Etihad or Cathay to London in J

[turtlemichael]

I'm planning a quick business class solo trip to London (maximum 8 days there) from Melbourne in June to see the Test Championship at Lords. I have tickets for the first 3 days. Woohoo!

I've looked at a lot of flight options and, after the initial sticker shock, I've come down to a choice between CX and EY. Both are priced in the mid $8Ks. There will be no city stopovers and the only use of lounges would be before the return journey and for 5 hours in HKG on CX on the return. The EY trip departs 0500 so I imagine all Melbourne lounges would be closed. For personal reasons I need the ability to cancel without too large a penalty right up to departure. Both offer this with a cancelation fee. The new aria seats don't look like they'll be on the flights on CX I'd chose. CX will also acquisition of QFF points.

I'll stay at the Hilton Canary Wharf (again after sticker shock) as it's on the Elizabeth line from LHR and Lord's is on the Jubilee line from Canary Wharf.

I'm particularly interested in which airline others see as preferable - sleep quality, seat, food. (Last flight on CX was more than 10 years ago and never on EY) and any comments on Hilton Canary Wharf. Iplan to book flights in the next few days. TIA.

 

[Forg]

Do corporate owner ethics play any part in the decision?

 

[AIRwin]

Chauffeur service if your ticket is in Business Comfort/Deluxe:

https://www.etihad.com/en-au/plan/etihad-services/etihad-chauffeur

 

[turtlemichael]

It would be in Comfort (in order to have the refund opportunity) but I understand the chauffeured car is only available in UAE.

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:21 PM

Do corporate owner ethics play any part in the decision?

Honestly, probably not on an airfare.

 

[Balad2005]

I'm planning a quick business class solo trip to London (maximum 8 days there) from Melbourne in June to see the Test Championship at Lords. I have tickets for the first 3 days. Woohoo!

I've looked at a lot of flight options and, after the initial sticker shock, I've come down to a choice between CX and EY. Both are priced in the mid $8Ks. There will be no city stopovers and the only use of lounges would be before the return journey and for 5 hours in HKG on CX on the return. The EY trip departs 0500 so I imagine all Melbourne lounges would be closed. For personal reasons I need the ability to cancel without too large a penalty right up to departure. Both offer this with a cancelation fee. The new aria seats don't look like they'll be on the flights on CX I'd chose. CX will also acquisition of QFF points.

I'll stay at the Hilton Canary Wharf (again after sticker shock) as it's on the Elizabeth line from LHR and Lord's is on the Jubilee line from Canary Wharf.

I'm particularly interested in which airline others see as preferable - sleep quality, seat, food. (Last flight on CX was more than 10 years ago and never on EY) and any comments on Hilton Canary Wharf. Iplan to book flights in the next few days. TIA.

Both airlines are fine. I usually travel on Qatar or Emirates .
I travelled on EY about 16 months ago. The flight was full ,service was average on the outboard but great on the return.The EY lounge in Abdi Dabi was full , hard to find a seat , food was average fare.
I haven't been on CK for almost a decade, but as I was platinum with Qantas they looked after me.Their London lounge was great ,the staff even ( actually get up from the desk and find you in the lounge when it was time to board.

You are right most Melbourne lounges don't open until 5am or later. However, flying early from Melbourne has some advantages such as seamless check in and security , minimal if nil queuing.
I travelled to London almost 12 months ago on Qatar, an early evening flight .Airport was crowded even the business checkin was long and delayed boarding. Flight was what one expects from Qatar and better when I left Dubai as it was an A380.
Recently I travelled to Europe on Emirates , early morning flight , seamless checkin and boarding , and an aircraft only 2/3 rd full.
Brunnettti’s in T2 is open at the time , coffee is usually good and the cafe is not overcrowded.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

In terms of seat, i would rank the ‘old’ cx seat ahead of etihad’s. If you get the new seat, bonus.

The only other consideration would have been if you were VA plat and could have got the Etihad Fcl lounge. But Inthink that’s come to an end now, or will shortly.

I think CX also wins in terms of IFE.

 

[turtlemichael]

I flew MIA-DOH-MEL in a Q suite on Qatar last year and loved it. This time Qatar and Emirates are 50% outside my budget.

 

[zainman]

I would choose EY