luxury_travel

Looking to pay a visit to The Wing tomorrow, but can anyone tell me what is the earliest time I can check in at HKG? I know it states 3 hours before departure at BA.com, however, any regular flyers' advice appreciated.

AMSwing

I believe you can check in 24 hours in advance at the in-town check in desks at Hong Kong and Kowloon stations. They open at 6.00 and close at 00.30.

Frequentflyer99

You can certainly check-in in town very 1st thing in the morning, for a very late evening flight. Whether they will let you through security at the airport is a different issue. I think that in many airports they have rules about how long before your flight you can go airside.

ageofenlightenment

As stated above, get rid of your luggage at the in-town check-in; they'll have no problem with checking you in early on in the day and issuing a BP. The check-in at the airport generally opens only three hours before the earliest departure.

As for going airside several hours before your departure, absolutely no problem, provided you've got a BP valid for a departure that day.

For anyone on a < 24 hours stopover in HKG and flying onward with a OW carrier, one useful trick I've learned is to go get your onward BP from the transit desk, rather than clearing immigration, use CX's The Wing to freshen up and then clear immigration and retrieve your baggage. If you're arriving on CX then you're entitled to use its Arrivals Lounge in HKG, so no need for the above.

DavidPM

Just to add to the helpful advice above I found myself with changed plans and nothing to do in the full day before flying BA028 to LHR last month. I've done all the tourist stuff (and it was raining cats and dogs, which put me off a boat trip to one of the islands for lunch), and I had a pile of work to do on the laptop, so I decided to spend the day in the comfort of the F lounges. Having checked in downtown I was sitting in the F section of The Wing at about 1100, almost 14 hours before my flight. Nobody batted an eyelid at my early arrival. Using the restaurant and Cabanas in the Wing, and occasionally popping over to the BA/QF lounge to see if anyone I knew had turned up, the time flew by (and I finished my work and managed to eat and drink industrial quantities of CX's offerings).

I wouldn't have even thought about using The Wing without this FT forum, and 14 hours in the BA lounge wouldn't have been quite the same. So many thanks to those who flagged it up in the past.

Best wishes

David

nomoreiphone

Actually there is a trick to this and I don't want to post it here, so PM me if you want to know. Basically you can't just expect to get back to immigration/arrivals section after u use the lounge. There is a procedure you need to go through.

As for the Arrivals Lounge in HKG. Do note that if you are on Transit, then you CAN'T use it!

bizclassboy

I am on the BA flight tonight to LHR and came in the Wing lounge 8 hours before the flight, the BA lounge is crap. Then I went outside to meet someone and back in here again

ageofenlightenment

Sorry, that's not accurate. If you have a premium class BP from an arriving CX flight (or OW Emerald status if arriving CX Y) you're perfectly entitled to use the arrivals lounge. The distinction with a transit is merely that there's no need to do so as you can effectively use The Wing as an arrivals lounge.

Not sure why there's any need for enigma around leaving the departures area. The first time I did so I merely asked one of the helpful CX lounge staff who directed me to the nearest exit point (admittedly, it wouldn't have been easy to find without the info provided). A layover of more than a few hours makes you perfectly justified to leave the airport through this less orthodox route.

luxury_travel

many thanks for the advise everyone, looking to use airport check in at 1930hrs and straight to The Wing before getting on the BA flight.^

House

In which case we were probably both there at the same time - I was around between 5.15pm and 6.30pm on the way to PVG.

I have to be honest that, from my own personal perspective, 8 hours in any lounge (even the Wing) would drive me nuts. In your shoes I would have headed into town, installed myself in a nice hotel bar (or even better, a nice place in Soho or that vicinity) and watched the world go by...

Frequentflyer99

I am not sure why everyone gets so excited about the Wing. I was in the F section again a few weeks ago after a couple of years absence, and found it incredibly dull and actually rather cramped, so went walkabout in the terminal. Certainly far better than the BA lounge in HKG, but nothing like the glories of the T5 lounges, or the new EK lounge areas in DXB T3. I think CX are now getting left behind !

Modo

Apologies for going slightly OT - but the answers to date suggest that this thread has the assembled skills to answer my related question.

I've got a 5 1/4 hour stopover with my GF en route MNL to SIN the Sunday after next (don't ask it is too complicated but it does make logistical & economic sense!)

We'll check our main baggage through but ideally I'd like to go through to the CX lounge and leave carry ons & my laptop bag before going over to Tung Chung & Lantau Island for 3 hours or so. Can that be done? i.e. can we get back out from departures having gone through transfer - without ridiculous hassle.

Worst case is obviously go through immigration and use left luggage but a quick visit & drop off at the lounge is ideal. I can use the FVC electronic channel but she can't. & if I'm not with her she inevitably gets questioned & a very slow passage which could make the trip out of the airport too tight.

ageofenlightenment

You'll be fine. Checking your hand baggage in The Wing will work a treat. Just stick with the gf to help speed immigration...

Modo

Thanks - ageofenlightenment - but what is the procedure for exiting from the depatures area. I've done it for different reasons at LAX & LHR in the past but it was not comfortable.

Sticking with the GF is always obligatory!!! Seriously as you inferred Filipina's no matter who they are, get a hard time if on their own even in ASEAN countries. I suspect even Imelda gets the Inquisition until she says she is going shoe shopping.

Is it just a case of finding the one reverse channel from departures?

nomoreiphone

I am sorry, but you are wrong as I have been briefed by the official people from HKIA and CX. You might got away with it before but from my experience it is not that simple. There is a procedure you have to go through to get back to arrivals.

Trust me, I've been doing this almost on a monthly basis in the past few years.

As for the arrivals lounge I have doubled check the information. It seems they have changed the wording:

"The Arrival- First Class Lounge (Landside)
Admittance
First Class Passengers arriving same day in Hong Kong
Gold tier members or above
oneworld Emerald members
* Admission only for same day arrival on either Cathay Pacific or Dragonair flights of passengers in Hong Kong, or of passengers with 4 hours or more of transit time "

When they open the Arrival last year, it was stated in the rules that transit pax cannot use it. I think their rationale is to avoid people missing their connections. But the latest amendment makes it clearer.

Either way it is better to use the Wing and Pier as the food and beverage and facilities are better. However the arrival is a good lounge to spend an hour or so before heading to town

I think it is Important to post the legit and official information here to avoid people getting caught out unexpectedly.