Travis & Lee on 
Erica B. on 
are you gonna eat that? on 
Ed on 
Jackie on 
We were blessed by the travel gods this Christmas as airports across Canada were paralyzed by snowstorms. We managed to fly out of Calgary to Vancouver with only a few hours delay, when the day before and after were filled with cancellations.
Then I think we were one of only half a dozen flights in total given the OK to take off from Vancouver International on Dec. 24 as we headed for Hong Kong.
We watched dozens of snow loaders try to clear the runway as thick snow continued to fall. I was born and raised in Vancouver and hadn’t seen that much white stuff come down so fast in a long, long time.
We were also lucky enough — with a travel agent mother and a few strings — to get bumped up to business class and spend a few hours in the Cathay Pacific executive lounge.
The realm of the rich and the business traveller is nice: sleek furniture, free wi-fi, and neatly arranged newspapers.
B.C. wine was chilling in an ice bucket, hard liquor hung from a lovely rack on the wall and all the Evian, orange juice and cappuccinos one could want were laid out for the taking.
A steam tray of sticky rice and dumplings was replenished regularly, along with triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
I could get used to this.
Meanwhile, Air Canada passengers are still waiting for their lost luggage.
Sigh! I’ve only dreamed of flying Cathay Pacific! The Asian breakfast is what sold me.
Lucky ducks – My family couldn’t fly Calgary-Vancouver on the 25th and ended up having to do Calgary-Toronto-Hong Kong on the 28th. Of course they flew Air Canada.
If you ever, ever get a glimmer of chance to get into Cathay Pacific’s executive lounge at HK’s International Airport…DO IT. It leaves the VCR lounge far behind, with an Asian made-to-order noodle bar, multiple flavours of Haagen-Dazs on demand, a selection of fresh juices and all the snacks you could want, plus a multitude of HK gossip magazines. And I’ve only been to the Executive Class lounge — I’ve heard they offer massages in the First Class one.
agree with Liz! We hung out at Cathay Pacific’s ‘The Wing’ lounge at HK airport for 4 hours. This lounge has two levels, Kevin was excited to discover the games room on the lowel level but quickly lost interest after playing a few games (he said it was ONLY Playstation 2). The best part: the private shower rooms! I think it was nicer than a lot of hotels I’ve been to. Each shower is private with sink/toilet and a sweet sweet rain shower head – towels and toiletries are provided. It was perfect after such a long day in the city and in between flights (plus I had caught a nasty cold). Unfortunately we missed out on the noodle bar! We weren’t hungry when we arrived but when we did want to sample some, the bar had closed. It closes at 11:45pm and opens at 6:30am. We ate lots of the tasty cute little char siu baos though. The only downfall besides our flight being delayed an additional hour (after a full 12 hour layover) the internet connection on the provided terminals were painfully painfully slow.
After experiencing the Wing and seeing your pictures of Vancouver’s lounge, the Toronto Cathay Pacific KLM Crown lounge is definitely way behind in terms of design sleekness and amenities. The set up of the self-serve alcoholic bar was reminiscent of a bachelor’s pad but at least the internet was relatively fast.