports. I'm not saying I'm one of them, I'm saying I can understand them.

Erm. what happens when you get on, say, BA and get sh*tfaced by their FA. You complain and such. then I tell you it is their"culture" to look down on foreigners, especially the yellow skined.Or "it's just a racist joke so take it light-heartedly". Maybe the FA even drew a comment along the line of Chinks should just stay in their rathole.

Frankly speaking, I can't see how your comments can be justified for being understandable to be superior as a HKer. It's just an irony how some people is proud of being able to speak mandarin while some others feel superior not to able to speak it.

BTW, if you think life should be lived how it's given, try Alitalia. If they dont feel like serving you, that's life.

Back to my case. I'm HK blood. if the purser couldnt see it out of me(note 1), she could have see it out of my travelmates[my family]. And no, she is not chinese as far as i can tell. Do I need to be looked down upopn when im travelling on an HK airlines? I enjoy being served by a multi-national team, but that doesnt make CX less of a HK airlines. Even then why should someone be looked down upon especially on an airline of the calibre like CX.

Note 1. - not surprising. i've been mistaken on a CX flight for being non-HK local cuz i was speaking cantonese with a stuffy nose

So I heard that there were some FAs being rude to Cantonese speaking people, and there were also some other FAs being rude to Mandarin speaking people or non-Cantonese speaking Chinese. I am lucky fo far. I have not seen rude FAs on CX (I mean being rude to someone in the cabins/sections I was in).

Good for you... you're indeed lucky. I'm quite insensitive to these issues. Try ask my sister and she'll complain for years and years.

Many of the LHR crew have Mandarin or Japanese as their Asian language - I don't think any of the gweilos speak Cantonese.

Good to know... I seldom get on the 744s. Prefer the A340s with less people climbing over each other....:)

Since you are fluent in English and all cabin crew must be reasonably competent also (but only some crew can speak Putonghua) I don't see why you would choose to speak Putonghua over English? Surely if you just talk English everyone will be happy?

point taken... he might just prefer speaking one language over the other at times. I do feel odd speaking english to someone who knows chinese. (My english was way better than my mandarin before i have my gf from TW. but still, its easier for me to speak english. It's simply weird, at times.)

removed to combine

I do not frequent the HKG-TPE sectors often thus my experience of passenger treatement on this route is limited. However having flown that sector in just last month, I witnessed how caring the ground staff at HKG were and how willing they were to speak Mandarin towards the majority of the passengers that were on that flight (whom happended to be Taiwanese BTW) prior and during boarding. This trend continued onboard on behalf of the crews albeit what I witnessed was inside the J cabin. Onboard announcements on the flight trillingual - English, Cantonese, Mandarin (and no the Mandarin was not abbreviated in favor of Cantonese).

It's worth re-mentioning that Taipei is CX's 2nd biggest hub and by large one of their most profitable routes (if not the most profitable). They know the importance of this market.

I'm a native HK blood myself and it does embarrass me that some of my fellow people would look down on someone different from them. Though I seldomly witness this "superiority" sense towards ROC passport holders. Most often, this sense of superiority and discrimination tends to be directed more frequently towards PROC passport holders.

As a Cantonese speaker struggling (but improving) to sharpen my Mandarin skills, it still will not deter me from my commitment to be fluent in the language despite the difficulties as I fully am aware that mastering a language can open the doors to multiple opportunities.

If what the OP describes is indeed an act of prejudice and discrimination commited by the crews, I certainly hope they will be disciplined or even better have their employment terminated.

I knew this would arouse certain ppl....
Wait wait hold on. So what you are saying is if a person looks a certain way, they should be scolded at while the FAs don't look for help but continue to be difficult?


I did NOT say that. I'm only making a judgement based on your post. What I did say, however, is that I feel you may have been subjective, or expecting too much. So based on your observations, it appears to me that you are making big deals with things which seems nothing out of ordinary. Let me explain referring to your initial post:
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Re:
But on the way back HKG-TPE, I noticed a BIG difference. The inflight crew was okay until meals were starting to be served. I noticed a Taiwanese/Chinese couple who could not speak Cantonese and a rude FA, who spoke Cantonese as said on her name tag (surprised she couldn't speak any few words of Mandarin), spoke back to them in English. She didn't bother to get anyone else to communicate with them, she just continued being incredibly difficult with the couple.

(1) "rude" - if you're used to pampering of F service, you may feel ordinary bluntess, which is perfectly fine to me, to be rude. It's relative.
(2) Pax doesn't speak Cantonese, FA spoke back in English... yeah... so isn't that normal? what's the fuss?
(3) 'not getting anyone else to translate' - it's during a bloody meal service, serving 300+ pax in Y, short flight, and all FAs are busy, asile is blocked. what do you want the FA do? But let's put things to prospective... . It's just serving a sandwitch box on TPE flights.
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RE:
And then when asked if there was a choice by one of the Mandarin speaking passengers, another FA who did understand Mandarin spat back saying, "There are no other choices"

(1) 'spat back' - obviously i sense your emotion in choice of vocab. You mean another FA who's serving had to scream over crowded noisy cabin?
(2) Well, there's no choice, so what are you expecting? It's not F-class, Sir, where you get what you want when you want. Join the public.
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Re:
When I declined a meal and only asked for beer, this same FA scoffed at me like I was too good for a meal

(1) This is way too subjective. I donno about you, but I've many times refused meals, and they just left me, no hard feelings.

I am sure someone in CX is monitoring this thread and will act on it.

Erm. what happens when you get on, say, BA and get sh*tfaced by their FA. You complain and such. then I tell you it is their"culture" to look down on foreigners, especially the yellow skined.Or "it's just a racist joke so take it light-heartedly". Maybe the FA even drew a comment along the line of Chinks should just stay in their rathole.

Honestly speaking, I couldn't care less if FAs mis-treat me based on my race. I've been educated not to get upset with such little issues, and I'm confident in myself. If you want to talk multi-culturarism, i'm half Jap/HK and lived overseas in Canada (6yr) and Australia (6yr) and moving to UK. I don't even know my own identity anymore. Those with racist views are sadly uneducated people and I extend my pity.



Frankly speaking, I can't see how your comments can be justified for being understandable to be superior as a HKer. It's just an irony how some people is proud of being able to speak mandarin while some others feel superior not to able to speak it. .

I won't argue further on this part. At least the patriotic HKers (not those who fled overseas pre 1997 and have since returned) I've seen have certain 'views' towards Mainlanders.

Honestly speaking, I couldn't care less if FAs mis-treat me based on my race. I've been educated not to get upset with such little issues, and I'm confident in myself. If you want to talk multi-culturarism, i'm half Jap/HK and lived overseas in Canada (6yr) and Australia (6yr) and moving to UK. I don't even know my own identity anymore. Those with racist views are sadly uneducated people and I extend my pity.


I won't argue further on this part. At least the patriotic HKers (not those who fled overseas pre 1997 and have since returned) I've seen have certain 'views' towards Mainlanders.

Good for you(in this case, us. I wouldn't be bothered as well) that you shall not be bothered, but surely this does not apply to every person. but such behaviour is not needed in the first place.

Part 2: That is true, but it such bias is not quite needed in the first place. I can think of a handful of places where people is biased against.PRC definately being one.

(2) Pax doesn't speak Cantonese, FA spoke back in English... yeah... so isn't that normal? what's the fuss?

Yeah, speaking back in English and leaving is one, continuing to speak in English towards them and not connecting is the other. This FA did it on purpose.

(1) 'spat back' - obviously i sense your emotion in choice of vocab. You mean another FA who's serving had to scream over crowded noisy cabin?

Fine, "replied in a bad tone" then.

(2) Well, there's no choice, so what are you expecting? It's not F-class, Sir, where you get what you want when you want. Join the public.

Re-read what I OBSERVED not what I "expected." I've flown CX long enough and well enough to know that this segment has only one choice in Y.

(1) This is way too subjective. I donno about you, but I've many times refused meals, and they just left me, no hard feelings.

Yeah I wish she had just left me alone. After I said "No, I would like some beer though," she rolled her eyes and did a half snort kind of buisness. No joke. And her name was reported to the purser (lead flight attendant, sorry I forgot the vocab CX uses). I don't need to take that. If I want beer, I'll have only beer, thank you very much.

I witnessed how caring the ground staff at HKG were and how willing they were to speak Mandarin towards the majority of the passengers that were on that flight (whom happended to be Taiwanese BTW) prior and during boarding.

Through the last few years of going through HKG via F/J check-in, I have noticed an upward improvement in usage of Mandarin ^ I've never had one arguement or any disagreements with any of the ground crews whether its CX or BA in JFK.

After I said "No, I would like some beer though,"Just out of curiosity, was that it? If it had been me I would have said, "No thank you, but I would like a beer if you have one please". With a smile and looking her in the eye. I have never been served impolitely in several hundred sectors on Cathay.

I have to say that "please" and "thank you" don't seem to feature very prominently in the vocabulary of Asian passengers on CX, whereas they do amongst the gweilos. I can't help thinking that the perceived better service is not unconnected to this.

I have to say that "please" and "thank you" don't seem to feature very prominently in the vocabulary of Asian passengers on CX, whereas they do amongst the gweilos. I can't help thinking that the perceived better service is not unconnected to this. But at the same time, I notice more and more "gweilos" living in Asia believe they can get what they want through intimidation. Seeing American and (some, but less) European passengers / diners treating FAs / waitress like dirt is becoming more frequent. When they don't get what they want, they simply fixed their eyes on the FA / service personnel, talk at a slower pace and try to embarrass the other party by suggesting they don't understand what is being spoke to them and therefore they are the source of the problem. What hasn't struck these "foreigners" yet is that they are in someone else's country and English is not the default language there, and nor is the western culture or ways of resolving problem.

I can't remember where but I once saw a sign in a restaurant that read "No English Spoken Here - Go Somewhere Else". I think the owner of the restaurant has had enough of what I just described above.

Pls treat this as a healthy discussion and no offense is intended by anything written above... especially since I haven't actually read the thread in its entirety!

I have to say that "please" and "thank you" don't seem to feature very prominently in the vocabulary of Asian passengers on CX, whereas they do amongst the gweilos. I can't help thinking that the perceived better service is not unconnected to this. True, not only on CX flights but in ANY service situation. 90% of HKers don't say "can I have" or "thank you" when ordering food at a restaurants and when service has been provided to them.

It's even worst in the Mainland, restaurant goers shout "服務員!" (service person in Mandarin) across the room in a demanding and instructional tone to get attention. I feel embarrassed when my Chinese colleagues do this whilst we dine. Saying thank you when deboarding in China makes you look at though you have done something suspicious!

Just out of curiosity, was that it? If it had been me I would have said, "No thank you, but I would like a beer if you have one please". With a smile and looking her in the eye. I have never been served impolitely in several hundred sectors on Cathay.

I have to say that "please" and "thank you" don't seem to feature very prominently in the vocabulary of Asian passengers on CX, whereas they do amongst the gweilos. I can't help thinking that the perceived better service is not unconnected to this.

While providing service is the FAs' duty, saying "please" and "thank you" and be pleasant with a smile always help. Everyone is happy. The FAs feel appreciated and are willing to do more for you - at least for the reasonable requests.

On the other hand, even encountering unaccommodating passengers, the FAs should still keep it up. It is alright not to accommodate unreasonable requests, but should probably avoid wearing a long face.

True, but not only on CX flights but in ANY service situation. 90% of HKers don't say "can I have" or "thank you" when ordering food at a restaurants and when service has been provided to them.

It's even worst in the Mainland, restaurant goers shout "服務員!" (service person in Mandarin) across the room in a demanding and instructional tone to get attention. I feel embarassed when my Chinese colleagues do this whilst we dine.

This is the belief that "I pay, and therefore I am the King/Queen". This is mindset that should be changed.

Just out of curiosity, was that it? If it had been me I would have said, "No thank you, but I would like a beer if you have one please". With a smile and looking her in the eye. I have never been served impolitely in several hundred sectors on Cathay.

I have to say that "please" and "thank you" don't seem to feature very prominently in the vocabulary of Asian passengers on CX, whereas they do amongst the gweilos. I can't help thinking that the perceived better service is not unconnected to this.

I mean normally I smile, make eye contact and speak at a normal tone. Even though I don't say please, thank you, upon recieveing an item I usually do say thank you.

I am never nasty to any FAs. I fly NW the rest of the time I'm not flying CX and comparing both airlines in the FA department is like comparing apples and oranges. With this in mind, I usually look forward to friendly and caring service on CX. I don't demand a lot on a short flight like this, but after the flight, it left a lot to be desired.

True, not only on CX flights but in ANY service situation. 90% of HKers don't say "can I have" or "thank you" when ordering food at a restaurants and when service has been provided to them.

It's even worst in the Mainland, restaurant goers shout "服務員!" (service person in Mandarin) across the room in a demanding and instructional tone to get attention. I feel embarrassed when my Chinese colleagues do this whilst we dine. Saying thank you when deboarding in China makes you look at though you have done something suspicious!



Ha, I agree many people from China can do/s aywhat seems be rude, doing what you just say! I saw this in Taiwan and in Japan. But then again there are some from China that travel more, and know local customs and how to be polite.
But I do think people at airlines, hotels, ect, see many people like this and as result do not treat them well. Many times the traveller may not even notice it or care, but sometimes they do.

This is all rather interesting, with varying personal experiences.

My past impression of CX cabin staff attitudes towards passengers was that they seem to treat the gweilo passengers better (probably a legacy of their old identity of an airline serving white expatriates). This may not be as true today given the shift in passenger demographics.

I'm also a bit surprised by the perception or experience that a CX cabin staff would be hesitant if not disdainful to speak Mandarin, for a number of reasons.

The Taiwan routes are CX's bread and butter routes and have been for many years, so they would have institutional knowledge on how to serve Taiwanese passengers. Also, in recent years, with the rapid increase in outbound travel from mainland China, CX has also had more and more mainland passengers in its clientele.

Finally, the Hong Kong local employment market in many areas (not just the travel, retail and tourist sectors) has made Mandarin proficiency a major employment qualification. Locals who lack such proficiency are increasingly at a disadvantage when applying for jobs.

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My past impression of CX cabin staff attitudes towards passengers was that they seem to treat the gweilo passengers better (probably a legacy of their old identity of an airline serving white expatriates). This may not be as true today given the shift in passenger demographics.
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as i've said... this is partially true.... up till last summer at least. the service on my redemption trip from TPE and op-up trip to AMS was, unsurprisingly, marvelous.

as i've said... this is partially true.... up till last summer at least. the service on my redemption trip from TPE and op-up trip to AMS was, unsurprisingly, marvelous.

Good to hear that. During the years when I was based in HKG and flew CX extensively - mostly to TPE, SEL, MHL, BKK, SIN- for the most part, I received good service, despite the management's sometimes ham-fisted attitude towards labor relations (I recall the pilots going on a sick-out). Got upgraded a few times by surprise, which was great.

I mean normally I smile, make eye contact and speak at a normal tone. Even though I don't say please, thank you, upon recieveing an item I usually do say thank you.

I am never nasty to any FAs. I fly NW the rest of the time I'm not flying CX and comparing both airlines in the FA department is like comparing apples and oranges. With this in mind, I usually look forward to friendly and caring service on CX. I don't demand a lot on a short flight like this, but after the flight, it left a lot to be desired.

I totally agree with you and being courteous and polite as a passenger pays in a lot of ways. I'm really sorry that you did not receive the service that you should by a matter of fact receive. And if you are dissatisfied with the service, it's best to express your dissatisfaction in a calm and controlled manner. As they say, you'll draw a lot more bees with honey than with vinegar.

In the US in particular, it really makes sense to not lose your cool and act up -because the tightened security atmosphere gives the airport and airline authorities a lot of authority to decide if a passenger is being disruptive enough to deny the passenger passage on a plane - and it does happen!

That is, indeed, true... to so far that i've heard. A fd holding RoC passport was checking in at LHR with 27kg of luggage got scowled at. While I, when using either English(especially) or Cantonese, have never had similar problems when I was with more luggage(I once had 36 kg of luggage the nice (oldish) man in First let me through despite unloading like 1kg of coffee).

Not sure if its related, but surely got me pissed off when my friend told me that thing. Maybe its just SOME CANTONESE speaking FA, but all the other time I've heard good stories about CX. Including her,after that incident.

Well, in the old days in HK (say 15-20 years ago) if you were ethnically Chinese and didn't speak Cantonese, often you were treated with disdain (I'm a Chinese American fluent in Mandarin, speaks passable Cantonese---not really polished but enough to get by in daily life). Having lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong I know a lot of Taiwanese who complained of the snooty HK attitude towards Taiwanese visitors. This is an archaic and self-destructive attitude and is fast going the way of the dustbin.

As I have mentioned in another post, in the last 10 years since the handover, attitudes have changed - and a lot of that is due to the economic realities facing HK today. Announcements on the MTR are made in Mandarin now. Today, if you're a HK person and you don't speak Mandarin well enough to use it in work, you are at a disadvantage from a professional standpoint. Heck, the retail sector has made it a prerequisite. Even Fortress - the home electronics and appliances store chain, accepts payment in RMB for goods.