ANA or Cathay Pacific

[silkismom]

So far for our Asian cruise next Feb, starting in Hong Kong, the air options are with UA/ANA--DEN-SEA-NRT-HGK or AA/CX--DEN-LAX or SFO-HGK, has anyone done both and able to advise? Mainly concerned with the looonnngg overseas flts.

[Gardyloo]

I looked up your cruise dates then checked on ITA and IMO the best combination of flight and comfort would be DEN-LAX-HKG, on American to LAX then on the Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong (but using the AA "codeshare" flight number - almost $300 cheaper than using the Cathay Pacific code.)

 

Returning from Shanghai, AA operates a 777 on its LAX nonstop, and assuming everything is in coach, the AA 777s are not bad at all in terms of comfort - decent seat width, legroom, personal video, etc. That route would be PVG-LAX-DEN, and, again, is about as short an overall trip time as there is.

 

If you're in some other cabin besides coach, the situation is a little different.

[kenish]

So far for our Asian cruise next Feb, starting in Hong Kong, the air options are with UA/ANA--DEN-SEA-NRT-HGK or AA/CX--DEN-LAX or SFO-HGK, has anyone done both and able to advise? Mainly concerned with the looonnngg overseas flts.

 

I also recommend connecting through LAX or SFO, to an onward nonstop to HKG. Which is "better" depends on how well the schedules of the connecting flights work in both directions...I'd allow at least 2 hours but no reason for a 4+ hour connecting time. At both airports you have to go outside security and change terminals...the time and distance between terminals is shorter at LAX. Renovations and expansion of the LAX international terminal will be completed by the time you travel.

 

From both LAX and SFO, CX has flights around 1pm and 130am. But, there's a third LAX flight around 1130pm as well. I'd definitely check and see if the flights are year-round or seasonal. Also keep in mind Chinese New Year is Jan 31, 2014 and there may be high demand in very early February.

 

I know you're concerned about the long flight...there is no way around that. All you can do is mitigate it by buying up into Premium Economy or by breaking your trip with an overnight stopover in LAX or SFO. Just me, but I'd rather get to my destination rather than take on the longer transit time and increased risk of travel interruption by a layover or even an intermediate stop (e.g. Tokyo or Seoul).

[Philob]

So far for our Asian cruise next Feb, starting in Hong Kong, the air options are with UA/ANA--DEN-SEA-NRT-HGK or AA/CX--DEN-LAX or SFO-HGK, has anyone done both and able to advise? Mainly concerned with the looonnngg overseas flts.

 

May want to add Singapore Airlines into the mix :D SQ1 leaves SFO at 1 am, but arrives in HKG early, like around 6 am.

 

The CX and SQ flights leave SFO at about the same time and they seem to "race" for who gets the push-back first :cool: