We flew Hong Kong Airlines Business Class Hong Kong to Los Angeles as part of our $585 business class fare from LA to many Asian cities.
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We had arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok on a flight that departed BKK at 4am and arrived at HKG a little before 8am.
Lounge
The Hong Kong Airlines Autus business class lounge at Hong Kong airport is pretty awesome.
Here is a comprehensive review of it.
Gate and Boarding
When boarding was called in the Autus Lounge we made our way to gate 215.
By the time we arrived boarding was well underway.
We showed our boarding passes and were pulled over to the side for security questioning then shown to the business class boarding door.
Boarding was a classic tale of two classes: business class had its own door and jet bridge.
So, although we boarded through the business class door well after boarding had started, we were able to walk right on the plane.
Meanwhile the economy jet bridge was backed up all the way to the door.
We made our way to our seats with only a slight impediment from another passenger…more on her in a minute!
Hong Kong Airlines A350 Business Class Seats and Cabin
The Hong Kong Airlines A350 has two business class configurations: alternating cuddle seats config and a classic herringbone config.
On our A350 LAX-HKG we had cuddle seats. But on this flight we had the herringbone.
Other than the lack of cuddle-ability, these seats are fantastic. Good privacy but also the ability to travel as a couple. Huge screen. Very comfortable layflat seat.
Hong Kong Airlines A350 Business Class Meal
The meal service on this flight was…weird.
The service on the left hand side of the business class cabin was VERY different than the service on the right hand side.
And so since we were in the middle Lisa and I had very different service experiences.
Lisa’s entire meal: appetizer, salad and main was served on the same tray.
My meal was served in courses.
So I was eating while Lisa was waiting.
It was like we were on two different airlines, really.
And whichever service we got, the food itself was only so-so.
But the wine was good and the flight attendants provided generous pours.
Hong Kong Airlines Business Class Flight
I have to be honest: this was one of the weirdest flights we have ever been on.
The weird meal service was just the start.
There was a Chinese family of about eight in the cabin spread out to my right and in front of us.
During boarding the patriarch (a man of about 65) never sat down.
Instead he stood at his seat, stood at his wife’s seat in front of him, or stood at the seats of his grown kids (you can see one of them blocking my way in the boarding video above) or toddler grandkids in front of us.
During taxi, he still didn’t sit down. Instead he kept checking on his wife in front of him and his children/grandchildren in front of us.
The flight attendants clearly saw him doing this but said and did nothing.
Only as we started the takeoff roll did he sit down. Momentarily.
The moment we were in the air…like, seconds after rotation…he bounced back up and kept chatting with and checking on his family.
And still the flight attendants never said or did a thing about it.
Lisa and I joked that if this guy pulled this on a US or European carrier he would have been hogtied in his seat!
But it was Hong Kong Airlines so he wasn’t.
Throughout the course of the 16-hour flight he was rarely in his seat that I saw.
Since he was supposed to be seated in the aisle across from me it bugged me a little when he would do toe touches for a half hour with his butt sticking into my seat space.
But overall he seemed relatively harmless, so we just minded our business and let it go.
We ate, we drank, we watched movies and we slept.
Despite the weirdness of the meal service and in the cabin generally, it was a totally pleasant flight.
Arrival at LA
We landed in LA more or less on time. I caught the approach and landing at LAX from the tail cam.
Bottom Line – Hong Kong Airlines Business Class Hong Kong to Los Angeles
We left our Hong Kong Airlines business class flight HKG-LAX fed, reseted and ready to start our fast travel through the US for a couple of weeks as we transitioned our digital nomadism from Asia to Europe.
It’s a really solid business class hard product. And even though the soft product is inconsistent, the pleasantness and eagerness of the crew never faltered.
That alone makes it a more pleasant experience than many of our United Airlines Pacific crossings in business or first class!!