What Are My Thoughts On Cathay Pacific’s Regional Business Class?

A few days ago Jason wrote a post entitled “Is Cathay’s Regional Business Class That Bad?“. His points are beyond fair, as I know that I’m used to giving Cathay’s regional business class a really hard time.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Regional Business Class

I know that most travelers don’t have a need to lie flat on a short five-hour (tops) journey, so I get Jason’s perspective.

If you guys need some insight to what Jason and I actually think of Cathay Pacific’s business class products, here are all the reviews of their international reverse herringbone business class seat over the years:

• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Taipei to Nagoya
• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Hong Kong to London
• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Paris to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Hong Kong to New York
• Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Osaka
• Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Business Class

While I won’t be talking about these much, here are the reviews we have of Cathay Pacific’s first-generation fully flat business class product (some of the arguments still apply, though):

• Cathay Pacific A340 Business Class Rome to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific A340 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Airbus A340-300 Business Class

Meanwhile, here are the reviews we’ve given of the regional business class product:

• Dragonair A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Fukuoka
• Dragonair A330 Business Class Fukuoka to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific 777-300 Business Class Osaka to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific 777-200 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
• Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 Business Class

Now, Jason raises a few interesting points that I, ultimately, agree with, the main reasons being:

• Why fault Cathay Pacific running regional seats that are fully capable of reclining on five-hour routes when Singapore Airlines runs regional seats on eight-hour routes?
• Cathay Pacific’s regional business class is a solution that’s both somewhat comfortable and economically viable

Ultimately Jason is correct, but the goal of this blog is for people traveling on the routes we fly to make sensible travel decisions. So what do I think Cathay Pacific’s regional business class needs to become a sensible product that can measure up against the competition?

You wouldn’t want to be seated in the middle seat

Cathay Pacific’s 777 regional business class seats are arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, which means that the E seat is a middle seat.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-200 Business Class

Yes, this is more economically viable, but I’m sure there are times when a premium economy window seat would sound good to the guy in the middle seat. Are you really paying for the bed when you’re flying business class on a short flight? No, you’re paying for personal space, upright comfort and the ability to work. I’d argue that Cathay Pacific’s regional business class seats aren’t any better padded than their premium economy seats.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Premium Economy Class

I’ve consistently compared Cathay Pacific’s A350 premium economy product to their 777, as they aren’t far apart in legroom, are in similar configurations (2-4-2 vs. 2-3-2, so you’d get a little extra width in business class as expected), and the seats have similar storage gadgets.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Premium Economy Class

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 Business Class

Keep in mind that for a little extra width and a little extra recline, Cathay Pacific can go up to charging three times the price. I took the Hong Kong to Singapore route – the premium economy fares are around ~HK$5,000, and the business class fares are around ~HK$15,000.

Jason says that “other airlines do this too”. Well, there’s a reason they don’t put that middle seat in, isn’t there, Singapore Airlines/Thai?

Korean Air doesn’t have a premium economy cabin, though I do know some of their regional aircraft (and even longhaul aircraft) have angled lie-flat seats in a 2-3-2 configuration. Keep in mind their prices stay at around ~HK$7,000 tops, whereas you’re seeing double as much on Cathay Pacific

There’s no information about what product you’ll get at all, apart from three numbers by the side that don’t mean much to business travelers

When 90% of business travelers book flights, they book based on schedule. They have no idea that they’re flying on this type of business class configuration…

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Regional Business Class

…when, for the same price and maybe a couple of hours earlier/later, they would be flying in this configuration.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Business Class

I’ve said this when my flights got equipped swapped twice (here and here) this year – there’s no way Cathay Pacific can manage expectations. My mom’s completely out of this industry, and she was surprised that people were paying twenty-five grand to sit in what was essentially a pimped out premium economy seat.

Or I guess I can’t call it that while being fair. I acknowledge that their regional business class goes much further back than their premium economy.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 Business Class Reclined Seat

But again, can’t we use the same logic to say that if travelers are going to be reclined throughout the journey, they’d enjoy the added recline of a fully flat business class seat?

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Business Class Bed

Again, it wouldn’t hurt to give a little picture of what the configurations would be like when they book their flights. If you don’t really care about the bed and need to converse with your seatmate and have a conversation, fine – there’s the option. It’s just not fine when you have a longer flight (the longest their regional seats go are five hours) and you’ve had two options, gone with one, and realised the other one had a much better product.

Does personal space matter?

You get a large cubicle of your own space, including direct aisle access, in your own reverse herringbone business class seat…

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Business Class Seat

…and around half that space in a regional business class seat.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 Business Class Seat

That’s a lot of space you can set stuff aside in, put a book on, and stretch out on in your international business class seat that you’re not getting in your regional business class seat. I can comfortably plop my computer on the side when I’m working in a reverse herringbone seat when I need to eat, while I have to stow it away into the little side pocket when I’m in regional business class, as the armrest is shared. Technically, that’s fine with me, and just a tiny niggle.

But if you can, why not avoid it? That’s my major beef – Cathay Pacific completely blinding their customers to the ups and downs of what they’re going to be seated in. Of course, other airlines don’t do this, so I’m not exactly blaming Cathay Pacific – I’m just saying that since your seat can be easily checked by the seatmap, you should avoid the regional business class seat wherever possible, and Cathay Pacific hasn’t done a good job managing expectations, especially when equipment swaps go unnotified.

Bottom Line

No matter how long your flight is, most people can come to the consensus that business class is about the seat. When you have no choice, I admit that Cathay’s regional business class isn’t the end of the world, and is on par with what other airlines do. But when you have a choice, that’s where you should realize exactly how much the international business class shines over the regional business class.

When you choose a flight with international business class on purpose and you don’t get notified when there’s an equipment swap, especially when it’s early on, that’s when I start to get annoyed, and that’s the only time I’ve truly given the seat the complaints that Jason’s been talking about. Do many people care? No. But I’m sure the general public would agree with me that if you’ve booked yourself in an international business class seat, seeing a regional business class seat will be a little bit of a disappointment. The discrepancy between premium economy and business class only is the icing on the cake.