Hong Kong and Macau - Taxi Travel time to Central HK

Hello, Am very impressed with the knowledgeable information replies in this forum. Would like to know what is the estimated travel time from the HK airport to Central HK. I realize the time depends on traffic and weather situations.
This will be our first trip to Hong Kong with an evening arrival on United. Have read the post about the HK Airport Express. Since there will be two of us it appears that price difference between taking a taxi and using the Airport Express is not substantial. Am guessing taxi will be about $300HK . Will be staying with friends on Kennedy in Central HK. After a 14 hr flight I am more interested in the convenience factor of airport to door of apartment as opposed to getting baggage to the Express then catching a taxi at the station in HK. If it is raining would probably be a nightmare wait to find one. Taking MTR from station to correct stop then walking a few blocks with baggage is not appealing either. I did that route once in Shanghai just to ride the Maglev.
The Airport Express sounds like an option on the way out. With United and it appears I can pre-check the baggage at the Express terminal and not have to deal with it at the airport.
Thanks..

As you acknowledge, it varies by time and weather, but the one time I took a cab, it took me an hour or so.

There is a small discount if you buy Airport Express tickets as a group (2 or more). I personally wouldn't give up the pure speed and reliability of the Airport Express but if you take a taxi it usually takes around an hour to get to Central in the evening. Airport Express is definitely the way to go on the way back.

Very fast replies, thanks.
I was also guessing about a 1hr. Maybe a bit more. As indicated I am inclined towards the taxi on entry. Time looks like it would be about the same. Am in the lazy side and not enthused about schlepping the bags around after the 14hr flight to save a few dollars.
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First, don't add irrelevant information into your consideration. You are not transfering to MTR - there are no stairs, no ramps, very short walk to taxi. And even if it's raining, you'll find plenty of taxis at the Airport Express station in Central. There seems to be always a huge line of taxis, especially since you're arriving late.

But anyways, taxi from airport to Kennedy Road at night takes around 45 minutes. No much difference between that and taking Airport Express and transfering to taxi. Cost is also basically the same for 2 persons.

Arriving around afternoon rush hour, on two different occasions, I found no taxis at the Central Airtrain station. In both cases, one cab would drift in every few minutes, but even the shortest queue would have taken a long time.

However, if you are taking a SFO/LAX-HKG flight, you should arrive at an OK time to get a taxi, and it really isn't much of a walk to the taxi stand.

Arriving around afternoon rush hour, on two different occasions, I found no taxis at the Central Airtrain station. In both cases, one cab would drift in every few minutes, but even the shortest queue would have taken a long time.

However, if you are taking a SFO/LAX-HKG flight, you should arrive at an OK time to get a taxi, and it really isn't much of a walk to the taxi stand.

Yes, around 4PM is when taxi drivers change shift. It is more difficult to find a taxi at around that time.

Generally, taxis are plentiful at the Airport Express Hong Kong Station. You should not have to wait for more than 5~10 minutes at worst.

I personally like the Airport Express. It's fast and convenient. I usually top up my Octopus card at the same time when I purchase the Airport Express ticket.

First, don't add irrelevant information into your consideration. You are not transfering to MTR - there are no stairs, no ramps, very short walk to taxi. And even if it's raining, you'll find plenty of taxis at the Airport Express station in Central. There seems to be always a huge line of taxis, especially since you're arriving late.

Fortunately I haven't had to deal with the mad dash for the taxi line nonsense at HK AE station for a long time, but there are times of the day (shift change, rush hour, pretty much whenever it rains) where the people off the train waiting in line for a taxi will be still in line when the next train (and the one after that) arrive. If you are the last passenger off the last train, you can be very well cooling your heels at the taxi queue for longer than it would take you to drive from the airport to anywhere in the island.

We have decided that barring any unforeseen circumstances, on arrival we will be taking a taxi from the airport to our accommodations. With a month in HK I will definitely have time investigate the Airport Express option on departure. My main interest was the approximate travel time and that has been answered.
Thanks to all for the information.....

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You made the right choice!

Fortunately I haven't had to deal with the mad dash for the taxi line nonsense at HK AE station for a long time, but there are times of the day (shift change, rush hour, pretty much whenever it rains) where the people off the train waiting in line for a taxi will be still in line when the next train (and the one after that) arrive. If you are the last passenger off the last train, you can be very well cooling your heels at the taxi queue for longer than it would take you to drive from the airport to anywhere in the island.

From 4pm onwards it's quiet challenging to get a taxi at airport express Hong Kong Station (never tried Kowloon station at those hours). The situation doesn't improve until 6pm-ish for my own experience.

For late arrival into Kowloon station that can be challenging as well especially for Friday. Last Friday I caught 00:48 airport express, upon arrival at Kowloon station there's 50+ people waiting for taxi (which I decided to walk to W hotel to catch a cab and skip the line, quiet a long walk though)