This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.

Just weeks after Delta announced plans to end service between Seattle (SEA) and Hong Kong (HKG), Cathay Pacific has swooped in to announce a new flight of its own.

Cathay’s new service will launch on April 1, 2019 and will operate four days per week with the airline’s Airbus A350-900, which I reviewed on one of the world’s longest flights earlier this year.

Image courtesy of Great Circle Mapper.

The flight will operate with the following schedule.

  • CX857 Seattle (SEA) 1:05am Departure → Hong Kong (HKG) 5:25am (+1) Arrival (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)
  • CX858 Hong Kong (HKG) 11:55pm Departure → Seattle (SEA) 9:00pm Arrival (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday)

The early morning Hong Kong arrival will allow passengers to make connections to virtually any Cathay Pacific flight onward in Asia, while the late departure will accomplish the same on the return.

A business-class seat on Cathay
A business-class seat on Cathay’s A350. Photo by Zach Honig.

The A350 is Cathay’s first long-haul aircraft to offer in-flight Wi-Fi. There are 38 lie-flat seats in business class, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. In addition, there’s 28 premium economy seats arranged 2-4-2, and 214 seats arranged 3-3-3 in coach.

Premium economy on Cathay Pacific’s A350-900. Photo by JT Genter.

Cathay flights can be booked using miles from Oneworld partners, including American Airlines, in addition to Alaska’s Mileage Plan program. With AAdvantage miles, you’ll need to redeem 70,000 miles to book business class or 37,500 miles for economy each way. With Alaska miles, awards cost just 50,000 miles for business; 35,000 for premium economy or 30,000 miles each way in coach. Plus, you can add a free stopover in Hong Kong before flying to another destination in Asia on Cathay Pacific — even on one-way awards.

Awards are bookable now, and space in all three cabins appears to be quite plentiful:

Cathay Pacific also offers nonstop service between Hong Kong and San Francisco (SFO), Vancouver (YVR), Los Angeles (LAX), Chicago (ORD), Boston (BOS) and New York (EWR and JFK). A flight to Washington, D.C. (IAD) will launch with the new Airbus A350-1000 in September.

The Business Platinum® Card from American Express

Aside from the 75,000 points welcome bonus, Amex recently made huge improvements to the Business Platinum Card, including the fact that you will now earn 50% more points on purchases of $5,000 or more, earn 5x on flights and eligible hotels at Amextravel.com and cardholders will receive a $200 airline fee credit each year.
Apply Now
More Things to Know
  • Welcome Offer: Earn up to 75,000 Membership Rewards® points.
  • Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 all on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Get 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
  • Get 50% more Membership Rewards® points. That's 1.5 points per dollar, on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more. You can get up to 1 million additional points per year.
  • 35% Airline Bonus: Use Membership Rewards® Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, and you can get 35% of the points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year.
  • Enroll to get up to $200 in statement credits annually by getting up to $100 semi-annually for U.S. purchases with Dell. Terms apply.
  • Get one year of Platinum Global Access from WeWork. With this membership, you can access 300+ premium, inspiring workspaces in 75+ cities. To get this exclusive offer, enroll between 2/15/2019 and 12/31/2019.
  • Terms Apply
  • See Rates & Fees
Intro APR on Purchases
N/A
Regular APR
N/A
Annual Fee
$595
Balance Transfer Fee
See Terms
Recommended Credit
Excellent Credit
Terms and restrictions apply. See rates & fees.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.