Cathay Pacific First Class Review

I've always heard pretty good things about Cathay Pacific and I'm very grateful that I finally got the opportunity to try their product. I can definitely say that their first class delivers and is a fantastic way to cross the Pacific.

Cathay Pacific First Class Pros

Huge seat
Solid food and drinks
Incredibly spacious and private
Free pajamas and amenity Kit
Comfortable bed
Good entertainment system

Cathay Pacific First Class Cons

Disappointing main course
Good but forgettable service

How I Booked My Cathay Pacific First Class Ticket

I booked my Cathay Pacific First Class ticket 10 months before departure for 122,800 Cathay Pacific Asia miles (this included the business class flight from Taipei to Hong Kong) plus ~$230.15 in taxes and fees. This specific flight was

CX882 Departing Hong Kong HKG 16:40 arriving at Los Angeles LAX 13:20

Cathay Pacific First Class Seats

There are 6 first class onboard the aircraft in a 1-1-1 configuration. I was in seat 1A and really enjoyed it. This seat is HUGE and extremely wide. If you can, I'd recommend getting seat 1A or 2A since they are the most private.

Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class cabin with spacious and private seating. Very private cabin.

Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class seat showcasing luxurious design and wide space. Extremely spacious and wide seat.

Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class seat with a wide layout and premium comfort. Great looking seat with tons of space.

Cathay Pacific First Class seat storage compartments for convenient luggage organization. Seat storage.

Cathay Pacific First Class additional storage compartments near seating area. More seat storage.

One interesting thing is that there are no overhead bins but each seat has a luggage compartment with a hanger.

Cathay Pacific First Class in-seat closet and luggage storage with hanger space. Closet and luggage storage.

The TV is similar to the one in business class where it's flush in the back of the seat and slides out. The screen wasn't the highest quality but it was still good. There is also a touchscreen wired remote nearby. While the TV screen is touchscreen, it felt too far away, so I found it easier to just use the remote.

Cathay Pacific First Class entertainment system featuring a large TV screen. Big but not super HD TV.

Cathay Pacific First Class touchscreen TV remote for convenient entertainment control. TV remote.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class noise-cancelling headphones. Noise cancelling headphones.

The seat came with two control panels and I used the digital one more but I did have to press the screen quite hard for it to respond.

Cathay Pacific First Class seat adjustment controls for reclining and comfort settings. Seat controls.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class seat controls. More seat controls.

The seat transforms into a lie flat bed and the bed is superb. There's so much space and the bedding they use is probably the best I've ever slept on. I especially loved how there's no footwell so you have unlimited space above your feet.

Cathay Pacific First Class lie-flat bed with luxurious bedding and mattress pad. Comforter and mattress pad.

Cathay Pacific First Class spacious lie-flat bed for a restful flight experience. Spacious bed.

Cathay Pacific First Class Wifi

I didn’t try connecting to the Wi-Fi, but Cathay Pacific states online that first class passengers get free Wi-Fi onboard, though not all Boeing 777s are equipped yet.

Cathay Pacific First Class Amenities

Cathay Pacific hands out Bamford branded amenity kits, pajamas, and slippers to first class passengers. It was pretty standard and had all of the usual items like toothbrush and eye mask. I really liked how unique the pajamas were though. They were comfy and the shirt even had a Mandarin collar!

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class amenity kit. Standard items in amenity kit.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class pajamas. Mandarin collar pajama top!

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class pajamas and slippers. Pajama pants and slippers.

Cathay Pacific First Class Food

After the seat, the most impressive aspect was the food. Even the presentation of the pre departure drink was superb.

Cathay Pacific First Class welcome drink and hot towel for passengers before takeoff. Welcome drink and hot towel.

Dinner menu.

Dinner menu continued.

Alcoholic drink menu.

Drink menu continued.

Wine menu.

Breakfast menu.

Anytime menu.

I ordered the Chinese style dinner with the caviar and all of it was superb except for unfortunately the lobster main course. The lobster was dry and the rice was hard, which was really disappointing.

Cathay Pacific First Class appetizer with gourmet plating. Appetizer.

Cathay Pacific First Class gourmet appetizers and soup served inflight. Second round of appetizers.

Cathay Pacific First Class champagne. Champagne.

Cathay Pacific First Class caviar served with traditional accompaniments. Caviar!

Cathay Pacific First Class lobster main course paired with side dishes. Disappointing dinner main course.

Cathay Pacific First Class dessert, a refreshing gelatin dish with fruit flavors. Gelatin dessert.

Cathay Pacific First Class signature Cloud Nine cocktail served inflight. Pretty tasty cloud nine cocktail.

Several hours after dinner, I tried the jumbo shrimp and wonton noodles. Both were good, though not particularly memorable.

Cathay Pacific First Class jumbo shrimp snack from the anytime menu. Gigantic jumbo shrimp from anytime menu.

Cathay Pacific First Class wonton noodle soup, a savory inflight snack. Wonton noodles from anytime menu.

Not too long after that was when the breakfast service started. Although dinner was a bit of a letdown, breakfast more than made up for it. I ordered the congee with dim sum and it was terrific.

Cathay Pacific First Class breakfast fruit platter with fresh seasonal fruits. Breakfast fruits.

Cathay Pacific First Class Asian-style breakfast featuring congee and dim sum. Breakfast.

Cathay Pacific First Class breakfast with traditional congee and dim sum dishes. Congee and dim sum.

I'd highly recommend ordering the Hong Kong milk tea with it because they even give you your own teapot!

Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong milk tea served with a personal teapot. Teapot of Hong Kong milk tea!

Cathay Pacific First Class cappuccino served shortly before landing. Cappuccino shortly before landing.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Cathay Pacific First Class is a great product. The seat is one of the most spacious in the sky and the food is still very tasty. It's definitely a very comfortable and enjoyable way to fly between America and Asia and I'd recommend trying it.