Trip Report In Summary:
Cathay Pacific's Premium Economy class is great because of their hard product with generous pitch and width, as well as comfortable recline. However, when it comes to soft products such as food and service, they could have been better.
I took a trip to the United States last summer. I chose Cathay Pacific's Premium Economy class for the outbound sector, and EVA Air's Business Class (or Royal Laurel class, as they called it) for the inbound sector. Below I will share my thoughts flying with Cathay's Prem Econ class.
Originally, I redeemed my Avianca Lifemiles for my outbound flight on Lufthansa business class for HKG-MUC-JFK and the inbound EVA flight. However, due to some mysterious error in their system, Avianca apparently did not charge me enough miles, and since they thought they can cancel my ticket without my consent, they did so. After hours on the phone with some annoying Avianca agents on the phone, I finally gave up. Then, I booked this Cathay one-way flight from Guangzhou via Hong Kong to New York. This flight only costs me about 1000USD one way, so it is quite a reasonable price for me.
Flight Information:
Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) Flight 846
Hong Kong (HKG) - New York (JFK)
Departing at 18:45 on Aug 1st, 2014
Premium Economy Class Seat 34D
We arrived at Hong Kong from Guangzhou (CAN) by a Dragonair flight. This flight was largely unmemorable, but my only advice for those who want to fly a Dragonair A320 is: if you are taller than 180cm, DO NOT choose to sit in the last row. For a flight that is only 84 miles and lasts for about 30 minutes, this sucks; for a flight that is between 30 minutes and an hour, this sucks a lot; for a flight that is longer than one hour, good luck!
Boarding Pass
Anyway, after we arrived in HKG, we stayed at the Regal Airport Hotel for one night. Regal Airport is connected to the airport through a walkway, whereas you will have to use subway or shuttle buses to get to other airport hotels in Hong Kong, such as the Marriott SkyCity and the Novotel Citygate. So, Regal Airport's location is very convenient if you is going to have a early departure or late arrival in HKG. This hotel is also largely unmemorable. This is the second time that I have stayed in this hotel, and check-in is very, very slow for both times. Service is basically non-exist; the first time I stayed in this hotel, I called for about 5 times and literally waited for 3 hours to get another box of tissue paper, and the delivery guy did not even say thank you to me after I thanked him. This time, I had a problem with a light bulb in my room; I cannot find a control to it. It also takes them about 30 minutes to send someone to come and fix this issue. Keep in mind that was 1 am and I seriously doubt whether they are that busy at that time...
That being said, the room at the hotel is okay, and can be considered as large in Hong Kong standards. Also, the price of the hotel is quite reasonable.
We went back to HKG the next day. There are many interesting traffic at HKG that time...
China Airlines A330, Finnair A340 & Singapore Airlines A380
South African Airlines A340
EL AL (Israel) 777 & HK Express A320 w/ new livery
Ethiopian 767 w/ Star Alliance livery & Hunnu Air (Mongolia) A320
Air India 787 & Singapore Airlines 777 w/ Star Alliance livery
Can you find my flight?
I find my seat soon. With a pitch of 38 inches and a 2-4-2 layout, the seats are definitely much more comfortable than normal Economy class seats. The seats also offer larger recline and a cocktail table. It is also worth noting that this seat have power outlets and USB plugs so that you can charge your phone or iPad, though I think economy class seats also have those features.
I was sitting in a weird angle when I was taking this photo - I am sure that the real seat pitch is much more generous than that...
In-flight Entertainment
Soon, welcome drinks were distributed, including still water, orange juice and champagne. I chose still water.
Then amenity kits were distributed. Those kits were designed by a local brand in Hong Kong, but frankly speaking, I found the fabrics of the amenity kit very uncomfortable, and the amenity kit looks "cheap".
The amenity kit
The flight departed, well, three hours late than the original schedule. When the plane is taxing to the runway, it suddenly started to rain very heavily, and we were stuck on the ground for three hours. This flight departs at 18:45, so a dinner after take off works perfectly for my schedule, but with this three-hour delay, I was literally starving when the dinner service began.
Once the flight reached cruising attitude, the dinner service started. Here's the menu: (sorry that I only take a photo of its Chinese version)
Menu
The menu reads as follows, and those in red are the ones that I chose: (sorry again for the very abridged translation)
Dinner - served after take off
Smoked salmon and potato salad
Prawn with rice
or
Steak with potato
or
(Vegetarian option) Italian tortellini
Ice cream
Tea and coffee
Snacks - please ask our flight attendants for snacks such as cup noodles
Brunch - served before landing
Seasonal fruits
Fruit yogurt
Cheese omelet with bacon and hash browns
or
Porridge with chicken and fish
Croissant with butter and jam
Tea and Coffee
I did not take pictures of my meal.
My first choice for dinner was prawns, since I love seafood, but the flight attendant told me that they have run out of prawns. OK, steak will also work for me. After searching for a while, the flight attendant told me that they have also run out of steak. At this time I felt a little angry. I have been starving for three hours, and my dinner will be a vegetarian dish? What the hell?
Don't get me wrong; this is definitely not the flight attendant's fault, and I did not shout to him or express my anger. They eventually found a steak though.
I was told before that the meal of Cathay's Prem Econ class resembles that of its Business class. If this is true, I felt very sorry for Cathay's business class passengers... The steak is edible, but although I will take it for Prem Econ class, this is definitely not a business class standard meal. The salad tastes good.
Then I began to watch some movies on the inflight entertainment system, StudioCX. Cathay has one of the better IFE, so I managed to watch several movies.
After that, I got some rest. Although CX offers a great hard product in Prem Econ class, I did not rest well, out of unknown reasons.
Then the breakfast was served. The omelet was also edible, but again, it is definitely not business class standard.
The service throughout the flight is okay, but not great. Flight attendants typically showed up within two or three minutes after I pushed the call button, a time that is acceptable. They were not proactively rude, but I could clearly see that none of them were enjoying their jobs.
The flight arrives in New York two hours behind schedule. After interacting with "friendly" U.S. immigration officers, we took a shuttle bus to Crowne Plaza New York JFK Airport, which I have reviewed in TripAdvisor and will not post a separate review in this blog.
Overall, my experience with Cathay Pacific was positive, mainly because of its excellent hard product. However, for Cathay, there are also huge room for improvement: the food left a bit to be desired, and the service could have been better. That being said, I will fly with their Prem Econ class again if the price is reasonable - after all, it is much better than Economy class.
Thanks for reading, and comments are always appreciated!
