If you're flying to or from Southeast Asia, Cathay Pacific Business Class offers one of the most luxurious travel experiences out there.
My flight earlier this year from Singapore (SIN) through Hong Kong (HKG) and on to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) in Cathay Pacific Business Class was an overwhelmingly positive experience from check-in to the final gate, even if Cathay's business class seats are falling behind some of its competitors in terms of technology and amenities.
In my opinion, Cathay's business class is a top-tier in many respects, rivaling the likes of Qatar Airways suites and other top-ranked airline business classes. The airport lounges in both Singapore and Hong Kong were among the best I've visited, and the dining onboard both of my flights was sublime. At the same time, Cathay's long-haul business class seat is stuck in the past, with some quickly aging tech and a little wear and tear.
But despite that, Cathay Pacific's business class is one of the single best ways you can fly to Asia or beyond this year or next. Here's why.
Best Ways to Book Cathay Pacific Business Class
To fly Cathay Pacific Business Class, you'll have to fly one of Cathay's routes to or from one of its U.S. gateways and its hub in Hong Kong (HKG). Those gateways are: Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Toronto (YYZ), and Vancouver (YVR). Dallas is the newest gateway, having just added service a few months ago.
To snag one of these seats, you'll need some deep pockets. Cathay doesn't discount these seats if you're paying cash.
And it's only a slightly better deal if you book connections from HKG to other places in Southeast Asia, like I did from Singapore (SIN).
For me and 99.9% of travelers, this is simply too much money to spend on a single flight, but if you use your points and miles, business class on Cathay Pacific suddenly becomes affordable.
When it comes to booking Cathay Pacific lie-flat seats with points and miles, you can either do it the cheap way, or the easy way.
The Easy Way: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
When you book through Cathay Pacific's own Asia Miles program, you'll have more flights and connections available. And while availability isn't necessarily easy to find, you are much, much more likely to find availability through Asia Miles than through Cathay's partner programs. Plus, Cathay is a transfer partner of most of the major banks, which means you can easily turn credit card points from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, or Citi into Cathay miles to book.
Take, for example, this award alert we sent to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members a few months ago. The lowest fare on this one was an 84,000-point one-way business class fare from Vancouver (YVR) to Bangkok (BKK) with a stop in Hong Kong (HKG). From Cathay's other hubs, however, you're more likely to see business class rates of 110,000 Asia Miles.
If you book months in advance, you can find award availability like this to destinations all over Southeast Asia from all of Cathay's gateway cities. Here's the list of fares we found for our subscribers, for instance.
And the list goes on, too! That includes these sweet 84,000-point Vancouver fares.
To book my flight, I transferred 110,000 American Express Membership Rewards to Cathay at a 1:1 ratio to book Singapore (SIN) to Chicago (ORD).
At Thrifty Traveler, we don't accept freebies. We use our own points, miles, or cash to pay for every single flight or hotel you see reviewed here – including this one!
The Cheap Way: Cathay's OneWorld Partners
Booking through Cathay will yield you more reliable results and some easier-to-book onward connections into Asia, but if you book with one of Cathay's OneWorld airline alliance partners, you stand to get a better rate most of the time.
Recently, we sent a deal that rounded up several ways to book these Cathay seats when a bunch of award availability was dropped into its partners' laps a few weeks ago.
Above is a screenshot of all the best ways to book Cathay Pacific Business Class, including through American, Finnair, and Alaska Airlines. Each way is great, and offers massive points savings when compared to Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles rates. (Note: Finnair's rates have since gone up to 85,000 miles each way, but it's still a fantastic deal.)
The lowest rate belongs to American Airlines, whose AAdvantage miles are an excellent way to secure these seats for cheap. Perhaps the best part is AA only charges $5.60 in taxes and fees if you book one-way from the U.S.
But Finnair also offers a sweet deal, especially because, for just 15,000 more miles and $167 more in taxes and fees, you can secure the same flights with connections onward to the rest of Asia, too.
Plus, with Finnair, you can combine Avios between accounts. That means, if you have a British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, or Qatar Avios account, you can combine your points to book with Finnair.
Finally, Alaska miles can also be used to book these flights, and Alaska miles have gotten lot easier to earn thanks to the airline's recent merger with Hawaiian Airlines.
Check-In & Lounges
When I checked in for my Cathay flight, in addition to giving me a physical boarding pass, the agent also gave me my lounge passes – physical cards that you present to enter each lounge. At check-in at the Singapore (SIN) airport. I was given my passes for both SIN and Hong Kong (HKG), which both featured walking directions for how to find the lounges, too.
If you're flying Cathay Pacific Business Class, make time for the lounges!
The Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
Part of the fun of flying Cathay business class is access to its premier lounges at its hub in Hong Kong, where the airline operates three different business class lounges. I was able to spend some time in two of them: The Pier and the Deck.
The other lounge, called The Wing, was not close to where my gate was, so I didn't have time to check that one out. Given how nice the Pier and the Deck were, I'd have to assume it's similarly stellar.
The Pier – located near gate 65 – is one of the best airport lounges I've ever seen. This is not to be confused with the Pier First Class Lounge, which I think is my favorite airport lounge in the world.
Still, the Pier Business Lounge shines. For one, it's massive. The space sprawls for what feels like the length of a football field underneath the concourse.
It's full of comfy seating, but not full of people. It never felt crammed and I could easily find a seat in almost every seating area.
Plus, all of the side tables in Cathay's lounges have a pull-out drawer with outlets inside. This convenient and cool way to hide ugly outlets makes every seat stylish and functional.
Inside, there was a big, buffet dining area, with some dishes available to be made-to-order as well. It was diligently monitored by chefs to keep the food fresh and to whip up some extras at travelers' requests.
But the best part about all of Cathay's lounges are these made-to-order noodle bars. I had a bowl made for me at all three business class lounges I visited on my journey, letting the chef make his or her favorite each time. They did not steer me wrong.
Next door to the noodle bar is a teahouse, too. I did not stop in there as I'm not much of a tea connoisseur, but there were plenty of travelers having specialty teas in that area as well.
What I didn't have in tea, I made up for in beer…and not just any beer. Betsy is Cathay Pacific's own beer that they brew specifically for first and business class passengers. You cannot find it anywhere except these lounges and onboard Cathay Pacific planes for its premium customers.
Besides having a very cool can, the pale ale was delightful. The second one was even better.
After a few Betsys, you might want to wander over to the quiet rest area at the Pier, where these big, plush day beds await weary or Betsy-filled business class customers.
Another nice amenity I've seen in several business class lounges in recent years are luggage storage lockers. Considering the Cathay lounges tend to have a lot of carpet, you don't want to be dragging your rolling carry-on around all the time. Snag one of these lockers to make your lounge visit hands-free.
Finally, the bathrooms were beautiful, sparkling clean, and the stalls were incredibly private.
The Deck Business Class Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
After my longer visit to the Pier, I went to check out The Deck, which overlooked my boarding gate. If you're traveling to the U.S., you might experience this lounge because it's next to one of the gates they're able to control with passport checks and security verification before U.S. departures.
Thanks to a delay, I spent close to 45 minutes in this very nice, albeit small lounge. It's not as sprawling as The Pier, but it had at least one of everything and was similarly uncrowded.
The lounge was plenty big for how many people were inside, also featuring a noodle bar, ample seating, a food buffet, and nice bathrooms, too.
It's certainly more of a satellite lounge, but it was cared for and styled meticulously like its older brother, The Pier.
Cathay Pacific Lounge Singapore (SIN)
Before I ever stepped foot in Cathay's Hong Kong hub, I was blown away by its lounge in Singapore (SIN). If some airlines give short shrift to their lounges abroad, Cathay bucked that mindset in a big way, here.
This lounge was also enormous for the small number of travelers inside, offering what felt like 15 open seats for every one person. It also had a modest, but tasty selection of food and drinks.
I, of course, beelined for the noodle bar immediately after entry. After seeing the Hong Kong Pier version of the noodle bar, I realized that this one was just a smaller version, but looks almost identical.
That Singapore Cathay Pacific lounge was well worth the stop. And bring your appetite!
The Business Class Cabin on the Cathay Pacific A350
Cathay Pacific's massive A35-1000 planes have 46 business class seats in one single cabin at the front of the plane. These birds do not have First Class, so the first row is number 11.
This photo was taken about halfway through the cabin at my seat in row 17. As you can see, while the cabin is stuffed with business class seats, the area does not feel cramped.
My seat, 17K, was on the right side on the window. When I arrived, the cubby doors were all open and there was a pillow on my seat.
Taken from the footwell, you can see how much extra space is on this side table. The seat felt extra roomy because of this area.
In the cubby, a water bottle, the headphones, and the amenity kit were stashed away. There's also a small pocket for your phone, wallet, or anything else, plus a mirror.
Underneath the side table (which houses the tray table as you can see here), was this ledge that runs the length of the seat into the footwell. It makes the bed feel much wider when it's in lie-flat mode, too.
The sheets and a lovely, thick comforter were inside that bag with a pair of slippers on top. I kept those things underneath the footwell for takeoff and landing.
On the left side of the seat by the aisle were these two functions. One, by lifting the outside button, this armrest came up, showcasing a water bottle holder I started using soon after takeoff. The other button kicked out this little piece that helped make the seat into a bed at night time. Both of these have to be stowed for takeoff and landing.
The tray table was not exceptionally large, but big enough for the food trays. You can also halve the tray table if you just want to have snacks and and drinks on there, and the table can turn up to 45 degrees away from you if you need to scooch out of your seat while something is on the tray.
Underneath the side table is this handy cubby, which I used to store some toiletries, a hat, and some of my clothes.
As you can kind of see in this very dark photo is that the bed extends very long. At six feet tall, I never felt crammed into this seat. The mattress topper was comfy and the hearty comforter made for a restful night's sleep. If there's any gripe, it's that the very end of the footwell gets a somewhat narrow, which is common for most business class seats. But the extra room on the sides near where your knees are when you sleep helped me get comfy easily.
Cathay Pacific's business class seat has all the functionality and space that you need onboard a business class flight.
The bathrooms onboard this A350 were nice, but nothing special. The business class passengers had these extra soaps and lotions, but there was nothing out of the ordinary on this lavatory.
Amenities & Entertainment
The amenity kit, from the company Bamford, featured all the essentials, but not much more. An eye mask, toothbrush, lip balm, and earplugs are common in these kits. I also like when they have face mist and hand lotion as this one did.
I really liked the inclusion of the mouth wash, which came in this blue single-serving disposable cup. The bag itself wasn't huge, but was made from a sturdy leather making it reusable if I ever need.
Notably, travelers do not get pajamas onboard Cathay Pacific flights, even by request. I like getting pajamas for these ultra-long flights, but if you want a change of clothes to sleep in with Cathay, you'd better bring it onboard with you.
The TV screen sits facing the window when you enter your seat, but when you pop the button underneath the screen, it ejects out to face the passenger.
The screen was crisp and moderately sized at 18 inches.
As is the case with most A350s, you could watch the cameras on the plane during the ride. This tail cam of the A350 is one of my favorite things to watch for a few minutes of zen in the sky.
Here's where things got rough.
The control panel and the technology in these business class seats is where other business class products are starting to pass Cathay Pacific by. The remote control had some issues staying on, often getting to a reloading screen. Also, the buttons only controlled the main screen when it was on, so I found it hard to use this to control the TV at all. I used the touch screen instead.
The most infuriating part were these three ports. The headphones (plugged in on the bottom) and the charging outlet couldn't be used at the same time, otherwise you would hear this awful buzzing noise in the headphones. You could use the USB port at the top, but the outlet was rendered useless if you wanted to listen to the inflight entertainment screen.
I had consistent issues with the headphones throughout the flight. Occasionally the audio would drop from the TV screen and then start repeating as the video played on. Other times I would get a terrible buzzing noise. When I finally got the audio to sync with the screen, I was desperate not to move so as not to ruin it.
As other airlines add Bluetooth connectivity and bigger screens to their business class products, Cathay felt like it was in the stone age with its tech onboard. It was the biggest gripe I had about the entire business class experience.
Food & Drinks
Cathay redeemed itself with some fantastic food and beverage offerings in business class during my 14.5-hour flight.
It started with a boarding drink. They were offering a few types of juices, still or sparkling water, or champagne. I opted for the bubbly.
When meal service began shortly after takeoff, they brought me a new glass of champagne (champagne number 2 if you're counting at home) and dish of avocado mousse that was delicious.
For my main meal, I had selected a shredded chicken noodle soup ahead of time on Cathay's app. It was exceptionally easy to do. Before takeoff, a flight attendant came by and confirmed my order with me.
One interesting wrinkle was that my meal came about an hour after my appetizer. That's because Cathay isn't allowed to serve soup when the seatbelt sign is on in case of turbulence. This was totally fine with me! For one, I didn't want to wear my soup, and two, I was able to sneak in another champagne in the interim.
The soup was delightful and one of my favorite airplane meals I can remember.
It was followed closely by the dessert cart, where I ordered darn near one of everything, getting a cheese plate, a fruit plate, and an ice cream. I was offered and skipped having a dessert drink.
Before dozing off, the flight attendants asked us to fill out these breakfast order cards so they could get things prepared for us before landing. I thought this was an exceptionally smooth process that I greatly appreciated. It even allows you to opt out of breakfast if you're sleeping or choose an “express breakfast” of pastry and beverage.
I went for the western breakfast with a coffee, a pineapple, lime, and Asian pear juice. It was an incredibly well-reheated meal for a plane breakfast. I enjoyed every bit.
The dining onboard Cathay's business class truly shined. Every bite was amazing.
The Old A330
For the short flight between Singapore (SIN) and Hong Kong (HKG), I was onboard one of Cathay's decades-old A330s, and the wear and tear on these seats showed.
While these business class seats somewhat resemble the newer A350 ones, they were extremely weathered. The upholstery looked like it was soon to be rubbed right off.
These A330s, which are probably making between four and six flights per day with intra-Asia flying, have seen thousands and thousands of passengers over the years. They're in bad need of an update.
But for a 3.5-hour overnight flight, all I needed was a lie-flat seat, no matter how old it was.
Still, the technology was even older and more clunky on these planes. This square TV screen was a good example.
I actually laughed out loud when I saw this, too. I plugged in my AirPods case to the USB port, and it asked me what I wanted to do with my iPod! Remember those?
If you have a connection into Asia on one of these A330s, don't expect the finest technology or design onboard. What you can expect, though, is a totally functional lie-flat seat just like the one of the A350, just much older. It wasn't as high-end as the A350, but just fine for the short hop.
Bottom Line
Cathay Pacific Business Class's elevated in-air dining, exceptional, stylish lounges make for an overall comfy travel experience, even if the seats themselves are clearly aging compared to Cathay's competitors.
Still, Cathay gets high marks for offering a super-luxurious travel experience from check-in to arrival gate thanks to its service, amenities, and airport offerings.
Sounds lovely. I’ve been looking periodically for the last year or so to find first class award seats for my wife and I to/from Asia on Cathay pretty much for any season without success. What would you suggest?