tfung

umm.. I have plenty of friends who have 3 stars and are not chinese... just requires that you live in HK for 7 years or more and you get permanent residence and a permanent ID card... Regardless, the whole point of my rant is that it clearly states on the sign above the immigration counter as Hong Kong Permanent Idenity Card.. If you don't have one, you shouldn't go there...

christep

We are way off topic here, but, tfung, you may find these pages helpful:
http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hkid_frontinfo.htm
describes what the * and *** markings mean - essentially it shows eligibility for a HK Re-entry permit.
http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hktraveldoc_2_rp.htm
defines who is eligible for the HK Re-entry Permit. From which:

"ELIGIBILITY

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Re-entry Permits are issued to the following Hong Kong residents for travel to the mainland of China and Macau Special Administrative Region:

* Chinese Citizens who have either acquired the right of abode or been granted unconditional stay in Hong Kong; and
* Persons not of Chinese nationality who have been granted unconditional stay in Hong Kong but cannot obtain national passports or travel documents of any other countries or regions."

So anyone who has *** on their HKID must be:
- over 18, AND
- eligible for a HK Re-entry Permit, which means:
- a Chinese citizen with RoA or unconditional stay in HK, OR
- people with RoA or unconditional stay who are otherwise stateless (this essentially means people who are refugees or second+ generation non-Chinese immigrants).

I cannot see any way that these rules allow for a non-Chinese holding another citizenship/passport to have *** on their HKID card.

marcuslai

i COMPLETLY agree. i dont know the relevant immigration rules, but if you are not a PR, then dont be in that line.

that line is not PR + guests.

i always avoid lines with domestic helpers, foreigners (chances are they are in the wrong line) and kids. and the agents are too nice, they really should send wrong queuers back to the residents/visitors line.

tfung

Anyways, back on topic here... While the bonus miles are nice, Cathay fares for to MNL are usually quite high compared to other airlines.. Phillipine Airlines and Cebu have fares for domestic helpers and I think a roundtrip ticket to MNL for them on those airlines are usually about $1000-$1300.... while CX is at least 30% more...

fallinasleep

Agree that CX is not a good deal. If those are the correct fares for 5J and PR, then CX is easily 50%+ more, according to the CX website. Now, 5J has a special everday low fare between HKG and MNL for less than HK$1000, but good luck finding a travel agent willing to book it for you.

christep

CX's lowest RT labour fare HKG-MNL is HK$1360+tax in low season, but rising rapidly at busier times. The cheapest high season RT fare is HK$2500+tax.

MrsDrD

This is of course way off topic, but just to clarify a few misconceptions:

I have a resident ID card without any stars, as do many people. Christep's link explains further. Specifically, 1-star ID cards would only be held by 11 to 17 year olds (which I definitely am not!!), and from what I can tell, I would additionally either have to be Chinese or unable to hold a passport of any other nationality

Resident children can enter with just their passports, in fact. My 2 year old son regularly does. He is not eligible to apply for an ID card until he is 11, but he is also not required to have an arrivals/departures card.

I actually find the status of children under 18 in Hong Kong to be quite strange, with regards to their residency. However, I am happy to continue to use the Residents' line even when our PR comes through, so as not to "burden" the PR line with my disenfranchised under-18 year old children. From my observation, the Residents lines are usually shorter and move faster

Perhaps those who dislike delays in the PR line so much should try the e-channel with Smart ID card?