CX wins ...
 

Cathay wins worlds best business class
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Aw...012/jclass.htm

Take note that its business class overall, not just the seat itself. ;) That goes to Oman Air.

Strange that CX dropped to number 2 this year for Best Tranpacific Airline. Also strange that CX went to number 2 for best IFE.

No announcement yet for best J class lounge.

Except for the marketing monkies at airlines, does anybody actually take these polls seriously? They're laughable. Qatar over Singapore? Cathay on top? Have they actually ridden CX's regional J lately?

I'm not sure if anyone agrees with me on this one or not, but I think SQ is overrated. I have never been on SQ before but by reading reports and looking at pictures, it doesn't really appeal to me. SQ does have some flaws to me. Like leather seats opposed to fabric, cabin colors, and the screens are kind of too big for me. Although I will give SQ a short try later this year from HKG-SIN.

Anyways, we actually have plans to replace the regional product. I assume this year or next. But yeah, I can see where you're coming from. The regional product (both J and Y) need a refreshment. Some of SQ's aircraft have the new J like the ones on their A330's.

The award is assumed to be for long haul business class!!!

Regional cabins and routes are separate

+100

While SQ's regional biz hardware is probably better than CX's (long haul - definitely not, now!, and CX F>> SQ F imho), I'd still pick CX over SQ any day in Y, J, or C MPC/Kirsflyer status notwithstanding.

A recent SIN-DEL flight in biz on SQ (new regional seats, my first non-Y flight with SQ in 4 years) - seats/IFE quite decent, but everything else - attitude, service etc - CX is way ahead imho :).

Was told that they'd forgotten to uplift my BTC meal - later, when i asked for a comment card so that the snafu was recorded, i got a very apologetic senior Steward offering me a SGD 100 Krisshop voucher, along with a "it was actually loaded, but there was a miscommunication among the crew" (and offering me a second dinner in case i cared)!
This in a half empty C cabin. And i had no use for the voucher but seeing my wife's relatively less infrequent travels on SQ, he commented 'maybe she could use it later'.

Nudged for more feedback i told him that everything with SQ was way too robotic, to which he sheepishly admitted that the SGD100 voucher was also the exact amount by the rule book - nothing less, nothing more.

Best bit - I noted in the feedback card that I am very happy sending my $s CX's way, despite being based in SIN and will continue to avoid SQ to the extent possible.
Get an email a week later "We are sorry to learn that your BTC meal was wrongly uplifted. We understand that as a consequence of this mistake our crew offered you a SGD100 voucher. This was graciously accepted by you. We look forward to welcoming you again soon."

Also, Wifey got to compare SQ's F product on another regional flight (same hardware on the refurbed regional 777s as the 77Ws) and CX came out tops for her on almost all aspects!

The robotic service is what I have been hearing often from other travellers regarding SQ. CX is more heart warming which I like. They like to chit-chat with you, make sure you're taken care of, etc.

Although there are things that I would like CX to have that SQ has already. Book the cook is one of them. Others like TG and MH are following suit with that option. I would like CX to do the same. Another thing SQ has is plated meals instead of casseroles. Plated meals look much more classy and elegant in my opinion. As far as IFE goes, I have not tried SQ's IFE but according to the awards, CX topped SQ.

Things I like about CX than SQ are the size of seats, the colors of the cabin. "Missuse" of longhaul airraft on regional routes. SQ for example on the SIN-MNL route only deploy 772's and one daily A330 flight. CX on the other hand, deploys every kind of aircraft in their passenger fleet to MNL. At least you can get a little bit of good rest on a flat bed or atleast watch a tv episode.

Agree much with your other points. However, the infrequent times I do book J class regionally (either PEK-SIN or HKG-SIN) I find that I don't have to worry about random aircraft swaps, it's a superior hard product, and the food tastes better. CX's "new" regional business class seats are just really bad.

Hopefully the regional planes see a refurbish in all classes soon enough (late 2012 announcment?)! Till then i'm fine with putting up with the current, admittedly inferior, hard product for short haul.

I think its about time that CX seriously looks into revamping their regional business class seats...

Totally agreed --- Skytrax in particular is a huge joke!

Hmm...we might be in the wrong forum...but since SQ was discussed here..
SQ won the best in economy..which I do agree.. I've taken 2 SQ regional flights in the last 6 months.. you want to know what set apart SQ from other airlines in economy?

Based on my actual experience, the food and drinks. Among the airlines, SQ has a higher budget for their economy food than other airlines. Not only they use non disposable utensils, I still can't believe they served a choice of either turkey or big prawns in an economy flight..

And for the drinks? So far they are the only airline I know that serves mixed cocktails on economy flights.. they have singapore slings, bloody mary vodka mix, screwdriver, and another cocktail (spite based) that I forgot.. on a long haul flight, you can actualy get drunk with all those unlimited singapore slings in economy.

Compared to CX economy that only serve red and white wine in economy..

Aside from the food, it is really hit and miss, if you lucky enough to get the newer regional aircraft, its full AVOD and bigger economy screen than CX. But if you are unlucky to get the old aircraft.it really suck.. not only small screen, you can't pause the movie.

That is my experience with SQ.. again, I know wrong thread, but this is reg Skytrax airline awards.. and SQ was mentioned.

but of course, I fly CX more, I don't have status and lounge access in SQ but I do in CX... but just sharing my experience in SQ.. and a little biased on food and drinks on board being a foodie.. which SQ defintely wins over CX economy, but only on this department

CZ for top ten in seats...in j? is that right?

You cant get bloody mary in cx now?? Oh well, ill give that a miss for gin and tonic then

? I thought you can get a bloody mary? I had one in EY class a few weeks ago...

It is voted on by about 18 million passengers. Seems like a pretty honest snapshot of opinions with such a large sampling.

My opinion only here, but I suppose I disagree somewhat without really knowing the methodology they use(or which "passengers" they survey). I am all for the wisdom of crowds, but does Skytrax even release what their criteria is for selecting their sample? Given how different my own opinions are of those airlines, based on me flying most of them pretty extensively, something is clearly amiss with many of their ratings.

I do know that my cousin - he's 14 years old - got an "independent customer satisfaction survey" he was excited about on a flight last year returning from Europe, which I suspect was Skytrax. He flies internationally once every year or two, and while an awesome kid I don't really care for his opinion as to which J class I should try. I strongly suspect others surveyed are airplane fanboys who rarely actually fly in the product. For an assessment of the best, I'd expect they survey only those passengers who fly enough to actually have an educated opinion about it. Otherwise it's just for entertainment purposes only, but as of now I know I certainly don't bother referring to Skytrax when making bookings.

sorry for the confusion, the bloody mary in SQ economy is mixed by the FA's and is alcoholic... while the CX bloody mary in economy is from a can, and most likely non alcoholic..

the difference of Y cocktails of SQ vs their J cocktails, is the cocktails in SQ Y are in a plastic cups vs real cocktail glasses in J.... hmm.. maybe Qantas also beause they give out several premium australian small wine bottles in Y, as well as some premium australian non alcoholic drinks like Bundaberg ginger beer or Appletizer in Y.

but in CX, when flying Y, I only get cocktails mixed from the long bar in the HK lounges, but not inflight.

SQ Y is better than CX Y, honestly, I look forward to the airline food and drinks in SQ Y.. but never in CX Y.

but in long haul J, CX is definitely better than SQ...

that is the reason why op ups are greatly discussed here in this forum and is a premium unpublished benefits for MPC elites... and also why several MPC elites are raising a howl on the instant DM or gold from AMEX platinum as this reduced their upgrade chances by non legitimate CX frequent fliers

CX is lacking in Y vs other premium airlines, but their long haul J is very very good.

So more or less, as a flier of different airlines, I do agree somewhat to the skytrax poll results

Yep...here it is:
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/main/mthds.htm

CX vs SQ
 

I finally flew CX's new J-class (on a 777).

It was nice, but I think SQ's long-haul J still wins on the following
* bigger seats - yes those brown extra-wide leather seats are awesome. I can sit with my legs crossed.
* food and wine - food was honestly similar to AA's (INTL flights only..). In fact at least in AA I'm always very full.
* the screen is not in my face and doesn't have to be stowed on take off and landing

Cathay wins on
* The triangular desk-like space is useful as I can work and dine at the same time

SQ's service is very professional, while Cathay's is a mix between AA's sometimes chummy FA's and SQ's professional ones.

I enjoyed it and would probably fly CX long-haul again given the price diff compared to SQ.

^+1

Personally, I find the food and wine on CX J to be very average compared to SQ (where as others mentioned have a BTC feature) and QF.

Hard product: I've finally managed to try the 77W new longhaul J product twice to/from Europe now. It was OK apart from the fact that was pretty hard to sleep on the side compared to the Skybed's on QF and old SQ J (never tried the new one yet!)!

+1 to the extra space though for drinks etc on the side.

18 million is a joke its all done my airline staff and friends and no one ever audits the claims of skytrax which is simply a joke of a company that bullies airlines into working with them.

Flying SQ biz class for me is always hard work, the staff are so stuck up and the product is just not as good as CX. Overall I have to say that my 10 or so flights a year on SQ compared to about 75 with CX are just not enjoyable.

I've gotten that once and I was really impressed. It's the fabled 1970s service every old fart speaks of. :p

To be honest, when/if I choose to fly CX I am making a conscious decision to leave behind the plusses of other airlines, e.g. better food, because I want the things that I like about CX more - throughout most aspects of service, they have a judicious eye on what to offer guests, as well as how much of it. That comes part and parcel with its caveats - noone can be everything to everyone.

Perhaps it's that I spent the past decade on some very badly-managed airlines, that I enjoy CX today and find them to be professional and robust most of the time. I still recall when the J crew of a certain European carrier once just decided to lie to me and forgot about a certain drink request they didn't want to fulfill. They had lie-flat seating intra-asia, but did it matter? HELL NO. :p

Hi Folks, Am flying J class LHR-HKG in December and wondered if it will be Mr & Mrs T bloody mary mix they use? Thai served it the last time I flew with them, and it just the right blend for me (with a nice large slug of vodka of course) ;)

I've flown CX J transpac maybe 8 times. I can't stand the seats. They're very cramped and confining unless all the way flat. I end up in F all the time since I dislike it so much. I haven't flown the new Biz configuration yet, but from the looks of it, I think I'll no longer be flying in F. I just flew SQ J SFO-HKG RT and although a little dated, the room provided was exceptional. The food was better, the wine was better, and if the IFE is worse than CX, it isn't by much. IMO though, I'd take J in Asiana's 'quadra smartium' seats over all competitors transpac in J. ICN is a great airport too. wj

Clearly the wine wasn't taken into consideration. ;)