Cathay First Class has to be one of the more reviewed products on the web, however, I hadn’t flown it on a long-haul flight so when I saw space available and my dates matched, I jumped at the opportunity to book it. As I mentioned in my coming up post, I booked the flight for 70K Alaska miles which is fantastic value.
As I was transiting from my flight from Brisbane, I wasn’t able to get pictures of the First Class check-in section before security. Before the flight, I split my 3 hours of transit time in the Wing and Pier First class lounges.
Boarding started on time, and priority boarding was being enforced which made getting cabin shots much easier.
Cathay’s First Class cabin consists of 6 seats with two rows in a 1-1-1 configuration, one of the smallest First Class cabins out there.
The seat itself is massive and extremely comfortable. To give you an idea of how big it is, one single seat can fit 2 regular sized males, crazy!
In the let side of the seat, you’ll find a pocket which an assortment of reading materials.
Here is the menu, safety card, Discovery magazine and duty-free menu.
As I settled in my seat I was greeted by Irene, she would be looking after me on the flight. She provided me with pajamas from PYE, a bottle of Evian water and an Aesop amenity kit.
Cathay Pacific also hand out Bose headphones for First passengers, fun fact – as you are starting the descent, the crew will come and collect them from you, this is due to people stealing them.
Here are the contents of the Aēsop amenity kit.
The ottoman can be used as a seat if you are dining with another passenger. To the left of the ottoman is the IFE screen, the screen moves out and can pivot to an angle you’re happy with.
There’s a seatbelt on the ottoman for a secondary passenger is the case of turbulence.
On the right side of the seat, you’ll find both In-seat and USB power outlets.
As you can see, the First seat is very spacious, and even though it doesn’t have closing doors like it’s some of its competitors, it still feels private.
On the right side of the seat you’ll find the IFE controller, seat and light controls and a small storage compartment.
As I’m underage, I can’t have the normal pre-takeoff drink which is Krug, so I settled for water.
Irene also handed me a hot towel.
Hong Kong was very overcast and rainy, so I didn’t get any photos of the different aircraft at gates etc.
After leveling off at 34,000 feet, the meal service started shortly after. I started with a Coke and warm nuts.
The crew give passengers in First a hand written note when they dine, a nice personal touch.
To start with I had the caviar, without the champagne. Cathay Pacific use Calvisius caviar which is found on both Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. The course is usually accompanied by Krug champagne or Belvedere Vodka.
After the caviar I went with the seasonal salad.
And for the main, I had the sirloin. Sadly the sirloin was heavily undercooked in the center which was a major shame. The outer parts were cooked great, and the outer parts tasted fantastic.
After having lunch I decided to get some sleep, the cabin slowly changed mood lighting then went pitch black after the meal service was completed.
The bed is extremely comfortable and the space is excellent, especially if you’re like me and move around quite a bit while sleeping.
I managed to get around 5 hours of sleep which wasn’t too bad but I would of preferred to have more. The whole flight was very turbulent with the seatbelt sign going on and off regularly, I found it difficult to get back to sleep.
As I couldn’t sleep, I decided to stay up and have some breakfast. I started with a hot cappuccino.
To eat, I ordered some fresh fruit and a muffin.
Beautiful fresh fruit which was full of flavour.
And for the main dish I had some bacon, sausages and fresh boiled eggs.
Bacon, Sausages and Tomato:
Boiled eggs:
After getting some work done and watching a few episodes of Suits, the sun began rising, and we were fast approaching Los Angeles.
The sunrise was beautiful, and the sun made for some fantastic lighting opportunities for some final cabin shots.
Bottom Line
Cathay Pacific First Class is still a word class product despite some recent cost-cutting. I really love the hard product and find the bed to be one of the most comfortable in the sky, the soft product on the other hand, was quite disappointing, I was expecting to try the new Michelin Star Menu, however, the crew hadn’t even heard of it which is disappointing.
14 comments
Your photography is gorgeous, especially the sunrise cabin shots. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Collecting the headphones must be a US destination speciality. Never had this on any CX flight in F.
Underage? Are you not over 18 which is the legal drinking age in Hong 5?
I’m still 16, 17 in 3 weeks.
Nice review Zac.
I’d like to fly!
Flew this route last August and it was up to snuff, as previous CX F flights have been. Not to mention the refined retreat that the new Pier F lounge is. While the main lounge at HKG has always been one of the better airline lounges anywhere, it tends to get crowded and less relaxing. The Pier lounge is an oasis far from many of the gates CX uses, so never crowded. The menu in the restaurant is rather more limited than in the main lounge, but it’s there to tide you over until you inflight dining. And it’s alway easy to get a massage or grab a short sleep in one of the day rooms. Used my PYE voucher (worth about U$75 in either HKG$s or RMBs) on a later trip to Shanghai for a nice box of handkerchiefs though was tempted by a collarless shirt…though will use my second voucher for one on another trip to Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Hi Zac,
I recently discovered your reviews from the Quest interview. I love your thoroughness and enthusiasm. They’re always fun to read, even if I’ve flown the same airline and class before.
Since you are so young, it might be useful if you try reviewing some of the non-alcoholic drinks offered on many of these menus. There are plenty of people nowadays who don’t drink, be it for religious, health or personal reasons…or they just don’t like the taste. Reading through the menus either in person or on the various review blogs, I always notice really delicious sounding beverage offerings. I think it would be an interesting addition to your reviews. Just a thought.
Can’t wait to see where you turn up next. Happy 17th!
Hi Zac
Another brilliant review. I was planning to try this product for a trip to Japan in a few months but unfortunately due to phantom space showing up on BA I was sad to learn that there was actually no space available in F. Since my dates are fixed, I had to settle for SQ suites on my DEL-SIN leg and the new SQ F cabin on the 777-300ER from SIN-NRT. Pretty excited for the latter as it’ll be my first time in that particular cabin. Will definitely share some pics on my insta page.
Your fellow AvGeek from India
TravellingIsAWayOfLife
The Michelin menu starts at the earliest on April 30, after your flight.
Makes sense, was wondering why it wasn’t onboard 😉
Hi Zac,
Great review and wonderful photos. I’ve flown Cathy F a number of times primarily on the JFK-HKG route. It looks like you were in Seat 1K. Traveling alone this is the very best seat in the F cabin. One has seen that some folks have issues with Cathay in flight service. They leave it up to the passenger to craft the experience versus others that hover over you. Many of us are conditioned that when traveling domestically, hitting the Call button is an insult to the crew. Not so with Cathay, on my 1st experience, the steward came up to me and said, please put me to work. Wow.
Because they are more like servants . On the United States that means you have an emergency or a safety related issue . Like… You are unable to buckle up your seatbelt.
70K Alaska Miles, this number is big, but I think it’s worth totally. Love your post!
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