The Hong Kong Singapore Lounge is one of the latest in the Cathay Pacific’s network, opened less than 18 months ago when Singapore Changi Airport opened its newest terminal, Terminal 4.
Being one of the major airlines operating out of Terminal 4 since the terminal opened back in 2017, the Cathay Pacific Singapore lounge is the only airline lounge at Terminal 4. It is a fairly cosy one, with 849 square metres of space and offering seats for over 200 customers at any point in time.
Who can access this lounge?
Apart from Cathay Pacific’s own business and first class passengers, Marco Polo Silver, Gold and Diamond members can also access the lounge when travelling on a Cathay Pacific flight out of Singapore. Oneworld sapphire and emerald members may also use the lounge as long as they are travelling on a oneworld-member operated flight on the same day, although I’m not sure if you should make the trek to Terminal 4 just for this lounge when the Qantas lounge at Terminal 1 is probably a better choice.
The lounge
The Cathay Pacific Singapore lounge features two main seating areas. The first is at the noodle bar, with plenty of two and four-seater booths, along with bar seats at the noodle bar and a long communal table adorned with stools.
On the terrace overlooking the transit area of the terminal features several armchairs and coffee tables, perfect for a late night pre-departure drink. This is also where the self-service buffet area is placed.
Cathay Pacific brought its famous noodle bar to the Singapore lounge as well, which has become a perennial favourite for customers around the world.
The noodle bar serves up small bowls of the signature Hong Kong Wanton Noodles, along with other type of cooked-to-order items that reflects the local culture. For instance, the Singapore lounge serves a version of laksa as well, similar to the Qantas Singapore lounge.
Another thing on offer was the steamed chicken dumplings (siew mai). While this is traditionally made with pork, I guess chicken may be a little more palatable to the diverse range of customers passing through.
On the buffet table was also the standard western breakfast offering, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and also a Chinese favourite, rice porridge.
The lounge also offer a range of reading materials such as newspapers and magazines, although I didn’t really see anything picking something up to read while I was there.
The only difference between the Singapore lounge and the Hong Kong lounges is the absence of shower rooms, given that Cathay Pacific only flies to Hong Kong and Bangkok from Singapore. Also, no other oneworld airlines are operating from Terminal 4, so that lessens the need for shower rooms.
Final words
The Cathay Pacific Singapore lounge is probably one of the newest ones on its network. While fairly small when you compare it to the labyrinth in many of the Hong Kong lounges, this lounge contain many wins – such as the noodle bar – which sufficient catered to the needs of the customers.
I am a fan of Cathay Pacific’s lounges in Hong Kong, having been to several of them, including the Deck and the Wing business lounges. Cathay is known to provide a solid lounge product, with good space design, ample seating and very decent food. Of course, given its popularity, the lounges in Hong Kong International Airport are usually very packed, so it’s pretty refreshing to go into a less crowded Cathay Pacific lounge.
Singapore-based Asia Miles members stand to win up to 300,000 miles if they purchase a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon ticket from now until 26 August 2018.
Cathay Pacific will give out a total of one million miles to a total of 11 members. The lucky draw is only open to Singapore-based customers, and travel must originate from Singapore
One key thing to note is that you will have to manually enter the contest using the online form here.
The good news is that the lucky draw is open to customers who booked through any booking channel, whether they do on Cathay Pacific’s website, mobile app or through a travel agent. And also, looking at the T&Cs there doesn’t seem to be a restriction on the travel dates.
Don’t forget to check out Cathay Pacific’s lounges in Hong Kong!
The top prize of 300,000 miles is good for a round trip first class ticket to US or Canada, or six round trip tickets in business class to Hong Kong. That’s enough Hong Kong trips to get you sick and tired of wanton noodles and dim sum.
So if you are already planning to buy a ticket with Cathay Pacific, don’t forget to take part!
Most people will be familiar with Cathay Pacific and their loyalty programme Asia Miles as many credit cards across Asia Pacific allow you to transfer miles into the programme, which serves as a good alternative to KrisFlyer and Singapore Airlines, especially if you travel a lot on oneworld carriers.
In particular, Asia Miles is also rather popular with some Australians given its relatively cheaper redemption rates than Qantas Frequent Flyer. Hence this change is likely to impact many members across this part of the world.
Asia Miles to change earn and burn rates from 22 June 2018
In a nutshell, here are some of the changes they will be introducing come 22 June 2018:
Miles earned will no longer be based on distance travelled, but by distance zone, if you are travelling on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon.
Also, the exact fare class within each cabin class matters too: for the lowest fare classes, you get the least miles. Even in Premium Economy and Business, the cheapest fare class for each cabin will also get you lesser miles.
All routes are now categorised into six different distance zones: ultra-short all the way to ultra-long. These are the same categories used by Marco Polo Club’s tier points accrual, as well as the new redemption charts (more on that below), providing more uniformity across the two programmes.
Source: Asia Miles
Asia Miles claim that members will “earn more miles on 80% of the airlines’ tickets, including to popular destinations such as Shanghai, Osaka and London.” Obviously this is written for a Hong Kong base, but let’s take a look at some of the common ones out of Singapore:
Cabin
Economy
Premium Economy
Business
Route
Current
New
Current
New
Current
New
Singapore- Bangkok
878
1800- 2000
969
2000- 2300
1098
2500- 2700
Singapore- Hong Kong
1592
1800- 2000
1751
2000- 2300
1990
2500- 2700
Singapore- Taipei
2093
2390- 2650
2302
2650- 3050
2616
3310- 3580
Singapore- Tokyo Narita
3433
3600- 4000
3776
4000- 4600
4291
5000- 5400
Singapore- Los Angeles
8840
7790- 8650
9724
8650- 9950
11050
10810- 11680
Singapore- New York
9651
9630- 10700
10616
10700- 14610
12064
13380- 14450
Seems like members are generally better off for a short- to mid-haul trip out of Singapore, but not so for transpacific flights.
If you frequent earn miles on partner airlines, the good (or bad, depending on who you are travelling with) news is that mileage earned on partner airlines remains the same.
Asia Miles will price all redemptions as a one-way, adjusts all redemption rates
Customers familiar wtih Asia Miles will know that it is typically cheaper to redeem a roundtrip ticket on Cathay Pacific/Dragon, but this will change come 22 June 2018.
To simplify its redemption requirements, all redemption tickets will now be priced one-way, so a return ticket will now simply cost twice as much as two one-way tickets. Kudos to Asia Miles for being upfront in saying that long haul flights in premium cabins will now also cost more.
Asia Miles Standard Award Chart (source: Asia Miles)
Also, the redemption chart is now aligned to the Marco Polo Club’s 6 categories of distances, rather than the existing 7. This is a good move because I have seen so many people being confused by the Marco Polo Club tier points earning table and the Asia Miles redemption table.
It wasn’t clear from Asia Miles’ website, but I wrote to clarify if multi-sector itineraries (as most itineraries originating from outside of Hong Kong would be) will be priced as a sum of two sectors under the new charge, or as though its a single sector. Asia Miles confirmed in writing that it will be priced as a single sector. That means, if you are flying from Singapore to New York, it will cost you as much as flying from Hong Kong to New York. This means great value
Let’s compare some of the redemption rates for routes out of Singapore (one-way, in ‘000 miles) before and after the changes:
Cabin
Economy
Premium Economy
Business
Route
Current
Standard
Current
Standard
Current
Standard
Singapore- Bangkok
15
10
18
18
25
25
Singapore- Hong Kong
20
10
24
18
30
25
Singapore- Taipei
20
10
24
18
30
25
Singapore- Tokyo Narita
25
22
30
30
45
45
Singapore- Los Angeles
55
42
66
60
85
85
Singapore- New York
55
42
66
60
85
85
(All mileage are one-way, in ‘000 miles)
At first glance it look like you will get a better deal off almost every route (except in Business), but that’s if you only redeem one way. Now let’s take a look at redemption for a return ticket:
Cabin
Economy
Premium Economy
Business
Route
Current
Standard
Current
Standard
Current
Standard
Singapore- Bangkok
20
20
24
36
40
50
Singapore-
Hong Kong
30
20
36
36
50
50
Singapore- Taipei
30
20
36
36
50
50
Singapore-
Tokyo Narita
45
44
54
60
80
90
Singapore- Los Angeles
90
84
108
120
145
170
Singapore-
New York
90
84
108
120
145
170
(All mileage are one-way, in ‘000 miles)
You will almost end up paying more for all premium classes mid- and long-haul flights. For instance, for Singapore to LA, this is at 170,000 miles return in Business (at the same level as what KrisFlyer requires), up from 145,000 miles previously.
As a sweetener, Asia Miles has announced that they have made redemption seats more accessible, by increasing availability by 20% or more. While no one is really sure how accurate is this, a comparison of the charts do see a slight reduction in the number of miles overall.
Asia Miles is now introducing two more levels of redemption levels – Choice & Tailor
Obviously you should never be burning miles at these levels, but Asia Miles has now unveiled two additional levels of redemption levels with “improved availability” and also allows you to select your seat in advance. This is similar to the previous Priority Tiers 1 & 2, except that this provides a little better clarity as to what ‘perks’ these higher redemption levels accord, such as advance seat selection.
Asia Miles Choice Award Chart (source: Asia Miles)
Side note: I’m constantly amused at how seat selection is such a great tool used by airlines to encourage people to spend more money (and miles in this case).
The skeptic in me feels that the bulk of the overall ‘improved’ award availability is going to go to the higher levels of redemption, given that at first glance Asia Miles is giving out more miles than before.
There will be changes to partner airlines redemption rates too
But this will be unveiled only on 22 June 2018. Based on some of the sample itineraries shown, it seems like across the board the mileage required will increase for round-trip itineraries, consistent with what it has applied for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon prices.
More to come on this on 22 June 2018.
My take on the changes
Overall, this change looks good at first glance, in the sense that everyone will end up earning more miles. However, with more miles flooding the market, this will also mean that the miles will lose their value over time and lead to an increase in redemption rates down the road (which is already reflected), or resulting in Standard awards being harder to find.
Furthermore, Asia Miles is one of the few programmes (including Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer) that held steadfast in refusing to accord any status bonuses for Marco Polo Club elite members. Whether you are a Diamond, or a Green, you still earn the same number of miles. So this is somewhat unattractive as compared to some other programmes, such as Qantas Frequent Flyer, that awards a bonus for status holders.
Celebrate for now, especially if you fly a lot on Cathay Pacific because you are about to get a whole lot more miles. However, if I were you I will also not hoard too many miles and try to get award availability as soon as you can – you will never know if prices will rise again.
November and December are really some of the hottest sale periods traditionally for retail, but in recent years airlines and hotel partners have also jumped on the bandwagon to offer their own irresistable (some not so) sale to customers too.
This year for Black Friday, here’s a round up of some of the deals available:
Travel period (blackout periods apply):
Economy class: 1 January to 31 March 2018
Premium Economy and Business class: 20 November 2017 to 31 March 2018
Special conditions:
Economy: booking must be made with OCBC cards
Premium Economy and Business: booking must be made with Mastercard
On a whirlwind business trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong, I managed to spend some time at the very much acclaimed Cathay Pacific lounge at their home base – Hong Kong International Airport.
Cathay Pacific has a ridiculous number of lounges in HKIA itself – a grand total of six, of which two have dedicated first class lounges.
If you need a whirlwind introduction, Lounge Buddy has a handy guide here.
Cathay Pacific The Wing lounge, right across Gate 2
For this trip I went with The Wing, Cathay’s flagship lounge which was recently renovated. The double-storey lounge is located closest to the immigration counters, on the left right after immigration and security right across gate 2.
The lounge has two sections – one for business class and oneworld sapphire members, accessible through the entrance opposite gate 2, while the first class and oneworld emerald section can be accessed directly to the left once you clear immigration into the upper floor. For business class passengers this can be quite a walk (maybe five minutes), which was the case for me.
Upon approaching the lounge the façade looks very understated, but when you step into it, the feeling transforms. If it’s your first time into the lounge, be sure to head upstairs first if you want to hit the food directly, but if you want to have a shower stay down.
There are several zones in the lounge, so let’s tackle them one by one.
On the lower floor, there are the showers, and a smaller lounge with a self-service beverage bar.
Cathay Pacific Lounge shower suite
I first headed to the showers to cool off before having my lunch on the upper floor. The walkway to the showers were mood-lit, leading you to an array of 24 private shower suites. There was hardly anyone taking a shower when I was there and I had plenty of rooms to choose from.
The shower layout were standard by airport showers, but very elegantly dressed. Cathay Pacific offers up Jurlique amenities in-flight for business class customers, so similarly the Jurlique products were used in the shower rooms too.
Unlike the Qantas lounge in Singapore, the towels are made available within the showers, and replaced after every passenger who uses a shower room. This is a lot handier than having to take one from the counter before showering.
The upper floor is where the fun is. Going up the stairs, the First Class lounge is on the right (which will be cordoned off anyway), but on the left is a myriad of zones with different offerings.
Stairs to the upper floor
The Long Bar stretches across the entire first zone you see, overlooking the gates and the aircraft stands. Not to be confused with Singapore’s Raffles Long Bar, this sleek bar serves up an extensive list of spirits, wines, classic cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages. The only downside is the choice of draught beer – there was only Tsing Tao available.
Long Bar – get your cocktail or champagne right here
The famed Noodle Bar is tucked right at the end, completed with long wooden benches and well padded stools.
Noodle Bar
On the menu was a selection of four made-to-order noodles and three baos (oriental buns) to choose from, and right beside the bar was a mini buffet of dim sum and other oriental treats, complete with a beverage bar where you can pick drinks, water and coffee from.
The Noodle Bar cook-to-order menu
Adjacent to the Noodle Bar is the Coffee Loft, serving up barista-made coffee, along with an array of pastries and cakes to choose from. A little known secret is that this place also serves up Haagen-Dazs ice cream and the very local Hong Kong milk tea!
Iced latte and Haagen Dazs ice cream
To sum it up: I love the lounge. the open top concept on the upper floor exudes a feeling of space and allowing plenty of light into the lounge during daytime, and the multi zone concept gives passengers a choice regardless of the time of the day they visit. Serving up hot favourites such as freshly cooked noodles, a comfort food for many Asians, is also a big plus point for me.
Elegant design, fully stocked pantry and food bar
My only regret is the lack of time to spend in this lounge as the immigration lines were far longer than I planned for. The business class lounge is amply spacious, although there were quite a far number of passengers inside given its proximity to the immigration checkpoints.
If you have never been into a Cathay Pacific lounge at Hong Kong airport, this is definitely a good place to start with before checking out the other lounges offered by the airline.
