We are planning a trip to hong kong & a couple of places in Oz.
We have a choice of Qantas or Cathay Pacific to fly with.
Just wondered what everyone thought of both these airlines - is there a huge difference between them? Which do you prefer?
We have previously flown to hong kong with BA and found their service acceptable - how do Cathay and Qantas compare to BA?
Thanks!
Which class of travel?
Economy
Contributor 
11,211 posts
101 reviews 
142 helpful votes I remain biased against Cathay (due to safety (cabin crew confidence) and service issues) so I would pick QF. Many would choose CX. In economy they will all be pretty much equal in my opinion.
Have a look at the reviews at SKYTRAX.
Contributor
43,222 posts
35 reviews
98 helpful votes Have flown with both CX and QF between LHR and SYD in economy and business over the last 12 years. I'm not tall so leg room isn't an issue. On balance, I would say CX had the better service (more courteous and willing), although QF's IFE was better. However, Ithink both may have upgraded/changed seats and IFE on these routes since I travelled with them.
SWT
I would choose Cathay over Qantas if prices were comparable. I found Cathay's service to be much better than Qantas.
I'd say Qantas if you get to fly on their new products (e.g. A380- plenty of good reports on airliners.net on their economy product, but am not sure if they fly HKG to Oz with the A380).
Cathay is quite nice but their food was a bit disappointing (compared to how CX food was about 10 years ago) on my last trip with them one and a half years ago. Service was okay, but on the full flight, I got some service issues. On a flight about 75 percent full, service was friendly and good. You also have the good fact that CX's hub is in Hong Kong.
You can see some pictures I took on my trip two years ago here:
http://eattraveleat.blogspot.com/2009/01/cathay-pacific-new-economy-class-aug.html
Contributor
80,615 posts
183 reviews
192 helpful votes It's hard to believe QF could have better AVOD than CX? CX AVOD has hours and hours and hours of content in all sorts of languages from various countries.
Service-wise, both have their up's and down's. I find QF pretty much standard like most non-Asian airlines. My friend described the economy food as inedible. CX isn't necessarily much better though when it comes to catering. CX crew though sometimes seem too young and inexperienced. When the flight is full, they tend to rush and not care too much. Toilets are likely to be cleaner on CX.
At the end of the day, economy is economy. I'd check the fares first.
One good thing about cx is that the seat in front of you does not recline into your space.Nothing worse than having the person in front of you reclining for 14 hrs.
