Greetings!
It has been a while since my last flight report and any other CX J reports on the forum so I think I shall share my experience on the flight I took about 2 weeks ago.
This report will cover my flight from Sydney (SYD) to Xiamen (XMN) via Hong Kong (HKG), because HKG - XMN was only an 1 hour flight so I will just include it in this report.
Flight Number:
CX110 SYD - HKG
KA614 HKG - XMN
I have covered the same flight one year ago in Business Class, if you are interested, you can read it there: CX110 SYD - HKG December 2016
The night before departure, there was a storm approaching Sydney and the weather report showed a very high chance of shower in the morning, so I decided to book an Uber to the airport, but next morning, the driver who took the order never bothered to come to my house, and just started the trip on the driver end, went on the motorway and ended the trip after 10 minutes after he logged a good amount of miles on the bill. I tried to contact the driver many times and he never bothered to pick up the phone.
And yeah, it was 5:30 in the monring, so I was waiting outside in the cold air and had no idea at all what was going on. My flight was still 3-hour-away so I was no in a hurry, but imagine if someone really needs to rush to the airport and this driver picks up the order. I seriously want to know why such driver was not banned from driving Uber again.
Anyway, it was not raining at that time so I just decided to jump on the train to the airport. Cathay has again changed their check-in location at SYD, now at Island F instead of G. I think that was the third change within 1 and half year.
No one was waiting in the check-in area, so I was served immediately by a very friendly ground staff. Check-in process actually took about 10 minutes because there was some technical issues, according to the ground staff the system would not clear immigration check for me to enter Australia, which was very weird because I was departing from Australia. ( and of course I am entitled to re-enter Australia)
So while I was waiting, we had a very good chat about his work and the airline, and after the check-in process finished, he even kindly advised me where is the Express path for immigration and security.
After the immigration and security check, I went to the Qantas Business Class lounge for some breakfast
Very basic breakfast, but does a perfect job. One thing I really like about the lounge is the fresh mixed juice they offer every morning, I didn't take one this morning so I'll upload a photo from previous visit to the lounge.
The lounge staff was very friendly and helpful, I was having some troubles printing some documents at the lounge and a lounge staff kindly helped me out.
Soon, it was time for boarding, priority boarding was strictly enforced, and Y passengers in the priority lane was turned away by ground staffs.
Today's aircraft : B-LAG
Flight Number : CX110
Date : 04 - Nov - 2017
Aircraft Registration : B - LAG
Aircraft Type : Airbus A330-343 (33G)
Seat : 21K (Last row of Business Class)
STD : 8:40am
ATD : 8:57am
STA : 3:20pm
STD : 3:05pm
Cathay Pacific uses reverse herringbone seat for long-haul business class flight, Which I personally think is one of the best product offered in the market, with good combinations of space, privacy and functionality.
The seat.
Soon it's time for departure.
Load today: 100% Full in Business Class
20% in Premium Economy
70% in Economy
EK A380
Once we reach cursing altitude, ISM came out to welcome all business class passengers and offered today's menu.
Breakfast service started with a drink offer.
I had mango smoothie and coffee. I only ordered a mango smoothie at first, and the crew asked me whether I would like any hot drink as well, I could not resist and decide to take a coffee as well.
For the main dish, I went for dim sum. Not the very best dim sum of course but still a very satisfying breakfast.
Finished everything!
After the breakfast service, I reclined my seat and watched a few TV shows, about 3 hours into the flight we had some very bad turbulence that last for very very long time, but crew still decided to serve lunch half way into the flight even we were still under some turbulence with seat belt sign turned on.
Some champagne and nuts to start.
Followed by the entree and some garlic bread.
The salad tasted very good surprisingly, but the mackerel tasted just like pieces of rubber..
I always finish my food if it's not too bad, but the mackerel I left untouched. (I always found that entrees loaded from SYD were not to my taste)
More drink offers. (Yeah I already gave up on my mackerel)
For the main course, I went for the Chinese Prawn option. Given I was in the last row, I was worried that some options might run out, but luckily all options were still available even I was the second last to get served (and 100% load today for business class).
It tasted very good except the rice was overcooked.
Some cheese and fruits.
Dessert to finish.
I had the chocolate mousse.
In case you wonder what was the other dessert option, it was a very very small cake that looks like something to be offered in budget buffet restaurant. And it was so small, I would say about half bite size. Seriously even in Y you get a cake that you can eat at least a few bites.
Some chocolates and black tea to finish.
The crew asked me to fill one of the survey. Now with the signature from the new CX CEO.
The survey was much longer than the previous ones I filed, I think it took me 10-15 minutes to finish.
As a Marco Polo Club Member I am happy to fill out the whole survey even it would take me 15 minutes because I want the airline to know where it can improve further, but I guess if I am not a frequent CX flyer then I probably would not be interested in filling this super long survey and CX might never get to know why they lost many first time customers. In fact I've seen many times people leaving unfilled surveys in their seat pocket after landing.
More nuts and a HK style milk tea before landing.
You can never land into HKG without a holding pattern.
But we still manage to land on time.
To summary this flight:
Seat: Very good reverse herringbone seats, very comfortable for sleeping.
Food: Generally good except that mackerel.
Crew: Crews for this flight were very interactive unlike other flights I had in the past with CX, service was great with every passenger being addressed by surname, call button answered within 30 seconds.
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Now, some photos for KA614 HKG-XMN
How often do you see empty The Bridge.
KA welcome drink : Rose Infinity
Pork main dish, tasted okay. Have no idea what happened to the garlic bread, as you can see in the picture.
Arriving at XMN, very long waiting for custom checks.
Thank you for reading!
Rays
Thank you for your report. CX seems to be providing pretty good Chinese cuisine, especially Dim Sum looks so nice.
Very impressed CX serves two full meals on this sector. QF should look and learn.
Thanks for sharing this report -- and the bonus for the KA tag-on.
I like the reverse herringbones on the A330 much better than just about any other setup on that flight, but I still can't help but think the A330 version suffers compared to the 777/787/350 version of such seats due to the reduced width of the cabin. Oh well. Still beats 2-2-2 any day.
Catering looks solid, and the crew sounds delightful.
Very weird start to the trip, though, between the no-showing/scamming Uber, and the whole passport control issue. It's a bit late to keep you out of the country when you're trying to leave, isn't it?
Thanks again for sharing!
Hi hometoyyz,
Yeah you are correct the seat on A333 was not as wide as the reverse herringbone seat on 77W, but I'd say the seats on A333 are absolutely spacious enough so even CX now serves SYD both with A333 and 77W, I never choose my flights based on that.