Time to get back to home. Well, to where I left my heart at least. NYC.
As luck would have it, I had a chance to fly with Cathay Pacific and try out their business class product. When you are a Star Alliance boy, it just gets real hard to fly with other carriers. So I was very grateful.
The downside though was that the flight was very early in the morning, aka past midnight, and there was a few hours layover in HKIA. That part sucked. But the opportunity to fly the new regional business class and what was termed the best business class seat in the sky was too good to pass.
Lounge in Singapore: There was one escalator up, one flight of steps down, one elevator for wheelchair access. Passable. Not great. Food sucked. Definitely not SKL for SQ.
The Flight:
CX has incredible ground support. From the reservations agents in the town office to the check in agents at the airport. You get a sense that they are very integrated. Efficient yet friendly.
I hope it would be the same inflight.
The welcome on board was lovely. Super warm and friendly. Seamless, ground to air. We got the first row of business class. You don't necessarily get more room, just faster access once you turn left.
Monitor and storage on the wall. Set higher than seat back monitors. Go figure. The seat itself was not groundbreaking but it was comfortable for a few hours flight. Anything above 4 hours and I would question their value. I would rather fly with SQ's regional for longer regional flights.
The corporate green interiors was not my favorite among all the airlines. But at least it was not offensive to the eye, and for a past midnight flight, it was soothing.
Seat controls: No sensor touch here. Press, and the seat moves electronically. Decent recline. Fixed shell so the passengers behind you don't get affected. Calf support as well. Decent for short haul.
Food. Delicious. Sufficient for a 4 hour flight. Capped with fabulous pralines. I pride myself in connecting with crew members on every flight, well at least I try. The crew on this flight were so nice, and they even gave us the entire box of chocolate for us to eat in the lounge in HKIA. Noteworthy: CX thought of the little details that were functional but also made sense when it came to reducing weight on flights. They had spork! Great idea CX!
The lounge was only supposed to be open at 6 am. Luckily by the time we got there after arrival, it was close to that. They knew there were early arrivals and the first floor was opened for that even though there was no food etc. This only kicked in when the lounge opened at its official time. Great for plane spotting. Big windows, lot of cozy chairs. Upstairs, it was like a living room with big sofas. Very nice. Of course if you are a solo traveler they have their media chairs that are exclusive to CX. They have great showers, very spa like. You should try them if you have a chance. They of course have PC stations, and thanks to the Hong Kongers sense of aesthetic and brand loving, they have Macs. Yay.
Food: They have a noodle bar where they make them fresh for you. Sadly this was just passable. Like EW. And the service was HK in the 90's style. Bad. Same with the bakery. Bad service. Bad pastries. Why even bother? Main breakfast buffet was alright.
I caught the eye of an expatriate working in petrochemicals and based in Singapore. He was very friendly. This is partly why I love flying premium. You make new connections relatively easily. I could sense he was interested in getting to know each other better, but er hmm I had company. So...he left. Sad. Should have exchanged contacts. Would be nice to expand my social circles in Singapore.
Pretty soon it was time to board. CX 77W!
Report next!
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