Getting to Hong Kong Cathay or American for Business Class
 

Looking to book an award business class ticket to Hong Kong. Currently I can book AA from DFW on 77W or Cathay Pacific from EWR on 777-300ER.

Is the general consensus of flyertalk that Cathay Pacific has the better business class?

The threads i've found are regarding first class and are before AA got the 77w

I like the new AA seat better, but Cathay has better service and food.

The 77W on AA has similar (if not identical) seats to CX J. Service probably will be better on CX.

If you mean better than the old AA seat, sure. But if you are comparing it to the CX seat, you may be confused. The seats aren't similar, they're identical.

I switched to CX. Thanks everyone.

one big difference is going to be in-flight wifi, which cathay still doesn't have but AA does. that being said, i'd still go with cathay

What do you like about the AA seat that isn't offered by the Cathay seat?

In J, as mentioned, it's really the same hard product. I personally like the IFE options on CX a bit more, if that's important to you. Soft product wise, CX wins, but AA is decent.

I would choose CX.

Also, your location says PHL. PHL - EWR - HKG is easier than going to DFW.

Mr Abroad and I each make this trip multiple times per year, albeit from LAX. For us, hard product being equal, we prefer CX enough to generally pay more for it. AA only wins out when the price difference reaches a certain threshold, or when there are bonus offers.

Cabin crew: CX overall. We've both had great service on an AA flight, but definitely the exception. There have been disappointing crews on CX, but an even rarer exception. Really a shame, because an excellent crew on AA is often better than one on CX.

Food quality: CX tends to be better and much more consistent, especially on the HKG-US leg. I'm not a snacker, but husband much prefers the between-meal options on CX.

Lav cleanliness: CX — really no comparison — if domestic airlines would remedy this one issue, they'd rise exponentially in the satisfaction ranks. I'd choose CX on this one point alone :o

IFE: We greatly appreciate that CX now offers English subtitles on so many of the English-language movies (hearing problems); but I mostly read and sleep, so can't fairly compare selection, etc.

Wifi: as mentioned, not avail on CX, so if that's important to you...

I think this is a great point, and one that is rarely brought up. If you're on a plane for a long time, chances are you'll need to use the lavatory. Foreign carriers always seem better on this point, and just on cleanliness in general.

The only thing that would sway me towards AA is the inflight wifi, I'm just not a big movie watcher.

Not to mention just being better equipped in general (seat covers, lighting, moisturizers, fem products, extra toothbrush kits, etc.).

DISCLAIMER: I have not flown Cathay's Business Class but I have flown AA 77W to London in Business.

Two things that may sway you to consider AA instead of Cathay is 1) overwater wifi and 2) the walk up snack bar.

If you are traveling on business then wifi might be very valuable for you.
I have found the snacks offered at the walk up bar to be quite tasty and they never ran out of snacks during my DFW-LHR-DFW flights. On an even longer flight across the pacific, it's nice knowing you have that bar when you get the munchies.

But... but... Smoking is not allowed at any time. :p

The upholstery was newer? Weirdly it seemed nicer but maybe it was because it was newer? CX's seats seemed harder to sleep on.