fairhsa

As a CX Diamond, there are many things one could complain about right now. The lounges are certainly not one of them!

Not sure where you are seeing the overcrowding - the expansion of the Wing and the Pier has meant that other than - perhaps - half an hour in the morning there is plenty of room in both now. Plus other places to go if you want. Seems like an odd comment.

kaka

I last checked qf ba jl aa all 4 uses qf lounge.
and one would have to be in the blithering idiot to use the CX lounge and not QF as a J lounge user. F lounge is a wash

Nicc HK

Unless out at the Piers, I have recently tended to prefer the QF lounge as well.

Perhaps there is a solution for the most entitled CX flyers, create a VIP club within the existing lounges? Now this is only an idea and am not certain on the practicality.

At the Wing, behind the dining area, the part of the First Lounge which used to be part of the Business Class lounge could be converted to a discreet VIP section.

At the Pier I am sure space could be found, I have never seen the Pier First even close to being full.

In addition, these private sections could have superior champagnes, wines, and food. Naturally it would be made painfully clear in true Hong Kong style this is only for the better class of CX flyers, so you would not find me in there.

CX in their magnificent wisdom did listen to F/J feedback when making their recent changes to the MPC, i.e. reduce the number of PEY/Y DMs in the Lounges and in the Boarding queues. This was done through the great PEY/Y cull of 2016 but perhaps they have returned as status passengers on other One World airlines? Perhaps CX even prefers this as they can then bill their partners for lounge usage?

The additional revenue former MPC members provided CX and helped go towards investing in making CX a better experience for all, now benefits other airlines.

kaka

G16 lounge.

sxc

In oneworld, the operating carrier pays for the lounge access. So if you have gained status on another program but still fly CX, for those times you are in the lounge flying CX, no difference to them.

QRC3288

yea, I wonder if G16 is actually going to be something for Diamonds or F? Probably not, but....it will be right next to the Qantas lounge. Just saying there will literally be two OW lounges next to each other with the same access permissions. A hope I guess, albeit unlikely.

I think if CX does something special for Diamonds only (+ F), G16 is where they have to do it. Otherwise there's no chance. They've already renovated all the lounges and they're quite good already. Going for G16 becoming some DM+F lounge would be it's close to security and immigration, so if they add some buggy service it could be easier to coordinate. Of course, this is unlikely....no less because it's on the opposite side of the airport as the CX desks (although close to KA). Not to mention they've made no mention of it.

But again, a few weeks ago I was told in a conversation with two separate MPC executives to stay a loyal DM and good things were coming. I've also seen other FTers mention this. I have not seen one ounce of improvement yet and maybe it's just MPC executives talking nonsense to us? Or maybe G16 will actually be what we've been hoping for?

1010101

It would be the wrong location. If they did an F only lounge they need to put it where The Wing is next to where all the US/LHR flights depart from. No CX flights regularly depart near G16.

mxr

Monday mornings with the weekly PVG/PEK/SIN/TPE etc. work-shuttle-bus filled with up to 40+ DM's on PVG flights across all classes? Did you guy's never experience a typical Monday morning in HKIA?
There is generally quite a waiting line in the Wing F for the dining area to get breakfast.

Although, unlike OP says, thats hardly other OWE's fault but rather CXDM's plus their guests!

Nicc HK

Understood, but these days except for regional flights I am flying other OneWorld airlines rather than CX/KA therefore I guess CX would be paid for usage. I tend to fly more long haul than regional.

Incidentally and I am sure most people know this JL along with BA use the QF Lounge.

AA use the Plaza Premium (as does RJ, QR and AY) and Club Bauhinia, though the desk staff always seem to point me towards CX. While MH seem agnostic, but again point people to the CX lounges.

Perhaps due to location The Cabin should be converted into the MPC VIP lounge, good location for those who would be entitled to use it, and importantly seen to be entitled to use it.

FlyPointyEnd

Ive done monday mornings but not on regular basis. I do admit I don't actually go to the Wing often, preferring the Pier, or Bridge.

QRC3288

actually, US flights depart with high regularity from gates 17-19. Multiple times per day on average. While the most common are gates 3-4, the second most common are gates 17-19.

I have access to departure data for each flight. Yesterday, for example both CX806 (to ORD) and CX882 to LAX departed from there. Happens daily.

G-CIVC

Pure speculation but not sure if 17-19 are really 'preferred' for US flights. I have seen many times CX 806 arriving late and eventually cascading into CX 807 arriving back into HK late, just because it took so long to taxi from that side of the airport. There is perhaps a reason why 3/4 is that preferred

G-CIVC

Pier J > QF J, no? Although it is a long walk. Pier J food is ok, seating is wonderful, so are showers and the sleeping area in the very back. And lockers - I love them.

QF J is good for the JL departures. When I was there after 5pm, the crowding situation was quite overwhelming as the departures piled up (I've seen before literally every single seat taken). The shower/overall decoration of the lounge is a bit too industrial/cold for me. (Of course it is still better than 95% of lounges out there)

QRC3288

No, every day US flights depart from 17-19 like clockwork (primarily gate 18 and 19). It's just not *as* regular as gates 3-4. CX is presently (and has been for the last 3-4 years) the regular user of gates 18-19, while I think 17 is for multiple airlines' use.

Going back in the last week alone....we've got CX830 departing there multiple times, CX898 multiple times, CX890, CX806, CX840, and CX882 at least from what I can see, and likely more.

Anecdotally, I've flown CX830 3x in the last 6 months, each time from gate 18 or 19.

The main reason gates 3-4 and 17-19 are preferred for US flights are straightforward: a.) they're presently CX "assigned" gates by HKIA (except for 17 I think is multi-use), and b.) they're the closest to security. "b" is important because it means less walking for security staff who also double as the folks who check your laptops and whatnot at the main security checkpoint. Although it's not always possible, it's more preferable if they don't have to trek across the airport for security checks.

Gates 3-4 are extra nice because of the design (only 4 gates down that corridor instead of 5 on the north side) and because CX uses them both exclusively. The architecture of gates 3-4 makes it perfect to cordon off the entire area of gates 3-4, whereas you can't do that for gates 18-19 alone because they both have the jetbridge on the end point (whereas only gate 4 is at the endpoint on the south). I *think* gate 17 is a swing gate used for multiple airlines and this is the problem. I think if CX could exclusively use gates 17-19, they could pull off the cordon like they currently do for gates 3-4. Basically they must "control" the entire L shape. Does this make sense?

G-CIVC

Actually the 'answer' to why CX lounges are overcrowded are all stated above.

'.5') SLs
1) CX's own elites
2) Partner elites flying CX
3) Partner elites flying partners

In appropriate order (ie too many SLs). Recently, I was able to hear about what partner elites flood the lounge the most, I'm not surprised the 'major culprit' was BA. I was told that QF and AA are significant but not so compared to BA. Why am I surprised as you can see how easy it is to hit BA OWS/OWE. But again, many are flying CX, so it seems hard to have any bases to bar them from access. Given the popularity of the Avios program as well as UK-HK ties it's also not surprising that there are probably many more BA HKG-based elites compared to AA (there is less than 100) and QF.

As for partner elites flying partners, I think that's problematic too. If you look at the upgrade lists on HKG-DFW, it's not surprising that there are up to 60 or even 80 elites on a single flight every day. However, I am skeptical that most are 'smart' enough to use the CX lounge (AA directs them to PPL). Still it could tally up - think about AA x 2, QR x 2, BA x 2, QF x ?, JL x 2, RJ, MH,...it could add up. But these ones are where CX gets the $ from so I doubt it these pax will be 'targets' - even QR lounges (at DOH and worldwide) accept oneworld premium pax, which they get $ for.

Lastly, it's mean and harsh to say so but as long as SLs are ousted (or perhaps citing the early rumors about MPC changes, SLs getting limited lounge passes only), I'm quite sure the situation will improve.