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Short-checking Luggage
Apologies in advance if this has been posted elsewhere but I've trawled through the Cathay threads and can't find the information.
I've booked one of the cheap DAD-JFK-DAD flights. My return to DAD goes through HKG. I'd like to fly home to London from HKG. If I don't take the HKG-DAD leg, will they release my luggage without repricing the ticket? |
Yes, should be no problem when you check in at JFK to short-check the bags to HKG only (make some excuse about needing to get an item to pass to someone in HK). Might be tricky to justify if the connection is close to MCT.
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Originally Posted by christep
(Post 30598608)
Yes, should be no problem when you check in at JFK to short-check the bags to HKG only (make some excuse about needing to get an item to pass to someone in HK). Might be tricky to justify if the connection is close to MCT.
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Has anyone experienced that CX recalculates the ticket price if you skip the last leg? I know - nobody can tell 100%...
Booked one of these great NYE-fares and would not mind to just leave in HKG on the way back as it would safe me to apply for a Vietnam visa. |
Originally Posted by ELLX
(Post 30598764)
Has anyone experienced that CX recalculates the ticket price if you skip the last leg? I know - nobody can tell 100%...
Booked one of these great NYE-fares and would not mind to just leave in HKG on the way back as it would safe me to apply for a Vietnam visa. |
Assuming your trip starts from Vietnam, don't you have to apply for it anyway?
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Originally Posted by IBNR
(Post 30600210)
Assuming your trip starts from Vietnam, don't you have to apply for it anyway?
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Originally Posted by IBNR
(Post 30600210)
Assuming your trip starts from Vietnam, don't you have to apply for it anyway?
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Originally Posted by skunker
(Post 30600120)
CX will check for a visa when you board the first flight from the US to HKG.
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Originally Posted by driveswith
(Post 30601833)
What if you show itinerary/ticket for onward travel from Vietnam?
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Originally Posted by sxc
(Post 30601845)
It's a risky approach.
Perhaps you can answer something for me... Hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question. I am a UK citizen, British Foreign Office states the following regarding entering Vietnam "Until 30 June 2021, ‘British Citizen’ passport holders travelling for tourism or business can enter Vietnam for up to a maximum of 15 days (inclusive of dates of entry and exit) without a visa. For visits of up to 30 days, you can get an e-visa online before you travel." Does that mean I don't need to apply for anything in advance or show any kind of visa if I am staying less than 15 days? |
UK citizens don't need a visa, but as posted above they also can't enter again within 30 days of leaving Vietnam. And CX does check this by flipping through your passport looking at every page and for Vietnam immigration stamps.
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Originally Posted by sxc
(Post 30601869)
UK citizens don't need a visa, but as posted above they also can't enter again within 30 days of leaving Vietnam. And CX does check this by flipping through your passport looking at every page and for Vietnam immigration stamps.
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I'd suggest to sent your luggage home by courier (maybe to your neighbours, just in case you do arrive home later then your luggage) and do only OLCI for the leg JFK-HKG. That way, you don't have to face the check-in desk handler with maybe nasty questions. Why do you, etc.
You still have a chance for the red beep at boarding though and CX insisting to check your passport for a proper VN visa at that moment. Expect CX to be aware many of these lucky F/J passengers are trying to skip the last segment and CX may have a temporary enforcement on the VN visa check at the US departure, being checked in for the final leg or not. There is no such thing like a free lunch, so to say. |
Originally Posted by Cambo
(Post 30601938)
You still have a chance for the red beep at boarding though and CX insisting to check your passport for a proper VN visa at that moment.
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Originally Posted by sxc
(Post 30601984)
You definitely will get a red beep for a documents check. Using online check in and self printing of boarding passes doesn't stop CX from checking your documents. It's happened to me multiple times.
Whereas a documents check at manual check-in will raise the nasty "check-in of the final leg" question. Formally, at JFK, with only check-in until HKG, access to HK is to be checked. And with a HK passport and maybe a UK passport, that could be fine, without onward journey. Or maybe cancel the lucky ticket, being not that lucky at all. 🤕 |
Thanks both. If I get visa-free entry to catch the outbound and can apply for an e-visa visa for the return flight, I'll do that. Not worth playing about for $25.
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theres actually a better way to save money.
just shell out $6 - 8 for a VOA invitation letter. this is not a visa but allows you to apply for VOA upon arrival in Vietnam. Check-in agent will be happy with this letter. Obviously will cost more and is more inconvenient than e-visa if you actually go to Vietnam. but otherwise its a cheap insurance policy. i did this for insurance when attempting to use my abtc card for a leisure trip in SGN. |
just be careful on dropping the last leg - as it is breaking the rules of the ticket and has been widely reported over the years - that states roughly that all parts of the travel must be completed or the passenger risks the fare being re calculated and they poentially could request via the courts/legal means the payment difference. Its a way for poentially CX to reclaim some of the lost revenue on these error ticekts. CX is fully aware of who the travellers are and worst case scenrio is you don't want any legal issues linked to your passport when travelling thru HK in the future.
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Originally Posted by Stugots
(Post 30602453)
just be careful on dropping the last leg - as it is breaking the rules of the ticket and has been widely reported over the years - that states roughly that all parts of the travel must be completed or the passenger risks the fare being re calculated and they poentially could request via the courts/legal means the payment difference. Its a way for poentially CX to reclaim some of the lost revenue on these error ticekts. CX is fully aware of who the travellers are and worst case scenrio is you don't want any legal issues linked to your passport when travelling thru HK in the future.
but then again, what point does it accomplish apart from wasting another bum in seat to DAD. suppose they can potentially drive incremental revenue for the return leg DAD-xHKG- original destination, unless one chooses to go DAD -> onto original destination. |
Originally Posted by driveswith
(Post 30602058)
Thanks both. If I get visa-free entry to catch the outbound and can apply for an e-visa visa for the return flight, I'll do that. Not worth playing about for $25.
Not worth to pay $25 to fly First Class Return from Vietnam to New York with EY pricing?? (Audio) |
Originally Posted by Audio
(Post 30602620)
Not worth to pay $25 to fly First Class Return from Vietnam to New York with EY pricing??
(Audio) |
Originally Posted by Stugots
(Post 30602453)
... risks the fare being re calculated ....
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You might imagine that where people manage to drop the last leg whilst a reprice is contractually possible an easy penalty for CX to impose would be to not credit (or reverse the credits) of any sectors flown to the nominated FFP.
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Originally Posted by driveswith
(Post 30598613)
Thanks for the swift response. My connection time is 2h45m. I'm not sure what the minimum is but just did a quick search and found a flight sold by Cathay from JFK-SGN with 1h10m connection and LHR-SGN with a 1h connection, which Cathay show as short connection, so should be fine. Will report back in a few months.
If I haven't make a mistake, the MCT in HKG is 50 mins, under the situation that your luggage is through checked, otherwise a 2h connection may be needed (it could take up to 1h to get your checked luggage in rush hour in HKG in worse case) Also, base on my previous experience with CX, it may have potential issue for you in JFK if request to check in to HKG only. Once a time I bought a return J ticket of PVG-HKG-HND, and I requested to checked to HKG only on my return trip in HND (drop the rest HKG-PVG trip and leave in HK). However, it was rejected by CX Japanese ground crew, as well as her supervisor, simply stated it was not allowed according to my fare rule. Eventually, I got 2 boarding pass (HND-HKG and HKG-PVG) and my luggage was through checked to PVG. After landed in HKG, I went to the transit counter in HKG and requested to drop my last HKG-PVG leg, sweetly they were nice to help to took out my luggage and didn't charge me anything, and it took me around 1h to get my checked luggage after the request. Therefore, it all depend on the CX ground crew in JFK, In best case, they will help you to get the JFK-HKG and HKG-LHR boarding pass and checked your luggage to LHR. But in worst case, they may simply rejected your request and you need figure out how to get your luggage out in HKG. |
Originally Posted by jansoncheng
(Post 30602788)
...Therefore, it all depend on the CX ground crew in JFK, In best case, they will help you to get the JFK-HKG and HKG-LHR boarding pass and checked your luggage to LHR. But in worst case, they may simply rejected your request and you need figure out how to get your luggage out in HKG.
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Originally Posted by Stugots
(Post 30602453)
just be careful on dropping the last leg - as it is breaking the rules of the ticket and has been widely reported over the years - that states roughly that all parts of the travel must be completed or the passenger risks the fare being re calculated and they poentially could request via the courts/legal means the payment difference. Its a way for poentially CX to reclaim some of the lost revenue on these error ticekts. CX is fully aware of who the travellers are and worst case scenrio is you don't want any legal issues linked to your passport when travelling thru HK in the future.
Originally Posted by plunet
(Post 30602632)
You might imagine that where people manage to drop the last leg whilst a reprice is contractually possible an easy penalty for CX to impose would be to not credit (or reverse the credits) of any sectors flown to the nominated FFP.
Originally Posted by sxc
(Post 30602630)
I think driveswith is concluding that paying the $25 is worth it.
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Originally Posted by Cambo
(Post 30603029)
As suggested earlier: Courier your luggage home. Even with being checked in, you can walk out at HKG.
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Maybe just do hand carry only....
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Originally Posted by tfung
(Post 30604095)
Maybe just do hand carry only....
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Originally Posted by driveswith
(Post 30598594)
. If I don't take the HKG-DAD leg, will they release my luggage without repricing the ticket?
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My guess is that CX gives strict instructions to the US check-in staff that checked luggage MUST be checked through on tickets to VN.
It is already a requirement for any ticket without stopover, but CX is known to allow exceptions. But, CX could easily ask its staff to strictly enforce the rule. |
Past experience is that CX often allows short checking luggage, ie , often luggage allowed to be collected in HKG and sometimes the passenger does not fly onwards.
However, with this mistake fare, CX is honouring the very cheap fare (to the surprise of many here) on the basis that they will stick to the letter of the contract although the price is surprisingly low. Now, should the parties not also stick to a clause in the contract that in the absence of the passenger flying the entire itinerary the fare will be recalculated? Surely, yes. Is this counter-intuitive? No. If CX were to hold passengers to the contract in the same way they hold themselves to the contract, will they get bad press? They should not. People will say to those lucky ones who got a good deal "good for you" but if they decide to push things too far, people will say that it is CX's duty to protect company revenue and shareholders' interest. Let the Courts decide. CX will not be the first airline that enforces the clause of flying the whole itinerary.Those who booked the lucky fare left their credit card and other details with CX. Short checking bags or not checking in any bag actually raises a flag and CX will have good evidence to show the Court that skipping the last leg was pre-planned. |
Short Checking Luggage on CX
As with many who took advantage of the recent low priced F fares, I am looking to drop my final HKG-HAN leg which is operated by VN.
I was curious if anyone knows whether CX will short check my luggage from SFO-HKG so I can just pick up my checked bags in HKG. My connection is about 8hrs, but it is during the day. Thanks in advance :) |
Just as a reference. Last year, I was flying Cathay on PEK-HKG-SYD, bags through checked to SYD and boarding pass issued to SYD in PEK as usual. When in HKG, I told the lounge staff that I would be dropping the HKG-SYD sector and move to another flight. The whole process worked as follow: 1. Need to contact Cathay staff to cancel check-in, can be done in the lounge. 2. Call reservation to cancel the ticket. 3. Lounge staff then re-tag your bag to your new flight. (I moved to another cx flight so it was possible , not sure if it works if flying with other carriers) 4. New boarding pass and baggage tag issued. The whole process took about 1.5-2 hours, mostly because I waited for 1 hour to reach the reservation office. But the reservation office did say that you do NOT necessarily need to cancel your ticket before your next flight although this is RECOMMENDED. In the end I even received an AU$160 tax refund lol. But of course this is purely for reference and I have no idea if it would work the same for others in other situation. |
I am hoping that everyone will report back here with their experiences cancelling the final leg or the entire return trip, so that we can all learn what happens. I don't need my return and would be happy to let them resell it, but pretty sure they would want to reprice, even though it would give them inventory to sell that will otherwise be wasted.
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Originally Posted by rays
(Post 30606769)
Just as a reference. Last year, I was flying Cathay on PEK-HKG-SYD, bags through checked to SYD and boarding pass issued to SYD in PEK as usual. When in HKG, I told the lounge staff that I would be dropping the HKG-SYD sector and move to another flight. The whole process worked as follow: 1. Need to contact Cathay staff to cancel check-in, can be done in the lounge. 2. Call reservation to cancel the ticket. 3. Lounge staff then re-tag your bag to your new flight. (I moved to another cx flight so it was possible , not sure if it works if flying with other carriers) 4. New boarding pass and baggage tag issued. The whole process took about 1.5-2 hours, mostly because I waited for 1 hour to reach the reservation office. But the reservation office did say that you do NOT necessarily need to cancel your ticket before your next flight although this is RECOMMENDED. In the end I even received an AU$160 tax refund lol. But of course this is purely for reference and I have no idea if it would work the same for others in other situation. If you really want to drop the last leg and fly another leg, you should "self transfer" - get the bags only checked through to HKG, collect the bags and check-in again. If your next flight is also on CX, you do run the risk of the check-in agent finding your original booking and asking awkward questions. |
Sorry, but there is no more appropriate phrase I can think for this than those who are looking to short check their bags here are taking the ****. Yes, it is possible on CX to short check bags sometimes at CX’s discretion but it is not guaranteed and outstations like Japan which follow the rules to the letter will very likely say no.
CX has very generously decided to honour their part of the contract to transport you from the US to Vietnam, but they have no contract to transport you and your luggage to Hong Kong. They would be perfectly within their rights to deny your request without a very large sum of money and as has been hinted above given the number of people taking these tickets it would make sense for them to issue a directive to staff to that effect (they may well do so / already have done so). If it were me, I’d plan to fly to Vietnam. |
Some of the lucky F fare travelers with earlier travel schedules should maybe take a risk and report back later their outcomes, take one for the team :D
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Originally Posted by IncyWincy
(Post 30604784)
Short checking bags or not checking in any bag actually raises a flag.
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