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Business Class Clash: American vs Cathay Pacific
Drum roll please…it’s a business class clash!!! On this installment of business class clash we will put two Goliaths against one another: American vs. Cathay Pacific. OHHHHH MYYYY GOOODNESS – we are pumped! Both are lie-flat, outfitted with Zodiac cirrus seats, and are known to be world class. I’m warning you now…This isn’t for the faint at heart, people. Miles will be the judge and jury on this clash and he keeps real. He likes his champagne glass filled, his seats super comfy, and if that eye mask doesn’t fit just right – watch out!
Last year I had the pleasure of flying Cathay Pacific Business Class from Johannesburg to Hong Kong and then on to Tokyo’s Haneda. This year, I’ve had the pleasure of flying American’s 777-300ER several times: to London, domestically to Miami, and as an economy seat from Chicago to Los Angeles. Let’s put Cathay’s JNB-HKG route up against AA’s LAX-LHR route and get ourselves a good old fashion Business Class Showdown: American vs Cathay Pacific edition.
The Cabin:
What does it feel like when you walk into the business class cabin? Both products make you wanna do the Stanky Leg.
You’re gonna be happy either way…it’s like do you want 5 Andrew Jacksons or 1 Ben Frank? You’re rocking a hundo either way.
Cathay Pacific Cabin
AA’s 777-300ER Business Class Cabin
The Winner is…Tie
The Amenity Kit
Cathay wins some serious points with the design of their amenity kit bag. Both feature quality products inside, but Cathay’s is just so cool and feels in line with brand. It features Jurlique products.
While the American Amenity kit is housed in a Cole Haan bag and features C.O. Bigelow products. The products themselves are awesome and in terms of functionality…the American Bag is much better.
The winner is: American
Champagne:
Cathay Pacific features Reserve du Bastion
Whereas American features Nicolas Feuillatte brut
I can’t believe I don’t have a picture with Miles and the champers…he must have enjoyed it too much! Anyways…
The winner is: American
The Service:
Cathay Pacific:
American
This isn’t from the 777 but it basically embodies the consistent love that Miles gets on AA.
Cathay Pacific is known for providing a top notch “soft-product” and I certainly experienced that on one of my legs: Hong Kong to Haneda. The other leg the cabin crew was cranky-pants. This seems to be an outlier based on other reviews, but it’s my outlier and it was disappointing to say the least. On the other hand…American has provided me really great service on every single long-haul flight I’ve taken with them. This is going to be a controversial decision
The winner is: American
The Seat and bed:
Cathay and American both feature the same exact product, the Zodiac Cirrus. It’s a reverse herringbone design that provides a lot of privacy, comfort, and storage. However, American’s product is newer than what I flew on Cathay. Comparing the actual blanket and pillow…it’s a toss-up.
Cathay Pacific Seat and Bed
American
The winner…tie
Overall:
You are going to have a great flight regardless of taking Cathay or American. They are both incredible products. If you’re looking for an experience that is “different” than what you might receive in America, go with Cathay. If I had a flight to Hong Kong and there was availability on both American and Cathay I’d probably give Cathay a go again just to see if my experience was an outlier. However, all things equal…I actually preferred the American hard and soft product more than Cathay.
By this review…American Won, but both are world class products.
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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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