Getting ready for first CX J trip - advice requested?
 

I will be traveling to Hong Kong on CX873 from SFO next month and was hoping for some advice in a few areas:

(1) I will arrive SFO from DFW on American around 7pm and have 6+ hours until CX873 departs at 120am. Should I take a cab into the city and grab dinner or perhaps hang out in the airport and CX J lounge prior to the flight?

(2) What kind of meal service do they provide on this flight given the 120am departure?

(3) Are the J seats comfortable enough so that I can get some real sleep?

(4) Is the return from HKG to SFO a better dining experience given it departs HKG in mid-afternoon?

(5) Should I plan on spending some time in the J departure lounges at HKG? Right now I am coming in from PVG with about 2 hours between arrival and departure from HKG?

Many thanks!

1. 6 hours is not enough time to have any real experience in the City. Figure on 1 hour for taxi, "deplaning" and inter-terminal transfer, to/from Airport/City, 2 hours before departure to check-in and to enjoy a drink or two in the lounge and you're talking only 3 hours left. As for dinner, SFO itself has some really nice restaurants in the International Terminal. But I wouldn't have a full dinner, see next answer.

2. Full dinner service.

3. J seats are at an angle. Some like it, some don't. But service is one of the best.

4. Just about the same.

5. Lounge experience is a must at HKG. The Wing and The Pier are reputedly the best lounges in the World. Pity it's not there where you have the 6 hour layover.

You might want to consider a later AA flight. I'm doing the same intinerary from DFW in early May using AA 1415 arriving SFO 9:46 pm. Just about the right connecting time but still enough leeway if AA is running late.

Thanks for the guidance. I think I will taxi to a local health club in between flights.

I was pre-assigned one upstairs and one downstairs J seats. Should I leave this "as is" and experience one of each or try to get both in the upstairs cabinn both ways?

I book on AA.com - is it better to call AA or CX for seat request changes?

Any way a "One World Nobody" (until this trip is completed) can nab the coveted 86A or is this out of the realm of possibility?

You will continuously slide off your seat, and the level of comfort is below that of QF's Sky Bed.

Not true for me, I can sleep very well on these seats.

hear hear. i need to set it to some S shape so i dont slide down. its not comfortable for me at all.

don't have high hopes on the seat.

Not sure whether you can nab 86A, but it's worth a try.

CX is a better bet for trying to get a seat reservation, though check again shortly before the flight to make sure you still have the seat assignments they give you.

I'd recommend upstairs both ways. It's quieter, more private, has arguably better service, and if you're in the window seat you have access to the nice little storage compartments.

As for the question of being able to sleep in the seats, as the previous answers indicate this hinges on your own tolerances and preferances. I've found sleeping in these seats fine.

Finally, rest assured that CX is a great airline, with good service, food and IFE.

Hi,

CX uses the BA Terraces lounge at SFO, located after security just past gate A4 on the right hand side and down the stairs. There is a shower available but no pc's I think ( but places to plug in your own laptop)

Regards

TBS

WRT row 86, I believe these seats are blocked in advance, but usually assignable by CX elites (not sure about non-CX OW elites). However, I've often seen them go "unblocked" a day or two before the flight, and if they remain unassigned, then you should be able to snag them from CX or probably even AA.
An ExpertFlyer subscription is good for viewing the seatmap to see when the seats go unblocked.

Ok, so the BA lounge at SFO is now open also for the CX night departure to HKG? This wasn't the case not so long ago?

Thanks again to all the CX experts who have provided this valuable info. I have segmented my journey into 4 flights just to be able to fly CX and very much look forward to it.

I've been snarking around over at CathayTalk and there's a recent thread about the falloff in meal quality in J on CX transpac. Any truth to this from the FT'ers?

I'm an AA PLT (so OW Sapphire) and got Row 86 assigned for a flight I have in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of that, what's Cathay's Policy upstairs with regards to 20" rollaboards? Will they fit in their overheads?

Steve

F meal quality has improved in the past year, fwiw. Can't comment on the J meal quality as I have never flown CX J trans-pacific, but it would be odd to be improving the F quality (presumably in the face of competition) and not improving J. But on most airlines there is considerable difference between J/F meals (not on AA where it is substantially the same, though). Maybe CX is making J worse to encourage more F ticket sales (somehow I doubt that is there business plan).

The 744 upper deck overhead bins are large enough to fit 20" rollaboards.