Cathay Pacific has one of the most solid first class products in the world. While they don’t have fully enclosed suites with doors, I find that I sleep better in Cathay Pacific first class than just about any other product thanks to the excellent bedding and how spacious the seats are. Beyond that, in terms of service you really can’t beat a first class cabin with just six seats. I do think their catering leaves a bit to be desired, but in fairness at least it’s consistent (which I can’t say about a lot of my other favorite airlines).
Anyway, even though their first class product is excellent they’ve launched a first class refresh product, whereby they’ll be “refreshing” the first class cabins of all their 777s by the third quarter of 2014. And the exciting news is that their first refreshed 777 will start flying tomorrow, though it seems like it won’t be assigned to any specific route, so it’ll be luck of the draw whether you get it or not.
The seating configuration remains identical, and they’ve just made minor updates like changing many of the surfaces to leather, adding a touch screen to the seat controls (which I’m not sure how to feel about, since I loved how simple their seat controls were), adding different storage compartments and a cup holder, etc.
Courtesy of Cathay Pacific, here are some pictures of the new product:
While the project seems unnecessary, I do think the refreshed cabin looks even classier… if that’s possible.
Woops, I meant to include info: CX 840 HGK-JFK.
Lucky,
Which Z seat would you choose and why: 1A or 2D, knowing that all other seats in the cabin are taken except 2A and 2K which are being reserved for parents with infants.
Thanks!
JF
@ Jeff -- Definitely 1A. It's an aisle/window seat, while 2D is a center seat with just aisle access.
@lucky - Any idea which planes have the refreshed cabins? I know B-KPR has it, any others?
Thanks Ben- do you use expert flyer for cathay pacific award space?
@ dan -- Yes, Cathay Pacific is great about releasing award space as the departure date approaches. It's the easiest time to snag Cathay Pacific award space, actually.
Hi Ben
I was wondering if award space opens up on cathy pacific in the last 7 or 14 days before departure?
@ Eugene -- Thanks for the report, happy to hear you had a great flight. Happy to hear they finally have Bose headphones!
So my flight was a full F cabin, probably the best service I've had with a full F cabin on CX. In my previous CX F legs I find the experience correlates to the amount of passengers in the cabin.
As for the seats it was nice to have seats that feel new. However, my seat control was a bit buggy kept having to press the buttons over and over to have it recline fully....
So my flight was a full F cabin, probably the best service I've had with a full F cabin on CX. In my previous CX F legs I find the experience correlates to the amount of passengers in the cabin.
As for the seats it was nice to have seats that feel new. However, my seat control was a bit buggy kept having to press the buttons over and over to have it recline fully. I've had this happen before on the older seats. I don't think they've done any maintenance on the seat itself just gave it a face lift.
The thing that I like the best is that now you get bose qc 15 headphones in F.
Bathrooms were refreshed too to look the same but again they just gave them a face lift. In the larger bathroom cold water button wasn't working, hot water button was but was giving cold water.
Pajamas are now different they fit the same as the old ones. I'm not a big pajama person but I like CXs because they actually fit me and I'm a big guy.
Some pictures:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3CJyFoSFBnJRXZXSENyQ0NQV1E&usp=sharing
@ Eugene -- Awesome, please report back on your experience. Have a great flight!
Well looks like I'm on this plane on CX840 leaving HKG in about 2 hours.
Funny thing is that I just came in on this plane into HKG from PVG and I sat in J. I booked this trip via AA award a long time ago and kept checking to see if there were any F flights available from PVG that can still connect to CX840 but there weren't any. I don't know if this...
Well looks like I'm on this plane on CX840 leaving HKG in about 2 hours.
Funny thing is that I just came in on this plane into HKG from PVG and I sat in J. I booked this trip via AA award a long time ago and kept checking to see if there were any F flights available from PVG that can still connect to CX840 but there weren't any. I don't know if this plane was put in on the PVG route last minute or maybe they just weren't selling F but there were a few people in F during the flight.
Anyway as a side note I just got in to the Cabana after 1+ hour wait.
@ dale m -- Absolutely, they're thrown away otherwise, so you're more than welcome to take them with you!
Just flew back over the last koupla days, SIN-HKK was 747, and HKK-ORD was 777...the current cloth seats would, I would think, be my preference - the leather looks hot and slippery, esp for 15 hours -- hard to say I suppose without trying it. The trim and such on the 777 was a little aged and fraying, I did notice. Food and service were wonderful. Is it normal to keep the pajamas? I asked, and she said "if you like them, you may keep them" ... so I did!
What would be cool is if airlines started putting in seat heaters/coolers F, similar to what many cars have these days. Started with luxury marques, but now even Kias and Buicks have them! That would be pretty sweet on a plane.
@ Ray -- They look kind of nice... though a bit on the warm side.
@ Tony -- Can't imagine that's the case, since the seats are identical and the cost to do that would be huge.
@LincolnPark - Here's some more info on the new pajamas:
http://pye.com.hk/?portfolio=pye-in-the-sky
Is it just me or does the seats at the side just even more angled?
@Starflyer - In my last CX flight from LAX - HKG, they served me dimsum for breakfast. It tasted like fried dumplings.
@ Bgriff - there are no overhead bins, but there is personal storage area next to the TV.
Just booked ORD-HKG-SIN all in First on the 777 for late-March. Hoping there are more upgraded birds by then. Either way, First on CX is always an amazing experience.
@wayne - I actually liked CX food better than LH. They aren't as fancy, but the asian/chinese option are usually pretty good. I've been disappointed with the western option though.
Finally some refreshing to an F Class that was way outdated. But I hope the dont screw the comfort. I see it as Marty's recliner ( Frasier), comfortable as heaven but ugly as hell.
In other news, that Ethiopian fire was caused by another battery. This one burned the carbon (plastic !) skin of that plane. SCARY !!!. Ben please write a blog post,am surprised nobody has picked it up yet.
I definitely agree! I have better sleep in their first class seats compared to any other airline out there. However, I believe their food is terrible.
According to the press release ... "For the ultimate in slumber comfort, a new sleep suit, made with 100% organic cotton and designed by “PYE”, a premium home-grown brand from Hong Kong, will be offered." Does this mean no more Shanghai Tang PJs? Bummer! ;-)
Considering the existing F-seats have about another 7+ years to go before their next F-cabins get released on the A350s, this refresh is absolutely necessary to prevent the product from aging.
@Bgriff Plenty of space under the ottoman
Are there no overhead bins at all? Where does F passenger luggage get stored? Doesn't look like there's that much space below the ottoman.
That leather looks hot (and not like "hawt" in a good way).
The only major change seems to be the fabric on the seat. Funny how SQ and CX refreshed their F products around the same time.
I think this is wise. Even the best products wear out over time and need a refresh.
I fly out from JFK in October. I'll cross my fingers.
Any idea of how quickly the second and third plane will be rolled out? I'm flying Cathay F JFK-YVR on August 10th, but doesn't look like this one's going anywhere near JFK.
@ Eugene -- Here's the tracking page for the aircraft with the new first class:
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/b-kpr
It doesn't tell us where the plane goes in the future, but at least you can see where it went (so if it does HKG-JFK tomorrow, there's a chance you may have it, for example).
Anyway to check where the 1st plane flies? I'm asking because I'm on JFK-HKG on the 27th at 130am in F.