Cancelled and Abandoned
Cathay Pacific will abandon you if they cancel your flight. My wife and I were scheduled to fly from Hong Kong to Rome in business class on September 25, 2025. Unfortunately, our flight was canceled due to adverse weather, and we were rebooked for October 4, 2025—nine days later—despite my repeated discussions with customer service about needing to reach Rome by September 29 for an Iceland trip.
This situation was further exacerbated by several factors:
• I proactively contacted customer service right after learning about the weather forecast, hoping to reschedule. They assured me I would be "protected" by a "protect flight" that would be the nearest available option, even if it involved transferring or flying with another airline. I was shocked when they rescheduled me for October 4; apparently, nine days is considered a short timeframe for Cathay Pacific.
• Given our numerous prepaid hotels and activities in Italy and Iceland, the new flight simply didn’t work for us. I made about ten calls over 48 hours leading up to our departure, but they completely ignored my needs, repeatedly stating that all flights were full and there was nothing they could do. I inquired about other airlines, reasoning that as a global aviation hub, Hong Kong should have available flights, especially after spending HK$88,370 (US$11,330) for our tickets. I even researched 3-4 alternative routes with airlines like Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Sichuan Airlines, China Airlines etc. that could get us to Rome before September 29. I was willing to cover any additional transfer costs for these alternatives, but Cathay Pacific rejected all my suggestions, claiming they lacked commercial agreements with those airlines. Ironically, they could not clarify what agreements they did have for flights to Europe.
• Ultimately, they suggested I cancel my entire ticket and rebook, which was a huge, costly inconvenience: flights booked within 24 hours of departure are extremely expensive, and I also had to cancel my return leg from Amsterdam, which is absolutely absurd given that it was Cathay whom canceled my first leg.
• This experience highlighted two critical issues: first, their customer service seems to provide half-truths to get you off the line, passing you to another agent as the situation spirals out of control. Second, the term “protect flight” is a misnomer; I felt anything but protected.
As a result, I had to spend approximately HK$120,000 (US$15,380) to secure new flights to Rome on September 25, 2025, while waiting for a refund from Cathay Pacific. This amount is 36% more than our original ticket price, a burden we unnecessarily incurred due to their gross negligence and poor management. This adds to the time and emotional toll of countless stressful calls, each one feeling like I was pleading my case to a brick wall. As a Marco Polo Gold member (OneWorld Sapphire), I expected much better. The behavior of this flagship airline in a world city is truly shameful.
