A Review of Cathay Pacific Airlines

Cathay Pacific Airlines is an Asian airline company that primarily serves North America and South Asia. It is a popular airline offering flights with a luxurious business class and comfortable economy class that cater to a large number of passengers. It is best to avoid last minute travel with this airline as you tend to get expensive deals for tickets. Cathay Pacific also has an interesting frequent flyer club called the Marco Polo club. Frequent travelers can also sign up for Asia Miles and receive miles for using Cathay Pacific or its airline partners.

Cathay Pacific airlines has reasonably priced tickets that you can get for cheap if you plan your travel in advance. Last minute offers from travel websites online are usually not available for this airline. Another great advantage of this airline is its variety of in-flight entertainment that it offers through Studio CX, an entertainment system that caters to different languages and genres. Each seat has its own personal TV that you can hook up with headphones and get ready for a flight free of boredom.

The flight crew of Cathay Pacific is also a great plus for this airline. Communication is easy despite the fact that most flight attendants are Asian. They try to ensure that you have the best experience possible and go out of their way to please you. Twice during my flight, I was not given the meal that I had asked for at the time of booking. The flight attendants made sure I was served what I liked by offering to me the extra packages of meals that they keep as back up.

Their in-flight shopping has an interesting catalog with affordable gifts that you can buy without feeling like you have been taken for a ride.

All plus points aside, Cathay Pacific should improve their food. Their fruit has a bad aftertaste and some meals have a weird pungent smell. Also, their planes need more leg space. Given the long flights that Cathay Pacific caters to, passengers should not feel like a tin of sardines after having been seated in flight for so long. The aisle space between seats should also be more spaced out so that the food carts don't come too close to passengers.

Request seats near the door of the plane or aisle seats so that you can get up and walk often. Also, there is a lot of leg space on seats near the airplane door so ask for those first. Ask flight attendants for free snacks like fruit and cucumber sandwiches which they don't offer from the food carts but have available in their pantry. They are great for killing midnight hunger pangs when you cannot sleep and need something to munch on.

Sign up for Asia Miles on your flight. Cathay Pacific will credit you for your current flight and also for flights in the past three months. Membership with Asia Miles is free and easy to sign up for. The Marco Polo frequent flyer club requires paid membership and is an advantage for travelers who use Cathay Pacific on a regular basis.

Inexpensive tickets with Cathay Pacific attract hordes of travelers so make sure you get your ticket as soon as you plan to travel.

My most memorable moment from this trip occurred when I got off the plane at the San Francisco Airport. I headed straight to the baggage claim area to get my luggage. After getting the first bag, I was waiting for my second suitcase when I noticed a badly ripped suitcase on the baggage carousel. While pitying the traveler to whom that bag belonged, I was suddenly struck by the familiarity of the clothes spilling out from all sides. Those were my clothes and that was my bag that had been so badly damaged in flight!

Trying to get the bag off the carousel was a nightmare while trying to get all my clothes to stay in. Embarrassed, I hurriedly picked up the outfits that were still on the carousel, avoiding the stunned looks of other travelers waiting for the luggage. I headed straight to the Cathay Pacific counter where, after lots of negotiation and explanations, I was given a reimbursement for my damaged bag. I did not get any reimbursement or credit for losing my outfits in the plane, in spite of nearly two months of stressful negotiation with Cathay Pacific. Next time, I swore to have my bags wrapped, irrespective of their sturdiness and an airline's guarantee of best customer service!