An Asian Holiday: Part 14 – Sipping Champagne in the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge, Hong Kong

April 3, 2014 By Meghan Hunter

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Emily Jablon: Daraius and I celebrated Christmas with his family in Macau and Hong Kong for ~8 days. It was our 1st time in Macau and Hong Kong and we were very excited to visit!

An Asian Holiday – Trip Report Index:

Sipping Champagne in the Cathay Pacific Lounge, Hong KongI

Emily Jablon: I had heard so many great things about the Cathay Pacific lounge! Because we slept in, we wouldn’t have much time to relax in the lounge. So I was really looking forward to getting there quickly!

Getting to the Hong Kong airport from the Conrad Hong Kong was very easy and inexpensive because you can take the airport express bus (to the station) and then the train. But to save time and avoid the hassle of carrying our luggage, we took a taxi. It is also cheaper for groups of 3 or more to take a cab.

The taxi cost ~300 Hong Kong dollars (~$45).

The luggage was strapped down in the trunk, and 5 people could fit in the taxi. It’s a good choice for families.

It took 30 minutes to get to the airport, but I would allow for 45 minutes in case of traffic or other delays. It took just a few minutes to check-in at Cathay Pacific. And it took another 5 to 10 minutes to go through security. The airport was not very busy, but we were traveling the day before New Year’s Eve.

We browsed the shops, but most seemed high-end, so we skipped those. We picked up some souvenirs and then went to the Cathay Pacific Wing lounge. We were on First Class award tickets so we got free entry into the lounge.

The lounge is located near Gate 1. There’s a souvenir and duty-free shop right next to gate, perfect for any last minute purchases. The Business and First Class lounges are next to each other.

The major difference between the First Class lounge and the Business Class lounge was the champagne bar…

…where you could drink champagne. You can choose Moet et Chandon or Veuve Clicquot. I don’t drink enough champagne to have a preference so I tried a glass of each.

There were also private cabanas. To get to the cabanas, you walked down a long, dimly lit hallway.

The attendant opened up cabana 5 for us.

There was a shower and bathtub…

…and a couch to lie down on.

There was a sink…

And a private toilet.

I liked the private cabanas because you could take a leisurely shower or bath and relax in your own room. It was like a hotel room, with the exception of a bed. However, the couch was big enough to sleep on.

The dining area was now had extra seating area.

Most of the seating was for 2 people.

There was a lot of appetizing food…

…including a salad bar…

…and hot food.

There was also a bar…

…and lots of places to sit and relax.

The lounge was empty so we had our choice of seats.

There was a business center with iMac computers, printers, and phones.

It took 7 minutes to walk to our departure gate, Gate 21, from the lounge. We arrived at the gate ~10 minutes before boarding started.

We learned we were the only people in First Class out of the 6 available seats. The attendants ushered us onto the jet bridge, but 1st we had to go through another security screening because it was a flight to the US.