Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific The Bridge Hong Kong

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Cathay Pacific The Bridge HKG

Cathay Pacific The Bridge Business Class Lounge, Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)

Cathay Pacific The Bridge HKG
Cathay Pacific The Bridge HKG Entrance

Cathay Pacific’s lounges in Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) make connecting in Hong Kong as close to a delight as can be said about waiting for a flight. Over the past 5 years I’ve spent a lot of quality time in airport lounges and I still look forward to landing in Hong Kong and heading to a Cathay Pacific lounge. The consistency and quality of both their business class and first class lounges means that I can depend on a nice warm meal and a hot shower to have me feeling refreshed before catching my next flight.

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Aeroplan awards on Cathay Pacific?

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cx-first-seat
The countdown to Justin Trudeau redeeming his Aeroplan miles for CX first has begun (maybe)!

Here’s an interesting development from my favorite airline awards program based in “America’s top hat.” Air Canada has recently expanded their little-known codeshare partnership with Cathay Pacific and their subsidiary Cathay Dragon and has hinted that soon they will begin allowing redemptions of Aeroplan miles for these flights as well.

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Double Decker Planes and Powder Staches!

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Have you ever gotten to fly “upstairs” on an airplane before?

Does “reverse coffin” sound like something you’d be into?

I have always wanted to ascend those magical stairs to the fancier cabin perched atop the squalor that is coach, but up until now I had never gotten the chance to do so. Thanks to some US Airways Dividend Miles that I had scored from the US Airways credit card signup bonus, plus a few more miles transferred over from my Starwood Preferred Guest account, I was making it a reality.

All Your Powder Is Belong To us!!!
“All your powder Is belong to us!!!”

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Do Eat The Caviar In First Class (Part Tres of Dos)

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To me this next little experience sums up how things are in this world. When leaving the plane in Hong Kong, the 6 first class passengers exit through their own separate boarding door. The entire rest of the plane exits out the other door.

Time for some caviar!!!
One door to rule them all!

So we exited out our special first class boarding door and headed straight for The Wing, Cathay Pacific’s first class lounge. I know when I hear the words “airport lounge” the image that pops into my head does not prepare me for the experience that is The Wing. First of all, most lounges are somewhat industrial seeming. Sitting at an AA lounge in Chicago or the US Airways lounge in New York you get the feeling that style is always balanced against pragmatic considerations, like how long the carpet needs to last, or how resistant the seat fabric is to having orange juice spilled on it.

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How to get a window seat in Cathay Pacific First Class

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Reserving the best seats in Cathay Pacific first class.

By now many of you are probably stacking up fat ‘staches of miles and getting ready to book some exciting trips to far flung destinations.

One of my favorite uses of Aadvantage miles (and also Alaska miles) is for flying first class on Cathay Pacific. I typically book awards for Emily and I from New York City to Bangkok and the 16.5 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong is definitely one that you want to be able to sleep on. There is nothing that promotes a good night’s rest quite like Cathay’s spacious First class lie flat beds (and some Ambien).

Cheers babies!!!
Champagne for two!

The only point of consternation (besides the taxi ride to JFK) is that, even though American Airlines has award access to 1/3 of all the seats in the 1st class cabin, the agents at AA can only book the middle seats, 1D and 2D. While the middle seats are still quite comfortable, I strongly prefer a window seat from which to watch the world zip by.

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Do Eat the Caviar in First Class (Part Dos of Dos)

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3 windows and an aisle? yes, please!
3 windows and an aisle? yes, please!

This is the second part in a three part series that begins here:

And now onto the flight!

Initial impressions of the seat and the cabin:

Cathay Pacific First Class Cabin
Cathay Pacific First Class Cabin

The cabin is lovely and spacious.  There are no overhead bins, as each passenger gets their own little closet, and that makes it feel like you have tons of vertical space.  The seats are huge, comfortable and have a full range of adjustments, including lumbar support.  The decor is tasteful for an airplane.  There are little vases built into the cabin where they put a live orchid, which is a very nice touch.

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Do Eat the Caviar in First Class (Part Uno of Dos)

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Caviar in Cathay First Class
Caviar in Cathay First Class

The time had come for our next adventure and it was starting, as all good adventures do, with a flight in Cathay Pacific first class, booked with my AAdvantage miles.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you that flying Cathay First is an experience that will change everything you thought you knew about flying.  It is so unlike everything that I have previously associated with the trans-Pacific flight experience, and in all the most delightful ways.  Some people like flying, some people don’t mind it, but I have generally hated it for most of my life.  This has not stopped me from flying a great deal, but all I had known of flying before my foray into travel hacking was suffering.  And Cathay first removes the suffering and replaces it with caviar.

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Sixteen Hours in Business Class or in Coach?

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I got an email just the other day from a friend inquiring as to how to best approach getting from the US to SE Asia without being stuck in coach.  Considering that this particular friend is 6’6″, avoiding coach seems like the smart thing to do.

Lay-Flat bed and a sleeping aid.
Lay-Flat bed and a sleeping aid for the win!

He had been thinking about buying coach tickets for him and his squeeze on American for $1100 and then using miles to upgrade the ticket to business class. He didn’t have the miles in his account already, so he was inquiring as to if this approach seemed reasonable and what cards he should be thinking about to make this a reality.

I am all for travel hacking your way into the premium cabin but am generally against buying a coach ticket and using the miles to upgrade.  Here’s why:

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