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Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-200 Hong Kong to Beijing

a group of people sitting in an airplane

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Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-200 Hong Kong to Beijing

ICMYI ( This is part of my mom’s 75th birthday surprise trip around the world ). We’d just arrived from Boston and were hanging out in The Wing – WHICH IS PHENOM. Mouth drop, head spin, thank God they have Cabanas cause I need a cold shower. In addition to the splendor of The Wing My parents were still buzzing over their Cathay First Class flight and it seemed this was the perfect time to reveal the next stop with a boarding pass to Beijing. BAM! She was very happy! I’m pretty sure she had a little bit of an idea where she was headed, but was uber thrilled that she’d get to visit mainland China for the first time! It also meant she’d be seeing the Forbidden City and walking The Great Wall of China – something that has been on her bucket list for quite some time. Let’s check out the next leg of our Mega Surprise Trip around the world: Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-200 Hong Kong to Beijing

a hand holding a glass of liquid next to a stuffed animal
Miles…it’s mom’s trip. Stop being a diva.

Since we booked these tickets with Alaska miles we had to fly on Cathay Pacific planes for our flight from Hong Kong to Beijing. One, Alaska doesn’t allow you to mix partners on award tickets, and two, Cathay isn’t partners with Cathay Dragon ( which has far more routes to Beijing from Hong Kong than does its parent company Cathay Pacific), they’re only partners with Cathay Pacific.

What did this mean? We had to fly on an inferior product in order to utilize the miles and fly the same day. It’s not a long flight ( ~3 hours) and we were perfectly comfortable.

The value of this ticket…$1075

Were you to end your itinerary in Hong Kong or continue elsewhere in Asia…it’s 50k Alaska miles in business, 70k in First. HELLO! It’s a no brainer. Alaska will also allow you book in a stopover free of charge so find somewhere else to fly in Asia…it’s basically free to get there.

Screen Shot 2017-03-20 at 11.43.49 PM

We were able to check out the following lounges on our layover which I HIGHLY recommend.

  • Cathay Pacific The Wing
  • Cathay Pacific The Pier
  • Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge.

We got to the Gate with about 10 mins to spare.

The Deets:

  • When: April 2017
  • Where: Hong Kong to Beijing
  • Loyalty: Alaska Mileage Plan ( part of Boston to Hong Kong to Beijing ticket) 50k in biz; 70k in First.
  • Flight: CX 390
  • Departure: 08:20
  • Cabin: Business
  • Seat: 15C
  • Time: 3 hours

This Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-200 isn’t the most ideal, but fine for a few hours. 2-3-2 in Biz? Yikes!

Not the product you’d want to fly long haul. But…you know what? The service was still top notch.

a group of people in an airplane

It’s a big difference from what’s offered on the 777-300ER

a stuffed animal on a pillow
Miles in Cathay Pacific Business Class

Seat 15C.

I was seated with my mom, while my dad was right across the aisle from us.

Fully Reclined…

While the seat doesn’t go that far back none of us really minded. The cabin maintains the Cathay color schemed which I find to be quite handsome and we weren’t looking to sleep or even lie down. For 3 hours – this fit the bill just fine.

a person sitting in a chair

The menu.

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Even though I’d eaten at The Wing…I still managed to squeeze some more food in. SMH.

a tray with food and drinks on it

Overall:

This suited us quite well. However, if you were to book this same itinerary with AA miles you could book with Cathay Dragon and access planes that feature a business class akin to what’s offered on Cathay’s 777-300ER. That’s a big difference when it comes to the seat, but for a short flight, I’m not sure it makes all that big of a difference. The crew as very nice, we watched movies, and got excited about what we would do in BEIJING!

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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