just tried this last month. going from departure to immigration turned out to be more complicated because i flew united into hkg. the lounge sent me to the service desk near gate 21 but they needed a united personnel to take me to immigration. i waited nearly 2 hours at the desk/lounge but the UA staff never showed up. fortunately, one of the staff was going out to lunch and she finally agreed to take me to the immigration side. it is definitely doable and i think you will be better because you are flying with CX. keep your plans flexible though.

take the lift near the food court on departures across from Disney store to arrivals level. Explain to security staff you want to enter HK, they will let walk out passed screening area into arrival area.. and enter as you would normally.

Done.

The misinformation on this site is staggering some times.

I fail to understand why it seems it is so "easy" to do this.

In my opinion there should be a valid reason for this, like flight delay and the airlines need to send you to hotel.

Other than that why it should be allowed?

Well, the going to Wing part is like everyone said. You have onward BP, go through transit security, head on up, go to Wing.

As for Wing going back out to HK, very doable. Not as easy as he suggests thought. There will be security guarding going backwards, you have to convinced him/her and they will generally be annoyed and need to escort you, and you do have to go through customs, you can't just "walk out"

From "PERSONAL" and "ACTUAL" experience, it is easy:

1) tell the lounge u need to go out
2) They will give u a slip with their stamp on it
3) Goto the Route visa the Disney store lifts back to transit security in arrivals.
4) Hand the paper to the seucrity guard and I NEVER got even a wink or hinderance
5) Then you are back in Arrivals and just go through immigration and customs. Simple as that.

I just did this a few days ago.

I flew in from LAX in F, flight arrived at 6 a.m. I had a connection on KA in J to Phnom Penh at 4 p.m.

Exited the plane, followed signs for transit, went through transit security, went to The Wing. Asked for a cabana, used it to shower, change clothes, etc. Got something to eat.

Around 10 a.m. I told one of the lounge desk ladies that I wanted to go into town. She did act like it was an unusual request/imposition. She asked when my connecting flight was; I think if I only had 3-4 hours she would have argued that I didn't have enough time. She then asked if I was an F or J passenger, maybe they are less accommodating of this request for J passengers.

She told me to have a seat and wait for an airline staff member to escort me to immigration, which she said might take a while. I asked if I could just go down to arrivals myself and she said no I needed an escort. I asked another agent if I could leave my bag in the lounge while I went into town and he said no, then he said they did have a luggage rack where I could leave my bag but it wasn't secure.

About twenty minutes later, an airline staff lady showed up to escort me to arrivals, which didn't consist of anything more than walking me to the elevator and then telling the security officer at arrivals level that I was going into town, then we walked into the immigration hall. I left my carry on bag at the left luggage office and took the train to Central (same day return ticket costs the same as a one way ticket), took the MTR to the Museum of Art, then Star Ferry back to Central, and train back to the airport. Went back to The Wing and showed my boarding passes and asked if I could re-enter and that was no problem.

CX ground staff have a lot of these around. They love pulling long faces as if that will make the customer miraculously disappear. I'd love to tell her to just get on with doing what she's getting paid to do.

I have no experience. But I am not sure how this would be easy...
Unlike US, HK actually does exit "stamp" on passport, not sure how they do the exit stamp "without" immigration/visa (in) stamp on your passport??
If this is so easy, would it be a loophole for those travel to HK (using transit) without visa?? i.e. Taiwan passport holder travels TPE-HKG-JFK. Taiwanese needs special passport or register online prior to enter HK, or else they CAN'T go into HK without visa or entry permit.
Again, NO experience, but highly doubt it's "that easy".

FYI, when my son and I exit HK about 3 years ago, they can identify my son was using a different passport (dual citizenship) when he entered HK, and they demand using the same passport before allowing him to leave.

It actually is that easy....what I think you're missing is the pax needs to go through entrance / exit immigration just like everyone else. There is no special treatment here. You get the entrance "stamp" (I think nowadays it's technically a bar-coded piece of paper). If you are on a passport that doesn't allow visa-free entry to HK like you're referring to Taiwan, then you won't be able to do it. On returning to HKIA after your day in town, exit immigration does the same thing - check your "stamp" (aka, scan your barcode).

This is not a loophole; I think you might just be confused about what's going on. All that's happening here is a pax (who holds a passport / visa that entitles him to enter/exit HK as a tourist or businessman) decides to pop down from the departures area to arrivals area. You technically don't even need an escort like the lounge agent told the poster above; when I've done it I just had a piece of paper the lounge gave me. The only "fancy" part here is just talking to security who guards the elevator between the departures and arrivals area, because this down elevator movement is an abnormal flow of passengers (most are going from arrivals to departures). You exit the arrivals level like everyone else who is arriving - through immigration. Immigration treats you just like you're an arriving passenger. There is no special backroom door or anything.

Then, upon your return to the airport, you'll need to re-clear security and exit HK immigration. Pretty straightforward.

I wish I saw this thread a few days ago. I arrived at HKG at 6 am with a 4 hour layover and decided to wash up a bit at one of the lounges first. Then I was going to go back out to meet with some of my FA friends from the flight for breakfast at the arrivals terminal. I initially looked all over for an exit out to the arrivals, but couldn't find anything so I went to the information desk to ask about going back to the arrivals hall. After giving me a surprised look she asked why I wanted to go back out, and after explaining she told me if I wanted to go back out they would have to cancel my ticket and boarding pass. I gave up after that.

Well, now I know.

Yup I am confused, now I got the picture. Thanks.

HKG: Exiting the airport after going to the lounge
 

I have a long layover in HKG next week ( arrive 7am, leave midnight ).

I'll be coming in on an overnight flight, and my thought would be to go to the cabanas at the Wing to rest for a few hours before going into the city. However, thinking things through tonight, I realized this might not be possible.

To get to the Wing I'll have to go through international transit security, and won't clear HKG immigration. I assume I'm stuck, then? You can't get to HKG immigration (to get into the city) after clearing transit security, can you?

Yes it is possible actually, but some reports of CX staff being a little surly when asked to do it. But I think this is more exception than rule.

You can have a look at this thread for previous discussion, and I'll add these details to the lounge FAQ: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...migration.html

As you don't have a great deal of time in Hong Kong, go into the city and have fun! Never mind the lounge. If you are tried, try out of one the many massages for relaxation. Some people like foot massages too.

By the way are you flying in J or Marco Polo gold or oneworld emerald, and arriving on CX? You will have access to the arrival lounge in that case.