Cathay Boy

I know we've talked about this before, but I just wanted to say emphatically, there is nowhere in hell if I'm paying my own money I would even remotely consider CX PEY, that's how big of a fail this is (so on company dime, yes).

The food is really Y quality masquerading as Y+. Limited drink choices, and they DO NOT come up to the cabin to offer tea and coffee (4 out of 6 times the FAs failed to come up to PEY to offer tea and coffee), and no there's no fasten seatbelt sign on. What's going on here?

Second, no dedicated FA means you're fighting with 200+ pax that wants the FAs attention. Pushing the FA button sometimes means the FA will NOT show up at all, you have to push a few more times for someone to really come up and ask you what do you need.

If you are not sitting in the front row with a true leg-support foot rest, you're doom because the drop-down footrest are uncomfortable and isn't big enough to truly rest your feet, and you're likely to slide right off the foot rest.

I hate the 77G that there is no dedicated bathroom, so you have to walk back to Y to use the restrooms, and that means you need to fight with 200+ pax for the precious few, and you know the story.....

I swear I've not sit in a seat that has a good headset (always have a sharp scream sound in the headset when my leg hits the plug on the side, always, and it's annoying.)

I really think the way CX has (mis)managed these seats, I think they've given up on it, and are happy this is an op-up gap cabin for long-hauls to prevent too many Y-J op-ups....

Guy Betsy

Yeah.. I have sat in PEY during a short haul flight between SIN and HKG and yes, I do find the seats uncomfortable ...so I know exactly what you mean...and you'd have a longer haul to go.

alphaod

I still prefer it to purely Y though.

As for the headsets. I know what you mean. I have that issue with regional J seats as well.

CX828

I agree it probably isn't worth the money unless you wish to be sat in PEY to benefit from a potential Y+ -> J op-up that you can't have a chance for anymore from Y.

The Y+ Experience is probably better to JFK than to EWR as its a 77H aircraft so there is a dedicated toilet for PEY + the Y cabin is also so much smaller so there is more FA attention than on a 77G.

Orwaid

Hi -

I came to the same conclusion after trying it LAX-HKG. And I was lucky to get front row aisle.

I only buy Y+ if I can use miles to upgrade to J at time of purchase.

andy1022

Agreed with OP. I had a flight in PEY for HKG-BKK. The crews were not offering coffee and tea unless I requested for it. No dedicated FA is definitely disappointing me. The crews are stayed in J or Y for most of the time, and they even ignore the assistance light in PEY.

In long-haul, I did not feel that its worth for the price premium.

pssteve

After 3 CX PEY long hauls I have to agree with general tone that when considering soft and hard product it is not worth the premium fare. Only way it made sense for us was getting 1.5 EQ points per mile when credited to AA. Biggest down side was that on a fairly empty red eye flight folks in Econ could spread out across 3 seats to sleep while that is not possible in PEY due to the dividers between seats.

Cathay Boy

The divider between the middle two seats can be lifted up, there's a trick. Under the divider towards the back of the seat there's a "button" (not really a button, more like something that sticks out) that you need to press down (real hard) and the middle dividers between the middle seats can be lifted up.

When you sleep you really need the whole row open, and put your head on the divider between aisle seat and middle seat that won't lift up, and your legs need to be raise above the other divider that won't raise up. But at least when you have an empty row it is possible to sort of lie down.

RevJim

I usually pay for PEY, but my route (CEB-LAX) always has E-fares available, so it is not very expensive compared to mileage-earning Y fares. I pay for it mostly because it's a long trip and I don't like sharing an armrest.

For free I get: occasional op-ups to J, the opportunity to upgrade with miles (paying up to R first), more leg room, a better recline angle and what seems to me to be more abundant overhead bin space. This route always has a dedicated bathroom so shorter (or nonexistent) lav lines too.

This works well for me due to the fare class (E), and if I had to pay for W or R it wouldn't work. The price for J on this route is so low I would just pay for the J instead.

CuiDawei

I think it has a lot to do with price point. HKG to LHR RT in PE is about 22,000 HKD. TPE - HKG - LHR in PE is about 15,000 HKD. I would pay the latter, but never the former. It's worth 15,000 HKD to me - it is not worth 22,000 HKD. Dubai/Colombo are better - normally PE is only 1-2 K more than mileage earning Y fare - This I think is fine. Aus is pretty pricey from what I remember and not worth it - at least in my mind.

Sohoboy

Plus the head-dropped problem of the PTV at the front roll

ieuan1

I agree that it is not worth the money in general, but does provide opportunities for upgrades.

It is nicer than economy as well. I flew LHR-HKG-SYD in PEY last week (I was upgraded). Airlines make a big fuss that Business Class is now as good as the old First Class (good seats, better IFE etc). However, I began to think that PEY is not unlike the old economy class. Obviously IFE is better, but food certainly isn't, and the extra space and pitch seems to be closer to what Y used to be.

All we really need is the FAs coming round with bottles of Otard after the meal ....

1010101

It's probably not a great product for your average HKer, but for a 6'2" Western framed person it really is worth the extra money. I'm paying for the extra space, the rest is superfluous.

percysmith

It's redemption heaven for me. Please keep it as is.

lionelhutz

I totally agree. In the last 6 months I have done 4 return trips MEL-HKG booked in Y+ and succeeded in getting a redemption upgrade to J on all 8 legs. And I'm only a lowly silver on MPO. I'm thinking that wouldn't have been likely in the old days when you were competing with the entire Y cabin for an upgrade.

Also if I ever fail to get a redemption upgrade, my chances of getting some sleep on the flight are much better in Y+ (especially in the front row) than in Y.

BTW I have noticed that since I moved up to MPO silver, suddenly the website lets me choose a seat in the front row of Y+ (with the leg rests) - it never did when I was a green. Nice perk there, I find any seat much more comfortable with some back of leg support.