Flying FIRST class on Cathay Pacific Next week!!!

 

Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 (from CathayPacific.com)

I have not had any luck in finding First Class Cathay Pacific award space for the flights that I wanted on my outbound flight to China next week for the last month or so.  Occasionally, there would be space on a SFO-HKG day flight or on YYZ-HKG flight... but the flight times did not work for me.  I have been holding out on either one for the 2 LAX-HKG evening flights on the Boeing 777 or the evening SFO-HKG Boeing 747 flight.  I have had no such luck lately as my searches have all come up empty handed.  I know that sometimes airlines release seats for award use when it gets closer to the departure date and Cathay Pacific is one of them.  They are known for releasing seats both months in advance and also a week or so before departure.

This morning I decided to so some more searching for availability and there it was!  There were 2 FIRST class seats available on CX 873 for the date I wanted!  I called the AAdvantage Executive Platinum desk and had the agent change out my Business class seat from LAX to the FIRST class seat from SFO instead.  The only difference is that the flight time is 1 hour shorter going from SFO and I arrive an hour later into Hong Kong.  I am still on the same flight on Dragonair to Guangzhou in Business Class.  I opted for the evening flight from DFW to SFO and decided to avoid the last flight of the night in case of bad weather or tornadoes.  Also, my flight in domestic First class to SFO is marked as a snack flight (versus the refreshments of hot nuts and cookie on the last flight of the evening) so I would probably get a salad or a light dinner.

I am excited to try out the new Cathay Pacific Lounge in SFO before my flight and the experience the renowned service in Cathay Pacific FIRST.  I am the 7th passenger out of 9 available seats so far.  I am looking forward to the friendly/attentive service, pajamas, caviar, Krug, and the Lounges in HKG.  I think Cathay Pacific serves fresh scrambled eggs onboard in FIRST class!  I also plan on completing my 3rd entry requirement into HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport) and thus will be qualified to apply for the frequent visitor card for fast airport immigration into Hong Kong.  I am excited for this trip!

Here is my new flight path:

Here's the seat map: