a person standing at a reception desk

Trip Report: Hong Kong and South Africa on Cathay Pacific (CX) First | Part 2

Part 1: How I booked it

Part 2: Kingston YGK-Toronto YYZ-New York City JFK AC Y

Part 3: New York City JFK-Hong Kong CX F

Part 4: Life in Hong Kong

Part 5: Hong Kong HKG-Johannesburg JNB CX F

Part 6: South Africa

Part 7: Going home! JNB-HKG-ORD CX F and ORD-YYZ AA Y


YGK-YYZ

I woke up nice and early to catch my 5:40AM flight from Kingston YGK to Toronto YYZ. I absolutely love the YGK airport: it’s very small, clean, efficient, and their operations just work. The agents were able to through-check my luggage all the way to Hong Kong, even though that flight was on a separate itinerary. Another great feature of the YGK airport (except for the microwave being the centre point of their cafeteria!), is that only a Beechcraft services the airport. The Beechcraft is an old-timey plane, with no cockpit door, a bathroom without a door, and loud-as-hell propellors.

My chariot awaits!
My chariot awaits!
The gate area is soooo big.
The gate area is soooo big.
I rather fly this all the way to Hong Kong!
I would fly this all the way to Hong Kong!

The ride was pretty smooth, and it was really cool looking out of the cockpit the entire flight. I believe the Beechcraft is Air Canada’s only unsecured cockpit.

YYZ-JFK

My time in Toronto was surprisingly easy – my plane parked close to the Terminal F entry. Being Toronto, you have to re-clear security and do US immigrations. Everything was really smooth, especially with my NEXUS card. My partner just got the AMEX Platinum card (this is a referral), which gave us access to the Plaza Premium Lounge. All in all, it was OK, with a decent hot-breakfast offering. It had plenty of light, however is was too small. We stayed there for about 30 minutes.

Plaza Lounge access.
Plaza Lounge access.
Kinda small, eh?
Kinda small, eh?
Breakfast Spread
Breakfast Spread

We then spent the rest of our layover at the Term F Maple Leaf Lounge. It’s a decent lounge, with a fine food selection, amble room and seating, and is bright with nice windows.

Terminal F MLL
Terminal F MLL

Boarding was called soon thereafter. It was a small plane, and was bout 3/4 full. We were seated right behind the J cabin. Honestly, the J seats looked almost like the Y seats, and the only real difference is that J gets a small bite to eat – not worth the extra points for such a shot flight!

YYZ-JFK Flight AC Y
YYZ-JFK Flight AC Y

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *