Is This The Worlds Most OVERRATED Airline? Cathay Pacific A350 

yeah. Many same experiences as well as I always ride on them. (Especially on long haul)

Incredibly, the pandemic probably saved CX. Remember, CX fired much of its staff due to the anti-Beijing protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019. Had the pandemic not happened, they would have been so short staffed that CX probably would be a subsidiary of Air China right now as it would have collapsed.

I don't think he cares about what we say down in the comments. I suggested a safety notice as the camera flickering in the loo was quite substantial and could trigger a seizure in somebody who is epileptic and prone to seizures when flashing lights are shown to the viewer. This doesn't mean he doesn't care but it seems to me he doesn't bother reading his comments anymore. Or if so, I have a legitimate issue no disclaimer about the flashing lights. Annoys me.

@@stingray11214 they fired the nearly 15k employees because of pandemic not because of the riots, the riots was like a few thousand but it was mainly pandemic

@@n1msu maybe he just didnt see your comment? theres over 800 comments on this video, he cant see them all lol

Everyone got their asses kicked during the pandemic. It's just that the pandemic has been gone for a year and there they still haven't caught on. Others have managed... Or they left

Why do you know that 😭😭

@@montyjackson9905 You can tell the difference through the tray tables and IFE screens. With the Cirrus seats the screens swivel out, while with the Super Diamond seats the screens don't move and always face the passenger.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

@@montyjackson9905there’s a site called aerolopa that has seat maps and it shows the name and model of the seats on the planes

@@SpadesPlusYT58 touch grass bro 😭😭

Agree with your assessment. It all depends on the route and the market. Essentially what's on offer is an international product in what is a 'regional' flight, so context is quite important.

exactly, this is when I know I'm being conned by an inexperienced youtuber, with all his circle jerk followers agreeing with him. SAD.

Pretty sure most, if not all of JALs 787s have lie flats now

Delta, AA, BA, AF all have similar style seats

@@jcspotter7322 I think the original poster was referring to other airline that also operate this route use a regional business class, where CX deploy their long haul business class for this route. So on a route to route comparison, CX seat is by far way more superior.

Cathay always serves hot meals

@@Jpatient for the Manila-Hong Kong route pre-pandemic (around like 2016-2020 range), it was always just a small pie, a piece of cookie, and a small tetrapak of juice. I'm talking this route specifically, which I fly multiple times a year before the pandemic.

@@benjason8863 I think many of the customers complained about the meal on CX short route flights. They were serving small meals. I had a box fried rice served in a CX custom paper bag with handle, on the route of Taiwan to Hong Kong in year 2015, which I was so disappointed. Until few years later, they serve regular sized meals.

I know right?! When he said FM is better than CX….. Noel was out to trash CX from the beginning, CX didn’t stand a chance. CX is far from perfect but this video was revolting.

Not to mention the two other CX lounges which are fancier than The Wing...

I had the same impression

Definitely. I think he had the video title in mind before he made the video, it's all about clicks and views in terms of RU-vid monetization. And he"d flown them before 17 years ago in 2006 when the IFE packed up which he appears to still traumatised from as it was before mobile phones were a thing and apparently books also hadn't been invented back then so he nearly died on that flight. CX for sure has been though absolute hell the past nearly 4 years now if you include the protests so when I flew them in May and June this year after so Iong I was expecting it to really show. And it was the opposite. The Pier lounge was amazing as always ( if as he said the Wing was 15 minutes away from his gate I'm confused why he didn't go to the pier actually) the service was great as always, the seats were exactly as shown - CX are very consistent - and I like those seats. The food was good but admittedly not exceptional like Qatar..The IFE was great. 8.5/10. CX at their current worst are still very much top 5 still for me for biz class. Yes Qatar ( assuming no last minute equipment changes like an ancient 777 2-2-2 config I got last year ) are better, Singapore are better and Emirates it's close but compared to a slew of others I've flown recently in biz such as Lufthansa, BA and KLM Cathay in my view at least are still more than competitive. In first class they are still absolutely superb as my mate who was lucky enough to just experience them said.

I know right?? I couldn’t watch the video all the way through because it was dripping from bias from the very beginning and it felt like a sad try to finally trash the airline like he’s been waiting for for years.

Yes he was very smug

Kinda agree but the food looked terrible, and things like cleaning the bulkhead when it’s literally the first thing you are boarding should be standard. And seeing a lot of their fleet he’s right that their older 777s look much older than they are. And when you consider the price point for cathay is identical to Singapore it becomes a problem

Can't remember if its GBA's CEO (former frm Cathay) or someone else who was saying that HKers should re-think their identities as being "Greater Bay People" instead, seeming to suggest greater integration of HK back into mainland China

I agree re: the service. I recently noticed on short haul that the crew seem more stressed and didn’t have time to engage too much with customers but overall is in line with their non-intrusive service culture. And food and beverage is offered at a reasonably high standard.

The Pier is at the opposite end of HKIA from the gate where Noel boarded his plane though (& the APM only brings you from that gate to The Pier but not back, as the return trip is only for arriving passengers instead)

I always used the the Pier lounge, spacious, comfortable and good quality food

I went to Yellowknife last October and saw the hangar and met some of the team. Yes Noel, a great av geek subject. I saw the Electra and they have just acquired a 737.

PS: Wow @ the fact that youve never been to Japan before. And I second the fact that 40 minutes NRT-HND is some sort of miracle or has to be a Tokyo speed record of some sort.

You’ll have to ask for an amenity kit and blanket in a regional flight, even in business class. I’m wondering if they even load kits on those flights. Blankets should be there but not distributed. Cathay’s still not bad, comparatively. Honestly, but it’s definitely lost it’s shine to SQ, it’s more natural rival; and I’m not sure it was on par with EK.

Yeah honestly the title and general theme of this video were so obviously just for clicks and views. Total hit job. Flew CX biz class this May HKG to Bangkok and then again in June HKG Hanoi. Pier lounge fantastic as usual - one of the absolute best in the world for my money - hard product great,, food decent ( not as good as Qatar but then whose is ) excellent service, great IFE, great new plane - 8.5/10 being stingy. And that's after the protests, 3 years of HKG being shut and them operating at less than 10 percent capacity and the HK gov seemingly in a constant war with them for purely political reasons with staff morale at all time low. Imagine how good they'd be without all these headwinds.

agreed

I had to do the same few weeks ago, it took me more than 3 hours since the landing, immigration was insane

@@garciatunionYou guys are making me glad I got the trusted traveler card on my last visit in May. I guess I haven’t seen the lines since I’ve been coming in through Haneda but next flight is through Narita.

@@kazik5785 Take the express train or it will take hours

I had a car from downtown Tokyo (Four Seasons Marunouchi by Tokyo Station) to NRT a few years ago early one Sunday morning. It took 40 minutes, for a journey I would usually schedule 90 minutes for. The driver was doing 90mph for a good proportion of the time... it made for an "interesting" journey! As NRT & HND are at opposite sides of the city, I agree, no way could you do that trip in 40 minutes, especially in a regular cab.

@@nezbrun872 The Airport Shuttle Bus NRT - HND takes 65-85 mins, so not as big of an achievment as it sounds.

Hong Kong had some of the strictest travel regulations in the world, and was one of the last to let up. Unlike China, HK has no domestic market to rely on- and that’s obvious given the fact that their fleet is primarily wide-bodies. With international travel barred, and domestic travel nonexistent, Cathay couldn’t do anything. The fact that they still exist is amazing, and I feel that they should be given some slack considering that they’re still fighting to survive. I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years as an expat, with Cathay being far superior to the other options available. Their reputation is deserved, but they just aren’t in the best place at the moment.

I agree. CX's price was so expensive compared to other airlines, while your on-board experience was just average. I only see they cut down the price since this year, as other major airlines are actively giving discount for Hong Kong flights.

Yup, kind of expected him to include that, quite an important fact for an avgeek!

Similar story with how SIA acquired B738s when SilkAir was merged into it

Thanks so much! 😊

I doubt it, they are going to struggle with the CCP taking over HK which limits them a lot.

China Southern is better? Haha. Ridiculous. Sorry.

ZipAir is a low cost airline under JAL. Service is uniform but seats are either economy in 3-3-3 configuration or lie flat 1-2-1. There are no IFE screens but free WiFi as mentioned to stream.

@@wee-senchoo7025 They were perfect for the short flight between Seoul and Tokyo and no head-wrecking "small bag only, that fits under the seat" rules

It is because of the management mainly the ceo Ronald lam

That’s what I chose Philippine Air Lines business class to Manila ..more expensive on Cathay and nothing overly impressive

can’t agree more! I don’t fly with CX unless I have to.

I attribute this delusional CX positioning to its years long practice of appointing long serving executives within Swire as CX CEOs. Corporate lifers who aren’t incentivized to push for innovation

I also agree with you. I was gold member for 10 years but after the crew took my backpack out from compartment then falling down to seat because he was rushing to find a space to put other bag in without any asking! After I talked to him and he even not say any “sorry” just told me he needs to put everything in and rush to do take off preparation! I always take CX fight even I need to transit via Hong Kong but now no more! I can book other airlines with lower price with good service and that is direct flights to where I want to go! CX is sinking now, I don’t expect they can recover soon!

I simply won't put CX on my first choice when I travel from HK. CX was a glory, but now they have declined so much.

I record at 50. Boeing are fine but Airbus use a different frequency that doesn’t sit with 50 or 60.

And also not normal, taxis in Japan are pretty cheap. Not sure what happened here.

40 mins, but he didn’t tell you the distance travel , fyi HK taxi drivers like to speed so essentially they probably covered lot of distance

I've flown Garuda quite a few times and the Indonesian style breakfast in business class is fantastic, their overall soft product is first rate, better than Cathay's. I live in HK and used to visit family in Melbourne Australia every Christmas. I often flew Garuda business class via Bali to Melbourne and even during the Christmas peak season (pre-Covid) I could purchase seats for much more competitive prices than with Cathay. The overnight stopover in Bali on the way back to HK was a bonus

CX had been in decline since long before COVID. Pretty much since 1997, in fact.

The COVID excuse is running really thin. Yesterday was the world record for the most flights in the air at the same time. Travel is back, no matter what the airlines try to tell you.

@@simonmcl123 It's a lot more nuanced than you'd think. The biggest uptick in travel has been transatlantic where North America to Europe travel is well above demand 2019 levels, whereas transpacific demand hasn't caught up anywhere near as much. Most Asian airlines suffered since Asian countries locked down for far longer than their US/EU counterparts, leaving travel demand depressed for almost an extra year which has been financially devastating, just look at Sri Lankan, Garuda, and Malaysia airlines for 3 of the best examples. For all airlines, COVID has and will continue to have an impact on their bottom line - positive for the US and EU carriers who are taking advantage of massive pent up demand, and negative for others who weren't in a state to take advantage of it.

@@poshbo We always had the best service and pretty solid food, but a 6/10 hard product...

Which he’d know if he didn’t set out to trash whatever he could on his flight.

You also forgot the Tagalog language since CX runs Hong Kong to Manila Cebu and Suspended Davao City. My business class story was that a Filipina cabin crew took care of us, with the 5 star standard when I did JFK-MNL via HKG in December 2005. Customer service much better than their competitor on HKG-MNL PR

CX’s business class lounge was so basic in their hub city. DISAPPOINTING. Noel got messed with on that.

I always remember a convo I had with a Quantas stewardess, while boarding to fly from BKK to LHR, years ago, in business class, and she apologised, but said she had to go as it was her job to wind up the rubber band that day! A classic line!

​@@alonshalit5778There are multiple lounges at HK. Some are mediocre but there are some amazing and awesome ones. Especially the first class lounge

And it’s a low-cost airline

And apparently was previously called Donghai Airlines

I know, CX is pretty decent, and I’d fly with them to stay loyal cos they’ve been wonderful to me countless times.

@@jerrynadler2883 not all reverse herringbones are made the same. Qatar’s version is disgusting. If that doesn’t make sense to you, as you very tacklessly put it, then so be it. If you like booking QSuites, look forward to it for months, then be let down at the last minute (as had happened to me three times already that I already gave up), well then be my guest.

​@@jerrynadler2883You're definitely not "guaranteed a reverse herringbone at least" on Qatar. I did Doha to HKG last year on what was at the time supposed to be an a350 with q suites (as it had been on the out leg) but last minute swap gave us a comparatively ancient 777 300 ER with a 2-2-2 config,, no privacy of any kind and a footrest type recliner seat that doesn't actually go fully flat but leaves you at a weird 15 degree angle. Great food and service of course so not exactly a hardship but still not what I paid for. This was for an 8 hour flight in 2022. In the past 5 years Qatar out of HK have operated the brilliant 777 q suites, the also great though not quite as spacious for obvious reasons a350 q suites, the 787 not q suites but still modern and are now using leased Cathay 777 with Cathay seats ( the ones in this video) So 4 different types in 5 years and I'm talking scheduled types not equipment switches. They're also literally going backwards from the amazing 777 q suites of 2018 to the leased old CX planes of 2023. Altogether Qatar currently operate 9 different biz class layouts on 7 different types of aircraft.

Do they fly the Q suite in business then? Noel stated in business I believe?

@@conniethomas4753 Qatar airways have q suite ( it's their product) Cathay have exactly the seats you see in this video for all their medium/ long haul business flights

Man that's kind of sad to hear. I flew CX business class in May and June this year and 4 rimes in late 2022 and found them still excellent. For sure behind Qatar's amazing biz product and also begind Singapore for me - although the CX pier lounge at CLK is my favourite lounge still anywhere. I'd still have CX very much in my top 5. But everyone is entitled to their opinion of course - happy flying mate 🙏

Thats about what it runs in the US

@@biohazardlnfS No way, at least not in my experience. I took a 20 minute taxi ride in Miami in 2016 that came to $55 before tip... and I know a little 15 minute ride in Cleveland, OH ran me about $40. Seoul to ICN was literally a 45-60 minute drive at 4am with no traffic.

Definitely agree with you!

I've been to several lounges in North America and they're much better than the offerings shown here. You're just making excuses for mediocrity in Asia

@@jcspotter7322 there is mediocrity everywhere. As discussed above, The Pier business class lounge is by far the best lounge in my world in my opinion. The lounge shown here The Wing was reopened temporarily to manage overflow during school holidays. I am over these “aviation experts” who are grossly under-researched, have an average experience and make sweeping statements.

also CCP take over of HK must have had some effects

I'd say Cathay was overrated even before their decline due to Covid. Cathay's stellar reputation seems to have been earned many years ago before other airlines upped their games and became more competitive. For example, reverse herringbone seats are now the norm but when Cathay first adopted them they were industry leading and rare. More and more airlines now have doors in business class offering greater privacy which surpass what Cathay offers. In recent decades, airlines like Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways have invested in their soft products and adopted phenomenal service standards while Cathay's has remained mostly unchanged. Mainland Chinese airlines have also improved greatly (especially Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, whose food service blows away Cathay's) and they compete with Cathay for not only Greater Chinese routes but also international ones. Even Garuda Indonesia has greatly improved its hard and soft product. Other Asian airlines (like Singapore Airlines, ANA and JAL) have kept up with the competition and continued to innovate and improve but Cathay sadly has not.

It is the management that is causing this

HK used to be the gateway to the east and Australasia. But now you have more direct flights, Middle East hubs and Singapore which is a giant in airport standards and efficiency and see less when arriving. HK seems like things have flown by.

I'm sure like other airlines the vaccine has done a number on pilots health,and passing the medical. But you know the airlines and media do not want that getting out.