Which F Class
 

I have the choice to fly in F class on a 747 or a 340-300. I will be flying with my brother so we dont need to be right next to each other but it wouldnt hurt. I am not familiar with CX's planes, but are all the F class seats the same? (As opposed to other airlines where some planes have the "good" first class and others do not). Thanks for any advice!

One number: 747.

Even though CX wants you to believe all F product is created equal, it is not.

Of all the aircrafts with F service, 333, 343, and 747, the 747 gives you by far the best F experience. It is true for all carriers with F cabin in the forward part of the 747......

Enjoy CX F... :)

Thanks for your help!

The F suite is identical on all long-haul CX aircraft. So is the service. The 747 has its good and bad points (not really worth going into here), and it really is misleading to say that it is better than the A343 or A346 service in any substantive way. I say that after having dozens of flights on both types and having sat in just about every seat in every F configuration. There are 12 F seats on the 747 vs 8 on the A343/346 so there is more square footage and open space, but it isn't like most other airlines that do have different service levels on different routes. Pick the route and time that suits you (or more to the point, where there is seat availability).

I've flown the A340 in F from SFO to HKG as well as the 747 from LAX to HKG a few times and I totally agree that the 747 experience is much better than the A340.

The biggest difference IMO, is that there is less foot traffic going past you on the 747 F whereas on the A340 the crew, both from F and C cabins, seem to walk up and down the aisle all the time. Also, I've noticed that sometime the crew would talk quite loudly when they are in the forward galley on the A340.

All of CX F seats are the same. The 747 F cabin is significantly larger with 12 seats while the 333/343 F cabin is much smaller with only 8 seats.

I completely agree, for me, the CX 747 F experience is much better. Just took the A340 a few days ago JFK-HKG and then 747 HKG-NRT-HKG-BKK. I can't tell you how much better I personally find CX 747 F. Much, much nicer, IMHO. YMMV.

The 747 cabin is so much more spacious. Walls don't curve in as much as on Airbus a/c particularly in the front (not that it matters that much in FC other than you're seated at economy seat's width away from the window) and ceiling is higher (not as much as in the back, or in 777s). Being in the nose means there's no noise or traffic up front (1A and 1K) are great unless people specifically want to go there. Also, the FC lav is on the right side of the 343 so you have to go through one of the galleys to get to it if seated on the left.

Er, there are two FC lavs on the 340 - one on the left past the galley, just before the cockpit, and one on the right between the galley and the cabin.

And that, in a nutshell, illustrates the attention to detail and accuracy of information on FT -- both good and bad. To be fair some captains close off the cockpit lav, particularly when the crew rest area is in use, but that is quite rare and usually it is available for use.

FWIW-- and none of my preference for the 747 is dictated on lav location(!)-- BUT, when I flew the 340 on Saturday, the use of the Lav by the cockpit was strongly discouraged-- almost to the point that I would say it was, for all intents and purposes, off-limits on that flight. Again, NOT one of my major issues (or even minor ones,) just an observation.

Well it has never been a problem for me (as a Brit); specifically in the last month there was not a murmur when I used it on a 346 JFK-HKG and a 34D HKG-SIN.

Could it be that the crew feels that Americans want to hear this because then they will believe that the homeland is more secure?

That makes no sense (in any way.) No one mentioned security at all-- it's just anytime someone tried to go straight ahead they were very politely (but somewhat insistantly) pointed in the direction of the other lav.

Maybe the Captain had just had a particularly smelly dump in there then? :D

All I can add to this topic is that the bulkhead (row 1) seat on any 747 is quite cold. I had no choice but to sit in 1K on Sat from LAX-HKG and I froze. I have alot of mile on CX and more mile on many many other carriers and as one purser once told me.... "If it's not boeing....? I'm not going!!!"