If you’ve been reading this site for awhile, you know Cathay Pacific for me feels like how you would describe an old childhood friend. Back in 2011 (wow… that’s 12+ years ago), it took my first “fancy flight” virginity. From remote controls to vanity mirrors, the smallest details on the seat blew me away.
Before you know it… even yours truly Chloe flew CX Business right before she turned 2 years old. At the time, she was still categorized as “lap infant” so under Cathay Pacific rules we only had to pay 25% of the adult revenue fare.
It’s an airline we personally set as a benchmark in Business Class. While some airlines gets more glitzy (I’m looking at you Emirates) and some airlines outright suck (I’m looking at you Lufthansa), Cathay Pacific deliver consistency in the products and services on the flight. After a long hiatus, it’s exciting to see the airline finally back on the LAX-HKG route for 2023.
Booking
Award travel is slim pickings nowadays. With everyone traveling, it is definitely challenging now to redeem miles for fun flights.
Long gone are the days where you can easily redeem a Cathay Pacific First Class seat for a random birthday surprise. And lonnnnng gone are the days where Chloe can just be a “lap infant” for a fancy flight 😉
Now you be lucky if you can even find availabilities in Business Class. Luckily, we were able to snatch two from LAX-HKG-BKK for only 85k per passenger via Asia Miles.
Starting Oct 1st 2023, Cathay Pacific announced a devaluation in their Asia Miles program and this same flight will cost 110k each. For those interested in trying this product, I highly recommend booking this before the price goes up.
Experience
While CX Business is an airline that’s fun to fly, not much has changed in terms of the overall flight experience in the past decade. Thus, our main focus this time was to simply rest for most of this midnight flight.
Even though LAX is known to be a sh*tshow, the check-in experience was pleasant. Our luggages this time were super heavy at 70+lbs each too. Thankfully the extra weight allowance is complimentary.
At Tom Bradley, CX Business can access the OneWorld lounge on the upper floor.
Or you can be like Chloe and go duty-free shopping. Can’t believe she’s now big enough to roll her own carry-on luggage.
For this flight, Miki picked the window bulkhead seat.
Chloe got the center bulkhead.
but she (per usual) came over to mommy bed to steal her seat.
Before they slept, they opt for a light dinner and dessert.
6 hours of sleep later…
tea/coffee time
Cathay Pacific crew gifted Chloe a cool collectible CX plane during breakfast.
And just like that, they land well-rested in HKG facetiming daddy at the fancy Cathay Pacific – the Wing First & Business lounge. Daddy fomo level is strong…
Overall, it was an absolute pleasure reuniting with Cathay Pacific. We’ve waited 3 years for this airline to come back to the LAX-HKG transpacific sector and it lives up to our expectations in our decade flights of CX memories.
It’s not the most luxurious or private Business Class product by any means, but its stellar delivery in consistency with its product and service makes it always a safe bet to travel comfortably for an ultra long-haul flight.
Chai Bear World 