Cathay Pacific Airways Reviews 726

This is only for the top tier benefits of the awards program.

I wrote to Cathay to express my dissatisfaction with the changes to the top tier of their loyalty program. Specifically, I felt the communications to the CX frequent fliers on the addition of the new diamond plus class and reduction of the bookable upgrades benefits was badly communicated.

Water of a ducks back…I am afraid! I think it’s time to switch my favorite airline!

This is email I sent them which explains it all. So far no reply. Once they have your money they are no longer interested

I fly worldwide. Yesterday for first time with your airline which had been recommended . That was a mistake!

My flight details as follows

if these items are found.
Upcoming flight
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Mon, 29 Dec 2025 | CX 250
London, Heathrow to Hong Kong
LHR 17:50
LHR
Terminal 3
12h45m
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dot-timeline

HKG14:35 +1
HKG
Terminal 1
Economy Class L
Operated by Cathay Pacific
flight-info-icon
Tue, 30 Dec 2025 | CX 605
Hong Kong to Phnom Penh

HKG 16:00
HKG
Terminal 1
2h45m
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dot-timeline

KTI 17:45
KTI
Economy Class L
Operated by Cathay Pacific

You lost my baggage. Never happened to me ever before. However today, 27 hours later, I get a call saying you now have my bag and that you will deliver HOPEFULLY tomorrow. I want it today. I am told no one to deliver it. The country is full of taxi drivers.

I am now told that tomorrow you will despatch it to some local bus station for me to travel to and collect

No doubt you will blame this on third parties. Please don’t

Paul Anderson

If Cathey Pacific promises any refund, don’t believe it. If its customer support says we’ve got your case, don’t believe it.

Very disappointed with the latest customer support experience. I purchased on flight wifi connection. It didn’t work. The flight attendance promised a refund via customer support. I filed a case with customer support. No action followed on their part. When followed up, I was asked to explain the case, provide the flight into, and I was promised a follow-up. I followed up several occasions. No action on their part. One time, it was the same all over, then I was told the case was too old for refund.

8 months past. And I got the following email from the customer support, describing and confirming the situation. Let their writing speak for my annoyance and disappointment:

Thank you for flying with us on flight CX 253 on 08 April 2025.

We have received a report from our Customer contact team regarding an issue you experienced with the inflight Wi-Fi service during your journey . We understand the importance of reliable connectivity, especially when traveling for work or needing to stay connected, and we regret the disruption this has caused to your plans.

As such, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide a refund. We apologise for any disappointment caused and hope for your understanding in this matter.

We truly appreciate your understanding and once again apologise for any disruption experienced. We look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon.

Scam like advertisement on '24 hour cancellation'. Appalling customer service. I signed up for a membership to benefit from 24 hour free cancellation - no T&C's to be seen when signing up or booking a flight, or requesting a cancellation. They then tell you to read the T&C's on a separate page they can find - which says you have to add the frequent flyer number as their membership number. When I have logged in with the membership number! Customer service team would not do a single thing - now I paid 600 pounds for this wrongly advertised 'free cancellation'. This is worse than any other low budget airlines. AVOID.

Non existent customer service. Cant get any response from the company when contacting directly. Their lack of professionalism and care for their customers would not make me choose this airline to fly with.

Never in my over 15-20 years of flying have I ever encountered such a rude, incompetent and condescending check-in agent. I flew from LAX on December 15th to Bali and this whiny kid who constantly needed his manager by his side because he doesn’t knowing anything, nitpicked everything I have just because I didn’t have a ticket out of Indonesia. I used to carry a KITAs visa and haven’t had to use the regular visa on arrival in a while, so I forgot to book an onward ticket. Easily booked one on the spot. Then he started complaining about how it wasn’t a return ticket? Who cares if it’s return or not I just need an onward ticket so I booked it. He then started complaining about how I don’t have a visa either? Obviously it’s a visa on arrival which can be extended, had to check with his manager, she said it’s fine. Then he proceeded to make a big fuzz about how one of my check in luggages is a over a limit. Less than a pound, even the other agent was arguing with him and said don’t worry about it and let me off the hook. I have never been hassled for an extra pound or less. Not even in small planes. Both his manager and the kind guy assisting my luggage were giving me apologetic looks, like why is this kid even up front if he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing?

Also Cathay’s 15 pound max carry on rule is ridiculous. Other Asian airlines always allow at least 22 pounds.

As for the flight itself, food was good and thankfully the attendants were a lot nicer and professional.

Booked a window seat was a bit cramped but they provide a blanket and pillow which made up for the size of the seat my screen was fine though the person sitting next to me seemed to have a glitchy screen they gave us snacks and water which was good but the main meal wasn’t

I would not advise anyone to use Cathay.
I rarely leave bad reviews but Cathay not only made me lost more than 1,000euros, wasted a day's time that made me decided to cancel my tickets to the remaining trip. It's more than just money. Losing trust cost a lot more.
4 issues happened.
1. I almost missed my flight from HK-BKK because the departure time shown was on BKK time instead of HK time. Luckily I double check with other means in advance.
2. I realised I misread my departure time again from BKK-HK because of the bad UI. By the time I realised that, it was 2 hours before boarding time. I had to reach out to the customer service by message, whatsapp and phone. It took 30mins before I could get help.
I paid an extra 300euros for the change.
3. A few days before departure, I bid for an upgrade from economy to premium as 680euros for 2 seats but was unsuccessful. However, the amount was deducted from my account in the middle of the night and I was informed that it was upgraded. BUT because I didn't get to board the flight, I get 0 refund and upgrade does not apply to my upcoming flight.
I lost another 680euros.
4. I paid for extra luggage in advance at 132 euros. When I change my flight, the customer service said that they cannot guarantee that I will get that paid extra luggage and I may have to pay again at the counter check in.
That's another 132euros or more since luggage cost more at the checkin counter.
5. Apart from this, a week before departure, I received message that my partner's membership needs updating but I couldn't do so because their system has a bug. Called the customer service and they couldn't do that either. As a result, we couldn't check in online.

300+680+132 = 1,012euros. I was so disappointed that I decided to cancel my tickets and booked with EVA to prevent more expenses and stress. That's another 1,000euros.
Expensive lesson but NEVER with Cathay anymore even though their flight and personnel are good.

Malfunctioning planes, insultingly small vouchers are given for major 5+ hour delays (not even enough to cover one meal).

I’ve flown Cathay Pacific pre pandemic several times but this was my first post pandemic experience and it was bad.
Nov 20 LAX-HKG-HYD old plane, seats (premium economy) didn’t work well to be comfortable. Entertainment system faulty.
Crew served a vegetarian passenger a non veg Indian meal which was for me and didn’t have any for me thereafter. Overall food mediocre I ordered HNML

Dec 20, 2025 Return BOM-HKG-LAX still an old plane above mentioned seat/ Tv flaws were absent - which was a welcome relief.
Cabin crew appeared like trainees. I had to ask 3 x for a rum and Diet Coke and it never was served.

Luggage transfer from plane to carousel took an hour to complete! They don’t hire as many handlers as the other more efficient carriers as per carousel attendant who said this airline is about the worst in those terms.

Sharp nose dive in overall quality and customer experience.

Dear Cathay Pacific Customer Relations,

I am writing to formally complain about the unacceptable and negligent handling of my mother, Priyanka Choudhary, on December 18, 2025, at San Francisco International Airport, for Cathay Pacific Flight CX873 (SFO to Hong Kong).

Despite successfully checking in, being issued a boarding pass, and clearing security, my mother was denied boarding at the gate. The stated reason was a minor clerical error in the passport number on the pre-arrival form—a form that had already been reviewed and approved by your staff at the check-in counter.

What makes this situation even more unacceptable is the following:

My mother produced the original, valid document at the gate, clearly demonstrating that she met the travel requirements.

This original documentation was ignored outright by your staff, with no attempt made to properly review or validate it.

When we attempted to correct or resubmit the form immediately, we were told that Cathay Pacific’s system could not access the form, effectively penalizing the passenger for your own internal system failure.

Throughout this interaction, the staff were dismissive, rude, and unwilling to engage, causing unnecessary distress to a passenger who had done everything required of her.

To be absolutely clear:
Denying boarding after issuing a boarding pass, clearing security, and ignoring original, valid documents is indefensible. A passenger should not be denied travel due to an error your staff had already cleared and then refused to reasonably reassess.

Passenger Name: Priyanka Choudhary
Flight Number: CX873
Date of Travel: December 18, 2025
Route: SFO – Hong Kong
Reference Number: PIAA-0558475-25

I expect the following without delay:

A written explanation for why an issue approved at check-in and supported by original documents resulted in denied boarding

Clarification on why staff refused to review the original documentation presented

Confirmation that staff conduct at SFO is being formally reviewed

Appropriate compensation for the disruption, distress, and failure of service

The worst service I have sever had in my life

On December 4, 2025, I traveled on your flight CX219 from Hong Kong to Manchester, seated in 67H. Approximately four hours after takeoff, I began feeling dizzy and unwell. I made my way to the rear of the aircraft hoping to find a flight attendant for assistance.
Upon reaching the galley, I encountered three male cabin crew members—one who appeared to be from Hong Kong (later introduced as Timothy) and two of South Asian descent. I explained to Timothy that I was feeling lightheaded, possibly due to low blood sugar, and asked for a glass of orange juice. Timothy promptly assisted me. However, after drinking the juice, I still felt somewhat dizzy. Timothy then kindly offered me a seat in the crew area to rest for a while.
After about ten minutes, as I started to feel better, I returned to my seat. Some time later, however, the dizziness returned, this time more intensely. I immediately headed back toward the galley, but as I reached the last row of passenger seats, I grew extremely dizzy, my legs weakened, and I knelt down. Timothy, who was still in the galley, quickly came over to help me up. I requested a piece of chocolate, which he provided promptly. He stayed by my side to ensure I did not fall again. Fortunately, the chocolate helped raise my blood sugar, and the dizziness subsided enough for me to return to my seat after a short rest.
About three hours before landing, Timothy came to my seat to check on me and see if I was still feeling unwell. This gesture truly showed his genuine care for passengers. He also kindly provided me with breakfast earlier than the regular service. His professionalism and attentiveness have completely changed my perception of Cathay Pacific, especially given the negative reports I had seen about the airline in the past.
After landing, I had hoped to personally thank Timothy at the aircraft door, but unfortunately, I did not see him.
I am writing this letter to express my sincere gratitude to Timothy for his care and compassion during the flight. Once again, thank you very much, Timothy—I truly appreciate your kindness.
I hope this message can be forwarded to him.

Extremely disappointing handling of flight cancellation — missed my sister’s wedding

I had a deeply upsetting experience with Cathay Pacific following the cancellation and rerouting of my flight.

Due to the cancellation and significant delay, I missed my sister’s wedding, an event that can never be repeated. Despite the seriousness of this situation, Cathay Pacific’s handling of the aftermath has been extremely disappointing.

I contacted customer service multiple times and experienced very slow response times. Even after clearly explaining the circumstances and the emotional and financial impact, I was repeatedly redirected to fill out the same feedback form again rather than having my case properly escalated. I initially submitted a formal complaint on 3 December 2025, received an acknowledgment, and was later asked to submit the same form again — which I have now done — with no resolution so far.

At this stage:

No compensation decision has been communicated

No reimbursement has been processed

No meaningful apology or accountability has been provided

For an airline of Cathay Pacific’s reputation, I expected far better customer care, especially in a situation involving such significant personal loss. The lack of proactive support and the administrative back-and-forth have only added to an already distressing experience.

I hope Cathay Pacific takes responsibility and resolves this case promptly, but based on my experience so far, I cannot recommend them.

Flight CX 796 Cathay airlines quite expensive flight 1200 Euro from Jakarta to SHANGHAI and back via Hongkong to Jakarta on the first flight I tried to login into my account because the internet doesn't work with the seat number and my last name of course, I forget the password because it is saved in my computer that I don't have with me.

What do they do during my honeymoon? Deactivate my account?!?! Which airline is so stupid to deactivate the account of the own customer??? While having a flight from Chongqing to Hongkong thanks God I was able to use my Lufthansa miles and more number to claim the miles but my flight back to Jakarta tomorrow I guess all the miles are lost because even though I contacted them several times via WhatsApp and per email and successfully verficated myself with my passport they didn't reactivate my account. As I have booked this flight some times ago they don't let me change the miles account because I need to sign in to change the membership program what I can't do because it is " deactivated" for WHATEVER REASON, SO I WILL NEVER FLY AGAIN WITH THAT DAMN Airlines ever again and I HOPE MANY CUSTOMER DO THE SAME!!!

On the first flight from Jakarta to Hongkong as well the food was awful instead of an warm meal we got a small box like dog food with a small bread a yogurt and fruits like we are not in Asia...

Oh my goodness what has happened to Cathy Pacific Airline?it used to be a fabulous airline but I have to agree with all the recent reviews below. Terrible customer service, super unhelpful and couldn't give a toss attitude. I have have rung,emailed for more than a month trying to get into my membership number, the customer service non existence, then when I went to checking they said i had a visa issue, I did not need a visa to go to Vietnam with a UK passport that took some sorting with very unhelpful staff. The airline used to be held in such high regard for super service "not anymore" the Brand has gone whatever has happened in don't know BUT was a terrible experience Buyer beware.

I was very disappointed with my recent long-haul flight with Cathay Pacific. The seat size was extremely cramped for a 13+ hour journey, making the experience uncomfortable from the start. The food was very average and the service felt noticeably slow throughout the flight.

Cleanliness was also an issue — both the seats and tray tables were not properly cleaned, which was surprising and quite off-putting for a premium international carrier.

Having flown with Emirates and Qatar Airways on similar long-haul routes, the difference in overall quality was clear. Compared to those airlines, Cathay Pacific felt like a step down in comfort, service, and attention to detail.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience, and I would think twice before choosing Cathay Pacific over competitors for long-haul travel.

I have bought couple of air tickets with extra legroom seats since march for December departures with multiple stops, when online check-in, Cathay Pacific downgraded my seats from extra legroom to orderinery seats. I was so angry and struggled with them on long distance call almost 2 hours, finally, they could only maintained only 1 extra legroom seat, the other seat is only orderinery seat!!!
I paid 100% and they only gave 50% service!!! They actually offered couple of orderinery seats plus 10,000 asia milage! What? I paid to buy their Asia millage without my consent? That is not offer, this is scam! I rejected this offer, final they only maintained 1 extra legroom seat and 1 orderinery seat without refund to me!
Where my money goes to? This is scam!

CX Delay is a routine and reason is unacceptable.

I have to sight two incidents taking CX from TPE to HKG Nov 07 CX531 scheduled departing at 2020hrs. All passenger got into the plane waited and waited till the captain announced technical issue required to change plane and all passenger and crew have to leave the aircraft and go to the transit counter to arrange for seats to get onto the trip but the entire thing was sooooo disorganised that there were passenger shouting at the counter staff as the will miss their onward transit flight etc or they cannot get an earlier flight back to HKG. We were then put on a 2200hr flight but we have to wait again at the departure lounge till for an hour and finally departed at 2345hrs arrived at HKG after 0130hrs.
And the recent HKG to TPE Dec 05 CX450 1000hrs delayed till 1345hrs then take off. Switching to another aircraft from gate 45 to gate 60 due to technical issue, waited for an hour in the plan and was told by the captain that they are waiting for an important paper to be delivered before the plane can take off …. What that hack !! Why waited over an hour ? Get DHL or Uber to delivery if CX is so short of manpower to deliver the damn paper then… what a dumb and stupid explanation!

We use to fly with CX for the past 25 years but Due to COVID we have been down graded back to Green level With all those that had happened recently we decided we opt for other available airlines then CX …: basically we had enough period! CX do not valued their return customers anymore and so does we …. We do not value CX any further either. There is a lot of choices to chose from these day instead of dealing with CX that kind of an attitude!

Goodbye CX for good and hope you will go down with Dragon air and other china affiliated airlines that have an attitude!

You know …. A simple official apology could go a long way but obviously CX just do not give a darn about their customers. But my question to CX is what is so wrong to apologise officially … at the end of the day they are genuine paying guest of your …. You dumb management !!

FYI CX 1027613208 is one of our frequent flyer of yours who will never come back after 25 years because of your attitude !!!!

Avoid this airline.
After flight cancellation Sydney to London we’ve had hundreds of issues with the customer service team who literally don’t care!! The customer service team is shocking and 5 emails requesting a response to my complaint have been ignored!!
The airport staff in Hong Kong and Sydney are completely incompetent. Just avoid them. There are better airlines out there