Flying Cathay Pacific Business Class to Hong Kong

A couple months ago, we flew Cathay Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong (SFO - HKG) round trip in business class and explored as many lounges and ate as much as we could. I booked these flights in November 2024 when there was wide open availability. Each leg cost 84k miles, 336k miles total for 2 people, round trip. The cash portion was $177.44 per leg, $709.76 total for 2 people, round trip. It was worth the redemption to lie down and wake up feeling refreshed when we reached our destination.

Additionally, we also flew Cathay Pacific from Shanghai to Hong Kong (SHA - HKG) one way in economy class for $159.99 each, $319.98 total for 2 people.

We started our journey at the Cathay Pacific Airways Business Class Lounge in SFO. The sparse hallway that opens into the lounge has cardboard cutouts of flight attendants at the entrance. It was unusual and unnecessary. After visiting a few Cathay lounges, I'm pretty sure all of their lounge wifi passwords are cathay1234. There was ample seating, not crowded at all, perhaps because we had a 1am flight. All of their lounges have their signature noodle bar, and this one was no different.

Once we boarded and got settled into our seats, I realized that this must be one of the older planes, not the new Aria Suite, but that's okay. I was just happy to be able to lie down and get some decent sleep on a long flight.

There was complimentary wifi, an amenity kit, bedding, slippers, and a food menu, complete with a form for breakfast. We had already pre-selected a couple of things from the app, but there was no mention of previous selections.

Since it was pretty late, I wasn't hungry, but still wanted to make the most of the food. Every piece of silverware we received was icy to the touch, to the point that I did not want to use it to eat hot food. This was fine, since I only used the chopsticks, which were not ice cold, thankfully.

I had the roast duck and barbecued pork with choy sum noodle soup, which was okay. The duck and pork are what you'd expect on a plane, a little bit dried out and soggy, especially since it was probably sitting in the soup. They were also lacking the flavor that roasted meat usually has, but the noodles were pretty good.

At one point, I had gotten up to use the restroom. None of the flight attendants offered to make the bed, which of course is fine, but a lot of Asian airlines have pretty good service and often offer to set up the bedding after meal service.

For breakfast, I had the beef congee with shrimp dumpling and siu mai, with a Hong Kong milk tea. The congee was pretty good because I used the entire packet of Lee Kum Kee Guilin chili sauce that came with it. The beef is on the dry side, but not bad considering it is kept warm on a plane. The 虾饺 and 烧卖 were pretty good, very meaty with delicate skin. I'm not surprised that their dim sum is good.

We landed in HKG and explored the lounges during our layover to TPE. We first ventured to The Wing, near gate 2. At the noodle bar, we tried the fish ball noodle soup, wonton noodle soup, some wide flat noodles, all of which were pretty good. At one point, we ventured over to the Bridge lounge, which looks quite a bit larger, and was more crowded.

Before long, we boarded our connection to Taipei. Even though this leg was also in business class, the seats are not lie-flat since the aircraft is meant for short flights. It does still have a very comfortable leg rest that comes out from the bottom of the seat, so that offers a lot of comfort and support.

Soon, we were served breakfast, which came with more dim sum, tea, fruit, Lee Kum Kee Guilin sauce, and more ice cold silverware. After consuming the siu mai, seafood dumpling, beef ball, shrimp dumpling, and sticky rice with pork floss, I was very full from the meaty dim sum. Just as I squeezed out all the Lee Kum Kee chili sauce, they started serving croissants. Right before the flight attendant placed the croissant down, I asked them to please not place the pastry on the chili sauce lol.

A few days later into our trip, we were flying Cathay again from SHA to HKG. At SHA, we hung out at V01 VIP Int'l Lounge. They issued everyone notes detailing the 2 hour time limit. I would be surprised if they were strict about it, since there was hardly anyone in the lounge when we were there. I got the scallion oil noodles, with a side of mustard greens. These were very good.

Our flight ended up being delayed a couple of hours due to a mechanical issue, so Cathay issued everyone meal vouchers that could be redeemed at the restaurants in the terminal, but we were too full from the food in the lounge.

Before long, we boarded the flight, and it was time for another in-flight meal. The meal in economy was pretty good, which was a small tray of chicken, rice, vegetables, and fruit. There was also a Haagen-Dazs mango sorbet that was so frozen that it could not be thawed in time to eat it before landing.

On our way home, we tried to hit up as many lounges in HKG as possible.

The Centurion Lounge, though nice, didn't look like they had a lot of food options, and was crowded.

The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club looked quite new and was not crowded. We just decided to check it out, not expecting to get in, because we don't actually have the CSR card, but it seems like you don't need the card to get in. The tables all have a QR code so you can order food to your seat. There were also some cold food options up for grabs.

We headed back over to the CX lounges, starting with The Pier, near gate 65. Since we were in Hong Kong, I aimed to mostly indulge in Hong Kong cuisine, but their Western food selection looked pretty good too. Here, Tim ordered a negroni at the bar, before we headed to the next lounge.

At The Bridge, near gate 35, we parked ourselves here until boarding, sine this was closest to our gate. We thoroughly enjoyed the dim sum cart full of small steamer trays. We joined the waitlist to reserve a shower, and just barely had enough time to squeeze it in an hour before boarding. When I asked if there was a time limit, they said it was an hour, which I think is quite generous. They do a great job of cleaning the shower rooms in between each guest's use. I didn't notice signs of moisture on the walls.

Our return flight was also a late night flight. We settled into our seats and enjoyed some champagne. The menu had a lot of fancy Michelin collabs, but because I am a sucker for claypot dishes, I ordered the 'seasonal minced pork patty with conpoy, flower mushroom and water chestnut on jasmine rice clay pot, garnished with choy sum.' I was intrigued how they would serve a clay pot dish on a plane. Unfortunately, curiosity got the better of me, because this was a mistake. The minced pork patty was okay, but not a great flavor or texture. The sparce sprinkling of crispy rice bits was its only saving grace, but some were more hard than crunchy. The 'clay pot' it was served in might as well have been any other bowl.

Tim got the 'roasted halibut with scallion oil and butter sauce, sauteed French beans with lily bulbs, Shanghainese vegetable rice, carrots, green turnip, and pork bone soup.' This was pretty good even though I usually expect airplane seafood to be very overcooked. He also got the signature Cathay smoothie, which was very nice, a light and refreshing green smoothie.

For dessert, I got the 'Hawthorn jelly with Chinese yam.' This was not a winner for me. The mountain yams were crunchy like water chestnuts. This was another choice borne out of curiosity. I did however enjoy the little chocolates they served after dinner. For breakfast, I got 'chicken with chicken and oats, stir fried vermicelli with vegetables and soy sauce.' I can't complain. The breakfast dishes are a winner on CX.

I had also requested an egg tart before breakfast service, but they forgot. When I reminded them to ask if it was still possible to get one, it was almost time to land. When asked if I would like a spoon, I declined, but that was another mistake. This was underbaked and I could not even get it out of the tin without it crumbling everywhere. That was when I realized they offered me the spoon for a reason.

Despite that, I slept great and would fly with Cathay again.