Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - First class on 74A.. MAGNIFICENT

Just got off of HKG-NRT CX 504 in first. I must say that the new first class suites are just incredible. Way ahead of any other OW airline.. I use to think the AA FS and the QF suite were great.. but the CX suite blew my mind. Very wide seat.. incredible privacy..your own closet, ability to store TWO carryons under the ottoman, 17 inch IFE screen and probably the best KYO-KAISEKI meal I have ever had... I was so impressed that I thought all FT should know. Too bad the NA-HKG flights are still hit and miss regarding these new first class seats. Truly a step up in every which way...

I agree, although unfortunately my experience was at a CX reception in London this week rather than enjoying it on a flight.

Definitely a big step up from BA F, although I understand that this iseat is being reviewed at present.

I was impressed with the size, privacy without a door, storage space and comfort.

The J seat is also good and an improvement on the VS version that does not recline far enough, IMHO, before you have to stand up, flip it over and make it completely flat.

I agree, although unfortunately my experience was at a CX reception in London this week rather than enjoying it on a flight.

Any mention at the reception regarding any planned changes to the new J seat?

Any mention at the reception regarding any planned changes to the new J seat?

Not that I am aware, although I did not ask the question.

Are there problems with the new J seat? It looked good and whilst I am still not convinced with this type of seat compared to say BA and the forward facing seats, I did think it was comfortable. Good if travelling on your won, but not great as a couple as the partition is high, but not as high IIRC, as VS.

It is fully flat, so an improvement to the previous J seat I would guess, not that I used it.

It would be even more lovely if CX would stop CHANGING THE AIRCRAFT type a few days before the flight - this has happened to me several times.
Are they planning to convert ALL the 747s to the "new F class"?

The J seat is also good and an improvement on the VS version that does not recline far enough, IMHO, before you have to stand up, flip it over and make it completely flat.
Ha! You obviously haven't spent much time here reading the reviews of the CX J seats...
(FWIW, I agree with you, and I've actually flown both CX and VS versions...)

I echo the comments here, the new F suites on CX are truly magnificent. Just flew HKG-LAX in F on Thr last week and it blew me away. Have had the luck to fly upfront on VS, SQ and QF in the past few years, and this product on CX beats them all hands down. Travelled with a friend, both of us were in row 1 which I think are ideal for couples. Food, service, AVOD systems, all were perfect. And had no problems with power for my laptop, as others have commented about previously in this forum. Only slight annoyance was the fact that about an hour before landing, both bathrooms ran out of running water!

ability to store TWO carryons under the ottoman,There is absolutely no way that two carryons approaching full carryon size (22"x14"x10") fit under that ottoman. You can get one in lengthwise, but it protrudes significantly out of the front of the ottoman, meaning that a second person can't comfortably sit there (important because the new layout doesn't otherwise permit couples to travel or eat together). Moreover, for people who are tall (I am 6'4") a bag so positioned gets in the way of your feet if you want to stretch out. This does have one advantage though - when the plane rotates and the bag starts to roll towards you (as it will do if it has wheels on the bottom) then you can hold it with your feet before it builds up enough speed to do some nasty damage when it hits you. Class? I think not!

By the way, how many people were in the F cabin? I can't imagine the reduced complement of two crew being able to do a decent kaiseki service to a full load.

Ha! You obviously haven't spent much time here reading the reviews of the CX J seats...

Guilty as charged!

Better stick to commenting on BA - at least I know what I am writing about! :D

Just flew HKG-LAX in F on Thr last week {...} And had no problems with power for my laptop, as others have commented about previously in this forum.That's interesting. Even CX is stating that the 747s (which are all that fly to LAX currently) have no power in the new F suites. Could it be, perchance, that what you actually flew in was the old F?

Are they planning to convert ALL the 747s to the "new F class"?
Yes they are. The next route to become fully 74A is SFO at the end of June. FCO will still be the old 744 for all of summer (not suprisingly). Not so sure about CDG and FRA.

But the conversion of all 744 and 74J to the 74A should be completed by 2009.

That's interesting. Even CX is stating that the 747s (which are all that fly to LAX currently) have no power in the new F suites. Could it be, perchance, that what you actually flew in was the old F?

I also found this interesting too...I have flown 74A F for like 4-5 times the past month, and the power was always NOT working...I didn't really check the registration of each plane I took, so maybe it's the same one etc...but it would be nice to know at least one of the 74A does have the power working !!

Yes they are. The next route to become fully 74A is SFO at the end of June. FCO will still be the old 744 for all of summer (not suprisingly). Not so sure about CDG and FRA.

But the conversion of all 744 and 74J to the 74A should be completed by 2009.

CDG will get their share of the New seats beginning September from HKG.

FRA will have their's by late July.

But don't take my word for it, as Cathay Pacific always makes final minute substitutions at HKG.

How do you guys know all this?

Just got off of HKG-NRT CX 504 in first. I must say that the new first class suites are just incredible. Way ahead of any other OW airline.. I use to think the AA FS and the QF suite were great.. but the CX suite blew my mind. Very wide seat.. incredible privacy..your own closet, ability to store TWO carryons under the ottoman, 17 inch IFE screen and probably the best KYO-KAISEKI meal I have ever had... I was so impressed that I thought all FT should know. Too bad the NA-HKG flights are still hit and miss regarding these new first class seats. Truly a step up in every which way...

RTW4, would you say new CX F has the edge over old SQ F now? I found the food and service on SQ notably better last time I flew , about two years ago. Has that changed? There are many reports about quality of soft product in CX going further downhill....

It was definitely a new 74A with new suites, and laptop power was definitely working! If only the same could have been said for the running water in the 2 bathrooms however :)

I think I found the answer to this power port on 74A question.

I was just off CX 889 JFK-YVR-HKG in F - at boarding I asked whether power port was available, and yes it was !! I asked which aircraft registration it was and the FA said it's B-HKT. I later found out that the IFE is the old-style (software-wise, it's still the big screen etc of course) - then the FA said, oh no wonder, the power port has some compatibility issue with the new IFE, and that's why this power port on B-HKT works because it's still using the old IFE.

and she confirmed that there should be only this one 74A (B-HKT) that has the power port working.

So does that mean the 747s have different IFE system to the Airbuses and 777s, since the power on those aircraft work?

good question, I have this question myself too...but I guess it's probably a combination of 747+new IFE that made it incompatible (don't know why though)...somehow, right, 77A with new IFE still have the power port working...but on 74A, either you get new IFE + no power, or old IFE + power...

What a pity that almost half of the 747-400s do not have the in-seat power activated, probably due to the OS issues between the IFE and the in-seat power supply.

With the 744 services to CDG and FRA at the moment, don't need to worry at all cause those are still the old-First Class seats until this Summer.

RTW4, would you say new CX F has the edge over old SQ F now? I found the food and service on SQ notably better last time I flew , about two years ago. Has that changed? There are many reports about quality of soft product in CX going further downhill....

I find the new F on SQ superioir to the new F on CX, both the seat and food/service. But both are GREAT, and nothing beats the kaseiki meal served on HKG-NRT.

I'm planning to fly JFK-HKG-NRT with Mrs Retired in September or October, probably on Cathay. Would love to splurge and fly F but I wonder if the F seats are really congenial for traveling couples. Would C class seats be better from this point of view? Sleeping for 8 hours is not our priority. How does Cathay compare with JAL or AA on these routes? Can I please tap in to the experience of you upfront Travelers to Asia and back?

I'm planning to fly JFK-HKG-NRT with Mrs Retired in September or October, probably on Cathay. Would love to splurge and fly F but I wonder if the F seats are really congenial for traveling couples. Would C class seats be better from this point of view? Sleeping for 8 hours is not our priority. How does Cathay compare with JAL or AA on these routes? Can I please tap in to the experience of you upfront Travelers to Asia and back?

Mr. Retired: You clearly have not spent much time searching around here for threads on the new CX J...(which is on the JFK-HKG route on the two daily nonstops). All of those threads will come to this conclusion: new CX J is just not compatible with couples. There are big walls between yourself and the person you're traveling with, and you lay at an angle so you can't chat with the person across from you either. Granted the new CX F is so big it's not like it's completely intimate either (and there's only one in the middle aisle, instead of two), but a partner can sit on the ottoman and have dinner with you and it certainly is better if you're going with someone you want to interact with during the flight.

Mr. Retired: You clearly have not spent much time searching around here for threads on the new CX J...(which is on the JFK-HKG route on the two daily nonstops).

in fact, you're likely to find the new J/F on the 3rd JFK-HKG service too (the one-stop via YVR)...which most often is served with a 74A I think (at least when I took it).

I am intrigued as to why there is a compatability problem between the IFE system and the power port.

CX use the same IFE (new version) as Singapore Airlines; the Panasonic ex2 (I think). Power ports are functioning on all Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380-800 aircraft.