RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 9 – Auckland (AKL) to Hong Kong (HKG)

By Nige on January 26, 2026 at 9:54 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: AKL | Auckland | Cathay Pacific | HKG | Hong Kong | Ibis | Skycity

I already had my boarding passes, so I was straight through security and on to the international lounge. Cathay Pacific didn’t operate its own lounge at Auckland, instead partnering with Air New Zealand.

The lounge itself was perfectly pleasant — nothing especially memorable, but comfortable enough. The food looked decent, the coffee was fine, and there was a good variety of seating. One highlight was the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, which offered excellent views across the apron.

I’d accumulated a fair number of work emails, so I spent the first ninety minutes dealing with those. Several were time-sensitive, and it felt far better to clear them down rather than let them pile up while hopping across time zones.

Once that was out of the way, I grabbed a light lunch in the lounge: a lamb dish with rice. The lamb was nicely tender and overall it was a very tasty meal.

I headed down to Gate 3 around an hour before the scheduled departure time to hand over my documents for Cathay Pacific’s checks. It seemed — understandably — that each airline wanted to carry out its own document verification the first time I flew with them on a booking.

The inbound aircraft was running late, which caused a knock-on delay to our departure. The priority boarding area became fairly busy, but the atmosphere remained polite and orderly throughout.

Boarding began at 2:45pm. After several wheelchair passengers had boarded, I made my way on and settled into seat 19A — the back row of the forward Business Class cabin, and perfectly positioned for a swift exit via door 2L.

From the moment I reached my seat, the quality of the experience was obvious. Big smiles from every crew member, high-quality monitors and headphones, a well-presented amenity kit, and a handwritten welcome note waiting at my seat — all small touches that made a big impression.

The seat itself was fairly standard for an A350 and modern Business Class, but well designed and comfortable.

I chatted briefly with a few nearby passengers and helped one lady stow her collection of bags in the overhead locker.

I was offered a pre-departure glass of champagne, which I happily accepted.

Even the in-flight entertainment selection impressed. The Classics section alone included All the President’s Men, The Pelican Brief, A Few Good Men, The Fugitive, and more.

Naturally, I started with All the President’s Men. If it’s available, it’s one of those films I’m always happy to watch again.

We pushed back around twenty-five minutes late, though the captain was confident we’d make up time en route. Before departure, several crew members stopped by to offer a warm welcome, reinforcing the very positive impression I already had of the airline. There were plenty of lessons here for British Airways.

Lunch service was impressive, with a notably wide choice of main courses — though, interestingly, only two starters. I chose the marinated prawns with sweet chilli mayonnaise. I usually avoid fish, but this felt safe, and it was very good.

For the main course, I opted for pork spare ribs with rice and a side soup. Another high-quality dish, full of flavour. Dessert was a panna cotta, which was excellent — though still not quite in the same league as the Fiji Airways desserts I’d enjoyed recently.

After eating, I grabbed some much-needed rest. I was particularly impressed by the thickness of the bedding package, which included a mattress topper. I made the bed up myself, though I’m sure the crew would have been happy to help if I’d asked.

I woke as we hit some turbulence. It coincided with the time Vick was up for coffee and feeding the naughty pusskins, so I messaged her and was relieved to hear her cold was improving.

I then spent some time reviewing an International Date Line PowerPoint that Vick had prepared to mark my “lost day”. I was genuinely touched by the effort she’d gone to in commemorating it.

Later, I watched Enemy of the State and placed my order for dinner. It was one of those films I was convinced I’d seen many times before, yet it felt oddly unfamiliar on this viewing. Will Smith and Gene Hackman were excellent, as ever.

Dinner followed shortly afterwards. The steak sandwich with thick-cut chips turned out to be an excellent choice, with the steak cooked just right. I simply couldn’t imagine BA serving something like this.

Dessert was a mousse served on the same tray — very nice, even if it couldn’t quite compete with Fiji Airways’ offerings. Still, no complaints from seat 19A.

The final part of the flight was a little bumpy, but we landed safely at Hong Kong International Airport, arriving into Gate S46 in Terminal 1.

Next up: Late evening in Hong Kong on Day 9 of my Round The World trip of a lifetime.

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Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026