I recently had the chance to fly Cathay Pacific Business Class from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Cathay Pacific’s business product and I was eager to see for myself how it stacked against other airlines I’ve flown to Asia on.
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Cathay Pacific Business Class
Business Class was in 1-2-1 seat configuration on the Boeing 777. This is my favorite seat configuration as it provides direct aisle access and privacy from your neighbor.
Upon finding my seat, I started to explore the seat controls and the side compartments. The screen was accessible with a push of a button and I found the screen to be a little bit slow compared to other airlines I’ve flown with. It took a few seconds for my selection to register with the monitor.
The side compartment was great because it had a cup holder for my thermal and enough space to fit my thermal mug
The seat controls were located on my right side and it made adjusting my seat easy. The extra storage held the headphones provided by Cathay Pacific but I found it convenient to store any loose items I had.
The foot area was too narrow for my feet which are a U.S. size 12. I had to put my feet on top of each other to have them fit while reclining in the seat. It got worse when I reclined my seat all the way down to sleep. I had to sleep on my side with one leg canted in order to have one foot fit inside.
One nice feature about my seat was on the bottom left there was a section to store my shoes. None of the other airlines (Delta, JAL, ANA, EVA Air, United) that I’ve flown to Asia have this compartment integrated into their seat.
Travel Tip: Cathay Pacific no longer offers pajamas in Business Class. I would recommend wearing something comfortable or pack extra clothes to change into. Pajamas are only available in First Class.
I opened my amenity kit and it came with standard items found in other amenity kits such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, earplug, and mouthwash.
Food Service
The cabin crew started serving everyone dinner shortly after take off. My flight attendant brought my appetizer and beverage but what I found a bit strange was the cabin crew served everyone’s main dish at the same time from the cart. Unlike other airlines, flight attendants bring your main dish individually.
I woke up hungry and asked the flight attendant for a mid-flight snack. I chose the cheeseburger with chips. The buns felt like I was taking a bite into some croutons. It was hard and broke up instantly once I took a bite. The burger was over cooked for my liking as I prefer my meat medium rare.
Breakfast was served 2 hours before landing and it was better than the dinner I had earlier.
Overall, I felt a bit disappointed with my flight experience. I was coming into this flight with big expectations on how good Cathay Pacific service and the business product was. The lack of pajamas and food quality left me unimpressed. The cons outweighed the pros for this flight for me. Now, I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t fly them again but I would possibly try them from Hong Kong to the states to see if my experience is different.
