Cathay Pacific

Do not take this airline!!!
My wife had a connecting flight to come to LA but her first flight was delayed due to Cathay Pacific’s unknown reason and unexplained reason. As a result, she missed her connecting flight to LA and had to spend a night in HK.
Their customer service personnel on the ground when she was in HK was horrible!!!

People, don’t take this airline, they treat people like homeless and pass out cheap meals to you when their tix fare is way higher than any other airlines. The only way they try to keep their airline status is to jack up the fare price but that doesn’t really help at all. They have no loyalty to their long term customers, they are only serving people from mainland China who don’t care about quality, hygiene, and customer service but have the money to fly cathay pacific without flying their own china mainland airlines coz they think their china mainland airlines are way worse. The flight is packed with those people. You will be sitting next to some low class villagers from China putting their feet on your armrests, screaming across the rows to their friends who sat separately, assigning their OWN SEAT, leaning on your backrest while ur sleeping, eating fruit next to you & dumping the skin on the floor, etc. I had all those first hand experience only with this airline consider I am a frequent international flyer. The whole flight was fifthly, bathroom has toilet paper & water on the floor (I don’t wanna know what kind of water is that). Flight attendance hardly clean the bathroom. And the whole flight smells and people coughing and sneezing in your face. I thought I was on a flight going to a third world country when everytime I take this airline recent years.
They have downgraded to the lowest class airline throughout the years but their price only goes up and their frequent flyer program Marco Polo only get so stricted to a point that only business class and first class frequent flyer will get benefits of it, but if I am flying business class, I don’t need that club program coz I am already entitled to all the lounge access, early check in and boarding, etc. So their flyers program is basically a trash. Let alone, all other airlines have way better service on all classes of flights, and way better benefits on their reward programs. And cheaper fare. Such as, Singaporean airline business class is like ¹⁄₃ to half price of theirs but the quality of flyers, service, and food are way better. You feel like that’s where your money worth. Same goes to many other airlines.
Cathay Pacific has no loyalty to their customers, I was with them for almost 20 years and with no rewards, and they try to force me to either fly business class all the time or to pay in order to maintain the lowest tier of their membership, they are only trying to cancel my frequent flyer marco polo membership. The Ground crew and the flight attendences are rude and they treat you like you are a third class citizen or homelessness with not much respect. Every year, they change their policy here and there with their program to tighten their benefits on frequent flyers. You can only use the mileages to get trashy gifts like a nail file, bottle openers, etc. And mileage expires real fast if you don’t redeem for gifts. Redeeming for flight tix is almost impossible Coz they blacked out most of the seats. i must say it is the worst airline and the worst frequent flyer program in comparison with many other flyer programs that I am also in.
Don’t even need to mention about their seats in their economy class, they try to pack as many seats as possible in the economy class, so you can imagine how it feels like with the leg room and the back incline. Its worse than any US domestic small plane and imagine you are flying for 14+ hours in that tiny seat that can barely move and adjust. Premium economy seat is no better besides better for taller people coz they will not be able to fit into the economy seat (Taller just mean a normal white american that is around 5’11″+).
Only the business & first classes have good seats. If you are not planning to fly at least business class with them, don’t bother to take this airline because the coach section is like a cage. The whole service reminds me of the movie «Titantic» of how they treated the third class passengers in the movie. But if you have the money to fly business class, you will have way more choices with different airlines for even cheaper price!

Cathay Pacific used to have above-​average customer service. However, my recent experience with Cathay Pacific has been very disappointing. While the flight attendants are still pleasant, their ground staff (for example, employees working at Hong Kong airport’s transfer counter and those who work at the boarding gates) are unpleasant and sometimes rude. Moreover, many of them cannot speak fluent English. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have much better customer service than Cathay Pacific. I highly recommend you to avoid Cathay Pacific and use US airlines for your transpacific traffic needs.

This review is to monitor Cathay Pacific’s flight arrival and departure between LAX and HKG.
The website
is so easy to navigate. It also shows the flight departed status and actual arrival time.
Well, CX880 arrived early today. Fantastic.

Services are terrible with this airlines. My father was in one of their international flights in Oct 2015. During cruising, while everyone was allowed to recline their seat for comfort, a big guy behind him pushed the back of his seat to prevent him from reclining. He complained to their attendant, but she didn’t do anything. For 14 hours of flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, he had to sit upright, couldn’t sleep a minute, and walked out of the plane with a sore back.
Then a week before he flew again on return trip, I called their customer service line to inquire about something. Their phone line has selections for 3 types of tickets: (1) purchased directly from them, (2) purchased thru agent, and (3) redemption tickets. His was a redemption ticket (purchased with points earned through reward programs) For redemption tickets, they always played the message: «Sorry we are experiencing high traffic volume, good bye!» I tried the other 2 selections, and they put me in a queue waiting for agent. They treat redemption tickets as bottom class customers, not worthy of service.
We will not ever fly this airlines again.

These days, my motto for a good international flying experience: Just put me on anything better than United, please.
So it was my first time flying Cathay but heard a lot of good things from family and friends. A flight from LA to HK would take 15 hours. Check-​in at LAX was pretty smooth and uneventful. Boarding was relatively orderly and timely. The flight attendants throughout were friendly and accommodating, unlike the crews of a lot of US air carriers. Okay, okay, fine, I’ll admit: the Cathay flight attendants were aesthetically pleasing as well.
The food wasn’t too bad but not excellent. I think Korean Air is a bit better, but Cathay’s offerings were pretty good. However, I did find mold in my roll, which I reported to the flight attendant. She apologized and noted the mistake. Both breakfast and dinner had Western and Chinese offerings and generally the latter was better. I enjoyed the braised pork with pickled vegetables the most. Having Haggen-​Daz ice cream for dessert can’t be a bad thing, too.
The galleys had snacks throughout the flight, such as dried fruit, chips, crackers, and chocolate. I loaded up on the Toblerone like a pig for sustenance.
The seating areas and the lavatories were generally clean. Definitely much cleaner than United or Air Canada. Plus the lavatories worked too, unlike said airlines. I know, the little things…
The entertainment system, overall, was sufficient. I did see a few movies and a few television shows on the flight over. It was nice having a mix of Asian and Western entertainment.
Unfortunately, the crew didn’t have nearly enough landing cards so I had to fill out mine on the ground. I mean, I know a lot of the passengers will be transiting elsewhere, but don’t you think some of them would actually be staying at your most major hub???

Meals — LAX to HKG economy class.
The kids did not like their kids meal.
We tried the low-​fat and Indian non-​veg meals. I really liked the Indian non-​veg, it was really good. The low-​fat meal was too bland.

Ehhhh. CP branding used to be that it was the BMW to all the other East Asian airlines’ toyota. Now it’s not even the Audi. No wifi on planes, seat booking system that didn’t work, and limited in-​flight media selection. Food was pretty solid, and the service is always great and A+, but if you’re thinking of dropping the «CP premium» and think you’ll get anything return, think again! I only chose them because they could get me in and out at an opportune time.

The customer service is beyond words to describe.
Try call this number 1 (800) 233‑2742 … NO human behind that phone line. only machines.
Will not buy from this company ever again and will put it on my facebook tell all my friends to avoid such airline…

I had a terrible experience flying with Cathay, and with their staff in Hong Kong. View what happened here:

LAX to HKG Airbus A330 was not very comfortable since leg room is very low. In fact domestic flights in US have more legroom. For me at 5’10″ it was really uncomfortable to sit for 13 hours. Staff is good though, very quick to respond but for some reason took very long time to serve dinner. IFE (InFlghtEntertainment) could be a lot better. I would probable try ANA or JAL next time.

I’m on hold with them right this second and I’ve been waiting 24minutes and counting. Horrible. I’ll be going to 30 and I’ll see from there.

All my experiences with Cathay Pacific have been great. Their level of refinement when it comes to in-​flight service is top notch. I’ve flown with other Asia based airlines and by far CP is tops in their game. If you are flying to Hong Kong I would highly recommend them. They will typically cost more than other airlines but with anything in life you get what you pay for.

Left Item on the Plane Recovered!
I left my BOSE headphones on a flight from HK to LA to PHX. I never in a million years thought I would recover them, but I contacted Cathay Pacific Baggage Services Department (Los Angeles) and a person named Ghufran A Khan got back to me right away and said they have the headphones and was able to ship them back to me here in Phoenix! Thanks Cathay Pacific Baggage Department!

One of the best services you can get!!!
We missed flight basically, 1 am not pm, but we got great accommodation. We changed the flight, and got very good take care of.
FREE to reschedule even if we missed the flight 12 hours ago.
People are so nice and patient, and we even got 30 dollars coupon.
Can’t even be better!!!

The worst service I ever had was flying with CP from Manila to HK on my way back to the US. Thank God my connecting flight was with American Airlines. Surprisingly, AA made that 12 hour flight from HK to Dallas very pleasant for me.
Service was non-​existent with CP. The stewardesses acted impatient like they were doing me a favor by serving me.
This is a sad observation but I got the impression that they did not treat their passengers well from Manila bc the majority of them were locals and workers. CP forgets that these people are human beings and paid the same fare as everybody else. And that their customers will write a review about them.
Thats the last time I will ever fly this airline.

I’ve flown a few more times after my last review and every little detail has been nothing short of superb and spectacular! Not to mention, when our travel agent messed up on my booking, the airport staff in Hong Kong went above and beyond to take care of us and got everything in order.

Flown Cathay Pacific (CX) from LAX to HKG, HKG to PEK, and HKG back to LAX. Also flown its subsidiary Dragonair (KA) from PVG to HKG. I can’t really compare CX to other Asian airlines because I haven’t really flown with others before. Overall, I had a great experience with CX and it’s probably my choice of airline when traveling to Asia.
Economy seats are decent. I guess it depends if you get a new seat or an old seat. The new seats are pretty comfortable while the old ones are not. The seats recline pretty far back but for some reason it’s not really comfortable at the bottom. Maybe it’s my posture, but I could definitely not sleep at all on the old seats. Every seat has an entertainment screen and they have pretty good stuff on it. They have pretty recent movies as well as good music. Lots of EDM such as Kaskade and Above & Beyond. It also comes with a USB port where you can charge your phones and stuff.
On my flight that lasted 15 hours, LAX to HKG and back, we were served two meals. They were pretty tasty to be honest, I didn’t expect to like some of their stuff that much. For dinner they gave Haagen Daz ice cream so that was a plus even though they only had vanilla flavor. There is also snacks such as cup noodles and chips and water at the back for you to get any time. My complaint is that they don’t come around to offer us these things because I sat at the window seat and I didn’t want to wake up the people next to me. Service is pretty standard though, they serve and collect and also come if you press the button. They were all friendly and also attractive haha.
KA has got to be the best domestic flight I’ve taken in China. It is so much better than Air China and other airlines for sure. They give everyone a bottled water at their seat and for their Haagen Daz ice cream you get to choose what flavor you want. My only complaint is that we didn’t exit at a terminal but rather on the airstrip with a bus taking us to the terminal.
You do pay more for CX but I’d say it’s worth it. I will probably choose to fly with Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines when going to Asia.

Due to a combination of personal and business obligations, I’ve depended on Cathay Pacific to get me to Hong Kong and SE Asia more times than I can count. After having flown on most of the Asian carriers, I’m going to rank CX as the most consistently good of the bunch.
For instance, Singapore Airlines — the other SE Asian powerhouse airline — will sometimes wow you: Sorta like the crazy 9.5 knockout you met in Punta del Este who has all your friends asking you, «dude, how’d you land that shit?»… but then occasionally, she’ll do something shockingly disappointing like clip her nails at the dinner table or relay your embarrassing sexual kinks (babe, you said you liked it!) to heretofore shell-​shocked friends after having a few too many cocktails with those tiny umbrellas.
Cathay on the other hand, is like that elegant, really sweet, appropriate girl that you’ve been dating for a reasonable amount of time. Your folks think she’s top of the pops, she says all the right things at dinner meetings with clients and she’s never going to embarrass you in front of your friends. Still, you can’t help but yearn for her to occasionally be a little more flashy and ditch the sensible Miu Miu cardigan/​pencil skirt combi for one of those ridiculously sexxxafied bandage/​bodycon dresses from time to time. *cue every pic of SGV girls clubbing in Vegas*
Still, for the most part, I think I’ve come to the realization that consistency is king, especially when it comes to shuttling your ass at 600+ mph in a metal tube across thousands of miles, and so I’ve made my peace with CX’s sensible elegance.
Cabin: 1^st Class (mostly) on the 777
Food/​Wine: Calvisius caviar is a nice touch, although they got rid of the balik salmon accompaniment which kinda was my favorite part of the dinner service. Krug is a solid champagne choice and I like their Bordeaux program, where they cycle different wines from that famous area. Because your humble author is an unholy combination of both Korean greed and American boorishness, I routinely try to drink at least two bottles of the Krug and 4 – 6 glasses of the red during the 12.5 hour flight to HKG. Both Western/​Chinese food options are solid and feature steak, lobster and all the other goodies.
Service: CX flight attendants are warm and friendly without being obsequious. I’ve noticed that instead of proactively asking you for things, they’re instead blazingly quick to react whenever you press the call button. Nice for both the passengers and FA’s, I think. Of course, this is in direct contrast to the harried looks in the faces of the FA’s working the back of the plane as they constantly address Chinese passengers demands for instant ramen as they shuffle off while muttering under their breaths, «Jeezus, how much cup-​o-​noodles these fuckers gonna eat??»
Hard Product: CX’s seat is extremely comfortable and the seats are ridiculously wide which make for great lounging and 180 degree sleeping. Entertainment system is great with lots of Western/​Asian movies and TV shows. I also particularly enjoy the option of dining with a companion at one seat: 2^nd diner sits on the opposing ottoman and the FA’s bring out a table extender to provide more space for the dishes. On my last HKG-​JFK flight, I looked over at the attractive South Asian woman in 2K and invited her to dine with me but she just scoffed and mouthed «not a chance» in response… *sigh*
All the other stuff: CX used to have Shanghai Tang pajamas — my all time favorite — but recently switched up to PYE, another local HK brand. Incredibly, the PYE pajamas are even better than the previous iteration and increase my sleep enjoyment factor by at least 15−20%. (Yes, I quantified) The amenity kit was also upgraded to Aesop, a snooty Australian brand that’s shockingly hard to find here in LA. Bose noise cancelling headphones were distributed in-​flight and provided a serene, mostly noise-​less environment so that I could blast Tupac’s «Hit em up» without subjecting the FA’s to my curious tastes in music.
TLDR Summary: Consistently excellent without ever being flashy (just wait for my Emirates review) Cathay Pacific really holds it down as one of the premier carriers in the world. ⁹⁄₁₀ WB

Travelling between the USA and Hong Kong can only start and begin with Cathay Pacific. I have made this trip countless times (in Business and Economy class) and my best traveling experiences are always with Cathay Pacific.
First off, just because its a Hong Kong based airliner, does not mean Cantonese is the only language spoken. On my flights from SFO and LAX, most of the staff can hold fluent conversations in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. This holds true from ticketing booth agents to the flight attendants. So speak away!
Business Class:
The obvious perks here are the privacy, flat-​laying seats for sleeping, larger TV monitor, and higher quality food.
Boarding — You enter their Boeing 777’s through various doors depending on the class and seat assignment. This ensures that aisles are less congested allowing you put your luggage in the overhead bins more easily. There are newspapers in Chinese and English available to all just outside the plane before boarding.
Seats — You are in your own cubicle and can essentially have virtual privacy the entire way if you so choose. The arm rest goes up and down and a 15 inch TV monitor swings out. The screen is touch sensitive but you do have a remote that you can use to control channels and music if you are lying back and are too lazy to reach up and touch the screen. Noise cancelling headphones are included in a cabinet, and while they aren’t THE most comfortable, they are more than serviceable for the trip. There is a foot rest and even a small shoe cabinet so you can kick back to be even more relaxed. And of course, the seats adjust to sit straight up or lie flat and everything in between. I’m 5’8″ and had more than enough space to stretch out with at least another half foot room to spare even when lying completely flat. The entertainment system for both Economy (much smaller TV, only in the head rest) and Business class are the same. They are packed full of movies, tv shows, music, and games in English, Canto, Mandarin, Indian, Korean, and Japanese. There are English subtitles on all Chinese movies but not for the TV shows. For Economy seating, the standard size seemed to still be bigger than US Airways or United for example. But I think the main factor for more comfort compared to other economy carriers, is that the base of the seats moves in conjunction with the back part of the seats when reclining. This is a more natural and comfortable position when reclining in general and made the long trip much better than American carriers but of course not better than lying down flat!
Food — Selection is excellent. You can see my attached pictures. Definitely a step above the selections in Economy class. There are generally 3 choices for the main meal and light brunch depending on what time you are departing. Snacks are much better in Business Class compared to economy too. One example is having actual wonton noodle soup with veggies compared to Cup Noodles in the back. The snack tray in Biz Class also has a greater assortment such as toblerstone chocolate, flavored chips, cookies, and Haagen Daz ice cream, where as Economy class was only Original flavored chips, apple, and peanuts. The Economy class selection for meals was also overall more bland. Check out the pictures for reference. There are also appetizer, main entrée, and dessert courses in Business while in Economy, everything is served at once. It might be of importance to some… but the ice cream serving size in Economy is significantly less than in Business!
Service (both Economy and Business Class) — Pretty standard to how the airline business was years ago (but is absent on most airliners nowadays). When you hit the «service button» they are there within a few seconds. They also are always walking through repeatedly during and after meals to make sure your tables aren’t packed full of trash. Stewardess’ used to be much friendlier overall and I vaguely remembered having 2 sets of flight attendants allowing them sleep during the 15 hour flight. However the more recent trips have been the same flight attendants the entire trip, meaning not much rest. Maybe its the cutbacks due to the economy but I’m sure it has a side effect on their personality. Hell, I’d be a little grumpy after 15 hours of serving people too!
Overall Cathay Pacific always remains above the industry norm for international travel. Its always a pleasure to fly with them and I don’t have that same dread of traveling long distance as I do when I book with certain other airlines.