Cathay Pacific in Economy with Kids: Hong Kong to Brisbane
Are you flying in economy with Cathay Pacific with your kids and want to know what to expect on board?
My kids and I flew on 4 long-haul Cathay Pacific flights in 2025. I always want to know what it is like on board so that I can plan what to bring.
What meals will be served? I always order my kids the kids’ meal option. What kinds of meals do they serve? Do they offer snacks? Will there be multiple options? Cathay Pacific taught me that everything I thought about long-haul meal service was wrong!
What will the onboard entertainment be like? Is it enough to get us through the flight, or should I bring more activities?
If you are flying in the economy section on Cathay Pacific, with or without kids, and want to know what to expect on board, keep reading.
We usually use Cover-More travel insurance and get the middle tier option.
While flights are similar, no two routes are the same. Here are the other flights we took with Cathay Pacific.
Cathay Pacific Economy Seating
As this was the 4th of our long-haul flights, I did not get a picture of the seat. If you want to know what the actual chair looks like, check the other flight posts.
Each chair had a pillow and blanket on it when we arrived. There was also a pair of headphones, and of all the flights we had taken with Cathay Pacific, this was the first pair that were not wrapped in plastic.
Did you know: You can ask for kids’ headphones. I had no idea, but I saw someone ask.
While this flight still had a 3-3-3 seating configuration, the seats were smaller and a lot less comfortable. Good thing this flight was scheduled for 7 hours and 21 minutes, less than half of the flight time of our last flight.
Our flight was scheduled for 11:55 am and took off at 12:27 pm. At 12:45 pm, we were handed a water bottle.
Sometimes, these are on the seats when you arrive on Cathay Pacific.
Drink service, including a bag of peanuts, arrived at 1:05 pm, slightly more than 30 minutes after takeoff.
Onboard Entertainment
Each seat has a built-in touch screen.
There is a variety of movies, TV shows, games, and audio options.
You can opt to turn on kids’ mode. My kids sometimes do that on their own to make it easier to see what movies and TV shows to watch. They turn it off to play games, as there aren’t many options on the kids’ mode.
Cathay Pacific has a wide variety of media, including Asian, European, and American options. I do find it a little hard to see all of the options unless you choose the A-Z setting.
As always, our favorite game, 2048, was an option. I also played Tetris and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
While I used to watch movies on long hauls, I tend to watch a lot more TV now. Sometimes, I watch new-to-me series like Abbott Elementary, but I tend to rewatch old favorites.
Cathay Pacific Menu
One of my favorite things about flying with Cathay Pacific is getting a menu at the beginning of the flight.
This helps us to know what to expect.
I would love to see the menu in advance, but on these flights, it has either been on the seat when we board or handed out soon after.
It seems standard to receive 2 meals on board a long-haul flight with Cathay Pacific. We were served 2 meals on each of the 4 long-haul flights, including one that was 16 hours long.
Unfortunately, galley snacks, cup noodles, and other snacks were not handed out on this flight. I was expecting to be able to get up and get snacks as needed. I was really disappointed not to be offered Hong Kong tarts like on our previous Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong.
This is important to know for those who bring snacks on board. I didn’t bring much for myself on this flight, but as always, I packed extra for my kids just in case.
Lunch Meal Service
Those who order special meals always receive them first.
The kids’ meals were served an hour after takeoff. The main entree was pasta with meat sauce and veggies. It came with potato salad, jello cubes, a macadamia shortbread cookie, a roll with butter, ice cream, and apple juice.
My daughter noticed that this was a repeat meal. We rarely get offered the same meal when traveling, but she was right. They had this meal on the Hong Kong to New York City route.
Twenty minutes after the special requested meals were served, the standard meal service began.
The standard lunch included a smoked salmon and orzo salad, bread and butter, fruit, and ice cream.
Entree options included:
- Roasted duck and conpoy rice with lotus leaf
- Italian sausage, cherry tomato, and bell pepper orecchiette
- Cannellini beans with cheddar cheese sauce
I don’t eat duck or sausage, so it was an easy choice for me. I usually swap with a kid if they like one of the options, but I don’t eat meat sauce.
As always, I gave my ice cream to my son so that he would eat something. He also ate my fruit.
Refreshment Meal Service
I am not sure why the dinner service was called refreshment.
About 2 hours before landing, the lights were turned on. The kids’ meals and other specially requested meals were served immediately.
I am not really sure what the main dish was. It seemed to be a chicken meatball with cheese. I could be wrong. It came with veggies.
The kids’ meal also included a roll with butter, pasta salad, mango jelly, a macadamia shortbread cookie, and apple juice.
Standard meals and drink service began about 20 minutes after the special meals were served.
All standard meals included fruit, bread with butter, and a cheese mousse cake with blueberry compote.
There were only 2 options for the second meal, which seems standard. We could choose:
- Seafood and egg fried rice with turmeric and choy sum
- Slow-cooked chicken with penne pasta and creamy cheese sauce
I opted for the chicken, based on a different meal I had received early and loved. I did not like this dish. It was probably the worst meal I had with Cathay Pacific.
In the end, I ate the veggies from the kids’ meal and tried the main dish, but stopped when I couldn’t figure out what it was. Neither of my kids tried it.
Hong Kong to Brisbane in Economy with Kids Wrap Up
As this was our 4th long haul in the economy section of Cathay Pacific in less than 2 months, I felt like an expert.
Still, I realized even with the most research and life experience, you can’t completely determine what the flight will be like.
Things I have learned from flying with Cathay Pacific:
- You get a menu, but it does not include special meal requests
- Snacks are only available to get on your own on the longer flights.
- They turn the lights on mid-flight to serve a meal on the longer flights.
- There is a wide variety of entertainment options, though don’t expect TV shows to start at season 1 or even be complete seasons.
- Space is dependent on the plane, obviously, but our planes varied.
In this case, I consider the 15-16-hour flight to be the longer one, while the 7-8-hour flight is shorter.
Things to Do in Brisbane
If you are looking for things to do once you arrive in Brisbane, here are a few pages to help you.
