Cathay Pacific Economy Class Review

What?  Did I just write the word "economy"?  Deciding to extend my stop over in Hong Kong meant that we had to pay for our own flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok.  There are a bevy of carriers that make the three hour flight each day and I chose Cathay because while most people pay for flights and pick a carrier based on the ticket price, I use points to determine which carrier I fly.
I carry many Chase cards and several earn Ultimate Reward points, those points transfer into airline and hotel stays and this was no exception.  British Airways uses Avois points and while British airways is notorious for charging high fuel surcharges if you can book intercontinentent with one of their alliance partners the points usage is really small and there are no fuel charges.  I booked two economy seats on Cathay for the flight from HKG to BKK, used only 15K for two one way seats and paid $45 in fees for each.  I could have paid for seats outright on a low cost carrier ( about $75 - $150 per ticket) or on any of the dozen or so carriers servicing the area but I didn't feel like researching which carriers had good safety records. Furthermore, many of the low-cost carriers kill you with fees.  My Cathay plane was huge and very full and the decibel level from all the Asian occupiants  made it for a not so relaxing ride I don't understand why they talk so loud.  It was like someone turned on an Asian only radio station at full blast.  I swear we were the only ones who spoke English on the flight because the flight attendant would tell us in English anything important.   The rows  were either 8 or 10 seats wide on this plane body.  We were served a meal.  I have no idea what it was, all I know is that congee was an option and I steered quickly away from that to some egg thing (it was a morning meal), but the fruit was good.  The flight served its purpose; we arrived in Bangkok without issue.  

                                            

Prior to the flight we tried without success to have our unused portion of our "The Wing" lounge access from three days before utilized but no go.  When we checked in for our flight to Hong Kong we were given lounge invitations to the Cathay pacific lounge in Hong Kong called "The Wing".  When we first arrived in Hong Kong 3 days earlier we didn't want to fuss with finding the lounge and taking use of their cabanas (private spa like baths) we just wanted to get to the hotel.  Now, 3 days later since we are in economy we had no lounge access.  I tried my mightiest to get the lounge attendants to honor my invite from 3 days earlier even proving to them in the following week I had another first class flight to JFK booked but they won't budge.  No worries though, I had all kinds of lounge access passes.  

Part of the American Express Platinum card member benefits is lounge access to Priority Pass club lounges located in airports all over the world.  Hong Kong proved no exception.  There are 3 such lounges in Hong Kong airport and  I chose the Travelers Lounge which won Priority Pass lounge of the year in 2012.  It was nicer than waiting at the gate.  Food; hot (some Asian and Western dishes made to order) and cold were there for the taking, only alcohol had a charge associated with it.  I had some noodle breakfast dish and it was pretty good.  The overall impression I got from this place was it reminded me of some dark seedy Vegas lounge without the cigarette smoke.  Given were weren't waiting too long the lounge would suffice.  One thing was certain, Diva and I were getting spoiled from the status perks of travel and more were to come!

Going for the Vegas night club look in an airport

Priority Pass Travelers Lounge Hong Kong