My adventure to Vancouver, Canada started on 2 flight sectors via Cathay Pacific, the first being on Economy from Singapore to Hong Kong, while the Hong Kong to Vancouver sector being on Cathay Pacific Business Class.
Being the most important trip of my life, there was simply too much for me to cover in a single post. This is my 2nd half of the journey – the highlight – where I took Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class from Hong Kong to Vancouver.
That was the first time I got to take Cathay Pacific’s International Business Class on a long haul flight. On their spanking new A350 some more! I was all hyped up before the journey.
Trip Overview
HKG – YVR
Flight: CX856
Aircraft: A350-900 (A35X)
Cabin Class: Business Class
Seat: 17A 21K
Seat Configuration: 1-2-1
Flight Time: 10.50am – 8.10am (same day)
(Delayed 30 mins for take off, but arrived 10 mins early)
Flight Duration: 11h 42m
Boarding CX856
My little detour made me late for boarding, but it was not an issue, since Business Class passengers did not need to queue up for boarding.
My seat was in a mini cabin just before the Premium Economy cabin; there were only 2 rows in that cabin. Somehow, I felt that there is either many VIPs in the front cabin, or the crew could not be bothered to entertain those in the mini cabin. My boarding was rather lacklustre. It was a while before a crew came to ask me for my welcome drink, which, by the way, never arrived.
Sing in Can on Cathay Pacific Business Class
The crew was also supposed to take our meal orders before take off, but it only happened after that and I didn’t get the meal I wanted. It was a disappointment, as 1) I heard that Cathay Pacific had a every passenger would get their meal of choice policy, and 2) I could only opt for the vegetarian option as the 2rd one was beef, which I could not take.
Somehow, my gorging at The Bridge and The Pier made up for this disappointment.
The Seat at 21K
The seats in Cathay Pacific International Business Class was set in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone formation. In layman terms, it meant that every seat has access to the aisle. Although the seats were not as wide as those found in Singapore Airline’s Business Class, the seats could still convert into a flat bed.
I managed to score myself a window seat despite the last minute change in flight, although I realised that the shell of the seat made it very difficult to see the view from the window.
As mentioned, the seat could extend into a bed via the controls set in the side panel. Since the seats were set at an angle towards the window, when the seat was fully flat, my feet was near the window, under the panel of the seat in front of me.
The arm rest at the aisle could be lowered, so that there was more space after the seat was converted to a bed. However, as all controls were at the side panel, one could basically only sleep when in the flat bed mode. Each time I had to adjust the lights or call for the cabin crew, I had to sit myself up and grapple in the dark.
However, the side panel offered plenty of storage space. Right beside the seat and light controls were a cubby where the amenities and noise-cancellation headphones could be found. In their place, I could leave my handphone inside, since the power socket was also inside.
Before the side panel, there was also plenty of storage at the panel at the window. That was where I dumped all the magazines and unwanted blanket. There was also space on the floor under the seat before me, where my feet would go in flat bed mode, though under normal circumstances, it was difficult to reach that spot, so I didn’t leave any stuff over there.
Inflight Entertainment System
The IFE was the same in terms of software throughout Cathay Pacific’s fleet. The only difference was that the screen in Business Class was larger and hinged onto the seat back vertically. It was possible to use the IFE at all times of the flight, including take off and landing, as there was no longer a requirement for the screens to be stowed away during those times.
That being said, the remote control stowed beside the control panel by the seat became very useful, since the screen was very far away. However, near the end of the flight, the remote control became faulty, so I had to suffer the fate of controlling the touch screen by doing sit and reach!
Due to the vertical hinge, the screen could not be adjusted downwards when I was in bed mode. Luckily, it was an LED screen, so it was still possible to see the image clearly when the seat was inclined. However, the further down I went, the more distorted the images became.
Washroom
I rarely talk about washrooms in my trip reports for my other blog – I rarely needed to use it! Since we are talking about a 12-hour flight, heading to the bathroom was inevitable (it was also the reason why I chose to take Business Class – so that I could access the toilet easily as compared to Economy Class).
To my surprise, the toilets on Cathay Pacific was the same as that of Economy Class in terms of size. I mean, Singapore Airline’s Business Class restrooms were as huge as those of the First Class, and were more than double that of the Economy Class!
The restroom was also barebone minimal – if I forgot to bring my toothbrush from the amenities kit, I would have to return to my seat to get it. There was also not mouthwash. The standard of the crew was also apparent from the state of cleanliness (or non-cleanliness) of the toilet. Halfway through the flight, the trash bin was overflowing and no one bothered to clear it.
Amenity Kit
Speaking about the Amenity Kit, it was still something of a consolation. Other than a dental kit (the toothbrush lasted me for a month after I reached Vancouver), there were also lip balms and lotions. There were also basics for one to survive an overnight flight – a pair of socks, eye shades and ear plugs. Everything was packed into a cloth bag that felt very classy and sincere.
By comparison, Singapore Airline’s amenity kits (if they ever give out on flights) felt less exciting.
Lunch on Cathay Pacific Business Class
Like I mentioned, the vegetarian lunch that I so unwillingly accepted was finally served after like 1 hour into the flight. It was the second time I felt being in the mini cabin meant being a second class Business Class passenger. In fact, there was no drinks service before or after the meals were served. The crew took ages to serve the meals, but was swift to clear the tables.
I guess one factor that affected my assessment was how they managed our expectations. The male crew came around to set up the tray tables soon after take off. It gave the impression that lunch would be served soon. However, it was only the start of a very long wait. As I mentioned, there was also no WBJ before meal service, so it was a very long and boring wait.
The crew asked me for my choice of drink for the meal – usually it was wine, but I chose their specialty Cathay Delight, which was served immediately before my starter came up. I decided to give that novel drink a try – it was made from Kiwi juice fresh milk and coconut milk. Initially, I was afraid that the drink would be sour from the kiwi. It turned out to be more milky than juicy.
The crew told me the drink was refreshing. Honestly, due to the milk, I was left thirst afterwards. And like I mentioned, there was no drinks service and the crew only appeared to serve meals and clear the trays, so I only had a cup of coffee to quench my thirst.
The starter was Poached Salmon Salad (which was the only meat I got to eat for lunch), which was a tad dry and overcooked. I remembered enjoying the toasted Garlic Bread on my previous flights in Cathay Pacific Business Class – but the ones served that day were soggy and tasteless.
Moving on the main, I was served a plate of dried pasta with very disappointing food display. To be fair to the galley steward, it was really difficult to make a plate of pasta look good, especially when the pasta was rigatoni. The failure of the dish lay in that the pasta tasted metallic – the cheese failed to balance out the sharp taste and it would really be better if they added mushrooms.
I opted for Sherry Trifle for dessert. It turned out to be the best of my meal. Like Cathay Delight, it was milk-based, but there was a mellow fragrance accompanying the dessert.
Sleeping on A350
Since I would be touching down in Vancouver in the early morning, I had to quickly catch some sleep to help fight jetlag. After playing around with Xiong Xiong, I settled down into the fully stretched out seat.
There was no duvet, so I used the blanket to lay on the seat and wrapped myself up like a spring roll. Although Malaysia Airlines used the same seats, the version on Cathay Pacific was not that hard and I actually managed to catch some sleep.
Initially, I thought someone short like me would not find the space restricting. However, the limited space in the cubby for my feet subconsciously made me feel constricted. After a while, my thighs were feeling some strain as I could not throw flip myself around freely.
That, however, was a real first world problem. Compared to the Economy and Premium Economy Class, I had more than enough space! After the first 3 hours of deep sleep, I woke up to the thigh strain and started to do stretching in my seat. I was having my eye shades on and I couldn’t see if anyone saw me yoga around. I just couldn’t bother!
That being said, sleep on an Airbus A350 was really much better – I remembered being on Singapore Airlines’ B77W First Class red eye flight to Italy and I couldn’t sleep a wink at all! It was quieter on the A350 and I guess the part where they said air on A350 was more humid and better circulated helped me had a better rest!
Surviving the Night on Cathay Pacific Business Class
After tossing and turning around for another hour or so, I decided to make full use of my miles on the flight.
First, I walked around the cabin. I tried to linger around the cabin – I read that there would be snacks available throughout the flight. On Malaysia Airlines, SAS and Singapore Airlines, they would stock up a basket of snacks in the galley. There was none, and the cabin crew huddling in the galley did not even bother to lift their heads up to see who came around. In Chinese, 他们懒得鸟我.
I asked for some snacks from the black-faced purser. I think she was unhappy at having to walk around during lull period, This brought me to another point – there was literally minimal crew presence. In the time I was up and watching movies, barely a crew walked by to inspect the cabin.
The purser didn’t seem like she wanted to let me snack, because almost everything I asked for was “out of stock”. Finally, I asked her what she had and managed to get myself a packet of dried tomato chips and a bowl of popcorn.
It turned out the tomato chips were rather delicious. The popcorn from Garrett was up to standard, though I hoped it didn’t make me as thirsty as it did.
Halfway through my movie, I recalled the packet of Bak Kwa (dried pork jerky) I had bought from Bee Cheng Hiang before I boarded my flight to Hong Kong. I had wanted to savour the last of Singapore goodies before I touched down, since I would not be allowed to bring food items into the Canadian borders.
It turned out that trying to stuff 500g of Bak Kwa in a short session turned from a form of enjoyment to a salty torture quickly. Oh well…
Breakfast – 5 Hours Before Landing
Believe it or not, breakfast was served a full 5 hours before landing. Which meant that they turned on the lights, woke everybody up for a meal, without giving us a chance to have a longer rest. The logic of the Inflight Manager was really unfathomable.
The breakfast choices were cheese platter, American or Chinese. Thinking that I would be far from any decent Chinese food for a year, I opted for the Chicken Congee, paired with Fried Noodles, fruit salad and a cup of cappuccino.
Luckily for Cathay Pacific, I already had my fill with my BCH Bak Kwa before that, so I was not looking forward to a full meal. I couldn’t find anything to rave or condemn about the meal, though. I thought anyone who is taking CX856 could consider the American meal instead.
Touch Down
The pilot made an announcement when we approached Vancouver Island, which was on the port side of the plane. Since I was at 21K, I could only see the mountains on the lower mainland. However, that was a great glimpse of the land I was about to spend a year at!
That was when I realised the shell of the seat was blocking my view! Therefore, I tried to look at the surroundings via the camera mounted onto the aircraft tail and underbelly. That did not last long. Vancouver was shrouded in fog, so we lost sight of land very soon.
It took us about another half an hour before we actually started approach into Vancouver Airport.
My Journey from Singapore to Vancouver!
This is Sing in Can’s experience on Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class was part of my epic journey from Singapore to Canada. If you have not done so, check out my earlier blog posts for the Singapore to Hong Kong hop and lounge hopping in Hong Kong Airport.
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Till then, sing while you can!
Editor’s Note: This article was first posted on Sing in Can blog in 2019. It is now re-posted with edits on Live.Life.Love as SiC has closed down.
