jock

Hey everyone..

looking at flying to CTS in Feb via Hkg in J with Cx. Never flow with CX before. Mostly used to AA J or BA J. Just wondering if anyone has done this route recently...wot should i expect..compared with Ba/Aa. Will both sectors be similar or will seat be different on the two flights? Food..general tips etc. Many thanks

ajeleonard

Where are you flying from?

jock

Prices out of Milan look best..most likely from there.

jdtravels

I assume you're flying LHR-HKG-CTS?

LHR-HKG will definitely be in the long haul configuration, so expect the Cirrus seat in J - in my opinion, one of the best seats out there.

HKG-CTS probably will have quite a high chance of getting a regional plane with the love-it-or-hate-it recliner.

Food wise, CX is not known for good food. I guess it's all perfectly edible (unless you go for the beef, and if so, then there's really no one else to blame...). A more detailed discussion here.

Tips:
CX perhaps excels most (at present) with its lounges. LHR has the new lounge, comments available here, and probably well worth the visit.
At HKG, you'll have access to the first class lounges with your BAEC Gold - definitely try out The Pier First. I personally have a soft spot for the Qantas lounge if its open while you're in HKG.

Compared with BA/AA, I'll go for CX any time. Food probably a bit less appealing, but everything else, I do prefer CX (price aside, though that point in your case is moot). Of course, not everyone agrees... but please do post your opinion after your trip! Safe travels!


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Edit: just saw your newest comment about flying from Milan. Sorry!

jock

Here's the thing..

Firstly..

BA CW is in a nutshell..Unexciting. If I have to fly BA, i always try to UuA into First, but there's no availability right now and quite frankly I can't be bothered jumping through hoops trying to bag two First seats..plus using lots of Avios in the process. Also LHR just bugs be backwards..so I'm really just looking for something abit different.

Secondly..

Mrs Jock needs 500 TP's to keep gold..so Using Jal or BA wouldn't generate enough TP's on a rtn journey. QR was on my list. Plenty TP's for that routing, but the flying times are really weird..some flights have 8,9,10 hrs wait..and although u get a free hotel in the fare..it just eats up holiday time..plus the odd times it gets into TYO then I've got to wait until the next day to fly upto Sapporo..so its not going to work.

As far as I'm concerned..its not BA and its a waaay better seat. Being both OW Emerald..we get access to some nice lounges and overall from other FT's and youtube vids..CX looks like a good alternative. Price wise from MXP its within a couple of hundred quid of BA!

Will the seat on the regional flight to CTS be Cr@p compared to the Cirrus? Seems to be several types..which one might it be? Could I get a long haul 777 if I'm lucky??

shorthauldad

If the OP is used to BA (especially BA's CW beef), perhaps CX could be a pleasant surprise?

I flew CX J from HKG to SYD a few years ago and by comparison to the other airlines in the itin the food was excellent (including a medium steak). The CX lounges at HKG blew BA's LHR lounge offering out of the water.

jdtravels

QR is quite a good choice, but I do agree with you on wasting time if you don't get the 'good' flight times. Also, you probably wouldn't be eligible for the free hotel if there were a flight combination with a shorter transit time, even if you were unable to book it because it was full.


I'm not a great fan of the regional seat, but I wouldn't call it cr*p either. Takes some getting used to maybe for the first half hour or so, but I always managed to find a comfortable position. Yes, the screen is a little low for the seat and the viewing angle becomes slightly awkward, but it's bearable. Had it a few times for a redeye, and still managed to be reasonably well rested all things considered. Compared to the Cirrus, then of course it's a big step down.

I'm not 100% certain, but pretty sure all the old planes have been retrofitted by now, and there's only one regional J seat. At least for the past year or so, I haven't seen an old seat...

As for your chances of getting the 777/A330 in long haul configuration, who knows? Cathay is known for swapping equipment, and some experts have pointed out that with the new A350 aircraft coming in, there will be plenty of idle long haul planes waiting to be swapped in for regional flights.

kaka

Well you need the TP so im not gonna comment toooo much
but jal eur-tyo-cts would give you lovely service in every sense.
you can even pay for hnd cts first class service.

otherwise on cx it would b better than in ba in almost every way

jock

Looks ok..better than a BA CE seat for 4.5hrs.

Its funny because I've just realised that I get 140tps on the second sector HKG-CTS, but if i fly from HND or NRT on the RTN journey I only get 40tp's!! as i need to fly over 2000 miles. HND-HKG is 1805 miles and NRT-HKG is 1842 miles. CTS is 2131 miles..lol. Welcome to the world of tp's eh? Thanks for all you help everyone..

Anything else I need to know or consider?

ermen

As others have mentioned - the regional J is not the best but not the worst. I personally its annoying for an overnight flight - but perfectly fine for a day flight. The downside is they fly a dense regional 777, so you will be in a 2-3-2 config... which is slightly annoying in the middle for obvious reasons (back in the day it was a 747 service with the old coffin seats)

Its also worth taking the direct service to CTS rather than changing in TYO in my view.

And yes you get more TP on HKG-CTS... im exploring something similar myself to get my TPs up for the year...

On another note, ​​​​​​ even though im baec gold i have not really flown BA all that much maybe one day there will be a post on the other forum "baec gold flying ba for the first time" lol..

cxfan1960

Haha, that will be fun. There was a year I didn't fly CA or her subsidiaries once until I reached CA Gold - CA Gold flying CA for the first time...

It will be better flying CX LH. BA's CW is not exciting. I don't like the aisle seat because I am afraid of FA dropping things on me. I don't like the window seat because I have to step over the aisle seat passenger to get out.

Regional CX is not exciting either...

jock

To be fair..once i found out about the difference in TP's between CTS and NRT/HND..I ruled out these two airports. I did also consider AY(Waaay cheaper) but I dont know if I fancy their strange business seats (A330 Nagoya/Osaka)...small feet wells and it looks like a coffin when its in bed mode..I don't think Id like it..has anyone used this seat?

Col Ronson

AA J on the 77W is identical to J product on CX's 77W. Some would say the food is better but thats debatable. However AA does have wifi.

All points considered CX's strongest suits are its lounges in HKG, and if you find a route with the A350, that is a beautiful plane to be on. CX's J beats BA J 100% of the time imo however.

1010101

I'd take CX every day over BA. CX is not perfect but its a far, far better experience than BA who have fallen through the floor recently. There's not one thing I can think of that i prefer on BA.

AA has upped its game on the 77W and i would fly them over CX if the price was right. Food is better, there is more on the IFE (inc WiFi) and the seat is the same.

CX will be like flying an AA 77W but the service is more refined (don't forget to use the call button) and the airport experience is world's apart.

jdtravels

But given that, on the same route, you'll be able to use the same lounges, and both will have similar priority check in and boarding, there really isn't much to differentiate the two airport experiences.