My brother and I were on the same Cathay Pacific flight (759) to Singapore, in Business Class on the A330-300. The flight was under four hours long and I was pretty surprised when I stepped onboard and saw the same flatbed seats we had on the SFO – HKG route. Even my brother felt compelled to ask how long the flight to Singapore would be, because why on earth would we need a flatbed seat unless it was another 12 hours?! Don’t get me wrong, it was nice but it took us aback. My parents and sister were on a different flight, also in Business Class, but they ended up with recliner-style seats.
- Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge San Francisco
- Cathay Pacific Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
- Dragonair Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Airport
Cathay Pacific Business Class Seat
As I said, the seat was exactly the same as on the first segment of our trip, except the headphone compartment was much smaller and didn’t have a mirror (I know, totally tantrum worthy). We sat down and the FA’s came around asking what we’d like to drink. I passed on my usual water and decided to wait for breakfast. We departed on time and shortly after, I checked out the in-flight entertainment system…which had the same movies and tv shows as the previous flight. So once again, it was re-runs of The Walking Dead for me.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Menu
After a while, menus were distributed and breakfast orders were taken. I ordered the ricotta cheese frittata, with the intention of setting the pork sausage and bacon aside. To my surprise, the FA inquired about my religious affiliation and pointed out that the frittata was served with pork. While I was, in fact, aware of this and told the FA I planned on setting it aside, I actually appreciated her pointing this out. In the past, I’ve been negligent about reading menus and ended up with a meal I couldn’t eat, so this reminder was a nice gesture.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Breakfast
Soon after, the FA came around with a bread basket, which I skipped. A fruit plate was brought out and I was relieved when I didn’t break a tooth biting into it, like I almost did on the flight to Hong Kong.
After clearing my plate, the frittata was served. I separated it from the meat and thought it was fine – a bit bland, but nothing a bit of salt couldn’t fix. I actually liked the mushrooms much better than the frittata.
Drama Upon Landing
After 2-3 more episodes of The Walking Dead, we prepared for landing. Looking out the window, I was surprised by the lush, green landscape. Sure, Singapore is called The Garden City, but I expected to see much more cityscape than this. Shortly after landing, I checked my phone to find several missed calls from my parents on Viber, as well as a text message from my sister: “Call us back when you get a chance. We missed our flight.” I told my brother and his response was that he’d had a strange feeling this was going to happen.
Apparently there were two Cathay Pacific flights to Singapore with nearly identical flight numbers, departing at the same time. My sister checked the departure board, then led my parents to the wrong gate. When they tried to board the flight, they were told it was the wrong one and they couldn’t be accommodated because it was full. The other gate was quite a distance away, so they missed the flight they were supposed to board. And since all flights were sold out for the next three days, they were stranded.
Having a smartphone with an unlimited international data plan really came in handy during this scenario. I’d had some reservations about switching to T-Mobile before our trip, but it made things so much easier. I was able to communicate with my parents as well as the airline to try and get things resolved. In the end, what helped was when my parents returned to the lounge and conveyed a sense of urgency to the staff. They were waitlisted, then put on another flight departing just a few hours later.
It was a momentarily stressful situation, but ultimately it was resolved quickly and ended up being the only major hurdle we encountered during our trip. Oddly, having this happen at the beginning of the trip was a relief because I had a feeling something would go wrong. I was waiting for the shoe to drop and when it did, I felt much more at ease…
Uber at Singapore Airport
My brother and I picked up our bags, which came out in record time, then tried to request a ride through Uber. Unfortunately, the only vehicles available were Uber Black cars which would have cost three times as much as UberX. Instead, we took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt Singapore for around $20, which worked out just fine.
Have you ever flown Cathay Pacific’s Business Class product on the Hong Kong to Singapore segment? I’d love to read your experience in the comment section.
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