Flight routing
- 1CX885 - Economy - Los Angeles -> Hong Kong - Boeing 777-300ER
- 2CX884 - Economy - Hong Kong -> Los Angeles - Boeing 777-300ER
Good morning from sunny Los Angeles!
In November of 2018, I have came across some pretty darn good fares from LAX to Hong Kong. The roundtrip fare for this itinerary including taxes and fees was $550 during spring break. I have only been to Hong Kong twice in my life and I don't remember much of it other than the fact that its disneyland resort was pretty cool. I asked my father if he would be interested in doing a 4 day getaway to Asia and he agreed to my plan as proposed. He hadn't been on a porper vacation for over a year now due to his work and this would also be a perfect opportunity for me to get out of school work and see the world.
We checked in online via the Cathay Pacific app and received our boarding passess 48 hours before our flight. We had 2 checked luggage which we dropped off at a dedicated counter, and the process literally took a minute (explains the lack of photo) We have pre selected our seats online as well. Because we were booked in O class, we had to pay a hefty $39 each to select a seat… O class isn't an eligible fare bucket to earn miles on AAdvantage nor Asia Miles. However, Alaska Mileage Plan does allow me to credit the miles with a 25% accumulation rate.
Walking from TBIT to Terminal 2 to access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse via Priority Pass.
It was in the end of March 2019 (yes I know) so the Delta check-in areas were not completely renovated.
New passport!!!!! Won't get a departure stamp tho [sad emoji]
virgin atlantic clubhouse terminal 2
After 30 MINUTES at security, I regret my choice of not flying out of SNA (John Wayne Airport, Orange County) 10 minute drive away from home… Instead, I chose to spend an hour on I-405 and another hour trying to drive the rest 4 miles into LAX…
Hours were 5:00AM to 11:00AM for PP users. I have heard some bad things regarding poor treatment towards PP users; however, that was not true at least from my visit.
Quite a lot of people here…
Pretty standard cold breakfast items… Love it how the wines are bathing in sunlight….
It's not a great lounge…But it's better than nothing.
Apple juice + muffins + DJI Osmo Pocket
Great Apron view won't hurt.
Some attempted spotting from the North side window facing 24R and 24L.
Spending a penny before leaving for TBIT
Some artistic decorations in the bathroom here.
About to take the bus to TBIT. The bus loading gate is located just to the left of the TSA checkpoint.
There was practically no wait for the bus. Didn't get my own private bus this time. I had to share it with 2 college students looking people and my backseat driving dad who wanted the bus to cut in front of 737.
Delta Boeing 737-900ER
United Boeing 737-900ER
Bus interior. Thanks for the ride Delta!
Pretty Virgin going to Brisbane
The bus dropped us off at Costco (bus gates of TBIT) and it was a short stroll across the terminal to our departure gate.
Here's our ride for today: B-KQY, a 4 year old Boeing 777-300ER with new 3-4-3 interior but still wearing the older livery…
The line was pretty long and it essentially blocked half of the corridor…
Pretty disorganized boarding process with people not knowing where they are supposed to be…
About to step on my first Cathay Pacific flight!!!
I am flying in Economy class, though, unlike my lovely neighbor Mr.SocalNow who solely flies in premium cabins *cough cough*
LAX built an expensive and absolutely beautiful terminal, but chose this catastrophic jet way design… Should have flown out of SNA…
Newspaper were available for people who still read on paper in 2019.
Passing through business class cabin. Faces blurred.
Here's the new refurbished 3-4-3 economy cabin with complimentary motion blur.
new 3-4-3 economy onboard cathay pacific 777-300er
Moving slowly towards my seat…still way faster than the 405!
Great seat pitch even after me stuffing up the seatback pocket
Thick blanket
A very pillowy pillow
Picked up a SCMP issue upon boarding.
Pushed back occurred shortly. Since we were at a very awkward position, we had to be pushed all the way out of the alleyway C10 onto C during rush hour…
20 minutes later we started our taxi
Terminal 6 and Terminal 7
And shortly after we're off to Hong Kong!
Climbing to FL300
Meal service started with menu cards, peanuts, and choice of beverage.
Here's the main for today. A bottled water came with the meal as well. Meal was catered by DO&CO.
Overall, it's pretty tasty. One thing I would like to complain is that the portion is way too small… It lasted me for only about 4 hours and for your reference I am 5'7" and 100 pounds…
Desert. Ignore by big hand which took up half of the composition.
After the meal service, I used my $19 flight wifi pass to play Infinite Flight, which surprisingly worked very well! I am impressed by the inflight wifi, and 19 bucks isn't so bad for a 15 hour flight!
Since this is a day time flight, I slept just 2 hours out of the 15.
Snacks were available during the flight, but they were just biscuits, which doesn't interest me.
Cup noodles were also available upon request. I usually get pretty sick after having instant noodles so I avoided them (I am sitting to far from the lavatory to make it there in time). Perfect snack for the college students on spring break though given their diet….
There were NO DRINK SERVICE at all during this 15 hour flight (except for once during each meal service). This is fine on a red eye since most people want to sleep and everyone was awake on this particular flight. I asked my father, who was awake the entire time, and he concurred with my observation. Lazy crew or one of the cost cutting strategies? Honestly I feel them. After the refurbishment, they are serving 50 more pax in Economy without getting a pay raise.
Here's the second meal. Poor lightning due to the fact that I don't want my face get radiated by burning polar sunlight.
I find it very odd that the meal was served almost 5 and a half hours prior to arrival…
Closer look at the main. Again, very flavorful and juicy, it's just that the portion is way to small…
There's a nose cam view inside the IFE system. The resolution isn't good.
Somewhere in Russia
And that concludes the final food or beverage service. I am really feeling Cathay Pacific's cost cutting campaign in Economy class.
There are plenty of movies, tv shows, and games on the IFE system. I watched netflix on my tablet and just browsed using the super convenient wifi for the majority of time.
Started descend north of Guangzhou, China.
And then we got sequenced into the very long line of arrivals into 07L at HKG. Thinking about whether or not we would get admitted into Hong Kong SAR as a Chinese passport holder without a border crossing permit… Isn't ironic how Americans can stay in Hong Kong for 180 days without visa and Chinese folks just technically can't at all?
I wanted to choose the overnight flight since that's the most time and cost effective option… However, my dad doesn't like to fly red eyes and he would rather stay awake for 15 hours straight. Well he's the boss.
Landed at HKG after a short 15 hour hop. I am currently starving and in desperate need of food.
Aussie
In trail of college students spring breaking in Southeast Asia (Thailand I suspect?)
BTW there was a measles explosion at HKG several days earlier. A lot of workers there were wearing masks. I think I got measles vaccine? But again the American healthcare system is very messed up…
Taking the train to immigration. The whole process only took about 5 minutes.
Immigration agent holding my CHINESE passport: What nationality are you?
Me: ahhhh, Chinese?
Immigration agent: Are you sure?
Me: I'm pretty sure that I am Chinese last time I checked…
And he gave me a sticker saying that I can only stay in Hong Kong for 7 days and once I leave Hong Kong the temporary visa will be revoked… (I broke that rule later by going to Macau and used a "loophole" to get back in)
plaza premium arrival lounge at hkg
Thank god there is an arrival lounge accessible with Priority Pass so I don't have to pay for food.
Much needed carbohydrates and proteins after my Cathay Pacific flight.
Grabbed a bottle of water before heading downtown on the airport bus. Thanks for reading!
THE END
While I had an excellent first flight with them in the beginning of 2019, the most recent reports about CX are quite disappointing as cabin crew is literally too lazy to serve any drinks on those long haul flights. Whether this depends on crew or is solely based on a change in policy, it does not improve their product. Also never understood why CX serves their second meal so far in advance. It happened with me too on KQ to Amsterdam a few months back . Thanks for sharing this excellent report!
Yes indeed. I have also notice the trend among flight reporters. Another thing is that I am quite upset with CX serving 2 meals on a 10 hour flight and 2 meals on a 15 hour flight. The portion of food on this flight was unbelievable! Thanks for reading!!!
Hong Kong has always been a personal favorite of mine - pity that there is so much politics in the way. Pretty underwhelming flight on Cathay too, sad it has come to this, they have been known to be industry leaders time & again. Thanks for sharing this one!
Me too. This was actually my 3rd time visiting HKSAR. I was 5 miles away from Hong Kong 3 weeks ago in Shenzhen, where Chinese troops were loading army trucks to "surround" the island. It was quite scary since it looked as if they're starting a war! Thanks for stopping by!
Not too surprised about what you experienced on CX, look at what Atco had on his flight from JFK in J no less, its expected that Y would be worst.
Flying Y across the pond I would much prefer the Japanese or Taiwanese. Heck even HU is superior to CX. Price is not to be fooled with for 15 hours of intolerable product.
Good insight nevertheless.