tt1122

Will arrive at 7 pm in HKG and fly out at 8 am the next morning, I'm travelling on one ticket not two separate tickets. I plan on staying at the airport and I will meet a school friend who is now living in HKG, briefly but only at the airport. I have tons of questions:-

Should I check my luggage to HKG or to my final destination?

I'm OW Sapphire, how can I visit the lounge, shower, etc and them go through immigration to visit the school friend? After the visit I want to return airside and hit the lounge. What time does immigration close? Will they let me through with a boarding pass for travel the next day? Should I just ask CX staff for assistance once I arrive in HKG?

Where is the best place to stay in the airport overnight once the lounges close?

I've been to HKG and am familiar with the airport but have never transited there.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

tt1122

Please help, FTers.

I need advice on what to do on the layover in HKG.

sxc

I am moving this to the Hong Kong and Macau forum as it's not related to CX.

sxc
Cathay Pacific Moderator.

beep88

paid lounges are open 24 hours. air and land side, with "private resting area".

>> I'm OW Sapphire, how can I visit the lounge, shower, etc and them go through immigration to visit the school friend

Proceed as transit passenger, do your deeds, ask lounge attendant for escort back to land side. I believe this could be a long wait (an hour or more... please do a search).

number_6

Presuming you are using the CX lounge, the "escort" is actually a piece of paper. You need it to get through security "in the wrong direction" to go back to the arrivals level from the lounge on departures; the form has an amusing name (something like "advice to passenger for ticket correction", ie. that you need to go back landside to resolve some ticket issuance issue). It goes quite smoothly and takes a couple of minutes, not an hour.

As for baggage, you should check it through to your final destination unless you want to clear customs with it (present for your friend)? but then would need to store it landside as checkin won't open until 3 or 4 hours before your flight time -- ie. big hassle.

Shimon

Check if you can use the arrivals lounge.

Check your luggage through.

I have gone through immigration the night before for a morning flight.

Lounge closes like 2am and reopens a few hours later. There are these beach style chairs you can sleep on in the airport. Be aware that many of them will be taken by other passengers. You may have to go the other side of the airport to find some available ones.

Marco Polo

since you are exiting immigration you are not strictly 'transiting'
check your bags thru to destination
in my opinion best bet is to take handcarry necessities, book a room at the adjoining airport hotel and meet your friend there for dinner, get a decent sleep and go back thru security immigration the next morning
I can imagine horror stories of people sleeping on benches & missing their flight
There are early morning flights like Scoot and cleaners with vacuums etc to contend with
The Private rest areas in The Plaza Premium will cost almost as much as getting a hotel room

tasnam

Question related to this topic:

We arrive on Dragonair flight #209 into HKG at 10:25PM on Tues night.

We depart on CX flight #888 at 1:00AM on Wed morning (about 2.5 hours after landing)

NOTE: Separate AA award tickets not on the same reservation. (also US citizens & passports)

I assume I have to collect my bags, and recheck into CX.

#1 Please tell me this is enough time... (granted not much room for flight delays).

#2 From what I read, I quality for a Visa transit waiver since less then 7 days. (But I do have to exit customs I assume to collect my bags and recheck in)

Please tell me where my missing key points are....I know I have over looked some.


THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE ADVICE......I really would appreciate any suggestions.

theworld

I'm guessing as its KA and CX you should be able to get your bags checked in all the way through?

tasnam

Good point, I will absolutely try that.

Any other thoughts?

moondog

Assuming you're taking 888 to JFK (rather than terminating in Vancouver), arrange your own food/entertainment for the layover because there's nothing to do in the gate area (where through passengers are held). I actually go out of my way to avoid 888 all the way to NY, but in your case, it appears to be the only option.

number_6

Good news: KA interlines with CX! So you can check your bags to your final destination and not have to reclaim them in HKG. That makes your connection much nicer. You may need to produce your CX ticket number at checkin for KA so be sure to have a printout showing this!!! Very important and the most annoying feature of e-tickets -- you need to print them yourself and the printout is often essential.

For everyone's info, CX interlines as follows
CX-160 CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS (as of Aug 2012)

MAY CHECK BAGGAGE TO AA AB AC AE AF AH AI AM AS AT AV AY AZ BA BD BG BI BL BP BR B6 B7 CA CI CM CO CZ DL EI EK ET EY FI FJ FM GA GF GN HG HM HR IB IC IG IR JC JJ JL JO JP JQ JU KA KC KE KF KL KM KQ KU KW LA LG LH LO LP LR LX LY MD ME MF MH MI MS MU MX NF NH NU NX NZ OA OK OM OS OU OZ PG PK PR PS PX QF QR RA SA SB SC SK SN SQ SU SV S7 TA TG TK TM TN TP UA UL UN US UU VN VS VX WS WY W5 XL ZH 4M 9W

Shimon

Free wifi and water is all one needs.

maxwell109

I've been asking a question about this form in another thread; you seem quite knowledgeable about it. On a much-discussed MR on AA just after they started their DFW->HKG route, I was given this form at a transfer desk on the arrivals level and had no problem going "upstairs" to the lounges on the departure level to spend the night. But when I followed the directions I was given to return to W1 to obtain my onward boarding passes the next morning, the elevator I needed to use was roped off. Might that have been just because, in my eagerness to be punctual, I arrived too early? (I was told to arrive about 9:00am...which I did...but the contract AA staff didn't actually arrive at the W1 transfer desk until 9:30am. I was the first in line by that time.