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I last flew Cathay in 2016 and really rated them. It's a shame they're still a long way off what they once were.

RIP Hong Kong. I've been there many times, but I wouldn't bother now.

On the Cathay vs BA point on trips from LHR-HKG, I found that Cathay was significantly more expensive, in fact I've got a trip to HK booked later this year in BA WTP, and WTP on BA was the same price as Cathay's economy, which made BA a no brainer

Big fan of those funky check in desks

Great video again, Matt. I believe the lower latch 6:00 allows the lower extension padding to be pulled up? You can see it move a little when you press on control.

I flew Cathay Biz class Hong Kong to LHR in April. I was impressed with the food and beverage offering. Two full meals, but the best food was the mid flight snack hamburger and chips. Assume the limited choice of wines on Matt's flight to India was due to the shorter sector as there was a much wider choice on my flight. Totally agree the Pier First class lounge is amazing.

This is a night flight in HK time, of course lights were turned off so that pax can rest. It's not Cathay's problem that you alone didn't want to sleep, and you can always use the call light should you need anything.

Absolutely love that film, and teched the show! It is such a weird show!

Where were you staying? Not sure english sign criticism is fair for most of hk. Secondly there is no fast track security!!!! Old people, vips, and airport/airline staff can skip it nobody else... (I agree there should be one but alas there is not)

Having done more than half a dozen intra-Asia hops with Cathay as a BA Silver this year, I find their Economy product far more competitive than their Business product. Decent (yet far from personal) services, great meals with metal cutleries, above-average IFEs and world-class Biz/Sapphire-tier lounges, CX is more often than not the better intra-Asian regional option compared to the likes of MH, SQ (which I always find a little hit-or-miss), the Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese carriers, and certainly miles ahead of any mainland Chinese carriers. Though contrary to your lounge crawl video, I don’t see any reason how the Pier biz is worse than the Deck except for maybe… the deck? I have a soft spot for Cathay… I’m from the (spooky) mainland China (quite close to Hong Kong actually - there was a running joke that Cathay’s the “real” international carrier out from my city), and Cathay was my first experience flying international. I fondly remember the sophisticated touches, down to the little gift they sent out to kids, and their fleet of mighty 747s and A340s. They lost the race of being Asia’s best a decade or so ago with huge losses from hedging fuel prices, and they certainly took a huge toll during the 2019 protests and more critically the “you-know-what”. Having absorbed Dragonair’s operations during COVID, they are, as Hong Kong had, admittedly focused more towards China, yet last year’s “blanket incident” didn’t quite pan out well for them for their most important market. Fortunately route and operation wise they’re recovering quite okay in 2024 so far (the latest is they’re resuming Riyadh and Cairns services and restorations of overseas crew bases). However I can’t wait for their long overdue Business product, even though that’d take years to be fitted in their entire fleet and the current Zodiac (aka Safran) Cirrus seat is 13 years old for the carrier. Wishing Cathay (and Hong Kong) the best, yet some things aren’t anymore the same…

Great video. I recently booked Cathay Pacific for Bangkok-Hong Kong-London, so this video was a must-see for me. I've also booked a lot of Finnair, so safe to say I am also looking forward to that video too. 😁

Another great video! I do not fly as much as I used to, but if I spotted you at the airport I'd definitely be waving at you like a looney!

What a pity to hear CX have gone a bit off the boil. I’ve always seen them as innovators, with the first and only shell reclining seat I’ve ever been in.

You are not being a cynic. I had exactly the same experience on return CX flights between LHR and MNL in 2023. I was in economy and all the cabin staff completely disappeared between meal services. The meals were very average. I will not use them again when I visit my family in MNL as they are not a patch on Singapore Air.

Another brilliant video, i find Cathay crews really hit and miss, however my experience of them since the pandemic has only been limited to a few trips out of Hong Kong. When returning to the UK next time I've already booked with Qatar in Business to Paris, which even with a short economy connection on, was still a fare almost 50% cheaper than Cathay direct to LHR

Matt, I think that lower latch releases a small flap that comes up to widen a little portion when the seat is in bed mode. Might be wrong but I saw it release something when you pressed it. Another great vid 😀

The 'atmosphere in Hong Kong' certainly has changed since I started making regular visits in the late '80s. There used to be a stark contrast when you crossed the border into mainline China CX was hit hard by the pandemic - plus one of two major scandals.

why would you prefer BA to CX even for London-HKG??? Purely because of a wider seat? I believe CX uses a bigger plane for longer flights than this "short haul" flight. Also CX offers some bedding, better food selection. Crew is really flight specific. Some BA staff are extremely grumpy but some CX staff are let's say, don't speak English very well either.

Great review as always, but most interested in the comments about Hong Kong. Not somewhere I've ever been, but it seems a bit less desirable now!

Dear Matt, I must thank u for your Inspiration. 28.6.2024: I acomplished A3 Gold Status after 11 Flights in 7 Days. Thats just because of your great content. It was a great and very exhausting week with only 2 nights of sleep. All A3. All Business Class. Crazy Stuff but now Iam fed up with flying... till the 14.7.2024. This time on Tk from IST -LEJ. Looking forward to see the M/S Lounge at IST Airport. Thats this flying Virus , you know^^ should contact a Doctor, I guess :)

Спасибо за интересный и полный обзор перелета! Успехов вам! Лайк! Приглашаю на новинку с острова Занзибар!🤩

If i understand correctly BA is for a long time already competing with ryanair to see who can hit rock bottom first for customer satisfaction

My comment

I look forward to your videos every week!!! I was devastated yesterday wasnt sunday because I was jetlagged…

Newcastle business lounge for BA passengers gives you one glass of cava then you pay for anymore 🙈🙈🙈 no champagne and it’s over £50 if you pay .

I'm a big fan of Finnair. Fairly new aircraft, regular upgrades, good lounge, well priced.

Love the convenience of LCY and it's a pretty special take off and landing experience, lack of lounge is pretty poor.

I remember the lounge in T4s for a really good buffet when I was there. I remember smoked salmon and some crunchy potato things

I'm not sure you should be pushing your referral link on here

With the Amex I think it’s fair especially with the increase in cost of travel recently. What I don’t get is why there is no separation apart from economy vs any class voucher and the small increase in avios gained between the free and paid card (which requires a large spend to make difference of the fee) I would say a small decrease in cost of the voucher trigger as it was previously between the two or maybe get some free tier points or something for paying for the card

Im doing a travel day from Birmingham to Madeira via Berlin with easyJet in December, any advice?

Thank you Matt for your explanations and all your videos! Very useful:)

12:24 I was pretty shocked when Virgin wanted £700 to upgrade from Economy to Premium on my outbound flight LHR-MIA for September. I managed to snag an upgrade on the return leg for £150.

Inflation is irrelevant if wages are stagnant.

That’s got to be the last time anyone will compare Charlotte to Doha.

How much did this tier point run cost on total please?

Those flights are operated by qatar airways crew who have been assigned to that fleet for 6 months because they need to follow Omani safety and first aid procedures. I used to be assigned to it and it’s basically a QR flight scheduled by WY with QR crew and services. Honestly, I enjoyed my time there and would love to do it again

American airlines not worth to pay full price for business class since their service is poor welcome drink with plastic no wine menu its sad you don't feel this is the first world airline seriously and can you tell me do they served hot towel?

Please make sure to blur peoples faces like other aviation youtubers. You should know better, one day someone can sue you for privacy breach and you can lose everything. In the UK, filming and posting videos that show identifiable individuals in private-public areas such as airports, hotels, and airplanes is generally not allowed due to privacy laws like the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. These laws require obtaining consent or having a lawful basis for processing personal data, which includes video recordings. Individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in these settings, and violating this by filming without consent can lead to legal consequences, including fines and regulatory actions. Filming in a public non-private space like public streets is a different matter

Thanks for the explanation matt. We are new to Amex/Avios so it seems ok. American Airlines Advantage Miles has diminished over the years , with no way to link a credit card to Advantage Miles, since MBNA dropped this. I always find it odd that you can still get a Credit Card linked to the Advantage scheme card in the USA and other countries but not the UK. Must not be worth there while. Regards S

Great video, Matt!

Thanks Matt your video made me check my Amex spend targets 👏

Lovely work, as always. Swissair was fantastic, Swiss less so. I think on-board food is good, as is crew service. I like the T2 Lufthansa lounge at LHR, but found the business class lounges Zurich very disappointing both from a customer service point of view and hot food offerings. My last experience was in November when I'd picked Swiss for an A340 trip to JNB and the equivalent changed to a horrible 777, with uncomfortable beds, hot and cramped. No more Swiss for me.

The best flights I've had were when the cabin was half or near empty. Less traffic, less stress and better service.

Where was the oneworld pin????

The Cabana in the Wing First is certainly a unique experience that would add a lot of points to the scoreboard. The dining room in the Pier and the Wing First used to provide different offerings too, being Cantonese cuisine in the Wing and Western Cuisine in the Pier, until the recent outstanding Michelle-star backed Rosewood Cantonese tasting menu being offered (It was an Italian menu a few months ago). The Pier First also offered semi-private sleeping rooms and free neck and back/foot massages which I strongly recommend. Meanwhile, quiet sleeping sofa and tea house sections are also highlights in the Pier Business which I will add a lot of marks. I couldn't agree more, these are all decent, if not outstanding lounges around the globe.

Got rid of my card. Got business to Mexico city in November, my last. BA are shite. I own my own airport taxi company, and BA is a joke, luggage collection at Lhr is a disgrace. Youll be waiting longer than the flight time itself

I’m flying on Fiji Airways in July. I like them as an airline. Also flew them in March 2020 just before the you know what. In fact, I was on the last flight from Fiji to Singapore before everything shut down.

On American Express increasing the spending target by 50%, I wouldn't say American Express did it, I would think BA told AMEX to do it.