Cathay Pacific A330-300 Business Class trip Hong Kong-Singapore 25 December 2010
Jan 3, 2011, 5:43 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Hong Kong (Now Sydney most of the time)
Programs: Asia Miles
Posts: 153
Cathay Pacific A330-300 Business Class trip Hong Kong-Singapore 25 December 2010
Hong Kong-Singapore 25 December 2010
For Christmas our family decided to go on a short trip to Singapore. I was very excited to go because then I could see my good friends there that I haven't seen a long time ago. At first I was very worried that Cathay Pacific would take industrial actions in Christmas. But at the end nothing happened.
Flight Details:
Date: 25.12.2010
Time: 1135/1525
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight Number: CX739
Class: Business(Upgraded at Check in)
Seat: 15D
Aircraft: A330-300
A/C reg: B-HLG
Gate: 2
My boarding pass:
We checked in at the business class section (thanks to my dad's gold status on MPC). We checked in and the counter agent said, "Mr Leung today our flight is very full today and we would like to upgrade 2 people in your group". So my dad told me that he would allow me to accompany him in business because my mom had to take care of my grandma. Check in was very smooth and fast. I was indeed very excited to get on the plane!
After passing through immigration, I went to the lounge the Wing near gate 2. Some parts inside the Wing were renovating. Yes, it's really time for them to renovate and for them to get some new computers there. Food selection wasn't very good in the lounge. After having some food in the lounge I went to the computer corner to surf the web. The computers there are very slow.. I sort of regret going to the Wing. I should have went to the Cabin where they have awesome iMacs there. After surfing the web, I went to the gate to join my parents and my grandma at gate 2. When I went to the gate, the boarding screen said there would be a 30 minute delay due to the inbound plane being late from Taipei.
Flight information display as seen our flight is delayed.
Our plane:
At last! Time to board the aircraft!! We started boarding at 11:45am. As we walked through the jet way 2 pretty FA's welcomed us on board. After me and my dad have settled onboard, we were asked if we would like a drink. The FA came with champagne, orange juice, apple juice and their signature drink Cathay delight which is a kiwi based drink. I took the orange juice. After everyone settled onboard, FA's also came around with hot towels which is nice.
Orange Juice and Champagne:
A330-300 safety card:
At 12:10, time to push back!! We taxied to runway 07R in within 10 minutes. Engine start was amazing!! I really love those RR engines!! Taxiing was quite bumpy.
At 12:25, Cathay 739, you are cleared for takeoff runway 07R!!
After the seatbelt signs were off, the cabin crew started their service. They first handed out the lunch and wine menu's for today's sector. After handing out the menu's, FA's came out with drinks. I opted for ginger ale. It came with warm heated up almonds which are very tasty. After everyone got their drinks, FA's went around again with second round of drinks. the FA's said:
FA: "Mr Leung, would you like more drinks?"
Me: "No thanks."
FA: " How about some more almonds?"
Me: " Yes please."
FA: " Certainly, please wait for a moment I will go to the galley to get some more for you"
Ginger Ale with Almonds
After the FA passed on the almonds to me, lunch service commenced.
The lunch menu included:
Wine Menu:
Hong Kong-Singapore:
Lunch
Starters:
Sun-dried tomato pesto marinated prawns with French beans and roasted peppers
Mixed salad with grilled zucchini, cherry tomato, olives and creamy Italian dressing
Main Courses
Spicy and sour chicken fillets, steamed jasmine rice and mixed vegetables
Pan-fried ling fish with creamy tomato sauce, new potatoes with Italian parsley, asparagus and capsicum
Braised beef in noodle soup
Cheese and Dessert
Cheese selection
Fresh seasonal fruit
Apple crumble pie with clotted cream
Tea and Coffee
Passion Fruit Macaroon
First, FA's put a table cloth on top of the table along with the shrimps and the salad. They tasted pretty good along with the beans and peppers. The salad was amazing! Especially with the creamy Italian dressing. Then after everyone had their starters, FA's went around with bread. I opted for the garlic bread. Garlic bread tasted very good! Just like as if it was out from the bakery!!
My starter: the shrimps and the salad
Then after the starters, it was time for the main course! I opted for the Braised Beef in noodle soup
The beef inside the noodles tasted very nice. But the egg noodles were disappointing. The noodles were very soft.
After the main course, it was time for cheese and dessert. The FA came around with fruit and cheese. The FA said:
FA: Mr Leung, would you care for some cheese and fruit?
Me: Yes of course!
FA: Would you like a bit of every fruit we have here?
Me: Yes please!
The Fruit and Cheese
Fruit and Cheese tasted pretty well. But I did not finish the blue cheese as I never liked blue cheese due to the taste of it.
After the cheese and fruit, FA's came with the apple pie. The FA asked me
FA: Mr Leung, would you care for the apple crumble pie?
Me: Yes of course!
FA: Would you like some cream to go with it?
Me: Certainly!
The apple pie with some Chinese tea.
The apple pie tasted very good with the cream going with it. After the apple pie, FA's came with the Passion Fruit macaroon and with some Christmas cookies. FA's came around with those greeting us "merry Christmas!"
During this flight I have watched Despicable me. These seats and screens need replacing for sure! The screens aren't very clear. When the seat is reclined and when the footrest is layed out, the seat is very comfortable. Around 1 hour before the descent the FA came to me with a In-flight survey. The survey took around 20 minutes to complete.
Watching despicable me:
The inflight survey.
Time really flies! nearly there at Singapore!! 31 mins till landing!
Then the captain made a descent announcement
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be shortly commencing our descent into Singapore Changi Airport. The local time now is 15:35 hours. There is no time difference between Hong Kong and Singapore. The weather in Singapore is a bit of a rainy day, with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius. We hope you have enjoyed the flight with us and on behalf of myself, Cathay Pacific and the whole team on board thank you for flying Cathay Pacific and we hope to see you again soon and merry Christmas. Cabin crew 30 mins till landing."
Then we touched town at runway 20R at 1605hrs. It was a long taxi from runway 20R to gate D46. Then I kept on thinking how would it be possible again to be upgraded again. At 1620hrs we arrived at the gate. The FA's thanked us for flying Cathay Pacific and said merry Christmas to all of us.
Hope you have enjoyed reading this TR. Happy new year!!
Ed
For Christmas our family decided to go on a short trip to Singapore. I was very excited to go because then I could see my good friends there that I haven't seen a long time ago. At first I was very worried that Cathay Pacific would take industrial actions in Christmas. But at the end nothing happened.
Flight Details:
Date: 25.12.2010
Time: 1135/1525
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight Number: CX739
Class: Business(Upgraded at Check in)
Seat: 15D
Aircraft: A330-300
A/C reg: B-HLG
Gate: 2
My boarding pass:
We checked in at the business class section (thanks to my dad's gold status on MPC). We checked in and the counter agent said, "Mr Leung today our flight is very full today and we would like to upgrade 2 people in your group". So my dad told me that he would allow me to accompany him in business because my mom had to take care of my grandma. Check in was very smooth and fast. I was indeed very excited to get on the plane!
After passing through immigration, I went to the lounge the Wing near gate 2. Some parts inside the Wing were renovating. Yes, it's really time for them to renovate and for them to get some new computers there. Food selection wasn't very good in the lounge. After having some food in the lounge I went to the computer corner to surf the web. The computers there are very slow.. I sort of regret going to the Wing. I should have went to the Cabin where they have awesome iMacs there. After surfing the web, I went to the gate to join my parents and my grandma at gate 2. When I went to the gate, the boarding screen said there would be a 30 minute delay due to the inbound plane being late from Taipei.
Flight information display as seen our flight is delayed.
Our plane:
At last! Time to board the aircraft!! We started boarding at 11:45am. As we walked through the jet way 2 pretty FA's welcomed us on board. After me and my dad have settled onboard, we were asked if we would like a drink. The FA came with champagne, orange juice, apple juice and their signature drink Cathay delight which is a kiwi based drink. I took the orange juice. After everyone settled onboard, FA's also came around with hot towels which is nice.
Orange Juice and Champagne:
A330-300 safety card:
At 12:10, time to push back!! We taxied to runway 07R in within 10 minutes. Engine start was amazing!! I really love those RR engines!! Taxiing was quite bumpy.
At 12:25, Cathay 739, you are cleared for takeoff runway 07R!!
After the seatbelt signs were off, the cabin crew started their service. They first handed out the lunch and wine menu's for today's sector. After handing out the menu's, FA's came out with drinks. I opted for ginger ale. It came with warm heated up almonds which are very tasty. After everyone got their drinks, FA's went around again with second round of drinks. the FA's said:
FA: "Mr Leung, would you like more drinks?"
Me: "No thanks."
FA: " How about some more almonds?"
Me: " Yes please."
FA: " Certainly, please wait for a moment I will go to the galley to get some more for you"
Ginger Ale with Almonds
After the FA passed on the almonds to me, lunch service commenced.
The lunch menu included:
Wine Menu:
Hong Kong-Singapore:
Lunch
Starters:
Sun-dried tomato pesto marinated prawns with French beans and roasted peppers
Mixed salad with grilled zucchini, cherry tomato, olives and creamy Italian dressing
Main Courses
Spicy and sour chicken fillets, steamed jasmine rice and mixed vegetables
Pan-fried ling fish with creamy tomato sauce, new potatoes with Italian parsley, asparagus and capsicum
Braised beef in noodle soup
Cheese and Dessert
Cheese selection
Fresh seasonal fruit
Apple crumble pie with clotted cream
Tea and Coffee
Passion Fruit Macaroon
First, FA's put a table cloth on top of the table along with the shrimps and the salad. They tasted pretty good along with the beans and peppers. The salad was amazing! Especially with the creamy Italian dressing. Then after everyone had their starters, FA's went around with bread. I opted for the garlic bread. Garlic bread tasted very good! Just like as if it was out from the bakery!!
My starter: the shrimps and the salad
Then after the starters, it was time for the main course! I opted for the Braised Beef in noodle soup
The beef inside the noodles tasted very nice. But the egg noodles were disappointing. The noodles were very soft.
After the main course, it was time for cheese and dessert. The FA came around with fruit and cheese. The FA said:
FA: Mr Leung, would you care for some cheese and fruit?
Me: Yes of course!
FA: Would you like a bit of every fruit we have here?
Me: Yes please!
The Fruit and Cheese
Fruit and Cheese tasted pretty well. But I did not finish the blue cheese as I never liked blue cheese due to the taste of it.
After the cheese and fruit, FA's came with the apple pie. The FA asked me
FA: Mr Leung, would you care for the apple crumble pie?
Me: Yes of course!
FA: Would you like some cream to go with it?
Me: Certainly!
The apple pie with some Chinese tea.
The apple pie tasted very good with the cream going with it. After the apple pie, FA's came with the Passion Fruit macaroon and with some Christmas cookies. FA's came around with those greeting us "merry Christmas!"
During this flight I have watched Despicable me. These seats and screens need replacing for sure! The screens aren't very clear. When the seat is reclined and when the footrest is layed out, the seat is very comfortable. Around 1 hour before the descent the FA came to me with a In-flight survey. The survey took around 20 minutes to complete.
Watching despicable me:
The inflight survey.
Time really flies! nearly there at Singapore!! 31 mins till landing!
Then the captain made a descent announcement
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be shortly commencing our descent into Singapore Changi Airport. The local time now is 15:35 hours. There is no time difference between Hong Kong and Singapore. The weather in Singapore is a bit of a rainy day, with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius. We hope you have enjoyed the flight with us and on behalf of myself, Cathay Pacific and the whole team on board thank you for flying Cathay Pacific and we hope to see you again soon and merry Christmas. Cabin crew 30 mins till landing."
Then we touched town at runway 20R at 1605hrs. It was a long taxi from runway 20R to gate D46. Then I kept on thinking how would it be possible again to be upgraded again. At 1620hrs we arrived at the gate. The FA's thanked us for flying Cathay Pacific and said merry Christmas to all of us.
Hope you have enjoyed reading this TR. Happy new year!!
Ed
Jan 3, 2011, 6:19 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Tokyo, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dublin
Programs: CX DM
Posts: 880
great report ! too bad it's just the regional product, hope you wrote something about the seats in the inflight survey. although, getting someone who's been op'ed-up to fill out the survey is hardly unbiased sampling ...
Jan 3, 2011, 12:50 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: AA PlatPro, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 639
I think the feedback from someone that was upgraded is good for CX to know. If the OP felt the product was not up to par then they would not pay a premium in the future for business over economy and this feedback is valuable to CX.
Jan 6, 2011, 9:34 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Hong Kong (Now Sydney most of the time)
Programs: Asia Miles
Posts: 153
Jan 8, 2011, 1:06 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: CHC
Programs: NZ Silver+Exec Club Blue+Priority Club
Posts: 108
Enjoyable little trip report. Thanks for posting!
2 things stuck out for me. I understand blue cheese is not for everyone, but I would definately not have turned that up!
Also your flight departed from Gate 2. The amount of times Ive flown out of HKG only to have to lug myself and carry on up to Gate 38 and beyond. Not a biggie I know as I can always do with the exercise (especially after eating all that blue cheese) however Im always envious of those whose departing flight is just the other side of security.
2 things stuck out for me. I understand blue cheese is not for everyone, but I would definately not have turned that up!
Also your flight departed from Gate 2. The amount of times Ive flown out of HKG only to have to lug myself and carry on up to Gate 38 and beyond. Not a biggie I know as I can always do with the exercise (especially after eating all that blue cheese) however Im always envious of those whose departing flight is just the other side of security.