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Cathay Pacific flight review: Sydney to Hong Kong

With no check-in queue and an empty seat next to us, this was 5-star service from start to finish.

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Stephanie Yip
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Who says you can't take a second honeymoon? With a few days up our sleeves and an overnight flight in our sights my husband and I decided a trip to one of the food meccas of the world would be an indulgent treat.

Did it go down swimmingly? Oh, yes.

Cathay Pacific flight details

  • Route: Sydney to Hong Kong
  • Duration: 9 hours 40 minutes
  • Flight Number: CX138
  • Aircraft Type: 77W
  • Dates Travelled: 1 November 2018
  • Class: Economy

Stephanie's review (in short)

★★★★★
  • Check-in: No lines or dramas.
  • Seats: Very roomy and we even scored an empty seat next to us.
  • Odd-shaped waiting area: It was narrow and snaked around a corner so we couldn't see the staff or how long the line was. I understand this isn't the fault of the airline, so I haven't counted this as a negative to my star-rating.

What did I like?

  • Checking in was super quick and easy. When we arrived around 90 minutes early there was nobody in the queue and we had a choice of two desks to check in.
  • The seats were roomy. Plus we even scored a row to ourselves, which was nice considering we were running a night flight.
  • Well-timed flight. The night flights leave Sydney at 10:20pm meaning you can get to work and head off straight after without a second's thought. Unfortunately this meant arriving in Hong Kong at 5am but on the positive that gave us a full day out on the town.
  • Good gluten-free food. I find GF meals are getting better in restaurants but I was surprised to find it fairly decent on planes, too. My meal consisted of an egg, mushrooms, potatoes, gluten free bread and a muffin. Most were delicious but while the muffin was done well by gluten-free standards it was super heavy and I didn't want to finish it.

What didn't I like?

  • The waiting area at the gate. This was shaped kind of like a backwards C so we couldn't see the desk in the seated area and instead had to walk around a corner to do so. This meant we didn't know when the staff had arrived and were preparing to board people and also meant it was hard to gauge how long the line was.

Would I use Cathay Pacific again?

This airline lives up to its 5-star service with easy check-in, comfortable seats and good service so yes, I'd definitely fly with Cathay Pacific again.

Cathay Pacific flight deals and sales:

Skyscanner
Deal

Flights to Hong Kong from $1,065 return

Expires 28 Feb 2022
Available on Cathay Pacific flights until 28 February 2022. Sample fare is Perth-Hong Kong. Other flights depart from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and more.
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Skyscanner
Deal

Hong Kong flights from $2,023 return

Expires 31 Aug 2022
Available for travel until 31 August 2022 with Cathay Pacific. Sample fare departs from Perth. Other flights depart from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
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