[ronald55555]

Flew with Cathay last march and just flew with HKA last week. I was skeptical as well, but it was a $400 difference (600 for HKA vs ~1000 for CP) so I decided to try it.

Comfort:
- HKA flies with airbus A330, which I find quieter than Cathay's 777
- Seating is 2-4-2 on HKA vs 3-3-3 on CP, was flying with the gf, so it was nice having the row by the window to ourselves
- Didn't notice difference in seat comfort or leg room

IFE:
- CP has integrated headrest IFE system, HKA hands out iPads preloaded with movies. I usually bring my own tablet so makes no difference to me either way.
- CP has more selection of movies
- Headphone jack in the armrest on CP are loose a lot of times, so the sound can have lots of static
- HKA iPads don't show flight progress, CP does, and has those cool exterior cams

Meal & Service:
- same shitty food, I felt CP was better in the past, but seem to have gotten worse the last couple times I've flown with them
- service is fine on both, CP maybe just marginally better

Check-in/booking/rewards/misc:
- All the times I have flown CP were on time, my flight was HKA was also fine. When I checked flight aware and other flight tracking sites, both seems historically quite punctual.
- CP has better web platform for booking and checkin, HKA was slightly buggy, didn't text us the boarding pass like it was supposed to, but whatever, printed one at check in, got the job done
- almost no line up at baggage drop in YVR for both. No wait for CP in HKG, ~20minutes wait for HKA in HKG, CP have way more counters
- Asia miles for CP vs I don't remember what HKA has, really depends on what you already have. I had asia miles but for $400 difference I would rather save the cash up front.
- No issues with baggage on either one

Overall, I FEEL like CP is better because of their brand/reputation/perceived more polished experience. Objectively though, it's pretty much the same. Personally, I wouldn't pay any more than a $100 premium over HKA for CP.