A Royal (dis)HHonor: Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

Are both Veronica and Patrick Hong Kong based? You said that Veronica was hong kong based, but nothing about Patrick.
Also, why were you disappointed that the chocolate sauce was Hershey's? I myself am a chocoholic myself and love Hershey's chocolate. Do you have a different point of view?
Also, when is your next trip report coming out?

I'm not a chocoholic, but Hershey's syrup with a meal like that really is letting down the side. 🙂

@ AidanAhearn -- Sorry if I didn't phrase it clearly, they're both Hong Kong based.

Hershey's just isn't a very good brand of chocolate, in my opinion.

Next report should be posted starting on Tuesday.

Caesar salad! Is Cathay cutting back or something? Last time I had jumbo prawns on my Cathay salad.

@ John -- Hah, salad on outbound was much more elaborate with king crab. Agree this salad was on the cheap side.

@Lucky - Ok, I disagree, but agree that chocolate rocks. Did they run out of Hong Kong milk tea and Diet Coke on this flight like on the flight from SFO to HKG?

@ AidanAhearn -- Nope, didn't run out of either. Then again tough of them to run out of Hong Kong style milk tea when they're not allowed to serve it for half the flight due to turbulence.

that airshow makes no sense. Seems like a lot of random cities. Grants Pass in Southern Oregon is not that close to Austin. Weird.

I was most impressed by the selection of organic eggs.

Is it safe to say that CX is aware of who you are at this point and alerts crews as to your stature and occupation?

I like CX as much as the next guy but either you have the most incredible luck in crew rostering or they are getting a heads up that you are "recording" them...

That is a lousy caviar presentation. You always present the tins to verify the origin. Where does that caviar come from? Obviously that is not Beluga or Iranian caviar. At least LH uses fish eggs from Italian fish farms. I hope that the fish eggs CX buys, are not harvested from some dirty Chinese farms.

That would be disgusting.

@Jeff Of course Lucky is well known. A bad PR move and you will see him tweeting like crazy!

@jason Rest assured. In China, only the best of the best harvested food can be exported to HK.

Having just experienced CX First Class from HKG/LAX in December, I can say that I am nobody, but also had the fantastic service and treatment that Lucky has described. It was hard to believe that just two attendants could stay on top of my perceived and real needs for so many hours! On a more personal note, every time I used the loo, it was as if no one had ever been in there before-kept immaculately clean and fresh-and I have rarely seen this kind of service before! Not on drop of water anywhere, and the whole lav spotless, even the floor.

Curiously, I also experienced the aborted takeoff with the same reason given! Hmmm!

You are a weird dude. Abduction was across the board garbage and silver linings was really special....Oscar much?

CX flight crew in First are superb in my experience. I have always had the same experience Lucky describes, in general.

Just so you know sitting at the pointy end you have a 15% chance of surviving a crash. Sit towards the back it's 80% or more. Check out the 2009 study.

Awesome report Lucky! For a 12 hour flight, did both Patrick and Veronica work all 12 hours for the 4 passengers in First class, or did they take breaks throughout the flight?

Hey Ben - I am so glad you got to have the brilliance of this flight, so soon after the RJ flight. The contrast in communication from the cockpits is stunning.

As for the attentive Cathay service, you reminded me of a JFK-HKG flight I took on CX in March. My mom (87 years-old) was in F; my wife and I were in C. This was a dream trip for Mom, and every half-hour or so, my wife and I snuck her a pre-wrapped present to help her smile and to celebrate the beginning of this adventure (the presents were small: a travel journal, a piece of her favorite chocolate; sanitary wipes in case we couldn't find her suitable toilet facilities in rural Thailand, etc.) The FAs quickly got into the act, wanting to see what the next present was, and reveling in Mom's joy.

More importantly, though, was their service in a minor medical situation.

Mom had a pre-trip leg wound that was taking a long time to heal, and she was worried about the possibility of a getting a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis) in her leg on such a long flight. Her doctor had said not to worry about it, and encouraged her to take the trip, but midway through the flight, she had a sharp pain in her leg.

The amazing Cathay crew not only woke me up so I could offer her support, but patched me through to her doctor in New York -- who reassured her that she was ok -- then found another Dr. on the plane (who happened to be a specialist in DVT!) He said, without question, that her symptoms were not problematic, and she was relieved. Still, the FAs gently woke Mom up every hour to make sure she walked a bit (on the Dr's advice) and kept me apprised of her condition throughout the flight. They even walked with her, talking and laughing and making her feel warm and safe.

Cathay's flight attendants treated Mom with the care that I would hope we would all treat each other, all the time.

@ Jeff -- To be honest I really don't think they tell the crew. I mean the top airlines provide great service to everyone up front, so it shouldn't matter who someone is (not that I'm anyone). For example I didn't think the outbound crew was amazing, so...

@ Joey -- They both work both of the main meal services, and then take turns resting for the "middle" ~8 hours of the flight, where only one flight attendant is needed.

@ Tom -- Sounds like an amazing experience, so happy to hear they took such good care of your mom.

When I took CX F JFK-HKG a couple weeks ago I tried using the call button. And it worked without a glare from the flight attendant! Had to overcome my "training" of knowing not to push the button in the US. But I did notice something interesting on my return flight.

Being seated in 2K I noticed that the attendant would walk back from the front galley then pause right behind my seat and hold for a moment. Then he would take a few steps forward to observe the pax in 1K before heading back to the galley. I noticed he did this several times over the course of the flight. When he noticed something he would then interact with the pax (i.e. pick up plates or deliver an item).

I found this observation curious, as it seems to challenge the theory that CX flights attendants are more reactive than proactive during the inflight service.

And you are often raving about LH's first, why? I'll gladly trade an LH F seat with a CX one any day of the week

@ ralf -- Hah, Lufthansa's still "my" airline, and I love them to pieces.

Lucky, Nice you got back in the saddle, so to speak, so quickly with a great experience after your prior flight. Speaking of LH, would there be any way to upgrade a P fare to F? Or do they only allow J class to upgrade?

"I’m always fascinated by Cathay Pacific pilots, so anytime I get the chance to talk to one I’m oddly giddy."

May I ask why you're so fascinated? Just curious--haven't flown CX myself yet.

Nice post, Ben and great pix as always. The food service on this flight looks excellent, despite seven hours of The Jiggles. And - those rolling potatoes with your caviar. Oh, the horror of it ! Somehow, I suspect that this is a trip that you won't soon forget. While your mileage may vary, the Boeing 777-300ER is currently my all-time favorite airplane; even Trash-Class is tolerably comfortable. That said, TWO pre-V1 runway aborts is a bit much. Thumbs-up to the crew for keeping you well informed. I've made five Pacific-crossing round trips on Cathay Pacific (sadly, only one at the pointy end) and I've always been delighted. I think their cabin staff must have 'nice' tattooed on their posterior padded anatomy. Let's hope that your next trip is better - and that you don't have to suffer through rolling potatoes again!

I love CX caviar, seats for buddy dining, service, etc.

Hard to believe that on my SQ F RT from Sfo to SIN, no caviar in either direction. On the outbound' the only real dessert was a candy bar (or fruit or cheese). Bed not as nice as CX for my taste. Service and champagne was very good, but I give CX the clear edge so far,

Do not understand why breakfast is being served for an evening arrival? Caesar salad also looked pretty unappetizing and agree with @Scott - that map makes no sense! Seems like a few glitches on this flight...

@ Josh -- Growing up I always wanted to be a pilot, and Cathay Pacific is the airline I wanted to work for. They have one of the most diverse set of pilots as they have bases at almost all their destinations, so you can fly with a New York London, or Sydney based pilot, for example.

Furthermore, up until recently (when they raised the retirement agent) you could be captain in less than 10 years, meaning you could be a 747 or 777 captain in your early 30s.

Pretty darn cool gig in my book. 🙂

@ Peter -- Sadly they don't allow upgrades from "Z" or "P" to the best of my knowledge. Sorry!

@ Stefan -- Assume breakfast is being served because based on the time in Hong Kong that's the logical meal after dinner. Agree it doesn't make sense, but then again if a flight leaves at midnight and serves dinner after takeoff, do you really want another dinner 10 hours later?

Hi Ben

Do you prefer the LAX/HKG or SFO/HKG route in cathay first class?

I have the option of trying one and i am not sure if there is a difference.

@ Dan -- Virtually no difference in terms of the onboard experience. At LAX there's a first class lounge while there's not at SFO, but at the same time security is usually a bit worse at LAX. So I'd do whichever is more convenient for you.

@Scott, @Stefan The Austin referred to is Austin, Nevada which is midway between SFO and SLC. It must be a geographical marker as there is no commercial air service to that small rural town.

Thanks again Ben - you are always a great help!

Ben,

Thanks for your kind words. I remember when I stepped on the 747 in LAX to go to HKG for my Cathay Interview and I said inside me "God I hope I don't screw this up". It has been a heck of a great experience as a crew for 11 Years. And our job is just that to do what the Captain and the rest of the crew did that day.

Dino Stylianopoulos
B744 Captain CX

@ Dino -- Awesome, thank for commenting here! Hope to be on one of your flights some day!

"wrong" cities on the map? Lousy Caviar presentation? Come on people...do you just look for things to critise? Even if it seems good there's got to be something wrong right?....and you have to be the ones to find it?

First world problems indeed. (Insert rolling eye smilie here)