How it's like flying Economy class via Cathay Pacific Air Hong Kong to Manila Roundtrip - Blog review

I only fly through budget airlines during my entire backpacking trips for three reasons - I want to indulge more to sightseeing, eat more food and save    money. Back in October, I was walking inside the mall and saw a booth for Cathay Pacific Airways promoting their #onedayoffline program and selling flight tickets too. I have no intention to book but since this is a travel brand which I am always open for any possible collaboration, I did dropped by.

To make the long story short, I won their Instagram contest. I was given 2 roundtrip tickets Manila - HK Economy class. The big day came last Mar 30 for my flight departure to Hong Kong. The night before I tried to check in online, right there and then I wasn't allowed because my passport validity is only 4 months. This is also the time I realized I have one heck of problem and that this can cause my trip to not to push through! I will make a separate blog post about how I made it from passing through Philippine Immigration who had me sign an Affidavit of Risk Awareness, the Singapore and Macau Immigration as well.

Since I am not allowed checking online via Cathay Pacific Air's website, I arrived early in NAIA Terminal 3 because I may wait in a long line before I can have a staff from this airlines check me in manually. Our flight departed on time at about 10am. They're very systematic - followed the proper boarding processes according to the assigned seats. Before we took off, I happen to see the Cathay Pacific Airways exclusive boarding gate to business class flight holders while I was looking for the toilet. It looks so fancy and that I wish soon I get to fly on a business class with Cathay Pacific Airways.

I had no photo of the Cathay Pacific aircraft because it landed at the back of another plane. From where I sit in the boarding gate , I can only see its tail. I don't know what kind of aircraft we are going to ride nor I know about the technical details in the aviation industry. All I can say is that this Cathay Pacific plane is the biggest so far I have ever encountered.

Actually I'm also confused about the difference of Cathay Pacific  Air Economy  versus Premium Economy. It's simply the features - Premium Economy are upgraded a bit more from Economy class of Cathay Pacific. This review of a flight via Economy Class of Cathay Pacific Airways is more of sharing my personal experience. To see the details of the features of different flying class : First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy please check the website of Cathay Pacific Airways.

The CX Inflight Studio Entertainment System is all is awesome. I quickly checked it as soon as I sit, not even bothering to fasten my seatbelt! There were music, games, TV shows and the 2016 Oscar's best movies. I'd love to watch but I plan to take a nap because I was sleepless for the past 2 days preparing for this trip.

I did however tried to pick one movie but it says enter your credit card or requires a code. I just went on and listened to a series of relaxing Indian songs. The best thing about Cathay Pacific's inflight entertainment screen is that we are able to see a real - time view of outside from a video camera below the aircraft facing forward. Also, during the entire flight, there is an animated simulation of where our plane is going in terms of location in the world map. Love it!

Cathay Pacific meals - Economy

After about 30 minutes, our meals are served. In my booking confirmation it is called rather as refreshment or light snack. The meal usually consists of a pack of Vita mango juice, a piece of Anzac cookie, a bar of chicken fajita lattice pastry and an antiseptic towelette.

For my flight back to Manila, it was not a good experience. We were told that our departure will be delayed for an hour. When we came to our designated boarding gate, we were told that we have to transfer to another gate that is too far from where we are. It took us around 20 minutes of frustration walking even though we took the walkalator, it is still tiring.

The worst is when we arrived in Manila, we were trapped for another 45 minutes because of the dismaying power outage in NAIA Terminal 3. Anyway, this isn't fault of Cathay Pacific Airways, I do understand that. I look forward to check more Cathay Pacific Premium Economy and Economy reviews and on Tripadvisor.

Looking back of my previous flights to other budget airlines to a top - notch airlines like Cathay Pacific, I am definitely flying here again if given the chance I have more money to burn.


To read more of Cathay Pacific Flight Review, please see below:

Cathay Pacific First Class Review: HKG-LAX via Andy's Travel Blog
A Review Of Cathay Pacific’s Premium Economy  via Food.Travel.Fun with Rachel Lucas
10 Reasons Why Cathay Pacific Is The World’s Best Airline via La Jolla Mom


Disclaimer: I intentionally did not took a lot of photos so these are the ones that I managed to have. This is a personal trip so I wanted to relax and just enjoy flying with Cathay Pacific Airways. As always, all opinions are mine.