Cathay Pacific First Class: HKG-SFO
I’ve fallen way behind on wrapping up my trip report on my Asia adventures this summer. So here is the conclusion to my two weeks in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau last July via Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways First Class.
After checking out of the Grand Hyatt Macau, we took the ferry to the Hong Kong Airport. We’d decided to check our bags at the ferry desk, but in retrospect that wasn’t the greatest decision.
We could have easily rolled our large suitcases off ourselves, but instead had to wait at least 20 minutes for our bags to come out of the baggage claim before we could check in with Cathay Pacific a few yards away.
Security and immigration are adjacent to the check in. And the desk to claim your $25 departure tax refund (in Hong Kong Dollars) for leaving from Macau rather than Hong Kong is directly afterwards. You’ll see it at the top of the escalators down to the terminal trams.
At check in we’d discovered there was a problem with my friend’s connecting flight home. American Airlines had cancelled it and she would have to overnight in SFO, which didn’t work. To the check in staff it was appearing as a change we had made, and they weren’t sympathetic, so our plan was to get to the lounge as quickly as possible to resolve it there. My memory wasn’t very good though and we got terribly turned around on the second floor threaded our way through the crowded food court multiple times before we finally found the entrance.
The newly remodeled lounge was quite nice and a glass or two of welcome bubbly made straightening our flights out much easier. My friend’s flight had been cancelled because of the recent Asiana crash, and our Cathay flight also wound up delayed by a few hours due to air traffic in San Francisco.
But eventually we boarded, only my third flight on Cathay Pacific First and my friend’s first!
We took advantage of the ability to dine across from each other, as did another couple in the cabin, and started working our way through the courses. My friend opted out of one or two and though it caused some delays and mismatch when we got our dishes, overall they handled it well!
Pretty decent caviar.
The thickest pancetta I’ve had.
And fortunately a berry option for dessert since I was really full.
And the post dinner coffee accompaniments.
They had upgraded the bedding in the two weeks since I’d last flown, and while I didn’t really notice a difference, apparently I did sleep quite well.
And I was excited to see that I was finally flying the right times to get to try the dim sum breakfast option I’d heard a lot about.
It was quite good, especially to be on a plane! This flight passed much more quickly than the first, and I was rather sad when we started to descend.
Though we’d heard about the Asiana crash as soon as we landed in Hong Kong a few days earlier, I was not prepared to actually see it out my window as we were landing.
In Hong Kong I had worried the flight delay would make me miss my connection in San Francisco, so I’d given up my pre-upgraded flight to switch to one an hour later. Because of Global Entry (and ditching my friend) I did actually get through with enough time to catch my original flight, but they couldn’t switch me because I had checked bags. I regretted changing even more when my new flight wound up delayed by several hours.
But I hadn’t looked at other flights…As luck would have it, my flight was the only one that day (including other flights scheduled to leave in the morning) that got into DC by midnight that day. My original flight didn’t get in til 3AM. Since I hadn’t built in a buffer day to get over my jet lag before going back to work, every hour counted and I was thankful for my good fortune!
—————–
What did you think of this post? Give us a +1 above or leave a comment! And don’t miss out on any of Jeanne & Keri’s adventures and tips. Follow us:
 
 
 
Sometimes when you comment, it goes to a blank page and looks like it doesn’t post. It actually does, I promise!
Glad you liked it. Next time, try their different U.S. routes, you will find better food choices such as this one: http://www.tprochina.com/?p=36 and this one: http://www.tprochina.com/?p=11
My bucket list (overflowing…and at my age, not enough time to empty it!) includes flying First Class on Cathay Pacific or equivalent. I don’t care where I go…there’s ALWAYS something interesting to do and see. Can you tell me how to DO IT??? Thanx.