Review: Cathay Pacific’s free business class WiFi

High flyers in Cathay Pacific first class have long enjoyed free WiFi, and that perk is now being rolled out to business class passengers and Cathay Diamond frequent flyers in premium economy and economy.

The Oneworld member is currently trialling free Internet on one of its Airbus A350 jets, which in turn is flying a number of routes, and we plan to gradually increase the number of aircraft involved,” a Cathay spokesperson tells Executive Traveller.

“This trial is crucial for ensuring the quality of our WiFi service across our fleets.”

The aim of the trials is to help determine how heavily free WiFi is likely to be used on different routes and at different times of the day and night.

That in turn will help assess how much additional bandwidth is required to each plane, to be shared among passengers.

“Pending a successful trial, the service will launch in the coming months,” the Cathay spokesperson says.

An Executive Traveller reader who found herself on board on of those trial flights reported an announcement was made (in both English and Cantonese) after take off to advise that free WiFi is available.

Download speeds were clocked at around 5Mbps, regardless of what time it was during the flight and how many people in the business class cabin were awake and online, indicating that speeds might be capped in order to deliver a reliable rate at all times.

Cathay Pacific's business class passengers will soon enjoy free WiFi on all flights.

However, Executive Traveller understands that while free inflight Internet will be offered to Diamond tier members of the Cathay rewards program, that benefit will not extend to Oneworld Emerald members (such as Qantas Platinum and Qantas Platinum One frequent flyers).

It’s also not yet known if your Cathay Diamond number must be associated with your booking, or if you could list another airline’s frequent flyer account on your booking but still use your Cathay Diamond number to log into the WiFi network and jump online for free.

While not taking bets, we expect free WiFi in Cathay business class and for Cathay Diamonds will arrive roughly around the same time as the debut of Cathay’s new flagship 777 Aria Suites business class.

How much does Cathay Pacific WiFi cost?

At the time of writing, Cathay Pacific’s paid WiFi program has three tiers, based on how long you are connected:

• US$10 for one hour
• US$13 for up to six hours
• US$20 for over six hours, through to the entire flight

On flights of six hours or less there’s also a US$4 Message Pass which lets you send and receive text messages (but no photos) through the likes of Apple and Google Messages, WhatsApp, WeChat and Facebook Messenger.

Note that while the six-hour and entire-flight plans can be paused – while you enjoy your meal or even watch a video – the one-hour plan can’t be paused, so choose your timing carefully and make full use of that hour.

In addition, it’s not possible to upgrade from the hour-long option to a six-hour or full-flight plan if it turns out you want or need to stay online longer.

Once those 60 minutes are up, your only option for staying connected is to pay for a new plan at full price – and even if that's only paying for one extra hour, you’ll end up having paid the same US$20 as for a whole flight pass yet had only two hours of connectivity.

All things considered, then, the US$13 six-hour and US$20 entire-flight plans offer the best value.

You can switch between devices – for example, signing up on your laptop, but later in the flight using your smartphone – although you have to log out from one device before logging in on another.

Cathay Diamonds will get free WiFi even if they're in premium economy or economy.

Vodafone roaming on Cathay Pacific flights

If you have a Vodafone mobile plan, you can also take advantage of Vodafone’s $5/day inflight mobile roaming on Cathay Pacific flights.

(Cathay is one of around 20 airlines which allow Vodafone inflight mobile roaming: others include Emirates, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines.)

This works along the same lines as Vodafone’s $5/day international roaming, and delivers “3G-like speeds” via satellite – except it uses your phone’s mobile data rather than WiFi, with AeroMobile selected as your mobile network.

And if you activate Vodafone’s $5 airline roaming during your flight and within 24 hours of landing in a country covered by $5 global roaming – such as on a Cathay Pacific flight from Australia to Hong Kong – this is counted as the same $5/day charge, rather than seeing you slugged twice, once for $5 in the air and again for $5 when you land.

How fast is Cathay Pacific WiFi?

The speed of your Cathay Pacific WiFi connection depends on which aircraft you’re flying on, because some aircraft use different satellite technology.

The Airbus A350s generally offer paid WiFi speeds of around 3Mb, which is sufficient for basic tasks like email and Web browsing.

The Boeing 777s use an ever faster satellite system which reportedly delivers up to 10Mbps.

All the same, this is nothing like using the Internet at home or the office – forget about loading up and switching between dozens of Web browser windows or apps, as inflight Internet tends to stutter and come along in bursts.

How do I connect to Cathay Pacific WiFi?

You can connect directly to the Cathay Pacific inflight WiFi network from any device – a smartphone, tablet, laptop, ebook reader, even a smartwatch – in exactly the same way that you’d connect to a WiFi hotspot at work, home, a hotel or your local cafe.

Browse for local WiFi networks, select the Cathay Pacific network and your browser should pop open to help you connect (if it doesn’t, just type in www.wifi.cathaypacific.com).

Select your WiFi plan, create an account if it’s your first time using the service (or log in if you’re a returning customer), enter your credit card details, and you’re sorted. Accepted payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay, Paypal and Alipay.

Note that WiFi won’t be available during the take-off and landing phases of the flight, nor when flying over the northern polar region - common on flights to North America.