Cathay Pacific Business Class/Premium Economy - Flight Review
Booking a Cathay Pacific flight in Premium Economy, we were looking forward to checking out their levels of service. I'd only flown with them once before, from Doha to Hong Kong when returning from Travel Counsellors' Conference in Manchester a few years ago. I was already impressed.
When we checked in at the airport, we were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to Business Class. It was a seat-only upgrade, there was no lounge access offered, or priority baggage, but we were happy to be afforded the opportunity to try their business class service.
It began with priority boarding. The flight to Cebu today was a 4 class service, First, Business, Premium and Economy. Four neat lines were forming at the gate, with First (there are only 6 First Class suites onboard the aircraft,) and Business class (53 seats) passengers being called to board simultaneously.
On boarding the Boeing 777, we were welcomed and greeted by name, and shown to our seats, after packing away the carry on luggage into huge overhead bins , we settled down to be offered a drink choice of either Champagne, juice or water. We both chose champagne.
Boarding was completed very quickly, as was pre-take off checks and formalities and within minutes we were making the long taxi to the take off runway at Hong Kong.
I have been fortunate enough to fly Business Class on Hong Kong Airlines, KLM, Emirates, Etihad, Air India and Astana, all offer an excellent level of service, though I have to say for sheer space, Cathay was excellent. I am over 6' 2", and sitting down stretching out, my feet didn't reach the foot rest. Once the full flat bed was extended, the foot of the seat became raised to form a flat platform joining the base.
The huge screen nestled into the side of the seat in front, and opened to position itself just in front the tray.
The meal service was efficient, our side of the aircraft served by the Purser, offering you at your seat a tray with all the menu choices, after each passenger chose their main course she went back to the station to replenish the supply. Even though the flight was short at just over two hours, the food service was quickly delivered and cleared. Offers of freshly brewed tea and coffee followed along with a choice of liqueur.
There was just enough time to check out the in-flight entertainment, my choice unfortunately was longer than the flight time, so I made a note to finish it on the return flight! At all times we were addressed by name, which many of the other airlines mentioned do not practice.
We landed ahead of schedule, the doors were opened and we deplaned within 10 minutes. Customs and Immigration were not busy, and our bags were delivered very quickly. A very comfortable and restful way to start any holiday.
For the return, the flight wasn't full, and though check-in was compartmentalized into First/Business/Premium and Economy lines, there were few queues, and we were checked in without delay at the next available agent that became free in whatever section they were serving, the airline moving our prebooked seats to allow a family of 4 to sit together.
Once the queuing First & Business Class passengers were boarded, we made our way to our seats in the small Premium Economy section (34 seats), seat pitch was a generous 38inches, more than enough room to stretch out, especially with the recliner seat. The seats are also wider than economy with built in arm rests, again creating an impression of more space.
The short flight was quite bumpy, so the service was restricted to just food and accompanying drinks, and I managed to find the film I began to watch on the outbound leg, and watched it to the end.
We found the whole experience worth the little extra cost to fly Premium Economy, as being tall, I always welcome any extra legroom on flights long or short.