Review of Cathay Pacific flight Chicago Hong Kong in Economy

Airline Cathay Pacific
Flight CX807
Class Economy
Seat 41J
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 15:05
Take-off 10 Jul 15, 15:55
Arrival at 10 Jul 15, 20:00
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
aussenrist
By 5380
Published on 7th November 2015
Hi and welcome to the last installment of my flight reports for this trip!

The routing for this trip was as follows:
1. CX806 HKG-ORD B777-300ER [http://flight-report.com/en/report-11725.html]
2. AA4319 ORD-MSP Embraer E-175 [http://flight-report.com/en/report-11769.html]
3. AA3067 MSN-ORD Embraer E-145 [http://flight-report.com/en/report-11836.html]
4. AA2323 ORD-DCA B737-800 [http://flight-report.com/en/report-11913.html]
5. AA2239 DCA-ORD B737-800 [http://flight-report.com/en/report-12041.html]
6. CX807 ORD-HKG B777-300ER [You are here!]

Background

Apologies this report has fewer photos but more words because too many things happened on this trip and I was no time and no mood for taking photos. For this flight the aircraft (77H) is identical to my outbound flight, so if you want to know more about the cabin you can refer to the 1st report of this series.

Flight Report

The night before I had my online check-in and seat choosing. Same as my outbound flight I could only choose those middle seats due to my booking class.

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The night before back to HK I could not sleep because I knew that I would resume my work soon o_O. It was 4am and view from my friend hostel.

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The next day I woke up around 10am and believed that still have a lot of time I went shopping before packing all my stuffs. Later my friend saw me off and we took the CTA to the airport at around 2pm. At this point I was still confident that time was enough…

But suddenly realized that time was running out when we were on the train. Once we got off the CTA train we kept running to the airport transit station for getting to Terminal 5.

Although you were in hurry, you still had to wait for the transit arrived (at this point you would question why the transit was so slow LOL)

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We finally arrived the Terminal 5 at 3pm (the flight will take off at 3:30!!!). I found the Cathay counter no people or staff there and closed!!!

Being very nervous I asked if any staff was here. At the same time a woman rushed to the Cathay counter too. Oh we were in the same boat!

Later a ground staff came out and we described our situations to her. She only replied that we were too late and could not check-in the baggage then. The woman and I were totally shocked and pleaded for allowing us to check our baggage. And I kept bla bla bla like “Please! I need to back HK to process the payroll for my company otherwise my colleges could not get $$$ and I would then be fired!” LOL

Maybe we had softened the ground staff, she then made a handful of phone calls to her colleagues and finally our baggage could be checked-in! She also reminded us to go to the TSA fast track line in order to catch up the flight.

The boarding pass (I took this picture after took off)

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After getting the boarding pass, the woman and I rushed to the TSA checkpoint.

Unfortunately during the screening I was intercepted by the TSA staff as he believed that I took METH :O !!! (I am just a smoker) He ordered me to stand on the other side and carried out an “in-depth” pat-down and “fast” drug test on me! Meanwhile the woman was also blocked by the TSA because she forgot to pour out her bottle water! She became agitated and kept explaining to the staff.

Eventually we were both released and the time was 3:20pm! Luckily we boarded at Gate 11, which was the nearest to the TSA checkpoint. So we could reach to the gate instantly.

Boarding had already started for a while and we were the last two in the queue.

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We chatted during queuing. The woman lives and works in D.C. and she just had a company training in Chiang Mai Thailand. She took the AA flight from DC and forgot to check her baggage through to the final destination. In addition to her flight delay, she had to collect her baggage in Terminal 3 first and therefore late to Terminal 5.

Walking through the premium economy cabin.

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I said goodbye to the woman, found my middle seat and my seatmates were already settled down: a middle-aged man on the window side and a college girl on the aisle side (both were Chinese). No hope for exchanging seat this time…

The menu for this flight.

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The IFE, which was in Cathay usual standard (the university is so rich for advertising on CX planes…)

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The headphone with new Cathay logo.

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Some seatback materials.

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The FAs demoed the safety instruction alongside the safety video during push back. Although push back was on time, we had a little delay in took off because several flights departed at the same time and our plane had to queue on the taxiway.

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We finally took off following the Hainan plane and immediately turned right.

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Once the seatbelt sign was off, the college girl requested FA services and later a senior FA (dressed in gold uniform) came. The girl asked a lot about the Marco Polo membership where the FA replied very promptly and professionally. Then she did a very extensive in-flight shopping (and the FA was very happy!).

Lunch services started when our plane were above Duluth MN.

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The FAs distributed pre-meal nuts

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There were 3 options which were very similar to the outbound flight: beef rice, chicken with mashed potato or vegetarian spaghetti. Again I chose the chicken one. The man ordered beef rice while the girl had spaghetti.

Aw jeez the meal looked and tasted BAD! The salad tasted like it had been put in refrigerator for a long time. The chicken was overcooked with dry texture and the mashed potato was flavorless. As a 5-star airline how come Cathay catering could be like this?

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The only good thing for the whole lunch was the Haagen-Dazs ice-cream…

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Both my seatmates did not finish the meal at all.

After the lunch the FA dimed the light for resting. The man fell asleep quickly while the girl stuck at her seat for watching movie. I was in the middle seat of Y and it was very difficult to climb over my female seatmate for getting out of my seat (I should have learned Yoga before LOL). Besides, I was too hurry before departure so I got some shut-eye during the first half of flight.

We were now flying over Alaska. Noticed that the girl went away for her movie break, both the man and I got to the aisle instantly. I then went to the toilet, grabbed some snacks (because cup noodles ran out :( ) and water from the galley. I also took a walk in the Y cabin before back to my seat.

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Dinner services started when we just passed the International Date Line.

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There were 2 options: chicken rice or spicy pork with orzo pasta. Having a bad chicken experience with the previous meal I chose the pasta. My neighbors also had the same choice.

The dinner was still not good looking but tasted better than the first one. At least the pasta was al dente. But it was still inferior than the outbound flight meals.

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The FA collected the tray after we finished our dinner and an incident occurred!

The FA asked if we wanted refill service and I ordered orange juice. Then I put it on my tray but it suddenly spilled! It ended up with spilling orange juice all over my clothing and the seat!!!

The girl immediately pulled a long face on me and the man (indeed the man was innocent -_-)! I was so embarrassed, apologized and wiped the seat in hurry together with my seatmates. The FA was surprised with the situation and replied that she would give more tissue for me after she finished collecting all the trays. But at the end it seemed she forgot it and disappeared LOL

Later the man gave his blanket to me for covering my seat since he did not need it. He was so nice!

Feeling that I had bothered my seatmates too much (ok the girl kept pulling a long face until landed), so I reclined my OJ-smelly seat and napped again for about 2.5 hours. In the remain flight time most of the FAs should be in rest, at least I rarely saw them when I was awake.

The man broke the ice and chatted with me when the plane was above Kyushu. He was once a HK resident but immigrated to the USA 40 years ago! He is a retired engineer with 2 sons (both were graduated and work). His last time back to HK was already before 1997. This time he went to Taiwan for attending his relative’s wedding. He would have an overnight stay in HK and took the connecting flight next day morning.

We talked a lot about HK in past and present days. Glad to hear that he used to live near my office and still remembered there was a steak house nearby (which is still here)! BTW we chatted in English because the man was not fluent in Cantonese despite he could listen. His hometown is in Taishan (a coastal city in Southern Guangdong) and apart from English he mostly speaks Taishanese in daily life.

We were now approaching Hong Kong.

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The plane was above Shatin and about to land.

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Finally we landed.

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I disembarked together with the man along with warm greetings from the FAs. We walked towards the immigration and bade each other farewell before clearing the custom, soon I went to the baggage claim and took the airport express back to my home.

I survived from the MIDDLE SEAT of the TPAC flight!!!

And this is the flight report and the end of my USA trip.













Below are the second part tourist bonus of Days and Nights in Chicago (Nights). Enjoy!

Chicago Theatre

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Chicago Skyline at night from John Hancock Center

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My friend brought me to try Chicago foods. We had dinner at White Palace Grill which has been open since 1939!

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The interior design was so 80’s and its food was tasty!

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Chicago-style pizza: Deep Dish in Pizzeria Uno

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Japan Ramen near Damen Station

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South Branch Chicago River at Night

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Dearborn Station

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Inside a CTA station which you are 200% cannot see the same situation in HK

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Thank you so much for reading this report!
See more

Verdict

Cathay Pacific

7.1/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering4.5

Chicago - ORD

7.8/10
Efficiency5.5
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5

Hong Kong - HKG

9.4/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.5
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.5

Conclusion

Although having some stressful feelings on the middle seat, it was comfort as usual with good IFE. The FAs were friendly but not attentive i.e. inadequate follow-up skills. The catering services was disappointing. The food quality was poor on this flight and CX should have quality control on it. The flight arrived on time.

Information on the route Chicago (ORD) Hong Kong (HKG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 7 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Chicago (ORD) → 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 15 heures et 43 minutes.

  More information

8 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 152746 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Yikes, how stressful to almost miss your flight. I always make sure to get to the airport early, but mostly so I have time to enjoy the lounge :-) Being stuck in a middle seat for such a long flight does not sound like fun--good thing it was relatively comfortable. Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 330707 by
      aussenrist AUTHOR 225 Comments
      Thanks for your comment Kévin!

      BTW it was my fault for getting to the airport late. I won’t do the very last minute shopping next time…
      Stuck in the middle seat is really stressful especially when you have an unfriendly seatmate blocking the aisle and you are in a mess. Luckily at least I had a very nice seatmate on the other side which made the atmosphere relieve a bit.
  • Comment 152917 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Finally the end of this series! Thanks for sharing this FR!

    I was no time and no mood for taking photos.
    - Often the feeling at the end of a long trip, but yours was for different reasons.

    Eventually we were both released and the time was 3:20pm!
    - You are very lucky this flight was leaving the US, where all the planes depart late because boarding is so slow! If this was in Asia, you would have been screwed over. I guess you are lucky that you did OLCI, otherwise they would have denied you check-in at ORD.

    as he believed that I took METH
    - You probably appeared edgy and visibly nervous since you were about to miss a flight, but for a normal passenger you would look very suspicious to TSA.

    Aw jeez the meal looked and tasted BAD!
    - The catering looks very poor on this flight (same as every CX flight!), but compared to my ORD-NRT report you can see how different the offerings are between CX and NH. The trays are not full and the mains look worse than some meals on US carriers.

    Noticed that the girl went away for her movie break, both the man and I got to the aisle instantly.
    - This is why I will never pick a window seat on a flight longer than 3 hours, I hate feeling trapped in my seat. For a flight of this length, I would never want to sit in a middle seat, that would just be a prison sentence. I'd have to be up walking around all the time.

    But it was still inferior than the outbound flight meals.
    - This is probably ex-ORD catering taking some of the blame, I saw a noticeable difference in food quality on my NH flights ex-ORD.

    so I reclined my OJ-smelly seat and napped again
    - You were very kind to the crew rating. If a passenger spills something and the FAs do nothing to help (especially on an Asian carrier), this is very bad service.

    Excellent night shots of Chicago at the end!
    • Comment 330715 by
      aussenrist AUTHOR 225 Comments
      Thanks for your comment NGO85!

      You probably appeared edgy and visibly nervous since you were about to miss a flight
      - Besides appeared nervous, I think another reason for the TSA blocking is the cigarette smell on myself. Sorry that I should use MARIJUANA instead of METH to describe the situation more accurately.

      The trays are not full and the mains look worse than some meals on US carriers.
      - United should have found its match :P

      For a flight of this length, I would never want to sit in a middle seat, that would just be a prison sentence.
      - You have to give up something when you buy a very cheap ticket :(

      This is probably ex-ORD catering taking some of the blame, I saw a noticeable difference in food quality on my NH flights ex-ORD.
      - At least your ORD-NRT meal looks decent even ex-ORD. For the CX meals they are too ugly that you don’t want to eat.

      You were very kind to the crew rating.
      - HAHA I am always a kind person :P BTW this flight was 100% full and at that moment I could not think of other possible solutions i.e. seat changing.
  • Comment 153187 by
    Chibcha SILVER 540 Comments
    Thanks for sharing, you made me feel as if I was travelling with you!

    I've never tried to get to the airport so on the clock with the departing time, really extreme!

    The CX experience didn't seem up to the standards they say they have.
    • Comment 331013 by
      aussenrist AUTHOR 225 Comments
      Thanks for your comment Chibcha!
      Besides not many pictures taken, it is a little bit difficult for using pictures to explain what's going on, so I need to use more words to describe my situations @@
      You betcha especially the catering on this flight! I was totally shocked when I put the 1st piece of chicken into my mouth lol
      Happy holidays!
  • Comment 153549 by
    jetsetpanda 2283 Comments
    Thank you Ashleyyau for sharing this interesting and well photographed FR.

    Too bad that your flight experience was not optimal, but it's over now and at least you had an understanding seatmate.

    I enjoyed your fantastic bonus pics. You have a keen eye for composition and your shots of Chicago reminded me of my previous visits there many years ago. I used to fly 2-3 times a month for job meetings and after the work was done, I always tried to find the time to explore the different ethnic neighborhoods for some great food - Chinatown, Greektown, Andersonville (Swedish), etc.
    • Comment 331383 by
      aussenrist AUTHOR 225 Comments
      Thanks for your comment Jetsetpanda!
      - Totally agree with you, the only positive thing for this flight is the understanding seatmate (not the girl…). BTW it let me understand what an imperfect trip actually is a prefect trip ;)
      - Initially I just wanted to idle in Chicago so no prior travel planning for it :P In fact my friend took me out to these locations.
      Happy New Year!

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