Cathay Pacific has lengthy been heralded as one of many world’s main airways. With top-tier choices each on the bottom and within the sky, the airline has lengthy attracted Miles & Factors fans and aviation afficionados alike.

Whereas the airline was considerably affected all through the pandemic, when it noticed its route community severely restricted in comparison with years previous, the continued reopening of Hong Kong to world is coming with the restoration of Cathay Pacific’s community.

Luckily, this additionally means the gradual return of one of the crucial sought-after aviation experiences round: Cathay Pacific First Class.

On this information, we’ll undergo the whole lot you could learn about one of the crucial luxurious flying experiences which you could attain with a well-rounded Miles & Factors technique.

The Cathay Pacific First Class Expertise

With an elevated fame as one of many world’s greatest airways, Cathay Pacific delivers an intriguing expertise from begin to end. 

Whether or not it’s stress-free in a personal tub at one of many flagship lounges in Hong Kong or having fun with a refined meal in a cushty suite within the sky, you’ll wish to make sure that Cathay Pacific First Class is in your bucket record of journey experiences.

Floor Expertise

Cathay Pacific makes positive that its First Class is differentiated as a reduce above enterprise class, and also you’ll simply discover how there are already variations with the expertise on the bottom.

Let’s begin with check-in. Passengers are all the time supplied a separate space, and in Hong Kong, which is Cathay Pacific’s house base, the First Class check-in space can be related to a devoted safety line.

With preliminary formalities taking shorter than traditional, extra time could be spent at certainly one of Cathay Pacific’s unique First Class lounges.

There are two of them in Hong Kong: The Pier and The Wing. These two lounges, a 10-minute stroll aside, have separate entrances and sections for enterprise class and First Class passengers.

Nevertheless, because the airline continues to be within the means of restoring of its pre-pandemic capability, solely The Wing is open for First Class passengers for now. The Pier First Class Lounge is predicted to reopen in mid-2023.

Whereas The Wing has components that don’t essentially differentiate itself from different lounges, it presents one notably notable function: The Cabanas. These non-public sanctuaries function a big bathtub and a day mattress, each of that are a godsend previous to or following a long-haul flight.

And apart from The Cabanas, The Wing additionally notably presents à la carte eating at its restaurant referred to as The Haven, in addition to a Champagne bar for welcome drinks.

As soon as it reopens, Cathay Pacific First Class passengers who go to The Pier can even have entry to unique rooms in an space of the lounge often called The Retreat, which can be the place the lounge’s bathe rooms are discovered.

Whereas the day suites right here aren’t practically as luxurious as The Cabanas in The Wing, you may nonetheless avail your self of a quiet, comfy place to calm down previous to your flight.

In the event you’re able to quench your thirst, there’s no higher place than the visually pleasing bar positioned in The Pier.

The Pier additionally presents à la carte eating within the aptly named The Eating Room. When you could also be tempted to order a little bit of the whole lot from the menu, you’ll wish to avoid wasting room on your meal on the airplane.

Nevertheless, for those who’re simply searching for a stupendous place to calm down earlier than your flight, head over to The Library for a strikingly stunning space to spend time in.

Remember that your Cathay Pacific First Class journey has solely simply begun, and it will get even higher from right here.

Seat

Whereas most different airways’ First Class cabins are configured with 4 seats in a row, Cathay Pacific edges them out with its three-across configuration. There’s one seat on the window on both aspect of the plane, after which one in the course of the cabin.

This can be a little bit of an enormous deal, since you wind up with a First Class suite that appears gigantic in comparison with others.

And ready on the seat are Bose noise-cancelling headphones, pajamas by Hong Kong-based clothier PYE, and an amenity package additionally by Bamford.

The seat that turns right into a lie-flat mattress could be turned down upon request, and it’d be laid with British way of life model Bamford’s plush 600-thread-count cotton sheet, a alternative of sentimental or agency pillows, and a cover cowl. A sprig of Bamford’s well-known pillow mist and a cup of JING Tea full the ritual.

Meals & Drink

The onboard eating expertise is yet one more sturdy level of Cathay Pacific First Class. For starters, you’ll be elegantly served your food and drinks of alternative with Noritake porcelain dinnerware, Robert Welch flatware, and Riedel wine glasses.

Shortly after boarding, you’ll have your alternative of welcome drink, which is prone to embrace a high-end Champagne.

When you hit the skies, there’s sufficient room within the suite for somebody to hitch you, which is all the time one of the crucial satisfying components of First Class.

As a current growth, Cathay Pacific has began collaborating with Michelin-starred restaurant Duddell’s to showcase Hong Kong’s delicacies.

As a First Class passenger, because of this you get to savour dishes like chilled abalone and cucumber with black vinegar, and pan-fried king prawns in white pepper sauce with spring onions and ginger as you make your technique to your vacation spot.

After all, this all comes after the caviar course and the free-flowing Champagne you’d likewise be having fun with.

In the event you nonetheless occur to be hungry, you should definitely order one thing scrumptious from the snack menu, comparable to braised pork noodles or a dim sum choice.

To wrap issues up, you’ll have the deal with of having fun with a cheese plate, ice cream, a pie, and even all the above.

Evidently, you’ll wish to come hungry (and thirsty) on your Cathay Pacific First Class flight. 

Cathay Pacific First Class Cabin

Amongst Cathay Pacific’s combined fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes, solely choose Boeing 777-300ER plane are geared up with First Class.

The First Class cabin consists of merely six seats divided into two rows in a 1-1-1 configuration. It’s clearly a distinction from the 1-2-1 configuration within the enterprise class behind, thus offering you with probably the most actual property on the airplane.

Seats 1A and 2A solely share the left apart, whereas the 4 different seats share the correct aisle. Therefore, the 2 left seats are the perfect ones in the home, they usually’re most best whether or not flying solo or as a pair.

Alternatively, for those who’d like to take a seat nearer to your companion, your best choice could also be to decide on one of many seats within the center (“D” seats) paired with a seat on the correct aspect (”Ok” seats), as these seats open in the direction of one another on the identical aisle.

Cathay Pacific First Class Routes

Previous to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathay Pacific supplied First Class on a handful of routes, together with many to North America. However with an prolonged crash in demand, because of Hong Kong’s heavy-handed pandemic restrictions, the airline parked its plane with First Class in storage.

The excellent news is that Cathay Pacific is regularly bringing First Class again, and as of this writing, it’s supplied on 4 routes: Hong Kong to London, Paris, Tokyo (Haneda), and Los Angeles.

We’re optimistic in regards to the gradual return of Cathay Pacific First Class to North America and different routes, and we’ll you should definitely replace this information when this occurs.

Easy methods to Redeem Factors for Cathay Pacific First Class

As a Oneworld member airline, you’ll have to look to the loyalty applications throughout the alliance for the perfect offers.

Every program has its personal execs and cons, so you should definitely contemplate all your choices earlier than reserving Cathay Pacific First Class.

Alaska Mileage Plan

Reserving Cathay Pacific First Class with Alaska miles has lengthy been often called among the finest candy spots within the sport. Nevertheless, there have been some current adjustments to Alaska Mileage Plan that put the way forward for this candy spot in peril.

Alaska miles are comparatively tough to return by. In america, you may earn Alaska miles with co-branded bank cards.

The one different choice, apart from shopping for Alaska miles throughout a sale, is to switch in Marriott Bonvoy factors on the best ratio of 60,000 factors = 25,000 miles.

In the event you occur to have a pleasant stash of Alaska miles, the excellent news is {that a} First Class flight between Hong Kong and North America or Europe prices simply 70,000 miles!

After all, you’ll should find award availability to attain this deal, which might be going to be fairly tough. In the event you occur to discover a seat, you should definitely e book it as quickly as attainable, since we’re unsure how for much longer this candy spot will final.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Bar none, the simplest technique to redeem Cathay Pacific First Class is thru its personal program, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. You’ll additionally profit from a higher quantity of award availability in comparison with redemption companions, which tends to be fairly sparse for such a extremely desired product, and entry to seats nearly a 12 months prematurely.

In Canada, Asia Miles is a switch companion of RBC Avion at a 1:1 ratio, American Specific Membership Rewards at a 1:0.75 ratio, and HSBC Rewards at a 25:8 ratio. 

We’ve additionally seen switch bonuses of 10–15% supplied every so often, which is a superb time to switch in for a redemption when you’ve positioned award house.

RBC additionally points the co-branded RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum Card that straightforwardly earns Asia Miles on each day spending, though it doesn’t have a tendency to supply the perfect return for spending.

South of the border, Asia Miles is a switch companion of American Specific US Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou at a 1:1 ratio.

When it comes time to redeem, there’s no dynamic pricing to be involved about when redeeming Asia Miles. There are solely normal awards, which carry fastened costs based mostly on distance, with values as follows:

The Hong Kong–Tokyo (Haneda) route falls within the “Quick” class and costs out at 40,000 Asia Miles for a one-way flight in First Class.

In the meantime, the European routes as categorised as “Lengthy – Sort 1” and value out at 100,000 Asia Miles for a one-way flight in First Class, and the Los Angeles route costs out at 110,000 Asia Miles within the “Lengthy – Sort 2” class.

If First Class turns into supplied once more on routes to the Jap United States, the fee can be 125,000 Asia Miles for a one-way flight.

Whereas that is certainly a steep value to pay, notice which you could add on one other flight in enterprise class or economic system class afterwards and also you received’t pay any extra miles – in reality, the full value could in reality lower, as Asia Miles calculates the mileage pricing utilizing a weighted common of the gap flown in every class of service on an itinerary. 

Be aware that Cathay Pacific tacks on reasonable gas surcharges on award redemptions, and quantities are naturally increased for First Class.

American Airways AAdvantage

American Airways AAdvantage additionally options some good costs for Cathay Pacific First Class, though the miles are barely more durable to return by than with different applications.

In Canada, you may switch RBC Avion to AAdvantage at a 1:0.7 ratio, which isn’t essentially probably the most best. 

In america, you may earn AAdvantage miles by way of numerous co-branded bank cards issued by Citi.

On each side of the border, you may switch Marriott Bonvoy factors at a ratio of three:1, for those who’re caught with out another choices.

When it comes time to redeem, anticipate to pay 90,000 AAdvantage miles for a flight between Hong Kong and Paris or London in Cathay Pacific First Class.

A flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo Haneda costs out at 40,000 miles.

In the event you can find award availability, anticipate to pay 110,000 AAdvantage miles for a First Class flight between North America and Hong Kong.

British Airways Avios

Lastly, contemplate reserving Cathay Pacific First Class with British Airways Avios. 

In Canada, British Airways Avios is a switch companion of RBC Avion at a 1:1 ratio, American Specific Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, and HSBC Rewards at a 25:10 ratio. There’s additionally the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card, which earns factors instantly from each day spending.

In america, Avios is a 1:1 switch companion of Chase Final Rewards, Capital One, and American Specific US Membership Rewards.

In each nations, you may switch Marriott Bonvoy factors at a 3:1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 Avios for those who switch 60,000 factors. There are additionally switch bonuses to maintain a watch out for in Canada and the US. 

As you may see, of all of the totally different factors currencies listed above, Avios are arguably the simplest to earn. Whereas they could be straightforward to return throughout, you received’t essentially discover the perfect worth by redeeming them for a one-way Cathay Pacific First Class flight.

Relatively, you could wish to contemplate it as half of a bigger British Airways Avios Multi-Provider Award reserving, which might unlock a major quantity of worth.

Cathay Pacific First Class Award Availability

With solely 4 routes presently flying with First Class cabins, we will anticipate award availability to be very restricted with a purpose to favour income passengers.

Nevertheless, when First Class award seats are launched, the primary to profit are these redeeming from Cathay Pacific’s personal Asia Miles program.

The draw back of getting solely lower-priced normal awards is the final lack of availability, particularly for premium cabins. Due to this fact, you’d want a bit bit extra persistence when searching for a reward seat in First Class.

As well as, whereas Cathay Pacific has beforehand adopted a sample of constantly releasing last-minute availability, this doesn’t seem like the case anymore – so e book early.

It’s additionally price noting that there doesn’t appear to be a lot consistency within the availability between totally different applications. For instance, a flight that’s out there by way of American Airways AAdvantage won’t present up on Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Alaska Mileage Plan.

Due to this fact, your greatest wager is to make use of the search capabilities on the totally different applications, after which when you’ve discovered a seat, see which program presents the perfect take care of the factors you’ve got at your disposal.

Suggestions and Tips for Cathay Pacific First Class

Whereas Cathay Pacific First Class could also be tough to return throughout for award bookings, there are a couple of ideas and methods to contemplate that will help you maximize the expertise.

Tack on one other flight

Given Asia Miles’s distance-based redemption chart, the easiest way to redeem Cathay Pacific First Class, put merely, is to fly longer. By doing so, you may absolutely maximize the higher restrict of seven,500+ miles on the chart.

In idea, the longest routings you would plan inside Cathay Pacific’s community can be North America to Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa through Hong Kong. Sadly, none of those routes presently supply First Class, however you would additionally contemplate including a really comfy enterprise class flight, or a barely much less comfy economic system flight, as an alternative.

Let’s take Tokyo to London through Hong Kong for instance. Tokyo to Hong Kong covers roughly 1,800 miles and prices 40,000 miles for a one-way seat in First Class, whereas Hong Kong to London covers roughly 6,000 miles, and requires 100,000 miles.

When these two segments are married collectively, they complete 7,800 miles. However as an alternative of paying a complete of 140,000 miles, you’d solely have to pay 125,000 miles.

As talked about above, when reserving Cathay Pacific First Class with Asia Miles, tacking on one other flight in a decrease class of service also can carry down the mileage pricing as a result of program’s distinctive pricing construction.

Use calendar searches

To assist pace up the search course of, contemplate looking for Cathay Pacific First Class with a program that provides a calendar view. Your greatest wager is prone to go together with both American Airways AAdvantage or Alaska Mileage Plan.

For instance, let’s say you had your eye on a First Class flight from Hong Kong to Paris. On the American Airways web page, merely enter in your routing, variety of passengers, and a date, after which simply be sure to click on on “Redeem miles”. 

Within the search outcomes, click on on the “Calendar” button, and also you’ll see a complete month’s price of costs.

To seek out First Class availability, you’ll wish to toggle the outcomes so that you’re solely seeing First Class, and never economic system or enterprise class. Merely regulate the filters on the high to “Nonstop solely” and “First”, after which the calendar will solely present dates on which there are direct flights in First Class.

This makes it very straightforward to seek for months at a time. When you’ve discovered a date, simply make certain that it’s out there in your program of alternative, after which proceed with making the reserving.

It’s price noting that there’s a less-useful function on the Asia Miles web site, which exhibits availability (generally) if you’re including the date.

As you’re getting into within the knowledge for a reward search, the calendar will present both a brown seat (low availability) or a inexperienced seat (ample availability) if you’re choosing a date.

It’s not as dependable or as quick as different searches, although, however it may be helpful to notice for those who occur to stumble throughout it.

Conclusion

Cathay Pacific First Class is arguably one of many aviation merchandise on the market. With an beautiful floor expertise and one of the crucial comfy methods to take to the skies, there’s little question that you just’ll treasure each second

Sadly, with fewer routes and fewer availability than earlier than, it’s turn out to be much more aspirational than readily attainable, no less than for now.

Regardless, for those who’re devoted to increase Oneworld factors balances and able to act if you discover an award seat for Cathay Pacific First Class, you’ll be handsomely rewarded on your efforts.