Cathay Pacific’s flagship first class lounge, The Wing, at Hong Kong International recently re-opened after a 2.5 year renovation. They’ve doubled the size of their a la carte restaurant, added a Champagne bar, and have 12 shower suites and 5 cabanas including full size baths. So is The Wing now the best Oneworld First Class lounge?!
No, but it is still pretty awesome.
I spent a morning/afternoon at the The Wing and found the lounge to be fantastic on many levels however I feel the Qantas First Class Lounge at Sydney is still the top dog.
A la carte restaurant
The Haven is the a la carte restaurant at The Wing. It was already crowded on a Thursday morning when I entered. I grabbed a seat and visited the buffet first. There was a good mix of western and eastern options. Perusing the menu I found the only a la carte options offered were egg dishes. Everything else on the menu were items I could have grabbed from the buffet. The Peninsula co-branding was pretty cool but the service was standard restaurant quality and by no means personalized.
Compare that to the sit down restaurant in Sydney which featured a breakfast menu that rivaled a strong restaurant.
Champagne
I loved the Champagne bar at The Wing which was a self-serve bar that featured 3 top notch champagnes. The Wing also had a 10 seat bar featuring top shelf liquors.
Qantas Sydney had a similar Champagne offering though it was not self-serve. They also had a larger full service top shelf bar.
Planespotting
I found the views from The Wing a bit frustrating because they could be good except the ledge means you can’t see the airfield seated. You unfortunately need to stand.
In Sydney you can sit on your butt and see downtown along with all the jumbo jets your heart desires.
The bottom line
Both Cathay Pacific’s newly renovated, “The Wing” first class lounge and Qantas’ First Class Lounge in Sydney are fantastic first class lounges. Us Oneworld Emerald members should thank our lucky stars we can access such high quality lounges while flying on economy tickets. If your desire is to experience the very best First Class lounge Oneworld lounge has to offer, head down under.
About alex
Alex loves to travel and does so a lot. Logging 100,000 flight miles each year over the past 4 years, Alex uses points and miles to power his passion. Alex is continuously striving to experience the far reaches of the globe. In his day job, Alex is a Management Consultant frequently on the road advising Technology organizations. I love thinking about, reading about, and talking about all things travel. Feel free to reach me at pmmalex@gmail.com
Sign up for Email || Twitter || Facebook |
Hotel Offers || Airline Offers || Bank Offers || Cash Back Offers
Whilst I think both FCL lounges are great, I prefer the CX lounge as a whole. For QF lounge, the WOW factor is set only in the restaurant style cuisine and it lacks the overall facility of The Wing.
I feel CX The Wing has an overall good balance to make it the best overall lounge and HKG is more conveniently located as a hub then Sydney.
Having said that, oneworld offers quality lounges across its partners and having FFP amongst oneworld carriers having three levels (Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald) as opposed to Star Alliance’s two levels (Silver and Gold) meaning one can qualify in any oneworld partner FFP to gain FCL lounge access rather than belong to respective carriers FFP to obtain highest level which only translates to Star Gold and gaining access to that carriers FCL lounge. For example, if you are SQ’s PPS Club Solitaire, you gain access to SQ’s FCL lounge when flying with SQ but you only achieve Star Gold status, resulting in business class lounge access when flying with a Star Alliance partner and accessing their lounge.
This is where oneworld really shines!
The cabanas in the BA CCR are a league above those in the Wing. In every way
I missed the re-opening of the Wing by a week when I was flying CX F but I’ll be experiencing the Qantas F lounge in January and can’t wait! I arrive at 7:30am from Christchurch on a separate ticket on NZ. Will I be able to check in for my 3:30pm Qantas F flight from SYD-LAX that early so I can hang in the lounge for the day?
I love The Wing and fortunate enough to be able to enjoy them twice in a month. It is by far the best on Oneworld so far.
Hmmm, I am sitting in the Sydney QF F lounge right now, and was just at The Wing the day before yesterday (with a cabana.) It depends on what you are interested in. I love the views here, and my breakfast (eggs benedict) was spectacular. The cabanas were great, but I found the Wing pretty crowded.
I love all the A380s here – right now, there are Emirates and Qantas A380s right here, I just watched one of the Qantas birds land and pull up right in front of me. I love views, so I am going with QF.
Come on, AA!
Ill be flying Cathay in January in first class. How do I get access to The Wing? Just show the boarding pass? I have the same question with air chinas first class. Thanks
Grado, As you check in at HKG airport, they will give you a F Class lounge invitation. I am sure it will be the same as Air China also.
Andy F. – If it’s any consolation, the Admirals Club in Denver had the best beer of any of the International First Class lounges….Oskar Blues on draft. 🙂
@Rebecca D – Yes, that shouldn’t be an issue.
Good issues to debate. I’d give the edge to the Wing.