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Cathay Pacific complimentary Wi-Fi in First and Business class
Just as hotels eventually stopped charging for Wi-Fi once a few hotels offered it for free, most airlines are now offering free wifi at least for business and first as well as members of their frequent flyer scheme. Cathay Pacific is the latest airline to offer customers travelling in First or Business class complimentary Wi-Fi service on their flight. Cathay Pacific has been providing complimentary Wi-Fi services to First class customers since 2022. Following successful trials on selected flights, the airline has now extended complimentary Wi-Fi to Business class customers on all connected aircraft, and will be further extending it to Cathay Diamond members travelling in all cabins in November this year.
Customers using Cathay Pacific’s complimentary Wi-Fi service can enjoy the same experience as paid Wi-Fi, enabling them to check emails, browse the internet, stream audio, use social media and messaging apps, and access cloud storage services and other professional applications. Customers can connect with one device at a time, and can switch between devices at any time during their flight. This is better than many other free wi-fi options that are often restricted to messaging only or a certain amount of time. It is also really handy to be able to switch devices as I get really annoyed if I want to work on my laptop but can’t also access messages on my phone.
Over 90% of Cathay Pacific’s fleet is already equipped with Wi-Fi, including all long-haul aircraft. The airline plans to extend connectivity across its entire fleet by mid-2025.
Discount on Accor Membership
For many years the Ibis Business paid card was a great way to get Gold status in Accor. Unfortunately, that card was killed off, and the new alternative is not quite as good. However, it does have some benefits that can make sense to pay the fee for, especially when there is a discount on membership as there is at the moment. You will need to do the maths if you have a trip planned or use Accor a lot as you get 10% off anyway for being a normal ALL Accor member.
ALL PLUS Voyageur provides a 20% discount across 10 Luxury & Premium hotel brands and 15% discount in 9 Midscale & Economy brands.
- Luxury (3) : Sofitel, SO/, Sofitel LEGEND
- Premium (7) : MGallery, 21C Museums Hotels, Mondrian, Pullman, Mövenpick, Grand Mercure, The Sebel
- Midscale (4) : Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, Tribe
- Economy (5) : ibis Styles, ibis, Adagio Access, greet, ibis budget
ALL PLUS includes booking priority unlocking a room up to 2 days prior to arrival, even if the hotel is fully booked. It also gives you 20 nights credits towards your status, which is equivalent to silver. If you wanted to make Gold, that is only another 10 paid nights on top.
The usual cost of ALL Voyageir is €199 but it is now reduced to €159 until 18 September.
Lufthansa first class Porsche transfers ending
While the current Lufthansa first-class seats are nothing exciting, the overall experience has plenty of luxury touches, such as the private first-class terminal and being driven directly to the aircraft. Up until now, it was made even more luxurious by some of those plane transfers being made in a Porsche, thanks to a partnership between Lufthansa and the luxury car manufacturer. It was never guaranteed, and often, for the sake of efficiency, transfers are in a Mercedes minivan, so overall, it is no great loss that the Porsches will no longer be offered. The partnership is due to come to an end by the end of 2024.
Swiss recently announced a new partnership with BMW, so I would not be surprised if the same is not announced for Lufthansa shortly too.
