QR J class prices out of HKG are insanely cheap. You can fly to destinations in Europe that CX doesn't fly to - aka, we don't have genuine options besides QR or EK for getting there "fastest" - and other ones in the ME and Africa for even cheaper. To Europe $4k USD and less, and to other places sometimes $3k USD and less!

Presumably you can (could? maybe the JV has curtailed this a bit?) also save a lot of coin flying to CX cities like CDG and LHR via Doha, but I haven't done that yet - I'm not a fan of connecting in DOH unless necessary. But I have utilized QR a number of times to places CX simply doesn't fly and the price is very easy on the wallet.

CX Catering has gone from bad to worse, and concepts such as on demand dining remain foreign to the management..even the FA's complain of the drop in quality of the food and drink.

Flew LHR to HKG in J. The fruit selection was whole piece of banana or apples from a fruit basket instead of sliced fruit from tray. Is this normal for ex LHR flight?

For the snack basket on long-haul flights, it has traditionally been whole fruit, like bananas and apples. The fruit plate as part of the meal service usually consists of sliced and "small whole" fruit, like melons, pineapple, and strawberries - this may vary slightly by origin/destination but should never be whole bananas or apples.

Yes, first time I saw whole piece of fruit on fruit and cheese trolley. I heard the ISM told the guest next to me that it's due to different eating habbit of westerner and it's more hygienic to have whole fruit serve

Oh, the fruit and cheese trolley! I was actually referring to the fruit plate appetizer as part of most second meal services (breakfast/dinner).

Come to think about it, I haven't taken a non-supper long-haul J flight in a while (supper flights don't have the fruit and cheese trolley), so I may be a little off-base here. But I am not too surprised to hear of whole fruit on the trolley - I might have seen it myself. I do think it feels cheaper than the sliced fruit, though.

It's been whole fruit for ex-LHR flights for years. The reason you heard is not convincing though - the pre-packaged sliced fruits in British supermarkets sell very well!

And you also get sliced fruits for the breakfast appetizer.

I don't see any love in this thread for Maggie Beer burnt fig and caramel ice cream! Seriously, as long as they keep serving that in J on flights out of Australia, I can forgive them for just about anything.

even then, they would compete against EK.

if anyone cared to check cx share price it has fallen off the cliff in recent days as much as services quality has. i guess ultimately shareholders will hold management to account for all the woes.... but at the end of day if service provider in hospitality cant please its customers, profit will eventually erode and showed up in share prx....

I think it was due to unexpectedly bad yield, not the food

Ha...

...I should show CX my receipts at the end of the year. I've spent perhaps 15-20k USD on CX year to date, less than I have on their main competitors.

Most of it isn't about the food per say so much as it is my realization at how good the competitors are (which is partially food related), as well as my serious disappointment at the AA redemption crowd (and other partner situations) packing F class and the lounges. Mind you I only fully realized what an arbitrage situation is going on (between the grossly inferior Asia Miles/MPC program and OW partners). True, CX can do what they want allowing the program arbitrage. And, i have the right to vote my wallet. Fair bargain. Been doing it all year

To be fair, it was all my own stupidity for now realizing just how utterly inferior Asia Miles was. After I started reading those mileage blogs (all generally catalyzed by the MPC is getting downgraded thread here!), I realized holy $@4t! What really blows my mind are the 67.5k mile AA F tickets. I already have that many miles signing up for a credit card and using it half a month...

When I read on here MPC/AM might get downgraded from the low earning level it is already, combined with just how much cheaper I can get identical benefits (Pier F: just be AA EXP, which can be gotten for perhaps 30-50pct of the effort required for DM, and even lower the first time, F class redemption bookings. I would miss out on op ups And soft service but the benefits of AA are undeniable on CX), that is the time i said screw this. CX wants more out of us and to give us less.....which is when I say screw it to being loyal. Oh did I mention Emirates now flies 3x daily A380s to HKG, with showers in F. Not a bad way to get to Europe

I really like CX but I was the fool to pay them cash when i shouldve been using partners to fly on them for a song. Ultimately it's my fault but I will say as a customer it is bittersweet to only really figure it all out this year. Bitter because I spent a ton on CX over the years. Sweet because I am trying the competition and still enjoying myself on CX, just not as loyal.

Just flew MNL HKG SFO in J. MNL HKG breakfast was creamy mushroom omelette, chicken sausage, potatoes, and roasted tomato. It was tasteless. HKG SFO lunch I had the beef tenderloin, it was a little over cooked and chewy. Overall somewhat disappointed with the meals, especially when compared to my most recent SQ J trips.

Since when do you now have to request things like salt, pepper, and ketchup? I seemed to remember meals being served with salt and pepper shakers on the tray. Both flights this time I had to request, and the FA needed to go to the galley to get them, and, they came in little containers, not shakers. I do like the pink Himalayan salt though. Just feel one should not have to ask for things that simple.

FWIW, the burger was served with a mini bottle ketchup. The ice cream was rock hard.

The last time I saw those black and white pebbles were about two years ago. Since then it's been plastic containers whenever I requested one.

If in my 500th meeting with someone they forgot to bring a pen and delayed the meeting while they found one, and they did they did the same thing for the prior 499 meetings, my irritation level would be higher than for a single incident.

The CX ice cream has been that way for as long as I can remember. It's an absolutely trivial thing, but we all have our moments where its just downright irritating that someone / something you like can never get a trivial detail correct.

p.s. wasn't me on the flight w/ QRC3288!!