Recent experience on CX flight to US?

B

Biggie

Registered User
Hi, just want to gather some recent experiences for Cathay flight to US. We are flying to JFK this weekend (2 adults, a 3.5 and a 1.5 yr old).
Some specific concerns:
1) how strict are they on liquids on board? I know HK security is nice as long as it's for baby. But is there a secondary check near the gate for US bound flight? I want to bring UHT milk boxes to fill the boys night bottle.
2) Is the Entertainment system good for kids? Hope we don't have to take out our laptop for videos.
3) Do they still give individual bottle water and comfort pack?

Any other experience/story is appreciated
 
I recently flew to jfk on cx with a infant 4 months ago. Are you flying business class? If so then yes they still provide water bottles and amenity packs. The headphones on board probably won't fit your young ones. Not sure if bringing your own headphones would help as the plug socket is normally three pronged on cx. They do however have a new business class so I'd call cx to check if bringing your headphones is viable. Kids entertainment is pretty standard with a selection of animated films and disney classics. As for the liquids I do know they make special allowances for infants. Since your children arent really infants anymore i'd call and check about that policy too. Sorry i cant be of more help! http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_BH/helpingyoutravel/lagrestrictions
 
Agree with evgreen, if in business class they will supply you with as many bottles of waters as you want. In economy, no such luck, so to get around that I usually carry an empty bottle and have them fill it up as soon as I board the plane.

There is a second check at the gate and they will make you pour out any water. About the UHT mild, not too sure, you're not allowed more than 100mls for any one item and they might give you a hard time because the children aren't infants anymore but am not sure.

In terms of the entertainment system, the mickey mouse clubhouse and movies are okay but the games are not. I found that even for my 4 year old the buttons are too stiff and hard to work. If you have an ipad I would bring that.

Also bring loads of snacks/fruits, even in business class the snacks are sugar loaded and probably not want you want a toddler, small child loaded up on on a long flight as they will get pretty crazy......
 
I just flew Cathay round trip from the US, economy out and business in, 2 weeks ago.
Biggie said:
Hi, just want to gather some recent experiences for Cathay flight to US. We are flying to JFK this weekend (2 adults, a 3.5 and a 1.5 yr old).
Some specific concerns:
1) how strict are they on liquids on board? I know HK security is nice as long as it's for baby. But is there a secondary check near the gate for US bound flight? I want to bring UHT milk boxes to fill the boys night bottle.
Yes, there is a secondary check at the gate. And it is strict about liquids. Your UHT milk will probably not make it.
2) Is the Entertainment system good for kids? Hope we don't have to take out our laptop for videos.
There's a decent selection of movies and TV shows. But I agree with PP that headphones are adult sized and you may need to bring your own. Some of the travel earphones that are in-ear buds have 3 prong converters, which might be worth a try.
3) Do they still give individual bottle water and comfort pack?
Yes to endless water (full size) and amenity pack in business class. Small bottle in coach and no amenities.
Any other experience/story is appreciated
Click to expand...
Would love to hear how your trip goes!
 
I travelled with my little ones (26 and 11 months) in econ in cathay and while they didn't keep us stocked on water, they provided every time we asked or buzzed and also provided milk upon request. they also have my older child a "fun pack" with stickers and stuff. won't keep them entertained for 15 hours but it did help. the shows and movies are decent but I must admit we relied heavily on the iPad as my son doesn't sit still for 2 hours at a time yet (sadly . . . ).

the child meals were meant to be appealing to children (corndogs in a sea of mac and cheese) but unfortunately, my kids don't eat that kind of stuff so next time we'll just get them an adult meal that has vegetables. the between meal sandwiches were also a hit with my son though I don't think his palate is very discriminating.

other noteworthy item - changing table is TINY - my son was laid out on it diagonally and his bumbum almost fell off. Poor guy broke it (literally) by laying down on it and was scared of the changing process the rest of the flight.

on side note, I'd previously travelled on US airlines and am now officially boycotting them. CX was more expensive but i got sensible people who tried to be helpful rather than my prior experiences with United. I am NEVER flying a US airline with children again (unless required domestically in the US) no matter the cost. I was in tears the last two times I flew a US airline with my lovelies!
 
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1) how strict are they on liquids on board? I know HK security is nice as long as it's for baby. But is there a secondary check near the gate for US bound flight? I want to bring UHT milk boxes to fill the boys night bottle.
You probably wouldn't have any chance bringing a box of UHT on board. Your only chance that you can get that on, is put them all in baby bottles. but still I would imagine, they will only allow max 3 of those cos you have 2 kids but both are officially not babies anymore. 1.5 can walk & so they would consider him eating "real food".

2) Is the Entertainment system good for kids? Hope we don't have to take out our laptop for videos.
the system is ok depending which aircraft you get. some have videos on demand, some don't (if you're flying economy). Business class has cartoons on demand. but depending on what cartoons your kids like. they usually have what they most recently played at the cinema. might be safer to bring your own iPad or portable Video player.

3) Do they still give individual bottle water and comfort pack?
economy, they don't give individual water. business class do. children play pack - yes. but that'll probably last about 45 mins. better to get bottled water in the airport & bring them onboard cos you have 2 small kids & you want them hydrated throughout the flight.

I would bring some new portable toys that your kids have never seen. only take them out when they are done with the play pack provided by the plane & TV. HK-JFK is a very long flight, although they be able to spend 1/2 of that sleeping if it's a night flight.

i never changed my babies (children) in the bathroom change table. that thing is hopeless & is for an infant (but the bathrooms are filthy so you don't wanna be bringing your infant in anyway. I always change them at the seats, with a change mat.

my children never ate flight food. bring a whole bag of snacks, bread, cut up fruits to last them throughout the flight. note that fruits are not allowed once you landed JFK. You'd have to chuck them before you go through immigration. I agree its better to ask for adult meals, cos there is always rice & vegetables. better than the bad quality children food they serve.

good luck.
 
For the UHT milk, get a note from your doctor stating that your child needs to drink this at this stage of his/her development or you won't be able to bring the liquid onto a US bound flight. Our toddler still drinks a lot of formula and UHT milk (she won't touch cold/ fresh milk) from a bottle and we were able to bring UHT milk in addition to powdered formula on the flight. There is no rule enforced by airlines that once a baby should walk they should be eating only solids...

You will not be able to bring bottled water onto a US-bound flight as there is a secondary check at the gate.

If you pester the flight staff enough, they will give you one or two big bottles of water for mixing formula/ filling sippy cups if you need it - just make it clear that your children need constant access to water. If you are in business class all the bottled water you need is readily available.

The changing tables in the bathrooms are not great, but are usable. I always wiped them down with a sanitary wipe first and then put on a disposable change mat. Do not change diapers at your seat - it is against airline regulations and is filthy, releasing countless germs into the entire cabin and totally unfair to other passengers.

Sometimes the entertainment system is good in economy on Cathay, but not always, and occasionally you hear about your particular unit not working. We tend to travel with an iPad for our toddler loaded up with her stuff. She also likes to color on flights and play with small new toys, which we give at intervals throughout the flight.
 
Hmm...we've flown on multiple occasions with United direct to the US (Newark) from Hong Kong with a 2y.o. and 1y.o. and we have never been asked to discard milk/water on either end.

We usually carry a 1.5L bottle of Volvic, a small flask 0.5L with boiling hot water, and pre-portioned containers of baby formula. For the liquids the ask you to open the lid and they wave a small paper strip at the opening (to test for explosive residue) and they let you go.

Never have we been asked to discard liquids for babies. On our last trip when our daughter was 3, we did take 3x Pauls UHT Milk cartons on board from HKG and on the way back we brought back Stoneyfield milk cartons on the flight back.

If your kids are really 'babies' they will let you go....at 4-5 years old, there should be ample milk/water/food available on the plane.

The above also relates to every regional flight we have taken.

One small advise, always pack more than you think you will need as you never know when your flight gets delayed/cancelled and you don't have access to your luggage. In April this year our flight from Phuket to Hong Kong was diverted to Macau and we were stuck there for 5 hours. Thankfully i had enough water and formula and baby snacks to keep them going for a total of 9 hours instead of just 3 hours!
 
papa2b said:
Hmm...we've flown on multiple occasions with United direct to the US (Newark) from Hong Kong with a 2y.o. and 1y.o. and we have never been asked to discard milk/water on either end.
Click to expand...

Have had occasions where they allowed water with a test, but more often than not they have asked us to toss the water on the secondary check on US bound flights. Same with UHT milk. With a doctor's note explaining the necessity of the milk there is often still some confusion about whether we can bring it onboard, but some sort of supervisory figure generally sorts it out.

Agree that regional flights are not a problem.
 
We're flying Cathay HK to Paris with our 11-month-old. We bought 3 economy seats.
I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to business, since we have tons of extra Asiamiles.
I didn't want to, initially, since the seats are all individual, i.e. you can't sit next to each other.
But now it seems like business might be better.
This will be baby's first long-haul flight.
 
Gracey, check if your flight will be fitted with the new business class. If so, then the two middle seats are much more accessible than the old herringbone business seats. Then again, you'd still need to have your LO sitting on your lap with the lap belt during take off and landing. If you're flying red-eye then the business class lay-flat seats would make more sense. Your little one will have their own space to sleep. But if you're flying during the day, the 3 economy seats would be more sensible. Also, when choosing the 3 economy seats, I prefer not to have the bassinet row because the middle armrests are fixed and cannot be raised. Anyway, those bassinets are tiny and by the time they're 6 months even, those things are way too small.
 
Gracey, on long hauls with the LO I go business every time for the following reasons. When the LO naps they can stretch out and have a really good sleep with their little security blanket or sleeping bag ect. Also the air stewardess is really helpful and will give you hot water, bottles of water, nappies really quickly. Thirdly the toilets usually have little by the way of queues. Finally our breaks are short with the LO and we want them and ourselves to arrive refreshed and ready to start the holiday. To be quite frank I'm happy to go cattle when flying a business trip (sadly it doesn't work that way) than when flying with my children. I crying, whingeing, unhappy LO takes like 10 years off my life (well feels that way for the moment anyway).
For short hauls around Asia economy works just as well as business in my opinion.
Agree with another poster that if you do decide to go economy long haul don't get the bassinet row as the LO has zero chance of sleeping draped across hubby and yourself as the arm rests don't go up!
 
Just got back to Hk from ny. Flew cathay economy with seat for my 1.5th old. No problem bringing Uht milk boxes either direction. Service was good, stewardess tried to be helpful regarding getting water, when to bring meals etc. My boys are picky eater so I brought cooked pasta, PBJ, boxes of cut fruit, and crackers and cereal for them. Kids meals are really uninspiring adult meal with rice is better at least they eat the rice. We got bulkhead row and like it as there is more room for kids to stand up an play and for me too.
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