UPGRADED! With miles =): CX

SEP 17, 2015
CATHAY PACIFIC CX 873
SFO-HKG
DEPART 1:00AM
ARRIVE 6:10AM
Seat 12A (mini cabin)
Business Class

Business class "virgin" flight using miles! I used Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles to pay for these San Francisco to Hong Kong round trip tickets. One way from between Hong Kong and San Francisco costs 70,000 miles, round trip costs 120,000 miles. There's 20,000 miles discount if you book round trip. You can also pay a minimal fee to join the Marco Polo club. However, Marco Polo is going to be changed from a mile based system to a point based system.

I already have around 42,000 miles on my Asia Miles account from flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong 2 times a year. Then i transferred around 78,000 sign up bonus points from Chase Sapphire and Chase Ink. Fuel charge for the tickets is higher than most US airlines would charge for award tickets but is nothing compared to how much Singapore Airlines charges.

Check in at San Francisco International Airport was a breeze. There was only one person waiting in line. There's also a priority line at security check. Cathay's lounge is to the left past security and up one floor. Boarding was also painless. Left line for business and first class, right line for economy.

Seat 12A within the "mini cabin"

Seat 12A within the "mini cabin"

My dream come true! The famous most lengthy business class seat in the air! 81" (2.06 meters) on paper. I estimated it to be 84" because when I raised my hands above while laying flat, I could not reach either end with my toes and finger tips. Plenty of legroom while in the seated position.

Ottoman

Pre-flight Champagne, Deutz Brut Classic

The seat, controls, noise canceling headphones, storage compartments, and the tv screen had been reviewed and covered in detail by many others so I'll concentrate on the food. I do like the shoe compartment near the floor. But the retractable arm rest didn't do anything for me.

The menu was different than before. The wine list and the food menu were separated into two before. Now they are combined into one.

Menu Cover

Supper Menu

Snacks and Breakfast Menu

Champagne and White

Red and Port

Chinese Supper Menu

I got too excited about the free flow non stop diet coke and coke zero I ended up waking up every 30 minutes to go use the bathroom. Note to self: have some self control. Same applies to supper and breakfast and snacks you can order in between. I am not really a wine connoisseur so I did not taste too much of the wine.

Free flow diet coke and coke zero

I've seen other bloggers' pictures of refined first course of smoked salmon plated beautifully. On this flight, the first course was in a tiny square dish on the same tray and it's just a bean dip with packaged bread sticks. Very disappointing. Very coach class. Dessert was also served in the same square dish as the appetizer. I was expecting a nicely cut and presented cake or tiramisu or flourless chocolate cake. Was I disappointed! It was a "Fresh Note of Fresh Seasonal Berries". Come on! And the fact that I am lactose intolerant, I did not get too excited about the cheese plate. The cheeses were presented on a nice rolling cart though. I didn't pay much attention to it to keep the air fresh and clean for the fellow passengers in the same cabin whose faces I never seen. These were the cheeses, for your reference: Camembert, Yellow Cheddar, Danish Blue, served with crackers and quince paste. Even to me, these are very nondescript cheese names.

This experience is nothing like what my idol Lucky blogged about on his "How Good Is Cathay Pacific Longhaul Business Class?" But then he was flying from Hong Kong to Newark. That might have been the difference. Otherwise, Cathay Pacific's business class is being down graded? To me, it's still better than coach, and the amount of food was still way better than coach =)

Supper table setting

Many flyers have raved about the garlic bread on Cathay Pacific flights. I wasn't too impressed.

"famous" garlic bread

The starter was a "A Tasty Blend of Freshly prepared savoury dips and bread sticks". As I am writing this blog, I realized that many of the items were very nondescript and generic. I am guessing that it might have been because this is one of the first wave of flights that get the newly designed menu and menu items? Half of the dip tasted like hummus and the other half was probably some kind of sun dried tomato dip. An olive and a small piece of pickled red bell pepper was added as garnish.

close up of the hummus dip

"dessert"

pre-packaged bread sticks with hummus dip

The entree Grilled USDA choice beef tenderloin, roasted butternut squash, and fava bean puree was the highlight of the meal, even though the plating was basically economy on porcelain instead of plastic dish. The steak sauce served in an aluminum foil cup was a little too Applebee's. HOWEVER, the green fava bean mash was very rich in flavor. I suspect that it was cooked in chicken stock before getting mashed. It reminded me of a bean mash "Dou Ban Su" I had at Chun Restaurant (Spring Restaurant) back in 2010 in Shanghai with Willy Wai and Keiko Toishi.

Butternut squash was forgettable. Tasted boiled and then brushed with butter and topped with some spices. It's quite a healthy alternative to mashed potatoes with butter and cream though. And a good option for diabetics who does not want to eat rice.

I am not going to lie. I love eating beef and steaks and prefer nicely marbleized ribeye. Most of the time I find tenderloin, New York strip, and/or filet mignon too lean for my personal taste. I did find this mini piece of USDA choice beef tenderloin extremely tasty. It did not taste grilled but slow roasted. The flavor was complex and deeply penetrated into the thickness of the steak. To my surprise, when I cut it open, it was bleeding rare! I was in heaven!

fava bean mash and steak

perfectly medium rare steak

The Chinese supper was Braised abalone and chicken, baby pak choy, carrot and steamed jasmine rice. I finished my steak first and then asked if I could try the chicken entree. Flight attendant smiled and said "For sure!" without a split second of hesitation. The chicken and abalone weren't bad. They were just not extremely exciting. I enjoyed it but I wasn't wowed by it. Pretty standard braised marinated chicken thigh meat with oyster sauce and a couple sliver of abalone on top. The Shanghai Bok Choy was microwaved to just the right color and tenderness unlike the greyish green bok choy in economy. The jasmine rice was already a bit dry on the surface and getting crunchy to the bite.

abalone slices + chicken

The two midnight snack options were quite impressive though! You can order Wonton Noodles or a Grilled Niman Ranch beef short rib burger with Sonoma Jack cheese, pickle, and tomato ketchup. The flight attendant advised me that these would take about 15 minutes to prepare. I had time to wait, where was I gonna go?

The wonton noodle soup came with choy sum and pretty decent wontons. The noodles were a version of Cantonese egg noodles that were closer to Hawaiian saimin (more tender) than the regular HK egg noodles (more elastic and chewy). The broth was more a chicken stock than the authentic dried "Dai Day" fish based soup (大地魚). It was a much tastier and healthier alternative to the Cup-o-noodles they offered on the flight. Again, I'd like to mention that I've tried the noodles at both the SFO and HKG Cathay lounges (The Wing). I was not impressed and do not understand why many are so excited about them. There is no authenticity associated with the wonton noodles they serve there. They are good noodles but the options you get outside of the lounges both at SFO and HKG are much better.

prepared to order wonton soup noodle

prepared to order burger

prepared to order burger and put together by me

again, perfectly medium rare beef patty

breakfast croissant and fruit plate

e-fu noodles and dimsum

sun rise before landing in Hong Kong

OCTOBER 1, 2015
CATHAY PACIFIC CX 872
HKG-SFO
DEPART 12:30AM
ARRIVE 10:15PM (one day earlier)
BUSINESS CLASS
Seat 20A

On way back from HKG to SFO, I was excited about visiting The Wing business class section. By the end of my two week vacation in Hong Kong and Bangkok, I could not manage to eat anymore. At this point, I was so tired of food I only had a Coke Zero and a Champagne just for the sake of it at The Wing. I will review at a later date.

We boarded the plane through the front door where we walk past the 6 seat first class cabin. I snapped a couple of shots of the seat.

First class seat

chill-laxing

I love the movies and music offered by Cathay Pacific flights. These are available to all classes of service. They always have a healthy selection of Indian and Hong Kong music and movies. If you like watching Hong Kong movies in the original Cantonese soundtrack, you may want to fly Cathay Pacific instead of Singapore Airlines because on Singapore Airlines flights, the Hong Kong movies are all dubbed in Mandarin, always.

Japanese pop

After eating non-stop in Hong Kong and Bangkok for 2 weeks, there's not much space left in my stomach. Next time I will just eat half portion of everything. Good plan. I didn't ask to taste the other option of Supper:

Grilled Australian prime beef tenderloin, spinach,

carrots, potatoes and thyme sauce

And the "Lighter Meal":

Cannellini bean and garlic soup, grissini

Parma ham, feta, kalamata olives

and honey mustard dressing

Chose the Chinese option:

Chinese supper: Steamed chicken, Matsutake mushroom,
Kailan (Chinese broccoli), and steamed jasmine rice

Chinese broccoli is always my favorite vegetable. I'll have it whenever it's available. It was tender and not over-microwaved. Steamed chicken had oyster sauce with it. Matsutake mushroom was always indistinguishable from the chicken in color and texture. The dish wasn't bad. It's just not much better than economy fare. No matter, I finished it anyway. Steam jasmine rice this time was perfect - not dry and crunchy on top, consistent texture throughout.

The made to order snacks were:

Grilled Australian prime grain fed beef burger,

Swiss cheese, pickled gherkin and tomato ketchup (Heinz, bottled)

Braised pork and preserved vegetables in rice vermicelli soup

Haagen Daaz is always available on Cathay flights, most of them, even on economy. Just ask.

Two hours before landing, breakfast was served. I had the Chinese option again. Still not very hungry. I did enjoy the Forest berry smoothie though I suspected that it was poured from an Odwalla bottle. I didn't hear a blender going off in the galley, well that wouldn't be too nice in business class eh?

breakfast croissant and fruit plate

There's the fruit plate again. Would've been nice to see Star-fruit (in season in Hong Kong), Pomelo (in season in Hong Kong), a couple more pieces of Kiwi please?


Breakfast dimsum: chicken and ham bean curd wrap, siu mai, seafood dumpling, mushroom and vegetable dumpling, pork and chive dumpling

Dimsum was good! Nothing to complain about and no way in economy would you get a cute plate of 6 little pieces of dimsum. If I was stuffed for another 2 days from overeating in Hong Kong and Bangkok, I would've asked for seconds. HOWEVER, the Chinese menu says the siu mai had crab roe on it. You see those 6 may be 7 tiny little pieces of orange dots? That's what they meant by crab roe.

Other breakfast options were:

Tomato and feta cheese fritata, Dingley Dell pork sausage and

back bacon, braised bean ragout and oven roasted potatoes

(probably served in another rectangular dish straight from the microwave)

Dried bonito and peanut congee, baked spring onion puff

(very authentic and Cantonese but NOT something you'd want to sample on business class)

Side note:
1. Oolong tea was available when asked and it was brewed fresh, very flavorful. Would be best if they had Puh-Er too.
2. There was a wine promotion of wine from Beaujolais Crus. No idea where that is. These were the available ones:

Domaine Franck Chavy, Les Granites Roses, Morgon 2014

Domaine Bergeron, Julienas 2014

I asked to try one of the promotional wines and was expecting an explanation of the wines available. The male flight attendant (he just happened to be Filipino), asked me back, "oh the promotional red?". I was like "they are all red". So I just asked for him to give me any one of them. I tried the Domaine Bergeron, Julienas 2014.

Granted I don't know much about wine and I am a girl (I am just making fun of myself, don't mean to offend the opposite sex, gender i mean, may be I am already digging a deeper hole . . . I will shut up now) when it comes to wines I like, they are usually sweet, not dry, and not full-bodied), here's my humble opinion:

It is a more of a wood taste, almost like licking a prig of bark, than that of cherry or dried berries like. On the dry side, the after taste fades away fast. Also a tad bit on the bitter side. Not a super dry and full bodied red like most of my manly wine connoisseur friends like.

Well well, I just looked up online, that bottle is less than $9 USD. I'll keep my comments on the wine but, no comment on the price per bottle.

Conclusion:

The best attribute of flying business on Cathay Pacific is the lie flat seat and privacy. There was maybe too little human contact in the mini cabin section of the plane. A total of 8 people in that mini cabin with curtains in front and back of cabin. When we deboard the plane, I had no idea which way to go since I was a little slow to get my baggage from compartment above the seat. No-one was in the cabin no more. Not complaining but it could be quite a lonely experience.,

The meals' portions were great and much more substantial than economy. I didn't exert any self control so I ate too much. Quality of the food was not that much better than economy. The plating, cutlery, and choices were a level up from economy.

I am not complaining at all and I enjoyed the business class experience tremendously. I will fly business as much as I can help it. But if you are traveling with companions, interaction with your companions may prove more difficult since the seat configuration was designed to be isolating.

On these two flights, I noticed many of the business flyers just zonked out immediately after take off and did not wake up until almost landing time.

Service was very good but not super attentive. I find the economy crew is always efficient and polite as well. So, there's not too much of a jump in class of service, just enough to be different, towards the better end. I'd be flying Cathay Pacific First Class in Feb 2016 and I will blog about the overall three class experience. I may pay for premium economy at some point so I'll have the comprehensive 4 class experience.

July 4, 2014
San Francisco to Hong Kong
SFO - HKG
Economy
Coach
Seat 72D
72G similar
Boeing 777-300ER

Sharing my experience with an economy seat on Cathay Pacific flight CX 873 from SFO to HKG hoping to help anyone choose the best seat. It's a paid coach fare, lowest fare that included mileage accrual.

72D

Decent seat 72D with a little bit extra elbow room and unofficial storage space behind seat, good for books, newspaper, or a small light bag. Just be discreet and keep from sight of flight attendants. It reclines just enough.

Pillows, blankets, and headphones were all already placed on seats before boarding. Headrests were the ones with two ends folding out to keep your head in place.

Back of seat in front

72 C to 72 G all recline backwards. Seat in front does not recline towards you. Personal entertainment system is all touch screen now. There is no physical button nor any retractable corded handheld control pad. Nice touches include mini hook for hanging small items, small shelf right below monitor is perfect for cell phone or small electronics. A small cup-holder can be used by itself without folding the whole tray table out.

Widened aisle

Advice taken from Tripit.com, there's a giant aisle between you and the rest of the seats, enough to hang your elbow and leg out a lot more than the regular aisle seats along the narrow aisle. Your elbow is also protected by the partition right behind your seat, which sticks out by a few inches.

USB jack

USB port at bottom of personal display. AC power outlet is under the seat. See below for photo taken on the flight back from HKG to SFO.

Cathay (exclusive?) under plane belly loqw-res camera

Pretty awesome to have a view of a small albeit low res camera at the bottom of the plane. Super fun during take-off and landing. You can also switch between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios.

Menu pages:

English breakfast menu

Available wines

Supper Menu

Chinese supper menu

Food was decent. I will take more pix in future posts. Portions of courses on planes are never big enough for me. I've asked for seconds before and have succeeded on both SQ and CX flights, economy class. It doesn't hurt to ask. There's also the usual cup noodles, chips, dried fruits, crackers, chocolate ..... , etc . . . The snacks and fruits are usually placed on a basket in the galley, self serve.

Breakfast pic

I had the beef stirfry for dinner and scramble for breakfast, both very good. One cannot really expect the little baby shanghai bokchoy to be fresh green color though =) it's been cooked and microwaved.

I have nothing to complain about this flight though I had an empty seat next to me yay!

Just an observation: there were a lot of 3-5 year old kids seated in premium economy section. I wonder if they have filthily rich parents or is it Cathay's policy to gather up all the kids in the premium economy sections now? Will keep observing.

Yay! My first travel review is online!!! Thanks for reading!

under seat photo - universal power outlet present!

Yes, confirmed, the power outlet is under the seat.

Uh oh they stopped speaking mandarin on the flight I was on. There's no more mandarin announcement. Is this planned? Flight attendants kept speaking Cantonese to mandarin people and say sorry I do not speak mandarin after switching to English. Is this a protest??

September 25, 2015 update:

On my latest flight on Cathay Pacific, announcements were only in English and Cantonese, no Mandarin.