christep

You can get your Octopus credit refunded (in cash) when you leave. Only auto reload is by credit card, otherwise you pay in cash. Yes you pay a small handling fee when returning an Octopus within 3 months, but it's only US$1 or so. I bet you lose more than that in forex/transaction fees on your ApplePay linked to an overseas credit card.

You can only use the MTR with Octopus, or per journey tickets bought with cash. You can only use buses with Octopus or cash (no change given). The Octopus comes physically in the SIM card, but is otherwise separate, not linked to the phone account, as I understand it; it just makes your phone function like a normal Octopus card.

It takes less than a 30 seconds to get an Octopus card, and less than 30 seconds to hand it back and get the refund. It's not exactly a great hassle. You'd be mad not to do it.

And from what I've seen of iPhones around here, your biggest worry (particularly as a tourist) would be running out of battery - then you're screwed in your preferred mode of doing things.

G-CIVC

Most people applaud the convenience of the Octopus. It is no different from SUICA/ICOCA in Japan. It's actually practical and highly multifunctional, unlike stuff like Metrocards in NYC, but that's another story...

It's also highly unlikely that the MTR will ever take WeChat. Wayyyyy too political incorrect.

txflyer77

You can grab an Octopus card from the counter right outside immigration at HKG. I've never seen a line there, takes no time at all.

IIRC it's possible to reload an Octopus with a credit card but isn't really feasible (or worth the time) for a short-term visitor. As for miles, over a four day visit we're talking about a max of maybe thirty bucks (US). Not worth worrying about IMO.

Also, isn't Apple Pay kinda slow for paying subway fares? With contactless payments like Octopus you don't even have to stop moving at the gates but IME Apple Pay takes a second or two, plus the fingerprint reader isn't the most reliable so sometimes it takes an extra try. Contactless payment is pretty close to instant.

Chinatrvl

Credit cards are linked to Alipay and Wechat. So you get your miles per money spent. I pay my airline tickets, phone bills etc. with Wechat. Anyway, you'll be fine with Octopus as a tourist.
Hong Kong is a little slow in adapting credit cards/new-tech payments, i.e. I don't think you can get around the city without cash (which you can in other countries).

Lugard Road will take you around Victoria Peak, you can walk down to HK University (or Aberdeen/Cyberport). Take Old Peak Road down to central, views are not as nice, though.

Ozone bar is not formal, no dress-code before 9 pm, laid back staff. Go there early, 5 pm or so, grab a seat at the terrace window, watch the sunset. Plenty of people there taking loads of photos. There are windows around the terrace - you won't have an unobstructed photo shot.

fliesdelta

You can wake up the phone (double click on the home button) and authenticate with your fingerprint as you walk to the gate, so all you need to do is press the phone to the reader when you get there.

As for $30 over a four day visit, that may be the case if you only use the Octopus card to pay for the MTR, but if you use it to pay for other stuff like food, etc., it can add up.

On the last couple of trips, I bought a card that's pre-loaded with two trips on the airport express and a three day unlimited MTR/bus use, it seemed like a good deal. I still had to load cash to use it for non-transportation expenses, it would've been nice to have auto-reload from a credit card, but I couldn't figure out how to get this set up. What's the trick?

Madone59

Is this the Hong Kong google thread

RC stands for Ritz Carlton, and Lugard Road is the beautiful walk up by the peak. wco81 Can I suggest going to Trip Reports, searching Hong Kong and getting some ideas for your trip? A lot of FTers frequent HK, and have documented some great experiences, restaurants, and things to do in Hong Kong/ Kowloon.

christep

First you need a credit card issued in Hong Kong...

wco81

Only thing is when I depart HKG, it will be a 7:30 AM flight. So will the counters be open at like 5 to 5:30 AM when I plan to be at the airport?

The TouchID on my iPhone is fast, sometimes unlocking the phone when I just wanted to tap the button to activate the screen. I did try it in London but Apple Pay wasn't supported at that time but their NFC readers brought up the Apple Pay screen immediately and I would have had no problems authenticating within a second or two.

I'd have to stop at the reader instead of just waving it while still walking through the turnstiles. Probably would annoy people at rush hour but still not too much of a delay.

Yeah I will get an Octopus card and use it for transport but use Apple Pay or credit cards everywhere else.

JBa

This!
Was just there this weekend. Ozone has an "outside" bar on the 118th floor. The roof is open and smoking is allowed. Great view ^

FT Guest xyzpdq

Question: Can you bring kids to Ozone (12 & 14) before 9pm?

skba1

If the station is open all desks will be manned, hence you can get a refund any time you can travel to/from a station.

I'm unsure about the Ozone bar accepting kids - I can't recall seeing any kids up there on my visits, but then I've never been there before 9pm anyway.

wco81

Spent 3 days in Hong Kong.

I've seen some contactless but one place I tried said it wasn't working.

The MTR only supports Octopus but I had the card in my iPhone wallet case so when I put the wallet case by the reader, Apple Pay came up on my iPHone 6S Plus. So the Octopus readers can work with NFC but I guess Octopus is a lucrative business so they won't abandon it for NFC any time soon?

Steve M

Actually, it's the opposite. There's much you don't understand about Octopus. For one, it's designed as a cash replacement, not a credit card replacement. That is, it's used primarily for transactions that traditionally would have been paid for in cash (subway ticket, vending machine purchase, fast food, convenience stores, etc). It was created by a consortium of merchants (primarily the MTR) for the benefit of the merchants. Compare this to credit cards, which were created by banks for the benefit of banks. This means that the transaction costs for Octopus are much lower than that for credit cards. Also, the current value of an Octopus card is stored on the card itself in a secure manner and transactions are made using only the card and the reader - no connection to the mother ship is needed. This makes transactions nearly instant (a small fraction of a second), and does not require a data connection for mobile use. Compare this to Apple Pay, which rides on top of the credit card network, meaning that it still takes a couple of seconds to authorize each transaction, and a data connection is required for the terminal in order to process transactions.

889

As well, 79.5 percent of Octopus is owned by the MTR and the old KCR holding company, which means that Octopus is a government-controlled enterprise, though run on an autonomous commercial basis. Of course that helps Octopus keep its dominant position.

wco81

Actually Apple Pay works with Apple Watch untethered so it's not using a data connection.

Certainly takes a bit longer to authenticate but way more convenient than getting cash to load it.