Maybe because I am not HKG based so I can't agree with your view here. To me HKG is one of those mega-airports that takes forever to walk within it. So I looked it up and found that perhaps your statement is lacking in facts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...senger_traffic

HKG is slightly busier than BKK and much busier than FRA based on annual passenger volume. Despite being a smaller airport, LH @ FRA offers private and personal BMW car service (not a "buggy") with a dedicated professional driver unlike EK's glorified bus service. On my most recent LH flight just a few days ago, my intra-EU short hop arrived at FRA parked far from a gate. My private car was already waiting for me where the plane parked so as soon as the FA opened the cabin door, the driver informed the FA and I was immediately escorted to deplane ahead of anyone else, including other Business class pax. The funny part is, just before the FA opened the cabin door, she informed everyone that we needed to wait on board because our bus has yet to arrive. So the bus has not arrived yet but the private car is already waiting, the signal that it sent is quite obvious. This private car service, btw, is available to all Hon Circle members regardless which class of service they travel. AF offers similar car service but theirs is not a professional driver but your personal attendant, who is usually a female who not only has to escort you but perform many other tasks including driving. I personally like LH's arrangement a lot better. Whether it's CDG or FRA, the cost of hiring a professional driver is a lot more than HKG because HKG has a lot of cheap foreign labor like the Gulf region yet CX can't even offer such service to make premium or high status pax's connection via HKG more comfortable.



I would wholeheartedly agree with these points. It may look like I am nitpicking on CX Premium experience but that does not mean I think lowly of CX F overall.

Quite a few airlines keep toothbrushes in their F/J bathroom. It just makes sense since it would be reasonable to assume F/J pax are civilized patrons who actually brush their teeth on long-haul flights. Distribution of amenity kit doesn't always happen early during the actual flying experience, that varies on a per flight basis even within the same airline. Some are waiting for you at your seat upon entering, others were personally delivered later, at which point sometimes pax will choose the amenity kit of the opposite sex for X reasons. To be sure, I never noticed if CX has tooth brushes in their bathroom since I carry my own. But there are good reasons why you want to stock them in your bathroom and make them plainly visible as opposed to putting one in the pax's amenity kit. It's little details like this, the lack of, that makes CX looks more like an unpolished mainland Chinese carrier at times.

In other news, if I randomly ask 10 people on the streets of Pyongyang, I am positive all of them will tell me North Korea is the best country in the world.

CX ground service is one of the low points of its overall experience because it is very, very inconsistent. The consistency among staff is low as it ranges from downright awful to very good. Some of the ground personnel in HKG are either so unhappy at their job or their life is just miserable, therefore, they need to make sure their customers feel the same. On the other hand, there are plenty of staff who are more than good. It's however difficult to overlook those bad apples since ground staff consistency tends to be a lot better among CX's competitors, for example, JL or BR. In the air, CX staff service is excellent and fairly consistent overall but unfortunately, flying also requires some ground travel. I will qualify that the bad apples tend to be found outside of the CX F lounges, not in it. Still, the service culture at CX really could use some Japanese or even Taiwanese influence.

The best F product? No way in hell. Among the top 10 in the world? I can agree with that. Personally, I never had a bad experience in the air with CX in F or J. CX and KA J are still one of the very best regional J in my view but when it comes to long-haul service and especially F, that's where CX needs to improve or non-HKG based customers risk to vote with their wallet and CX can't survive with just the support of HKG based customers.


That's a fair assessment I think.

I think this is mostly true with a couple of caveats: There are always notable exceptions and JL F catering ex-Tokyo can't be bought with just a "few hundred dollars". Salon alone will set you back by more than that, not including the Michelin 3 Stars chef.

Agreed

The list actually goes quite a bit longer than just the two you mentioned but some of our CX "comrades" are unwaveringly faithful as the North Koreans' in their belief of their great nation.

Agreed, however I will say that JL more than makes up for it by providing you with personal escort service when necessary even outside of Japan.

This is true of all airlines.

That's not what I meant.

I think that may very well be the case and I will also note it will be hard to remain asleep most of the time on your 13 hours+ flights to North America, so like it or not, the other aspects other sleeping have to come into play.


You guessed correctly but it isn't exactly **new**.

Depends on where you are going, that can be said of any carrier and any combination of flights.

It has a privacy wall that can be raised or lower at will on the touch of a button at your seat. All those "comrades" (not you) crying CX F is more private than QR F really cracked me up. There is nothing private about CX F. In fact, I remember distinctly once that 3 of the 6 CX F seats were occupied by 3 American teenagers traveling as a group. They were loud and overly enthusiastic which was very disturbing to the rest of the cabin. You should have seen the CX FA in F and the flight's in charge's face that day, they tried so hard to remain polite but can barely contain their disgust, with reasons though. All I had to was to turn my face by 90 degree in my seated position and here they are, all 3 of them getting up and down like they are having a party. That was a CX F in B777 for you. So what privacy, I must ask of the seasoned CX flyers? There wasn't any. At least on the QR A380, you can "encourage" them to go here instead:



Let them have their party at the bar.

Not going to argue with that

The intent was to compare the frontal view of QR F vs. CX F as a pax would see in a seated position looking forward, the scenery is undoubtedly a lot more pleasing among many other carriers vs. CX F.

The fact the Pier is accessible to all OWE is an issue, it does lower the exclusive factor that other top lounges have. But who says competition or comparison is fair? Just making the point that it pales in comparison to many other more exclusive lounges in the world.

I am confused. Do you make a point of asking your fellow F pax how much or what they paid for their seat? Otherwise, why would partner redemption bother you since you can't possibly know that "vast availability of CX F is redeemed by partners"?


I happen to enjoy a vast number of international variety, especially those I can't normally or easily access.

Last week, I had the misfortune of going to the Wing (F section) thinking that my flight would leave near there. Horror, the a la carte menu was just downright bad and the buffet section, no words for them. Food quality in the Wing has gone downhill so much, and 2015 isn't over yet. It seems as though with the Pier re-opening, the Wing has become the secondary F lounge, not the other way around.

I think BR and CI would disagree with you but to each of their own.

Precisely why you should refrain from passing on judgement based on "what you read" instead of actually flying the product. Who is going to take cabin pictures with the privacy walls raised up? That's why the pictures you saw seemed open, well, because that was the plan - open.


FYI, the LH Lounge pictures I posted earlier were not from the FCT. I thought I clearly labelled them as LH F Lounge, even marked their airport location to be clear but I guess it's not clear enough for some people. There is nothing more I can do if some people just won't read properly. And no the Pier doesn't compete, not even remotely. LH is one of those airlines that keep a close eye on its competitors - I am frankly consistently amazed by the German smart and intelligence even after all these years - the grilled lobster a la carte presented exquisitely served with pea mousseline and lobster foam was in response to AF offering Alain Ducasse menu in their CDG La Première lounge, so it was an attempt to outdo the French. It should also be noted the dining service was staffed by a professional Italian waiter who spoke multiple languages. There are waiters in the Pier and the Wing but clearly, they are not in the same league as the professional European waiters, this is to put it nicely.

You should try out the Aromatic Steam Shower in FRA in the same LH F lounge I mentioned earlier, quite interesting I must say. The shower has an aroma button that you can toggle on and off and it is large enough for two people to be in it and has in fact two seats. Now, I don't know if the Spa attendants would actually let two people in at the same time...haven't tried it with someone else, yet.

The Wing has gone downhill so much I would be hesitant to bring it up in any conversation, especially not as a way to market CX premium service. The Pier is the future face of CX F, there is no doubt about it and with it, bye bye cabanas.

There is nothing private about CX F on B777. This myth ought to be debunked for good.

Given how often CX switches gates even at the last minute, it is difficult at times to navigate HKG, which in my opinion, is a mega airport with excessively long walking time. Not all of us are used to walk as fast as the Hong Kong residents, where fast walking is apparently a requirement to live in the city.

Don't go to the Wing, you will be underwhelmed. The Pier is newer, has more extensive a la carte menu and overall, much more presentable.

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Clearly, the bells and whistles worth something since that's why the ME3 are doing so well. If only CX does the basics well, then I can agree with you. Except even that is not always the case. It can start by doing the basic homework well, for instance, making sure toothbrushes are available in all its bathrooms, I don't think that's too much to ask. If you must know, many other airlines master the basics better than CX and have moved on to more delicate details like one who offers the highly exclusive La Prairie line of products in its F bathrooms.