Cathay Pacific is one of the few 5 star airlines in the world. And it really shows! Today I was flying from Tokyo to Hong Kong and I got a free upgrade because the flight was overbooked. I was thrilled I got to fly in Cathay Pacific Premium Economy. It was awesome! Cathay Pacific is easily one of my favorite oneworld airlines together with Japan Airlines. The only downside is the careless baggage handling in Hong Kong…
Check-in
I always march to the priority section with my Finnair Platinum card, but this time I paid attention to the fact that Cathay Pacific had separate counters for first class, business class and premium economy. Although the premium economy counter doubled as a baggage drop counter.
I was also impressed by how early the check-in was open at Narita airport. According to Cathay Pacific, the check-in opens 3 hours before the flight, but I could check-in even earlier than that. I went in early to check out the Japan Airlines lounge (note: lounge access is not part of premium economy service).
Boarding
Cathay Pacific has several priority lines. The first people to board are families with small kids and people with disabilities. After that it is the first class/oneworld emeralds, then business class/oneworld sapphires and then the rest. There is no priority boarding for premium economy.
Seat and amenities
The seat is very comfortable. It has bendable headrests, a reading lamp, a footrest and a proper socket for charging your phone or laptop. On longer flights, you would get an amenity kit, but my flight was too short for that. Instead, I got a bottle of water, a blanket, a pillow and an ANC headset. I noticed that I was the only one with a pillow, so I suppose I got it because of my emerald status.
Entertainment
There is an infinitely long list of movies in the entertainment device. This is probably the best selection of movies I have seen on an airplane. It is nice to watch them too with the noise cancelling headphones
Wifi costs money. A messaging package is $3.95, one hour pass is $9.95 and the entire flight is $12.95 (USD, not HKD). The prices are not extremely high, but for a short Tokyo-Hong Kong flight, I guess they are a bit too much.
Food and beverages
There is one serving of excellent food. You may pick from two options. The food is way better than what one would eat in business class in Europe when flying, let’s say, Finnair, Lufthansa or Aegean. You can also order alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, coffee, tea and so on. The flight attendants are super polite too!
Conclusions
Cathay Pacific Premium Economy is awesome! There is no other way to say this. For a short flight, the experience is way above that of a similarly long business class flight in Europe! I can strongly recommend Cathay Pacific after this experience. It truly lives up to the 5 star label.
