A couple of days ago, Cathay Pacific officially unveiled their new business class product, which will begin to pop up in March of 2011 with the delivery of some new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Apparently London, Los Angeles, and New York will be among the “launch” cities, and the longhaul Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft in their fleet will be reconfigured with the new product through 2012.. You can see pictures of the new product here and here.
Look familiar? Yep, it’s basically the “Envoy Suite” that US Airways offers. That raises a bigger question — is this the first time that US Airways has been an innovator, other than in the area of cost cutting? No doubt this is an excellent, private, spacious product, so no complaints from me!
That being said, since Cathay Pacific first class remains fairly attainable with miles, I doubt I’ll be trying the product out anytime soon.
I love it how US Airways introduces it as their premium class (they call it business but they really don't have any higher class) and then CX just says "Nah, we can do better than that" and introduces it as their actual business class, with an astounding first class that's so good they didn't have to update it. And, anyway, it's a sin to even try to compare the service of CX to any airline from the US. ;)
Has CX introduced a new F product as well?
Hi Lucky,
I was there (http://boardingarea.com/centeredeast/2010/12/07/cathay-pacifics-new-business-class-uniforms-light-up-the-sky-on-location-coverage/)...got to try it out, and it was quite comfortable.
My understanding is the first delivery is of an A330 in February.
Of course, there are two perspectives when getting a seat in CX business class. I wholeheartedly agree with you that when a J seat is just a smidgen below an F seat for award inventory in terms of redemption cost, then always go for F. However, from a...
Hi Lucky,
I was there (http://boardingarea.com/centeredeast/2010/12/07/cathay-pacifics-new-business-class-uniforms-light-up-the-sky-on-location-coverage/)...got to try it out, and it was quite comfortable.
My understanding is the first delivery is of an A330 in February.
Of course, there are two perspectives when getting a seat in CX business class. I wholeheartedly agree with you that when a J seat is just a smidgen below an F seat for award inventory in terms of redemption cost, then always go for F. However, from a paid travel perspective, plain out buying F is not an option for many, as the lot of us end up in economy (leisure) or discounted business (work). That said, the product then ends up being pretty competitive in the "I can sleep" department, so is definitely worth taking.
Cheers,
Rob
Lucky, do you think it's a good deal to spend 70,000 Marco Polo miles for a first class roundtrip between JFK & YVR? Thanks.
BA is 50k for business 25k for first .. of course you cannot add flights on another carrier to get to the gateway city or else you're using BA's multi-partner award chart where the mileage prices really skyrocket.
I find business easier than first from LAX and JFK.
And first in pretty good abundance ex-SFO.
Business and first availability are both really good ex-YYZ.
So, THERE, Gary answered also!!
Cathay invited me out to the...
BA is 50k for business 25k for first .. of course you cannot add flights on another carrier to get to the gateway city or else you're using BA's multi-partner award chart where the mileage prices really skyrocket.
I find business easier than first from LAX and JFK.
And first in pretty good abundance ex-SFO.
Business and first availability are both really good ex-YYZ.
So, THERE, Gary answered also!!
Cathay invited me out to the product unveiling in HKG, couldn't make the timing work with other commitments. But it is pretty crazy, US did a nice job with their new seat such that Cahty would adopt it!
Call me crazy I'm one of the few that actually liked the Cathay business seat traveling solo. Certainly good privacy if nothing else.
But of course the F seat is wonderful, the F service is great (even if the food is only 'meh'). So for awards I'll still be traveling F...
@ Matt -- LOL! Yes, absolutely, though Cathay Pacific business class award space can be pretty tough to come by... much more so than first class on most routes. But for 50,000 miles one-way, it's a steal.
sorry meant to type Ben
Gary, as British Airways only charges 50,000 miles for a one-way in Cathay Pacific business class, this seems like a pretty nice product, and a good use of miles, no?
@ Nadia -- Nope, I'm saying first class *is* attainable, which is why I won't be flying business class. Their first class remains unchanged and has fairly good award availability.
Fairly UNattainable?