Cathay Pacific First Class is not only an aspiration award but an exclusive experience in the sky reserved for the world’s richest, celebrities, and those who know how to play the points game. I have flown Cathay Pacific First Class several times, yet I will admit, that my late night, red eye flight on Cathay Pacific First Class from Los Angeles to Hong Kong was by far the best experience I have ever had on Cathay Pacific and it was the crew which made it so special!
Cathay Pacific First Class Boarding:
Cathay Pacific boards First Class passengers first and does not allow anyone except First Class passengers in their exclusive cabin in the forward part of the plane. The boarding door and jet bridge serves both First and Business Class passengers, but First Class passengers and 2 rows of Business Class passengers turn left instead of right at door 2L to access the cabin. Once boarded, drinks and a preflight snacks are offered along with menus, amenity kits, and Pajamas for the flight. The crew was more than willing to help store luggage, as passengers may be confused as there are no overhead bins in first to allow the cabin to have a more open feeling. Instead each suite is outfitted with a personal closet with hangers for jackets and clothing and a large storage area under the ottoman.
Pre-flight I opted for the overpriced, but more than delicious Krug and snacked while exploring the seat and snapping photos with my travel partner who was experience his first, first class flight. Needless to say, he was like a little kid in a candy store!
During the boarding process is a fantastic time to explore the first class suite and get familiar with the seat controls and seat options. Cathay Pacific First Class on the 777-300ER offers 6 open suites in a 1x1x1 configuration. Seats 1A and 2A are the most private as they have their own aisle. The middle seats D and seats K share the right aisle; D being middle of aircraft, and K seats are along the right fuselage. Each suite has a individual closet for storage, direct aisle access, a large 15” TV display with dozens of movies in multiple languages. This is addtion to all the typical Inflight entertainment bells and whistles. Storage option around the seat is availble in small cubbies for small items. For decor, a fresh Orchid is at each seat. Then finally an extra wide seat comes with an arm rest that folds down like a car’s rear middle seat cup holder.
Cathay Pacific First Class In-Flight Service.
Cathay Pacific 881 and 883 both leave around midnight to Hong Kong and offers full meal service despite the late night departure. About 30 minutes after takeoff meal orders were taken from passengers and passengers were served a drink of their choice along with mixed nuts.
Caviar and Champagne hour started shortly after and meal service followed taking about 2 hours in total time. The meal was fantastic and the crew was suburb. It was my first time flying Cathay Pacific where I didn’t have to ask for drink refills. Seriously, I’ve always had to ask the crew to refill even my water glass during meal time, but not on this flight! The crew just showed up to refresh my perfectly paired glasses of wine, water, or champagne continuously throughout meal service without having to inquire!
The crew on this flight was part of the Los Angeles base. Most of the crew were Chinese-Americans and I found them more personable and outgoing than the typical robotic Cathay Pacific Crews.
Cathay Pacific First Class Dinner
Above Champagne & Cavier set up for two. Below – Photo of us dining together in our Cathay Pacific provided Pajamas
Chicken & Tortilla soup
Romaine heart, La Quercia prosciutto, toasted pine nuts & Caesars dressing
Braised abalone, mushroom, stir-friend mustard green and steamed jasmine rice – chewy fish and not good! I would NOT recommend this option.
Seared USDA prime aged bone-in striploin, carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes, Bordeaise and Bearnasie Sauce – what my companion ate for dinner
Berries & Cream (above) with made onboard cappachino (Below). The dessert was light and refreshing!
smoked baby swiss cheese, Camembert, Blue Chese, Goat Cheese
After dinner was completed, I returned to my seat, turned on a movie, and had the crew make my bed. The bed has a thick mattress pad which adds to the seat’s comfort along with a thick comfortable and multiple pillows for added comfort. I stretched out on my 6’6” bed and slept for several hours before waking up and diving into more food and booze as I over indulged in my first class experience.
Related Reading: Cathay Pacific First Class B777 Hong Kong (HKG) to Los Angeles (LAX) trip Report – more details on the First Class Seat, IFE and Amenities
Cathay Pacific First Class Mid-Flight Snack
Shrimp quesadilla, guacamole, salsa picante, and sour cream
Other snack options & breakfast menu
Several more hours went by, a couple of movies were watched and then it was time to eat breakfast before we descending into Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific First Class Breakfast
I shared my companion’s seat again, and instead of sticking to the regular breakfast menu we revisted the caviar and champagne from dinner and then had fresh organic made onboard fried eggs. Made onboard eggs are so much better than reheated! I really wish more airlines would do this! We also killed another bottle of delicious Krug during breakfast!
The Flight Attendant made friend eggs for me, but scrambled eggs for Hugo
Cathay Pacific First Class Review & Recap
Before I knew it, the 14 hour flight was coming to an end and we were descending in Hong Kong. The flight had honestly flown by and I was extremely impressed with the service onboard the flight. I found the crew to be the utmost professional, but also more proactive than the typical robots on board. The amenity kits have not changed in years, offering the basic Aesop face cream and lip balm and the seats are the same as previous First Class flights. The only new part of the flight was that the menu are now attached to a wood slate, adding some class to the typical paper menu. Otherwise everything about the flight was very typical Cathay Pacific.
As you can tell, this wasn’t my first Cathay Pacific First Class flight, but it definitely was my favorite! Going forward I will always try to fly the late night flight from the USA, as I truly enjoyed the US Based crew verses the “by the book” reserve Hong Kong based cabin crews that I have experienced in the past.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvcWWdeHyDg]
Video of us landing at HKG through the on board camera accessed on the IFE screen
