Originally Posted by
Rejuvenated
I arrived from CX251 the other day in F. Overall I thought I had a pretty good flight. The crews were good and efficient. Not surprisingly only two crews served the full 9/9 cabin but the supper service only took 2.5 hours to complete after we took-off. And also unlike the meal I had on last year's HKG-LHR, the ones I got on this sector weren't bad to boot as well. I got the 74A once again (operated by B-HKU) and had a really decent lengthy sleep on the new seat (which I adore) for most of the flight and did not request the crew to have my breakfast in front of me until 1hr 15min prior to landing which they did. Speaking of the seat, it was pretty much the one single area I cared the most during the flight as I wanted as much much much rest & sleep as possible so I can get to my meeting in London feeling fresh. I mean unless you're a night owl or something, what else is there to do in an overnight flight sector to be staying awake for many many hours.
But the last two months I have somewhat lowered my expectation on what I'll be getting from CX in terms of crew and meals. In that I no longer have the extreme high expectations with them that I did in the past and no longer have the expectation that CX is the best nor 2nd best airline there is out there. To be honest with everyone, it seems to be working in the last 3 CX F flights I have taken. In that at the end I seem to be more or less satisfied.
Having said so, I wonder to myself how I would have reacted if I had not lowered those expectations slightly? Would I still be view the glass towards the service as half empty or perhaps I would still have rated them the same way I did on the description above? Nonetheless, it seems to be an approach I'm comfortable with and I'll be taking with me from now on. If I do get something over excellence with CX, then I'll take it as an additional bonus. Of course those expectations have not been lowered to the point that I'll be tolerating rock bottom service.
So sometimes I guess it does help to lower one's expectations. May not necessarily be true for everyone but seems to be fine with my approach to CX thus far.
I agree with you Rejunevated. I just flew F CDG-HKG and had an excellent flight. My first flight in new F (CDG only rarely get the 74A).
The seat is the most important element, and it is a great F seat, with the mattress, duvet, many pillows... and great screen/IFE. Food and wine have gone down a bit in the past couple of years, but that is made up by the better seat. Service was excellent on this 9/9 flight, never any wait. I have read all the threads about having only two dedicated FAs, but there was a third one periodically helping in the kitchen (I verified when going to the toilet in mid-meal). IMO CX F onboard is still one of the best, maybe slightly below SQ and NH, but still well above many other airlines. I had lowered my expectations slightly, as Rejunevated, but got pleasantly surprised.
C seems another story.