The Cathay Pacific HKG-SYD Review is part of the Trip Report: The $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World which covers 5 Continents, 13 Countries, and 17 Cities.
- Tokyo, Japan
- Melbourne, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Sydney, Australia
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Maldives
- Saigon, Vietnam
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Hong Kong
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Knysna, South Africa
- Durban, South Africa
- Mauritius
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Doha, Qatar
- New York, New York
- Helsinki, Finland
Find the nerdy planning here. Find the picture preview here.
It’s all about the Dreamliner and the 777 vs. A380, if not the A350 these days. Back then TPOL was just happy to fly business and get free champagne and ice cream.
The flight from Hong Kong to Sydney was aboard an A330 and looking back I couldn’t tell you what the difference was between it and my next Cathay 777 flight from HKG-JNB. This may be due to TPOL’s lack of aviation expertise at the time, or it may be a result of the quality of Cathay Pacific. In the five times I flew Cathay as part of this RTW itinerary, I was never disappointed. In fact, the business class was so good, it rivals my Cathay first class experience from HKG-ORD.
During the good old days when RTW tickets were available, the type of plane was secondary compared to finding business class availability. Since the trip consisted of a dozen segments, slumming it on a 737 for a few hours wasn’t such a big deal since the next flight was on a 777.
Now that 120,000 AA miles only gets you a RT ticket instead of halfway to a 50,000 Mile Explorer Award, making sure you fly the best business class product is just as important as availability. Look no further than Thai Airways 777-200 BKK-AKL for an example of when flying business isn’t as attractive even when it’s free.
I’m lucky that I was able to redeem the Explorer Award and am even more lucky that so many of the flights were on Cathay, regardless of the type of plane.
<==Back to Cathay Arrival Lounge – Onto Park Hyatt Melbourne==>
