Review of Cathay Pacific flight Melbourne Hong Kong in Economy

Airline Cathay Pacific
Flight CX134
Class Economy
Seat 44K
Aircraft Airbus A330-300
Flight time 09:40
Take-off 28 Jul 15, 07:40
Arrival at 28 Jul 15, 15:20
CX   #2 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 509 reviews
ezratheodore
Published on 2nd September 2015
Hi All,

It's been a while since my last TR, but I haven't done any international travel since around the same time last year. My family and I were travelling to Halifax, Canada for the summer to see my brother and his new baby. As you can imagine this is peak season so when we initially went to travel agent in January we got some very expensive quotes. To cut a strong story short, it ended up being a LOT cheaper for us all to fly Cathay through Hong Kong to Newark and then take a United flight up to Halifax. This really was the long way to go, but we were all travelling together, and even with the hotel stay in Newark Airport we were considerably better off. Another great thing was we could enjoy international service all the way on Cathay and not be on dreaded Air Canada or any of the other North American airlines.

Here is my itinerary:
* PART ONE: CX134 MEL-HKG 28/06/2015 (You are here!)
* PART TWO: CX890 HKG-EWR 28/06/2015 (To come)
* PART THREE: CX899 EWR-HKG 20/07/2015 (To come)
* PART FOUR: CX163 HKG-MEL 22/07/2015 (To come)

We arrived very early at the airport for out 7.40am departure. Check in was very easy and the staff lovely when my sister's ESTA approval wasn't being shown on their system. After check-in we headed right through departures and had a cup of tea and some toast before making our way to the departure lounge. It was still very dark and I was very tired having not slept the night before. Boarding began a good 30 minutes late, however it was completed very, very efficiently and quickly. I was actually surprised as the flight appeared full.

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Our A330-300 sitting in the dark

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Boarding pass

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Finally boarding commences!

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Our bird

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…and again

Inside, the cabin was full. My sister and I were seated by the window with our mother sitting on an aisle seat adjacent in the middle section. The A330-300 is arranged 2-4-2 in economy. Economy seating is in blues and greys and overall very comfortable. Once on board it wasn't long before take off with the video safety briefing.

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The IFE

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A view outside from 44K

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The cabin

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Above the clouds even a gloomy Melbourne day becomes sunny

On the ground hard copy menus were distributed and once airborne breakfast service began but not before a (non-alcoholic) beverage service. I opted for water. For my meal I took the Western option which was very tasty: I think the Hollandaise did a lot to add flavour. Downside: plastic cutlery.

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The menu (Sorry, I don't know how to flip the pics in this report format despite them being flipped in my own program)

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Breakfast is served with a cup of tea

After breakfast, shades were drawn and most people settled in for a nap or some movie which is exactly what I did. CX's inflight entertainment system is great with a wide selection of TV and film content. The IFE was very easy to use. Downsides: screen is a little small by modern standards and the angle on which you're viewing the screen can't be adjusted which is particularly annoying when the person in front reclines their seat.

Midway through the flight lunch was served. Prior to this an aperitif run was made and I opted for a very tasty and refreshing gin and tonic which would prove to be my drink of choice on the next three CX segments as well. I opted for the vegetarian lunch choice which was dry, tasteless, and lacking any vegetables or sauce. Quite inedible. Also frustrating when the entree on the meal is also a pasta style dish (i.e. pearl couscous).

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The meal tray: the mango & cream Weis bar was a lovely touch and helped to make up for the lacklustre main.

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Inedible pasta

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A G & T, one of many to be had on this trip!

A few hours later we landed in Hong Kong. I can't recall but I'm fairly sure we were on time or in fact early. My mum, sister and I then had a few hours to kill before our connecting flight to EWR. Stay tuned…

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One last pic of the cabin
See more

Verdict

Cathay Pacific

7.5/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering6.0

Melbourne - MEL

7.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Hong Kong - HKG

9.6/10
Efficiency8.5
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

Overall this flight was very comfortable. Staff were not particularly engaging and I honestly can't recall any of their faces, I know that's a strange thing to say, but when I enjoy great service I tend to recall the face in my memory of the trip. Entertainment was great, food passable (great in some places, in other ways not). I'll leave my comments there as I'll be giving three more CX reviews shortly and would like to summarise my main points overall at the end.

Information on the route Melbourne (MEL) Hong Kong (HKG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Melbourne (MEL) → Hong Kong (HKG).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 9 heures et 23 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 145414 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR with us!

    and not be on dreaded Air Canada or any of the other North American airlines.
    - I think many would rate AC above the US carriers, but North American carriers leave much to be desired overall. By the way, is that a UA tail I see poking over the Jetstar in MEL?

    CX has a good hard product, which makes for comfortable flights; however, the catering is from another planet. The meals trays are always full, but what they give you in quantity is ruined by quality.

    I honestly can't recall any of their faces
    - Completely understand, nothing was memorable and that is not a hallmark of great service.

    Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the rest of the series.
    • Comment 324121 by
      ezratheodore AUTHOR 18 Comments
      Hi NGO85,

      Thanks so much for leaving a comment!

      - Yes, AC is much better than the other NA carriers, however I'd still much rather not fly them on an international route like SYD to YVR and then have to connect to their domestic services to YHZ. CX as far as we could go was much more enjoyable than the few times I've flown AC on aforementioned route.

      - Yes, that is the UA tail. Annoying thing at Melbourne international airport is that I found you couldn't get up close with the aircraft. :(

      - CX catering really is dire. There is the illusion you're getting a top quality product with menus printed etc, but the meal trays lack anything special. Plastic cutlery, a lack of cheese & crackers etc. I guess after flying SQ economy one really has been spoilt.

      - Service on this sector was unmemorable but the next two segments were great! Then the final leg home from HKG to MEL was also less than desirable.

      Thanks again!
      Ezra
  • Comment 145614 by
    eminere™ 271 Comments
    CX's catering always lets them down, across all the classes.

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