Agent69

Are there any of these near the airport?

LondonElite

Not really. If you are in Central and traffic is bad or the train has delays you can work around this. You can plan. If you are at a distant airport your only option is booking yourself an earlier flight if yours is delayed or cancelled, and usually this isn't an option. It is far more binary.

deadinabsentia

Easy connection.

Ignore the muppets here. Let them hide under them mums skirts.

You’ll have atleast a hour in the lounge

LCY8737

I once spent 90 mins on a hex between LHR and Paddington. Stuff happens.

binman

cathay are usually very punctual and it would not be a connection that would concern me.

that said having bags may give me a moments hesitation.

the weather however is what you need to think about. There are times in the year when storms and lightening do impact HKG operations.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

With bags ( not sure if the OP has any bags) CX to BA on separate tickets is not a problem as Cathay will interline to BA ( the otherway ( BA to CX ) would be a lot tighter as bags would need to be collected and rechecked.

As others have said if everything runs ok it will not be a problem but the cost could be high if you have a lengthy delay.

Regards

TBS

AverageHighFlyer

Not to derail (excuse the pun) the discussion, but I feel that is a slightly different situation. If one were to get stuck on the HEX to LHR and be delayed for 90 minutes, I hope the airline would be sympathetic; this is such an unlikely event that one can’t really plan around it. I think BA specifically allows for this in the T&C’s (the flat tyre rule). Whereas ‘connecting’ on separate tickets, while perhaps not gaming the system exactly, is not protected as a matter of policy. Not to mention, if the incoming flight ends up getting diverted for whatever reason, one wouldn’t necessarily have a way to contact the airline, thus being deemed a no-show.

IAMORGAN

So the consensus seems to be

CX will interline so you won’t need to go landside - meaning even if the inbound is up to about 75-90 minutes late on stand, it should not be a significant concern. In normal operations it should be fine.

BA will not guarantee to protect you. So if you do miss the flight the risk is with you.

Seems that the question is whether you can afford to buy a new ticket if you do miss it. Are you sure that 2 separate tickets really are that much cheaper?

Personally, I wouldn’t take that risk. Whilst CX may be punctual, things do go wrong sometimes and low risk does not equate to no risk.

brunos

I have a different view than many here.
50min is a decent time for connection (CX and BA flights will be in the main terminal, not the North satellite).
Hence you have a 2h risk premium.
2h should insure a "normal" operational delay. To go over that you would need some "special" event such as some ATC strike or a tech problem. These happen, but they can result in flight cancellation and the like. Whether 6 or 10 transit time would hedge that is unclear.

We have no idea of the kinds of ticket you contemplate. CX is only 4 weekly (currently) with two very different schedules. Both BA flights depart in the evening within a few minutes, so little flexibility there.
If it were me, I would take a 2h50 connection at HKIA and relax.

womble88

going to the rugby World Cup I had a 90 minute connection at HKG on independent avios tickets, plane took off 90 minutes late, arrived 45 minutes late and I made the flight to Haneda. However chief steward and pilot were both rugby fans and radioed ahead, got a poor guy to run with me through the airport ( I think I was a fair bit fitter than him but he didn’t give up!) and we made it with still a queue boarding the plane. However not for people who dislike stress! I would be totally relaxed on OPs timescale but you have to be prepared to pay money if you miss it. If you aren’t prepared then you should not do these types of connections.

cheif steward and pilot were a great example of why I love flying BA, don’t think I would have got that service on some other airlines.

rossmacd

I would happily do this. There is too much conservatism on this board, usually from infrequent travelers.

Modo

40 posts since the OP last attended - classic BA FT!

Took until post 35 to mention weather.

OP never said when he is travelling. As a local resident I would say don't consider it during Typhoon season unless you have travel insurance that would cover you.

Outside typhoon season a 40 post consensus above suggests safe. I'd tend to agree.

flyingmonkie

All good points. Obviously my advice was to get a travel insurance policy that would protect you in this instance, we have an all singing all dancing corporate policy that will cover rebooking in the same class of travel in the case of a missed flight due to earlier disruption as long as the planned time between flights exceeded the MCT for that airport / terminal combo. We were very specific to our broker about this because we often end up on one flight paid by one client and then a following flight paid by another / ourselves so it's just not possible to get through tickets in many situations.

This isn't cheap insurance but gives peace of mind.

SKRan

I would do it.

Pre-requisites
HBO
BA28 OLCI
weather

factors:
HKG transit security is generally quick.
Longhaul into HK is generally early.
No immigration needed.
Both are OW. OW has a procedure for separate ticket connections.

SKRan

Get CX crew to arrange someone to expedite you if needed. They are very good at doing this.