jpdx

I've been stuck at HKIA for the past 4 hours, waiting for a 3pm MU flight to PVG that keeps being pushed back. Departure is now hoped for at 6.45pm, which all but guarantees that I'll miss my connecting flight from PVG to SYD.

I tried to get on the earlier (also delayed) flights, but they were full. The gate supervisor says, no, we don't endorse tickets, we're just a small outstation. You gotta go to PVG and they'll get you sorted. But why would I want to fly there only to be told that my flight is gone? I should note that I'm on a revenue RTW, so all I wanted to do was change to a flight I could have booked in the first place (e.g., CI via TPE or GA via CGK).

Gate supervisor says, go to the lounge. It's a shared Skyteam lounge, and they offer no rebooking. They direct me to the service counter, where overwhelmed agents issue food vouchers. It doesn't look like they've ever rebooked anyone. So I ask, who does the rebooking? You have to talk to the airline, landside. How do I get landside? Cannot!

At the same time, I'm on hold with my issuing carrier, but they can't do anything because the ticket is already under airport control. I doubt calling MU would have helped at all.

Clearly, I didn't play this very well -- starting with the foolish decision to fly MU when other alternatives would have been available -- laugh if you must. But for future reference, how are non-CX irrops handled at HKIA?

garykung

Poor in general. It is practically a SOL situation.

1. Only CX/KA, CI/AE, HX/UO and UA handle their own ground service. All the rest are outsourced (http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/f...ng-agents.html).

Expecting outsourced agent will help you? Not a chance.

2. HX/UO are known EXTREMELY POOR in handling IRROPS. So assume HX/UO will not act in case of IRROPS.

3. UA's problem is beyond its control. UA's flights ex-HKG are limited (3-4 per day). So in case of a major IRROPS, everyone is practically stuck because there are not enough seats/time to rebook.

Rami Tamimi

To be fair, I have always been extremely satisfied with all the help I received from the Jardine staff on my RJ flights. It's always the same team and they know their stuff and their regulars.

garykung

Well...in theory, it all depends on how the ground service companies are empowered to assist.

So I do believe there are some exceptions.

Rami Tamimi

Sure, it all depends. Remember that most of the staff at many of the CX outstation are not actually CX staff, even if they wear CX uniforms and exclusively handle CX flights, but you would not notice.

jpdx

Thanks for chiming in! I can say that the contract staff were of no help with my MU tickets. I suppose the mistake I made was to assume that there would be better options airside -- for instance, I went to the gates of earlier MU flights to stand by, with no success (the seed for this was planted by the Airport Express in-town check-in agent, who told me to rush to the airport and try to get on the delayed noon flight). I suppose the lesson is that for most airlines, if your flight is showing a big delay with a chance of missing a connecting flight at your next airport, it's better to remain landside at HKIA and try to work out options. Once you're airside, you're SOL.

tentseller

Any issue I have with DL fights out of HKG I just call/tweet about the issue to the Diamond medallion line. Although the flight is Airport control and/or gate controlled DL was able to make notes in my PNR for the HKG airport contracted agents to follow.

number_6

Not if you are flying Oneworld I have had great success with airside changes with CX, QF and BA at HKG, painless and reliable. Someone earlier suggested that RJ was also good at this, so maybe it is a Oneworld feature. My own experience has been the opposite of yours at HKG, with CX being able to do the impossible (once they let me fly without a ticket, I purchased it while mid-air; but I flew a lot of CX F back then which probably made a difference).

The lesson I take from your experience is that Star/Skyteam are less well organized than Oneworld, at least at HKG. Also in general connecting via most cities in China is frought with peril at best of times, delays seem to be the norm rather than the exception.

Rami Tamimi

+1

A lot of us forget that while we love the lounges for their comfort, F&B e.t.c. they are also extremely useful in solving any flight related problems. If you fly CX/KA out of HKG, the lounge staff can do almost anything, if you fly another OW airline -you can ask the CX staff to call your airline's desk and while they don't strictly speaking have to do that, they have been very helpful to me most of the time.

On the subject of flying without a ticket, yeah it's called "NON-REC" and airlines use it for situations like yours. This gives airlines a technical capability to check in and accept you for the flight when there is no underlying ticket in the system. Of course whoever checks you in in this way will have to have a good reason for this and will be accountable later.

christep

Back in the good old days CX accepted me (then as a DM) on a flight at LHR without a passport (lost on the bus en route to the airport). They got lots of kudos from me for that, but I wonder what would happen happen now. I want to stick with CX for my limited amount of flying these days, but my loyalty to them seems to be of a longer duration than theirs to me.