Recent F experience
Aug 28, 2015, 10:09 pm
#106
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,384
Aug 28, 2015, 11:15 pm
#107
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
It may just be me. I prefer not to rush and also not to carry my luggage while sightseeing. If I am to choose, I will spend two more hours in HKG.
As CX and KA do not fly to TSA, you will still need to go from TPE to CKS Memorial even though you will be staying near TSA.
Aug 29, 2015, 3:59 pm
#108
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Programs: OWEmerald; STARGold; BonvoyPlat; IHGPlat/Amb; HiltonGold; A|ClubPat; AirMilesPlat
Posts: 38,186
Aug 29, 2015, 4:06 pm
#109
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,214
It is most delicious: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...y-delight.html
Aug 29, 2015, 11:01 pm
#110
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,708
They usually do, but I've had an experience like the poster your referring to exactly twice...Deutz NV Brut (J class) was poured. It is not protocol but sometimes J champagne ends up in the F galley, or the ISM or SP is lazy and just tells the F class FP to serve it. I caught it both times and in each case there were apologies so they either made an honest mistake or were caught being lazy/cutting corners. If my experiences are any guide it has happened on probably 2/50 or so F flights. So definitely not the norm but certainly happens from time to time, especially seeing similar anecdotes on here.
Aug 31, 2015, 7:16 am
#111
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: DTW - Rochester Hills, MI
Programs: Cathay MPC, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Domestic Airline Nobody
Posts: 715
I had to chuckle... this seems SO CX. Somehow it's your fault that you didn't know...
Aug 31, 2015, 3:17 pm
#112
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
CX253 HKG-LHR 18th May
Load: 6/6
Flower: No
Notecard: No
Champagne: Poured at seat
Water: Evian
The special Mandarin Oriental menu was available, also a Rhone Valley wine promotion.
I chose from the standard F menu for the first meal service, and the crew kept back a main course from the Mandarin Oriental menu for the second meal service. I can also vouch for the pork cutlet offering from the MO menu.
Cabin service was excellent, despite absence of the 'details' we are logging in this thread (note/flower).
Load: 6/6
Flower: No
Notecard: No
Champagne: Poured at seat
Water: Evian
The special Mandarin Oriental menu was available, also a Rhone Valley wine promotion.
I chose from the standard F menu for the first meal service, and the crew kept back a main course from the Mandarin Oriental menu for the second meal service. I can also vouch for the pork cutlet offering from the MO menu.
Cabin service was excellent, despite absence of the 'details' we are logging in this thread (note/flower).
Aug 31, 2015, 5:59 pm
#114
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
Aug 31, 2015, 8:02 pm
#116
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,708
The only caveat is no PJs on regional F flights (which are most all daytime). But all the longhauls have them.
Offering you pajayamas is part of the pre-takeoff protocol. I have never had them miss this! Don't worry you'll have a great flight.
Offering you pajayamas is part of the pre-takeoff protocol. I have never had them miss this! Don't worry you'll have a great flight.
Aug 31, 2015, 10:39 pm
#117
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 62
It is most delicious: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...y-delight.html
Dec 3, 2015, 5:22 pm
#118
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,548
I took CX845 JFK-HKG recently and here are my rambling thoughts about the experience.
Check-in took a while as at J/F counter there was only 1 guy working. There were 2 when I arrived, but one had to leave and the 2nd person only came in a few minutes later.
At security there is no more separate lane for F/J passengers at 10:30PM. J/F pax must use regular lane, which moved quite fast as they are mostly CX pax.
I was originally assigned 2D, but asked for a change at check-in for 2A. I've always loved this seat, but unfortunately the guy in 1A was rather obnoxious. He was face-timing during the 20 minute boarding with speaker on. I had to listen to a bunch of nonsense until decided to put my headphone on.
Orchid was put on the vase just when we were about to take off. No note card.
Most pleasant surprise was the menu. Choices were quite wonderful this time and the food tasted really good! I had the poached Maine lobster salad (YUMMY!) and the Braised Chinese Cod (SUPER YUMMY) and the chocolate souffle (which is more like a molten chocolate cake) with dulce de leche icea cream( (EXTREMELY YUMMY). The usually humongous, bad sirloin steak choice is gone, with a Spring Lamb replacing it.
Also new (at least for me) is that they place a small snack basket after the meal. It has chips, 2 toblerone, a dry fruit mix and cracker. Nothing exciting, but I thought that was nice.
After a short nap, I was awaken by the extremely loud snoring from 1A. Decided to have the wonton noodle soup followed by a Haagen Dasz ice cream. FA gave me ear plug to mask the noise coming from 1A and it helped somewhat. Note to self: get in-ear noise canceling headphone for Xmas.
Arrived around 5:10AM and by 5:30AM was at The Pier F Lounge, which is truly beautiful. It has no cabana, but the bathroom is beautiful and it's stocked with Aesop products. The nap room and breakfast at The Pier are both lovely.
So far this most recent trip with CX was really nice, except for the annoying neighbor.
Check-in took a while as at J/F counter there was only 1 guy working. There were 2 when I arrived, but one had to leave and the 2nd person only came in a few minutes later.
At security there is no more separate lane for F/J passengers at 10:30PM. J/F pax must use regular lane, which moved quite fast as they are mostly CX pax.
I was originally assigned 2D, but asked for a change at check-in for 2A. I've always loved this seat, but unfortunately the guy in 1A was rather obnoxious. He was face-timing during the 20 minute boarding with speaker on. I had to listen to a bunch of nonsense until decided to put my headphone on.
Orchid was put on the vase just when we were about to take off. No note card.
Most pleasant surprise was the menu. Choices were quite wonderful this time and the food tasted really good! I had the poached Maine lobster salad (YUMMY!) and the Braised Chinese Cod (SUPER YUMMY) and the chocolate souffle (which is more like a molten chocolate cake) with dulce de leche icea cream( (EXTREMELY YUMMY). The usually humongous, bad sirloin steak choice is gone, with a Spring Lamb replacing it.
Also new (at least for me) is that they place a small snack basket after the meal. It has chips, 2 toblerone, a dry fruit mix and cracker. Nothing exciting, but I thought that was nice.
After a short nap, I was awaken by the extremely loud snoring from 1A. Decided to have the wonton noodle soup followed by a Haagen Dasz ice cream. FA gave me ear plug to mask the noise coming from 1A and it helped somewhat. Note to self: get in-ear noise canceling headphone for Xmas.
Arrived around 5:10AM and by 5:30AM was at The Pier F Lounge, which is truly beautiful. It has no cabana, but the bathroom is beautiful and it's stocked with Aesop products. The nap room and breakfast at The Pier are both lovely.
So far this most recent trip with CX was really nice, except for the annoying neighbor.
Dec 3, 2015, 11:59 pm
#119
Join Date: Oct 2012
Programs: CX - DM; Hilton - Diamond, Marriott - Titanium
Posts: 542
I just flew back from DUS this week and I was the only pax in F. The last time I had the entire cabin by myself was TPE-HKG on a 747 like 2 years ago. Never had it happen on longhauls since my usual ports are SFO, LAX, LHR, CDG which are all F heavy routes.
Anyway, here's my thought on the overall F experience ex-DUS:
Ground experience and lounge - CX sends their premium pax (including F pax like myself) to LH business lounge. I was a bit surprised they wouldn't send F pax to LH Senator lounge at least. The flight was departing from Terminal A where a Senator lounge is available. The LH Business lounge has nothing to write home about, in fact it was dull and dull. It was quite busy during the late morning hours (I was only there for 15 mins). Pax will need to go through passport control before reaching the non-Schengen gates in Terminal A. The area around the gates are really small and boarding seems a bit messy. They have the auto-gates where pax have to scan the boarding pass themselves. The strangest part was that they started boarding inside the terminal but the air bridge was still being blocked off (i.e. it was not ready for boarding) so I along with other fellow pax have been hanging around at the air bridge for like 3-4 mins. No big deal but this really shouldn't be happened in the first place. Overall the ground experience was not good at DUS. It all seemed a bit disorganised and the lounge experience was clearly quite disappointing.
On board experience: It was great being the only F pax as 1) it would never run out of meal choices as all the dishes were available to me and 2) I could have a seat for sleeping and another seat for eating/watching movie, etc. The service was very attentive and friendly. Both the crew were quite chatty nonetheless they knew when to stop and allow me to dine, watch movie or sleep. I can't say enough how much I like CX service style in F. That is crew would always be there for you if need be (press the call button and they'll show up within 10 sec usually!) or otherwise they would leave you alone. Some posters in other threads may not like this style but as a CX regular F flyer I love it. Overall, a flawless service!
F&B experience: I think many would agree with me that this area has been CX's weakest. And yes it still is. I had opt for the lamb loin as my main which was a mistake. The loin was so thick and dry that I ended up sending back and had the spring chicken instead (which was also just average). I must say the downgrade on F&B offering on CX is quite apparent overall the past few years. But it was really the wine list that I think is the real downer on CX. One - they hardly rotate their regular wine list (I have seen the same wine on all my F flights this year - Shingleback Shiraz - if that rings a bell). Two - the promotion wine was just bad. It's amazing they actually hire wine consultants for this! As a wine importer myself, I simply couldn't quite believe what they are serving in F these days. Flew on SQ F to SYD this year, their wine list is just from a different league let's say!
Overall, I still think CX F is a very solid product and one of the best in the sky. They have the best hardware imho (being semi-open plan yet still feel private) and certainly the best service (being a DM in F in an empty cabin!)...now if they could really start fixing the F&B part...
Anyway, here's my thought on the overall F experience ex-DUS:
Ground experience and lounge - CX sends their premium pax (including F pax like myself) to LH business lounge. I was a bit surprised they wouldn't send F pax to LH Senator lounge at least. The flight was departing from Terminal A where a Senator lounge is available. The LH Business lounge has nothing to write home about, in fact it was dull and dull. It was quite busy during the late morning hours (I was only there for 15 mins). Pax will need to go through passport control before reaching the non-Schengen gates in Terminal A. The area around the gates are really small and boarding seems a bit messy. They have the auto-gates where pax have to scan the boarding pass themselves. The strangest part was that they started boarding inside the terminal but the air bridge was still being blocked off (i.e. it was not ready for boarding) so I along with other fellow pax have been hanging around at the air bridge for like 3-4 mins. No big deal but this really shouldn't be happened in the first place. Overall the ground experience was not good at DUS. It all seemed a bit disorganised and the lounge experience was clearly quite disappointing.
On board experience: It was great being the only F pax as 1) it would never run out of meal choices as all the dishes were available to me and 2) I could have a seat for sleeping and another seat for eating/watching movie, etc. The service was very attentive and friendly. Both the crew were quite chatty nonetheless they knew when to stop and allow me to dine, watch movie or sleep. I can't say enough how much I like CX service style in F. That is crew would always be there for you if need be (press the call button and they'll show up within 10 sec usually!) or otherwise they would leave you alone. Some posters in other threads may not like this style but as a CX regular F flyer I love it. Overall, a flawless service!
F&B experience: I think many would agree with me that this area has been CX's weakest. And yes it still is. I had opt for the lamb loin as my main which was a mistake. The loin was so thick and dry that I ended up sending back and had the spring chicken instead (which was also just average). I must say the downgrade on F&B offering on CX is quite apparent overall the past few years. But it was really the wine list that I think is the real downer on CX. One - they hardly rotate their regular wine list (I have seen the same wine on all my F flights this year - Shingleback Shiraz - if that rings a bell). Two - the promotion wine was just bad. It's amazing they actually hire wine consultants for this! As a wine importer myself, I simply couldn't quite believe what they are serving in F these days. Flew on SQ F to SYD this year, their wine list is just from a different league let's say!
Overall, I still think CX F is a very solid product and one of the best in the sky. They have the best hardware imho (being semi-open plan yet still feel private) and certainly the best service (being a DM in F in an empty cabin!)...now if they could really start fixing the F&B part...
Last edited by HKGglobaltrotter; Dec 4, 2015 at 12:07 am
Dec 4, 2015, 6:36 am
#120
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: From and of Boston.
Posts: 4,973
The LH business class lounge is the Senator lounge, and yes, it is (usually) crowded and (always) unexceptional. The excellent LH lounge is their First Class Lounge (and in FRA, the additional FC Terminal) -- however, that is reserved only for LH top tier (HON) and customer flying LH/LX F. You don't get into the FC lounge even if you're flying Star Alliance F.