Justinroundtheworld

Quick fire of answer: BA or CX for direct flight to London in J? Here are the numbers for the same travel dates:

Flights
BA: 777 outward; A380 inwards
CX: 777

Time
Typical London flight time:
HKG-LHR 2230 onwards
LHR-HKG 2130 onwards

Baggage Allowance
BA: 3 bags at 32kg (70lbs) per bag for check-in; 1 hand luggage ~10kg
CX: No baggage limit but limited to max 30kg

Money
BA: HK$46,731 including tax
CX: Business Save: HK$47,531 including tax

Miles
Both CX and BA is 14,958 on AsiaMiles

Lounge Access
The usual access to business/Club World lounge

Travelogs
CX - we are all too familiar with CX I'm not posting a link here

I sort of have an answer in my mind but curious what my fellow travellers think. Verdict? Or Virgin/Qantas?

This is purely judging on the flight experience and the criteria above, ignoring all other factors such as membership status.

Engineering Travel

You state baggage allowance, is this important for your trip?

Otherwise offering my experience of many CW trips on BA from Asia to UK and four on CX.
CW on BA is more cramped, with the 2-4-2 (although on the 380 one deck has 2-3-2). CX J, I first tried in 2002, then not until this year, if the price is the same and baggage not an issue, CX. Plus the five daily flights, gives more options for your travel.

TEX277

QF (and NZ for that matter) withdrew from the HKG-LHR market some years ago.....unless time's no issue and you fancy connecting in SYD/MEL and then DXB to get to LHR from HKG.

CX is the only direct option unless you need BA's extremely generous baggage allowance.

clazza

I flew BA a few weeks ago but it was the A380 in both directions. The 2305 outbound and 1840 inbound are perfect times for me and I take similar flights with CX (LHR-HKG on BA at 2200 is the 777?)

I chose BA because I needed (and used) the luggage allowance - extra 32 kg with OWE meant I had 4 x 32kg

It was nice to be the first into LHR T5 but the 777 only arrives 40 mins later so Arrivals lounge should still be fairly quiet. I though F&B on BA was pretty good - proper plates, good flavours and nice wines. Seat and IFE nowhere near as good as CX - feels cramped but having said that, slept 7-8 hrs in both directions.

If I didn't need the luggage allowance, I'd probably fly CX because of the superior bed (even though I slept reasonably well on BA) and IFE

Justinroundtheworld

I used to fly Virgin exclusively to London. Same luggage allowance as BA. Food is ok they are consistent. They used to be cool and edgy. But the same seat product has been there for as long as I can remember. I still have plenty miles with them but I just can't fly with them anymore.

jasjasper

if you don't mind a short change, I would now go via DOH on QR... much newer planes, much better food in J, 40kg allowance + whatever tier oneworld extra allowance you might be entitled to. Most of all, it's def much cheaper than both CX and BA!

mosburger

The big drawback of course being interrupted sleep at odd hours in Doha.

Otherwise QR is the least pompous of the ME carriers and quite likable in it's smart business attitude, not unlike HK people and CX/KA.

Justinroundtheworld

In fact I want to try out Etihad's new business class. Looks top notch from what I see on YouTube but the transfer is a bit of a kill joy.

ny911

Go for CX if you are not frequent traveller on this route.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

I agree CX wins in terms of seat and bed. Also, unless you have sufficiently high status, BA will charge for reserving any seat in business class... can be expensive unless you want to get stuck in a less desirable seat.

moler

Unless you've never flown the A380 and really want to try, or need to check 100 kg of bags, go with CX.

kaka

except you'd lose out on miles, it's actually a good option. just flew to paris with it!

and if strictly BA vs CX, i'd say CX. let your schedule be your priority at those (indifferent) prices.

theworld

I'm in no way a regular J traveller, but some thoughts / queries / questions:

- HKG outbound with either BA or CX you can use the CX lounges, which I presume is going to be better than the BA lounge.

- LHR T3 for CX v LHR T5 for BA. Is the CX lounge in T3 any good? From my experience of the BA T5 lounge, its pretty nice.

- Baggage. CX is really behind the curve on this now. A lot Asian operators now offer 30KG as standard for economy, let alone business class.

- Prebooking seats. BA is a bit annoying in this respect, unless you have status with them.

- Arrivals lounges important to you?

- With either BA or CX you won't exactly be slumming it I guess.

denhaagflyer

Having done both BA and CX on this route, I strongly prefer CX, both for hard and for soft product. I have seen a lot of moaning on this forum about CX standards slipping in J, but it is still well ahead of BA (whose standards in J have also continuously been dropping over the past five years, though from a lower level than CX).

Justinroundtheworld

That's my biggest problem with CX J. Other than the seat the inflight experience overall is not as good as what other airlines are offering e.g. F&B, amenity kits, PJs. The only value-adding things I can see are the seat, able to confirm where you want to sit and slightly better flight time.