CX I'm disappointed

[Limewood]

Just completed in J HKG/JFK/HKG on 777 and then HKG/CNS on A330, seat was a tad hard, little room for feet, plane was hot then cold, food very ordinary, staff Ok and no banter. And why they serve dinner at 10.30pm on the CNS sector beats me, then before arrival served up an awful small muffin and a jam pastry no taste in "J" for breakfast. The flights in and out of Cairns are full and CX are not cheap, Qantas are you listening to FNQ?, we need you back on the CNS/HKG sector.

 

[Aussiejosh]

Email CX and tell them

 

[docjames]

Just completed in J HKG/JFK/HKG on 777 and then HKG/CNS on A330, seat was a tad hard, little room for feet, plane was hot then cold, food very ordinary, staff Ok and no banter. And why they serve dinner at 10.30pm on the CNS sector beats me, then before arrival served up an awful small muffin and a jam pastry no taste in "J" for breakfast. The flights in and out of Cairns are full and CX are not cheap, Qantas are you listening to FNQ?, we need you back on the CNS/HKG sector.

Sounds like pretty much every QF flight ex-Asia overnight to Aus (although there can be more banter, occasionally).

 

[mannej]

I'm not sure why QF would put a service between CNS and HKG when other cities that have 10x the population of CNS don't have QF services to HKG.

 

[docjames]

I'm not sure why QF would put a service between CNS and HKG when other cities that have 10x the population of CNS don't have QF services to HKG.

Whilst i don't disagree that QF service is unlikely, CNS of course attracts far more than just the local population (FNQ gateway incl great barrier reef). But then that argument could be made of many locations. The GBR attracts circa 2m visitors a year.....

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm not sure why QF would put a service between CNS and HKG when other cities that have 10x the population of CNS don't have QF services to HKG.

Great Barrier Reef and Daintree. More to flight services than just the population of the airport City. Might be something like ADL-CNS-HKG tag flight if ever QF wanted to increase capacity to HKG.

 

[docjames]

Note also CX are limited by the Aus-HK bilateral to a certain number of seats to the major airports. Adding CNS allows them a greater Aus-HK capacity.

QF are presumably happy to continue to funnel everyone through MEL/SYD/BNE and aren't close to capacity on their side of the bilateral.

Once those flights are full, then QF would presumably consider more routings (but may have reached max HKG capacity and/or cost of slots at HKG make that problematic).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just completed in J HKG/JFK/HKG on 777 and then HKG/CNS on A330, seat was a tad hard, little room for feet, plane was hot then cold, food very ordinary, staff Ok and no banter. And why they serve dinner at 10.30pm on the CNS sector beats me, then before arrival served up an awful small muffin and a jam pastry no taste in "J" for breakfast. The flights in and out of Cairns are full and CX are not cheap, Qantas are you listening to FNQ?, we need you back on the CNS/HKG sector.

I'd agree with most of this... except the 'little room for feet'. I think CX (reverse herringbone) are one of the most generous for foot space (and I'm over 6'3).

Crew - yeah, depends how they/you engage. I always get great service. But appreciate that could be variable if you don't hit it off with them.

Food - meh. CX isn't renowned for their food, but they can serve it quickly. 55 mins on an overnight ex HKG meant we were all tucked up and sleeping within about 90 minutes of take-off. With QF we'd still be waiting for the tray set-up.

 

[wandering_fred]

I routinely look at the fares on CX CMB-HKG-PER though recently I ignore them due to price. The interesting thing is that on many days (yes even the days with two PER flights) CX is offering a better price CMB-HKG-MEL/SYD-PER with the Australian domestic segment on QF. I did suggest that perhaps CX could eliminate one of the segments HKG-SYD/MEL to add another HKG-PER if they were getting better yields to PER but so far I've been ignored.

So I'm disappointed with CX - but for different reasons.
Still wandering
Fred

 

[Limewood]

My view is, if QF did the CX thing like they do HKG/CNS/BNE/HKG, say into or out of OZ to an international destination like HKG, SIN or even LAX, it would allow visitors to see not only the cities but The Great Barrier Reef, Rain Forests and all that FNQ has to offer etc, at beginning or end of a vacation or business trip before departing OZ. And Im sure seats out of OZ would find keen locals too.

 

[Ansett]

I have not been that impressed by CX over the last few years I dont see why people rave about them.

 

[boomy]

CX J is ordinary, nothing particularly good or bad about it.
I’ve also never understood why ppl rave about them. They missed an opportunity to create something more special on their A350s. Overall I don’t mind them on flights to Asia but would look at other options to Europe.

 

[OATEK]

I have had several recent CX flights on 777 and 330, and had no issues with either, Staff warm, food fine, and at 186cm had no trouble with my feet. All my travel OS in last 5 years has been on QF, CX & AY and I still have QF last on the seat/bed, service & food.

 

[ermen]

CX J is ordinary, nothing particularly good or bad about it.
I’ve also never understood why ppl rave about them. They missed an opportunity to create something more special on their A350s. Overall I don’t mind them on flights to Asia but would look at other options to Europe.

8 years ago when the new J seats came out they were good and it was one of the market leading products out there. QF were still running their Skybed I and Skybed II! Food was not known to be good though on CX. F and J Lounges in HKG were very good (though QF's F lounge is on par or better)

Then QF improved - low oil prices helped them coupled with CX's bad foray into oil futures speculation (I mean hedging) that kinda screwed them up over the last few years.

Now just as their fuel hedges are rolling off, oil is staging a strong rally again.

So CX does seem to be stuck in a bind - though it will be interesting to see how QF reacts to the high oil price environment.

 

[boomy]

CX will introduce dine on demand on selected routes which suppose to not only improve the service but also refresh the very tired menu and wine list that seems to not change in months. I’m not holding my breath for major improvements but hope for some positive changes.

 

[N860CR]

Is dine on demand back on the cards? I know it was attempted, but then ditched after a short trial.

Overall CX is still my preference for business in and out of Aus (just did a SYD-HKG-YVR in basically the same time as SYD-LAX-YVR).

I find the seat comfortable. I haven't come across a business seat that I sleep as well in (including the VA J and SQ new J seats). Service is very Hongkie. They're not there to be your friend, you're not there to be their friend. You want something, ask and you shall receive. Catering is average, yes, but it's consistant and does the job. Service is fast, and this is especially important on the short overnight flights to Australia.

I recently flew Qantas for the first time in years from BKK-SYD (connecting from Central Africa). 7 hour delay (it happens)... but what I hated was the crew and the service flow. It took forever to run the service (and all i had was a single bowl of soup) and the crew wasted so much time running around doing wanky "greetings" and "chats" with passengers. I wasn't in the mood, so didn't really engage much, and ended up getting abused by the CSM for having "something wrong with me" when I clearly wasn't keen on smalltalk!

Give me fast and efficient CX service anyday

 

[Limewood]

On this recent trip to HKG/JFK on CX in J were a let down in service, food and seat, one leg SYD/HKG was in PE on QF and could not fault it in any way.

 

[boomy]

I recently flew Qantas for the first time in years from BKK-SYD (connecting from Central Africa). 7 hour delay (it happens)... but what I hated was the crew and the service flow. It took forever to run the service (and all i had was a single bowl of soup) and the crew wasted so much time running around doing wanky "greetings" and "chats" with passengers. I wasn't in the mood, so didn't really engage much, and ended up getting abused by the CSM for having "something wrong with me" when I clearly wasn't keen on smalltalk!

Give me fast and efficient CX service anyday

You have a good point here, CX service is efficient!

QF greetings are pointless but I know many frequent flyers enjoy that. I don’t mind saying hello to the CSM but some pax feel the need to tell their life story and then chat some more during meal service and it really slows down the service. It’s particularly noticeable on short overnight sectors like PER-East Coast or SIN-AUS.

 

[samh004]

My view is, if QF did the CX thing like they do HKG/CNS/BNE/HKG, say into or out of OZ to an international destination like HKG, SIN or even LAX, it would allow visitors to see not only the cities but The Great Barrier Reef, Rain Forests and all that FNQ has to offer etc, at beginning or end of a vacation or business trip before departing OZ. And Im sure seats out of OZ would find keen locals too.

Is CNS capable of receiving or starting a flight from/to North America? Sure, might be great for tourists, but generally those are very big planes, fully laden.

I know that being FNQ-based you're after those services, but my parents try their best to avoid them these days and would probably fly someone else if QF started routing through CNS to HKG.

QF greetings are pointless but I know many frequent flyers enjoy that. I don’t mind saying hello to the CSM but some pax feel the need to tell their life story and then chat some more during meal service and it really slows down the service. It’s particularly noticeable on short overnight sectors like PER-East Coast or SIN-AUS.

I can understand if you were in the last row of business you may be waiting a while, but that mustn't happen to you very often

 

[boomy]

I can understand if you were in the last row of business you may be waiting a while, but that mustn't happen to you very often

I did sit in 5A on some J only A380 flights

The problem is not when you get the meal but when all the noise stops and lights turned off. On short/medium houl overnight even an extra 30m of sleep makes a difference.