Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Mob scene at HKG transit desk

A ton of pax and hardly any staff at transfer desk...I live in HKG so I almost never do a transfer but had to yesterday. Was first on KA907 from PEK, but all flights were all delayed 3+ hours due to fog and we didn't push back until 2:30pm. Plane was full, hence a lot of passengers missed flights (including mine, CX882 onwards to LAX). Would've gone straight from PEK but those flights were delayed indefinitely.

Got to HKG, sprinted to the transit desk fast figuring I wasn't the only passenger with connection problems. As I was there no fewer than 30 pax lined up behind me. . .in the MPC/J/F line alone. More than that in the regular line. I felt horrible for the staff. . .two staff to serve the MPC line, one to serve the regular line. It got unruly quickly because I upgraded from J to F for the night LAX flight, which took like a half hour to calculate because I had other carriers on the itinerary. So I was that jerk at the front of the line who takes forever. It seemed everyone waiting had to go to Taipei, they all just started yelling at the staff over my shoulder (to which CX yelled back all the remaining Taipei flights that evening were full). A pax a few back yelled right over my shoulder in Mandarin at the CX staff why this one foreigner guy (me) in front had taken 30 minutes when there was a long line. CX employee yells back in Mandarin "He's paying for a first-class ticket, wait in line!" Not exactly a defining moment for the bunch.

As I was leaving it was escalating to passengers (loudly) claiming that CX staff lied about the number of available seats. A few people said it's always like that at the transit desk. I was surprised how few CX staff were there though. . . I suppose I wouldn't volunteer for it, so many people must be furious there

I transit HKG about 4 or 5 times a year... luckily have never experienced something like you... but I can see how the desk can easily be overwhelmed with so few staff there... for their hub, CX certainly skimps out on transit desk staff... places like in SIN, at least SQ has a nice lounge area and a ticket number system which makes waiting a lot more bearable...

Could the transit passengers have

1) Go through immigration/customs, go back up to the check in counters and get rebooked there?

2) Use their original (connecting flight) boarding pass, go through transit, and get rebooked in the departure level?

I transit HKG about 4 or 5 times a year... luckily have never experienced something like you... but I can see how the desk can easily be overwhelmed with so few staff there... for their hub, CX certainly skimps out on transit desk staff... places like in SIN, at least SQ has a nice lounge area and a ticket number system which makes waiting a lot more bearable...


Well generally I don't think CX needs to operate a full transit desk as if ther are delays and possible misconnections, they organise the rebookings and have a CSO waiting for you as you deplane. But of course this is assuming a CX-CX connection.

Well generally I don't think CX needs to operate a full transit desk as if ther are delays and possible misconnections, they organise the rebookings and have a CSO waiting for you as you deplane. But of course this is assuming a CX-CX connection.

Yea, they had them there, but I couldn't believe it 50 or more pax headed straight for them (4 total) which is why I bolted and just went to the transit desk. Right after deplaning was already ugly because later flights to Sing and Taipei were all full and they were telling pax they would have to go out the following day. I think a few people after me decided the same as I did, to try luck at the transfer desk (which also got bad)

I guess another option is to go to a transfer desk that is further away. eg one of the ones near immigration.

If in similar situations, would it be easier if you head to the lounge? (Assuming you've access to a lounge and already have a boarding pass to head up to Departure level)

that's a pretty good idea... definitely beats standing around waiting for them to reroute/reissue your ticket... in the lounge, they would probably ask you to take a seat and enjoy yourself while they worked on it..

If in similar situations, would it be easier if you head to the lounge? (Assuming you've access to a lounge and already have a boarding pass to head up to Departure level)

I am not sure whether you can get to the departure level without a BP. Perhaps a ticket is good enough, but I don't know. If you can get through to the departure level, doing it in the lounge is the best. When I ran into a similar problem in the US, I went to the Admirals Club and was taken care of immediately.

Was first on KA907 from PEK, but all flights were all delayed 3+ hours due to fog and we didn't push back until 2:30pm.I was on CX317 on Oct 27 as well, and was delayed 2 hours leaving Pek that am. No issue for me as my connecting flight to Syd was 7 hours later, but it did mean that my time in downtown HK was reduced from 4.5 to 2.5 hours:(

I am not sure whether you can get to the departure level without a BP. Perhaps a ticket is good enough, but I don't know.

At HKG you must have a boarding pass and not just a print out or a paper ticket to get into the transit security screening area. At NRT in contrast they will usually accept a printed reservation sheet.