Because we had points expiring and no-where particular to go, Ms. Buddha and I decided to do an impromptu trip to Taipei. Ms. Buddha advised that given that it was a flight that was only just over an hour, Business Class was unnecessary, but given that Premium Economy was only 6k miles more I went with Prem. Economy on CX402 which departs Hong Kong at about 6:30pm (leave work a little earlier) and get there by about 8:30pm.
Initially, the flight is not serviced by Cathay’s new A350, but when we arrived at the airport and reached the boarding gate, I was pleasantly surprised to see a raccoon faced plane.
Boarding was quick and business class boarded first – I was actually happy this time to not be traveling business class since that I’ve heard good things about the new premium economy. Once we boarded, I managed to take a few people free snaps.
After seating myself and getting comfortable, also, the overhead cabin space is sufficient for 1.5 carry on bags. I began a process which caused Ms. Buddha to look at me in complete disdain. I looked at the monitor in front of me and started looking for the the volume and brightness controls – hoping it was similar to business class. Ms. Buddha made a comment that we should now travel in economy only so that I stay “grounded”.
Ms. Buddha also proceeded to show me…
Take-off was smooth and the cabin is generally quieter than the older planes – shortly after take-off, we were “distributed” food. Another fact that I didn’t realise – they no longer serve food in Premium Economy – instead you get a Easter Show type bag – to me, it made sense given the length of the flight.
So what comes with the bag? A hot savory pastry, a cookie and a juice popper. The items aren’t bad in the sense that it’s meant to keep you fed for 1.5hrs – but the quality of the savory pastry in particular really does need to be improved – it was packed with salt and tasted awful – I placed it neatly back in the box after one bite and Ms. Buddha didn’t even touch hers. The cookie was nice though.
Before we knew it, we were landing into Taipei already – and Ms. Buddha was right in that Premium Economy was comfy enough for a short flight. What I would’ve hoped is if the food offering was a little better.
Buddha Explores 