Don't use Seat Guru!

A number of other things you posit above aren't totally right either, or have more details you're missing.

In our FAQ, we link to this sheet many of us forum regulars maintain here. It will definitely help with some of your queries, although it requires a little time given the detail:

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon Fleet Route and Configuration Guide

Thanks, very useful.

Any favorites as far as entrees and wine offered on the SFO-HKG flights?

Row 11 may have a slight advantage over row 12 in that there are two less people to go by you for the WC, and the flight attendant won't pass you on the way to serve others. But either 11 or 12 are the pick of the bunch. I would be happy with 12, but you can always try for 11.

Seat guru is not always reliable for non US-based carriers. If you are flyiong long haul your seat will be 1-2-1 full flat. The seat map clearly shows this with reverse herringbone, the description is incorrect.

We have menu threads each year....just scroll through the first few pages for 2019 J Menu thread, or search for "menu".

Also read the thread about CX's "new" business class service. Basically, just poke around here! Searching definitely appreciated. Admittedly wine and food / etc. is not really the right centre of discussion for the A350 general thread. ;)

Flying A350 from SFO-HKG. Is premium economy worth a few hundred dollar upgrade? Seat map on CX's website shows y+ grayed out but they are still selling upgrades, regular Y looks fairly empty. Anywho- are the views obscured in Y+ by the engine/wing? How is the noise level, as it appears to be really close to the engine. Would it still be louder in the back of the plane? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

a350 PEY is a cut above 777PEY and i would say very similar to old days (90s) regional business seat. "few hundred" dollars can be relative value, say if you bot ur ticket for 250 buck one way i wouldnt think almost 85pct increase to be worthwhile.... but in any case i would fork it out

PE is a step up from Y, not to mention that you would likely earn considerably more miles (certainly so, if you're crediting to AA) if that's of any importance. I'd feel much more comfortable though if there were an aisle/window PE seat available to select.

Kind of off topic, but Airbus unveiled a new winglet design on the A350s like (a year ago?). If I believe correctly then this upgrade is complemented with a slightly different wing twist or something. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a CX A35J with the new winglets, any reason why CX would decide not to upgrade the ones not yet delivered? Seems a bit odd...

Sounds great!

I was looking at a mileage run in CX PE between the US and Australia. It looks like CX runs the A350 for both SEA-HKG and HKG-MEL.
Other options I was looking at were beginning from JFK, ORD, or LAX. But SEA is a few hundred dollars less.

Does anyone know if there are overhead bins above the middle of the aircraft?
I've only been on the AY A350, and they did not have bins over the middle, and it was a cluster with everyone having to stow their things on the sides. But it did make the aircraft seeem more open and larger without them.

The new sharklets were tested in 2017 and became standard last year. First outfitted on the A350-900ulrs, all A350-1000s, and subsequent A350-900s. All A350 family planes delivered starting sometime on 2018 and onwards now have them. They are not optional....they improve the spanload distribution of the wing. Essentially these were improvements to efficiency possible that Airbus realized during initial A359 testing phase, and they were then incorporated a few years later. (And I am no aviation expert....I'm basically just copying and pasting what Airbus executives told me a few years ago).

The changes are subtle, but with a keen eye you can detect them. They are less roundy shaped, a bit boxier, and taller. But subtle. Hard to totally tell unless next to two birds.

If you Google around I think there are images comparing the two on the internet.

I'm not sure but I don't think original A359 birds are "upgraded" though to the new winglets. Maybe someone else knows.

EDIT: apparently NO a350-1000, according to a trusted poster below. But I think the other info is correct.

The new winglets are not available on the A350-1000. They are only designed for the A350-900 with the revised wing twist as that changes the wing loading, and therefore will not be retrofitted onto the older A359s which lack that update. All the new A359s for CX will be rated to the increased 280t MTOW and have the new (mandatory) winglets.

Airbus's older test bed A359 had the winglets retrofitted as part of certification for the new aircraft, but Airbus has told airlines they have no plans to offer this to the older A359s. Without the wing twist the benefits are apparently nil to negligible.

This link has about the most obvious comparison of the winglet design I've seen. New is below.

Haven't flown A350-900 in J (only in Y) but had the chance to fly A350-1000 in J on a couple of short hauls earlier this month. Other than not liking the USB and power port inside the headphone compartment, I liked everything else versus the 77W, especially the extra storage compartment by your knees.

My wife didn't like the window in the forward J lavatories, but I thought it was pretty cool!

My wife regretted not being a guy and being able to take in the view while evacuating...

By all means, avoid row 11D/G (aisle) - it has a direct view on the toilet. Pic below. Ultra annoying.
Also flight attendants will chat all night not allowing you to sleep.
Really sad how cathay is only focused on density.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d122138bb2.jpg
Foolish airline run by foolish fools.