I agree with your thoughts on CX.

Call me old fashioned, but you can't give a fair opinion on service based off 1 return trip. Sure it's your experience but it's 1 of 100's of flights the carrier makes each day. No airline is perfect and none will get it right on 100% of flights, but Cathay consistently ranks well above almost every airline in the world. Knowing the service levels are constantly at a high standard a major draw card for many travellers.

Another factor is were your crew SFO based? If so - they're practically Americans with a CX flavour of training and this may have an impact purely due to cultural upbringing.

Also OP - Perhaps your expectations were that PE was more of a 'Business Lite' than a Premium Economy. Most US airlines are total rubbish so I don't see how you even compare them in the same league as CX. Of course, I could be wrong - but this is based on over 1,000+ commercial flights in the past 10 years on Oneworld carriers with a mix of 50% in biz/first and the rest in econ/premium. CX is by far my favourite and the most consistent of the bunch.

Speaking of SFO-HKG, I'm booked in PEY next month on 873 but hoping for a J seat to open up although PEY sounds perfectly comfortable. I noticed CX runs another flight about an hour later (#893)....anyone have a preference for either one? I assume the first flight might be more popular due to the slightly earlier departure time, but if J opens up on 893, I'll switch to that.

Differences (besides dep time):
*The later flight isn't daily yet, so heads up if you change dates.
*CX893 uses 77G (3 class plane), while CX873 uses 77H (4 class plane). For PEY purposes, the cabin is slightly different due to plane configs. Specifically, there is no separate bathroom in the 77G PEY section. 77H's PEY section has a single deficated bathroom on the right side of the plane.

As a heads up, the poster above who didn't like the single PEY bathroom on one side seems to have ridden 77H since as mentioned above 77G doesn't have a bathroom in the PEY cabin (nor do any of the A330 configs for that matter). As the poster mentioned, since it's on the right forward side and there is no easy crossing access, it appears common for left-hand side pax to walk in front of middle bulkhead pax.

I'm not too familiar with PEY longhaul, but off the top of my head 77H could be an advantage if you're seated away from the bathroom on the right side (to avoid walking over people). On the flip side it might be a disadvantage to have a bathroom if you're in the bulkhead or are on the left side and will find it awkwad to walk over pax. (I am curious if its a big disadvantage to sit in the bulkhead on 77H PEY, seems like it). regardless it seems like a small point since you can use the regular economy bathrooms as well.

Are there more J seats on 893 compared to 873? If there are more J seats as well as the less desirable later departure, I'm thinking 893 may open up in J more than 873.

Disappointing first time Experience on CX
 

I personally feel that CX is one of the most overrated airlines in all cabins. The HKG lounges are amazing, however that's about it.

And very few airlines offer a "wow" factor in J these days either.

I don't think of CX J as particularly elegant or luxurious (except for the HKG lounges), but they are very competent and most of my CX travel experiences have been absolutely seamless. Which after a while becomes a "wow" in and of itself.

Off topic posts have been deleted.

sxc
Cathay Pacific Moderator

IME, flights with SFO based crews are some of the best flights I've had. I find the outport crew there (and JFK) is so small, relatively new in each place, and they all know each other. Usually makes for a very pleasant flight, especially since they're used to flying together. It's enjoyable as a passenger to see some familiar faces onboard and build a rapport with various FAs. Last year I flew with one ex-SFO ISM 4 times.

It's true there are cultural differences between the US based crews and HKG based ones, but I think that's unavoidable.

I agree, however this thread is about PEY. I don't expect to be wowed on any airline in Y+, it's mainly for a more comfortable seat/sleep and not paying for J.

I actually thought the same! AA's economy comfort on their 77Ws has remained at 9 across, with an extra inch or so width over their main cabin: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Ame...777-300_ER.php

PEY is about pain reduction, not luxury. I think of it as a civilised economy class as it provides just enough extra room to take the edge off the suffering incurred in taking a long flight.

I've been a frequent user of PEY for many years, first on BA then on CX and my expectations are limited to that extra room, plus a quieter cabin that Y. That's it.

+1^

The reason I continue to fly CX is because when things go pear shaped on the ground, they have always fixed it for me regardless of class of travel. The value in this capability is hugely under estimated until one experiences ground snafus, as has happened more than once on the airline that claims to have "service even other airlines talk about".

Its my experience that the inflight service has really come down quite a bit lately. Last flight there was only one serving of drinks in back of the plane Y when I'm used to getting at least three offerings for drinks in Y. They also go by very fast and if you aren't ready with your coffee cup they'll just rudely pass you by. Its like they would like you to sleep rather than handing you coffee. Also the water they serve in drink rounds on nights tastes very bad so prefer to drink soda water. They seem to pamper status holding Hong Kong residents very well though.

Also miss the warm towel they hand you at Finnair Y after waking up at intercontinental flights. Food has been great though and service by ground staff.

Since CX is running some good fares HND-HKG-USA in PEY, what is your opinion about the PEY experience on the short HND-HKG flights? One is a 747 and the other is a 77W. Not much difference there I guess. Lastly, I believe that you are a big fan of the PEY flights to Newark instead of JFK. I'm thinking of a EWR-HKG-HND for the inbound to HND and CX's 888 flight via YVR on the outbound from HND. As an aside, the recent Y class flight to HKG was very nice considering that it was in economy class, not PEY. Thanks

Food wise, CX is very low on my scale either in F or J. No experiences in long haul PEY or Y. Regional PEY and Y it is OK. The CX meals are all form over substance - even the forms are not much nicer than its competitors but the foods definitely are inferior, by a lot. I dont ask for fancy meals but at least CX should serve something that tastes better for its often higher prices of its premium cabins over its competitors.

Service wise, CX F is nice but J is below other premium airlines J - off the top of my head from last year and this year's experiences, the J services of OZ and VS are almost comparable to CX F. The J services of QR and TK are certainly a lot better than CX J. TG is slightly better than CX. LH is about the same as CX. AC and CA (how they neatly fit into this category) are worse than CX.

What is good of CX is its hard products - the bed in F is still one of the best and the reversed herringbone J has more storage space than the same design of its competitors. Though the J "bed" is hard and you can feel the ridge. I always snagged extra duvets from vacant seats to make my J seat a bit more comfortable for sleeping.