In September 2025, I flew from London to Hong Kong and Tokyo for some family commitments. Cathay Pacific released new business class and premium economy products early last year, and planes outfitted with these new configurations have been flying the Hong Kong to London route since the beginning of this year. As a result, when I was making plans to fly back to Hong Kong, I made sure I was eyeing the opportunity to try out both their new business class and premium economy (I have plans to try economy class on the plane soon).
This trip report will cover both of these flight reviews, and I also flew Cathay Pacific’s 777 regional economy and business class, as well as ZIPAIR’s 787. There’ll also be one lounge review, as well as a review of a lodging option near Tokyo Narita Airport.
Booking My Flights On This Trip
Once I knew the dates I’d be travelling to and from Asia, I quickly looked up award space to Hong Kong. The outbound was very easy – there was award space in business class for my dates on the Aria Suite flight from London to Hong Kong. So I quickly booked it for 84,000 Asia Miles (this was before a minor devaluation brought the price up to 88,000 Asia Miles), and unfortunately the UK Air Passenger Duty tax meant that I was paying HK$3,502 (£332) in fees. The itinerary was as follows:
03/09 Cathay Pacific 250 London Heathrow – Hong Kong dep. 18:20 arr. 14:10+1 [Business Class]
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class
The return was a little more complicated. There wasn’t award space in premium economy (or business class) from Hong Kong to London on any flight, and just booking the flight with cash would’ve cost £1,500+ (HK$15,800+) – one-way cash fares were very similar out of Tokyo as well, where I’d be before flying back to London.
Just as I was about to throw in the towel, I found a decent premium economy fare from Seoul to London via Hong Kong, which would allow me to try the airline’s new 777 premium economy class. This ticket cost 1,382,800 KRW (£735/HK$7,748), which is in line with how much I’d typically pay for a longhaul premium economy flight.
Cathay Pacific 777 New Premium Economy Class
The Seoul to Hong Kong flight was operated by a regional 777, very similar to what I’d be flying from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Since I was booked in Economy Flex and was already flying their regional 777 economy class on this trip, I decided I’d swing the upgrade to business class from Seoul to Hong Kong for 19,500 Asia Miles, as it’s been many years since I’ve reviewed their regional 777 business class.
Cathay Pacific 777 Regional Business Class
This itinerary was as follows:
14/09 Cathay Pacific 411 Seoul Incheon – Hong Kong dep. 15:10 arr. 18:00 [Business Class]
14/09 Cathay Pacific 255 Hong Kong – London Heathrow dep. 23:15 arr. 06:20+1 [Premium Economy Class]
Since I had commitments in Tokyo, I needed to get from Tokyo to Seoul in order to catch my Cathay Pacific flight. The only morning flight that would get me into Seoul early enough that day was with ZIPAIR, so I saw it as a good opportunity to try the world’s only reverse herringbone lie-flat ultra-low cost economy class seat, their ZIP Full Flat product. The flight cost 29,160 JPY minus add-ons (£145.42/HK$1,532), and the itinerary was as follows:
14/09 ZIPAIR 41 Tokyo Narita – Seoul Incheon dep. 08:55 arr. 11:25 [ZIP Full Flat]
ZIPAIR 787 ZIP Full Flat Cabin
Lastly I had to get to Tokyo. J joined me on this segment, so we just redeemed two economy class seats on Cathay Pacific. We were a bit more time-bound than I was on some of the other segments I was flying, so wanted to keep things simple and book a flight time that worked for our schedule. Each seat cost 12,500 Asia Miles plus HK$436 (£41.36) in taxes, and the itinerary was as follows:
11/09 Cathay Pacific 542 Hong Kong – Tokyo Haneda dep. 16:20 arr. 21:35 [Economy Class]
It’s been six years since I’ve last reviewed Cathay Pacific’s regional 777 economy class, so I’m looking forward to writing an updated review.
Cathay Pacific 777 Regional Economy Class
This isn’t one of the craziest trips I’ve ever done, though I’m excited to write some updated reviews of Cathay Pacific’s newest onboard products, as well as ZIPAIR’s ZIP Full Flat product.
The Hotels I’ll Review In This Trip Report
J and I stayed at a few capsule hotels in Tokyo on this trip. Unfortunately we were very much in and out of many of these properties (as you normally do with capsule hotels), so I didn’t have the chance to be able to review them properly.
I was super intentional about making sure I could review the 9h capsule hotel at Narita Airport, which is a great option for getting some rest if you’ve got a layover at the airport. The property is even listed on Priority Pass where you can get a capsule for five hours, though unfortunately that only applies between 9 AM and 8 PM. Since my accommodation was touch-and-go in Tokyo and my flight left at 8:55 AM, it made the most sense to head over to Narita the evening prior, and book an overnight stay. The stay cost 9,910 JPY (£49.65/HK$520) for my one night.
9h Capsule Hotel at Narita Airport
The Lounges I’ll Review In This Trip Report
I visited quite a few lounges during this trip, though in London I had access to Heathrow’s brilliant lounges at Terminal 3. I’ve reviewed them all in a previous trip, so won’t re-write any of these reviews (check out my review of the Qantas lounge, the Cathay Pacific lounge, the British Airways lounge, and the American Airlines lounge).
I was invited to the brand-new Plaza Premium First lounge West at Hong Kong Airport courtesy of Priority Pass, so I’ll be sharing my thoughts.
Plaza Premium First Lounge at Hong Kong Airport
The other lounge I’ll be reviewing is the Oneworld lounge at Incheon Airport, which I had access to before my Cathay Pacific business class flight. I reviewed the Oneworld lounge at Schiphol Airport recently, and Incheon Airport houses Oneworld’s other alliance-run lounge, so I was sure to check it out.
Oneworld Lounge Seoul Incheon Airport
While I did want to re-review the Cathay Pacific lounges at Hong Kong Airport (including The Bridge, which I hadn’t personally been to), I wasn’t able to do so this time round, as they were much more crowded and I battled with getting a shower room. I’ll be back at Hong Kong Airport shortly with access to Oneworld lounges, so will re-review those lounges that time round.
Conclusion
I did a trip to Hong Kong and Japan (via South Korea) in September 2025, and booked my flights so I could review Cathay Pacific’s new 777 Aria business class and premium economy, as well as their regional 777 business and economy class, and ZIPAIR’s ZIP Full Flat product. I had a wonderful time in Asia over these couple of weeks, and can’t wait to share more about these travels with you guys.
Which review are you looking forward to most?