Karan

Good Day to Fellow Flyer Talk Members,

This is my first Trip Report on this Forum, Would Appreciate your feedback,

This trip was perhaps one of my most impulsive and last minute planned trips. it involves my decision to go to for the 2015 Crciket world cup final at Melbourne ,

I will do trip reports on all flights over 4 Parts, this is the first part:

Background:

I had just got back from a well planned 6 day trip to Melbourne on Etihad and Virgin Australia in J class and had enjoyed a great game cricket at the Melbourne Cricket ground (MCG) played between India and South Africa [league] , where we Beat the Proteas for the first time in World Cup Matches.

Before my trip back to Mumbai, a friend commented "he will see the world cup final at the MCG no matter which team plays as it is an MCG Final."

This somehow struck a chord with me and the moment i reached back home, along with my usual routine started looking at Match ticket availability and planning my itinerary given the time limit i had keeping in mind budget and aviation aspects.

Price was obnoxiously higher given my schedule and World Cup Dates, so to average out my expenses i decided to see if i could get myself to Auckland and Sydney which were the host cities for the two Semi Finals , not to forget the fact that i have always wanted to watch a game of cricket at Eden Park in Auckland and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Options considered were Etihad/Singapore Ailrines/Malaysia and Cathay Pacific

Etihad dint offer direct connectivity to AKL so given my tight schedule i had to let it go

Malaysia despite being the cheapest and convenient was unfortunately rejected by my family members

So it was down to Cathay and Singapore Airlines:

Singapore Airlines was a convenient schedule but there were only middle seats available on all flights and 3 out of 4 flights were on their old 772s [which i have flown umpteen times], also the price for the trip was same as Cathay quoted me for premium economy, but that came with its own nuances

Cathay had a 12-14 hour transit each way at HKG without any stopover hotel policy and return flight was from SYD but gave me aircraft variety and the opportunity to first time travel in Premium Economy.

So my booked Itinerary looked like this

CX 696/197 BOM HKG AKL 333/343
CI 52 AKL SYD 333
QF 491 SYD MEL 738W
VA 871 MEL SYD 738W
CX 138/699 SYD HKG BOM 77W/333

Trip reports on Each to follow:

Flight day, March 2015:

As mentioned above this was my first Premium Economy experience, however i had done extensive research on what to expect through various Trip reports and Cathays Website.



Check in experience was average, with the agent asking me the reason i was going to Auckland, i found that strange as it is usually the immigration person who ask's you that.

I requested him to priority tag my bags, as being a long layover i did not wanna wait forever at AKL for the bags to come,
He simply said he can't and will not do them,

I headed past security and Immigration and went to grab a bite at the "loyalty lounge", which was full and avoidable at best and pales in comparison to the new GVK J class clounge operated by the Airport Management .

Spent some time there to charge my phone and later headed to the gate area , enroute took some shots of the traffic

UA 772 ER getting prepped for EWR



New Entrant Vistara (barely 2 months old) which is a Full Service Domestic Airline Jointly owned by Singapore Airlines and Tata Group of companies



B-LAO my 333 which would take me to HKG that night



Flight Details:
CX 696 , BOM-HKG
Schedule Time - 22:55/06:55
Actual Time - 22:50/06:40
Flight Time - 5 hrs and 20 mins
Departure Runway: 27
Arrival Runway: 07L
Pax: 242/242
AIRCRAFT INFO: 330-300, B-LAO
23rd logged flight on an Airbus 330,
7th logged flight on a 330-300 series,
1st flight on B-LAO,

Boarding was announced on time and in an organised manner,

Got to my seat which seemed good and as per what's mentioned on the Cathay Pacific website was expecting a pre departure drink service and a hot towel, however nothing was offered.

Gate Neighbour from BKK



Pushback and takeoff happened on time and with the awesome spooling sounds from those RR trents we soared towards HKG.

After seat belts sign was switched of the crew began preparing the galley for dinner service and i noticed No menus were offered , another feature mentioned on their website for Premium economy.

First Drinks service started and i asked for a Gingerale and some water, cabin attendant serving me had that "Let me out of here " expression.



I was pleasantly suprised to find a cricket based documentary on the IFE i had always wanted to see called "Fire In baylon" and tuned into it during my meal service.





Soon the meal carts came and the choice was either Chicken or Veg.

I went for the Chicken option with some Red Wine, Food while decent in taste nowhere looked as substantial as the pics i had seen from the Trip reports of various members on this forum. Also they came with plastic cuttlery and was identical to what was being served in economy cabin , when Cathay mentions that Premium economy meal service will be separate.



One special mention to the Cabin lead, she was collecting the trays individually from the PY pax so that they could quickly get some sleep, i wanted to check if champagne and bottled water were part of the PY service as mentioned on their website, and i requested for both, she promptly took my tray and fulfilled both my requests,
I managed to get one hour of shut eye and woke up with some mild turbulence with the captain announcing a sooner than expected arrival into HKG, [just my bad luck ] and asked the cabin crew to prepare the cabin for landing after which we landed at a foggy HKG

Approaching HKG





Transit in HKG was 14 hrs , and i decided to get out into the city, on my way back, noticed that the runways had switched so did some spotting from the Aviation Discovery Center, despite having barely slept for an hour,

Some Random Shots from a productive spotting session





SQ 380



CX 744F



TG 380 with Dragon Air Aircraft


CX Spirit of HKG 77W


The "Am I in Japan" Moment



Literally, A Taxi Track



After some interesting action made my way once again into the airport and immigration and finally to the plaza premium lounge using the priority pass card for some much needed refreshment. Saw some fantastic traffic enroute.



Tarmac views from everywhere





Orient Thai 744 with Saudi Arabian Decals



CX 333



SQ 380 and CX 744 crossing paths



USAF C17


Took a much needed shower and found a spot where i could relax for a bit of Indulgence and plane spotting as i was going to be at the lounge for the next 5-6 hours

Some noodles and dumplings


Fish ball Soup


View from the lounge



Long Live Quads







Around Boarding time i made my way to the gate which was 2 mins away from the lounge.

Flight Details:
CX 197 , HKG-AKL
Schedule Time - 21:00/13:05
Actual Time - 21:07/12:57
Flight Time - 10 hrs and 50 mins
Departure Runway: 07R
Arrival Runway: 05R
Pax: 265/265
AIRCRAFT INFO: 340-300, B-HXG, One World Logo Jet
11th logged flight on an Airbus 340,
5th logged flight on a 340-300 series, 4th on a 340-300A variant
1st flight on B-HXG,
2nd flight on a special livery aircraft


Noticed the aircraft standing at my gate was the One World Logo Jet{smile}




It was an organised boarding as usual and as i got settled in my seat the pax in my cabin were being offered a pre departure drink of Water, OJ or Champagne which was promptly followed by a Hot towel service



Gate Neighbour an RJ 787



And this time it felt like a by the book Premium Economy service or shall i say "By the website".

The crew then came around and distributed Bottled water as we began our pushback on time,
The flight was packed and after a long taxi to 07R, we began a lethargic and enjoyable roll with those CFMs groaning and moaning.

Soon after departure the crew came around to distribute Premium economy menus and began the drinks service.







I settled for some Finalandia Vodka with a gingerale and took chicken as my meal option, The tray portion this time around was substantial, came with metallic cuttlery and was clearly marked Premium economy.



I selected the chicken option




After dinner service i requested the crew to get me a Cognac, however i wanted to know which brand they were offering and so the purser went back to the galley to get the bottle, and poured literally 15ml in my glass, when i asked him to pour some more, he said "Its our policy to give a small serving, but since its your first drink ill pour some more"......i said "given its nap time and will soon be dawn its certainly my last drink for the flight."

In my opinion airlines should just adopt the practice of serving Minis, makes it easy for everyone, also they dont have to dispose and waste those unfinished bottles.

This is where we were in our journey once dinner was over





Cabin view



earlier I had explored the IFE and settled on watching "Fox Catcher" and then slept for a bit once cabin lights were dimmed.





after a bit i was awoken and so was the rest of the PY cabin as the duty free sales cabin attendant had come with my pre flight order and she wanted me to switch on my seat light which disturbed not only me but the entire cabin, she took 10 mins to do the entire transaction despite me having exact change ready, i told her we can do this later but she dint listen.

This resulted in me getting some dirty stares from people around me who had been disturbed.

Despite all this i managed to get some shut eye and awoke when we were around 3 hours away from AKL, and just in time for breakfast service.



Breakfast service started and was decent, served in a Premium economy branded tray.



I tuned into a few shows like Ramsay's Kitchen nightmares to vile away the time



Soon cabin crew began prepping the cabin for descent



Our Approach into Auckland gave us some beautiful sights of the Pacific Ocean and the New Zealand landscape







touched down right on time with the CFMs moaning away and was greeted by lovely AKL weather and some kiwi birds











one final look at my bird



The reason i was here



Auckland Immigration and baggage claim went without much hassale, and i took the Airport Airbus towards my hotel the Pullman, which to my joy was shared by the New Zealand and South African cricket teams who were the two teams playing the semi final at AKL{smile}


CX 696 CX 197
Aircraft: 9/10 8/10
Cabin crew:6/10 7.5/10
Meal: 6.5/10 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Overall Cathay scored a 7.5/10 for these sectors

Conclusion:

While i would like to leave most of my concluding remarks for part 4, i would like to point out the discriminatory service in Premium economy on the same airline on its India flights compared to its Kiwi and later Australian flights, Cathay disappointed me on the Indian leg as it failed to deliver on its promised product on the Mumbai Hongkong sector despite having charged me for it, it is why i titled this part " Different Shades of Green" and made a conscious effort to highlight the differences between the two flights

I will be writing my reviews on my remaining flights over the next few weeks stay tuned for the one on China Airlines in J class between AKL and SYD next.

Thanks for reading

Most of my other Trip reports are on airliners.net so not posting their links due to copyright issues

Regards/

Karan

arlflyer

Despite the mixed experience, I want to say thanks for posting this premium economy trip report. More carriers offering the product and, with frequent flyer programs tightening up their availability and devaluing like mad, I think that it's going to be on the radar more and more for folks like myself that could generally not afford international J for leisure trips, but could swing PE at the right price.

Flyingfox

Cheers for the report, but I reckon your expectations were too high for a premium economy product.

The situation with the FA selling you duty free and disturbing others is a put-off on their part.

Matthew_22

Great trip report, thanks for posting & I look forward to the remaining sections.

The such noticeable difference between the service on the two PE flights is pretty disappointing.

I hope you enjoyed New Zealand and our hospitality, along with the World Cup. Those AKL shots made me a little homesick!

1010101

I know crew do not like operating the India routes for whatever reason, and with the gradual withdrawal of Premium Economy on the Middle East and India routes this summer you may have been on the receiving end of the wind down of the product. That's out of order as you paid for the service, but you wont do yourself any favors making unfounded accusations of discrimination.

You then went and got on the other CX product that's not long for this world, the A340.

I presume the A330/777 from Sydney was better?

Karan

Thanks for the feedback guys t, truly appreciate it,

@arlflyer:

Thank you,
Yes completely agree, that was one my main reasons to select and splurge that extra for Premium Y, good to see there are others in my boat as well (or shall i say in my plane]

@flyingfox

Cheers....
My expectations weren't high at all, they were met on HKg-AKL, it is cathay who failed to deliver on what it promised on BOM-HKG despite charging me for it

@Mathew_22

Thanks ,
I thoroughly enjoyed Auckland and its hospitality, look forward to going back there in the future one day....and what a great match

@Phol

PY is being withdrawn from October, i flew in March, either way if they are charging me for it they should deliver on it , just like they did on HKG-AKL,

I aint making any "unfounded accusations", i have given proof for all my remarks, ....dont know where that is coming from

PY hard product on the 340 was just the same as it is on the 333 and 77W, i found no difference there

Regards/

Karan

gandiabob

Given your extensive research about CX and PEY's benefit. Why did you even bother asking?

I'm surprise you didn't find out BOM-HKG is a regional service flight?
And most of the stuff you pointed out (PDB, etc) is only on long-hauls?

Duty free sales must be completed over international air space.

Please look up the definition of 'discriminatory' and do a better "extensive" research before disappointing yourself next time.

Karan

@gandiabob

Appreciate your feedback,

The reason for me asking for the priority tags is mentioned in the report, however nor was i expecting them to be tagged nor was i dissapointed that they werent , was seeing if a so called 5 star airline goes the extra yard,

An airline like Virgin Australia definitely went the extra mile

..

BOM-HKG usually has a block time of 5:30-6 hrs and infact my return flight had a block time of 6:48 hrs......would you classify that as regional, , and if regional why sell it as premium economy?

.....

When she conducted the duty free transaction there were 7 hrs left in the flight, also since mine was a confirmed order she could have finished my transaction first rather than disturbing everyone in the my cabin.

....

Thanks for guiding me to the oxford dictionary...your humbleness really shines across your comments

Karan

MrPie

RE: priority tags - if you're not an status holder its very unlikely you'll get priority at anything so don't hold your hopes high. Nitpickign IMHO

onto the next point

Cathay classes that as regional....well because its in the region of Asia. They've classed it as so....so you should have done some research ahead of time. Again nit picking and you would have realised if you've done your research.

I'm sorry but it seems like you're just complaining....just because. Meh.

Karan

@MrPie,

Despite having explained myself wrt priority tags,
I did not have any hopes nor was i disappointed that the agent dint tag them, i simply mentioned the incident as part of the report ,(now who seems to be nitpicking IMHO)

...on to the other point

.if i may missed something wrt regional flights, do show me a link, where cathay mentions HKG-India flights will not get PY "service levels "as per what they mention.on their website....

(ofcourse now they announced withdrawal of PY service from India and several other "regional flights" as it has been a failure ...completely undestandable, as basically they are selling extra legroom for around 3-400 usd more than Y class even on India-HKG ), and not many takers for that

Either way, why sell the "PY fare " to me, sell it as y and PY, just like they are doing from Novemebr onwards

feel free to "nitpick" on this as much as you want ,

Karan

jdtravels

CX must have done some research (like it or not, profit-wise) prior to classifying flights as regional or long-haul and hence the demonstrated difference in service.

As for
it would be worthwhile to note that flights to BKK/SIN also offer W class fares - and those by all definitions would be 'regional'. There has been much discussion in these forums about the service and meals in W: for example, many have noted that long haul flights in W to the US tend to have one 'economy class' meal and one 'business class' meal, while regional services only receive one meal from the 'economy class' selection.


My personal opinion is that I don't think they should. If anyone and everyone could get priority tags in an 'ask-and-you-shall-receive' manner, each no doubt with their own reasons, then it would call into question the purpose of such 'priority' tags. Even within the CX programme, members have been disgruntled about why base level 'non-status' members can get priority boarding, and 'low-status' members also get priority tags.

But maybe that's just me.

MrPie

On their website - though its not explicit it says that PDB and meals etc only apply to long haul/non regional flight. - Scroll down to "For Your Long Haul Comfort"

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_G...omy-class.html

Though research on the CX forum would also tell you that. In any case I do agree that CX doesn't explicitly mention that so it could disappoint some people. Might be worthwhile sending them an email to "discuss" this and see what they say (unlikely that they'll gift you miles but who knows?!)

As for telling whats regional or not.....I think CX classifies anything within the Asia region excluding ANZ of course. India is probably borderline. They would of course have some sort of differentiating but again from first glance you wouldn't know.

adampenrith

Australia and New Zealand is normally classified as Oceania

Kachjc

anything over 5 hours in CX's book
gets a long haul hard product
surely then it also mean a long haul soft product


and CX crew hate Indian flights
and I have flown on a lot of them

with the way Indians behave...


no wonder...

adampenrith

Australia and New Zealand is normally classified as Oceania