ThaiA345 From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, RR: 17 Posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 19569 times:
20 April 2009
Reason for trip
Although I was still recovering for my knee surgery in Perth, work called and I had to accompany some clients on a trip to Shanghai. Well, I was already up and walking so I thought why not, anyways it would give me a chance to fly CX in J from PER to HKG, spend a day in HKG and then on to PVG with KA. I was pretty excited about this trip as it has been more than 10 years since I flew CX.
Inflight
Greetings from crew was pretty ok, nothing fantastic to the levels of MH or SQ though. But the 1st cabin is really nice with fully flat seats. Although not of the latest generation, its still really comfortable and definitely no complains.
Perth (PER) – Hong Kong (HKG)
Cathay Pacific CX170
Aircraft: A330-300
Rego: B-HLW
1st Flight: 10 Oct 2003
Seat: 2D (Business Class, managed to secure seats in 1st Class cabin as flight was sold as 2 class)
ETD: 0005
ETA: 0755
ATD: 0015
ATA: 0744
Flight Time: 7hrs 22min
Pre Flight
Only one family in front of me at check in, but still took 15mins before it was my turn. Realised that 1st class check in was available and the CX supervisor told me that it was for passengers that had onward F class tickets to other destinations. She also told me I was smart to select the F cabin during the online check in. Although it was not my prefered window seat, hey for the F cabin I would definitely settle for the aisle seat which I got. Terminal was pretty full with passengers as tons of flights going out tonight. Too bad I could not take pics of any aircraft due to the night plus reflection from the glass. Being a One World member, the lounge by default was of course the newly renovated Qantas Club Lounge. Its nice to look at, but after being in it for some time, it felt really cold and monotone.
Inflight
Nice F cabin onboard this 3 class A333. I was lucky to check in online and secure the F cabin.
Amenity kit made by Agnes B
Inflight Magazines & Menu
Really makes sleeping so much better. The greeting from the inflight crew was good, but still far from the level of MH, probably similar to SQ. As for the actual inflight service, it was really good and attentive, didn't have much chance to play with the AVOD though as I stuck to watching stuff on my laptop.
Pretty tired before the meal was served but, hey, a hungry tummy needs to be satisfied!
It was another one of those sleepless nights, but I managed to get 3 hrs sleep in the end. I guess the crew kept the cabin temperature a little bit too warm.
Breakfast Time
Watching a few more vids just before the cabin was prepared for arrival into HKG
Service: 8.5/10
Food: 8/10
Aircraft: 9/10
21 April 2009
Hong Kong (HKG) – Shanghai (PVG)
Cathay Pacific CX6858 (Dragonair KA874 codeshare)
Aircraft: A330-300
Rego: B-HYA
1st Flight: 5 April 1995
Seat: 10K
ETD: 1300
ETA: 1530
ATD:1310
ATA:1515
Flight time: 1hr 50min
Preflight
After 24 hours in Hong Kong, I decided to take a cab to the airport instead as my knee was starting to act up a little.
Landside at HKG and KA check in counters
KA Lounge, it was simple but sufficient although it was pretty packed with business travelers like myself
View Below from the KA lounge
Check in, immigration and security was a breeze, and after grabbing a quick bite I was in the Dragonair lounge parking my butt. The lounge was simple, comfortable and does its job nicely, nothing too fancy. However there was no smoking room in the loiunge so I left early to search for one near the gates. Although I could take the train, I decided to take a slow walk instead so that I can do some spotting. Hong Kong is really a spotters haven.
Nice and slow walk
My bird to PVG
Inflight
3 class A333 on this sector to PVG. Altgough the F seats are more or less J class spacebeds as onboard SQ. My J seat on the other hand is very basic with no PTV. Not a worry on this short hop to PVG.
A peak into F cabin which was mainly occupied by KA pilots on a repositioning flight to PVG
Views from my seat during taxi and take off
Inflight magazines & menu
Meal time & my personal form of entertainment
Friendly crew on board. Y is 100% full, so is J as some pax from Y were upgraded, and as far as I can see, around 3 empty seats in F. Flight itself was pretty good, and really efficient flight attendants aboard who carried out their job efficiently. The catering was surprisingly really good. After the meal I just watched some videos on my laptop and then soon enough we were already descending to PVG. The skies as usual were extremely full of smog!!
Service: 7.5/10
Food: 9/10
Aircraft: 8/10
View from my hotel room in Shanghai, the Shangri-La Pudong
23 April 2009
Shanghai (PVG) – Hong Kong (HKG)
Cathay Pacific CX6845 (Dragon Air Codeshare flight)
Aircraft: A330-300
Rego: B-HWH
1st Flight: 6 October 2005
Seat: 11K
ETD: 0840
ETA: 1115
ATD: 0855
ATA: 1055
Flight time: 2hr 10min
Preflight
After a nice 3 days in Shanghai it was time to head back home. I really hate getting up at 6 in the morning since I had 2 really late nights of less than 3 hours sleep each night. At least by leaving at such a godly hour I managed to skip the morning rush hour. Took me 35mins to get to the airport. Check in took only 5mins.
Airport scenes in PVG
Afterwards it was just just another 5mins to clear immigration and soon I was already parking my butt in the Dragonair lounge. Didn't take any pics of the lounge though as it was so similar to the one in HKG, although it was better in HKG.
GA will soon use its brand new A332 for its services to PVG
Another very familiar sight to me
My ride to HKG
Inflight
Nice crew greeted us onboard, although they didn't look really enthisiastic, they were still really friendly and polite. Really happy I managed to get a different config on both my KA flights, the incoming flight was a 3 class with old recliner seats, while the one today is a 2 class with new J lie flats.
Bye bye smog filled Shanghai
This A333 is pretty new as you can see from the new look cabin interior panels. A333 is definitely one of my favourite medium haul aircraft.
From here on I will just let the rest of my pics do the talking till my next flight from HKG to PER
And just before landing, a customary visit to the lavatory
HKG within reach
Service: 9/10
Food: 6/10
Aircraft: 10/10
23 April 2009
Hong Kong (HKG) – Perth (PER)
Cathay Pacific CX171
Aircraft: A330-300
Rego: B-LAC
1st Flight: 16 June 2005
Seat: 11K
ETD: 1500
ETA: 2240
ATD:1510
ATA:2220
Flight Time: 7hr 27min
Preflight
For some reason I was so dead tired after this short flight. I also did not know what was going on with my seating on this sector as when I did the online checkin, the F cabin was full, so I secured seat 12K as the seat next to it was empty. But when I checked in in PVG I was reassigned to 11K. Anyways, I decided to grab a bite to eat first and also walked around the shops before heading over to the CX lounge. At the lounge I asked about my heading and to my pleasent surprise I was told that there was an equipment change and I will be flying on a new A333 with the new J herringbone seats. For the rest of the time I just relaxed in the lounge and of course did more spotting
Shower room and CX lounge scenes
B-LAC taking me home to Perth
Inflight
When I boarded it was pretty messy as caterers were still delivering bits and pieces to the aircraft, especially J galley was a flurry of activity, I guess they still are getting used to the config of the aircraft. Now, I was both excited yet apprehensive about CX new J products as all reviews I read were mostly bad, especially in Business Traveller Asia Pacific Magazine letters section. So now I have to judge it for myself. Look at the pics, then look at my comments
1) Horrors to horros, although mine was the first seat, the window is directly behind me so meaning nechaches to enjoy the view.
2) Parked my butt on the seat, and noticed that shoulder and elbow width is bad
3) Seat feels claustraphbic
4) Plus, huge IFE screen and easy to reach controls
5) Tons of storage space
6) Movable armrests
Same captain which took me to HKG taking me back to PER, a nice twist, chief pursor also came up and greeted me personally.
Views from taxi to take off
Inflight Menu & another version of the Agnes B amenity kit
Checking out the IFE, although people did complain about this in earlier forums, mine seemed to work perfectly fine
Meal time
Nap time and then one last meal before arrival into Perth
It was overall a great adventure with CX and KA on this mid-haul flight. I was pretty lucky to get different product on all my sectors, and I can’t wait to fly CX again, although I am still a little apprehensive with regards to the new J product.
Service: 9/10
Food: 9/10
Aircraft: 8/10
Next trips
1) Back to Jakarta with MH in J (not posting as I have already done tons with this route)
2) Kuala Lumpur and Back to Jakarta in June with MH in J (not posting due to same reason as above)
3) TG in F and J, LH in J to FRA, MXP and BCN in July
4) Perth again in August with MH in J (wont be posting this too)
For some reason I can seem to paste the links to my older trip reports here, so I will try to do it at a later date.
Ryanair!!! From Singapore, joined Mar 2002, 4652 posts, RR: 27 Reply 2, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 19507 times:
Hey Herbert... nice to have you tripping about after the surgery. Eeew... I really don't like the new CX JCL. Personally I think CX has his a rut in recent times with their lacklustre service and the awful reception for their new JCL and YCL. Did I mention the 2nd hand 747-400s? Hahahaha...
I finally made it back to Australia again last month (Adelaide and Melbourne) but no Perth this time. I will be heading back to ADL again come 2010 on SQ's A330. Can't wait.
Take care!
Cheers
Ryan
Welcome to my starry one world alliance, a team in the sky!
Carfield From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1727 posts, RR: 9 Reply 3, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 18864 times:
Thanks for the trip report!
Yes, Dragonair indeed has really good catering and it is good that CX has yet to touch its superior catering (well possibly KA has signed contract with number of those restaurants...) Anyway, I note that the refreshment menu from HKG to PER features two main courses that serve "rice roll" (cheong fun in Hong Kong local terms), which are definitely a bit cheap to serve in business class. However to give CX credits, the dish looked pretty good... somehow these basic dishes survive the harsh environment better at 30,000feet than other dishes...
I agree with you 100% on CX new business class... definitely bad and I don't think CX can somehow rescue its reputation. I flies a number of these new types of business class in herringbone configuration and CX has the tightest and most uncomfortable seat.
SASDC8 From Norway, joined Mar 2006, 662 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 18807 times:
Hi Herbert
Thanks for another nice report. I don't like the look og the herringbone seats and CX'x verson i probably the worst looking og them all!
Anyhow their onboard service and mealservice looks good, so I guess I could live with the neck pain after trying to look out the window the whole flight
I jus tried LX's new business class and though it was not fantastic at lest you have real window views. I'll try and post a report on the LX flights soon.
CXB77L From Australia, joined Feb 2009, 2183 posts, RR: 4 Reply 5, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 18777 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
I always look out for PER-HKG trip reports, because that is the route I fly most often, and on CX A333s, too.
Loved the report, gave me an insight as to what life on the front of the plane might be like (I've never flown in J or F). I didn't know that CX sometimes uses their newer A333s on the route, with the new interior bins and panel design. To me, the older style makes the plane look ancient.
From your photos, it does look as though their new J seats are rather cramped. It baffles me why CX used this as their J class product. I have a general dislike for herringbone designs generally, but CX's narrow seat width just makes the whole experience less enjoyable than it could've been. I loved the food, though, and you seemed to give its service a high enough rating. From my experience of CX, they never disappoint with service standards.
SInGAPORE_AIR From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2000, 13711 posts, RR: 21 Reply 6, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 18346 times:
Thanks for sharing ThaiA345. Great to see reports of CX's new Business Class.
ThaiA345 From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, RR: 17 Reply 8, posted (3 years 10 months 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 16569 times:
Quoting A1ring23 (Reply 1): Its always good to read a report out of PER, and yours are always good Smile
CX's new J product does look quite claustrophobic judging from your pictures.
Hoping to try out CX later on this year when i head back to China for a bit.
Well, my advise is hopefully you get the older A333 config which is much more comfortable than the herringbone design! For me, I hate herringbone designs, but if I must be on one, I would take NZ or VA anytime!!
Quoting Ryanair!!! (Reply 2): I finally made it back to Australia again last month (Adelaide and Melbourne) but no Perth this time. I will be heading back to ADL again come 2010 on SQ's A330. Can't wait.
Hey Mr Soh !!! Let me know your schedule and hopefully we can meet up real soon!!!
Nicholaschee From Australia, joined Oct 2005, 661 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (3 years 10 months 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 15949 times:
Great TR!
The herringbone concept is utter claustrophobia regardless of airline. Having flown on a similar product twice this year, I will never want to fly on it again unless necessary. I rather settle for the angled lie flats or recliners.
ThaiA345 From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, RR: 17 Reply 10, posted (3 years 10 months 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 15680 times:
Quoting Carfield (Reply 3): Yes, Dragonair indeed has really good catering and it is good that CX has yet to touch its superior catering
Quoting Carfield (Reply 3): (cheong fun in Hong Kong local terms)
Actually I agree with you on this point, KA won the inflight catering battle against CX. Regarding the cheong fun...sure it looks unclassy to serve on a J trip, but it sure was yummy ...taste over presentation i guess
Quoting SASDC8 (Reply 4): Anyhow their onboard service and mealservice looks good, so I guess I could live with the neck pain after trying to look out the window the whole flight
Actually I was pretty happy with their inflight service, they have pretty decent crews and very attentive too. Will fly them again soon, but definitely not in the new herringbone J class!
BPS3458 From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 520 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (3 years 10 months 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 15011 times:
Hi ThaiA345,
excellent report and great pictures. Found your review of the new CX herringbone business class of great interest. Looking at the seat width and the length of the bed once flat looks like I would not really have a pleasant trip being a solid 201 cms long. Guess my legs/feet would simply block the aisle.
Just had the pleasure of flying in SQ's new regional business class from BNE-SIN return and found their seats/beds of excellent quality and comfort even for a 201 cms tall guy.
ThaiA345 From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, RR: 17 Reply 12, posted (3 years 10 months 18 hours ago) and read 14673 times:
Quoting CXB77L (Reply 5): It baffles me why CX used this as their J class product. I have a general dislike for herringbone designs generally, but CX's narrow seat width just makes the whole experience less enjoyable than it could've been
Its really not a good experience, the only think that pulled me thru the flight were the good inflight crew and also good catering out of HKG.
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