Genius1

I'm flying out of HKG in F on the BA26 departing at 23:15 in a few days. Hotel check-out time is 16:00 (has been extended until then, and they can't do any more). By this time I will have done everything I want to do in HKG anyway, and so am planning on getting to the airport via the Express train by 17:00 to do the customary lounge tour.

I will have PYOBP and won't have any baggage. Do I need to go to a desk for a passport check, or will this be done at emigration/in the lounge?

MMB says the desks only open 3 hours before departure, so if I do need to go to a desk, can I go to another oneworld carrier (as I only have hand baggage) or the In-Town Check-In?

Thanks in advance... and none of those '6 hours is too long'. This is me we're talking about.

papabear

There's a check in counter at the airport express train station at Hong Kong Island which accepts checkins any time prior to departure. You don't need to check in luggage to use the facilities here. At the airport my experience is the check in counters opens 2-3 hours prior to departure.

I'm not sure if emigration and security will let you through without going to the check in counter, but it might be possible.

B-HQC

I haven't flown BA out of HKG in a while, but I can tell you that I go through security with my CX PYOBP frequently without issues. If it scans, you're in.

henkybaby

No problem. Been there, done that. Those 6 hours will fly by.

nth_utsera_sth_utsera

Hi Genius. I wouldn't bother touring the lounges, just install yourself in the F section of The Wing. Take dinner (food by the Penninsula), then have a long soak in a bath before your flight to London. The BA gates are at most 15 mins walk from The Wing, or if you're feeling really lazy or a bit pishd you can order one of those beeping buggies.

HIDDY

That isn't going to happen.....he's not like the majority of us.

LHR-HUB

Personally, I would suggest Checking out the Cabin. I went there to see what it was like when it first opened and found it a nice atmosphere. Spend some time in the CX F lounge too if you have 6 hours.

itsmeitisss

Just dont do what I did and fall asleep at T-45 (i'd arrived from lhr 4 hours earlier) and wake in Wing F to see Final call! I made my AKL flight and actually wasnt last

Genius1

Great. Might try the In-Town Check-In just for the fun of it to obtain a boarding pass. A bit of a novelty.

As HIDDY intimates, this would be doing my trip report fans (of which there are very many indeed) a great injustice. They expect nothing but the best. I deliver nothing but the best. :-:

corporate-wage-slave

Just to be clear: if you don't have luggage to check in, and you have printed your own boarding pass, there is no need to go to see counter staff, you can waltz straight into either of the two entrance areas of HKG. Staff will check your boarding card just before entering passport check/security - so long as it is for a flight that day they will let you in. The left hand entrance area (with your back to the Airport Express line) seems to be the less busy, and is near the main Cathay lounge complex - with a CCR style consumerism-free direct entrance for Emeralds - but passport check will often take 15 mins or so. Join one of the queues near the HK residents lines in the middle, the airport staff may move you over.

ba273

If you're doing the rounds I'd be interested in seeing some more photo's and a report on CX's new Cabin lounge.

Swanhunter

T5 is atypical in requiring the visa and passport check. Outside of India I can't think of anywhere else that requires you to have a PYOBP checked.

matthandy

+1 ^, yes please.
A tip though, skip the G16 lounge if that is on your list, total waste of time!

henkybaby

I will be there a couple of times this month so please post the TR before April 15th.