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509 reviews
Hello everyone! This report will cover my business class experience with Cathay Pacific's long haul cabin from Hong Kong to Taipei.
After nearly a decade, I was so excited to be back into Cathay's J class cabin. As you may know, Cathay had been the best carrier for several years. However, in recent years, especially after their re-branding, the ranking of Cathay has been dropping and dropping. So today, I'd like to see if Cathay nowadays really as bad as the critics mentioned.
It was 6 in the morning, I arrived at the airport much earlier than expected. It was about four and a half hours prior the boarding time. I headed directly to Cathay's counter to check my luggage.
A little reminder, no matter you fly in business class with Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon (regional carrier), you can check your bags at the aisle B or C.
Sadly, I was informed by the ground staff that my flight has been delayed for at least 2 hours due to a violent storm hit the city the night before, and nearly all planes had been rescheduled their slots. More importantly, the aircraft has been changed to A330 rather than the XWB. I was a little bit worry whether I'd fly the domestic business cabin. (Since CX's A330 fleet has mainly 2 types of j class, one is the 2-2-2 regional config and the 1-2-1 config). Anyway, don't focus on the cabin first, let's talk about their lounge first.
The staff would collect your lounge invitation once you entered the lounge. In advance, you must take back the invitation card from them if you would like to visit others Cathay's lounges before boarding.
Once I'd entered the air side, I headed to the largest lounge in the airport, the Pier. However, it is located quite far from the custom, so it is advisable to take the automated people mover to the stop named "Gate 40-80". Please note that the Pier has 2 entrances, one is for the first class passengers and one is for the business.
Regarding the food and beverages, the Pier does provide a variety of selection to match both westerners and Asian guests' tastes. There is a noodle bar serving well known Hong Kong cuisine, like the Dan Dan noodles as well as various types of dim sum.
Must try ~ JING Silver Needle Tea
In fact, I was very much satisfied with their exclusive tea house, serving a series of premium Chinese tea, you can tell your preferences to the staff there and she will serve you a nice cup of tea prior your flight.
Furthermore, I tried the mock tail recommended by the staff at the bar area, named Ginger Forest, with smashed ginger, mint and sparking water. It was very refreshing and it taste even better than their signature drink, Cathay Delight, contains kiwi, mint and coconut milk.
Ginger Forest
Cathay Delight
To conclude, the lounge is really good, with large spaces and various facilities like yoga area, shower rooms and several dining room. In advance, the staff were also very friendly and always willing help.
It was a long haul business class configuration which is 1-2-1 with herringbone pattern, providing high rate of privacy to each of the guests. I was greeted with a cup of Cathay Delight and a hot towel, to refresh myself prior takeoff.
To summarize, the steak is better than the sweet and sour prawn in which the rice were over-cooked, in contrast, the steak was medium well. Excellent! Sadly, there was no bread selection, and the bread was very dry, it seems that they just pick the ones from the coach class to serve the upper class guests (just kidding). Disappointingly, the peanut mousse was STINK (sorry for that). In advance, the staff forgot to serve me with a cup of tea after the meal which I asked before takeoff.
To conclude, the flight was satisfying, despite the desert didn't taste good and the crew forgot to serve me a cup of tea. I found that Cathay is not as bad as the critics mentioned and I am looking forward to fly their XWB back to Hong Kong. Last but not least, Cathay's lounge is very good one, I can't wait to use their lounge at Taipei. Stay tuned for my further flight review!
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 60 avis concernant 5 compagnies sur la ligne Hong Kong (HKG) → Taipei (TPE).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 38 minutes.
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