The photos of the lounge, cabin, meals and of course a requisite McDull kid coming with can be found at http://www.fjiii.com/.
Trip Report
This is my first post on airliners.net; normally my flights are rather routine and not particularly worthy of prose but I'll make an exception for this flight - one where I got upgraded at check-in at YVR from J to F !
The agent mentioned that the upgrade was because I had flown with CX a lot which sounded like a regular op-up except I was a lowly MPC Silver (OW Ruby) and the flight was no more than half full in J or Y - there were barely any queues at check-in and the boarding process at the gate took all of 5 minutes (I like to wait and hang back and see if there was going to be anyone cute on board; why don't more people do this ?)
Once on board as I was crossing the F galley to get to my seat on the right hand side, I noticed they had the manifest lying on the counter (they really should take better care of these printouts) and caught something next to my name about a voluntary upgrade due to crossing a 0.5 million miles milestone - sweet ! I was a little surprised though at how specific the info was on the manifest regarding my raison d'etre in the cabin.
Please kindly refer to my photoblog linked to above for photos and some other commentary, but in short : the hard product was fantastic as a matter of course, though the service was a let down which I expand on below.
There were five first class passengers on board but the two-lady crew seemed quite dispirited. Both meal services were littered with mistakes; they were of course no big deals and easily rectified but missing a napkin here and a lemon squeezer there can change a passenger's impression quickly. The « Pan-fried Black Cod with Steamed Jasmine Rice » for dinner even arrived without the rice.
As for the lunch main - the « Prime AAA Tenderloin » could not have been any of the three, indeed it was close to inedible. I realize you are perhaps just asking for it ordering beef on board an aircraft so I guess I wasn't really disappointed so much with the beef itself, but more that when I had left the dish basically as is when they collected the plate, I was (more than) half-hoping the FA would notice and ask if something was wrong / offer something else but nope.
Other I presume routine requests - removing the duvet setup, and having another plate of the caviar and balik salmon course later on in the flight - were met with facial expressions and word choices that I felt expressed impatience or incredulousness, as in "I can't believe you are asking me do this". Specifically, when I asked to have the duvet removed after not really falling asleep after an hour and a half, the FA hit back with "already ?!". And not long after, when taking my order for dinner, she used phrasing (Cantonese) that translates to something like "you must have the salad too ?", "you really want the fruit plate as well ?" with a tone that sounded as if I shouldn't have been entitled to any.
Near the end of the flight about an hour out of HKG, I was asked to to fill out the service questionniare. I suspect they disproportionately target upgraded passengers as surely they tend to give glowing reviews (I had filled out about 5 of these previously - all glowing, all very gladly and all asked when I was on an operational upgrade) but on this day at the end of that flight, I didn't feel like I should bother so I declined.
Alright - I think that's about it regarding the service. I know I concentrated on the negatives above but they were really what stood out for me. Everything not mentioned in the above though I think you can safely assume were good if not great - including the fantastic AVOD, the just huge suite, the lovely Chateau Lynch-Bages 2004, as well as the food dishes other than the beef which were all quite good.
I would be more than happy for comments or questions. If none, please feel free to check out my other trip reports at my blog (predominantly photos) : http://www.fjiii.com/all.html.
** For sentimentality, I had gone back later in the flight to the galley to try and grab a photo of the manifest. If you're interested : http://goo.gl/ofoBG.
NZ107 From New Zealand, joined Jul 2005, 5672 posts, RR: 40 Reply 3, posted (2 years 1 month 3 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 12162 times:
Hi fjiii,
Nice job, fantastic pictures! Nice to see CX awarding upgrades for reaching milestones like that... I've got a long way before I surpass anything near that spectacular.
Carfield From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1727 posts, RR: 9 Reply 4, posted (2 years 1 month 3 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 11756 times:
Nice to McDull and his kids here at a.net!
Sorry to hear about the less than stellar crew on your CX 839 flight, and it has become obvious that these "less than stellar" crew are showing up all over the place. I actually sort of wish you had filled out the questionnaires so CX knows where the bad apples are and who need more training.
Quokka From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 10091 times:
Congratulations fjiii on the upgrade. It is nice to see airlines do things like that just as a way of saying thank you for reaching a milestone.
But how disappointing to be upgraded only to find sub par crew. One can accept that individual crew members may occasionally have an off day (they are human) and simple things may be overlooked, like forgetting the rice. They shouldn't happen, but they do. We all make mistakes. What is unacceptable, however, is when crew adopt an unfriendly, discourteous or hostile attitude for no apparent reason.
Hopefully they make up for it on your next journey.
nethkt From Thailand, joined Apr 2001, 985 posts, RR: 3 Reply 7, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 8906 times:
The crew would make it all different, no matter which class of travel you are in.
I think they are playing a vital part of the in-flight experience.
Bad food can turn to be ok and put a smile back on passenger face just because of the magic from the crew.
I am not sure if it's because they know that you are op-up and they couldn't careless.
But hey, they should have known the real reason of op-up!
A loyal customer may turn to be a not so loyal passenger after all.
Not sure if there are any disputes between the airlines' management and the crew.
One thing I disagree with you is that you should have done the Q/naire.
Rate your real experience! They can't take away your upgrades anyway lol
And it's already very tacky for the airlines to op-up then survey pax.
Anyhow, amazing report, great photos. Congrats on your upgrade and your first trip report here!!
Don't be annoyed knowing the passengers around you are non-revs and op-upgraders, be grateful for them. Life is beautifu
N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Reply 8, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 8505 times:
Thanks for sharing the lovely report!
I really like your report format
I have only flown CX First class on the 744 twice and already fallen in love with them. I have been on a few First class product such as Singapore Suites, Emirates First, Thai, Lufthansa, Qatar...
By far my favourite is Cathay! The width, comfort and amount of privacy is just great ! I love the low profile (compare to SQ and others) and humbleness of CX in marketing their product.
ojas From India, joined Mar 2008, 2785 posts, RR: 23 Reply 9, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 7892 times:
Nice TR Fiji,
Sorry you had a flight not upto the standards.
As an aside my cousin flew LAX - HKG - BOM on CX and he just cannot stop praising CX. After a long time he had a true premium experience on CX whilst flying many other airlines.
[Edited 2011-04-05 11:58:27]
A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep
abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, RR: 55 Reply 10, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 7646 times:
Quoting N178UA (Reply 8): Quoting abrelosojos (Reply 6):
Sorry for the disappointing CX flight. It seems that a lot of people are having these poor crews - see my report -
Cathay CX 257: 10/2010: HKG-LHR: > (by abrelosojos Oct 9 2010 in Trip Reports)
It is sad as CX used to be SO SO good.
Saludos,
A.
Sorry to hear you have a bad flight. Looks like fjiii is still proud of Cathay and delighted with the upgrade.
Contrary to the whatever belief , I have two awesome CX flights recently in First.
Sam
= Great to hear that you had those flights. Trust me, I'd have traded my mediocre experience for yours. What has been interesting is the responses my TR generated and the frequent flyers who have had poor CX crew and experiences. This is not consistent with the CX I know.
N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Reply 11, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days ago) and read 7451 times:
Quoting abrelosojos (Reply 10): = Great to hear that you had those flights. Trust me, I'd have traded my mediocre experience for yours. What has been interesting is the responses my TR generated and the frequent flyers who have had poor CX crew and experiences. This is not consistent with the CX I know.
Saludos,
A.
I will fly their inaugural out of Abu Dhabi....will see how this inaugural service on CX fare soon!
abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, RR: 55 Reply 12, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 7231 times:
Quoting nethkt (Reply 7): The crew would make it all different, no matter which class of travel you are in.
I think they are playing a vital part of the in-flight experience.
Bad food can turn to be ok and put a smile back on passenger face just because of the magic from the crew.
I am not sure if it's because they know that you are op-up and they couldn't careless.
But hey, they should have known the real reason of op-up!
A loyal customer may turn to be a not so loyal passenger after all.
= Well written.
Quoting N178UA (Reply 11): I will fly their inaugural out of Abu Dhabi....will see how this inaugural service on CX fare soon!
= Sam, so excited about this! Your pictures are just amazing. I hear from the Cathay folks in Bahrain that they know you are going to be on board ... so am sure you're going to receive royal treatment. Can't wait to read your report.
ronerone From Jordan, joined Aug 2004, 1541 posts, RR: 54 Reply 13, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 7189 times:
Quoting abrelosojos (Reply 12): I hear from the Cathay folks in Bahrain that they know you are going to be on board ... so am sure you're going to receive royal treatment. Can't wait to read your report.
Hi Alex,
But the BAH crew are not at all involved with the inaugural flight. I will be personally making this introduction in due course, so until then, the media guest list will not have Sam's details on it. Soon however, CX will be made aware of this
Sam,
We will discuss this in more detail soon my friend
Cheers,
Roni
A Stop Away From One-Stop, Is Non-Stop : Airbus A340-500
But the BAH crew are not at all involved with the inaugural flight. I will be personally making this introduction in due course, so until then, the media guest list will not have Sam's details on it. Soon however, CX will be made aware of this
= Roni, you and I very well know how a/ small the aviation world is and b/ how well known Sam is and c/ how many people read A.Net . They know. In fact, people at CX HQ know as well.
fjiii From Japan, joined Mar 2009, 8 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (2 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 6975 times:
@ stipica, ojas, Sam, Quokka, Carfield, Nicolas, ardian, and LGWFlyer : thank you all for your kind comments. It's encouraging to get some positive feedback on my first TR !
@ Carfield, nethkt : You're right; I should have filled out the questionnaire. I didn't want to come across in the form as being petty and ungrateful (I mean even with some inattentive service, sitting in F is still a couple orders of magnitude better than CX's herringbone J) but then again, if someone who was upgraded was so disappointed already, imagine how someone who actually paid the F or A fares would feel.
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