Indeed, someone is always upping the ante; just recently, Air France announced that it was refurbishing its first - and business - class
cabins in an effort to compete with Asian carriers that offer a
superior hard
product.
The American Airlines flights to Hong Kong have virtually no award space on them on that moment, but I would rather fly Cathay Pacific's premium
cabins than American Airlines» anyways as they are much
superior products — read my trip report when I flew Cathay Pacific First Class from New York to Hong Kong.