zeltergiset

Agreed. I've had a few trips to PEK in the last month on KA Y and J, and CX PE and J. All food pretty disgusting. A few years ago I'd pick KA for the food even if the times didn't quite suit.

sxc

Interestingly KA still uses LSG Skychefs (not Cathay Pacific Catering). Which just goes to show that catering is based on budget and specifications, not the company providing the catering.

CX HK

Well technically LSG Skychefs continue to be part-owned by KA, so I guess that is a reason why KA continues to use them instead of CPC.

derek2010

hope UO joins Oneworld as Affinate for getting club points on UO

helvetic

I had a fling with a flight attendant who quit CX and move to UO for precisely that reason — she said that UO was a lot less work for her. She was young and had very little seniority to lose w/ CX.

helvetic

Personally, I've never had a bad experience on KA in either Y or J. Honestly, I think it's the best economy in the world: I'll get a guaranteed personal hello from the purser with water bottle before takeoff, and more often than not I'll have a blocked off economy seat next to me. They really know how to take care of partner elites — and I'm not even using their own program!

Jackolee

That's the reason!
I have been a MPO GO for 10+ years and observe the declining KA service (to me) over the past few years. Everything is about relativeness.
Also, perhaps they care about AA elites more than loyal CX members - I admit I have sour grapes everytime I have to travel on KA now. I am usually ignored in Y, and nothing more than other ordinary passengers in J on KA flights especially on short-hauls (e.g. KL, Hanoi, cities in China). Better for flights to Calcutta but the regional KA J seat is not a desirable one for me... even without the entertainment system on a 4.5-hour flight.
That's why I don't mind a UO-alike service for those short-haul if the fares are also UO-alike. As I mentioned, I hope they will develop some options on the flight for passengers to choose if this is the case, e.g. point-accountable for Y fare but not for basic fares, etc. For longer-haul regional services, I hope KA will improve the J seats to keep competitiveness.

QRC3288

While I fully respect what you're saying - KA is indeed darn good - how many times is "never had a bad experience"? I'm sure you fly a lot, but some of us on here fly KA...4x weekly. Some more. A quick glance at an old spreadsheet shows I've done over 300 KA flights in just over a decade, and that's missing 4 years. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm nearing 500 at this point. I feel pretty confident saying what we're implying above is correct about a real decline, although admittedly it's also true if you fly any airline a lot, it's the one you complain about the most. So definitely we are more critical on KA than most because we've seen the decline first hand and in many cases, experienced in multiple times a week.

And to keep this on UO, me and Mrs. QRC have now flown UO 3x in the last year to destinations where KA either doesn't fly, or has non-daily service. I have to say, UO is lovely. Of course I fly it way less than KA so I'm more prone to be polite, as perhaps you are with KA. And seats are very cheap on UO - you can just buy an extra for the middle and it's very comfortable. My expectations were low but I was really blown away by UO and wouldn't hesitate to fly them again, and I'd rather fly UO economy class than KA economy class. And for the price you can buy 3x seats on UO for the price of 2x on KA anyway. Totally refreshing experience. I haven't flown JL Y, but I hear nice things about their economy class on here, and SQ Y class too. And those are just a few in the region. My point is, I'm not really sure the KA is best in the world thing is totally correct.

As for the seat block, fyi I think recently you're just getting lucky. 2 years ago they seriously cut back the seat block program when they switched to Amadeus. (Technically, it's feasible in the system. But it's official KA and CX policy not to offer it anymore, not even to their own Diamonds). Right now the seat block works as follows: the system will not make your seat available to another person who is a non-elite, or if you're a Diamond (CX OWE) it will only be available to other Diamonds. Day of flight at the airport, for flights occupied above a certain threshold, all blocks are released. So "blocks" hold for half full flights but they don't when flights are nearly full, which kinda ruins the most important aspect of the seat block. It's still possible at certain outports especially if you speak Mandarin, but at HKIA it is simply not.

CX HK

Sorry, what do you mean by this?

Cambo

With all respect, though comparing an LCC point-to-point airline with a full service airline like CX/KA is not a really fair way to go. As an LCC, having been relieved from all obligations like luggage check-through, premium passengers, meal & drinks according the passenger wishes, extensive free luggage options, rebooking options, and all of these goodies, life is much easier.

An LCC "welcomes" the passenger at online check-in and says goodbye after arrival at the airport. That comes with significantly fewer obligations, than pampering the passenger with a help desk, check-in, a lounge, frequent flier program, etc. With an LCC, the passenger has to help himself with the online tools provided for a pretty limited service (-diversification) for which the passenger gets to know "take this service, or leave it, this is what we have", whereas a full service airline does care to cater for the individual passenger wishes, with a pretty diversified product, instead of the "one size fits all" of an LCC and pay excessive for some additional options.

QRC3288

I have no problems getting outsourced staff at China ports to block seats still. Should've made clear in mainland China and I'm referring to J class, but I don't think class of service should make a difference.

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Jackolee

This is exactly the point. For very short-haul routes, it may be a win-win for an LCC to run instead of KA. Now KA cabin crew often complain they have too much to do within such a short time. This leads to declining services (rushy or even marginally rude on some KA flights I took) and unhappy passengers especially 'lower-grade' elites (e.g. GO). If an LCC runs this: lower costs, lower expectations and sometimes there may even be surprises!

Cambo

I agree with you on this, though be aware the "costs" of these surprises can be significantly higher than the savings due to lower LCC pricing. For example, when you miss your connecting LH, it's going to cost you a fortune, whereas, when you did fly with KA en did your LH with CX, then you have some nuisance, though the extra costs are limited.

There are reasons, LCC's do not sell multiple segment tickets.

An additional PG leg is usually very, very expensive to have on one ticket with your LH. There is a reason for that: PG tends to cancel their flights and you miss your LH. On 1 ticket PG has to cough up the additional costs (for which you pay through very expensive extra leg PG tickets).

Jackolee

NetJets Germany

Well, another benefit that I have experienced surprisingly often on KA is that I am allowed to sit in the next-higher cabin when I am on an A333. To me, that is a huge plus! I am a CX DM, and it happens about 40-50% of the time.