HarbourGent

I also did the CX turnaround there last month. It's on the left, I simply told the staff I wished to transit and they wandered off with my ticket then came back some time later and walked me upstairs. There was not enough time to use the lounge.

jona970318

+1. EXACTLY what happened to me

Global321

Thank you all. I suspect this will be a more common occurrence as this fare is/was just too good to pass up as a cheap way to get RT to the USA on a nice plane.

I go in two weeks. I will report back what happens.

Thanks again all!

Carfield

This thread might not be this helpful since CX has raised many ex-MLE fares on March 1.

Anyway, I did my first MLE turnaround yesterday!
I actually arrived MLE on UL 103. It landed around 7:30pm and after deplaning, I headed straight to the transit desk. The armed guard sent a staff and she took my electronic ticket and passport to the CX desk. She later told me that CX desk did not open till 8:20pm, so I had to wait a bit at the transit area. The agent came back at 8:30pm and I was given my boarded passes and brought to the secured area. There were a number of staffs approaching me during my wait at the transit area, but they were all friendly.

However I will remind everyone to print out their electronic ticket receipt, which will definitely be helpful to everyone!

Cathay Pacific tried to speed up the turnaround whenever possible, and boarding time was fifty-five minutes prior to departure. The doors actually closed at 11:10pm, 25 minutes before our scheduled departure time. So if you are coming in from another flight, you need to be more conservative in your scheduling.

I presume if you can get your return boarding pass printed in HK, that will be great.

Carfield

jona970318

Damn, it was such a good fare. So sad to see it go away

Global321

As promised, I am reporting back on my experience...

My flights for the day...

BKK-HKG, HKG-MLE, MLE-HKG, HKG-ORD (Yes these are all back to back)

The very nice agent in Bangkok was able to print all boarding passes and all lounge invites in Bangkok, despite these being on three Itineraries.

As others reported, this was easy. There was no line for transfers. The guy there kept pointing me to customs (just getting off CX601) and kept pointing to transfer. It helped a Cathay employee was there. I handed him my boarding card. He made a phone call (about 1 minute) and then asked if I had my lounge card. I said yes, and we were off to security.

5 minutes later, I was in the lounge. Piece of cake.

As others have stated, at a minimum, have a printout of your flight info. Having your onward boarding card is a nice bonus.

I have this "turn" scheduled two more times in the next few months. I can breathe some relief now.

jona970318

Too bad the fare is gone. I guess I'll be stuck with KHI turns now

tomofmaine

I'd love to hear all about a KHI turnaround!

jona970318

Did one last week, look out for a TR soon!!

Davvidd

yes they are used to this at MLE as a bit of Indian passengers transit to India via MLE from the Gulf and ive versa

77W_12A

Sorry to hijack the thread. Since we're talking about KHI turns, there's good and bad to it.

Fares are very good ex KHI. You can have BKK issue the boarding pass from KHI-BKK.

HERE'S THE BAD.

If your plan is going to the USA, expect SSSS on your boarding pass. You're GUARANTEED TO GET IT. If you have Global Entry and it's your first time doing this, you'll probably get a big fat XXXX across your picture. You'll be sent to a special area and will be interrogated for at least 20 mins. After that's done, you'll be accompanied by a customs officer to claim your luggage (if you have any). They'll go through it and you'll be on your way. This whole procedure wasted an hour!

The fares are very good but expect to be majorly interrogated. I don't do this anymore and haven't gotten the dreaded SSSS since.

jona970318

+1. I flew to JFK on sunday and was SSSSed. I was also sent to the CBP office and questioned as gemini573 said. Although the officers were all extremely friendly and we ended up striking up a conversation but yes, I was asked about my itinerary and contact details(I wonder what they're going to use that info for) etc.



gemini573, have you gotten SSSS when you travel domestically within US or at times that doesn't involve itinerary to/from KHI? I'm a little concerned about my security status with TSA as I basically went from PreCheck to SSSS in 1 trip

77W_12A

I don't do much domestic flights, so I can't really say. On the inbound flight (back to Asia), I've most definitely gotten SSSS. It got to a point where CX ground staff knew who I was because they said I was one of very few DMs that would consistently get it. Also, some TSA staff recognized me and they thought it was a bit strange why I kept getting it.

When do you get the SSSS inbound, YOU MUST get CX staff to write down the PNR so TSA can do what they have to do with it. Mostly importantly, after going through the security procedures, GET THEM TO STAMP your BP. Can't stress enough the importance of that stamp. If you don't get that stamp, you'll have to do it all over again.

jona970318

It's my first time on SSSS inbound (going through TSA). I assume you get extra screening, to what extent does it go? I've heard many horror stories about SSSS. Also did you stop getting SSSS as soon as you stop flying KHI?

77W_12A

As far as the extra screening, if there's a bright side, you bypass the line. They'll do a pat down (which might be invasive, but think of what they did in KHI). They'll open up your luggage and whatever belongings and swab it to see if you have any explosive residue. After that, they'll run your baggage once again to see if everything is ok. After that's done, you'll get a stamp on your BP saying everything is ok. As I said earlier, GET THAT STAMP...if not, you'll go through what I explained all over again.

I got it a couple more times after the initial interview.