[v_tec]

The amount of misconception in this thread

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Personally I’d ignore anyone single experience with any airline. Try and take note of people who fly weekly/monthly for the particular flight you are looking at. You’ll find the most “hate” for people who fly very little. Talking to someone who travels weekly will give you a much better idea over many experiences rather then the one time someone missed a connection and ruined their vacation.

Your not going to get a good idea from someone’s single experience.

This.

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

Is not that cheap I usually flight back to HK/Beijing less than $700 sometimes even less than $650. just depends when (low or high season). Also leaving on a Wed and coming back on Tue/Wed is usually cheaper too.

Not just Tue/Wed, but weekdays in general. 1) Some airlines (eg. Cathay) charge extra $25/per way for weekend dates. And 2) demand for weekend flights will obviously be higher = hence higher $ once the lower fares get sold out

Originally Posted by EmperorIS

Cathay rarely have flights sub $1000 though. I find AC consistently have lower prices for a bigger airline company.

CX has been hovering around $650-700 for the past 3 months, and still on going.
AC has one flight a day, CX has 2-3/day for this particular route. Which airline do you think is currently struggling more to fulfill their seats?

Originally Posted by jjson

Usually when there are deals, pricing between AC and HK Air is similar, AC is still higher. HK Air is a 2 hour longer flight than AC though.

Where are you seeing 2 hrs?
AC007 12:05pm - 5:40pm 13h 35m
CX889 01:15am - 7:05am 13h 50m
HX081 10:40am - 5:15pm 14h 35m
CX837 01:10pm - 7:10pm 14h 00m

HX080 12hr 05m / AC008 11h 25m / CX at 11h 25 & 11h 30m

Of course, all these numbers mean nothing in real time after taking into account delays, actual flight time, etc. Certain airlines/routes also add more 'padding' to their timing. But their SCHEDULED flight time are all within the same ball park.

Want a more accurate representation? Look up their historical performance on flightaware like ronald55555 did.

Originally Posted by 68style

It's not knee-jerk though, it's based on actual experience for me. I've taken every option and AC is the worst of the bunch... that flight consistently leaves 1-2hrs late, and the seats, despite having the same numerical measurements as the other airlines for economy, somehow they are excruciatingly uncomfortable. Also, the food/service is terrible.

Cathay is worth the extra money every time on that long of a flight and worth the saving in time over HK Air. If I was already going on HK Air though, I definitely wouldn't pay more to go on AC.

No, the numerical measurements are NOT the same. On the same type of aircraft (777), economy is spread out 3-3-3 on Cathay, whereas Air Canada squish in 3-4-3. Hence why feel a lot more uncomfortable. JL use 787's, HX use 333's, all with a different aircraft width than CX/AC.

Originally Posted by Blah_Teggie

Can't really answer the OP's question cuz I've never flown Hong Kong Air before but I have flown AC to Hong Kong and I wouldn't recommend it. On the flight home, mine and my entire rows IFE did not work. They tried resetting it and still didn't work. Then we finally got tired of complaining. Made for a long flight home.

I had my fair share of IFE's not working on CX flights. But like hud 91gt mentioned, unless you're flying these airlines back to back on a weekly based, this doesn't mean much. Same with those complaining about delays, services, etc.

Originally Posted by 68style

On AC, I got up every 2 hours to walk around because my legs and back were hurting... Cathay, I think I stayed in my seat the entire 15 hours except for 1 time to go to the washroom and I felt comfortable the whole way... customer service is excellent, you get a smile and they respond instantly to any requests... Cathay is HK's pride and joy, so everything is first for them at the airport as well, best docking area, best loading area, etc.

Even at HKG, I had CX flights from anywhere between Gate 2 all the way to 70.

Originally Posted by 68style

Also the food was absolutely phenomenal. Like serious restaurant quality... even in economy.

This has to be an exaggeration, or you were just drunk. I don't think ANYone on flyertalk will agree with you about CX's food quality, even in their first class.

Originally Posted by 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

I tend to find the 777's quite noisy too, but I think this would YMMV with a lot of people.

Originally Posted by ronald55555

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

The exterior cam's get 'meh' after first few minutes. It's worst than VGA quality, and there's usually not much to see, especially your flight flies in the dark. CX's A350 new IFE has a MUCH nicer flight map/progress than their 777's IFE though.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by ronald55555

- 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

0 Asia Miles for the $6xx-7xx CX flights now. And even for those $1xxx+ fares that do offer 50-100% Asia Miles, most people in this thread won't find them useful before their 3 years expiry. As bad as Air Canada is, most YVR-HKG still earns 50-100% Aeroplan even on the $600 fares. And there are A LOT more bank's in Canada that will offer you an Aeroplan credit card (Amex,TD,CIBC,etc) so you can earn / top up your miles faster for a redemption.

Originally Posted by see.lai

Flew an Airbus with HK airlines from HKG to TPE, probably the most ghetto ride I've ever had.
They didn't even have a public washroom (2-3 hour flight). Decent food though.

Originally Posted by FerrariEnzo

Man.. When I was in HK, I booked a flight to Taiwan with HKAir.. the plane they used only had First and Economy.. so I got 2 seats right behind the first class at the front.. this was 3 weeks before the flight date. The day of the flight I go to the airport to get my tickets, found out they switched to a larger plane few days ago and didnt reassign the seat. The seat they had left was at the back..
I was so pissed off.. they didnt email me or call me or anything.. I will never travel with them again.. their lack of customer service skills totally did it..

You guys are judging an airline's experience based on a 50mins HKG-TPE flight in comparison to a long haul experience? That's like saying you had a shitty ride on the Seabus, and refuse to take BC Ferries to Victoria. Your YVR - Calgary flight on Air Canada will obviously not be the same as your YVR - Asia / Europe flight.

You have no idea how many people complain daily about CX's changing aircraft types on their REGIONAL routes daily. On the YVR-HKG route specifically, you should be fine - majority of the time. I don't think CX and AC ever swapped aircraft before on this route, other than once or twice rare occasion in the past decade.

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

unless difference is greater than $300...i would just go for Cathay
I had the option to fly HKA then connecting to Taipei for $500 r/t (but HKG fucked me last time security made me miss my flight so I'm blacklisting that airport for a while unless ridiculous deals)...opted to pay $300 more for direct flight with China Airline's new A350-900

HKG is one of the MOST efficient airport in the world, especially when it comes to transfers, so you must either had some serious delay or you're missing out a lot of details.

Originally Posted by yray

HK Air=MK version of cathay

good thing is they have old style seats, none of the non recline bullshit that CX pulls off. Ipad for IFE which is good for choices and speed but shitty as you have to put it on table.

food service is fair.

When was the last time you boarded a CX flight?
The 'hardshell' seats you're referring to have left CX's longhaul fleet for many, MANY years now.

Originally Posted by Ikkaku

For CP, I like the fact that you can randomly order complimentary cup noodles and Haagen daaz ice cream. Hell, they provide you with an actual can of pop instead of half a cup. Their service is miles ahead of AC. I mean, our flight from HK to Shanghai on CP provided better meals than our flight AC from Van to HK and Shanghai back to Van.

Haven't really experienced the newer reclining mechanism that my friends have complained about for CP flights, because I usually don't recline.

Not sure if I can handle a longer flight. I can't sleep on planes.

CX rarely give you the full can of pop. You must have ordered diet? zero? coke or something as their main drinks usually get poured from the large bottles. Delta Air surprisingly, offer canned pop / canned juice for every passenger, every meal. Nothing poured from bottles.

AC offer Nissan cup noodles too, but honestly on a long haul flight stuck inside a metal tube, in economy class, the last thing you need more of - is MSG.