Our flight to Bali was operated by an older A330 with 2-2-2 seating in business class. It was quite a downgrade from the Cathay First Class flight we had just taken. My wife even said “is this even business class?” which was pretty funny.

When I first booked the flights, this was a newer 1-2-1 configuration, but a few months before the trip, Cathay switched the plane. I had grabbed us two seats closer to the window as I wanted to be able to get some views of Bali on the approach. Business class boarded through a separate door which was nice, and it was only about 2/3 full.

The seat was basically similar to a US domestic first class seat with a bit more recline and a bit more legroom. It was old but well-maintained. There were headphones and a water bottle waiting for us along with menus. We each gladly accepted another Cathay Delight as a welcome drink.

CX785 HKG-DPS
Scheduled: 10:00-15:10
Actual: 10:05-15:15

We left the gate pretty much on time and after takeoff, we maneuvered around the mountains and headed almost directly due south to Bali. I got some good views of Hong Kong Airport and Macao on takeoff.

With a 10am departure, I was dreading that we’d have yet another breakfast, but thankfully, there was a lunch service on this flight. I had a look through the menu.

The meal started with a side salad and a Balinese spicy chicken salad which was really good. We were also offered a drink and nuts with it which probably should have been served separately beforehand.

We were served our main courses next. We both went with the Malaysian beef rendang which tasted better than it looked.

Unlike on a similar length flight on Delta, we were actually offered warm bread. I chose the garlic bread.

After the meal, an old-fashioned dessert trolley made its way down the aisle. Fruit, cheese or ice cream were offered.

I decided on the ice cream.

After the meal, the friendly flight attendants came around and offered coffee or tea. They were visible throughout the flight and not yapping in the galley.

As we started our descent, our Aussie captain announced that we may have a delayed approach as there were some rainstorms around Bali. We ended up doing a couple of loops and making our approach from the east.

We touched down around 3:05pm and had a short taxi to our gate. It was raining pretty heavily, but that was basically the last rain we saw on the trip which was surprising as it was in fact rainy season.

I had applied for and received our e-visas a few weeks before the trip. I also submitted our health declarations and customs forms a couple of days prior. The arrival process was smooth as we used the e-gates and then showed a QR-code at customs. I don’t really understand why anyone would wait and apply for their visa on arrival.

Our driver’s dad (more about that in the next post) was waiting for us and we were soon on our way to the Andaz. After 37 hours of travel, we had made it to Bali!

Up Next: Getting Around in Bali

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