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My Parents’ review: Cathay Pacific First Class Boston to Hong Kong
This was our first BIG leg of the trip. We’d all positioned to Boston ( which was also a surprise to my mom) and stayed a night at the Intercontinental Boston using IHG points. We were scheduled to leave on CX 811, the 1:55AM flight from Boston to Hong Kong, before continuing on toBeijing ( shhhh Mom has no idea ). The great things about this leg was that there was a double surprise! While my dad knew where he was going…he thought he was sitting with me in business class. Miles and I bemoaned the fact that “just no seats are peeling off” and he was very adamant that if one did…Miles should take it. HA! That monkey travels all the time – he’s not gonna take the 2nd First Class seat. And he didn’t…we put Dad in it…1A. That meant dad would sit in 1A and mom would sit in 2D. Here’s my parents’ review of Cathay Pacific First Class Boston to Hong Kong.
Had we paid for the flight…$18k+ per person.
I use the fully flexible rate because when you use Alaska Miles…especially with MVP Gold or MVP75k there is no charge to cancel and fully refund the miles. The only ticket that compares is this.
The Deets:
- When: April 2017
- Where: Boston to Hong Kong
- Cabin: First
- Seats: 1A, 2D
- Loyalty: Alaska MileagePlan 70k + $70
- Flight: CX 811
- Flight Time: 14 hours 34 mins.
Goodbye Zach, Goodbye Miles.
We were very lucky to snag 2 seats, and really pretty lucky for mine to be just a couple rows back in the business class mini cabin.
A quick family photo by my mom’s suite, 1A
A quick pic prior to take off. I think my parents were UBER excited!
Here’s what My Dad thought…
We flew a positioning flight from Indy to Boston in order for my wife to experience Cathay’s First Class cabin from Boston to Hong Kong. What I didn’t know was that Miles had upgraded me 10 days before the flight and surprised me with seat 1A as well. I found out at check-in. I was excited about this as I knew it would be great if Miles recommended it as the first leg in our Round The World trip to celebrate Beverly’s birthday. It didn’t disappoint! My first impression was how open and airy the cabin seemed as there was no overhead storage. Yet I had plenty of room at my seat to store everything and once seated I had plenty of room to maneuver and felt like I was in my own private space. I was in 1A which angled toward the window and had direct access to the aisle which I liked. The crew made me feel genuinely welcome on board from start to finish. Their service was gracious and the food was delicious….comparable to what you’d expect at a 5 star restaurant.
I loved it every minute of it….from my first experience with Krug champagne and caviar to the surprise birthday cake for my wife. The cabin accommodations were very good, but it was the crew that made this flight very special.
My Mom…The Birthday Girl
This was my 2nd experience in First Class ( I flew BA 1st in 2015), but it felt like my 1st!!! The crew was attentive and wonderful, the seats private, large and oh-so- comfortable!!! We were served warm mixed nuts and a drink after we were seated and before take-off.
After we were in the air and all settled in, we were served Krug Champagne and Caviar – so delicious!!!!!! Later, after dinner my son made a surprise visit to my spacious seat and the staff served a surprise chocolate cake for my birthday!!! I couldn’t believe it!! My son had ordered the cake thru the airlines!!!!!! It was the most delicious chocolate cake I have ever tasted!!! Yum!!!! Soooooo good!!
Time for bed and the staff supplied a down mattress, cover and pillow!! I had no trouble resting for the long flight!!! I awoke and there is my breakfast – served on white linen!!! I’m thinking, “Does this have to end????”
Overall:
As you can tell my parents had an absolutely BALL in First Class. While they were fortunate enough to fly BA First Class to South Africa in 2015 they couldn’t stop talking about how incredible this experience was and how it was on an entirely different level. As a son, who loves his parents dearly, it was the best present I could give myself seeing and hearing them talk about how much fun they’d had. It’s experiences like these that make all the effort earning the points worth it!
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- American Airlines First Class 737 Los Angeles to Boston
- Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Boston to Hong Kong ($17k value)
- Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-300ER Boston to Hong Kong ($7k value)
- Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-200 Hong Kong to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore Airlines Suites A380 Beijing to Singapore ($3k)
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- KLM Business Class 777-200 Singapore to Bali ($400)
- KLM Business Class 777-200 Bali to Singapore
- Singapore to Dubai
- Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Singapore to Dubai ($4k)
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Intercontinental Boston ($450)
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Crowne Plaza Singapore Airport, 1 Bedroom Suite ($300)
- Bali
- Mandapa, Ritz Carlton Reserve 1 Bedroom Rice Paddy View Villa ($600/night)
- Conrad Bali 1 Bedroom Ocean View Suite ($400/night)
- Singapore
- Intercontinental Singapore ($400/night)
- Dubai
- JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, 1 Bedroom Executive Suite ($450)
- Abu Dhabi
- Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi ($300)
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- British Airways Lounge Boston Logan
- Hong Kong
- Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge
- Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge The Wing
- Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge The Pier
- Beijing
- Air China First Class Lounge
- Singapore
- DNata Lounge
- Bali
- Garuda Indoneisa Business Class Lounge
- Premier Lounge
- Singapore
- Singapore Airlines First Class Check-In
- Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines Private Room SIN
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
TIPS:
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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