chris_2020

Hi,

I'm looking to fly business on Cathay Pacific for the very first time, for long haul flight Amsterdam to Melbourne (with a brief layover in Hong Kong).

I noticed some of the images of Cathay Business look slightly dated, despite it often getting well reviewed. I am really keen to try and keep costs down for this flight in business, and Cathay is coming out the most affordable option at the moment for a OneWorld partner airline in Business to Australia. I'd love to try the Quite on Qatar but it just looks too expensive (a good 2k more for the return flights). My main concern is privacy, as when I travel business, I do really like some privacy, and I don't believe Cathay has doors?

If anyone could reassure me that this is a good product that would be hugely appreciated Or if there's any tips to pick a newer/refurbed plane maybe? Or indeed, if your opinion is the opposite, to avoid Cathay and to convert me to consider elsewhere... I'm based in London, so could fly from anywhere in Europe, but selecting Amsterdam just for now as that seems most affordable and best for Cathay, but technically could depart from anywhere...

Thanks so much,
Chris

CarefreeBA

A couple of things to note:

- CX Business is by far not the best product in the sky. As you mentioned, it's a balance between cost. I think that the overall experience on Cathay is brilliant, with consistently 'good' service, food.
- You value privacy. I have never not felt private despite the seat not having a door. My opinion stands that the door is a social construct; in a herringbone seat facing diagonally to the window, the door would be off your peripheral vision. I think the seat offers sufficient privacy.
- Look at the aircraft type operating your flight. I know that (the 1x daily) AMS-HKG is currently operated daily by an A35K. HKG-MEL not so sure. LHR is a mix at the moment. The seat is generally the same, with the differences between them being the progression of retrofits. The A35K are the newest aircraft in the fleet, so that'll be guaranteed if departing Amsterdam.
- and of course... great lounges on your layover in Hong Kong

oldchinahand

The Cathay long haul fleet is overall younger than most. The airline has over 40 X A350 aircraft and a youngish fleet of B777 - 20+ new version of the 777 that should have already joined the fleet is 4 years late being delivered due to the makers certification issues.

brunos

CX has a solid longhaul J product and the pricing from AMS is quite attractive.

Its J seat is quite outdated compared to the best competition (even BA club suite) and lacks privacy.
Some of the seats show their age and have a small screen.
Food and wines are average and the CX J lounges in AMS or HKG are nothing to write home about.
Also be careful with your feeder flight. LHR is sometimes in chaos and flights to AMS are often delayed or even cancelled.

To summarize, CX is a very solid choice at that price. But don't expect it to be among the best product in the skies.

starvelk

CX J is great but not over-the-top like its competitors e.g. QR's Q-suite, ANA's "The Room" etc...
Their seat is private and extremely roomy compared to other reverse herringbone seats (cos of CX's heavy customisations to the seat -- especially the footwell!), they also have one of the best IFEs in the sky. On the A35Ks out of AMS, some of them come with a brand new GUI (which resembles Netflix) and come with a new flight map.
Ground experience in HKG is impeccable. With lots of excellent lounges for lounge hopping, my personal favourite has to be "The Pier", which is quieter yet comes with all the amenities & offerings in the other lounges. Has a great apron view too!
Food and service on CX are consistently good, but not the best compared to other Asian carriers. CX's Chinese offerings are typically better than their Western offerings. For such a good price, I'd say absolutely go for it.
A word for advice on your HKG-MEL flight would be to try to fly on a flight operated on the A350. They come with the newer generation of CX's business class seat with more storage, space & the new IFE which is miles better than the one on the 77W.
Hope what I've said helps!

VE105

Flying CX J is wonderful especially if you are flying their A350s. As mentioned by other posters, AMS route is now solely operated by their A35K, and from Dec onwards there will be 1 A350 flight per day for both LHR and MEL routes.

VE105

I think the seats on A350 have more than sufficient privacy while not feeling claustrophobic, they are much better than 77Ws' as the "wings" (privacy shield) on A350 are much larger

percysmith

MEL-DOH-AMS is a double Qsuite route. Jealous - that's hard to beat. Whether it's A$2,000 better, dunno...

MEL-HKG and HKG-AMS are Cirrus FB3 seats. Age wise, they're not old, but, they're not aging well.

soy

CX A350 seat and IFE is very good, and it is quite private. I agree with those that say the doors are largely a gimmick. CX lounges are excellent. I am less a fan of the catering, at least compared to QR or SQ. Not sure I could justify spending an extra 2k for QR, its better, but not that much better (unless its Other Peoples Money)

A bit off topic but as you are London based, if you are not already a member of BA Exec Club, join up before the flight at credit the miles to BA. The round trip on Cathay (assuming you are using BA to fly LON-AMS) will leave you just 2 short haul flights on BA away from Silver status, which will get you lounge access when flying BA. You could get almost 2yrs of silver status depending on when you join BA. Lots more info in the BA forum

leosantos

I was on two A350'sclast week. One was delivered in May this year the other was one of the first delivered. I have to say the old one was really worn out, The bathroom was awful in Business, the toilet seats were stained yellow. The seat area was shabby, dirty and falling apart.

oldchinahand

The bathrooms on those early delivered A350s have always been awful . It is something of a saga -when first delivered they literally fell to pieces. The doors would not close and the mirrors disintegrated. Cathay was compensated and the bathrooms fixed to a degree. Some I know have been largely replaced. There is I understand an ongoing program to refit those remaining as the aircraft become due for major servicing. As I recall the bathrooms were supplied by Airbus but were subcontracted and there was some ongoing problem with that contractor.
I agree the problem needs fixing properly.

leosantos

Welcome to new world CX, your clothes will go out of fashion waitingfor them to spend money to serve their premium passengers.

oldchinahand

Utter nonsense - and without any supporting fact. This is of course because the 'facts' paint a totally different and mainly positive picture . It puzzles me why foak post these type of senseless remarks that are devoid of any factual support unless they have some personal dispute with the airline.
Rectifying these toilet issues I understand are the responsibility of Airbus who is in legal dispute with their contractor and Cathay is thus limited at this time to making sure that they and the doors are operational.

drivingflyingwalking

Cathay chose a certain supplier to outfit the toilets on the early build A350 models much to the annoyance of Airbus because of issues with this particular vendor and questions around their solvency. Cathay insisted they use them because the price was extremely attractive. Cheapest is not always the best option as was quickly demonstrated.

tfung

For someone who hates CX so much, you seem to be flying them an awful lot! Maybe you should change to a different airline to lower your blood pressure...