For the final leg of my return trip home from Asia, I had the opportunity to fly Cathay Pacific’s first class and I was super excited since I’d always heard good things about the airline. However, while there were some aspects I really enjoyed, there were also definitely some misses on this flight. Let’s get into the review!
Flight Info
- Flight Number: CX 882
- Seat: 1A
- Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
- Scheduled Departure Time: November 4, 2023 4:40 PM
- Arrival Time: November 4, 2023 3:00 PM
- Flight Time: 12 hours 45 minutes
- How I Booked: 122,800 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles transferred from Amex MR + ~$230.15 in taxes booked 10 months in advance. This segment was part of the TPE-HKG-LAX itinerary so there was no exact breakdown of how many miles this individual leg costed
Check In And Arrival Process
Since I was only transiting through Hong Kong after my Cathay Pacific business class flight, I didn’t get a chance to formally check in at the airport counter. The boarding ticket I received at Taoyuan International Airport was nothing special, but I wonder if they would have given me a unique first class boarding pass if I had checked in at Hong Kong International Airport.
The security for transfers at Hong Kong International Airport was very efficient and there wasn’t much of a line. After maybe 10 minutes of queueing, I grabbed my luggage, had my passport scanned, and then was on my way to the lounges.
Lounge
I only had a 4 hour layover in HKG so I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to explore all of the available Cathay Pacific lounges. I did manage to go see The Wing First Class Lounge and The Pier First Class Lounge which were both excellent. If you have a chance to check out these lounges, they’re both absolutely worth visiting.
Boarding
The boarding process was standard but what was new to me was that before you could even enter the gate area, you had to queue up in a line and show a gate agent your passport and boarding pass. I didn’t know this and showed up to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding so there was already a long line for economy passengers. However, first class and business class passengers thankfully get their own dedicated line so I was able to jump right to the front and get my documents checked with no wait.
After clearing this initial check, you can wait around in the gate area seats until it’s officially time to board. There are once again dedicated lines for the different cabins and for those with relevant OneWorld or Cathay Pacific status. After a short wait, our flight was able to start boarding on time and the whole process was very efficient.
Seats
Cathay Pacific’s 777-300ER first class features just 6 seats spread across 2 rows in a 1-1-1 configuration. The middle seats are lined by a wall that actually splits the cabin in two and this wall also separates seats 1A and 2A from the other 4 seats.
Having such a small amount of seats meant that each seat was extremely spacious and made the already private cabin feel all the more exclusive.
As for the seats themselves….WOW! That was my honest first reaction because it is HUGE. The most impressive aspect about the seat is definitely its width at a whopping 36 inches, making it the widest first class seat in the world. It truly felt like a throne since I still had so much free space next to me even after sitting down. The seat could fit two people if you squeezed and it felt like 1.75 economy seats combined. There was so much extra seat space that I actually used it as extra storage and put my unused seat pillow there.
While the decor of the cabin is a little on the older side, it still didn’t feel as outdated as Japan Airlines first class. The overall color scheme of the cabin is a monotone gray color with the seat cushioning and the seat walls exhibiting different shades of gray. However, despite that, I actually liked the aesthetics of the seat since the seat design and the cushioning were more on the modern side. In addition to this, the wood finishings and the maroon of the pillow provided a nice contrast to the rest of the seat.
One of the best features of the first class seat is how private it is. All of the first class seats are slightly angled in a reverse herringbone configuration and will always face away from your neighbors. The overarching side of the seat facing the aisle also shielded your view away from any neighbors and made it hard for people to see you directly. These two features worked together to give the seat the feeling of ultimate privacy.
You can also see how gigantic the seat was from how it spanned 3 windows!
When you first get to your seat, you’ll notice a few items waiting for you. The first is a water bottle that sits atop a mini coaster built into the countertop on the side of the seat. In addition to this, you’ll also find 3 pillows, 2 of which are loose pillows that you can move freely and 1 that is attached to the headrest. All of these pillows as well as the seat cushioning made the seat very comfortable.
Each seat comes with two reading lights on each side that you can turn on and off with the click of a button. Immediately to the left of the seat is where you will find the Bose headphone jack.
The footwell also has the same cushioning as the main seat and has a trapezoid shape that starts wide but narrows the further you go in. The seat is so large that even when I stretched my feet out completely, I still could barely get my feet onto the footwell. There is also additional storage space under this footwell that you can use to stow any extra luggage or backpacks.
In addition to the water bottle and pillows, there is also a blanket wrapped in a plastic bag waiting for you on the footwell. I didn’t end up using this blanket and the flight attendant took it away after dinner.
What was surprising to me about these seats is that there is no overhead storage space. Instead, each seat comes with a storage unit that is built into the seat bulkhead. The storage space is accessed by a fold out door and was much bigger than I expected since it could easily fit my carry on luggage. There is even a hanger inside for added convenience.
There is also a little mini storage container for any small items you have that is located next to the TV remote.
Each seat also features a literature storage pocket that is also built into the seat bulkhead. I highly doubt people will be putting any sort of magazines or reading material in here and it felt very out of place given that there is also the magazine pocket built into one of the seat walls that is more convenient to access.
Your standard charging ports and USB ports are located along the seat wall connected to the windows.
There are 2 sets of seat controls located on each side of the seat and I was really confused by this since they do almost the exact same thing. The first set of controls is a touchscreen mini panel located next to the TV remote holder. I felt that this screen was a little bit cumbersome and not as responsive as I would have liked. It was annoying how hard you had to press on the screen for it to register which button you were pressing. However, the nice thing about this control panel is that you can independently adjust different parts of the seat and get your preferred custom position.
The other control panel is on the opposite side of the seat and features 3 straightforward buttons for changing the seat into a bed, moving the seat into the upright position, or turning on the footwell light.
The best seats in Cathay Pacific’s first class are definitely 1A and 2A. This is because they don’t have any seats next to them but are instead enclosed by the seat walls of the middle row of seats. This made both seats feel extremely private since you didn’t have to worry about anyone looking over into your space.
I would give a slight edge to 2A being the better seat since it is located further away from the bathrooms and galley and will therefore be slightly quieter than seat 1A. However, you really can’t go wrong with either of these seats. I thought that my seat in 1A was terrific and didn’t have any noise issues.
In Flight Entertainment
Cathay Pacific’s in flight entertainment was great for the most part but still had a few shortcomings. Each passenger is given a set of Bose noise cancelling headphones which were lightly worn but still very clean. They were comfy to wear and did a great job of blocking out the noise from the aircraft while still providing high audio quality from the TV.
The seats are fitted with large 18.5 inch touchscreen TVs that are originally located flush with the bulkhead in front but can be slid out over the footwell. Cathay Pacific seems to love these slide out TVs since this kind of TV is seen in both First Class and Business Class.
The TV reminded me a bit of the TV in JAL first class since they both had a sort of glossy picture quality that wasn’t the most HD. However, I felt that the in flight entertainment selection for Cathay Pacific was terrific and far superior to what is offered on Japan Airlines. There were lots of English movies and TV shows as well as Chinese entertainment as well. I even ended up watching an anime movie that I happened to stumble across.
There is an accompanying retractable remote that is located on one side of your seat. This remote features a small touchscreen and your normal navigation buttons as well as the flight attendant call button. The remote was very intuitive and easy to use and I found myself using it much more than the touchscreen feature of the TV.
The neat thing is that for certain applications like the world map, the remote will show a screen like this which allows you to use your fingers to swivel the map around in all directions.
My only complaint against the in flight entertainment was that there was this really weird bug where if you pause a movie and resume, the first 10 seconds or so after resuming wouldn’t have any subtitles. This was frustrating during the meal service when I would frequently pause the movie to hear the flight attendant and then have to rewind to a previous point and resume playing to have the subtitles load.
Amenity Kit and Pajamas
Cathay Pacific gives out Bamford branded amenity kits and Pye branded pajamas to all first class passengers on a long haul flight.
The amenity kit was smaller than I expected by had a leather outer case that looked and felt premium. Inside the amenity kit was an eye mask, toothbrush, mouthwash, earplugs, toothpaste, and mouthwash. There is also a grooming department box that includes a fast mist spray, lip balm, and moisturizer.
The pajamas come folded inside of a neatly presented Pye bag that is handed out to each first class passenger.
The pajamas are the same crimson color as the Cathay Pacific first class color scheme and are some of my favorite airline pajamas to date. I felt that they were very comfy and also very stylish since the top came with buttons and even a mandarin collar!
I appreciated how the pants came with pockets and that the slippers were closed toe. The only gripe I had with them pajamas was how big they were. I was given a medium but it still felt pretty large. Most other airline pajamas have pant legs that taper down towards your feet but Cathay’s pajamas have very wide pant legs that make it easy to roll up when pulling a blanket over yourself.
Wifi
Cathay Pacific first class passengers receive complimentary wifi access. However, not all of their A330s and 777-300s have wifi. I’m not sure if I did something incorrectly or if it was because my plane didn’t offer it but I wasn’t able to connect to the wifi on my flight. I probably should’ve asked my flight attendant to confirm but unfortunately didn’t end up doing that.
Pre Departure
Shortly after boarding and while everyone was still getting situated, the cabin manager came by to introduce herself to me and welcome me aboard. She didn’t end up being my main flight attendant but I still appreciated that nice gesture from her.
A few minutes after that, my main flight attendant came by to introduce herself and also brought out a welcome tray with a cute little welcome card, a hot towel, and an herbal tea. The welcome card was a nice touch that I hadn’t seen before and the tea was a nice way to relax and start the flight.
After setting down the tray, she also asked what I would like for my pre departure drink and I went with the Krug 2004 Champagne.
She was prompt in bringing out the champagne and also gave me a small dish of assorted nuts to go along with it.
We actually ended up being delayed in takeoff but the seat and champagne were great so I didn’t mind at all. Once the plane began to pull out to the runway, the flight attendant came by one last time before takeoff to notify us that this would be a long flight at 13 hours, but I was more excited than disappointed!
Dinner Service
Before takeoff, each first class passenger was handed a printed first class menu to browse the drink and meal offerings. The menu was made of sturdy paper and had the signature Cathay Pacific first class maroon color.
The dinner service started with caviar followed by your choice of a Chinese style or international style dinner. There was also a seasonal option that if picked, would replace the main dish of your chosen cuisine. I usually always pick the local food option with no hesitation but the seasonal choice did make me think twice haha. Iberico pork over rice clay pot sounded really good but I couldn’t pass up the chance to have lobster on board so I went with the Chinese option.
There’s also a wellness menu that features dishes that aren’t as heavy on the palate. After dinner, you can optionally have a cheese course before finishing with your choice of dessert.
I’m no wine or champagne connoisseur by any means but I felt that the alcohol menu was pretty decent. You had your choice of various wines, champagnes, whiskeys, and other liquors.
I opted for my usual mealtime choice of champagne and continued with the Krug 2004, which was excellent.
The first dish to be served was a sort of smoked salmon puree in a light cream soup. To be completely honest with you I don’t exactly know what this was but I found it to be very light and tasty.
After serving this dish, the flight attendant came by to formally set my dining table. The dining table is stowed away below a little foldable flap on the side of your seat and when extended fully, is quite a large table. A white tablecloth was set and my silverware was placed in preparation for the coming dishes.
After clearing away the smoked salmon appetizer, the caviar service began and I have to say that Cathay Pacific’s caviar service has one of the most beautiful looking and aesthetically pleasing presentations I’ve seen. It’s wild to me that you even get your own assorted breadbasket in addition to the typical caviar side ingredients. I also thought the small salt and pepper bowls sitting on a little wood block were really cute and elegant.
The caviar was terrific and it was overall a very enjoyable start to the dinner service.
Next up were the appetizers consisting of a shredded chicken and jellyfish salad and a double boiled chicken and conch soup with fresh ginseng. There were also small dishes of soy sauce and chili that were brought out along with the appetizers. I’m not sure if the chili sauce was homemade but it was quite good and a nice additional flavor to pair with the soup and salad.
I’m too spoiled by Japan Airlines’ impressive arrangement of dishes because I felt that the presentation of Cathay Pacific’s catering was a little lackluster in comparison. However, despite their somewhat mundane appearance, these dishes were actually phenomenal in taste. I really enjoyed the jellyfish and chicken salad and it might have been my favorite part of the whole dinner service. The chicken and conch soup was also homey and tasted very hearty from the added ginseng.
Finally, the main course of the lobster and Chinese baby cabbage arrived and I was SO excited. I love lobster and this would be my first time being able to enjoy it in flight so I couldn’t wait. However, to say I was let down is an understatement. The lobster was just ok and in all honesty, the meal looked better than it tasted. The lobster had good flavor but the meat was quite dry and chewy and just wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. I will say that the Chinese baby cabbage was excellent and I preferred that over the lobster.
However, the most egregious offense was that the rice was hard and overcooked. The top of the rice was fine but about halfway through the bowl, the rice became crispy and inedible. It literally felt like I was eating overnight rice that had stuck to the bottom of the rice cooker. I love rice and usually have no problems finishing it but this was the first time in a long time that I left a half eaten bowl.
I’m not a big cheese fan so I declined to have the cheese course but instead decided to close out dinner with the chrysanthemum and longan jelly. It had a great presentation but was just ok in terms of taste. The little petals added beauty points to the dish but didn’t add much flavor. If I could go back in time, I’d order the pavlova with berries over this.
My final drink of the night was the Cloud Nine, which is one of Cathay Pacific’s signature cocktails. It reminded me of a boozy sprite and I was surprised by how refreshing it was. I would recommend giving it a try if you can.
Shortly after clearing all the dishes away, the flight attendant also handed out a small box of chocolates which were pretty decadent.
Overall I really, really wanted to love the whole dinner service but I just couldn’t because of how underwhelming the main course was. While the caviar and appetizers were superb, the main course really should be the star of the show and it was unfortunate that it was the most flawed part of the dinner experience. If anything I was most shocked about the rice since this was first class and they messed up a dish that is an essential part of Chinese cuisine.
Catering is a huge part of the in flight experience so this was quite a big blow to the overall enjoyment of the flight. Maybe I just got unlucky with the meal but I feel that it definitely could have been better.
Bathroom
In this aircraft, there are 2 bathrooms for first class. Both of these bathrooms are found in the front of the aircraft and feature Bamford branded lotions and sprays. I was really glad to see that there was a face mist spray too. I’ve come to appreciate these sprays since they really do make a difference in helping you feel more refreshed after being in the cabin for so long.
The surprising thing was that both the bathrooms were not the same. The bathroom on the left of the plane was larger and featured some nice wood decorations that helped the bathroom not feel so bland. There was even a charging port for you to plug your hairdryer or other bathroom electronic device into. The bathroom on the right was smaller and looked more like a normal airplane bathroom
Bed
Cathay Pacific boasts that it has the comfiest bed in the sky and I’ve even read reports by other frequent flyers that touted the Cathay Pacific first class bed as the best they’ve slept in. Well after trying it for myself, it’s hard to disagree. The mattress pad is extremely soft and plush and it felt like I was on a cloud. The bed itself is very wide so you can contort yourself into various positions and not feel restricted at all.
The pillow was soft and fluffy while the blanket was thick but not overly warm. Overall, all of these things combined to provide a great sleeping experience and I was able to get 3.5 hours of quality sleep, which is a lot for me!
Anytime Menu
Cathay Pacific does have an anytime menu available that long haul business class and first class passengers can order from. I honestly was not very hungry since all I had done the whole day was eat, but I took one for the team and forced myself to order these dishes to try them out. Thankfully there weren’t too many dishes to order and I still managed to finish them completely!
I started with the crispy prawns and I was taken aback by how large the prawns were. The dish comes with 2 prawns, some radishes on a lettuce leaf, and a side of cajun mayonnaise. I felt that there was just the right amount of breading on the prawns and the cajun mayonnaise gave the right amount of spice. Overall, the dish was surprisingly very good and worth ordering.
Next, I ordered the shrimp and pork dumpling noodles. I’m a big sucker for any kind of noodle so I knew I had to try this one. It had a delicious broth, chewy noodles, and flavorful dumplings. However, while it was good, it wasn’t mind blowing and was something you could easily order on the ground in one of the Cathay Pacific lounges. If I could only pick one, I would order the crispy prawns since it was tasty and offered something different from traditional noodles.
About an hour after I had finished the previous two dishes, the flight attendant came by and asked me if I would like some ice cream and I couldn’t pass up on that. The available options were vanilla, chocolate, or chestnut tart. When he was listing out the flavors I asked him to repeat the last choice since I didn’t know chestnut tart was even a real flavor.
Chestnut tart was so bizarre to me that I decided to order that and I’m glad I did! It was very delicious and not overly sweet. It’s hard to describe the flavor but I’d say that it’s almost like a nuttier vanilla that isn’t as sweet as traditional vanilla. It is definitely a unique flavor that you can’t easily find in the US and I’d recommend giving it a shot!
Breakfast Service
When we were about 2 hours out from landing in Los Angeles, the cabin crew came by to wake us up and ask us if we would like to order breakfast. I had already been awake for a while so I was excited that the time for meal #2 was finally here!
The breakfast menu was surprisingly extensive. You had your choice of a breakfast drink and a small bite before the main breakfast. I’m usually a big apple juice guy but the cold pressed juice sounded pretty interesting so I decided to order that. For the small bite, I was still really full so I ended up choosing the fresh fruit for something lighter.
When ordering, the flight attendant will also ask you whether you want marmalade or a fruit jam to accompany the assorted baked goods you will receive. I hadn’t had marmalade for a long time so I picked that to go with my breakfast.
For the mains, it was similar to dinner where you could either have a western style option or a Chinese style option. I saw the congee and dim sum and didn’t need to see anything else. I knew that was what I wanted to order for breakfast.
Soon after ordering, a hot towel was brought out along with my drink as the flight attendants set up my dining table once again. The pressed juice had a pretty interesting flavor. It tasted like strawberry juice more than anything with a slight hint of lime. It wasn’t bad but I’m not sure if I would order it again.
I was quite impressed at the whole setup of breakfast given how grand it was with all of the items that were served. I for sure did not expect to receive a whole bowl of different breads and pastries. To start, I tried the croissant and it was warm, flaky, and soft on the inside. It was basically everything you wanted in the ideal croissant. There were toast and danishes as well but I wanted to save my appetite for the main breakfast.
The fruit plate consisted of kiwi, blackberries, dragonfruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, and a lime slice. I thought the slice of lime was super random since you don’t usually see that in an assorted fruit plate.
After finishing the fruit plate, the main breakfast was brought out and this was probably my favorite part of the whole flight. I LOVE dim sum and being able to enjoy some high quality dim sum 37,000 feet in the air is such a blessing. It’s unfortunate that dinner was such a letdown but breakfast made up for that.
The congee and dim sum were brought out on their own plates and it was cool seeing the dim sum served in a bowl that resembled the traditional steamer that dim sum comes in. I appreciated how there were additional condiments like shredded green onions and ginger and the delicious chili sauce once again.
The mushroom congee is garnished with a fried wonton skin on top and overall was very tasty. I recommend adding the chili sauce since it adds a little kick and the flavors pair so well together.
However, the real star of the breakfast was for sure the dim sum. You are served 1 siu mai, 1 shrimp dumpling, 1 seafood dumpling, and 1 steamed bean curd roll. All 4 of them were delicious but I especially loved the siu mai. It was juicy, tender, and had lots of flavor.
In addition to the cold pressed juice, I also ordered the Hong Kong style milk tea since I enjoy that particular style of milk tea. I was expecting just a small cup but was completely blown away when they brought out a full tea set with my own kettle. It was such a memorable experience just having your own tea kettle and being able to pour a cup of tea whenever you pleased.
The aesthetics of the tea set were great and the the milk tea itself was fantastic as well. It was hot and had that creamy flavor that made the drink so enjoyable. I’d highly recommend ordering this onboard.
Landing in Los Angeles
As we were approaching Los Angeles, the flight attendants came by to help us convert our seats from the bed position back to the seat position for landing. They also asked if we would like any drinks and I requested a latte which was great and a nice pick me up after nearly 11 hours in the sky.
Overall Service
I felt that the overall service was great but was exactly in line with what I expected from a first class flight. It didn’t exceed my expectations since there was nothing extraordinary or extremely memorable done but the flight attendants were all professional, well meaning, and they did make it a very pleasant flight from start to finish.
The flight attendants made each interaction enjoyable due to them being very friendly and happy to engage in small talk. During dinner service, my main flight attendant would ask how everything was going and offered her recommendations whenever I asked if there was a particular dish or drink she liked. After dinner, she even asked about my travel plans and shared some of her personal experiences as well. I was curious and asked her how long she had worked for Cathay Pacific and she has been a flight attendant with the airline for 30 years!
However, my most memorable service moment occurred about halfway through the dinner service when I was still working on my 3rd glass of champagne. The flight attendant purposely came out just to refill my drink glass and she had the bottle ready to pour but when she saw that I still had half my glass, she smiled at me and quietly went back into the galley. It’s not often that an attendant comes out quicker than I can finish my alcohol so I thought that her proactiveness and promptness were a great representation of the quality service first class passengers can expect.
Overall the flight attendants were all kind, attentive, and very accommodating throughout the flight. They were prompt to come when requested and did all that they could to make the flight an enjoyable one.
Conclusion
Cathay Pacific has a great first class product but it’s far from perfect. While the hard product is fantastic and the service is great, the mediocre dinner and wonky in flight entertainment system really hurt the overall experience. I had seen recent reports that Cathay Pacific is now a shell of its former glory and while I haven’t flown Cathay Pacific in the past to be able to compare, I can kind of see where they’re coming from.
Cathay Pacific’s first class is still a great way to cross the Pacific in comfort and style but overall it isn’t an industry leading product. I would rank Japan Airlines first class and Singapore Airlines first class suites above Cathay Pacific first class. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to fly their first class again but if the opportunity arose, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with them again.
