Last edit by: kaka
as long as one has an intention to fly and has a long(%) transit immd is not gonna take you to court for going for a shower and some food after getting off a flight that arrives at 5am (or whenever your flight is).
However, dont expect you can be taken care of quickly if you need to get out before 10am during the morning bank of flights.
No comments for other reasons for using the lounge and back out - do at your own risks.
(%)- assuming you spend min 2 hours in lounge (spare more time for getting out in the morning) after arrivals to shower, eat, and wait for staff to walk you out + returning 1 hours before flight + 1.5 hours for the 2-way airport express trip, you’re looking at killing 6 hours before you can do anything in town. YMMV.
However, dont expect you can be taken care of quickly if you need to get out before 10am during the morning bank of flights.
No comments for other reasons for using the lounge and back out - do at your own risks.
(%)- assuming you spend min 2 hours in lounge (spare more time for getting out in the morning) after arrivals to shower, eat, and wait for staff to walk you out + returning 1 hours before flight + 1.5 hours for the 2-way airport express trip, you’re looking at killing 6 hours before you can do anything in town. YMMV.
HKG: Exiting the airport after going to the lounge
#61
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in my experience of working with the ground staff and being a passenger, they do not enjoy you asking them to do anything anyways (they prefer to sit there playing w their phone doing nothing the whole day), so of course going to arrivals to walk a pax is not welcomed.
as long as one has an intention to fly and has a long transit immd is not gonna take you to court for going for a shower and some food after getting off a flight that arrives at 5am. However, dont expect you can be taken care of quickly if you need to get out before 10am during the morning bank of flights.
#62
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If they actually recommend it as a matter of practice, they should publish the policy officially. My hunch is that the 1.5 hour wait times (to get out) are a passive aggressive signal that CX doesn't actively endorse this practice. I'm happy to be proven wrong if you can provide proof, apart from ISM word of mouth.
#63
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There are no 1.5 hour wait times. The wait times are to find a ground staff to enable the procedure. It would be helpful if the transit security works in reverse too. Not that difficult.
#64
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: HKG
Programs: CX Diamond / OWE
Posts: 277
Look, there's nothing "official" at all about this practice, and you know it!
Key points:
1. You waste 1.5 hours of your time in order to leave
2. #1 entails overutilizing both CX and HKIA resources
3. There are many other places to eat and shower
In short, anyone who deliberately attempts to abuse the system IS being cheap and obnoxious, because there are other options available that don't make waves.
Key points:
1. You waste 1.5 hours of your time in order to leave
2. #1 entails overutilizing both CX and HKIA resources
3. There are many other places to eat and shower
In short, anyone who deliberately attempts to abuse the system IS being cheap and obnoxious, because there are other options available that don't make waves.
#65
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The industrial engineers who designed the system did not account for cheapskates swimming upstream.
#66
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Then clearly its a flaw in the system. I doubt you need an industrial engineer to figure that, given the weather problems, delays and all sorts of connection issues that can happen at HKG, if you are the designer you sure didnt put enough effort. Maybe it was way above your payscale.
#67
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One thing which I think you are all missing is that, until there is compulsory facial recognition in and out, the ability to exit from departures facilitates people trafficking through allowing the swapping of fake passports in the departures area. HK is a fairly major hub for such activity.
Last edited by christep; Apr 5, 2019 at 10:27 am
#68
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Errmmmm there is FINGERPRINTING now. When was the last time you exited or entered HKG?
#69
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I live in Hong Kong, so obviously I use my HKID card. But it's news to me that HK Immigration takes fingerprints from arriving and departing visitors, and I can find no reference to it on the ImmD website. Could you please provide a link to confirm that the manual Immigration Control desks take fingerprints? Thanks.
#70
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I live in Hong Kong, so obviously I use my HKID card. But it's news to me that HK Immigration takes fingerprints from arriving and departing visitors, and I can find no reference to it on the ImmD website. Could you please provide a link to confirm that the manual Immigration Control desks take fingerprints? Thanks.
#71
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Yes, but e-channel does facial recognition with an e-passport. The traffickers use the manual desks which, as far as I know (I await further evidence from ashkale, if it's not above his payscale), don't take fingerprints or photos.
#72
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The number of misinformed users on this site is shocking. Eitherways, I will continue using the departure.lounges for 5am arrivals unless explicitly forbidden.
#74
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I live in Hong Kong, so obviously I use my HKID card. But it's news to me that HK Immigration takes fingerprints from arriving and departing visitors, and I can find no reference to it on the ImmD website. Could you please provide a link to confirm that the manual Immigration Control desks take fingerprints? Thanks.
as to immigration control desks and swapping fake passports
if one really want to to dodgy things with a passport, you can always carry a 2nd or 3rd passport- i have yet to find a ground agent checking ones entry/exit record to the boarding pass. and many hkers exit with HKID but travel with a passport issued by another country, it is unlikely any checks are done behind the scene. forbidding backtracking hardly solve any of that problem.
#75
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@moondog - you remind me of some people in this world who make it their business to be unhappy about what other people do in their bedrooms (whether they are sleeping with their same-sex partners or otherwise). So what if someone is "abusing" the system by getting off the plane, going to into the sterile area, have a meal at the lounge, and exit again? What harm does it do to you? Unless you are the CEO of HKIA I don't think it will affect you in any financial sense. If someone doesn't harm you or steal from you or hurt you in any way, then why bother with it? Life is short enough as it is, and I think such angst can be directed elsewhere, perhaps https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...haviour-3.html