Cathay CX 880 departs at 11.40 pm, so I was already exhausted
On my most recent trip to Hong Kong, I was lucky enough to get an award ticket back home to Los Angeles on Cathay Pacific Airlines in First Class. If you’re saving your frequent flyer miles in your Award Wallet* account for an aspirational ticket for your international holidays, this is one worth aiming for! My husband and I took separate flights from Hong Kong to Los Angeles (he left a day earlier) since we could not get two first class award tickets on the same flight, and we both wanted the Cathay First experience.
Rumor has it there might be a better International First Class product out there, but I have yet to experience it. First class flying is always fun, but Cathay’s sublime service makes every international flight a pleasure, and takes the pain out of the long haul from HKG to LAX. Cathay Pacific Airlines remains my first true airline love. Some of my favorite touches: the Shanghai Tang sleep suit (which I really wanted to keep but didn’t. I have, however, noticed a few for sale on eBay). The lovely Aesop amenities kit, including an adorable tube of my all-time favorite, Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm, which exploded a tiny bit when opened under pressure. The champagne is still Krug, also my bubbly of choice.
The Wing First Class Lounge at HKG was closed, which was a bummer. But Cathay made up for it with their temporary space.
Cathay Flight CX 880 departs late in the evening- at 11:40 pm. This allowed me a full day to work in Hong Kong. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got to the airport, but admit I was a little disappointed to discover that The Wing First Class Lounge was closed for renovations. I went to the temporary Atrium space and found the service as wonderful as always- Cathay more than made up for the temporary space with great service and tasty bite sized snacks.
The food in the Wing Lounge at HKG
This was also the first time I used the shower facilities at the Cathay Lounge at the Hong Kong airport. and thought they were excellent. Spotless, powerful, and well maintained. I was tired, but felt good as I boarded the plane. I felt even better after the flight attendant helped me stow away my personal items in my closet and poured me a glass of Krug.
The Shower Facilities at the Cathay Pacific Wing Business Class Lounge
I requested (and got) seat 1K again. I was so relaxed I could barely stay awake through dinner and promptly fell asleep before dessert was served. When I woke up, I noticed more than 6 hours of flight time had passed.
I checked out Studio CX entertainment system, which offers pretty diverse optons. I learned 80s German pop star Nena (of 99 Luftballoons fame) has a Greatest Hits album called 20 Years of Nena. I did not listen to it, instead sticking to Nirvana, Dire Straights, Dusty Springfield, Foo Fighters and Goyte. I attempted to watch a bunch of movies. I couldn’t get through My Week with Marilyn (fantastic performance by Michelle Williams, horrible movie). I started watching Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol too late in the flight and the Studio CX system warned me I didn’t have enough flight time to finish watching it! Thanks for the heads up, Studio CX! I’ll rent that one on iTunes.
Self-portrait in seat 1K aboard Cathay & Caviar at 35,000 feet
I did, however, shoot some video of the trip. I hope you enjoy it.
The View from 1 K, approaching the LA Basin
*disclosure: not only am I fan of Award Wallet, so is my husband who is the President.