CATHAY PACIFIC BUSINESS CLASS SAN FRANCISCO TO HONG KONG JANUARY 222017 CX 893 國泰航空商務客艙三藩市直飛香港 SFO HKG

JAN 22, 2017

CATHAY PACIFIC CX 893

SFO-HKG

DEPARTURE 12:55AM

ARRIVAL 07:30AM next day (estimated 08:05am)

Seat 11K

Business Class

This was an award flight booked directly through Cathay Pacific. I had a balance of around 30,000 AsiaMiles and transferred 40,000 miles from Citi credit cards' ThankYou points. One can transfer miles to Cathay Pacific's AsiaMiles from Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), Citi ThankYou, and Amex membership points, NOT Chase though.

One way business class from San Francisco to Hong Kong direct flight costs 70,000 AsiaMiles. If you book round trip together, it goes down to 60,000 miles each way. If booked through Alaska Airlines, it's 50,000 Alaska miles one way. I booked it first day when award flight was available, was on waitlist, but was quickly notified that I made it after a month or two. ThePointsGuy and Mr Lucky @ OneMileAtATime both confirmed that Cathay opens up even more award seats closer to departure dates. Cathay would call long distance to remind you to get the ticket(s) issued.

This was my second time on business class flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong on CX. It confirmed a number of already established notions by many flyers:

1. Seat is awesome
2. Food is meh
3. Entertainment is awesome
4. Falling asleep and staying asleep is effortless

Check in was a breeze, there's usually no line at SFO's Cathay check in counters. I am guessing it's because they work so fast. I had a digital piano packed in a box, longer than 4 feet, weighed about 20 kg. Check in staff asked casually what it was and checked it to Hong Kong without blinking. They were giving another business class passenger a really hard time, though politely, that his one bag was more than 35kg and they would have to charge him extra. This was the same passenger who later took more than 10 minutes to slowly take off his shoes, remove his computers from his carry on, remove his belt . . . I wish internationally airlines would pay for TSA Pre, and let the seasoned travelers get through security quick. We deserve it, we are prepared always to just walk through the damn thing with no time wasted instead of slowing the whole world down. AND the same passenger's extremely loud snore graced the entire business class cabin later during the night, I had my noise canceling BOSE with me, I could not have cared less, but . . . TSA should seriously consider creating a separate line for these questionable travelers, let them take their damn time, somewhere else.

The new Cathay Pacific lounge expansion had been completed since I last flew with them. I took the chance to check it out. It is much more spacious than before and it was not crowded when I visited. I love Cantonese wonton so even though the wonton soup noodle here is slightly sub-standard, I had to have some! It a bit like whenever I have a chance to have Hainanese Chicken Rice, I cannot help it.

More lounging areas and seating added, a few more restrooms and showers were also added at the far end. My best friend Ken Irelan @ Gensler (Architect) worked on both the original side and the expansion side. Great job!

CX Lounge expanded side

A full espresso machine and a ground crew served sandwich, salad, and cold cut meat bar was added. Food offering was not extremely exciting:

Hot items

- Chicken noodle soup

- Boiled to order: wonton noodle soup, dan dan noodle, veggie noodle

- Stirfry chicken, egg fried rice, stirfry lai fun (not lai fun, just spaghetti), stirfry vegetables (with my fav babycorn though)

- mini cheese burgers (sliders)

- and some other things that looked like tortilla with some things inside of it

Cold items

- assorted cold cut mammals

- cold sandwiches (tuna and turkey)

- made to order toasted turkey sandwich

- some standard salad items, leafy greens

I get more excited about items like lobsters, raw/seared tuna, giant prawns, smoked salmon, raw Kumamoto . . . etc even the self serve laksa in the SFO Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Lounge was more exciting than any of these mediocre food items at the Cathay Lounge. Bottom line, this lounge is a quiet and contemporarily designed oasis to relax and have some food and drinks without having to pay, before you get on a long haul flight.

Wonton noodle soup with chili sauce

Boarding was promptly begun at 12:15am as notified by check in crew lady. I pre selected 11K this time. This is one of the fore-most seats of the aircraft since there's no first class offered on this flight. I don't usually get bothered by noise from the restrooms and galley. But if you are, stay a couple seats back from the first row or two. It can also be quite an abrupt "interruption" whenever the flight crew appear all of a sudden from behind your seat or through the curtain in front since there's no fore-shadowing as you would have other wise when you are seated in a row in the middle of the cabin than the very first. I jumped a couple time when concentrated on a movie and a giant flight attendant head appeared two inches from my left cheek.

Seat 11K is decent and quite standard, though top of the front pod is blocked off since it's the bulk head seat. It might feel slightly claustrophobic for some.

Seat 11K

The two middle seats 11D and 11G are very spacious, they would be perfect for the disabled, wheelchair bound, or elderly. 

Seat 11G

The entry space into these two seats are also more generous than 11A or 11K. 

Looking from 11K to 11G

When it comes to dinner (supper) time on these CX flights, nothing is extremely exciting. There's no nicely plated seafood appetizer, just bread sticks and a couple dips. I passed on all those. Everything was served on a table cloth on a tray on a table cloth on the folded out tray. It all felt very silly and not especially luxurious. But we all knew it'd be like this. We are here for the awesome seat! NOT. THE. FOOD. Meals are certainly adequate and a notch up from coach but there's nothing to brag about. China Airlines' business class appetizers, Chinese entrees, and desserts are light years ahead of Cathay's. Cathay wins in the category where all flight attendants are fluent in English.

Not a big big deal but when more than 6 flight attendants of different genders and origins were serving you, and two of them spoke Cantonese, it was hard to keep track of who to speak Cantonese to.

Chinese entrée, tomato sauce pork chops and egg fried rice

Breakfast was so pathetic looking I couldn't even take a picture of it. It was rice porridge with abalone lookalike clams and shiitake mushrooms and a sad little square of cheung fun (steamed rice wrapper) with shrimp. Poured from Odwalla bottle strawberry smoothie was available.

Breakfast cut fruits and croissant

Supper menu

Snacks and Breakfast menu

Drinks menu

Champagne and white

Red and Port

Liquor cocktail and mocktail

Chinese 1

Chinese 2

Chinese 3

Note: menu of 873 and 893 are exactly the same. 

There were 3 dedicated restrooms for business class passengers. It did not feel enough. 3 out of 4 of the times when I needed to use the restroom, they were occupied. The one closest to the pilot was tiny economy style. The one aft of it (pictured below) was a bit done up with baby changing table. The one closest to premium economy folks was probably the most spacious and marked "accessible". All had Jurlique products in them.

Middle business class restroom

It was reported repeatedly that there's no more ear plugs in the new 78% amenity kit. There were ear plugs in mine. They put them back in. You can ALWAYS ask for a pair of ear plugs on CX and SQ. Don't know about the rest.

Entertainment was awesome as usual. A plethora of Japanese, French, Italian, Indian films sub-titled for your viewing pleasure. It was so weird I only had time for one full length movie and a half. The plane landed before I could finish Shin Godzilla - the very relevant re-make of the classic. My jaw dropped a few times when ..... SPOILER CENSORHIP ..... 

It was evident that the hard product - seat turned bed turned seat and over and over and over again with the 3 buttons - was extremely comfortable that I slept for 8 hours straight. Unbelievable! Ultimately, being able to rest and sleep well is the goal of mine when flying. Well, and not having an overly excited family passing snacks and exchanging souvenirs in front of my face for 5 hours. Well, and having enough privacy to not be drooling on a stranger's hair when I sleep, or playing footsie, or playing elbow-ie, point is: it's just too damn intimate, in coach.

I woke up with 4 hours left before touch down. I watched Tokyo Diner and then Shin Godzilla and was served breakfast while half way through Shin Godzilla. Plane landed before Godzilla done . . . SPOILER CENSORSHIP . . .

Compared to the landing at 6am flight, this one landed at 7am but was supposed to land at around 8am. We got a lot more morning sun rise than the 6am flight so I took some purty pix of clouds.

Clouds right before we landed in Hong Kong

Flying into the clouds right before landing in HKG

And saw the reclaimed (landfill) island that's going to be the Macau's side of tunnel entry on way to Hong Kong. The tunnel will emerge on Hong Kong side and become a bridge again. Eventually connecting to a newly reclaimed island for customs and immigration right next to the airport.

Shot 1 of Zhuhai - Macau - Hong Kong bridge and tunnel

Shot 2 of Zhuhai - Macau - Hong Kong bridge and tunnel

Claiming baggage took no time and I was outta immigration in no time because of the HKID electronic turnstile system. Before long, I was exchanging some US $ to HK $. I asked the currencies exchange dude if $40 USD was enough for a taxi cab to Kowloon, he whipped out a spreadsheet with more than 100 destinations plus estimate taxi fares and pointed at 5 Kowloon locations and said, "Should be just fine." Such Hong Kong typical efficiency, always prepared, always accumulating past experiences to make service better.

Hong Kong International Airport! Always makes me go AHHHHHHH, I'm home! and Proud of it

Turned out our favorite private transport driver had some personal matter to deal with and could not make it that morning. My mom volunteered to come get me but I didn't want her to drive all the way out there so early on a Monday, hence me exchanging USD to HKD and the taxi question.

However, Asian mothers always win arguments. I waited for her here:

And she got there in less than 40 minutes. Thanks mom!

All in all, Cathay Pacific's business class product is awesome even if you have to bring your own frozen dinner onto the plane. With award redemption options like 50,000 Alaska airline miles one way from SFO/LAX to Hong Kong, it's a no brainer! I will keep doing it until the sweet spot is gone. Then I'd probably just continuously go on SQ first for a bit more than 70,000 Krisflyer miles.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS LONDON TO PHILLY BA 67 LHR-PHL 英國航空头等客艙倫敦飛费城

APRIL 19, 2016

BRITISH AIRWAYS BA 67
LHR - PHL
DEPART 12:45 pm
ARRIVE 15:35 pm
Seat 2K First Class
BOEING 777-300


FIRST LEG:
APRIL 19, 2016
AMS - LHR
BRITISH AIRWAYS 
BA 429

AIRBUS A320

LAST LEG:
APRIL 19, 2016
PHL - SFO
AMERICAN AIRLINES
AA 759

AIRBUS A321

The return trip from Amsterdam was booked with American Airlines miles on mostly British Airways flights. 57,500 miles from SFO to AMS business class then 85,000 miles for first class back from AMS to SFO, which I thought was quite reasonable. However, got bled out by the British Airways infamous tax and fuel charges which amounted to $1000+ USD. 

 3 legged flight plan started with a less than one hour flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Impressive that most Asian and European airlines still serve a rather substantial meal for flight under an hour. China Airlines and EVA both serve from Hong Kong to Kaoshiung (45 min flight) even in coach.

On this British Airways flight meal service was so quick the flight attendants were pretty much throwing the dishes in the air and playing catch with each other.
 

BA 429 from Amsterdam to London Heathrow

West coast of Amsterdam

Depending on the time of the day, BA serves an almost full breakfast, a light lunch, afternoon tea, or dinner, very classy. Lunch was a moderate portion, which was perfect.

lunch is served!

close up of lunch

Right before we hit the British East coast, I caught a glimpse of a giant cluster of wind turbines in the middle of nowhere. They popped out from the ocean with no land in sight. There were a few boats hovering around them. We assumed they were doing maintenance on them.

power generating wind turbines in the middle of the ocean

where the wind turbines were

Transiting as a first class passenger was a breeze through Terminal 5 at Heathrow. I pretty much walked past every check point with no line. Headed straight to the British Airways first class lounge (Concorde Lounge) to see what it's like. Service was not super warm but efficient. A number of a la carte items to order from. I of course ordered the full English breakfast, again. Just like Hainan Chicken Rice from Singapore, I JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM! My appetite is not small. So I asked the wait staff who brought the breakfast to me for some smoked salmon on the side.

Worth noting is that all British Airways lounges share the same wifi password. I didn't have to re-enter it since the BA lounge in Seattle.

yet another full English breakfast at the British Airways first class lounge, blood sausage included!

asked for a side of smoked salmon to go with the giant English breakfast

my usual drink

Flight departed from Terminal 5B, which was a quick train ride and a few escalators away. There's only a couple of shops and maybe one restaurant and no lounge (GLA on FlyerTalk corrected me that there's a smal and quiet lounge at T5B, I just did not spot it, I tried). Most of the shopping, restaurants, and lounges are located in the main T5. Get your shopping, eating, and lounging done before you head over to T5B and T5C!

passengers waiting for board flight heading to Philly at Terminal 5C

The first class cabin was well appointed and maintained. The color scheme was classy and subtle. There's no over the top design theme nor loud colors. The understatement and restraint in design is very British. Flight attendants were very friendly all the way but not as personable as Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines'. The reading lamp provided a homey feel to the cabin. China Airlines' new business class cabin also added a reading lamp at each of it's business class pod.

First Class cabin

First Class pod, very similar to Cathay Pacific's business class hard product

quite roomy with some privacy

TV screen flips towards you just like Cathay Pacific's business class's

overhead storage available

semi private view

I'm most intrigued by the powered window shade device. Although it prevents one from planting one's face right onto the glazing of said windows, it is a fun and classy mechanism to play with. The blue glow provided by exterior daylight and the blue hue of the shading device was a welcoming sight - sort of a source of mood lighting.

powered window shade closed

powered window shade half open

Champagne was poured before flight took off. Drink and meal service started with warm mix nuts. Service was even paced, not rushed nor slow. Again, very friendly flight attendants.

warm nuts

table setting

Amuse bouche came in two pieces of delicate offerings. They were not listed on the menu. First one was a sort of cannoli with a very mild cream cheese/mascarpone in a green tea flavored mini waffle cone. The second one was a sun dried tomato with edible just about to bloom pansy and raw onion rings (yuck). I think raw onion ruins everything.

amuse bouche 1

amuse bouche 2

Starter was seared scallops with jasmine tea and mango gel, pea puree and shaved asparagus salad. You may also choose from these other starters:
- Fivemiletown Dairy goat cheese beignet with pea veloute and sesame oil
- Cream of wild mushroom soup
The salad was served to everybody, nothing to write home about.

seared scallops

I had the seared fillet of North Atlantic cod with a sorrel cream sauce, chervil and lemon cous cous, braised fennel and herb oil. There's also a few mini Romanesco broccoli pieces thrown in for looks. Didn't ask what the green twigs were, I'm going to say they were foraged wild chives, haha. Or an ocean grown cousin of "crested floatingheart" I had in Southern Taiwan called "water lotus", 水蓮. I was hoping that the piece of cod was a tiny bit bigger but was very happy with the taste, texture, and presentation.

Added: the green twigs were Samphire, thank you GLA and orbitmic on FlyerTalk for the clarification! Always learn something new!

Other main courses include:
- Seared fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef with roasted shallot puree, herb polenta cakes, tenderstem broccoli, truffle and red wine jus
- Breast of corn-fed chicken with chicken crackling, pickled rhubard, wilted chard, buttered Jersey Royal potatoes and chicken jus.
- Smoked tuna Nicoise salad with quail egg and black olive dressing

pan seared cod with green things around it =)

Dessert was a lemon and semolina sponge pudding with lemon sauce and what felt like a flash frozen cherry. The red ribbon looking thingie was a clear sugar tuile that's soft and thin like paper. No idea what it was and how it's made. It was yummy and helps cut through the tartness of the lemon sauce. Yes, a reverse food psychology in my head was going on since usually citrus helps cut through heavily textured and tasting things like PORK BELLY or heavy New York style cheesecake.

Other desserts available were:
- Caramelized apple parfait with salted pecan and caramel sauce
- Madagascan vanilla ice cream

dessert

 I was pleasantly surprised at how sophisticated the meal was. I enjoyed everything and had no complaint.


Switching quickly to something more technical:
All the controls and jacks were well maintained and cleaned. They didn't show much age. The noise-canceling headphones provided looked very plastic and cheap. I didn't try them on since I brought my own BOSE.

IFE controler

seat and light controls

powered window shade control and audio jack

audio jack (two prong)

2 USB jacks

Right before landing, there was a tea service instead of breakfast. It made sense since we landed mid afternoon. The finger sandwiches were very good. The cucumber sandwich was one of the best I've ever had. I was asleep when the scones were served. One of the lady flight attendant walked by and asked "Did you not have any scones?!?!" I sheepishly said, "No, I wasn't given any." She ran back to the galley and came back with couple of mini scones, Devonshire cream, and strawberry jam, "You MUST try some scones, it's just not proper." I'm not really a scone person but the little scones were fine. They were served warm and were moist enough.

afternoon tea - Darjeeling and finger sandwiches

scones with Devonshire cream

Bone China by Wedgwood for British Airways

One big plus was the personal coat closet for each first class pod. It came in handy this time. There's also a smallish shoe compartment at the bottom of the closet. It's a bit of an added luxury, though not extremely roomy.

personal coat closet

came in handy!

personal shoe compartment

After the luxurious British Airways flight, I transited at Philadelphia. Went through customs and immigration here since it's the first port of entry in the US of A. With global entry, it was a breeze.

Domestic American Airlines first class on an Airbus A321 is not super comfy. It felt like a Singapore Airlines coach seat with maybe an inch more width. The recline was minimal. I could've used a much better seat for this 7 hour flight but it got me home to SFO. Meal service was quite decent. There were ice-cream sundaes served after the meal but I didn't have any because of lactose intolerance. After serving all of first class passengers, there's still a ton of ice-cream sundaes left. The flight attendant started secretly waving at the first row of coach passengers inviting them to eat ice-cream hidden inside the galley. She's so nice!

Dinner served on American Airlines flight from Philly to San Francisco

almost economy style "First Class" seat on AA 759 PHL to SFO. 7 hours of torture

British Airways' first class product on a Boeing 777 was solid and the food was above average. However, the taxes and fuel charges were astronomical. I would most likely look into other award redemption options if I were flying across the Atlantic again.