Cathay Pacific Premium

One of life’s big travel questions – is it worth paying the extra for Premium Economy? Some airlines such as Air New Zealand and Turkish really do offer a premium product with nicer food, comfy chair and other frills. On other airlines, the difference can be minimal and it’s really a question of expense.

When I was based in Hong Kong, I found myself frequently flying the ‘home’ airline of Cathay Pacific. Premium Economy is a fairly new addition on the Cathay Pacific fleet to a number of select destinations including London, Vancouver, LAX and Sydney. Having recently flown both Economy and Premium longhaul on their Boeing 777-300, I thought I’d give you my take on it:

Why you might want to pay the extra

12 hours ago  The deal will see Cathay Pacific raise HK$6.74 billion (US$870 million). The bonds are convertible, meaning investors can swap them for Cathay Pacific shares. The conversion price is at a substantial premium to the stock price. News of the bond’s issue caused Cathay Pacific. Book flights to Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Cebu, Vancouver and other destinations with Cathay Pacific. You can also manage bookings and view your frequent flyer account online. More space, more cuisine choice, more service, and more perks mean a truly superior travel experience. With our new Upgrade Bid feature, eligible Economy and Premium Economy bookings on Cathay Pacific or Cathay. Cathay Pacific Premium Economy is an awesome luxurious experience. I think my brother is hooked now, too. Cathay Pacific, thank you very much for making my travels always an experience to remember.

• If the price difference between Economy and Premium is not too insane (as a rough guide, it tends to be approx. twice the price)
• If you’re flying more than 10 hours
• If you’re taking an overnight flight and need to sleep. The recline is 8 inches as opposed to 6 inches on the new Economy seats.
• If you like the feel of a smaller cabin. Premium has typically approx. 30 seats depending on the aircraft. You might also be guided by the size of your party, especially if you are in a ‘2’ as Premium seat configurations are 2-3-2 (Airbus A330) or 2-4-2 (Boeing 777).
  
• If you need a bigger seat. The seats are certainly wider and have a seat pitch of 38 inches (6 inches more than Economy). What’s a seat pitch I hear you cry! That’s the distance between the back of your seat and the back of the seat in front.
• If you need a comfier seat as Premium definitely offers more padding for your bottom. There’s a headrest that you can move around and a foot rest (or leg rest if you are the bulkhead).
• If you like a slightly more attentive service whether that’s being offered a drink as you get onboard or receiving your meal faster than if you were in Economy
• If you like a Vanity Pack although let’s be honest here, Cathay’s pack consists of things ALL passengers would have been given in the 80s; toothbrush, tiny toothpaste, eyemask, socks and ear plugs.
  
• If headphones are important to you. You get those nice noise cancelling ones in Premium, the same ones as they give out in Business no less! My toddler pretty much destroyed the ones given to us in Economy…
• If you need extra luggage allowance (25kg in Premium vs. 20kg in Economy)
• If you like Priority Boarding (well.. after First/Business). However you would get this anyway if you are a Marco Polo member or travelling with kids. You’ll also disembark quicker (unless like me, your toddler will have left their teddybear and then you have to wait until the entire plane disembarks to go back for it).
• If you want a greater chance of a free upgrade to Business. Although the reality is if you’re travelling with kids, it’s not going to happen.

Why you might not want to pay the extra

• I reiterate here, paying extra for Premium can be expensive. Do you really want to spend the extra money on 12 hours of your life? A cheaper way to do it is to save those miles and book your Premium seat with them or pay for Economy and upgrade with miles. The cheapest way to a great seat is to try to reserve the bulkhead in Economy, read about my recent experience here
• If you need 3 seats AND a bassinet, you won’t be able to sit together. In Premium economy, the bassinets are only available in the side bulkheads where there are 2 seats.
• If you need the arm rest to move. None of the armrests in Premium Economy go up although do bear in mind that this is also true of most seats in the bassinet rows of Economy.
• It’s out of your control but there’s nothing worse than paying extra for Premium only to find Economy is empty and you’ve lost out on a row of seats to yourself!

Cathay Pacific have switched the Amsterdam flights from a large Boeing 777-300ER to the smaller but more modern Airbus A350-1000. However, this aircraft comes with the latest Premium Economy cabin. With this in mind, Lux-Traveller took a flight in Premium Economy from Amsterdam to Hong Kong.

With a comfortable lunchtime takeoff, and early morning arrival into Hong Kong, the Amsterdam Cathay Pacific flights are perfectly positioned to take incoming flights from around Europe, and then onwards from Hong Kong to Australia. I arrived from Southampton Eastleigh Aerodrome into Amsterdam on an uneventful FlyBE flight, and then headed to Cathay Pacific's checkin.

The Amsterdam Cathay Pacific's checkin was an absolute zoo. As a oneworld Emerald, even though I was in premium economy, I could use Business Class checkin. This had about ten people ahead of me; unlike economy which had about 40, all queuing.

Security also took an age, as Amsterdam now has a centralised security check; and for Non-Schengen, there was a good half hour wait for passport control. Once here, I then had a very long walk to the lounge. I later found that if I had gone through Schengen security, and hopped over to Non, I could have been through in a tick. A trick for next time.

The Cathay Business lounge at Amsterdam is the British Airways lounge. There is no access for Premium Economy, but as a One World status holder I could get into the lounge before the flight. The lounge is new, but it is really only designed for short hops to London. As such there are only light snacks available, but as usual with BA an excellent wine beer and spirit selection.

The British Airways Amsterdam lounge also got pretty crowded just before boarding: not just with short-haul BA passengers, but also with a full load of Cathay Pacific passengers. Many of these left before boarding was called, and I soon found out why.

It is a good twenty-minute walk from the BA lounge to the G-Pier which Amsterdam uses for International flight. As such, the aircraft was in the last stages of boarding by the time I got there, and quickly entered the Premium Economy cabin, right behind Business Class.

The largest variant in the A350 family, Cathay Pacific's A350-1000s carries a total of 334 passengers across its Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class cabins; 54 more passengers more than the airline's A350-900s.

Cathay Pacific's new A350-1000 features a New Economy Class; with an innovative headrest which is enhanced from the current one on the A350-900. A tablet holder is featured at each seat. Cathay has done away with the remote control handset and the entertainment screens are touchable.

Cathay Pacific Premium

Business Class seats on the A350-1000 retain the same long haul Business Class product across the Cathay Pacific fleet. The entire Business Class is in the one cabin, from Rows 11 through 23 (A total of 11 rows).

However, it is Cathay's Premium Economy Cabin which is of note for this flight. Luxury it is not, with just 32 Premium Economy Class seats are in the middle of the A350-1000. This gives an extra row, compared to the A350-900 model.

There is also a 12.1' personal television, a swing-up leg rest and a nine-inch recline, a dedicated mobile/tablet shelf, designed at eye level, where your phone clips in place. The A350 has a lower 'cabin altitude' to help you arrive feeling better-refreshed, and LED mood lighting to set the scene for the journey ahead, and slightly larger windows.

Cathay Pacific Premium Economy is arranged in a 2-4-2 layout, compared to the 2-3-2 on the A330, and Cathay's A350 premium economy seats offer just 18.5 inches of width compared to an extra inch on the Boeing 777.

Make no mistake however, Cathay Premium Economy is all about the seat: the service you get on board is exactly the same as in Economy. There is however the perk of being served first, a slightly better amenity kit, and decent noise-cancelling headphones.

Beside the A350 seat is a storage compartment for small thin items like the menu, your passport and arrival cards. A tablet also just fits. However, the small shelf under the screen is a boon for watching video on a mobile, without holding it in your hand.

Cathay provides both a USB port and an international-style AC outlet for every passenger, found at the front of the centre console.

Cathay Pacific Premium Economy seats come with a larger tray table from within the armrest, which is split into two: however, you can't quite get past the table when it is in half mode. Each seat also comes with a shared cocktail table, plus a swivel out a personal drinks shelf.

There is the usual reading light overhead, but Premium Economy seats on the A350 have the perk of a small flexible headrest light. Few passengers seem to notice it is there, and it is very easy to ignore it, however it is useful being directional, and the light can be kept very low.

A distinctly up market feature of Premium Economy is the pre-departure drink of Champagne (Piper-Heidsieck) in a real glass. However, this is the only time Champers appears in the flight.

Menus were handed around at take off, as were amenity kits. They are pretty basic, with just socks, an eyeshade, and toothbrush.

Premium Economy gets a slightly uprated menu compared to economy.

Cathay Pacific Premium Economy meals

Lunch:

Side: Tuna Potato Salad

Cathay Pacific Premium Class

• Steamed Chicken with seeds mushroom and rice
• Seared cod fillet with spinach and potatos
• Ricotta and spinach ravioli with tomato, green olive salsa, broccolini and Grana Padano.

Dessert: Movenpick ice cream

About an hour into the flight, there is a full bar service with two trolleys front to back.

However, I was surprised the crew completely ignored me, and when they had moved onto economy, I had to call them back to get a drink.

Premium Economy On Cathay Pacific

An hour later, and meals are served.

Again, the crew seemed completely disorganised, and told me that one of the items on the menu wasn't available. After pointing out that it couldn't be, as I was only three from the front, the crew went away, and found some more 'down the back'. It was not a premium experience.

The overall presentation was also much more like an economy meal than something served in a premium cabin, and there were two empty dishes on the tray that never seemed to contain anything.

There was a second offering of wine as the food came around. Wine is pretty basic, with two bottles on the trolley. The choice is simply white or red, and the crew seemed to know nothing about either. However, spirits are better, with Chivas Regal 12yr, Courvoisier VSOP, Finlandia vodka, Gordon's gin, and Bacardi rum.

Beer is that staple in Hong Kong, San Miguel lager.

After the main course, the cabin crew offered Movenpick ice cream for dessert. It was rock hard, and notably, this isn't a special offering for Premium Economy, as it is also offered in the back of the bus.

Wine also comes in plastic cups, unlike say Singapore Airlines. However, it is good to see that Cathay Pacific still stick with serving two hot meals, unlike Qantas and Singapore who have move onto the meal and a snack system, or Emirates who just gave up on the second meal, and just serve one meal halfway through the flight.

During the flight cup noodles were on offer.

And there was also a small snackbar in the galley.

Thankfully, the meal times on this flight were better timed than on the flight from Hong Kong to Europe. Outbound, seven hours into a thirteen hour flight, the lights snap on for the second meal. On this occasions, the crew waited until three hours before landing.

Fast forward to breakfast - served around 90 minutes before landing - offering seasonal fresh fruits, yoghurt, a croissant with jam and butter on the side, tea and coffee, and one of the following mains:

Breakfast:

Fresh fruit salad

Fruit yoghurt

Bread and preserve

• Cheddar cheese and tomato omelette with pork fennel chipolata, spinach, peperonata and Lyonnaise potatoes
• Prawn and scallop congee

The omelette dish sounded pretty standard, so I opted for the noodles with a Hong Kong-style milk tea for an early taste of the destination, and wasn't disappointed.

Cathay Pacific Premium Economy Entertainment

The Cathay Pacific A350-1000 comes with the latest version of Studio CX. Each seat has a 12.1-inch touchscreen entertainment system.

There are plenty of films to watch, but the TV series were disappointing, with mainly US TV shows, some virtually unknown. However, there is live satellite television, with CNN, BBC World News and Euronews, all of which appeared to work reliably every time.

Wireless Internet is available at an additional cost - US$9.95 for one hour or US$19.95 for the entire flight, both without data limits.

Cathay Pacific A350-1000 Premium Economy review

In general, the flight was OK, but it became clear that Cathay Pacific operate Premium Economy as Economy with a slightly larger seat. Food is OK, but really there is little to differentiate this flight with a basic flight, other than the larger seat of course.

However, it is service which really let this flight down. Normally Cathay Pacific are great, so it is curious as to just what went wrong here. The crew just didn't seem to want to bother. They skipped complete rows when serving, missed items, and didn't clear trays until three hours after the service, when passengers ended up taking them to the galley themselves. This in itself was odd, as the passengers were told to sit down and wait.

The whole flight left a feeling of 'oh, what happened' on the service. Which is a shame, as Cathay Pacific do offer some very competitive Premium Economy fares.

See the full Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy trip report AMS-HKG video:

Lux-traveller paid its own way for this Trip Report on Cathay Pacific from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, and travelled incognito.

Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy Amsterdam Hong Kong

Loungeindex rating: 7 out of 10