SDXS

From a point of view (visited past times few weeks), it seems that in the lounges the staffs seems worn out and can hear them saying they are tired. Tables were not cleared on time during the breakfast hour and I hardly could get seat. Food presentation are also not always optimal.

Maybe it seems that Sodexo is cutting down in budget and Cathay is not taking care of it... (also budget?!?)

Cambo

Welcome to FT.

Your statements are pretty intriguing. Where the majority of CX-FT posters do conclude the opposite of your findings (after initially sharing your opinion some 2-3+ months ago). You may want to elaborate your very general statements.

QRC3288

When did you experience the issues? Definitely, just a few months ago what you describe was the norm here on FT. And, in my personal experiences too.

I actually haven't been to Pier F in 3+ months as a result! Despite departing from Hong Kong on OneWorld carriers at least 10, if not 15 times since then.

However, recently it seems like there is a lot of positive reviews here.

Yea. Maybe / hopefully the poster is referring to a past experience. I hope the positive experiences weren't just the result of a lucky 2-3 weeks.

kaffir76

That pic belongs on Passenger Shaming IG!
Gross

kaffir76

Read lots of comments about the declining quality in the lounge on here but I really don't see it that way.
Granted, I've not been to the Pier F lounge but in the past 3 years, I'd say that CX lounges at HKIA is one of the best in the world (especially so when you compare it to SQ/QR's policy of separating their business class lounges from the Gold status lounges)
I was in HKG twice last month, and I visited the QF lounge on the first trip & then the CX lounge on the following trip.

I've always been able to find something that suits my taste but the comments about the (beef) siu mai and dumplings/dim sum really made me laugh.
Of course, it's packaged food either frozen or chilled.
Surely, you can't/don't expect Ding Tai Fung quality of hand made dumplings in an airport lounge, right?

Some pics from late last month -



And the lounge has more going for it than just the food - I think the showers & slumber room are excellent if you have a long layover at HKG or after a long haul flight from Europe/USA & the staff have always been friendly & helpful.

The 2 things that I did notice were -

1. the San Pellegrino water bottles have been removed from the beverage display chillers a few months ago & is only available from the bar counter - the very friendly Filipina bartender was more than happy to serve it to me when I asked
2. it might just be me but I thought that the wonton skin was thicker than usual when I ordered the wonton soup (without noodles) from the noodle bar, the filling was more or less the same

Overall, I'd be happy to spend my time at the Pier lounge but if my departure gate was in the 1-15 zone then I'd head over to the QF lounge instead.

kaffir76

I actually just realized this myself last month but the train (Automated People Mover) makes a stop at gates 40-60 & the elevator will bring you up to exactly where the Wing BRIDGE lounge is.

Fly Me To The Moon

I think you mean The Bridge Lounge?

The Wing is near Gate 2.

mbamejia

Just visited Pier J last 6 Sept. A few musings:

1. The food was vastly improved from my visit last June. Selection and quality.
2. Change from Moet to Mumm. My preference is Moet, but Mumm is not a deal breaker. Hair splitting, really.
3. Staff pretty good and plates were cleared rather quickly.
4. Was it just me or is there no ice machine or ice bucket in the drinks section? Staff had to give me a glass of ice for my soda.

380Flyer

Knowing the guys at Plaza Premium and how they operate their business, it is little wonder why they lost this lucrative CX contract to manage their lounges at HKIA.

Plaza Premium are a complete bunch of unrelaible clowns.

zzz997

Visited Wing/Pier F lounger few time this in the last few weeks. The food quality/staff in the restaurant definitely improved a lot.
However the sitting area now became anther service lapse area. The staff only come to clean up the desk only once an hour!! We are forced to clean them up \!!!

sxc

Tell us more? The way they ran the CX lounges was okay and it seems like they’re running the Amex lounge okay too.

kaffir76

Yeah, I forgot to add that point too about the lack of ice machines/buckets but the bartender will be happy to get you some ice if you ask for it
I personally prefer to help/serve myself when it comes to drinks & ice cubes

clubeurope

+1

I agree. I've felt that Plaza Premium Lounges are often a lot nicer than those typical contract lounges you'd find elsewhere...

The Aspire lounges are particularly bad

andersonCooper

Had the exact same beef shin and prawn tofu, the presentation was exactly the same as pictured above. Tasted good as described above, so not going to further illustrate.

Want to highlight some services I did not notice in the past:
1)While ordering, I was asked if I would like starters and main to be served all together, or main come after starters.
2)Once I finished my mains, staff quickly approached with menu again and asked if I needed any desserts.
3)Had an eye contact with one of the staff and I was quickly asked if I need anything - quite attentive.

The visit was during non-peak hours (around 8pm), so the occupancy was ~20%. It met my expectation of Pier F.

FlyPointyEnd