Review of Cathay Pacific flight from Manila to Hong Kong in Business

CX906 from MANILA to HONG KONG
Flight number: CX906
Gate: 112
Aircraft: Airbus A330
Scheduled Departure Time: 10:50 (to be delayed)
Aircraft registration: B-LAJ 

PRE-TRIP MUSINGS

This is the first of four flights I would take with Cathay Pacific on this journey - two pairs of connecting flights.  We will try this different as we'll go on a thematic review rather than a straight chronological one that we are used to, although we can see how connected these themes are such as service and food, seat and IFE offering.

Japan is a country that anyone would be crazy enough to decline a repeat visit. Choosing between Tokyo and Osaka was at first tough but ultimately Osaka won out for several reasons:
- Better chances at snagging cheaper fares at reasonable timetables.
- Last time I was in Osaka, I did not get to see the iconic and postcard-perfect sights of and around Namba (especially Dotonburi). How I could I miss it!?!
- Staying in Osaka doesn’t mean necessarily being remaining in Osaka the whole time.  There are plenty of other places to reach which are within an hour and a half's train ride. In fact, I could take a Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima with a rail pass that would cost me ¥17,000 (US$115, £85, €98), but more on that in a separate article.   
- Friendly locals. I expect to make a lot of faux pas when I am in Japan and sumimasen in advance if that happens, but I’ll do my best to not make ”a lot” be a lot. 

I chose Cathay Pacific because to try business class, it is the cheapest option that comes out.  This trip went through a lot of changes and it cost me US$200 extra to change them but in retrospect, the changes were worth it for several reasons:
- I got longer time in Japan (given that the new timetable would coincide with a holiday) 
- I had to return a day earlier than originally planned due to a Christmas party being held earlier than
- From an AV Geek perspective: I found one of the flights would be on a long-haul A330, so that is an additional flat-bed.
- Extra hours on the first day in Hong Kong.

TIP: Several months before your scheduled flight, you may see a long-haul A330 as the aircraft allocated to that flight. However that is by no means the final aircraft configuration to be used on that route. They could switch it to a regionally-configured A330 which does not go all the way lie-flat. Choose flights with the Airbus A350-900/1000 or Boeing 777-300ER for more certainty if they are available.  

CHECK-IN

When mobile boarding cards are not an option, a self-printed one would do the trick; and to highlight my excitement, I even colour code these boarding cards and use two different colours if I have two connecting flights. For some reason, the issuance of boarding cards at Cathay’s Manila stations could be done only at the airport. So my hopes of a colourful start to the journey were dashed.

I found myself at the airport roughly 3 1/2 hours before departure. Since it is official policy to open three hours before departure, there were hardly any passengers at this stage. I was with one of my folks, who was taking a flight to somewhere else an hour before my flight. It took about five minutes to be served and I was redirected to the first class desk. All and good.

Well, almost. Because one slight kurfufle that popped up was they lost my record of paying the Philippine Travel Tax. The thing is for flights booked online from the Philippines, this is not automatically included. But on my first rebooking, it was. And for some reason, the payment was not carried over to subsequent rebookings, at least not on paper (because that item disappeared). I made sure to clarify this with customer service agents I spent between a half hour to an hour sorting out my rebookings. In fact, someone even told me the rebooking fee would actually be about US$125 which would include the travel tax, I clarified and asked if it was paid and it was confirmed as such. After making further enquiries, the staff was able to find the record and no further money exchanged hands. I got my boarding cards and a lounge invitation. And as far as the staff could tell, the aircraft was a long-haul Airbus A330. The most important part - my bags were checked through to Osaka.
 

PASSPORT CONTROL AT MNL

As I was the holder of the business class ticket, I proceeded to the special lane to the left side of the terminal.  This was a separate lane from passport control at the centre of T3.  Passport control clearance was swift in here.  We made our way to the lounge.

LOUNGE ACCESS

As one of my folks was on a oneworld flight departing not too far from mines, I advised him to use the Cathay Lounge. I presumed he was given an invitation to a contract lounge, which was Qatar’s ”official” lounge partner. And I wouldn’t blame either carrier for advertising it since I’m sure Cathay would not want to see their lounge crowded with passengers from other oneworld partners.

This is actually my second time using this time (well make it the third time if you were to count one instance when my flight got cancelled due to a volcanic eruption in January 2020 after bag drop). And it was a relaxing atmosphere with the wooden walls and fancy lights. Easily the best lounge you can end up with if flying out of Manila.

I did not eat nor did I intend to. Nonetheless, the noodle bar was quite popular. They have attentive staff. My folk had something from the bar and he seems to enjoy it. But for those who fancied something less heavy, it has croissants and cereals. Instead I settled for a latte. The lounge also features a cocktail bar.

The only downside of Manila’s Cathay lounge is a lack of a ”first class” section or in the case of flights originating from Manila, a dedicated section for Cathay Diamond and other oneworld Emerald tier holders.

The carrier’s signature green lounge chairs were a lovely sight to see. It features embedded power outlets (universal and USB-A) and a reading lamp. But my preferred spot - the seats overlooking the tarmac was taken. So I sat at a black lounge chair with a desk and power outlets that popped out. It did the trick. For those who are travelling in big groups or prefer the open areas, the lounge offers space for that.

And as for the tarmac view, it was difficult to get photos of planes as it rained when we arrived and the rain droplets did not clear up in time.

I heard my stomach grumbling. So it was an opportune time to visit the toilet area. It had a nice ambience to it, similar to what you get in Hong Kong. But don’t expect any shower facilities as Manila is only a short hop away from Hong Kong. And the cubicles here are much fewer. Unfortunately one of the three cubicles was out of order. Still, one of the cleaning staff was happy to hand me a black rubbish bag to store some soiled garments (sorry to those who are in the middle of a meal whilst reading this though accidents could happen).

At around 09.00 local time, I received a note from the app that my flight would depart over a half hour later than billed. Given my extremely long Hong Kong layover, this was fine. And it meant spending more time in the lounge.  It also allowed me to finish other business such as sorting out my eSIM subscriptions for Hong Kong and Japan. 

One thing I hope CX would introduce as it is something offered by other carriers would be storage cabinets. There are passengers who want to wander around for a moment without carrying too many articles.

BOARDING AND DELAYS

As I mentioned, the flight was delayed.  Initially by 35 minutes but considering air traffic control, actual takeoff was much later than that.  Nonetheless I proceeded once there was an announcement.  

The gate was in one of those enclosed by glass.  

Cathay Pacific uses boarding zones. For some reason, business class passengers were allocated to boarding group 2 rather than 1.  Boarding group 1 was probably for Cathay diamond or oneworld emerald members.

One thing that annoys me about the boarding process at Manila is how wide-bodied carriers choose to use only one aerobridge when two are available. Once I stepped on board, I made my way to to the mini-business class cabin - the section of business class to the right side of the second boarding door and only three rows. It was empty at first and it stayed that way after boarding. In other words, I had the entire mini-cabin to myself. 

THE SEATING AREA

This is not the first time I would sit on this kind of business class seat.  I was booked to travel on such a seat six years ago from a flight from London.  It is a 14-year old seat, still with CX's old upholstery, one of the more timeless seats in my opinion.

Still, the seat converts into a fully flat bed by holding down one button.  You could adjust it manually to suit your preferred recline position.  On the right side, you can push a button to use the arm rest and give your bottoms slightly more privacy.  

It featured a reading light and power outlet, even input jacks for personal video players, particularly an iPod.  The table pops out from the side and you can adjust it to step out of the chair without removing items from it.  This is in addition to the side table stuck by the window.  

The seat had three areas for storage.  On the bottom right hand side, it had storage for shoes, the bottom left hand side was a larger storage for devices such as laptops or tablets, and a third one close to the controls which you can store your phone and smaller articles in.  It also featured the jack for the headset.  For longer flights they would provide a bottle water in it.  The door to it features a mirror for last-minute touch-ups.  

On this flight, it was all functioning well.  

IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT AND CONNECTIVITY

The in-flight entertainment system had an interface that is almost 10 years old.  You can use the in-seat remote or the touch screen monitor itself to navigate your way around.  You can search for the content you'd like to watch and to help you, there is a keyboard at the rear of the remote.  Furthermore the display screen of your remote gives you information about your flight and seat number.  The remote also allows you to pause and rewind as you please.  You can summon a flight attendant and turn on overhead reading lights too.  This feature is exclusive to business class.  Economy class passengers can only control the IFE through the screen.  But the hardware it is installed on is closer to 15 years old. Hence it can feel slightly sluggish at times.

But there is content for everyone. The moving map is customisable. I had a chance to watch some parts of my favourite films - Home Alone 2.  I tuned in to the parts that dealt with the airport chaos where Kevin was separated from his family.  And during the descent I watched one of my favourite TV shows, How I met Your Mother. Although don’t always expect full box sets for TV series, just selected episodes.  I have also assembled a mini play list for some audio content to help keep me entertained if I want to view the moving map.  Within an hour of arrival, you can access connecting flight information for flights of up to four hours afterwards but my flight to Kansai was not yet displayed as it was departing about 12 hours after landing.  

WiFi was provided free of charge for business class passengers.  And for some reason, the connection felt fast enough at 20 mpbs.  Note though that you cannot use the same access entitlement on two devices at the same time, you to disconnect from one before you can use your internet access on a second device.     

A universal power outlet is provided.  I used it to plug my device in.  Like I said, it also features input jacks for those with an old iPod as well as a USB-A port for those who need to charge their phones but don't have a socket.  Cathay could surely use USB-C outlets on these configured aircraft as they have on selected regional A330s, A321neos, and selected 777-300s (long-haul 77Ws with Aria suites and selected regional 773s).  

One slight pet peeve was the headset’s sound was not quite up to scratch. The sound sounded distorted and I could guess it was defective.  But was solved by using the headset of another empty seat.  At that point, it sounded the way it should and I had no problems.  Now some content creators will go on and ramble how they prefer to use their own headsets but I couldn't tell.  

SERVICE AND CREW

The crew that served me was very eager and attentive. I appreciated that. We even made some small talk prior to landing with just 20 minutes remaining. It did not feel robotic. They handed out not-so warm towels but still good enough and did not forget the pre-departure beverage.  They have asked us for our menu selection prior to departure as well.  Their service attentiveness has got to be one of the most appreciated parts.  Nothing to complain about service at all.

FOOD

Pre-departure beverages consisted of a choice between water, orange juice, and champagne and I chose water.  

One key difference between business and economy class on flights between Manila and Hong Kong is that on the former, you have a choice of meals.  It will all be served on one plate.  We had three options and I chose the beef option.  It was a Chinese style beef but it was filling.  It came with fruits and cake dessert as well as bread rolls.  I don't take alcohol even on business class so I settled for Coke Zero instead.  Cutleries and glass were as fine dining for business class as they would get.  It was a near wipe-out of the dish.  

By the way, unlike others who prefer to have their meals served one course at a time, I prefer having them served in a single go and Cathay delivered on this one.  

OTHER ASPECTS

This was a fairly uneventful flight.  

The toilets were okay. They were pretty clean. Nothing special about it. Certainly the lavender flower which is a signature of long-haul CX business class cabins was not on display. But lotion and hand sanitiser from Bamford were in abundant supply.

I took the liberty to explore the economy class cabin though. It was configured with a 2-4-2 configuration so if you are to take economy class on CX, try to find a flight that is operated by an A330. There is no difference whether you take a regional or long-haul A330, the seats are identical.  

As for the other parts of the business class section, the front cabin was not even full.  And the right side of the mini-cabin was pretty deserted.  It allowed me to take more photos and preview the side of the aircraft I would be on when I continue my journey later in the evening.  The A330 business class section features distinctive wall paintings on the bulkhead.  Likewise, long-haul configured A330s had mood lighting even for daytime flights.  And this is apparent even though the window shades were not turned down.  

Before I knew it, it was soon time to descend.  Without a doubt, it was too short a flight to enjoy all of what CX has to offer.  The captain apologised again for the delay and it was time to sit back and relax as the plane was gliding downward towards Hong Kong.  As I mentioned, the flight connection info were on.  But I was keen on watching more How I Met Your Mother to kill the time.  We taxied for a few more minutes to the our gate which was on one of the extreme ends of the passenger terminal.  As is normal practice, business class passengers were allowed to deplane first, the curtain was kept closed.  I deplaned through the gate closer to my seating area.  The crew were courteous as they bid their goodbyes.      

POST-FLIGHT

Given that my next flight was almost 12 hours away, and that was by design, I spent a few hours exploring the city and parking my hand luggage at my brother's flat.  Passport control queues were not too long and made my way quickly.  As soon as that was done, I headed straight past customs.  But there were three speed bumps: I was not familiar with where to buy the same-day return Airport Express ticket; the second was confusion over where to pick up our Uber such that I cancelled the first Uber since he was not where I was directed to; and the Uber that was supposed to bring me to my final destination brought me to the wrong address (albeit one apartment complex away from the correct one).  I even knocked on the wrong door by accident (but I would fault the doorman for not flagging that the place I needed to be was in the other complex).  I was finally at my brother's flat at about 16.00 and for the first time, got to meet his cat.  It realistically did not leave me much to do, maybe just spend an hour and a half there.  

TIP: If you have a long layover at Hong Kong, get the Airport Express same-day return ticket.  It is essentially the same price as a one-way ticket.  It cost me HK$130 (US$16.75, £13, €14.20).  

TIP: If you want to take an Uber from Hong Kong MTR station, please go up to the ground level and ask your driver to fetch you from the drop-off point in-front of the in-town check-in or opposite of the IFC.