This holiday to Hong Kong and New York was a Christmas present for our daughters and although we booked it well in advance, we had to keep it a secret until Christmas.  Needless to say they were pretty excited. It did however come with one condition.

We would be travelling carry-on only.  It was a big ask but we emphasised the importance of collecting experiences over stuff.   Last time we flew to Hong Kong we went Qantas so I was excited to this time be flying on Hong Kong’s own carrier Cathay Pacific.  We drove a hire car to Sydney the previous day and stayed at the Rydges Airport Hotel to make it easier catching our 10.05am flight out. Our lack of luggage didn’t go unnoticed with the woman behind the check-in counter telling us we were the lightest group of travelling passengers she had ever seen as all we had were our back packs.

Airline and Flight #

Cathay Pacific CX162

Aircraft

Airbus A330-300

Airport and Terminal

Departure: Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney NSW Australia | Terminal 1

Arrival: Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong| Terminal 1

Scheduled Departure Date and Time

Tuesday 28 June 2016| 10:05am

Flying Time

9 hours 45 minutes

Luggage Allowance

Carry-on: Adults and children travelling in business class are allowed the following carry on luggage up to 7kg per piece:

• 1x115cm bag at 56cm (22in) x 36cm (14in) x 23cm (9in) and
• 1 small item that can fit under the seat in front and be no larger than 15cm (6in) x 30cm (12in) x 40cm (16in).  Such items can include a small handbag, laptop bag, small backpack, camera bag or briefcase.

Checked baggage: Most passengers have the following checked baggage allowances however there are a few destinations where the allowances are more or less depending on how far away they are:

• 30kg (66lb) – maximum 2 pieces.  For this flight we were allowed 2 bags weighing up to 23kg (50.7lbs) each with dimensions adding to 158cm (62 in).
• Total dimensions (length + width + height) = 203cm (80 in)
• If you are travelling with an infant without a booked seat for them, two pieces of luggage totalling up to 10kg (22lbs) plus a car seat and a stroller can be checked in on most flights.
• Infants with booked seats and children are entitled to the same luggage allowances as adults.
• More generous allowances are made for passengers travelling in a higher class or with a higher tier Marco Polo frequent flyer status.

Fun Facts

• Cathay Pacific is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance
• The airline was founded in Hong Kong back in 1946
• The airline commenced service with a single Douglas DC-3 nicknamed Betsy

Website

Cathay Pacific’s website is really well laid out with a great user-face making it easy to use and find what you’re looking for.  You can book one way, return or multi city flights as well as hotels or flight and hotel combinations.  When searching flights, prices are displayed for the dates chosen as well as days either side.  This is handy for when your dates are flexible allowing you to choose to fly on a cheaper day.  The results also show the price of the different class fares.  Clicking on view details brings up further information like airport and terminal numbers and the type of aircraft.  You can reserve your seat but if you’re flying Economy and haven’t reached the required tier frequent flyer membership there is a fee with the amount depending on the country you fly out of and your destination.  The website also contains information on a range of topics including frequent flyer programs, luggage requirements, check-in, preparing for your trip, airport details etc.

Check-in

Check-in can be done on-line, at the airport via the counter or self service kiosk or by downloading Cathay Pacific’s app. When checking in on-line enter your first and last name followed by your booking reference or E-ticket number.  Boarding passes can be sent to your mobile, printed at home or from the self-service kiosks at the airport.  Check-in opens 24 hours up to 90 minutes prior to scheduled departure however if you have purchased your ticket directly from the Cathay Pacific website or are a Club/Asia Miles passenger, you can check in 48 hours prior to departure.

Seating

Layout – The Cathay Pacific is a wide bodied jet with 251 seats.  These are made up of 39 flat bed Business class seats, 21 Premium Economy recliner seats and 191 standard Economy class seats.  Economy is set out in a 2-4-2 configuration which I really like when you’re travelling with just one other person. We were seated in row 43 of 75,

Features – The seats are made from an attractive light blue cloth.  Each seat has adjustable head rests that you can adjust to support your neck better whilst sleeping.   The tray tables are folding and contain a cup holder so you don’t have to pull your tray down if you’re just having a drink.  The leg room was decent.

On each seat – There was a pillow and a blanket and a set of individually wrapped headphones.

Specs – Seat pitch 32 inches (81cm), seat width 18.5 inches (47cm), seat recline 6 inches (15cm)

Cabin Comfort

With a seating configuration of 2x4x2 rather than 3x4x3 there is definitely more room on board the A330-300.  The cabin feels less cramped and leg room is better.  It’s good not having an extra person to climb over if you want to leave your seat.

In-flight Entertainment

Electronic devices

• Electronic devices can be used whilst boarding using the aerobridge but not if you’re using the tarmac to board.
• Once doors on the plane have closed you need to then switch your device to flight mode.

Power

• There were two universal power plugs underneath each pair of seats
• USB power is available just below the entertainment screen

In the Seat Pocket

• Discovery magazine – containing articles, travel information and advertising
• Shop – duty free magazine
• Laminated safety card

WiFi

• There was no WiFi on this flight

Entertainment System

• Cathay Pacific uses Studio CX for its inflight entertainment.  This is offered through individual screens with the following menus to choose from:

1. Just added – a selection of new movies that have recently come out
2. Movie
3. TV
4. Music
5. Info
6. Game
7. Kids
8. Map – which contained a fairly basic moving flight map
9. Shop

Transfer information was displayed on the screen upon descent.

Catering

Menus

Cathay Pacific’s menus were very much on the plain side.  They were basically a piece of thick paper with Lunch and Refreshment printed on the front and the same on the back written in Cantonese.  There was no indication of when the meals would be served or anything else about the food other than a small note down the bottom to let us know the selection was from the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong along with an apology if your meal choice was not available.  I did notice there was a bigger choice of meals for both the lunch and refreshment to what I was used to with other airlines.  Lunch offered a chioice of pork, fish or vegetarian pasta which all came with a salami and risoni pasta salad, a bread roll and butter and a Weiss ice-cream bar whilst the refreshment had either a beef mince noodle dish or turkey panini on offer.  These were served with banana cake and tea and coffee.

Food/Drinks

After the seatbelt lights went out crew started serving drinks and packets of peanuts to tie us over until lunch.

About two hours into the flight lunch was served by which time I was starving.  I chose the stir fried pork, black pepper broccoli & capsicum with steamed jasmine rice.  This came served with a salami & risoni pasta salad and a warm bread roll with butter.  The meal was not quite as good as typical aeroplane food although the salad was nice.  This was followed by a mini Weiss bar for dessert.  I wasn’t asked if I wanted tea or coffee so my cup remained empty.

Lunch on Cathay Pacific Sydney to Hong Kong

A few hours had passed when I asked for some water as it had been a while since lunch and drinks were last served.  Towards the end of our flight our refreshment was serve and again I was surprised there was a choice here.  I chose the stir fried noodles and mince beef.  It wasn’t that great and came served with diced apple and banana cake.  The banana cake was nice.  I wasn’t sure what the empty containers on the tray were for. There appeared to be more containers than food to fill them.

Pros

• Cathay Pacific offers three choices of meals and two choices of refreshments
• The airline was able to give us our first choice of meal every time
• We arrived on time despite leaving a little late
• I liked the 2×2 configuration in Economy on the A330’s

Cons

• The food was fairly bland and the presentation was lacking
• The toilets weren’t the cleanest
• Staff generally weren’t very friendly

Conclusion

Overall, I was disappointed with Cathay Pacific.  I had high hopes for this airline and frankly, they let me down.  The taste and presentation of most of their food was below average, the cleanliness of the toilets was poor and the staff weren’t all that friendly.  I wouldn’t choose to fly them again if flying Economy.  Maybe their business class product is much better.  I did however appreciate a greater choice in meals and refreshments to what I was used to seeing and the extra room you get with a 2x4x2 seating configuration is certainly preferable.