Review of Cathay Pacific flight from New York to Hong Kong in First

booking

This leg is the return of the ex-Vietnam Cathay F fare. Had originally booked YVR-HKG-HAN, but after countless phone calls and some change fees, finally got an agent who was able to change the itinerary, as well as the date to JFK-HKG-HAN on CX865, with a stop in Hong Kong. We ended up dropping the HKG-HAN leg. 

getting to the airport, checkin, and security

Since AC doesn't fly to JFK, and none of the JFK arrival times worked with our schedule on American or Delta, we flew into LGA with AC. After originally booking AC716, which would have gotten us into LGA an hour ago, I paid the $50 change fee per person to change to AC714, in case of a flight delay, which is fairly common on AC716, and considering that we are transitting between the two airports during NYC rushover time, and in order to have ample time in the AA Flagship First Dining.  However CX865 ended up being cancelled by CX  due to the Coronavirus, so they ended up moving us to CX845. As a result, we had a long layover in New York. 

We arrived about four hours before our departure, and the departure hall was empty. This was because of the coronavirus and because of limited flights out of JFK at that time. Only one counter was staffed when we first arrived, and there was a bit of a line. Not to my suprise, the check-in agent told me that the flights is 5/6 in F. This was mainly because of the cancellations from other flights, so passengers were moved to this flight, as this was the only CX flight out of JFK that day due to their cut flights. 

I attempted to use Flagship First Checkin for their priority security line after reading this review, but I did not have the same luck, and we were turned away after a single glance at my boarding pass. Security took about 15 minutes to get through. 

American airlines flagship first dining jfk

After passing through security, we took the elevator up to the Flagship lounge at JFK. At JFK, CX F passengers have access to Flagship First Dining. After the employee saw our boarding passes, and asked us not once, but twice if we are employees, she escorted us to Flagship First Dining, and she proudly told us what a good time we will have, and how it was voted best in the world. Not sure how much I agree with whoever awarded it that.  

Once we got to the door, the lounge dragon handed us over to the waitress, who was also the hostess. The hostess escorted us to our booth. 

Our table

The seating by the window was very appealing, but there were three of us, we wouldn't have been able to fit. 

The bar in FFD, with a large selection

The agent came by to take our drink orders about 15 minutes after we took our seats. We ordered an orange juice, Krug, and some sort of berry cocktail. 

Lunch and dinner menu

The five onion soup was not fantastic. It was a bit too salty. 

My mom devoured the artichokes. The sauce was quite flavourful. 

The bread seemed to be the star of the dish of the cristini trio. Some more spread would have been nice. 

My mom got the steak. I tried some of it. We agreed that it was the best dish. The mashed potatoes were some of the best I have had. 

The burger was rather simple. No different from a Harvey's burger. 

Tarmac view from lounge

This dish was phenomenal. I ended up ordering a second. 

This one was quite rich. 

Boarding

Boarding began on time, and I was the second person to board, followed by a OWE. 

After taking a quick scan of my boarding pass, the flight attendant escorted me to my seat. 

All flight attendants were wearing masks, and several passengers were as well. 

Cabin and seat

CX is well known for their incredibly wide seats in F, thanks to their 1-1-1 configuration 6 seat F cabin, while other airlines such as NH and SQ have 8 seats in the same space in a 1-2-1 configuration on their 777-300ER's. While a door is always convenient in

The seat was incredible as always. 

Today's load was the three of us, an American, and two Asian ladies. 

Business class mini cabin directly behind first

Flight

Above is Cathay's new welcome beverage of sparkling tea, and they now give a welcome card from the F crew to F passengers. This flight will be featuring Cathay's new meal serviced

Enter text here…

At this point, the crew handed out the menus. I wasn't too hungry for dinner so all I ordered was the cheese plate and the soup. 

The soup was delicious, and it was served how you would expect it to be served in a fine restaurant. 

The cheese plate was quite refreshing. 

After finishing my cheeseplate, I requested that my bed be made, and the staff gladly obliged. 

The Cathay pralines before bed are always a pleasant treat. 

I slept for a couple of hours. First thing I did when I woke up was order a fruit plate. All the fruits were very fresh, and the mango was an unexpected treat.

I also ordered scrambled eggs, which are prepared fresh on the plane. I requested that caviar be placed on top. This took about 20 minutes to be prepared. On another note, the first class WIFI was free, and speeds were incredible. I was able to stream several movies. 

My final meal on the flight was the Acai bowl, which was different, but in a good way.

post-landing

After arriving in Hong Kong, we had to go through a temperature scan, and all passengers were asked about their travel history. Our luggage was the first on the belt in HKG.