CX First Class LAX-HKG on the way to Africa
Jun 8, 2001, 8:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Posts: 1,024
CX First Class LAX-HKG on the way to Africa
Trip report for LAX-HKG on Cathay Pacific FC
After accumulating 1,250,000 AA miles through the Nutrigrain promotion, I finally was able to use a few of the miles for a CX 140,000 FC award LAX-Johannesburg.
When I called AA to make the reservation, I had no problem finding seats on the flights I wanted.
Check-In at LAX was simple and smooth. The funniest part was when I thought the check-in agent asked me "Can you describe the contents of your bag?" I've heard of tightened security measures but that's a bit ridiculous. Of course, she meant to ask did I know the contents of my bags.
I proceeded to the CX First class lounge operated by BA. I was a bit disappointed that it was so small and only had a view of the check-in area. The staff there was very friendly and helpful. I had forgotten to give my partner our car keys before we said good-bye so they ran them down to check-in for me.
They announced our departure and by the time we arrived at the gate, the flight had been fully boarded. As they processed my boarding card, a flag came up and they asked me to step aside. Of course, this is usually the time they tell me that I've been upgraded but since I was already in FC, I was concerned.
The agent told me that the video screen wasn't working in my seat 1A and she asked if I would mind changing seats. I chose 4K based on various posts on this board.
On board, the staff was very friendly and welcoming. After getting me settled, all the FC flight attendants came by and introduced themselves. My seat 4K was unbelievably spacious, lots of room next to the window. I'd definitely choose this seat again. There were only four other people in FC all along the front edges. No one was in the middle section or in my row. It felt very private.
It's hard to say if I prefer UA's First Suite over CX's Besty seat. Overall the CX seat felt roomier. Both seats are lumpy when in the bed position. CX should use a mattress pad like UA. LH seat is a bit more comfortable in the bed position but you have NO privacy.
They took my pre-departure drink order and also brought me a little snack of cold lobster medallion on some kind of white puree. Delicious. I'd never been served anything but nuts before departure! It was very similar to an hors d'oeuvre served on UA FC. Prior to departure they passed out the sleep suit.
We pulled back on-time but taxied for days. Up in the air, the attendants passed out the wooden box amenity kits and the menu/wine list. I had never been given a separate wine list before.
Next they took our drink order (Krug chamgpagne) and served it with almonds. She also asked if I wanted to wait an hour for dinner since it was only 4pm. I said fine. I changed into my sleep suit to keep my clothes fresh and free of stains from the meals.
I gave the attendant a card of the personal video movies I wanted. I was amazed at the number of choices.
So I snuggled into "Charlie's Angels" and enjoyed my chamgpagne. Dinner began before I knew it. The first course was caviar, a nice treat since I normally do not order it on a menu. I skipped the seafood chowder since I knew that more food was coming. Next I had a very fresh tasting salad. My main course was Lobster Thermador, EXCELLENT. It was the best main dish I'd ever been served on a plane. After a very nice cheese course, I had strawberry ice cream for dessert.
By this point I was stuffed and decided to walk around a bit. The flight was about ½ full in Biz and Econ. It is always so shocking to walk back to economy and see so many people crammed together. Life is all about perspective. I have logged my share of hours in economy on my way to South Africa.
I tried to watch Pollack when I got back to my seat but easily dozed off. When I awoke later, I noticed that they had reclined my seat and place a duvet over me. SO SWEET. I slept 8 hours total. I think that's a new record for me.
About an hour before landing they served a refreshment of fresh fruit and then I chose prawns over pasta.
We landed in HKG 20 minutes early and I went straight to the lounge for a bath. I had a little difficulty finding it. More signs to The Wing would be nice.
The bath was wonderful. I'm a new man! My flight for Johannesburg leaves in about an hour.
This last flight LAX-HKG is easily the best flight I've ever taken. I'm worried that I won't sleep too much on the next portion since it has the old style FC seats.
After accumulating 1,250,000 AA miles through the Nutrigrain promotion, I finally was able to use a few of the miles for a CX 140,000 FC award LAX-Johannesburg.
When I called AA to make the reservation, I had no problem finding seats on the flights I wanted.
Check-In at LAX was simple and smooth. The funniest part was when I thought the check-in agent asked me "Can you describe the contents of your bag?" I've heard of tightened security measures but that's a bit ridiculous. Of course, she meant to ask did I know the contents of my bags.
I proceeded to the CX First class lounge operated by BA. I was a bit disappointed that it was so small and only had a view of the check-in area. The staff there was very friendly and helpful. I had forgotten to give my partner our car keys before we said good-bye so they ran them down to check-in for me.
They announced our departure and by the time we arrived at the gate, the flight had been fully boarded. As they processed my boarding card, a flag came up and they asked me to step aside. Of course, this is usually the time they tell me that I've been upgraded but since I was already in FC, I was concerned.
The agent told me that the video screen wasn't working in my seat 1A and she asked if I would mind changing seats. I chose 4K based on various posts on this board.
On board, the staff was very friendly and welcoming. After getting me settled, all the FC flight attendants came by and introduced themselves. My seat 4K was unbelievably spacious, lots of room next to the window. I'd definitely choose this seat again. There were only four other people in FC all along the front edges. No one was in the middle section or in my row. It felt very private.
It's hard to say if I prefer UA's First Suite over CX's Besty seat. Overall the CX seat felt roomier. Both seats are lumpy when in the bed position. CX should use a mattress pad like UA. LH seat is a bit more comfortable in the bed position but you have NO privacy.
They took my pre-departure drink order and also brought me a little snack of cold lobster medallion on some kind of white puree. Delicious. I'd never been served anything but nuts before departure! It was very similar to an hors d'oeuvre served on UA FC. Prior to departure they passed out the sleep suit.
We pulled back on-time but taxied for days. Up in the air, the attendants passed out the wooden box amenity kits and the menu/wine list. I had never been given a separate wine list before.
Next they took our drink order (Krug chamgpagne) and served it with almonds. She also asked if I wanted to wait an hour for dinner since it was only 4pm. I said fine. I changed into my sleep suit to keep my clothes fresh and free of stains from the meals.
I gave the attendant a card of the personal video movies I wanted. I was amazed at the number of choices.
So I snuggled into "Charlie's Angels" and enjoyed my chamgpagne. Dinner began before I knew it. The first course was caviar, a nice treat since I normally do not order it on a menu. I skipped the seafood chowder since I knew that more food was coming. Next I had a very fresh tasting salad. My main course was Lobster Thermador, EXCELLENT. It was the best main dish I'd ever been served on a plane. After a very nice cheese course, I had strawberry ice cream for dessert.
By this point I was stuffed and decided to walk around a bit. The flight was about ½ full in Biz and Econ. It is always so shocking to walk back to economy and see so many people crammed together. Life is all about perspective. I have logged my share of hours in economy on my way to South Africa.
I tried to watch Pollack when I got back to my seat but easily dozed off. When I awoke later, I noticed that they had reclined my seat and place a duvet over me. SO SWEET. I slept 8 hours total. I think that's a new record for me.
About an hour before landing they served a refreshment of fresh fruit and then I chose prawns over pasta.
We landed in HKG 20 minutes early and I went straight to the lounge for a bath. I had a little difficulty finding it. More signs to The Wing would be nice.
The bath was wonderful. I'm a new man! My flight for Johannesburg leaves in about an hour.
This last flight LAX-HKG is easily the best flight I've ever taken. I'm worried that I won't sleep too much on the next portion since it has the old style FC seats.
Jun 8, 2001, 10:07 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Silicon Valley
Programs: AA:PLT&3MM, HGP:DIA, SPG:GOLD
Posts: 1,896
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by geo1004:
...They announced our departure and by the time we arrived at the gate, the flight had been fully boarded. As they processed my boarding card, a flag came up and they asked me to step aside. Of course, this is usually the time they tell me that I've been upgraded but since I was already in FC, I was concerned.
The agent told me that the video screen wasn't working in my seat 1A and she asked if I would mind changing seats. I chose 4K based on various posts on this board.
</font>
...They announced our departure and by the time we arrived at the gate, the flight had been fully boarded. As they processed my boarding card, a flag came up and they asked me to step aside. Of course, this is usually the time they tell me that I've been upgraded but since I was already in FC, I was concerned.
The agent told me that the video screen wasn't working in my seat 1A and she asked if I would mind changing seats. I chose 4K based on various posts on this board.
</font>
Jun 8, 2001, 10:20 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 1999
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Posts: 236
CX First is really amazing. I was on that exact flight in December 2000 and loved it. My connection from HK was on a 744 instead of the 340 they run this time of the year and I was the only one in First truely amazing. Where in SA are you heading and why the frequent visits?
Jun 8, 2001, 10:29 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 1999
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">I'm glad you enjoyed snuggling with Charlie's Angels at 35,000 feet</font>
Greg
Jun 8, 2001, 12:52 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Posts: 43
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by bp888:
That's the thing I like about CX and most Asian airlines, they DO care about the total inflight experience. If that were on a U.S. carrier, I doubt that anybody would care. You would have to discover the problem yourself. And good luck if the problem gets reported.
</font>
That's the thing I like about CX and most Asian airlines, they DO care about the total inflight experience. If that were on a U.S. carrier, I doubt that anybody would care. You would have to discover the problem yourself. And good luck if the problem gets reported.
</font>
Jun 9, 2001, 1:27 am
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by olafman:
...
We pulled back on-time but taxied for days. Up in the air, the attendants passed out the wooden box amenity kits and the menu/wine list. I had never been given a separate wine list before ... </font>
...
We pulled back on-time but taxied for days. Up in the air, the attendants passed out the wooden box amenity kits and the menu/wine list. I had never been given a separate wine list before ... </font>
The only time I've flown CX was Paris-Hong Kong-Tokyo RT in First. This was in 1996 before sleeper suites and PJs, but it was still great.
For all of you fellow FT oenophiles, here was the wine selection (yes, I saved the Wine List!)
Krug Grande Cuvée Champagne
Chateau Lynch Bages 1985 (excellent Pauillac)
Gevrey Chambertin La Justice 1989 (Louis Max)
Umweger Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken 1994
Mersault Les Casse Tetes 1988 (Louis Max)
Ebenezer Barossa Valley Chardonnay 1994
As we had a two day lay over in Hong Kong, the trip to Narita was another wine tasting treat. The Krug was replaced by Laurent Perrier Cuvee Grand Siecle (no complaints here) and the chardonnay and riesling were different.
Great flights, great wines.
Oooops ... I forgot to thank OLAFMAN for a great trip report. Thanks!
[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 06-09-2001).]
Jun 9, 2001, 2:34 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 146
Glad you had a good flight. You appear to be one of the few people who have flown CX lately and not had their flight massively delayed or cancelled. On of my friends had their flight delayed 13 hours, purely due to crew scheduling and maintenance.
Let's hope they get these issues with their pilots strained out...
Let's hope they get these issues with their pilots strained out...
Jun 9, 2001, 8:48 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: LAX, HKG
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Posts: 2,228
i flew from canada a couple time last month. the only delay was because of me (we still ended up arriving on time), because my AA Eagle flight was so late that i was just on time after running throught the immigration, customers/etc (my schedule has over 2 hours for transit!)
[This message has been edited by pegasus8228 (edited 06-12-2001).]
[This message has been edited by pegasus8228 (edited 06-12-2001).]
Jun 12, 2001, 2:42 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA EXP 5MM
Posts: 399
Maybe I've been lucky, but I've flown CX three times in the last few month (lax-hkg in F, nrt-tpe in F and Tpe-sel in C) and had no problems other than a brief mechanical delay out of LA. For my money, CX in first is the best, over the likes of SQ, BA and QF.(I'm not a US airline basher, but IMHO, they're not match for the better European and Asian airlines.
Jun 17, 2001, 1:43 am
#13
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Yep - only the asian airlines' flight attendants will tuck you in and put a blanket / duvet over you! Certainly wouldn't see any of the american or even some european airlines bother even if you are half falling off the chair drooling in saliva!
Jun 18, 2001, 8:42 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,208
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by olafman:
[B]After accumulating 1,250,000 AA miles through the Nutrigrain promotion</font>
[B]After accumulating 1,250,000 AA miles through the Nutrigrain promotion</font>
But I've gotta ask, did you really accumulate 1.25 MILLION AA miles via Nutrigrain? That must be a record!
Jun 19, 2001, 12:38 am
#15
Original Poster
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Yes, we really did accumulate 1,250,000 miles thanks to Nutrigrain. It wasn't really that hard once we got a system.
Bottom line, we travel a lot. We like first class. This was the cheapest and easiest way to do both.
Now I don't feel too guilty giving my 2 year old son his own FC bed!
Bottom line, we travel a lot. We like first class. This was the cheapest and easiest way to do both.
Now I don't feel too guilty giving my 2 year old son his own FC bed!