Please help. On LAX-HKG now And About to miss connection in HKG
Nov 23, 2016, 7:03 am
#47
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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So....I shall retype now on my laptop.
So we landed @ 9:02am into HKG (My HKG-CGK flight was to depart @ 9:20am) and just outside of the jet bridge were a couple CX agents and a sign with about 6 pieces of paper with CX flight numbers and a few PAX names on each sheet.
Seeing our names on it I asked her if they held the flight and she said "No" and that we needed to go to the transfer desk to get rebooked.
So, we (and the 3rd PAX on our flight who was supposed to be on that flight--more on him at the end of this post) headed to the transfer desk.
The next flight to CGK was to leave about 4pm but was oversold, so they rebooked us on a flight that left HKG at around 7 and got us into CGK around 11pm.
I booked a separate RT Air Asia ticket for CGK-DPS and I was no longer going to make it so I tried to change my "Premium Flexible" ticket online but it kept trying to charge me money for a fare difference even though it says that my type of ticket can be changed with no fees.
I called the EXP line to see if they could route me directly into DPS and save my return flight home. There was a Garuda flight leaving at 4 direct to DPS but she said she couldn't book me on it. However, (and this was INTERESTING TO LEARN) she ALSO told me that if I went ahead and booked the GA flight using my Skymiles (I told her that is what I was thinking of doing) that she would be able to put in for a partial refund of my original AA ticket for the unused HKG-CGK leg since it was AA's fault I missed the connection.
While on the phone with her a CX rep came over to me and and told me they could book us on a 12:50pm flight to KUL with a 1hr connection and then on Malaysia Airlines KUL-CGK arriving into CGK @ 7pm.
I was still freaked out about trying to figure the Air Asia tickets out so I looked up Air Asia's customer service line and asked the CX desk if I could use their phone to call Air Asia's Hong Kong local number.
After a few minutes on the phone with their rep she tried to charge me to change my ticket but eventually changed it for both of us for no cost. The last CGK-DPS flight of the day left @ 10:30pm and got us into DPS @ 1:20am.
I accepted the offer to reroute through KUL, and so after a couple HOURS.....at 11:35 we had our new tickets....made it in time for a very quick shower and snack at The Pier, and had pleasant flights.
So, this mid-20s kid who was the other name on the HKG-CGK flight that was being rebooked is walking with us to the transfer desk and proceeds to tell us that he had a great (LAX-HKG) flight because he was able to sleep for 6hrs.......before getting woken up by a FA in an empty Business Class seat (there were quite a few)!!!!
Yeah...he snuck up into J and one of the last row seats was empty and decided to try and get some sleep. LoL! 6 hours.....that tells ya how much some of the FA's pay attention to their side of the cabin.....One final note....this is FT....and MOST people on here would have looked for the cheapest option to get to Bali. So I don't feel bad nor am I asking for any sympathy because some S hit the fan due to AA's inability to run their long-hauls on time. I have almost 170k EQMs this year and only 3k of them were earned on AA metal (I flew mostly all BA all year and in PE and J). Thus, I don't know much about them even though I am an EXP. I will be switching back to SKyTeam next year as I depend on my Delta AMEX Reserve to get my MQD waiver as I am nothing more than a mileage-runner with too much spare time on his hands.
Nov 23, 2016, 7:10 am
#48
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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I assume OP has bags checked to CGK? In that case I don't see the logic in booking a HKG-DPS flight on your own. I would not expect CX to forward the bags to DPS when you're ticketed (with AA/CX) to CGK. There are literally flights every 20 minutes from CGK to DPS so either plead your case with AirAsia or buy new tickets for cheap. There's a Sheraton close to CGK which usually has reasonable rates (especially if you have SPG points to burn) so that may be a good option for your overnight in Jakarta. Good luck and enjoy Bali!
And ignore the obnoxious posters above who said "I wouldn't book a one hour connection at HKG" or "of course I'd pay $1000 more to fly to DPS". 99% of reasonable humans (my wife and I included) would do exactly as you did. One hour connections are generally easy at HKG. AA's inability to ever operate a 77W on schedule is the problem. And that 1000 per ticket goes a long way in Bali!
And ignore the obnoxious posters above who said "I wouldn't book a one hour connection at HKG" or "of course I'd pay $1000 more to fly to DPS". 99% of reasonable humans (my wife and I included) would do exactly as you did. One hour connections are generally easy at HKG. AA's inability to ever operate a 77W on schedule is the problem. And that 1000 per ticket goes a long way in Bali!
I never check a bag. And rarely travel with anyone who does.
Nov 23, 2016, 8:49 am
#50
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I fly separate tix all the time. That one was a little risky with the short HKG connection but not unreasonable with the flexible Air Asia ticket at the end. Glad it all worked out for you, enjoy Bali!
Nov 23, 2016, 9:31 am
#51
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I booked a separate RT Air Asia ticket for CGK-DPS and I was no longer going to make it so I tried to change my "Premium Flexible" ticket online but it kept trying to charge me money for a fare difference even though it says that my type of ticket can be changed with no fees.
Glad you got them to waive the fare difference, but I think you probably just got a little bit lucky.
Nov 23, 2016, 3:19 pm
#52
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Ugh, that's the worst! Thanks for making the effort though!
While I don't know specifics about AirAsia Premium Flexible tickets, generally, one is always subject to a fare difference when changing the first segment of an itinerary. A fare difference is different from a "fee" or "penalty." It's typically spelled out in the fare rules, but normally when changing the first leg before departure, the ticket has to be repriced at current fares. So if the fares have increased, or if the inventory you booked in is no longer available, the cost could go up. IF there is a fee, you'd have to pay that as well. When changing the return, the ticket usually doesn't need to be repriced. The tricky part is that it's possible the return was what caused the fare difference. If you had booked two one-ways, it wouldn't have been an issue. You also wouldn't have had to worry about a return getting cancelled for missing/throwing away the outbound if that's what you had to do. So there are definitely pros and cons for booking round trips vs. two one-ways.
Glad you got them to waive the fare difference, but I think you probably just got a little bit lucky.
While I don't know specifics about AirAsia Premium Flexible tickets, generally, one is always subject to a fare difference when changing the first segment of an itinerary. A fare difference is different from a "fee" or "penalty." It's typically spelled out in the fare rules, but normally when changing the first leg before departure, the ticket has to be repriced at current fares. So if the fares have increased, or if the inventory you booked in is no longer available, the cost could go up. IF there is a fee, you'd have to pay that as well. When changing the return, the ticket usually doesn't need to be repriced. The tricky part is that it's possible the return was what caused the fare difference. If you had booked two one-ways, it wouldn't have been an issue. You also wouldn't have had to worry about a return getting cancelled for missing/throwing away the outbound if that's what you had to do. So there are definitely pros and cons for booking round trips vs. two one-ways.
Glad you got them to waive the fare difference, but I think you probably just got a little bit lucky.
I will actually remember this and will try and book two one-ways next time if the connection is short! Thanks! 😄
Nov 23, 2016, 4:13 pm
#53
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver/ows, CX AsiaMiles (not even GR anymore!) missing my GO days
Posts: 1,581
In addition, I believe that in certain unusual cases, in which pax have very quick connections, CX ground staff might have negotiated with the airport authority for permission to facilitate sterile arrivals escorts directly to connecting flights (bypassing transit security checkpoints), since passport control/entry is not required--ALL flights out of HKG are international flights.
I almost made use of this program on my last connection through HKG. I was inbound from Vietnam and connecting through HKG to Canada. There was barely an hour to connect and I was worried about making the connection. There were others on board who had only 15-20 minutes. When we came down the ramp to the arrivals level, an army of CX agents was waiting for us, and they whisked the 15-20-minute connectors off in an electric cart. I approached one of them and inquired about my 60-minute connection, and he said "oh, you have enough time to go through transit security and go upstairs to the gate."
I took that to mean that others might not have time to do transit security. In those cases, I hypothesize that CX agents would escort those pax on the ARRIVALS level to the gate of their connecting flight, up the arrivals ramp (against the normal flow), and directly onto the aircraft. Maybe they would do some kind of makeshift manual security check to replace the checkpoint security. Again, this is just my speculation....not confirmed.
I almost made use of this program on my last connection through HKG. I was inbound from Vietnam and connecting through HKG to Canada. There was barely an hour to connect and I was worried about making the connection. There were others on board who had only 15-20 minutes. When we came down the ramp to the arrivals level, an army of CX agents was waiting for us, and they whisked the 15-20-minute connectors off in an electric cart. I approached one of them and inquired about my 60-minute connection, and he said "oh, you have enough time to go through transit security and go upstairs to the gate."
I took that to mean that others might not have time to do transit security. In those cases, I hypothesize that CX agents would escort those pax on the ARRIVALS level to the gate of their connecting flight, up the arrivals ramp (against the normal flow), and directly onto the aircraft. Maybe they would do some kind of makeshift manual security check to replace the checkpoint security. Again, this is just my speculation....not confirmed.