Deterioration in IFE selection?
#16
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX Diamond, BA Gold, *A Silver, Accor Diamond
Posts: 345
In fact I realised that I'm looking at AA or JL to New York in business in a few weeks rather than Cathay - and IFE is part of it although so is a change of food options to see what else is out there. Prices are pretty similar and because I always do ex-TPE for long haul, making a change in Tokyo or DFW isn't much of a problem. I'll just be interested to see what the movie and TV selection is like on another airline where the hard product is very similar (or the same), the soft product is the same or perhaps slightly inferior and I still collect points anfd miles on Oneworld. Everything's a tradeoff but if the only change in IFE month-to-month from my perspective is an extra 3 episodes of "Billions" then I'm going to check out the competition
#17
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: MNL
Programs: CX MPO DM, Le Club Accor Platinum, World of Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 2,284
Movies still look strong to me, when over this year the # of pages in 'Cantopop albums' have fallen from 6 to 2...
I was really pi$$ed when they took away 創世紀 as for that period all I did was to bingewatch it and that made 16 hour flights fly by fast
I haven't flown 35G yet but is there a wider variety on the new IFE system?
I was really pi$$ed when they took away 創世紀 as for that period all I did was to bingewatch it and that made 16 hour flights fly by fast
I haven't flown 35G yet but is there a wider variety on the new IFE system?
#18
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
I think it's longer than the last year or so. For the last 2 or 3 years I seem to have always seen every film on there. The selection of films is still good for casual flyers but the TV shows have taken a downward turn with only a handful of episodes from a season on there now.
Maybe they blew the budget when they got all the Oscar winners.
Maybe they blew the budget when they got all the Oscar winners.
#19
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: HKG
Programs: BA(GGL) QF LTS CX AM, Hilton Diamond, PPL(A)
Posts: 1,654
Case in point: Their travel documentary on HKG was from the early 2000s.. think they were waiting for it to be "in the public domain"
#20
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: NYC/SIN
Programs: CX DM, SQ KF
Posts: 2,171
It took a few 350flights to figure this one out. In a particular section, towards the top right- not the corner but kind of like the last but one field, in sort of the second row of links (phew!), there's a drop down menu to filter to one of the original categories.
Yeah the old one looked and felt 'old', but comfortable- It's way easier for me to navigate that/skip the ads at the beginning etc.
#21
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,800
4 Aug HKG-SYD: no Dunkirk, Despicable Me 3. Only Cars 3 I think.
My Android phone is loaded with YouTube downloads of BEPS videos but I wasn't expecting to watch them on CX (rather UO)
My Android phone is loaded with YouTube downloads of BEPS videos but I wasn't expecting to watch them on CX (rather UO)
#22
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: CX GO (in hibernation mode), AA EXP, SPG GO, HH DM
Posts: 316
wow...guess i wasn't the only one who noticed this. just flew lax-hkg and hkg-sin and watched a total of yes 2 movies!! new movie selection was horrible and the two movies i watched were considered classics
#23
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1
It has indeed deteriorated, I struggled to find something to watch during my last 13hr flt from YVR-HKG, gave up and worked on my laptop instead. The live CNN on the A350 is great though, after a long flt and being able to catch up on news for the next flt helps to start the day properly.
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2006
Location: DTW, but drive to/from YYZ/ORD
Programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards 2MM, Diner Club points
Posts: 31,909
i wonder if it would be feasible to offer "premium" content for additional a la carte cost? Say US$5 for first run movie or US$1-2 for a current season TV episode
#27
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Hehe- so I'm not alone in feeling like a dinosaur trying to deal with the new interface vs the old one.
It took a few 350flights to figure this one out. In a particular section, towards the top right- not the corner but kind of like the last but one field, in sort of the second row of links (phew!), there's a drop down menu to filter to one of the original categories.
Yeah the old one looked and felt 'old', but comfortable- It's way easier for me to navigate that/skip the ads at the beginning etc.
It took a few 350flights to figure this one out. In a particular section, towards the top right- not the corner but kind of like the last but one field, in sort of the second row of links (phew!), there's a drop down menu to filter to one of the original categories.
Yeah the old one looked and felt 'old', but comfortable- It's way easier for me to navigate that/skip the ads at the beginning etc.
The touch screen is well improved (but very hard when used with remote control), but yes it was way easier to navigate in the old UI.
#28
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Off topic, I strongly recommend watching Dunkirk on an IMAX screen. I don't think home theater will give me even close experience as IMAX for this particular movie, not to mention on an IFE.
Last edited by andersonCooper; Sep 6, 2017 at 9:23 am
#29
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: pleb
Posts: 563
How would airlines already have Dunkirk? It was just released to theaters a few weeks ago and still in rotation on the big screen.
#30
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: HKG
Programs: CX DM, SPG Pt, Le Club Accor GO, Shangri-La GC Jade
Posts: 1,327
Movies still look strong to me, when over this year the # of pages in 'Cantopop albums' have fallen from 6 to 2...
I was really pi$$ed when they took away 創世紀 as for that period all I did was to bingewatch it and that made 16 hour flights fly by fast
I haven't flown 35G yet but is there a wider variety on the new IFE system?
I was really pi$$ed when they took away 創世紀 as for that period all I did was to bingewatch it and that made 16 hour flights fly by fast
I haven't flown 35G yet but is there a wider variety on the new IFE system?
Back to the topic, For movie usually I can find one new movie to watch every month... But just one... No interest on the others...
TV section yes it's much better nowadays... This month they've added American Ninja Warrior Season 8 ^ AXN is soooo slow... Still showing Season 7... They have ep 1 to 3 now, but don't know if they will have full season in-flight or not... Like TopGear, Season 24 (post Jeremy-Richard-May era Season 2) still only ep 1 and 2....