It’s been a while since I used a travel agent to plan a trip. But a major travel agent in Belgium posted a deal one can’t refuse in a newsletter in June 2023. Flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and three nights at the four-star Park Hotel Hong Kong in the Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon area. So I messaged Oriol in ‘panic’ and pressured him to decide quickly (as the deal was popular and the the offer limited in time and availability) to come along to this Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Being four days in Hong Kong, we used one of these days to Macau (also often spelled Macao) the other SAR. We were there in November 2023.

We flew to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) on Cathay Pacific CX270 flight. Funnily the same flight number Danny and I had in 2018, when we flew business class to Singapore to spend 77 hours exploring the city state and staying at the InterContinental Robertson Quay. That was perhaps our most decadent trip ever, or so far… 

But this time, Oriol and I flew economy. Also, it’s 5.5 years and a COVID-19 pandemic later. 

Check-in

Having booked with a travel agent, we only received our travel documents, pdf vouchers you don’t actually need, some two weeks before travel, we only knew our booking reference then. It took me some days before my penny dropped to check what was included in our booking. Checked luggage, seat selection? 

So I went to the Cathay Pacific website and checked it. But I dind’t think of selecting a seat at that point, or warn Oriol. But now having a created an account with CX, I at least received a direct link to check in online for the flight 48 hours in advance.

Doing so, I noticed I couldn’t check Oriol in as well. So I texted him to check in and we could select our seats to be seated next to each other.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t so simple. Oriol had to wait for his account creation to be processed before being able to check in online. Luckily he could at least select his seat. So sitting together was guaranteed at least. 

Baggage drop

Fast foward to travel day. We arrived over two hours before departure at Schiphol from Antwerp-Central Railway Station. Bag drop is nowadays often automated, but I failed. Something went wrong. The machine couldn’t read the tag and when I repositioned my bag, it said the weight didn’t match anymore.

So I had to go to the service desk anyway. At least that resulted in me having a paper boarding pass.

Security check

After a chaotic 2022 and ‘security stress’ when we flew to Mexico last year, our 2023 Schiphol security experience was much better. It was swift. Laptops and tablets had to stay in the bag. Nice.

Boarding

Boarding was organised as follows: first the passengers needing extra assistance, then business class, then premium economy, then the cattle of economy. Cathay boarded by group of rows, starting with the back seats. As we sat in 64A and 64B, we were in the first economy group.

The economy cabin and the seat

The economy cabin of this Airbus A350-1000 (1041 to be exact) B-LXG is organised in a 3-3-3 configuration. Green is the dominant colour (except of the light grey / off white you see in all commercial planes). 

The seat proved to be fairly comfortable. Legroom is good for economy. The seat has nice recline. The headrest is foldable. Audio is provided by an actual headphone, not earbuds. I like that. The headphone in economy is of the old walkman kind. And it only has one pin. Audio on planes is never great. On this plane it was not great, but audible. 

The table is sturdy but slippery. Some kind of edge would be nice. There is a secondary tablet with cupholder as well. All very practical. 

In-flight entertainment

The in-flight entertainment is provided by a large screen. The selection of films is enormous. Really enormous. Some titles were funny such as ‘Bear Man‘, ‘Legend of the Fist‘ and ‘Killing Crabs‘. These titles sound sexy, but don’t worry, they were not porn films.

But the catalogue was so elaborate. From ‘2001: Space Odyssey‘ to ‘Death in Venice‘, ‘Speed‘, ‘Close‘, ‘Paradis (Lost Boys)‘. And of course many western blockbusters, Asian films, anime, and so much more. 

Of course you can choose to watch tv shows, listen to music and play games such as ‘Angry Birds World Tour‘. 

Food

During this 10:57 hours flight we had first a beverage and a snack, a meal, a cheesy wrap as a ‘midnight’ snack and breakfast. We received a bottle of water and could get more if we wanted to. 

For lunch we had a choice between braised minced pork or coq au vin. Oriol and I chose different options for the photos. 

For breakfast, the flight was out of congee, so we both had the western sausage and eggs.

The food was good. Luckily, gone are the days of ‘cardboard’ meals on board.

Service

The crew was friendly, but ‘directive’. CX270 being a day flight with departure at 12:57 PM CET and arrival arrival at 7:35 AM HKT, nudging people to sleep in the afternoon is a bit harsh but I get why. 

So?

Comparing it to our 2018 business class experience, this was very basic. But Cathay’s economy product is genuinely good and I will gladly fly with them again.