Introduction: An Aria Suite Adventure To Hong Kong

Welcome to my next trip report series, covering the recent review trip that I took to Hong Kong, to check out one of the newest business class products, and more.

In this series, you can expect flight reviews of British Airways’ 777-200ER business class, Cathay Pacific’s 777-300ER business class, Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class, Korean Air’s A380 first class, and Delta’s 767-400ER business class. There will also be lots of lounge reviews (it’s a heavy focus with this series), plus a hotel review.

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip

This was a review trip, plain and simple, and my first one of 2025. That’s to say that I took this trip exclusively to be able to review certain premium airline products, all while minimizing my time away from home.

The single thing that most prompted this review trip was Cathay Pacific’s introduction of its new Aria Suite business class, as this product is finally now available on select long haul flights to London (LHR). So I planned my entire trip around that, though of course also tried to review as many other experiences as possible, as I have lots of products on my list.

Below is the total routing that I flew, with all the segments that I’ll be reviewing.

The airlines I flew on this trip

I booked this itinerary (well, the portion I’ll be reviewing) as four separate tickets, so let me share the details of the tickets in the chronological order that I traveled.

To kick off the trip, I flew British Airways’ Boeing 777-200ER business class from Washington to London, and Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ER business class from London to Hong Kong. So this actually worked out really well, and is one of the sweet spots of the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program.

Why? For one, Cathay Pacific restricts most premium award space to members of its own program, so the Cathay Pacific segment was only bookable through the program. Next, Cathay Pacific’s program also has the benefit of having much lower surcharges for travel on British Airways. Lastly, Cathay Pacific’s program lets you route from the United States to Asia via Europe. So when you combine those factors, there was a solid opportunity.

I booked the following for 115,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles plus $351.17 in taxes & fees:

2/04 BA216 Washington to London departing 6:00PM arriving 6:15AM (+1 day)
2/05 CX250 London to Hong Kong departing 5:50PM arriving 2:35PM (+1 day)

Next up, after a couple of nights in Hong Kong, I flew Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A321neo business class from Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon. I booked the following for 28,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles plus $65.15 in taxes & fees:

2/08 CX434 Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon departing 8:15AM arriving 12:45PM

Next up, I flew Korean Air’s Airbus A380 first class from Seoul Inchoen to New York. Korean Air recently started once again making first class awards available. I still have a sizable balance of Korean Air SkyPass miles from back when the program partnered with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

I booked the following for 80,000 Korean Air SkyPass miles plus $137.05 in taxes & fees:

2/08 KE85 Seoul Incheon to New York departing 7:30PM arriving 7:30PM

Last but not least, I flew Delta’s Boeing 767-400ER business class from New York to Los Angeles. My motivation here was twofold. In addition to wanting to review Delta One business class on the 767, I also wanted to check out the new Delta One Lounges in both New York and Los Angeles. So while this ticket wasn’t cheap, it was the best way to accomplish this goal.

I booked the following in business class for $1,272.83 (I used Amex Pay With Points, so since I have the Amex Business Platinum, this ended up costing me 82,733 Amex Membership Rewards points):

2/09 DL738 New York to Los Angeles departing 3:45PM arriving 7:19PM

In addition to flight reviews, you can expect reviews of the following lounges (the Capital One Landing DCA review is from a recent visit to the airport, but I’ll be adding it to this series, since I’m doing a lot of IAD lounge reviews as well):

• The Capital One Landing Washington National (DCA)
• The Capital One Lounge Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The Chase Sapphire Lounge Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The Turkish Airlines Lounge Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The Lufthansa Business Lounge Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The British Airways Lounge Washington Dulles (IAD)
• The Qantas Lounge London Heathrow (LHR)
• The Cathay Pacific Business Lounge London Heathrow (LHR)
• The Cathay Pacific First Lounge London Heathrow (LHR)
• The Kyra Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Korean Air First Lounge Seoul Incheon (ICN)
• The Delta One Lounge New York (JFK)
• The Delta One Lounge Los Angeles (LAX)

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

Typically when I take review trips, the goal is to spend as little time as possible away from home, and at best, I’ll stay at an airport hotel or two. On this trip, I was excited to have the opportunity to spend a couple of nights in Hong Kong, so I made the most of the opportunity.

On my list of points hotels I’ve wanted to try, the St. Regis Hong Kong has been on my radar for quite some time, so I decided to finally stay there. I had a great stay, and look forward to sharing my experience in more detail.

On the return portion of my trip, I also had an overnight in New York, and decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World, which is my go-to airport hotel there. I won’t be reviewing it this time around, given that I’ve reviewed it recently, and nothing has changed.

Bottom line

I had a lovely review trip to Hong Kong, flying business class on British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Delta, and first class on Korean Air. I was also so happy to once again visit Hong Kong, after not having really visited the city since before the pandemic. In this series, you can also expect a heavy emphasis on lounge reviews, including some lounges that positively impressed me.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!