While I had flown Cathay Pacific first class many times before, I was excited to fly them this time because the airline recently announced a major refresh to their first class soft product.
And what a flight this was… talk about ending a trip on a high note!
Booking My Cathay Pacific First Class Flight
The return portion of this trip was booked using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. I redeemed 125,000 miles and paid $141 in taxes, fees, and carrier imposed surcharges, for the following itinerary:
12/11 KA937 Beijing to Hong Kong departing 7:30AM arriving 11:15AM [First]
12/11 CX812 Hong Kong to Boston departing 6:05PM arriving 8:50PM [First]
The reason I booked through Asia Miles is because nowadays it’s generally the only program that has access to Cathay Pacific first class award availability last minute. See this post for everything you need to know about redeeming miles for Cathay Pacific first class.
As a reminder, Asia Miles is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou, and Capital One.
Cathay Pacific First Class 777 Review
My layover in Hong Kong was over six hours, so I spent most of my time in the Cathay Pacific Pier First Class Lounge. I won’t be reviewing it again, because little has changed since my last review.
My flight to Boston was departing from gate six, located right near the security and immigration checkpoint. US-bound flights tend to depart from this area.
Hong Kong International Airport departure gate
Boarding was scheduled to start at 5:25PM, and I got to the gate at 5PM. The 777-300ER was already parked there, so I looked up the registration code and confirmed that the plane would in fact feature Wi-Fi (which most Cathay Pacific four cabin 777-300ERs do at this point).
Cathay Pacific 777 Hong Kong
Boarding started at 5:30PM, though I wasn’t immediately allowed to board. As is normal for flights to the US, I was first asked some (ridiculous) security questions. A couple of minutes after that I was onboard.
I was so excited about this flight. I had checked the load and seatmap right before boarding, and knew that I’d have the first class cabin all to myself… can’t beat that!
Before I get into the review, let me note that I was looking forward to the following in comparison to previous Cathay Pacific first class flights:
- The introduction of Gogo 2Ku Wi-Fi (which is even free for first class passengers)
- Slight changes to the seats, including the introduction of new, higher definition TVs
- New bedding and amenities
- An improved dining concept
Cathay Pacific 812
Hong Kong (HKG) – Boston (BOS)
Wednesday, December 11
Depart: 6:05PM
Arrive: 8:50PM
Duration: 15hr45min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2K (First Class)
Ahhh, Cathay Pacific first class! I boarded through the forward door, where I was greeted by the inflight service manager, Claire, as well as the two first class flight attendants, Judy and Joanna.
“Mr. Schlappig, I will show you to your seat. You are our only first class guest this evening.”
Cathay Pacific’s first class product is still one of the most comfortable out there, even though the “bones” haven’t changed in a long time. The cabin consists of six seats, spread across two rows in a 1-1-1 configuration.
Ordinarily my preferred seat would be 2A. That’s because the left aisle has more privacy, since the two center seats face the right aisle. So the left aisle has two seats, while the right aisle has four seats.
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER first class cabin
However, since I had the cabin to myself I decided to sit in 2K.
Cathay Pacific first class cabin 777-300ER
That way I could sleep in one seat, and relax/work in the seat right across (Can I take a moment to appreciate how happy I am with the camera on my iPhone 11 Pro? The pictures are all sooo much better than with my old point-and-shoot).
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER first class cabin
If you’re going to be stuck in a “center” seat, then it’s tough to beat Cathay Pacific’s 777 first class (well, maybe Emirates’ new first class center suite with virtual windows takes the cake, but this isn’t too bad either).
Cathay Pacific first class cabin 777
Anyway, back to my seat, 2K. While Cathay Pacific doesn’t have fully enclosed suites, the seats are so comfortable and spacious, and they’re still very private (especially when you have the cabin to yourself).
Cathay Pacific first class seat
Cathay Pacific first class seat
A couple of things to note. Historically Cathay Pacific’s personal televisions have been frustratingly low definition, even in first class. Cathay Pacific has installed new monitors that are such a huge improvement. They are high definition and perfectly crisp.
Cathay Pacific first class seat
In the past the monitors would swivel out from the console to the side of the seat, while now they simply slide out, so that has changed a bit.
Cathay Pacific first class TV
There’s also a storage compartment underneath the television.
Cathay Pacific first class storage
To the side of that is the ottoman, which can also double as a buddy seat, should you want to dine face-to-face.
Cathay Pacific first class ottoman
The large tray table folds out from the side of the seat.
Cathay Pacific first class tray table
Then even further up is the entertainment controller, a monitor with seat controls, and a small storage compartment.
Cathay Pacific first class seat & entertainment controls
Cathay Pacific first class storage
A 110v and USB outlet are also to the side of the seat, underneath where you’d remove the tray table.
Cathay Pacific first class power outlet
There are no overhead bins in first class, which makes the cabin feel more spacious. Instead each seat has a closet where you can store bags, in addition to being able to place bags underneath the ottoman. Worst case scenario you can store bags in the closet at the front of the cabin.
My only real complaint about the hard product is the lack of individual air nozzles, though that didn’t prove to be an issue on this flight, as the cabin was kept at an appropriate temperature.
Waiting at my seat upon boarding were two pillows and a blanket. Cathay Pacific recently refreshed their bedding, which is now from Bamford.
While the below isn’t even the proper bedding (it’s just two pillows and a blanket, which complement the mattress pad and duvet you get with turndown service), I thought this was a huge improvement. The bedding actually felt luxurious, soft, and plush, which I didn’t feel was the case the last time I flew Cathay Pacific first class.
Cathay Pacific first class bedding
A moment after settling in, I was offered a pre-departure drink of choice. I ordered a glass of Krug. They were pouring the incredible 2004 vintage. Nom nom nom nom. I was offered some mixed nuts to go along with it.
Cathay Pacific first class pre-departure champagne & nuts
I was confused at first, because I thought Cathay Pacific had introduced a new “service moment” upon boarding (as they described it), in the form of a welcome reception tray, including a personalized welcome note, a hot towel, and a glass of sparkling jasmine silver needle tea from JING.
So I asked the flight attendant about this, and she informed me that Cathay Pacific hadn’t yet rolled out the new catering and service concept on all routes. She said it was available to London, Los Angeles, and New York, but not to Boston just yet.
That was frustrating, since experiencing that was one of the reasons I took this flight (I wish they had clarified in the press release that it wasn’t yet available on all routes). However, she said that all the other new service elements had been rolled out, including the new bedding, amenity kits, etc.
So I’m sorry that unfortunately this flight won’t include a full review of the new dining.
As is normal in Cathay Pacific first class, the next few minutes felt like Christmas, as I was given the menu for the flight, Bose headphones, an amenity kit, pajamas, and a warm towel.
Cathay Pacific first class pre-flight goodies
Cathay Pacific has new amenity kits from Bamford. I’d say these are a downgrade compared to the old ones from Aesop. I love Aesop, so I’m sad to see Cathay Pacific slowly phasing out their partnership with the brand (though their lounges still have Aesop products).
Aside from the brand change, the kit had a limited number of products, as has long been the case. There was just a dental kit (including mouthwash), earplugs, eyeshades, lip balm, face mist, and moisturizer.
Cathay Pacific first class Bamford amenity kit
For pajamas I selected them in size medium (which was perfect for me), and they were from PYE.
Cathay Pacific first class pajamas
Cathay Pacific first class pajamas
Then there were Cathay Pacific’s excellent Bose headphones, which are tough to beat.
Cathay Pacific first class Bose headphones
I was also given the menu for the flight, presented on a nice wooden board.
Cathay Pacific first class menu
Most business class passengers boarded through the forward door as well, and business class was only about half full. It’s funny that towards the end of boarding a couple of business class passengers came and peeked into the first class cabin, and one lady commented “wow, you have this whole thing to yourself?”
At 5:50PM the captain (who I believe was American) made his welcome onboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 14hr44min.
He noted that this was significantly faster than usual and that we should arrive early, but also warned us that the international terminal at Logan Airport is busy around our arrival time, and there was a chance our gate might not be ready.
A few minutes later the cabin doors were closed, and then at 6PM we began our pushback, at which point the safety video was screened.
There was a beautiful sunset as we taxied out for our departure. We had a quick taxi, and by 6:15PM were cleared for takeoff on runway 7R.
As we climbed out I first took a look at the entertainment selection. The entertainment selection was excellent as always, though what delighted me most was how much higher definition the screen was than in the past. This makes such a huge difference.
Cathay Pacific first class entertainment selection
Cathay Pacific first class entertainment selection
I also checked out the map for our flight.
Cathay Pacific inflight map
You know it’s a long flight when the route can barely be viewed on one screen!
Cathay Pacific inflight map
While the entertainment selection was excellent, I had brought my own entertainment, and in particular had an episode of a very important show to catch up on. Maybe Angela could write a guest review of Air Peace first class on her next trip to Nigeria?
“K-1 or K-Done!”
I’d argue that the most exciting development to Cathay Pacific first class in recent years, though, is that there’s now Gogo 2Ku Wi-Fi. A majority of Cathay Pacific’s long haul 777s feature Wi-Fi, and soon all of them should have it.
The Wi-Fi pricing is $9.95 for one hour or $19.95 for the entire flight, which is excellent. It gets even better than that — first class passengers get free Wi-Fi.
Cathay Pacific Wi-Fi 777
To access the free first class Wi-Fi you just have to enter your name and seat number.
Cathay Pacific free first class Wi-Fi
The Wi-Fi was incredibly fast, and I could switch between devices for free. What a fantastic improvement!
It is worth noting, however, that there are some coverage gaps, specifically around the Arctic Circle, and some other areas that are really far North. Here’s that map:
Cathay Pacific Wi-Fi coverage map
Anyway, the seatbelt sign was turned off 15 minutes after takeoff. At this point the crew had already turned on some mood lighting.
Cathay Pacific mood lighting
Once the seatbelt sign was off the meal service began. The service throughout the flight can only be described as flawless. I’ve had quite a few flights where I was the only first class passenger, but they almost always adjust staffing as a result, so that you have only one flight attendant taking care of you (the horror!).
On this flight they kept staffing the same (I’m guessing because other cabins were quiet as well, so there was no need to adjust service), so I had two excellent flight attendants taking care of me. Service was every bit as good as you’d expect based on that.
The menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
Just about 15 minutes after takeoff my meal order was taken, with the crew reminding me that I can eat what I want when I want. Since I was hoping to get some sleep, I decided to have dinner right away.
To drink I ordered more champagne. One of the horribly difficult things about being the only first class passenger is trying to not be wasteful. I had started that bottle of Krug, and I would have hated to see it go to waste… 😉
My champagne was served within minutes, along with an amuse bouche, consisting of prawn ceviche.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — amuse bouche
I ordered the caviar to start, which was tasty and beautifully presented.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — caviar service
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — caviar service
As is the norm in Cathay Pacific first class, there was a note from the crew.
Cathay Pacific first class note from crew
There was also a breadbasket with a few different options.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — breadbasket
Next up was the soup, and I was offered some cracked pepper to go along with it. When my order was taken I was informed that they had a sweet corn soup rather than the harissa lentil soup listed on the menu.
The soup was good though rich, so I didn’t have the whole thing.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — soup
Next up was the mixed green salad with kwai fei chicken and a citrus vinaigrette, which was also quite good.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — salad
For the main course I ordered off the Chinese menu, and had the braised bean curd stuffed with prawn mousse, assorted mushrooms with yellow fungus, and steamed jasmine rice. The dish was pretty good, but not memorable.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — main course
Lastly I had dessert, where I selected the caramel fig cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.
To be honest I’ve never been a huge fan of Cathay Pacific desserts, and I hope they revise these with the new meal service. The fig cake was kind of hard, and they use Hershey’s chocolate sauce, which I wouldn’t exactly consider to be great.
Cathay Pacific first class dinner — dessert
At the conclusion of the meal I was offered a toothpick, a warm towel, and a box of pralines.
Cathay Pacific first class warm towel & chocolates
The entire meal service took about 90 minutes, and the service was friendly and perfectly customized. While the caviar was excellent, otherwise I’ve long found Cathay Pacific’s first class meal service to be nothing special.
That’s not to say it’s bad, but as a comparative matter, it hasn’t ever impressed me too much. Maybe part of the problem is that I feel like they haven’t really switched up the format of their menu in about a decade. So I hope with the new meal service they make some changes.
At the conclusion of the meal I was tired and asked to have turndown service. Cathay Pacific has new bedding, and I was presented with a pillow menu and asked if I wanted a soft, medium, or firm pillow. I love this — well done, Cathay Pacific!
Cathay Pacific first class pillow menu
While my bed was being made I headed to the lavatory, of which there are two at the front of the cabin. The one on the left is much bigger, while the one on the right is smaller and often used by pilots.
The lavatories were always in pristine condition, with the toilet paper being in a perfect triangle, and there being a paper toilet cover on the seat every time I visited.
Cathay Pacific first class lavatory
Cathay Pacific first class lavatory
Much like the amenity kit, the lavatory had Bamford products, replacing the previous Aesop ones.
Cathay Pacific first class Bamford amenities
When I returned to my seat I found the bed made, so I got ready to go to sleep. The new bedding is a huge improvement over the old bedding, as it feels so much more plush.
Cathay Pacific first class bed
Cathay Pacific first class bed
Cathay Pacific first class bed
Cathay Pacific now places some Bamford botanic pillow mist on the pillow, which is a cute touch.
Cathay Pacific first class pillow mist
By the time I got into bed we had just over 13 hours remaining to Boston, and we were slowly approaching Japan.
Progress enroute to Boston
Cathay Pacific inflight map
While I tried to go to sleep, literally a couple of minutes after I closed my eyes we hit some pretty substantial turbulence, as seems to be the norm over this part of the Pacific. It lasted for about 30 minutes, and was significant enough that I couldn’t sleep, so I just relaxed for a bit. Finally I managed to fall asleep.
I got nearly six hours of sleep, and woke up with just over 6hr30min remaining to Boston, as we were over Alaska. That was perfect for me, since I’d be landing at night and wanted to make sure I could still sleep when I got to my hotel.
Cathay Pacific inflight map
I kept the bed in seat 2K (just in case), and moved over to seat 2D to work. I ordered my beloved egg tarts from the snack menu, along with a cappuccino. Yum…
Cathay Pacific first class snack
I was still a bit hungry, so I also ordered the mixed berries without the rose syrup from the dessert menu.
Cathay Pacific first class snack
I spent a couple of hours working, and eventually ordered a Cathay Delight (probably my favorite cold, non-alcoholic drink on any airline), as well as some earl grey tea.
Cathay Pacific first class drinks
At this point I turned on the nose camera and it was light outside.
Cathay Pacific 777 camera
I also opened the window shades to some incredible scenery!
View enroute to Boston
Soon enough it was nighttime once again, meaning it was my second sunset of the flight.
View enroute to Boston
Just under three hours before landing I decided to have my pre-landing meal.
Cathay Pacific inflight map
I ordered breakfast, which is logical from a Hong Kong body clock standpoint, but less logical when you consider that you’re landing at your destination at night.
To start I ordered a fruit plate, as well as a cappuccino and a mango and passion fruit smoothie.
Cathay Pacific first class breakfast
I was also asked if I wanted pastries or toast, and I asked for some wheat toast, which was served in a breadbasket.
Cathay Pacific first class breakfast
I was also offered some yogurt, and selected plain-flavored yogurt.
Cathay Pacific first class breakfast
Cathay Pacific offers cooked to order eggs in first class, so I asked for some well(ish) done scrambled eggs with all the vegetarian accompaniments. As far as airplane eggs go, this is tough to beat!
Cathay Pacific first class breakfast
For the last couple of hours of the flight I watched “Don’t Forget The Driver,” a British show. I watched a couple of episodes and was intrigued, though I still couldn’t quite figure out where exactly the plot was going. Anyone watch this show/want to fill me in in a couple of sentences/want to tell me if I should keep watching this on my next Cathay Pacific flight? 😉
Cathay Pacific entertainment selection
Before I knew it were under an hour from landing in Boston.
Cathay Pacific inflight map
At 7:30PM Boston time the captain announced that we’d be descending shortly and would be landing in 30 minutes. He said we’d be 45 minutes early, though he wasn’t yet sure if our gate would be open.
Shortly thereafter the crew began to prepare the cabin for arrival, with the seatbelt sign being turned on about 15 minutes out.
Our approach ended up taking a bit longer than expected, and we landed at 8:10PM on runway 33L, and had a five minute taxi to our arrival gate.
It’s amazing how much Boston Logan Airport has grown, as the international terminal was packed. We ended up parking next to a Norwegian and Qatar plane.
Immigration was quick, and I ended up at my airport hotel within 30 minutes, before flying back home to Miami the following morning (where it was about 50 degrees warmer).
Cathay Pacific First Class Bottom Line
Cathay Pacific has long offered one of my favorite first class products, but they’ve really taken it to the next level recently.
I love Cathay Pacific’s new Gogo 2Ku Wi-Fi (which is free for first class customers), greatly improved bedding (including a pillow menu), and their higher definition personal televisions.
I’m bummed I didn’t get to experience their new first class dining concept, but I trust this will be a further improvement as well.
This flight was such an incredible treat. While flying first class anytime is awesome, having a cabin all to yourself is an unreal experience, in terms of the personal space the crew to passenger ratio, and just the feeling of being in a really awesome private jet.
I also think this may have been my favorite timed flight from Asia to the US ever. It was over 14 hours and left at night and landed at night. That meant I could enjoy a meal, sleep for about six hours, and then still have nearly half the flight left, so that I would be tired once again when I got to my destination, just in time for a good night of sleep.
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.