Cathay Pacific Airways Reviews 729

Cathay Pacific did not allow me to check in online or select my seat. Even the staff from the airline operating the first leg of my journey attempted to change it, but they were also denied. As a result, I had to endure a long-haul flight seated directly in front of the lavatory, facing constant noise, odors, and a restricted recline. On top of this, I was not able to receive my preferred meal.

Absolutely dreadful! Terrible website and customer service which is practically non-existent. So disappointed ...they had a first class reputation in HongKong where I lived for many years, hence my decision to book my ticket to HongKong and Shanghai this time. I wish I hadn't but it is too late and costly to throw away hard earned money. Tried calling them twice today, held on for an hour each time with no result! Then tried to change booking myself using their "Manage My Booking"...Change to my Flight 1 was OK, Flights 2 and 3? Website went on strike and I was left in limbo so had to exit. I will NEVER fly with Cathay again.

My experience with Cathay Pacific Airways was nothing short of appalling, and I will never travel with them again. I strongly urge anyone considering this airline to think twice before booking.

My partner and I had booked a holiday to Bali. While the outbound journey was acceptable, the return trip to England turned into an ordeal of delays, poor treatment, and blatant disregard for passengers’ comfort.

The first leg of our journey, from Bali to Hong Kong, was delayed by three hours. While frustrating, I accepted it as an unfortunate but possible occurrence. However, what followed was entirely unacceptable. Upon arriving in Hong Kong for our connecting flight to Manchester, we were informed of a 10-hour delay. The reason given was “bad weather,” yet I could see numerous aircraft taking off and landing without difficulty. Other flights were clearly boarding on schedule, raising serious questions about the truthfulness of the explanation we were given.

To make matters worse, this delay began at midnight. No accommodation was offered, no upgrades were provided, and we were not granted access to a lounge or any facility with comfortable seating. Instead, passengers were left to endure an exhausting overnight wait in the main terminal. The staff’s behaviour compounded the frustration—rude, unhelpful, and entirely indifferent to the inconvenience they had caused.

This experience has destroyed any trust I might have had in Cathay Pacific Airways. Their lack of transparency, customer care, and basic decency is unacceptable for any airline claiming to operate at an international standard. I will never use their services again and would advise others to avoid them entirely.

On June 30 2025, I lost over 100,000 Asia Miles without receiving any visible alerts or reminders in my account dashboard or notification center. I later learned that Cathay claims to have sent an email reminder in December 2025 — which is concerning, as we are still in August 2025.

The only place where it states that certain transactions (such as refunds or cancellations) do not extend expiry is buried in the legal Terms and Conditions. This is inconsistent with their main FAQ and not mentioned anywhere visible in the member dashboard. No clear in-platform notifications were shown about miles expiring.

When I contacted customer service, there was no response due to my low status. After reaching out publicly through social media, I received a reply stating the miles could be reinstated for a fee of USD $3,000, later reduced to $2,000. Their tone was dismissive, and no willingness to provide any evidence.

While I have always appreciated Cathay Pacific’s in-flight service, this experience has made me lose trust in their loyalty program. Policies may be within the fine print, but in 2025, customers should expect transparent, proactive communication — not hidden clauses and costly reinstatement fees.

Our journey with Cathay Pacific was a masterclass in how not to handle delays, rebookings, and customer care. We arrived in London 14.5 hours late after a chaotic series of flight changes, misinformation, and poor decisions by the airline — all made worse by the fact we were travelling with our infant daughter.

The problems began with a delayed flight we were only told about hours before departure, which was then even later, ensuring we missed our connecting flight and got stuck in Hing Kong. From there, we endured a shambolic rebooking process involving multiple unsuitable flights (including to different airports), false claims about seat and bassinet availability, and constant last-minute switches. At one point, we were even booked onto a different flight without consent.

Customer service was abysmal. Representatives repeatedly ignored details I had already explained, failed to escalate the issue when asked, and at times even laughed inappropriately at our situation. Patrick Lai’s conduct was especially disgraceful — he reduced my wife to tears with a patronising and insulting comment about her parenting when we raised concerns about baby food, a problem entirely created by the airline’s own chaos. Escalations to management went nowhere, and when I emailed the CEO directly, there was no response at all, which I find incredibly poor.

Even the so-called compensation and hotel accommodation were insulting — vouchers that didn’t cover basic meals, a dirty, substandard hotel (that we had to fight for), and no written guarantee of reimbursement. At every stage, Cathay Pacific failed to show transparency, competence, or empathy.

While I eventually received some compensation, which I also had to fight for, this was far outweighed by the stress, inconvenience, and outright disrespect we endured. This experience has completely destroyed my trust in Cathay Pacific, and I strongly urge other travellers — especially those with young children — to avoid this low quality airline.

What a pathetic approach to 'customer service' - left 3 emails and 2 Whatsapp messages - all ignored! Spent 5 HOURS on chat with 'customer services advisor' only to be eventually told that they couldn't do anything and they would ' log my complaint'.

After a gruelling 14 hour flight in a group of 9 including children - we were rushed to another building to catch the connecting flight but after joining a very long queue and sitting for an hour in the aircraft without air conditioning in 35 degrees weather, we were ushered off the flight due to faulty air conditioning and left to find out where to go and what to do next. At final destination, local press reported that passengers were given 150 dollars coupons and food and drink - we were offered nothing. I am still waiting for an explanation/callback 3 weeks later - well after the 2 weeks they said that they would be in touch - pathetic - 20 yrs I have been flying with them, customer loyalty means nothing to them!!!

I flew business class with Cathay Pacific to Sydney and was really impressed. The seat was super comfortable, meals were top-notch, and service was flawless.

absolutely zero customer service. Waiting at HKG transfer desk for 2+ hours.

Wow phoning customer service is like pulling teeth. I have made 2 calls and in total was on phone for over 2 hours!
Communicating is arduous, looking up a simple seat request means being on hold for 10minutes. Told I was too old to sit in exit row (I’m 57!) then after asking steak to a supervisor, he realised he was mid-calculating my age. Painful. Shane as otherwise a Top Airline

First time flying CX. Likely will be my last. I'm Oneworld Emerald with AA, so I fly alot.

The trip started fine in Singapore. Upon checking in, I asked the agent if there was a chance of an upgrade. She said no. However, for the HKG-ORD leg, she could move me from my preferred seat to a row of seats in the back of the plane, and block off the other 2 seats in my row so I could have extra room and lay down to sleep. Sounded good, so I agreed.

When I connected in HKG I went to the Pier 1st class lounge, which was super. I didn't sleep in the napping room because I was confident that I could sleep on the plane.

When I arrived at the gate, I went up to the agent to confirm that an upgrade wasn't possible. She mentioned that the plane was full so no upgrades. OK fine. But what about my row of seats in the back that the agent in Singapore had blocked off for me? That's gone she said. Since the plane was full, no rows could be blocked.

So I had given up my preferred seat at the suggestion of the agent in Singapore, and by the time I got to Hong Kong I had basically been downgraded. I was now in a cramped seat in the very back of the plane. The gate agent was impatient because she was readying for boarding.

I asked her if there were still empty seats in PE or business and she said Yes, but she couldn't move me because Economy wasn't full. 3 minutes prior she had told me that Economy was full.

OK so my downgrade was complete and the gate agent wouldn't help fix the mistake that her fellow agent in Singapore had made. I was stuck. She said if I wanted an upgrade I should have asked for one when I checked in at Singapore. I told her that's exactly what I did.

The experience in the back of Economy was pathetic. Cramped seating, so tight I couldn't even open my laptop. My plan to work on the flight was ruined. Then I tried to work on my tablet but the wifi was extremely slow. After multiple attempts, three tablet restarts, and the Pursar restarting the plane's wifi, I still couldn't even get my email before my browser timed out. This persisted throughout the flight.

My meal was "Peking Duck." Shaped like a square...my seatmates were laughing so hard. Everyone was snapping pics of my square shaped duck. No duck looks like a square, not even in Peking.

Overall I found CX to be poor-- better than Ryanair or Spirit, but just barely. Certainty NOT a 5 Star airline.

I've used this airline three times ( London - Hong Kong ). The first time was a flight on an Airbus which had decent legroom, however the second and third times were on Boeing 777's which appeared to be old. Very little leg room and seats that were hard and uncomfortable. Boarding was a pain as they were serving drinks to business class which blocked the aisles and lines formed.
Got handed a menu with a choice of three meals ie beef, pork and fish. It turned out that it was a couple of slices of said meat on a bed of noodles. I couldn't eat it as the smell of it turned my stomach. Asked for a cup of coffee which was on the menu but was told they don't serve it, so it was red wine, coke, apple juice or water.
It was probably the worst travel experience ive ever experienced and to cap it all on returning to London ended up falling sick for a few days.
I go out to Manila regularly and am now looking at other routes because I don't want to experience this again.
I suggest that you do the same.

I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding my recent experience on one of your flights. While I generally hold your airline in high regard, this particular journey left me disheartened due to what appeared to be discriminatory treatment and lack of basic customer care.

Despite requesting assistance multiple times to be seated together with my companion, the cabin crew made no effort to accommodate our request. We observed multiple pairs of empty seats, including rows where individuals were seated alone with additional vacant seats next to them. However, our requests to move to these seats were repeatedly denied. In one instance, we were told that a particular seat was unavailable, despite it clearly being empty and occupied only later by a single passenger.

What was most concerning was that several non-Asian passengers were seated together without issue, even though many, like us, had not paid for seat selection. Families and couples around us were placed together without having to request this or pay extra. This inconsistency in treatment raised concerns about potential racial bias, particularly as Asian passengers ourselves included appeared to receive less assistance and consideration throughout the flight.

The lack of empathy and unwillingness to help from some of the flight attendants was deeply disappointing. For an airline that promotes its Asian heritage and hospitality, this experience felt contrary to those values. It is particularly disheartening that such a situation occurred on a flight to a non-Asian destination, where one would hope for inclusive and fair treatment for all passengers, regardless of ethnicity.

I sincerely hope Cathay Pacific takes this feedback seriously and investigates whether internal biases or inconsistencies in service delivery are affecting the experience of passengers. I urge your team to ensure that all passengers regardless of background receive fair and respectful treatment in the future

Cancelled flight from Sydney to DaNang at a cost. Cancellation was due to a tropical storm hitting Australia. Cathay have still not refunded, i don't see that they intend to.

It's your choice, your risk if you book with them.

Our recent experience with Cathay Pacific was terrible, and we feel unfairly treated.

Changing our flight was a nightmare. Customer service was unhelpful and seemed not to care. The cost to rebook was shocking – almost like buying a new ticket! And we were told cancellation or refund is impossible. How can this be?

We feel trapped, sad, and completely let down. Our hard-earned money is lost.

Because of this, I cannot recommend Cathay Pacific. Please, think about how you treat your customers. We deserve better.

Very disappointed

The staff in DEL Delhi airport and flight attendants are the rudest in the airline industry. The seats are very narrow and if you are under lbs, 140 may work for you. Terrible food!!!

I had a medical situation three days before a flight to HK which meant I had to change my arrangements.
Cathay customer services were very sympathetic and made appropriate changes without delay.
Will definitely use them again.

My son purchased a multi-leg flight itinerary from Tampa, Florida to Kuala Lumpur, with connections in San Francisco and Hong Kong. The itinerary included a United Airlines flight from Tampa to Hong Kong, and a connecting Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur. At the United Airlines counter in Tampa, he was informed that he would need to collect his luggage in Hong Kong and then check in separately with Cathay Pacific for the final leg.

Due to a delay in San Francisco, he arrived in Hong Kong with limited time. He retrieved his luggage approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes before his Cathay Pacific flight. He attempted to check in at a Cathay Pacific kiosk, but the machine returned error messages, prompting him to join the line for assistance at the counter. Unfortunately, by the time he reached a representative, he was told it was too late to issue a boarding pass.

Despite the delay and missed connection being out of his control, neither United Airlines nor Cathay Pacific offered support or assistance in rebooking. As a result, he was forced to purchase a new ticket with a different airline to reach Kuala Lumpur. This experience has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing. United Airlines had a responsibility to ensure he arrived at his final destination, and both airlines failed to provide basic customer support. Due to this unacceptable treatment, I will not be purchasing tickets from United Airlines or Cathay Pacific again.

Their membership credit department is literally non-existent! I have been put on hold for at least an hour for the last three times I called in. They take forever to credit points from partner airlines, by which time most would have deleted their boarding passes and trip history . Pathetic !

Awful airline. The two times I travelled from London to Hong Kong; there were delays for over two hours.

If you collect Avios points instead of their loyalty points, you can only choose your seat for free, 24 hours before take off. By then, all the Cathay Pacific points collectors have taken all the aisle seats, so be prepared to sit in the middle seat, or pay for a seat.
The inflight experience is cramped and unpleasant. People recline their seats and the staff don't ask the passengers to move the seat upright when eating, so you feel claustrophobic. Asking the person to move their seat does not work as they have headphones on and they ignore you!

Flying Cathay is hell; next time I will fly premium on BA.

Online booking wouldn't even work.
It took over 3 hours to book with an agent.