Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - YVR-HKG departure 3am, arr. HKG 750am. Meals?

I am flying CX889 Nov. 1. It departs YVR at 3am and arrives at HKG 750am in F. You talk about a long night!! What on earth is the meal schedule and menu????

I've done it in J (and several people on this board do it a lot). The meal schedule is a supper on departure, then breakfast about 90 minutes before landing. In J "supper" is basically a dinner entree without the starter. In the interim there are snacks and bar service on demand, but it's almost wholly an overnight flight (about 11-12 hours), so mostly people sleep.

The funny thing is that this flight is often delayed because it starts at JFK, so you can easily cool your heels at YVR all night, then leave around 500am... then, at an hour when most normal people can barely look at hot coffee, you are confronted with a good-sized dinner. (And if you hit the dim sum hard back in the nice little CX lounge, earlier, it's your second good-sized dinner... at breakfast time.)

Did CX change the time of this flight? I'm flying 889 on Nov. 21 and my ticket says it leaves YVR at 2:00am and arrives HKG 7:50am, where I have a connection to Dragonair 212 at 8:55am. I have not received a schedule change notification from CX or AA who issued the tickets. As of today on AA's web site it shows leaving at 2:00am.

why dont you check the menus ??????? on this forum

Did CX change the time of this flight? I'm flying 889 on Nov. 21 and my ticket says it leaves YVR at 2:00am and arrives HKG 7:50am, where I have a connection to Dragonair 212 at 8:55am. I have not received a schedule change notification from CX or AA who issued the tickets. As of today on AA's web site it shows leaving at 2:00am.

I presume this is purely due to the change from PDT back to PST. OP flies on Nov. 1, which is still PDT, thus departure is 1 hr later even though arrival unchanged.

I presume this is purely due to the change from PDT back to PST. OP flies on Nov. 1, which is still PDT, thus departure is 1 hr later even though arrival unchanged.

That is correct. PDT/PST changes on Sunday, 2 Nov, this year.

The funny thing is that this flight is often delayed because it starts at JFK, so you can easily cool your heels at YVR all night, then leave around 500am... then, at an hour when most normal people can barely look at hot coffee, you are confronted with a good-sized dinner. (And if you hit the dim sum hard back in the nice little CX lounge, earlier, it's your second good-sized dinner... at breakfast time.)

I was thinking about leaving the airport and going somewhere in Richmond for dim sum as we have a 7 hour layover at 7:30pm on Nov. 20 before we board CX 889. So I can have my fill of dim sum in the lounge? Does anyone who has been in there recently know if there is a shower in the lounge? We will have been traveling all day from MCI to get to Vancouver and I'd like to freshen up before this long flight.

Lounge opens some 3 hours before flight so don't get in there too early.

I don't think you can yum cha/get dim sum after lunch hour anyway, even in Richmond.

I am flying CX889 Nov. 1. It departs YVR at 3am and arrives at HKG 750am in F.
One thing about CX889 is that now the caviar serving has been switched on the supper portion of the YVR-HKG sector. In the past it used to be served on the dinner schedule of the JFK-YVR sector. So lucky you.

Basically now the YVR-HKG menu on 889 is similar to the redeyes LAX/SFO-HKG.

I was thinking about leaving the airport and going somewhere in Richmond for dim sum as we have a 7 hour layover at 7:30pm on Nov. 20 before we board CX 889. So I can have my fill of dim sum in the lounge? Does anyone who has been in there recently know if there is a shower in the lounge? We will have been traveling all day from MCI to get to Vancouver and I'd like to freshen up before this long flight.

I was in Cathay's YVR lounge yesterday and did not see a shower, but I wasn't looking for one. Someone else might be able to answer more definitively.

CX889 is one of those flights that are delayed most of the time... if any one of the sectors before it, HKG-YVR-JFK-YVR has a problem, you're looking at a departure delay of about 1-2 hours at a minimum... long night indeed...

I think this is the most stupid time operating flight in CX schedule specially for people who don't live in YVR.

For 3 am departure you have to check out from your hotel at 2 pm and spend 13 hours on the street killing time like a begger. All resturant will be closed at 11 pm and you still have another 4 hours to do nothing in cold winter in YVR.

For 3 am departure you have to check out from your hotel at 2 pm and spend 13 hours on the street killing time like a begger. All resturant will be closed at 11 pm .

There are a few 24/7 (or at least 24) Chinese restaurants in Richmond. There's one in Lansdowne mall named Kowloon IIRC.

CX889 is one of those flights that are delayed most of the time... if any one of the sectors before it, HKG-YVR-JFK-YVR has a problem, you're looking at a departure delay of about 1-2 hours at a minimum... long night indeed...

This is why I am trying to get switched to one of the flights leaving from LAX or SFO. I don't want to layover for 7 hours in the middle of the night. My trip begins in Kansas City and ends in Phuket. Because I am on award seats in J, there hasn't been any availability since I started calling to change back in January. I call AA 2 times a week and nothing. Hopefully CX will open some up closer to my trip and if so that I can get a connecting flight on AA to either of these two gateway cities.

This is why I am trying to get switched to one of the flights leaving from LAX or SFO. I don't want to layover for 7 hours in the middle of the night. My trip begins in Kansas City and ends in Phuket. Because I am on award seats in J, there hasn't been any availability since I started calling to change back in January. I call AA 2 times a week and nothing. Hopefully CX will open some up closer to my trip and if so that I can get a connecting flight on AA to either of these two gateway cities.

I am amazed at the time you spend preparing for this trip...I cannot imagine what pain you inflict on the reservations staff at your hotel! Very diligent indeed.

I think this is the most stupid time operating flight in CX schedule specially for people who don't live in YVR. It is, however, great for people who start in NYC -- when it runs on time. It's timed to connect with a bank of CX departures that leave HKG at 900a or 1000a. The problem is, as tfung pointed out, that the aircraft operating the 888/889 HKG-YVR-JFK-YVR-HKG turn is very tightly scheduled out and back, with little ground time and no margin for error. Hence no chance to catch up to schedule once behind. If CX888 leaves the gate at HKG 90 minutes late on Monday afternoon, CX is virtually assured of a bunch of misconnects arriving on a late CX889 Wednesday morning.

Unforch the YVR-HKG passengers suffer the last leg of this drama all the time. I don't think it's the 0255 departure time that's so bad -- you can go out on the town in Vancouver then turn up at the airport at midnight, as most people do. What's bad is when you do that and then don't depart until 0500 or 0600. You've pulled an all-nighter and feel all burned out even before you go anywhere.

I am amazed at the time you spend preparing for this trip...I cannot imagine what pain you inflict on the reservations staff at your hotel! Very diligent indeed.

I have inflicted no pain on the hotels or the cruise line. I have paid for my cabin on the ship, and have not requested any changes. I made hotel reservations at small local places, one in Phnom Penh and one in Siem Riep, and have made no changes to either reservation. The only one I am "harassing" is AA and CX, but only because they keep changing the flights/schedules every 2 weeks. I enjoy preparing for my semiannual vacations, chatting online with other travelers, working out the plan with the people who will be our guides, looking at restaurant menus and planning what delectable food to eat that I cannot get here at home. And while I'm doing all of this for the vacation in November I'm doing the same for the next vacation in April 2009. And I manage to run a business the whole time.
I am an excellent multitasker.

I "think" that this is getting a little better sometime in the Fall..I think that the YVR-JFK (CX888) will become an overnight flight and not turn immediately back to YVR. SO, assuming that an HKG-JFK aircraft are used on the JFK-YVR sector, ther appears to be an extra hour in the schedule vs what there is today!!


CX889 is one of those flights that are delayed most of the time... if any one of the sectors before it, HKG-YVR-JFK-YVR has a problem, you're looking at a departure delay of about 1-2 hours at a minimum... long night indeed...

Not really. Right now CX888 arrives JFK at 2115 and turns around for 889 at 2300. Later when 888 becomes a morning JFK arrival, it will turnaround as the CX841 morning nonstop JFK-HKG. Instead it will be the CX840 nonstop HKG-JFK that will turnround for CX889. CX841 will also have a 2115 arrival before turning around as the 2300 CX889 departure. So 841->889 will have the same turnaround time at JFK as the current 888->889.

If CX888 leaves the gate at HKG 90 minutes late on Monday afternoon, CX is virtually assured of a bunch of misconnects arriving on a late CX889 Wednesday morning.


So if the night I fly CX889 is one that the flight is delayed, and I have a connection to a KA flight in Hong Kong to Phuket, and I miss that flight, and it's the only one of the day, does CX have to get me to Phuket that same day on another airline? Do I have a choice on the routing or do I have to take what they offer? I've never flown CX before so I do not know how they operate in cases of missed connections due to their delays. Does CX have an obligation to get me to Phuket as close to the original time I was scheduled?

I do not know. I do know the next CX flight to many destinations can be hours later. Last time I did this I missed my connection to SYD by 30 minutes. I was rebooked on the next CX service which left 10 hours later. Obviously Phuket is a different case geographically however.

I guess what I would do in your shoes is track the on-time performance of the outbound CX888 that leaves 40 hours before your 889's ETA in HKG. If it is running late you will know you have a problem, and you could call CX with some proactive rebooking ideas. Always better in these situations to know what you want rather than wait to be told what you can have.

I'm pretty sure there is a recent F menu posted in (of all places!) the F menu sticky at the top of this forum. I may have even posted it myself. ;)

For 3 am departure you have to check out from your hotel at 2 pm and spend 13 hours on the street killing time like a begger. You can always book the hotel an extra night. That's what I would do.

I'm pretty sure there is a recent F menu posted in (of all places!) the F menu sticky at the top of this forum. I may have even posted it myself. ;)

You can always book the hotel an extra night. That's what I would do.

My company refuse to reimburse me for that night as I am considered to be checking out on the day time of the flight.

My company refuse to reimburse me for that night as I am considered to be checking out on the day time of the flight.
Technically your company is wrong. The flight departs the next morning, so you can check out at, say, 1:30am if you were staying at the Fairmont at the airport. That's the same day as the flight departure. At what departure time would they reimburse you? 4am flight? 5am? 6am? Where would they draw the line? 12am would seem to make sense. Don't blame CX for your company's illogical and "stupid" travel policy...

Technically your company is wrong. The flight departs the next morning, so you can check out at, say, 1:30am if you were staying at the Fairmont at the airport. That's the same day as the flight departure. At what departure time would they reimburse you? 4am flight? 5am? 6am? Where would they draw the line? 12am would seem to make sense. Don't blame CX for your company's illogical and "stupid" travel policy...

Thnaks for the tip ijgordon. I will try it on my next trip and hopefully when my company see that the check-out date match the date of the flight departure they will reimburse me for the extra night stay.

What is important is that the hotel bill show the check out date to have the same flight departure date. Down town YVR hotels bill will always show check out the day before departure even if they charge you for the extra night. I don't know how is the way done in the Fairmont Airport hotel if I check out after 1 am on the same day of the flight departure ?

Well, you could possibly not check out at all, and then have someone call the hotel on your behalf (pretending to be you, since you'll be on an airplane) later that morning, and tell them you had to run out quickly to catch a flight and could they check you out and mail/e-mail/fax you the final bill. They'll have no idea you physically left the building earlier.

I guess if you do try to check out at 1am their billing systems might get a little messed up and post the earlier date because I don't think they usually post the nightly transaction until 2 or 3 in the morning. But you could probably ask them to manually post the final night, and it's after midnight I don't see why they couldn't force the date to show properly. But I don't have any direct experience with these systems and each hotel might be different. But the strategy above should be a decent workaround.

[QUOTE=BearX220;10414128

I guess what I would do in your shoes is track the on-time performance of the outbound CX888 that leaves 40 hours before your 889's ETA in HKG. If it is running late you will know you have a problem, and you could call CX with some proactive rebooking ideas. Always better in these situations to know what you want rather than wait to be told what you can have.[/QUOTE]

Where do I track the on time performance of a specific flight? On CX website? The YVR airport web site?

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INTL/homepage ... and click on "Flight Status."

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INTL/homepage ... and click on "Flight Status."

Thanks for the link. I'll do that as it gets closer to our trip.