Transpacific CX First Class compared to AA First Class
 

I just had the opportunity to try out the first class trans-Pacific services of CX and AA. My routing was as follows:

SFO-HKG CX
NRT-SJC AA

CX wins hands down!

1. Seats - CX wins unquestionably! The fully reclining CX seats actually felt like a bed whereas the AA felt like an airline seat that reclines 180 degrees, i.e. you could feel the bumps on the seats. The CX seats were wider also. I also like the 1-2-1 configuration of CX. I had one of the window seats and I tell you, not having a stranger next to you while sleeping just enhances the slumber experience. Of course, AA has the privacy wall but it ain't the same.

2. Food - CX wins again on quality, portion size, taste and overall presentation. After the superb CX dinner, I did not need to supplement with the mid-flight snacks whereas on AA I felt like the portion on the "bento box" was kind of meager.

3. Personal TV - CX has got to have the biggest TV of any airline. I think it's about 14-15 inches whereas AA had those tiny videos you find in the CX economy class seatbacks. However, AA had the movies on tapes with a pretty good and recent selections but the video and specially sound quality of these tapes are rather poor having deteriorated from repeated viewing by other passengers. Obvious solution would be a DVD player.


4. Onboard Facilities - AA wins this one. Only 1 or 2 phones in the entire first class cabin on CX. AA - phone on every seat. CX - no power ports for laptop power supply!!! AA - power port on every seat.

5. Overall flying experience - I have to give this to CX. The flight attendants were two notches friendlier, warmer, more accommodating and, dare I say, prettier!

My only regret with the CX flight is that I was asleep practically the whole flight. How ironic!

bp888,

Was your SFO-HKG flight on A340 or B747? I thought that the SFO-HKG route were on A340s and they don't have the betsy beds yet, but from your description, you had the beds?

Oopps! It was actually LAX-HKG B747. I started my trip in SFO but the trans-Pacific portion originated in LAX. Sorry for the confusion.

thanks for the clarification bp888! i thought something had happened that I don't have to fly via LAX anymore!

IMHO, it's not even close. Besides, I'm not sure having phones at every seat on AA is a good thing for two reasons:

1) The last thing I want on a long haul flight is to hear anyone else talking-- as you indicated you were asleep on the CX flight. In the off-chance someone wants to talk on the phone, they should walk back to the phones by the galley.

2) The cost of satellite calls is outrageous-- what urgent business really needs to be attended to during that time. It's too much of a temptation to waste money, particularly if I've just polished off a couple of glasses of wine.

I think I agree - I just flew a few segments in CX 1st Class, and I didn't miss the phones, or the annoying busy-ness. I too found it so easy to fall asleep that I felt I missed out on the neat snacks etc. The one thing I could not figure out at all on either flight were the video games. In fact, I didn't realise they had any until I noticed one of the other passengers had a sort of menu on their screen as I returned to my seat. I must say though, AA's Bose noise cancelling headsets are way better than those on CX (Sony).

Having just flown CX from CDG to HKG in First Class again, I would completely agree with the fellow gentlemen above about the lack of in-seat phone.

We pay premium prices or premium miles to be
in a salon that is a class by itself. Satellite phone necessitates a rather loud voice and the last thing I would like in such a cabin designed to be quiet and restful is someone talking aloud. People in the cabin fall asleep so easily in their
betsy seats under the sumptuous duvet and even FAs are quiet walking about and talking whispering to passengers when taking orders.

But why no empower? That would have seemed to be a no brainer.

Any recommendations on which seats to select?

Go for the seats in the front. Nobody ever walks by. I also prefer clockwise left to right as that seems to be the direction of the food cart.

I agree that CX beats the heck out of AA in all cabins. In F I prefer AA's Bose headsets and DVDs provided on non-777 flight but overall the _only_ choice is CX, if for nothing else than to get a flight attendant that cares.

Another neat thing on CX: you can order food any time. You can even get leftover dinner items!