2018 and 2019 will be less crazy travel years for me, as my workload peaks and I have to start worrying about university. That said, university opens up another new can of worms set of opportunities for me to fly, so in 2019 you can expect a multitude of reviews featuring different products.
My parents are excited to visit Australia again, and to our surprise the cheapest options we found were on Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. While Singapore Airlines was obviously where my vote went, unfortunately the times didn’t match up against our schedule (since we wanted to be out of Hong Kong by the end of the first day of the Lunar New Year), so I went with Cathay Pacific. After all, while I certainly don’t mind a connection or two, I can’t complain about flying direct when I’m with my parents.
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong Airport
So you’d think that Cathay Pacific’s business class has been overreviewed on a travel blog based in Hong Kong, but I’m honestly stoked to review Cathay Pacific’s business class, for multiple reasons.
I haven’t flown Cathay Pacific business class longhaul since 2015
In 2015 I flew Cathay Pacific business class from Hong Kong to London and from Paris to Hong Kong. Other than not being able to review it properly since I only had a blurry iPhone 5 on me, I’d also really only flown Thai Airways and Korean Air business class prior, so I really had nothing to compare their longhaul product to.
In the meantime I’ve flown numerous business class products that will let me have a better idea of how Cathay Pacific’s 777 business class product stacks up against the market. I’ve also flown Cathay Pacific’s A330 business class from Hong Kong to Osaka, as well as their A350 business class from Taipei to Hong Kong – though that’s it.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330 Business Class
Does Cathay Pacific still have one of the business class products in the market?
Cathay Pacific’s promised a few changes, though none of them were actually executed. First of all, they tried to introduce dine on demand, which didn’t work out for them as their flights were understaffed. Second of all, they made a few changes to their service procedures that apparently only ended up pissing off their staff more. I know for a fact that Cathay Pacific isn’t the single most crew-friendly airline out there – I mean, Jason may give Qatar Airways all the crap he wants, but they have just about the same amount of crew working a 22-seat 787 business class cabin than Cathay Pacific does a 53-seat 777 cabin.
Qatar Airways’ elaborate dine-on-demand service easily beats Cathay’s
Bottom Line
I’m very excited about my upcoming flights on Cathay Pacific, just so I can see how it measures up. While Jason’s reviewed it a couple of times in the meantime, I’m excited to be onboard my first longhaul with them since 2015, where I can make an honest judgement on whether Cathay Pacific features an industry-leading business class product.
Other reports coming up will include the Qantas Lounge at Sydney Airport, as well as the Westin Sydney.