Overview of Cathay Pacific First Class
Flying Cathay Pacific first class has been one of my greatest adult life experiences so far. The food, the service, the amenities; everything was impeccable. However, this was my first time taking a first-class flight, so my observations are not those of a seasoned first-class traveler. Nevertheless, everything about this flight far exceeded my expectations and put my previous business-class flight experiences to shame.
My experience was made all the better by knowing I was getting $16k in travel for roughly $1,400 thanks to my Venture X credit card. I am from a small rural town. I have no business being on a $16,000 flight. While I was a little subconscious initially, knowing my fellow passengers were wealthy CEOs (from the conversations I overheard), I got over it pretty quickly and enjoyed the flight.
Travel Plans
I needed to get from IAD (Dulles in DC) to HKG (Hong Kong) so that I could celebrate Chinese New Year in China with my husband’s family. I established my travel plans in March of 2023, so I was able to make sure I had a ticket to China in January of 2024. Thankfully, knowing my travel plans so far in advanced made it very easy to book an award flight.
This trip was split up into two legs. One flight from Dulles to Heatherthrow (Business class on British Airways) and one leg from Heatherthrow to Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class.
Airline & Class: Cathay Pacific First Class (CX)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Flight #: CX 252
Route: Heatherthrow International Airport (LHR) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
Date: January 25, 2024
Duration: 11 hours and 45 minutes
Cabin and Layout: Cathay Pacific first class, 6-seat capacity across 2 rows, 1-1-1 configuration, 2 Bathrooms
Seat: 1A
Miles Used: 84.9k transferred from Capital One + 34k purchased ($1020.00) Total = 117,900 miles
Total Paid: $403.60 in taxes and fees fuel surcharges + $1020.00 for miles = $1423.60
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge Heatherthrow Airport
One of the several things Cathay Pacific could do to improve its first-class product is to include some ground service. Heatherthrow may be my least favorite airport so far. Getting to where I needed to be took longer than at any other airport.
After making it through security, I had to take a bus ride to the international terminal and walk quite a distance to the lounge. My suitcases were full of gifts for my husband’s family, so I packed my carry-ons extra full. This was a MISTAKE. There were no buggies, unlike those found in Japan, Hong Kong, and Reagan International Airport. Therefore, the long journey to the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge was daunting and exhausting. From now on I will only ever use a carryon with wheels.
First Impression
Upon arriving at the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge, my travel experience improved significantly. I was warmly greeted at the welcome counter. The nice ladies there offered to store my heavy bags in the backroom and then gave me a tour of the facilities. I arrived around 7:30 AM, and the lounge was nearly empty.
I chose a comfy seat with a charging port and a beautiful window view of the sunrise. Next, I grabbed a pastry, a fruit cup, and some chia coconut pudding from a grab-and-go station stocked with luxe baked goodies.
Cathay Pacific First Class Restaurant
The Cathay Pacific first class lounge in Heatherthrow has a restaurant dedicated to first-class passengers. After watching the sunrise, I headed there to see what I could find. Being in London, I thought it would be fitting to order the classic London Breakfast. It came with beans, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, toast, a tomato, and a hashbrown. Though it was presented nicely, the flavors were rather bland. The champagne and Cathay Delight beverages I ordered were far better than the food.
As I ate my meal, the lounge started getting much busier. The restaurant filled up, and the staff had to start taking names. If I was paying for a first-class flight with first-class lounge access, I probably would not have been thrilled about the wait, though, of course, I would understand. From the facial expressions of those being made to wait, I could tell they were not thrilled either. I quickly finished my meal to spare the staff from any disgruntled passengers and went on to try the showers.
Shower
Although the shower area is shared with the Cathay business class lounge, the shower rooms were not busy at all while I was there. Shower rooms are restocked and cleaned between each use (though the shampoo, body wash, lotion, and conditioner bottles could have probably been topped off). It was difficult to pump out the lotion due to it being so low. The toiletries were sponsored by Bamford, a luxe English brand known for ethically sourced and high-quality ingredients. They smelled refreshing, but the lotion and conditioner were not nourishing enough for my skin and hair. The other items, like the razor and dental set, were unbranded and were of rather cheap quality. The shower was nice, but not nearly as nice as the Turkish Airlines business class lounge in Istanbul. But it was clean and did the job.
By the time I finished showering, the lounge was quite full. I still had another two hours, so I found an empty seat and grabbed some more goodies from the buffet. The chia pudding was so excellent that I grabbed another one of those. Before my flight departed, I went to the restroom, which was kept very clean. All in all, it was a decent lounge experience. But not nearly as impressive as the Turkish Airlines business lounge in Istanbul. It’s too bad that I had a terrible experience flying Turkish Airlines. I’ve heard that the Cathay Pacific first class lounge in Hong Kong is something to behold. Hopefully, I’ll get to try that out one day.
Cathay Pacific First Class Flight
Onboarding
The onboarding process was a little disorganized. I ended up being signaled to business class by the staff in charge of onboarding, even after showing them my first-class ticket. After standing confused for a minute, another flight attendant looked at my ticket and immediately realized the mistake. After this, I was personally escorted to my first-class seat. Moving forward from this slight mix-up, everything else went incredibly smoothly. The flight attendents immediately helped me put my bags in the storage area and presented me with a hot towel, champagne, and mixed nuts.
Cathay Pacific First Class Seat
Cathay Pacific first class is known for having one of the largest and comfiest seats in the sky. The seat did not disappoint. My personal area was spacious, private, and comfortable. There was also an ottoman larger than an economy seat in my personal area. Cathay allows you to eat with a partner if someone is flying with you, something I would have loved to have taken advantage of if I had not been flying solo.
My main seat was exceptionally wide, and a back and head pillow were thoughtfully placed to make it even more comfortable. The reclining system was intuitive, with plenty of pre-programmed settings. There were also several lighting options. The entertainment system was easy to control from the remote. I had three windows all to myself. I felt almost a little bad basking in such luxury, knowing full well how cramped and uncomfortable the economy cabin was.
On a side note, the windows were smudged, hindering my ability to fully appreciate the view and capture quality photos of the experience.
Cathay Pacific First Class Amenities and Entertainment
Waiting at my seat when I arrived was a beautiful white leather amenity kit sponsored by Bamford. The amenity kit for women included moisturizing cream, eye cream, balancing tonic, and lip balm. The men received moisturizer, face mist, and lip balm. Both genders received eye masks, earplugs, a comb, and slippers. The products were made from high-quality ingredients. The products were crafted from high-quality ingredients; for example, the lip balm’s primary ingredients were castor oil, synthetic beeswax, olive oil, jojoba oil, and coconut oil. The skincare items were so exceptional that I continued to use them throughout my travels in China.
Pajamas
Perhaps my favorite take-home item from this Cathay Pacific first-class flight was the 100% cotton Pye pajamas. They were soft, comfortable, and easy to put on and take off—everything good pajamas should be. I still wear them pretty frequently. To make it even better, the pajamas came with a coupon that can be taken to any PYE store for a pre-selected free gift or $500 HKD (almost 64USD) in credit.
Bedding
The bedding was also supplied by PYE and was incredibly comfortable. After I finished my meal and was ready for turn-down service, the staff quickly made my bed by laying down a soft yet supportive mattress, duvet, and pillow. Lastly, they sprayed some pillow mist to enhance the experience further. I was able to get ample sleep and wake up completely refreshed on this flight.
Entertainment
Upon waking up, I decided to pass the time by snacking on an on-demand meal and watching something on the large, clear entertainment system. The Bose noise-cancelling headphones worked perfectly. While there were plenty of new movies and TV shows, I decided to go for a classic that I, a self-proclaimed movie aficionado, had never watched: The Godfather. I was perfectly contented with the Cathay Pacific first class entertainment experience.
Cathay Pacific First Class Meal Service
Everyone reads airline reviews for this, right? This is what I read them for. I just skip straight to the food and drink offerings. Well, there is a lot to cover. Since I was awake for 5-6 hours of the flight and realized this was a very rare occasion for me, I made the easy decision to eat a lot and sample a variety of the menu offerings. Let me try to go in order.
Champagne
Cathay is known for serving high-quality and expensive champagne to its first-class passengers. This was my first time consuming champagne with a price tag of several hundred dollars a bottle. I feel like my lack of experience in this area caused me not to appreciate it as well as someone more knowledgeable in the fine alcohol field would. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. After the initial champagne and mixed nuts, I ordered another Cathay Delight, which I had in the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge restaurant. It was refreshing and creamy and all-around pleasant.
The flight attendant then brought me a tiny serving dish with what I thought was some berry custard, jelly, or compote. I was wrong. It was raw meat. After the initial shock when it entered my mouth, I could better appreciate it. Though I have to say, I would have probably preferred something berry.
Caviar
Next came the famous Cathay Pacific First Class caviar service. This was also my first experience tasting caviar, so I couldn’t fully appreciate the quality of what I was served. However, Cathay Pacific claims they serve the same caviar favored by the English Royal Family. Therefore, I trust it was good quality. The caviar was slightly salty and came with a delicious assortment of goodies. It was good. Not an indulgence I would spend a lot of money on, but an indulgence I am happy to experience on a first-class flight.
A bread basket, butter, and balsamic vinegar were served simultaneously with the caviar. The fresh bread was decent, but not the best I’ve had on an airplane. Everything was served on beautiful dinnerware.
Dinner
Following the caviar and bread, the stewardesses brought out a quinoa salad. It was not overly flavorful, but the ingredients were fresh and good quality, which is more than I can say for the British Airlines business class leg of the trip. Next, I was served the parmesan and potato-crusted fish. On a separate plate, an assortment of finely prepared vegetables was served. Again, all of the menu food I ordered was pretty bland and disappointing.
Following dinner, I ordered the matcha cheesecake with another Cathay Delight. While I was very disappointed with the Cathay Pacific First Class meal, at least the dessert was delicious. And I was not nearly done sampling the menu yet.
Midflight On Demand Meals
I slept quite a bit on the first leg of the trip, so I only needed a few extra hours of sleep. The bedding was comfortable, and I slept close to 5 hours. That still gave me a lot of time to eat between meals. The first thing I ordered from the on-demand menu was the burger with guacamole, fries, and a Gerkin. This was tasty. Perhaps it was the best burger I have ever had. It’s hard to imagine that the best burger I ever had was in the sky. The glass ketchup jar that came with the meal was also very cute.
After about an hour, I ordered the seafood noodle soup, which was also excellent. The soup contained real crab meat and shrimp, and the flavors were excellent. At this point, I also ordered a hot chocolate, which was wonderful.
Breakfast
A little over an hour later, the flight attendants began serving breakfast. It started with a hot towel and a glass of fresh juice. Next came a pastry basket with a tasty bun and a disappointing croissant. Scottish jelly and marmalade came with the bread. I put those in my carryon to share with my husband (yes, my already wayyy too heavy carryon; I love him).
Along with the bread, I was given a delicious bowl of chia pudding and yogurt topped with fresh raspberries and coconut. Next, the flight attendants brought me an egg frittata and salad. This was also pretty tasty but not mind-blowing. Except for the croissant, the Cathay Pacific first-class breakfast was better than the dinner.
Drinks
Once I find something I like, I don’t usually want to risk trying new things and not liking them. But halfway through the flight, I decided to switch out the Cathay Delight, which I greatly enjoyed, and opted for an alcoholic beverage. I chose the other signature drink, the Cloud Nine, and was glad I switched. The Cloud Nine was SO good. I did not switch after that. I just kept drinking that, a lot of that.
The other exceptions were the hot chocolate I ordered right after waking, the juice that came automatically with the hot towel, and the fresh strawberry smoothie with breakfast. All of the drinks were fantastic. But the real winner of the flight was the Cloud Nine. I am a little sad that it’s only served on Cathay flights. I will have to try to learn how to make it myself.
Additional Note
Cathay Pacific prides itself on sustainable and ethical food sourcing. The pork comes from Dingley Dell Farm, which is known for its animal welfare-friendly practices, and the eggs come from free-range chickens. I appreciate the airline’s commitment to acquiring ingredients as ethically as possible.
Cathay First Class Final Thoughts
I would probably rate my Cathay First Class flight experience 8.5 out of 10 for a first-class flight. The service was above and beyond. I accidentally packed my phone charger in my suitcase. When I asked the flight attendant if Cathay had provided any, she informed me that they had not but then gave me her personal one to use. This level of unrequired kindness touched me.
The seat and bedding were fantastic. The drink selection was wonderful. The food was inconsistent in flavor and slightly disappointing, but not nearly as disappointing as the British Airlines Business Class flight on the way to Heatherthrow. While the flavor of the dinner didn’t stand out, the quality of the items was good, and the rest of the food service was pretty good.
