soy

I have not flown CX since just before Covid. At the time they had rolled out the new on-board service (newspaper style menus, more personalized service). I was quite impressed with the new service model and the food which seemed to be an improvement on my previous flights. I get that everything stopped during Covid, but it seems most airlines are now back to their pre-covid standards. I have a midnight US-HKG trip coming up and was wondering if they have got back to normal or still running some sort of cutback service. Will help inform if I should eat in advance and just go to sleep, or stay up for the post take-off meal.
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leosantos

I highly reccomend you get on board and sleep as quickly as you can for as long as you can. Service is nothing like it used to be before COVID and it had already gone down significantly in the 5 -7 years before COVID. The more you sleep the less dissapointed you will be.

conde

Although the Cathay Pacific food and beverage is disappointing, it ought to be adequate. Don't expect champagne offered on drink trays before takeoff. Cathay Pacific offers the ability to book meals in advance in J. If there aren't meals that appeal to you, perhaps some of the specialty meals, such as for Hindu, Kosher, Halal, vegetarian, etc., might be more appetizing. IFE is still very good. Getting some sleep will also pass the time. I wouldn't worry too much. Enjoy the trip!

Jane's Addiction

I would definitely not forgo sleep to eat CX catering, much less J catering.

tfung

You can always ask them to keep the meal for you for later and eat after you wake up...

Cathay Dragon 666

I ordered CX fruit meal. I remembered CX C class fruit meal used to be amazing. But this time it's only a bunch of fruits that seem to have fallen off Y meals' plates. But it was short HKG to TPE so maybe that's the reason.

TomYoung

Almost all of my travel is regional these days but it is always in business class. Other than breakfast flights (which I try to avoid) I am always offered champagne on boarding (which I decline) although it is only a half full thimble. The other drinks also come in half full tiny glasses that only wet ones mouth. Gone is the beautiful freshly squeezed orange juice that they used to offer. The young ladies assure me that it is fresh, which they believe as they read that on the side of the carton from which they pour it. I don't think that they have ever had real fresh orange juice. There is a very limited choice of main course and the whole meal is served on little rectangular dishes on one tray, just like in the works canteen, not the executive dining room as one might expect with business class. Recently I have found that the quality of food has improved and the quantity is reasonable. Wines, especially the reds are a joke. I don't think that Park and Shop would stoop to offering them for sale. Their is a fancy menu which prattles on about the wines being specially curated yet there is one red, one white and a sweet wine, the same whatever the menu and whatever the flight that month. I have been on flights with the same red and white when the main offering has been chicken or halibut. Specially curated. Script writer's dream. Another of my pet hates is being offered a chunk of mango hacked off the the whole fruit without being peeled. Mangoes can be delicious, especially those from Philippines and Thailand and peeled slices are lovely but they can be tricky to eat delicately, even when peeled. Chunks not peeled require a sharp spoon and even that would be tricky if stuck in one of the uncomfortable regional seats. Note they restrict the use of the regional seats configured either 2-2-2 or even worse, 2-3-2 on the more premium routes such as Singapore, obviously knowing how second rate they are. And the management believes that it is all a quality lifestyle to which one should aspire. They should realise what a huge opportunity they have for improvement.

brunos

I know that I will be mocked for saying it, but I always used J to fly regional, and I fly a lot and basically pay from my pocket.
The current combination of High CX J fares, regional seats and poor catering makes me switch to Y.
Sure 3h flight is a bit painful when fighting for elbow space, but catering/wine is not much worse, Y service is good, and my status allows me to get priority check-in, seat selection, lounge.
Not worth the huge price difference (thrice).

TomYoung

You have a point Brunos. However I would rather that they maintain the current price and restore the higher quality service (which all this noise about lifestyle is presumably about) than cut the price and continue to shave away at the pleasures and comforts of life. With the price differential that exists at the moment there should be space to offer premium economy for those wanting a cheaper service than business but something better than economy on all their flights. And at the end of the day we must remember, there are no pockets in a shroud.

leosantos

Trust me they really dont care.

brunos

CX sponsored this article in SCMP:
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...gtype=homepage

It is clear that their longhaul Cirrus business seat is getting outdated now that many airlines move to new seats with privacy, bigger screen, etc.
And the longhaul clientele feel the downgrade when they transfer to the mediocre regional seat and catering.

Sad that CX does not appear in the top 10 airlines for business class (whatever you think of Skytrax rankings):
https://www.worldairlineawards.com/w...airlines-2023/

Cathay Dragon 666

When Hainan Airlines rated higher, you know you're in trouble..... (I've tried Hainan is the past, it was horrible. But I guess they really improved?)

longliveKA

I have never in 25 years of flying in the region found CX to excel in their offer, and they've had blunders all the time, anybody remembers the cow farm C class seats, the fixed backrest in Y, or the zodiac seat debacle? MPC devaluations?
Apart from the HKG lounges (when run by Peninsula) the worst thing ever happened was KA being taken over by CX. The level of service you consistently got on 3 hour flights was second to none, in F,C and Y class. The Elite was a great FFP, and the land based services were good too. Seats were so so, specially on night flights, but other than that, stepping on a KA flight was always something to look forward to (till the CX take over and its integration in MPC that is).
CX should bring back the KA teams if they really mean to become premium again. I never understood the hype with CX when compared to the early 2000's KA.

NZflyer777

2014 CX was relatively much better than its peers.

Same in 2005

The best CX service I remwmber funnily was in 2003.

Now JL,NH,SQ,QR are way ahead.

I guess it's all relative. The 2010 business class revamp was amazing. CX admitted they stuffed up the 2007 revamp and brought the next upgrade forward by 3 years.

I doubt current CX management has the ability to create world leading products.

BTW I know must people hated it, but for me i still think the fixed shell economy was the best seat ever.

NZflyer777

their rating may be higher but I can confidently say Hainan has a worse product