UA or Cathay Pacific to HKG

Old Oct 17, 2017, 11:24 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by spin88
No one in their right minds would say take UA. The only reason to take UA is (a) you have a corporate deal with them so its a lot cheaper, or (b) you are trying to retain GS or hit some level in UA's program.
Some of the travel bloggers have said half seriously that they value UA because they get lots of time to sleep.

Maybe if instead of a travel experience you want to just chill out, lie down, and ignore everything for 12 hours until you're at your destination -- and if you're flying with a companion -- then maybe UA 2-2-2 J is perfectly fine.

You could imagine United making this their motto: "We'll get out of your way and let you sleep! We have enough service."
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 11:40 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by mherdeg
Some of the travel bloggers have said half seriously that they value UA because they get lots of time to sleep.

Maybe if instead of a travel experience you want to just chill out, lie down, and ignore everything for 12 hours until you're at your destination -- and if you're flying with a companion -- then maybe UA 2-2-2 J is perfectly fine.

You could imagine United making this their motto: "We'll get out of your way and let you sleep! We have enough service."
Travel bloggers are "paid" by someone, an airline or their credit card supplier. Best to take everything they say with 10 grains of salt. I would also not argue that a non-direct aisle access seat (see UA) or a seat that is shorter/narrower (see UA) is the best way to get sleep.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 5:46 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by Chamor
I have a choice to fly UA or Cathay from NYC to HKG (in J). Which is likely to be a more pleasant experience? Thanks.
UA if you are chasing status or million mile status. Fly the EWR-HKG route a few times a year in J. Its not bad and typically service is ok.

i fly back next week with a layover at NRT and taking the first return NRT-EWR flight on the 77w True Polaris.

I will Ill admit it wasnt ideal and adds time to the trip but prices were astronomical and I booked and that connection was 40% cheaper than direct
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 7:43 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by jp12687
that connection was 40% cheaper than direct
Bingo! Even though this observation is about the pricing of a connection vs. nonstop, this is what likely should determine the OP's choice between UA and CX. While I may be unique on this board, (a) for business travel, my employer requires me to take the lowest fare, assuming similar routing and travel time; (b) for leisure travel coming out of my own pocket, 40% (or even 10%) savings on a J fare is real money; and (c) there is just not enough difference in flight quality between major airlines to justify a significant premium.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 8:46 am
  #20  
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I would take CX in Premium Economy before UA J. Have made that very choice ORD-HKG in fact. Was pleased.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 8:53 am
  #21  
 
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Try both airlines 1-2-1 J. Take Cathay Pacific for NYC-HKG, then United HKG-SFO-WAS (make sure to choose a lie flat option for SFO-WAS).
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 10:06 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Austin787
Try both airlines 1-2-1 J. Take Cathay Pacific for NYC-HKG, then United HKG-SFO-WAS (make sure to choose a lie flat option for SFO-WAS).
This is a fantastic idea if flying on points, and a horrific idea if flying on a paid ticket.

For sample dates I picked, I was able to price an all-UA itinerary at $4400 into BWI (non lie-flat) or $6600 into IAD; theres a P fare published into BWI that doesnt exist into IAD. A CX-out, CX-AA back itinerary priced at about $6600.

CX-out, UA-back? $14000. Neither airline was interested in combining its discount business fares with the others.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 10:29 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by jsloan
This is a fantastic idea if flying on points, and a horrific idea if flying on a paid ticket.

For sample dates I picked, I was able to price an all-UA itinerary at $4400 into BWI (non lie-flat) or $6600 into IAD; theres a P fare published into BWI that doesnt exist into IAD. A CX-out, CX-AA back itinerary priced at about $6600.

CX-out, UA-back? $14000. Neither airline was interested in combining its discount business fares with the others.
Wow, that is a big price difference, are the AA legs lie flat on CX? If it includes HKG-xxx on a 77W for $2200 I would consider UA, assuming that the connecting airport had showers and it did not add too much time to the trip.

But then lets look a little deeper, that is a really, really cheap price for J on this route. Someone is having a hard time filling seats, or RM is as usual off its game at UA.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:15 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by spin88
Wow, that is a big price difference, are the AA legs lie flat on CX? If it includes HKG-xxx on a 77W for $2200 I would consider UA, assuming that the connecting airport had showers and it did not add too much time to the trip.

But then lets look a little deeper, that is a really, really cheap price for J on this route. Someone is having a hard time filling seats, or RM is as usual off its game at UA.
I didnt take a close look at the CX/AA flights just enough to price them out but I did see that ORD was a possible connection point. I doubt lie-flat is a huge issue for ORD-WAS. :-)

I only searched for HKG-SFO (77W) - WAS. The once-daily SFO-BWI flight came up in P on the date that I looked at, and I verified that there was no P published for those dates on SFO-WAS. (It was 11/9-11/24, for anyone whod like to recreate it). So, its a discount on BWI traffic that CX doesnt appear interested in matching, I guess.

I didnt price out any other competing airlines, so I dont really have an opinion as to whats normal in these markets. I was really just trying to validate my suspicion that using UA in one direction and CX in the other would be a non-starter.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:40 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by jsloan
I didnt take a close look at the CX/AA flights just enough to price them out but I did see that ORD was a possible connection point. I doubt lie-flat is a huge issue for ORD-WAS. :-)

I only searched for HKG-SFO (77W) - WAS. The once-daily SFO-BWI flight came up in P on the date that I looked at, and I verified that there was no P published for those dates on SFO-WAS. (It was 11/9-11/24, for anyone whod like to recreate it). So, its a discount on BWI traffic that CX doesnt appear interested in matching, I guess.

I didnt price out any other competing airlines, so I dont really have an opinion as to whats normal in these markets. I was really just trying to validate my suspicion that using UA in one direction and CX in the other would be a non-starter.
That makes since, I had HKG-LAX-WAS on the brain for CX/AA, blanked on ORD, and yes, for that flight, not a big deal. However, landing from a 13 hour international flight to a 5.5 hour domestic F flight though is not so great. You want to sleep really badly.... Its a very different experience.

It is very interesting to me (and I know you know pricing much better than I do) that one can buy one way premium fares in the US for 1/2 the price of a RT, but you can't on overseas routes.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 12:13 pm
  #26  
 
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CX J service has deteriorated significantly and I've shifted over to BR for all my J leisure travel, but it is still definitely much better than UA. UA FA will never clean the bathrooms, which tells you alot about their attitude towards their jobs.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 6:43 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by spin88
That makes since, I had HKG-LAX-WAS on the brain for CX/AA, blanked on ORD, and yes, for that flight, not a big deal. However, landing from a 13 hour international flight to a 5.5 hour domestic F flight though is not so great. You want to sleep really badly.... Its a very different experience.
Oh, I agree 100%. SFO-AUS is no fun after Ive just gotten off of a TPAC. Not worth $2200 to me to be on a lie-flat, but no fun.

Originally Posted by spin88
It is very interesting to me (and I know you know pricing much better than I do) that one can buy one way premium fares in the US for 1/2 the price of a RT, but you can't on overseas routes.
Aw, Im flattered.

Seriously, though, the answer is a lack of competition. All of the majors still require Saturday night stays for discount tickets in markets where they can get away with it F or Y. WNs biggest disruption to the industry was refusing to follow suit.

If Norwegian is successful in its attempts to make a US foothold, and if an Asian LCC (Air Asia X? Cebu Pacific?) is able to follow suit, youll likely see one-way fares start to approach half-round-trip. Youll also likely see service reductions across the board to compensate.

BTW your question made me realize that I had failed to price the tickets as two separate one-ways. Its about $8,500 when done that way, as opposed to $14K for a round-trip multi-carrier ticket. In this case, its the combination rules that are causing the biggest problems you have to go pretty high into the fare table to find a flight thats combinable, on a single ticket, with a non-JV partner.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 6:53 pm
  #28  
 
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geez, i dunno.

i travel EWR ---> HKG four or five times a year, with onward travel within asia on CX - and many of these observations - said with great certainty - don't align with my personal experiences.

UA agents definitely clean bathrooms, or at least i assume they do. i've used the loo in hour 14 and 15 of these flights and they are always clean. in particular, i've noticed that debris and spills that were there earlier are no longer there and there's usually plenty of room in the waste container.

the cabin is as clean as any other airline, in my opinion.

as for aisle access, if you care enough about this (i do) and book early enough, it's pretty darn easy to get direct aisle access in the center section.

as for food, the polaris menu is pretty damn good, albeit a little rough around the edges, with service varying from flight to flight. i can't compare it to CX, because i haven't flown this route with them in over five years, but by many accounts in this thread, CX food has declined while UA's food is generally much better than it was. i suspect that many of the folks who say CX has better food on this route may not have any recent experience with the polaris menu EWR ---> HKG.

lounges? not even close. CX all the way, especially in HKG.

i don't drink coffee, so i can't comment on the availability of espresso drinks (or lack thereof). if this is especially important to you, it sounds like CX is definitely the way to go.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 6:59 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by UK Stages
UA agents definitely clean bathrooms, or at least i assume they do.
If by "agents" you mean flight attendants, they don't.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 7:45 pm
  #30  
 
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A little OT, but wasn't UA flying 3 class planes with some of the 2-4-2 setup from EWR to HKG? Swore I flew through HKG on my way to SIN in September and it was 2-4-2. Am I mis remembering or did route/planes change?
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