Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong To Tokyo Narita

Thank you Ben. Maybe if you have time you could write a post about which F routes are available intra-Asia with each alliance miles? I think it would help other readers as well.
Thank you.

Have you noticed any BA phantom for CX F. Seems like AA agents can't see tons of CX F showing on BA for the lax-hkg route..

@ E -- Yes, wrote about that here:
https://onemileatatime.com/cathay-pacific-first-class-awards/

@ Lantean -- Let me see what I can do. The one issue is that airlines are constantly changing equipment types on routes, though I'll do some research.

Do you know which F routes will get amenity kits and PJs? ANd which ones feature caviar dish?

@ David -- None of the intra-Asia routes get PJs, amenity kits, or caviar.

I was having problem with the 85 min connection in NRT since JL 61 lax-nrt coming in at 4:55p and CX flight leaving at 6:20p. AA wouldn't ticket my reservation, claiming JL requires the minimum connection time is 90 min. They had no problem ticketed me when I picked JL 711 to SIN that leaves at 6:10p. Finger crossed on the new J on 767

Availability from HKG-HND and vice versa has also been very good, and it seems like a few days ago they opened up most of the schedule for CX548 (the morning flight from HKG to HND) when I couldn't see any dates available in the past.

Shame there's no kaiseki on the morning flight, but it beats the evening flight which arrives at 9pm. It gives me a nice 22 hour layover (time for a good dinner) before connecting to JL F NRT-JFK.

By the way, the timing of the flight HKG-NRT is a bit inconvenient for JL F connections. JL F to ORD and JFK leave at 11am in the morning.

@Lucky

really? doesn't Emirates give out amenity kits and pjs on their HKG-BKK flight? i know it's short... but it is Emirates after all...

@ Lantean -- No they don't. Emirates doesn't even give out amenity kits in first class on many flights between Dubai and London, which are substantially longer.

@Lucky

oh no! i didn't know that! i actually got two kits on my SIN-DXB and two on my DXB-LHR flights... both times i said i need an extra for my mom or my dad and they complied. i guess i got LUCKY!
😉

CX has one flight a day between HKG-PVG that's operated with a 744 at the moment, with the F cabin sold as J. If you're a MPCDiamond or Gold you can generally get one of the 9 pods, OWEmeralds from other programs is hit and miss and must be requested at check-in. There are two FAs assigned to the cabin so you get the same level of service as if it was really F. And except for the lack of caviar and Dom, you'd hardly notice the catering (breakfast to PVG, lunch to HKG) is not F on this 3-hour flight. Business award availability is quite good on this run if booked early enough.

@lucky,

once GA is on the SkyTeam (soon?) maybe you're better off doing GA F on NRT-CGK route.

Yeah, cos slumming it in regional business class is SUCH torture after longhaul first. This goes beyond #firstclassproblems to #iamsuchatool.

@Lucky

Am I wrong when saying TG from TYO to BKK would give you both caviar, PJ and amenity kit in F?

Cathay still flies on a very limited schedule from HKG-SIN with First Class but only 3 flights a week, but nice if you can snag an extra 4 hours in First on that award redemption.

If you book any of these flights months in advance, it's worth keeping tabs on your itinerary as mine has switched 4 times already as they keep moving the First class operated flights around.

@ surrrr -- When I flew the route last August they offered amenity kits, but not pajamas or caviar.

@lucky - I know recently there seems to be phantom space on BA. However, this morning I saw an F CX seat pop up via Qantas award search, which I then also went on BA & CX to make sure that this seat was there (it was). Confident, I called AA twice to book, and both agents told me they don't see any availability... I'm so confused!

@ Peter -- Well Qantas sometimes shows the same phantom space as BA. And keep in mind that Cathay Pacific sometimes releases more space to members of their own programs than to members of partner programs. So it could be that the space is available to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members, but not to members of partner programs.

Thanks for the response! I understand what you're saying. I also checked JAL and the same seat was there. Called AA for the 3rd time just now and again, no luck 🙁

Hi Ben

I have a burning question: how can you find out what classes of service an airline has on a specific flight? I'm particularly interested in finding PY on ANA and F on everyone else...

It would be a really useful blog post if complicated and a great one-liner if not 🙂

Thanks!

another ben

@ sendaiben -- Airlines are constantly updating the equipment types operating routes, so it would be tough to compile an accurate list. Generally your best bet is to just price out tickets (or look at the fare classes) and see if the cabin you're looking for is offered on the flight. If it isn't it won't appear at all.

Dear Lucky, if flying out HKG to HND/NRT, would you choose CX F or JL F? For what reason?

@ Alan -- As far as I know Japan Airlines doesn't offer a first class product between Hong Kong and Tokyo, so I would do Cathay Pacific.

@ Lucky Is it possible to fly CX JFK-HKG-NRT using 67500 American Advantage Miles? or HKG-NRT would have to be separate redeemed separately requiring more miles?

@ Lucky oops embarrassing typo.. "Is it possible to fly CX JFK-HKG-NRT using 67500 American Advantage Miles? or HKG-NRT would have to be redeemed separately requiring more miles?"

@ travellingdds -- Has to be a separate award since you can't route from the US to Asia 1 via Asia 2.

@ Lucky - Thanks. Do you think we still have the phantom availability problem? I'm looking into Jan 23 JFK-HKG and it seems that both BA and JAL website shows seats are available.

@ travellingdds -- Yes, there definitely are still phantom availability problems, unfortunately.

@ Lucky - Thanks again!

Hi Lucky:

for a short intra-asia less than 5 hours, is it appropriate or "normal" to get the seat made into bed after the meals for the sake of experiencing sleeping on it..haha? it seems Cathay no longer offer first class to Singapore, but they do fly to Jakarta

jacky