I am travelling Hong Kong-Perth on the older 330-300 with CX.

I am travelling Hong Kong-Perth on the older 330-300 with CX. Is there seats in business where you can see and speak to your partner? If so, which ones

This is one of the key criticisms of Cathay's older business class seats, Rob - they are very self-contained, with high partitions around them, hence the 'cubicle-class' name (and the less charitable 'coffin-class' tag!). Good if you're a solo traveller wanting privacy, bad if you're travelling with others and want to chat a bit. Cathays new business class makes some concessions to pairs of travellers with the two seats in the middle row, but in the older business class there's nothing along those lines.

I enjoyed the older CX business class and I was travelling with my partner. Once in awhile we would peek into each others cubicle to check-up on each other and was able to enjoy some 'me' time.

Yes, privacy was a winner for the older CX business class... I'm told it was very popular with female business travellers for that reason, too!

I am also travelling with my other half to AUH which I believe the HKG-AUH sector is still with the old 'coffin' configured aircraft.

So which seats are better for couples to choose?  Two seats next to each other by the window (ie 17K and 18K) or one seat by the window and another across the aisle (say 17A and 17D)?

It doesn't really have any impact... I tend to prefer two seats next to each other (ie behind each other in terms of row number). If you want to chat then one person can move to the ottoman of the other seat (not a whole lot of legroom though).

Thanks for the info. Great help

I prefer flying in the old business class because it is nice after a long holiday with annoying friends to have privacy. I found that the bed was comfortable and I probably had the best sleep in the sky on that flight.

You can see your friend while in the sky because the little footrest at the end of your chair doubles as a seperate chair for a guest. Of course they cannot sit there in take off and landing, but it is nice to have a coffee with them.

Hope this helped

(BTW the seats are really comfy and you will enjoy your flight ><)