A330 Cathay Pacific Business Class Review: Dubai to Hong Kong

I flew A330 Cathay Pacific Business Class from Dubai to Hong Kong pre-pandemic using Alaska miles. Three of us had mixed cabin tickets from Dubai to JFK, with the Dubai to Hong Kong segment in economy while HKG to JFK was in business class. Initially Bertaut was the one who had the only available business class seat, but like a true gentleman and wonderful husband he gave up his seat for me. So he and the kids flew coach while I was able to review Cathay Pacific Business Class A330-300. I had a great flight experience and was impressed by the food, service, and comfort of the cabin. Read our Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class review if you’re considering flying this airline from Dubai to Hong Kong in business class.

Booking Cathay Pacific Business Class with Alaska miles

We booked our Cathay Pacific flights from Dubai to JFK using 62,500 Alaska miles + $61.75 in taxes per person and we had a stopover in Hong Kong. Since 3 of us had mixed cabin tickets, we still had to redeem the same number of miles even though the first flight was in economy instead of business class. We kept checking to see if more business class award space would open up on the DXB-HKG flight, but sadly none did. The flights from DXB to JFK would have cost $15,323.46 but we used 250,000 Alaska Airlines miles and paid just $247 in taxes and fees. We netted over $15,000 in savings for the one-way itinerary making this an excellent redemption.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Business Class Cabin

Cathay Pacific Business Class A330-300 has two separate cabins with a total of 39 seats. There’s a forward cabin and a smaller rear cabin, which is where I sat. The cabin has a 1-2-1 configuration with reverse herringbone seats. I sat in the last row of the mini cabin on the left side of the cabin. My seat angled toward the window, which made it feel more private.

Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Seats

My seat was spacious and comfortable and fully reclined to a lie-flat position. I was able to sleep on the 7.5 hour overnight flight after meal service. The seat was more than wide and long enough for me, being a petite woman. It was not as wide though as some business class seats we’ve reviewed, such as Singapore Airlines 777.

I received slippers, a plush pillow, blankets, and amenity kit. There was a pair of headphones in the storage compartment to use during the flight. I also received a paper menu to peruse before meal service.

The foot rest for the seats was large enough for me, but would have been small for Bertaut who is a giant with long legs and huge feet. 😂 The TV screen pops out from the console when you push the button next to it so that you can watch TV at a comfortable angle.

There are seat controls on the side that recline the chair and turn on lights. There’s a small reading light as well as the remote controller for the inflight entertainment. Each seat has a power outlet and USB portal, so I was able to charge my phone during the flight.

There’s a very small storage compartment where the headphones are stored with a mirror. There’s not much space to store anything else in there unless it’s small, like a cellphone or small camera. I left my purse sitting on top of that area since it didn’t fit inside the storage compartment. There’s another storage are under the arm rest, where I stored our GoPro camera and tripod so it would be handy whenever I needed it.

The tray table pulls out from the left for meal service. It can also fold in half if you just want a small table.

Cathay Pacific Amenity Kit

The Cathay Pacific Business Class amenity kits were fairly standard with all inflight necessities. They came in a blue pouch and included a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, ear plugs, eye mask, socks, and some Jurlique skincare products. There were small tubes of lip balm, hand cream, and face moisturizer which came in handy since flights are so dehydrating.

Cathay Business Class Lavatory

The business class cabin had bathrooms at the front of the first business class cabin and in between the two cabins. They were kept clean and had soap and hand lotion by Bamford. I always appreciate when the business class cabins have nice toiletries in the lavatory.

Inflight Entertainment

Cathay Pacific Business Class inflight entertainment includes movies from Hollywood, Asian classics, TV shows, podcasts, games and music. There are new movie options every month. I watched a movie while waiting for dinner. The A330-300 was not equipped with wifi, but that is something that Cathay Pacific is rolling out for their A330’s now.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Menu

The Cathay Pacific Business Class Menu from Dubai to Hong Kong was quite good and I really enjoyed my dinner. Dinner was served shortly after takeoff and started with pan seared scallops or roasted chestnut soup. The choices for the main dishes were red snapper, roasted chicken, chicken and mushroom soup, and pasta. Dinner ended with a cheese plate, ice cream, fruit, and stracciatella.

A light continental breakfast was served before landing. It included juice, fruit, pastries, and yogurt parfait. Unfortunately I was asleep and missed breakfast, but wouldn’t have been hungry anyway after a filling dinner.

The drink menu included Billecart-Salmon Brut champagne, 2 white wines, 2 red wines, a dessert wine, aperitifs and cocktails, whiskies, cognac and liqueurs, and beer. I enjoyed their signature drink, the Pacific Sunrise, a combination of champagne and Drambuie. Non-alcoholic drinks included soda, juice, coffees, several kinds of tea including Hong Kong milk tea, and hot chocolate.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Meal

I ordered the scallops to start, which was served with a salad and garlic bread. I also ordered a glass of white wine to pair with my seafood. I opted for the red snapper with soy ginger sauce which was delicious and full of flavor. I finished off my meal with fruit and ice cream for dessert and skipped the cheese plate and other dessert option since I was already full. I was highly satisfied with the food and meal service. I thought the presentation of the first course was especially pleasing.

Cathay Business Class Service

Service was professional but not exceptionally memorable (compared to Etihad Business Class or Singapore Business Class). After getting settled, I received nuts and a champagne welcome drink. Flight attendants also brought warm towels to clean my hands before the meal. Meal service was timed well which allowed me to get some sleep on this overnight flight. I was hoping that I would be able to swap with Bertaut at some point during the flight so he could also experience the business class product, but he was not allowed to enter the cabin after giving me his seat. Fortunately he would get to experience it later on our way to New York.

Last thoughts on Cathay Pacific Business Class A330 DXB to HKG

Overall I was very pleased with my flight experience on Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class from Dubai to Hong Kong. The lie-flat seat was comfortable and spacious and allowed me to sleep. Dinner was excellent and I also enjoyed the signature cocktail and wine. Service was professional but not overly personable, perhaps because I was in the cabin alone. Bertaut and the kids are the outgoing ones who tend to strike up conversations with crew. I would definitely fly Cathay Pacific Business Class again, and did several days later on our way home. For more Cathay Pacific Business Class reviews, stay tuned. I will be publishing our review of our Cathay Pacific Business Class flight from Hong Kong to New York, where all four of us flew Cathay Business Class.

Pin this post: