brunos

I fly a lot between Europe and HK, mostly CX and QR, once a year on BA. In 2018 have 5 longhaul segments in CX F ( 2 awards) and 8 revenue QR J. Often with wifey. Just finished a QRsuites 77W with wifey in the double suites.

My comparison of the two products is clearly in favor of QR J over CX F.

Seat: QR middle suites are wonderful for a couple with the double bed, mattress and better duvet. Even the solo QRsuites rate equal to CX F. Normal seats on A350 (some have QRsuite) and A380 are a notch below CX F, but more spacious than CX J.
Screen AVOD: a clear win for QR. Much larger screen of excellent quality, wider selection, fast and reliable system.
Food: QR wins again. More choices, great presentation, tasty original dishes, wider selection. CX food is bland, tasteless, lot of gravy (unfortunately they stopped offering the special menu prepared by a Michelin-starred chef). Sure CX serves a bit of caviar but it is the cheapest Italian farmed caviar. CX food still looks/taste like airline food of thirty years ago.
Wine: I am not a champagne lover but CX has better Champagne. However I find the Deutz 2006, now mostly served, below the Krug NV (and of course the Krug vintage). But other wines are of similar quality. QR served Chateau Batailley 2012 comparable to the bling Bordeaux CX serves, and white wines are less mediocre than in CX F and more diverse
Service: Dinner is a big problem with CX. The F cabin is often devoted to junior inexperienced staff. It takes a very long time to prepare the dishes. Service is very slow. On my last HKG-CDG flight, I only got my table set 1:45 after gate closed past midnight (1h30 after takeoff). The meal is part of the F pleasure (and cost). I wish to adapt to European time, so have a late dinner and arrive with just a cup of coffee at 6am. But not even serving the caviar for some two hours is ridiculous. And the extremely slow service is customary, especially when F is full. Could have to do with the ratio of FAs not adapted to the difficult preparation of meal service. Service is a major reason for not taking CX F anymore, even on award. QR crews are multinational, young, energetic, enthusiastic, smiling and rather well trained. Of course, there is heterogeneity among crews like everywhere. But these guys work very hard and run around. They don’t expect to spend their careers at QR. Just a few years that will be very valued on their CV. Service is usually fast and excellent.
Airport experience: I get the same lounge at HKG and QR lounge is better at CDG. My big grip with CX F is that they do not even provide buggy for F rev pax; totally silly when you spend so much money. So even with QR there.
Punctuality: Never had a problem with QR. CX midnight flights are regularly delayed.

QRSuites wins on all aspects except wines (almost equal).

I am only looking at the product. Fares and flight schedule/convenience are other issues that I don’t address here.

QRC3288

Do you mean J or F? I was speaking to EK F, and I struggle to think of a situation where EK F is inferior to CX J! Especially when the OP already has to connect ex-MNL to most cities. EK F out of MNL is 7-8k USD to European destinations. Ex-HKG is more expensive (...surprise.....sigh....everything is more expensive out of Hong Kong). However, since the OP is based in MNL like you, I'm guessing he/she can capture those ex-MNL prices. EK F ex-MNL is just a hair more expensive than ex-HKG J on CX. Of course, unfortunately I suspect EK F is going to be quite a bit higher than ex-MNL J class fares, whether EK or CX.

For J I am not sure about EK, I haven't flown EK J class before. But I've seen pictures and walked through the back, and there appears to be a 2-3-2 configuration on the 777 which I agree looks dreadful. They have a middle seat in J which doesn't look fun. The A380 at least has aisle access for everyone in J. But I cannot really comment here. I was referring to F.

QRC3288

What a great comparison.

When the QSuites come to Hong Kong, CX really will have an issue...they're scheduled to come at some point no?

sxc

FlyPointyEnd

I think you need to be a more senior FP to finish FCL training hence Im surprised your F experience was not great. My experience with the younger crew on QR, is they seem to be rougher around the edges that their CX counterparts. I find CX crew more sophisticated.

Isochronous

A good observation - if CX want people to buy their way into the lounge it makes more sense to force them to buy tickets first to earn the status!

Arbeysix

Yes, I am referring to EK J ex MNL because as far as I was aware F is not available on the (longish) MNL-DXB sector leaving you with F for the shorter DXB-Europe leg only. Yes, have done many a mile in J in the 2-3-2 and its not great although the food ex-DXB is good.

flyerfly

I used to take CX/KA very often and was a proud DM for 4 years. Like many of you here I was liberated by the revamped MPC a few years back, and opened my eyes to many other airlines plying the routes to and from HKG. Eventually choose BR for long haul TPAC to US (JFK, LAX and IAH), and rotating SQ/BR to LHR and CDG. I have just earned enough last week to qualify for BR Diamond (from normal member in 2 years) - you can say I never looked back. Part of the reasons is also because of the constrain in corporate travel budget - flying BR is often a lot cheaper than flying direct via CX in business class - and hence frown upon less in this environment. Downside is of course the transit time, but I love Taipei (not particularly TPE airport haha) and Singapore/ SIN so I don't usually mind spending some personal time transiting.

And BR in my opinion is not inferior in every and any aspect compared to CX - I would even say BR often beats CX in my experience. Except for the lounge of course. I even enjoy the occasional Hello Kitty flights with BR (Krug Rose yum yum).

I still fly CX/KA enough to maintain Silver, mainly flights to KUL, PVG and PEK. But recently my firm made us fly HX to PVG/ PEK. Lots of resistance initially, but after the 1st flight with them I am a supporter, especially when the J flight is so much cheaper than CX (under corporate rates). And the HX crews and their lounges in HKG are also very good. I am only disappointed by the fact that one cannot have both fruits and dessert, and can only choose one. Hardware wise not as posh and not as comfy as CX/KA but CX/KA's regional J class is not that nice anyway. Not that important for a 2-3 hours flight.

At the end of the day, I am just happy to have the chance to sample other airlines with an open mind, and not bound by the endless quest for DM like when I was younger. I am still base in HK - I realize that I have not missed CX/KA an ounce every time I fly out of HKG (almost on a bi-weekly basis these days).

sxc

I am still curious how much CX has lost due to their MPC program revamp. And when people find even HK Airlines J class is as good or acceptable compared to CX for the price, then that is really a sign of game over for CX.

FlyPointyEnd

Even PAL J class is better...They give your hot towel in a small tray similar to the ones they use on CX First Class, they don't fling it to your face while saying "Hot towel, careful it's hot." When I ordered hot chocolate, it also came in a cup and saucer, on a small tray the same ones you see in CX F. If only they had a better airport terminal and lounge....

HKGglobaltrotter

They have already deployed the retrofitted 777-300ER since Sep for both of their flights on HKG route. I hear that many may dislike the stopover at Doha but QR has special pomotional J fares regularly and for the right price I wouldn't mind doing the stopover for a far superior product/service it seems.

Like the OP, I am also tired for being let down by CX. I have shifted a huge chunk of my travels to other carriers; maintaining DM isn't a problem as I typically hit 1600 club points every 4 months. But after that I am more than happy to fly with others. My regular routes in Asia are TPE, SIN, BKK which I have almost switched exclusively with Star Alliance (BR, SQ and sometimes on TG for BKK). And for the rest of Asia there are plenty of alternatives to CX being based in HK. For US, I started to shift more of my business with BR and JL. For Australia, I often take CX but I just booked my first QF F round-trip at an exceptional price on their A380. Europe is the only continent where I still exclusively fly with CX but now that QR deploys their Q-suite on HKG route I am more than happy to do a stopover if the pricing is right.

QRC3288

I am in a similar boat as HKGglobaltrotter.

I'm (fortunately) mostly flying longhaul F these days. I easily accrue CX points, especially since regional flying seems to be netting me even more after the MPC changes. But I've really spread my business out these last 18-24 months and my eyes are open.

To sxc​​​​, Q Suites is important to me for this reason: I see it as an F competitor. I also value nonstops like you point out, but I'm at the point with budget and making my own schedule that I can allow myself a higher price and even a little extra time if it means a significantly comfier ride, not have to worry about food on board, decent quality bed, and overall peace of mind. That is the value of F to me. Here's one tangible example: last year, HKG to MAD was the last time I stepped on a 77G longhaul. This stoppage is intentional. It was a particularly bad round trip. Since then I've been to MAD....via EK F. It was a bit more expensive than CX J , and obviously I had to stop. But I would do it again for my next trip too.

QSuites, from everyone who has reported back (guys like brunos​ I highly respect) seem to say this is not far off F class. Personally I don't love QRs J class in the herringbone config, which is one reason I do a reasonable amount of business on EK. But I know they do abundant food offerings which I like. Wine isn't great, but if everything else service-wise is in tact, it seems compelling. (Also, I am not a fan of the Doha lounge, TBH).

Mostly i am on CX F nonstop ex-HKG. Just once, to/from CDG I've down EK F. But mostly I still stick to CX F on routes it's available, and a mix of "everyone else with F" to other cities in Europe, North America and Asia. With QSuites, I will definitely try it as a cheaper F equivalent. Hope it makes sense. That's how I'm seeing it.

Take North America. Next year I have a set of meetings in Florida. Out of personal preferences, Im not going to connect on a US carrier to there. And obviously CX doesn't fly nonstop. So I'll either do EK or a European carrier, although if QSuites goes all the way why not? That's my thinking.

triplefives

Late September/early October to be exact. I landed earlier this week on QR818. At the time of booking a month ago, QR816 was still the old product soon switched to the Q suites

QR is much more competitive to EU than CX (you can usually find a 30-40k round trip fares in J). Yeah, the stopover isn't ideal but the service onboard is generally fantastic. There's so much hoopla for the Q-Suites which are well-deserved but the older 777 J product is quite nice as well. Maybe not as nice as the J hard product on CX - but just maybe.

brunos

They are already here on both flights. And currently seem guaranted, but with QR...
I flew a few days ago.

brunos

I agree with you, nor did I mention the price difference (less than half CX cheapest discounted F fare, or a third if you originate in HKG ).
I am just comparing products.

That being said QR flies to a lot of destinations to Europe and a lot to Asia. Unless your destination/origin is HKG, QR option is much more attractive than CX+a regional flight/product.
And even if you fly from HKG to CDG, I don't hesitate to take QR817 that departs at 7pm and arrives at the same time as CX261 (and often later at this busy HKG time). I enjoy a delightful dinner, movies, plenty of sleep on the two flights. CX261 serves a late supper with very slow service. At similar price, I would have a (slight) preference for CX F over QR J because of the nonstop. But at a third of the price for a product that is comparable to CX F, ...

But everything is personal. I was just reporting my personal view on the two products.