Why do people fly Cathay

[Calcjr23]

CX for 8 consecutive sector in Y previously and I'm happy. Definitely not gonna pay a premium for SQ cause there's simply nothing great to shout about.

[HUGE AL]

mainly economy yes but I have heard about their business class being narrow and claustrophobic on the 744 and also to have only been offered one drink bar meal times. Also they noted that they don't cover the food up when they start the business meal so if you get it at the end your food can arrive cold.

However these are 3rd party reports and mine are solely based on economy journeys with them.

...Skytrax reviews.

Your sources do not appear to be the most credible.

A certain prominent but lately silent SQTalker might be flying them more after today (or when his comp is processed)...

Hmmm...who would that be?

[hybridace101]

Friends, family and I have flown CX in Y many times.

CX does some things better than SQ and vice versa.

Nothing more to say really.

Ditto! That said, I had a difficult time choosing which I will take to LHR between that and SQ. But someone decided we take CX instead. I had a good long-haul experience with CX on my most recent trip to SFO.

At the end of the day, although I would be a little disappointed not to savour the A380 and the more functional SIN airport, at least I get my money's worth on the MarcoPolo club membership. At least I get to queue at a special check-in lane and get to board early. SQKF's silver doesn't even have these privileges.

[sqdazz]

I will be looking forward to sampling the premium economy product of CX. Nice to see it, about time SQ brought it in. QF and NZ seem to do very well with it.

[pogonation]

HKG is also a better positioned hub to connect to East Asia. It is in the middle so most countries are a short hop away whereas for SQ, transiting SIN to get to Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan, Philippines etc makes for a much longer journey. In premium cabins, the only thing that SQ has over CX is catering. I think the new CX J seat and the CX F seat are much better than SQ's and also I prefer the service on SQ (not that it is any better, I just suits me more). Can't comment on Y.

[viraj735]

I flew CX's 773 Y between SIN-CMB and J on the return a few years back and I found that the 773's are inferior to SQ's old non-AVOD 773's in both Y and J from a soft and hard product PoV.

[hybridace101]

I agree with pogonation regarding CX's position. The thing about SQ is that there aren't that many major countries south of it... just Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, CX's advantage to LHR from MNL is that the overall journey time is shorter (including stopovers).

I don't know if this is just me but I get the feeling that HKG-LHR is CX's flagship route? Who thinks so as well? If that's the case, that probably tipped the scales for why CX was chosen to LHR.

[cscs1956]

long time ago I flew on CX from BKK to SIN,... upon boarding the plane, I went to my seat and found it occupied.... caught the attention of the FA and told her, the person sitting in my seat was caucasian.... after a while, one FA came back whispered to the person and took him off to J..... and I was left with a seat with used pillow and head rest cover..... worst still, it started dripping from the a/c after a while..... from that day onwards, I told myself that I will never fly with CX unless there are no other choice.... since then I did only once, from Taipei to Hong Kong...

That remind me about my first A380 to Tokyo. Aircode water dripping thru out the whole duration. On SQ !
AND 1 trip to SFO, double booking on same seat. Take a while for them to re-assign.

In fact, most of my SGP to HKS business trip are now on CX. Good timing and I would say service is quite on par with SQ consider the price you pay for is much lower.

[lingua101]

That remind me about my first A380 to Tokyo. Aircode water dripping thru out the whole duration. On SQ !
AND 1 trip to SFO, double booking on same seat. Take a while for them to re-assign.

In fact, most of my SGP to HKS business trip are now on CX. Good timing and I would say service is quite on par with SQ consider the price you pay for is much lower.

I though CX price to HKG is as ecpensive as SQ?

[cscs1956]

I though CX price to HKG is as ecpensive as SQ?

No, they are not. At least most of the time.

[SilverChris]

No, they are not. At least most of the time.

Depends. The unrestricted fares (i.e Y) are on par with SQ, if not higher.

[Guy Betsy]

As a MPC elite member, eg Gold, which you can get after 90K miles (even in economy) , you will get perks such as guaranteed seats on most economy class fares within 72 hours of departure. Something SQ does not even guarantee for its Solitaire members especially during festive seasons.

CX are better at op-up's than SQ when you're a MPC member.

From SIN, CX offers better fares than SQ. Opposite is true ex-HKG.

The new Y class seats on CX are better for your back than the current fixed shell ones.

[lingua101]

I flew 19 flights on CX last year, 15 on Y and 4 in J.

Out of 15 Y flight, 2 flights was upgraded to J (SIN-HKG on B744 and HKG-BKK on A333). All paid J is on SIN-BKK-SIN sector.

Personally, I feel CX aircraft for SIN-HKG, SIN-BKK, BKK-HKG, HKG-TPE) sectors are very "old" and rundown. Not only the IFE is quite outdated, but also not well maintained. I was on their biz class when the drink tray was stuck, the FA was trying to pull and can't pull it off.

Also you can see crack here and there. Here is an example. I think this is a newer B777-300 aircraft on TPE-HKG route. The older model has the remote on the arm rest.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...0/DSC_0609.jpg

Of course, I agree in term of the customer loyalty, CX is much better. So if you fly alot and in Y, may be CX can be a good choice. Being silver and flying in Y, the lead stewardess greet me by my name when offering me tea after meal!

Any idea if CX has plan to refurbish their regional aircraft. I think even TG is trying to put some of their "newer" aircraft on SIN-BKK route and their new A330 is kind of comparable to SQ A333

[SIA5390]

...the lead stewardess greet me by my name when offering me tear after meal!...

Must have been a very touching meal.

[lingua101]

Must have been a very touching meal.

hehehe typo... corrected....

it was HKG-TPE and they only served that puff (or whatever you call that buns). I normally just take something at the lounge in HKG and do not eat the snack served.