Cathay Pacific Airlines is my Favorite Asian Airline, and voted Best Airline in the World for 2005!

By

James P. Zaworski

Cathay Pacific Airlines is a Hong Kong based airline that is both regional and global in its service destinations. I have used Cathay Pacific Airlines for four roundtrip flights from Taipei, Taiwan to Hong Kong, and I was thoroughly impressed with their service, their punctuality, their efficiency, and the overall experience with them. What follows is a review of my experiences with this wonderful airline.

What I like about Cathay Pacific Airlines.

Reservations and Online Booking.

The first step in the process of reserving a ticket is to either visit the website of Cathay Pacific Airlines at http://www.cathaypacific.com/. Here, you can quickly get information on flights and destinations, sign up for the different memberships that will affect your rewards type programs with Cathay Pacific, access customer services, get the phone numbers (usually toll free numbers) to the nearest Cathay Pacific office, and make online reservations.

I have used both the online reservation service to book a ticket, and also used the more traditional phone-in service. Both are very easy to use, but sometimes phoning in will be more in ‘real time’ than the online reservation system, but it also may end up costing a little more. I have actually used both types of reservation systems, usually the online reservation booking if I am booking well in advance, and I have also routinely called in to verify the reservations within 48 hours of departure, to make sure everything is in order.

Asia Miles Program and the Marco Polo Club/Frequent Flyer Miles Rewards Program.

Cathay Pacific has two different rewards programs, the Asia Miles Program and the Marco Polo Club. The first one is free to join, and you gain one point for every mile of travel. For example, Hong Kong is 501 miles from Taipei, so for one way, I earn 501 points, 1002 for roundtrip. You can earn points in this way, but also by participating in their affiliates program, by using your Asia Miles membership number when shopping, dining, traveling, shopping online, staying in a hotel, etc. at one of the approved Asia Miles affiliates. I have used one affiliate (a restaurant in the Hong Kong airport), and gained points by dining there. The only problem with the Asia Miles Program is that you need to rack up a ridiculous number of points to be able to get any kind of reward. For example, you need about 10,000 points to get a free video game worth $25! So, unless you travel back and forth from Hong Kong to the USA, it will take you a very long time to get any substantial reward, such as a free ticket. However, your Asia Miles last a long time before they expire, something like four years from the time of purchase. This gets you coming back for more and you have time to rack up the points so that you can get rewards. I will most likely be in Asia for four or five years working, so I will get more points and get my rewards, one of these years.


The Marco Polo Club.

The Marco Polo Club is a paid for membership, and it has several different levels to it. Since it is a paid service membership, the rewards are more immediate and greater than the Asia Miles club. Membership to this club has its rewards, such as much more personal attention in terms of service and recognition from the airline, double the Asia Miles service, free upgrades, excess baggage allowance, an exclusive counter at Cathay Pacific in the airport that has no waiting, and the mysterious lounge access to Cathay Pacific bars in airports.

I am not a member of The Marco Polo club, but the last time I flew to Hong Kong, I wish that I were a member. I had excess baggage with me, in terms of weight, and had to pay about $35 extra for the baggage allowance. If I had been a member of the Marco Polo Club, that fee would have been waived. Alas, a roughly $50 annual membership is required and it might be worth it in my case for future considerations.

Customer Service and Stand By.

I am thoroughly impressed with the efficiency and speed at which Cathay Pacific Airlines staff and customer service people handle everything. Even calling in to ask a question doesn’t require much waiting, and minimal automated service as well. Sending an email too is easy and customer service will usually answer the email within 24 hours.

On three occasions, I had booked a return ticket to Taipei from Hong Kong on a later flight, and had many hours to wait in the airport, as I would usually be conservative about what time I could get to the airport, due to variable traffic in a foreign city. On each occasion I managed to get a seat on an earlier flight by going on “stand by”. The customer service counter has a special ‘stand by’ kiosk in Hong Kong, and the whole process is quick and painless. You are put on stand by, and they announce your number about twenty minutes before departure. The only problem is that you have to literally run to the gate, because Cathay Pacific always leaves on time!

Check in and Baggage Handling.

Check in is very easy with Cathay Pacific. You just stand in line and show your passport and credit card that you used to book the flight with, and you get your boarding pass and can check in your bags. Only once my bags weighed more than the allowed weight, and it was no problem getting them checked on. You get your boarding pass and get directions to the departure gate. It is very easy. Also, my bags were never lost in my eight different flights using Cathay Pacific, and the bags were always waiting for me, undamaged, and on time, when I got to the baggage claim area.

The Airplane and Flights.

Flying from Taipei to Hong Kong has been on the Boeing or Airbus jets. These are all very adequate jets on which to travel, and are comfortable and state of the art. I am partial to the Boeing jets, but the Airbus jets are also very nice too.

The flights have always been pleasant and smooth, both takeoffs and landings.

On Time.

Be warned! Cathay Pacific is not like other airlines! They depart and land on time!
This is unusual in my experience of flying, especially in the United States. Here in Asia, efficiency and punctuality are the rule, not the exception. It sometimes can run against me, as I have to spend a lot of time in immigration or customs and sometimes have to run to the departure gate. But that only happened twice so far, as I have just enough time to leave by taxi from work to get to the airport to make it to the last flight of the night to Hong Kong from Taipei on a Friday night.

In Flight Service.

I have been completely impressed with the in flight services offered by Cathay Pacific.
I have flown economy class each time, and have been treated as if in first class. The staff of stewards and stewardesses is kind and cordial and friendly. They make you feel very welcome and they cater to any need you have, and no request is too much.

The food served on the flights I have been on have all been very good, with nothing to complain about. Dinner is very excellent, and usually you have a choice of dining options. I eat the Asian style cuisine when traveling with them, and it is always excellent.

Entertainment options are typical with Cathay Pacific. You can listen to music or watch movies. I usually just bring my CD player and listen to my own music during a flight, so I am not sure if you have to pay to use the Cathay Pacific entertainment options.

Destinations.

Cathay Pacific flies all over the world, literally. From their base in Hong Kong, you can fly all over Asia, and to the United States and Europe. Very few airlines can compete with the number of service destinations.

Price.

The cost of a roundtrip ticket from Taipei to Hong Kong would run me about $250, which was very reasonable indeed. The only time it was too expensive was when I had to change a ticket on short notice of one day, and that cost me nearly double.

Cathay Pacific has now been voted best airline in the world for 2005! This notice was handed out on my last flight, so it is a very recent development. I think they are worthy.


What I do not like about Cathay Pacific Airlines.

Different prices for online booking and phone in reservations or use of a travel service.

The only problem I have had with Cathay Pacific is the different prices that I have either been quoted or paid for the same class seat on the same flight, booked or inquired from different sources. This is not an issue of availability; it is an issue of the same service being provided at a different cost each time, depending on the source of the service. For example, I did a comparison shop search for an economy class ticket for a certain Cathay Pacific flight from three sources, the Cathay Pacific Website, Expedia.com, and calling Cathay Pacific’s reservation number in Taiwan. I got three completely different prices for the same seat, same class, and same flight! It ended up that the online quotation of Cathay Pacific was more expensive than calling in the reservation. The most expensive way was going through the travel service expedia, and the price was nearly double the regular ticket cost. I had used expedia.com before as a convenient and easy travel service, but my experiences in Asia dictate that it is usually double the price of the carrier, in this case Cathay Pacific.

The only other negative experience I had was when I had to push up a ticket by one week, on short notice. That ended up costing me almost double the price of the normal ticket. But, they accommodated me and I got to Hong Kong on time for business purposes, so it worked out well.

All in all, Cathay Pacific Airlines is one of the best in the world. You get friendly service, good price, many options of service, a huge number of destinations, frequent flyer rewards programs, online booking, and much more with this airline. If you are traveling in Asia, you cannot pass them by.

Update: Cathay Pacific Airlines was voted best airline in 2005 by the London based Skytrax.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/aboutus/press/0,3845,31342-125882,00.html


Here is the url to the story and the newsclip itself copied and pasted from the Cathay Pacific website.
Cathay Pacific voted “Airline of The Year 2005”

Cathay Pacific Airways has made a virtual clean sweep of this year’s World Airline Awards with the announcement today it has been named Airline of The Year, Best Airline Asia and Best First Class in the world’s “largest” global passenger poll.

London-based Skytrax says its 2005 World Airline Awards poll was the world's “largest” passenger survey ever with more than 12.3 million eligible nominations. Votes were cast by 94 different nationalities from June 2004 to May 2005.

The latest awards come on top of the airline’s Hong Kong lounges last month being voted the world’s best in a survey also conducted by Skytrax Research.

“Airline of the Year is the established, global barometer of passenger opinions about airlines around the world,” Skytrax says. “Airline of the Year is not focussed on one specific sector of the passenger market. It encompasses a wide mixture of passenger types – business customers who may be more familiar with First and Business class and, most importantly, the large majority of global air travellers who travel Economy class, be it on leisure or business travel.”

Cathay Pacific’s The Wing and The Pier were earlier named 2005 Best Airline Lounges for First and Business Class travellers in the Skytrax survey. Skytrax said its lounge survey was based on the combined quality of product and service and “seeks out those airlines that offer something original and, above all, the best format”.

Cathay Pacific was previously voted the Airline of the Year in 2003. It has carried off the Skytrax "Best Airline - Asia" award three times, "Best Airline - Transpacific" twice and won the Best Lounge award in 2002. In April this year, Hong Kong International Airport was named the World’s Best Airport in a separate Skytrax poll for the fifth straight year.

Cathay Pacific Airways Chief Executive Philip Chen said: “Cathay Pacific being voted Airline of the Year is a great honour because it is such a world-class award. I would like to thank every member of staff around the world whose professionalism and dedication to excellence made this great achievement possible. Being a repeat winner reflects our commitment to deliver consistently high standards of service across the board. It also underscores our ongoing effort to make Hong Kong more attractive to passengers as a global aviation hub and gateway to the Chinese Mainland, and our determination to make Cathay Pacific as the world’s most admired airline.”










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