About 45 minutes before departure I decided to leave the lounge to take a walk around the terminal. While it was animated, it wasn’t certainly crowded. I always love walking around this part of the aiport – it’s really like being at a very nice shopping mall with top-name brands, restaurants, cafes… Even without lounge access, I could easily spend a couple of hours wandering around.
The flight boarded on time, and I joined the (long) business and first class line. A gate agent checked our passports while waiting in line to expedite boarding. Within minutes I was aboard my plane. I was greeted by the purser, who informed me that today I was the only passenger onboard in First Class! What a dream! A 747 First Class cabin on Cathay Pacific all to myself! This short flight was going to be a treat!
The crew was very attentive, talkative and nice. I had two glasses of a champagne I couldn’t understand the name of before push back, and even if I was full I was looking forward to having third breakfast on the plane.
The cabin on the 747 features CX old first class. Now that I was comparing it with the new first class I had just flown from SFO, I could clearly see the difference. This cabin looked aged, and the IFE old. The new cabin looks fresh, modern, cutting edge. Kudos to CX: they did a great job in updating the product in a seamless way!
Take off happened on time. Once airborne my order was taken, and within 5 minutes the food started coming. What a treat! A bread basket featuring a tasty, flaky croissant, a muffin, and a Danish was brought. Preserves and Tasmanian honey accompanied it. My orange juice arrived promptly, together with my tai-Guan-Yin tea (try this specialty tea, it’s amazing! Think Oolong, but a bit more flavorful). My fruit platter arrived first. I liked how the fruit is really fresh, as it different in variety from the one offered from SFO. Then, afterwards, the omelet was brought about. The eggs were fluffy, tasty. Overall, it was a great dish and a great breakfast.
While eating I entertained myself watching two episodes of the Big Bang Theory (so glad they have signed for three more seasons!), and in no time we were descending into Taipei. It was announced that – as this flight would continue to Tokyo – passengers could either wait on aboard or deplane for a few minutes.
Once landed, I was the first to get out of the plane and in minutes I was ready to start my Taiwanese adventure.
Overall, this short segment showed, once more, how efficient Cathay Pacific can be even on a two hours flight. Serving a full First Class breakfast in this short amount of time is no small feat, especially considering that I had plenty of time left to relax after finishing breakfast. Having a 747's First Class Cabin all to myself was, of course, something incredible that I hope to repeat in the future.
CX service is, simply put, phenomenal. The friendliness and attentiveness of the staff was beyond incredible. My purser set up the first class cabin in full swing, with the usual newspapers and magazines presentation, as if we were leaving for a 12 hour flight on a full cabin. I am really happy to have flown Cathay Pacific, and I look forward to flying it again in November when (if everything goes well) I will go to Sabah to climb Mt. Kinabalu.