Hello from an old friend here! What a year.

And I need some help, I do not understand this Feb 22 notice on CX's website. I am planning to fly back from the USA soon. Is my understanding of the Feb 22 thing correct, paraphrases: "USA flights have been slashed through March 28 in response to new rules; only LAX and JFK remain a few days per week, and SFO got temporarily suspended similar to early 2020. Whatever gets released on Feb 22 in response to potential HK govt rule changes, will only affect flights AFTER March 28"?

Or is it possible on Feb 22 that if the HK govt rules are sufficiently relaxed, SFO is restarted, LAX and JFK go daily, etc BEFORE March 28?

Because this Feb 22 thing is a little inconvenient for quarantine hotel booking! I'm trying to book my quarantine hotel early next month and want to figure out which flight to book. From what I can see on the CX website, I only have JFK or LAX as options a few days a week, and J class is highest available, no F. What I really want to know is there any chance that LAX/JFK goes daily before March 28 and/or SFO returns to the schedule? And/or F class returns by then? (even if no F, any chance LAX/JFK goes daily or SFO returns before March 28?) If there is a chance of daily flights to/from LAX or SFO especially, I think I will wait a week before booking my hotel. If not, I will just book it now.

Greetings to many old friends on here.

I have no inside info but I think it’s highly unlikely the flights will go daily. They weren’t daily for most of last year without any of these crew restrictions so it’s unlikely they will go daily now.

As for F class, this is the thread but bottom line is that there is 0-1% chance of F returning. CX is flying A350s mostly and I think the 777s with F are all parked in long term storage.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...t-class-3.html

Long time no post

I would use 22-28 Feb as planning extrapolation. All I can see is 351s, 3FPW.

Anything more is bonus.
Tell that to YVR Uncle - he's already done one round trip - home quarantining both ends (the advantages of commuting) - and now wants to get back to the Canadian side before they implement hotel quarantine, which he won't do.
CX literally cut off his "leg" to YVR anyway so he's gotta wait it out.

Welcome back QRC3288. We missed you.
And Happy New Year. The weather has been beautiful here.

The way I understand it is that CX has already planned the first week schedule after the new rules take effect on 20 February. For example JFK will be twice a week with a A351.
How they organize beyond that depends on the number of crew willing to accept the new strange schedule.

Unless the HK Government make a U turn, there is no chance that the frequency will become daily in March. Nor will you get F. FAs have become a scarce ressource with this new measure and CX will try to get the minimum number of FAs onboard, meaning no F for the foreseeable future.
The frequency could even be reduced if staff are reluctant to accept the new schedules.
I would expect the new rules to be in place for at least a couple of months.

I suggest you wait to book your hotel until flights are confirmed.

I would also consider a plan B. I don't know where you are flying from. But QR has been a reliable airline to HKG.
It might also be easier to transit in some Asian hub. The reason is that I believe that it is easier for asian airlines to do a turnaround in HKG, without the crew being affected by the new rules.

And here I am waiting for ORD open back up by May, if not will use JFK or LAX to HKG. Looking to use aa miles on CX flight.

thanks to you, percy and sxc for the kind comments. my concern with QR, or really any non-CX airline right now is this HK government rule to ban an airline for 2 weeks if they arrive with a positive covid case. my understanding is this does *not* apply to CX. I've noticed QR, Air India, and BA banned all at least once. there may be others. My fear is my travel schedule could be upended if one of those airlines gets hit with a 2 week ban. (I'm assuming passengers on those banned flights are collateral damage?) It seems to me that if you can square it away, flying CX is the safest option.

CX is not excluded from being banned, they just follow the rules properly. But in the current times it’s better to take non stops than any convoluted itinerary given potential for sudden border closures / bans.

There is no doubt that flying CX arriving directly into HKG is the safest decision.
My plan B was only in case you cannot find a CX flight that fits you.
In my current travel plans, I buy a backup ticket just in case. For example QR provides free refund no question asked.

Also note that HK bans flights not airlines, and CX is bound by the same rule. CX880 could be banned for 2 weeks.

oh that's good to know. I guess I didn't know the details of this rule (it is flight #s, not the airline).

I'm currently in the USA, and my preference is to fly from SFO or LAX, followed by any other American port. I'm currently booked on CX881 ex-LAX, because SFO isn't even flying in March, and even LAX is running just 4x weekly. Not a lot of choice. LAX is better for me than JFK.

But even if CX881 gets banned, I presume CX could be cheeky and then just change the flight time by reinstating pre-existing flight #s, no? Changing the flight to CX882/883? 884/885? Or reinstate SFO for 2 weeks? Anyway, it seems to me CX have more flexibility than the other non-HKG hub airlines.

At least, this is my logic. I'm still looking for the good excuse to fly EK which is the only airline I can find with F going to HKG right now. So if my logic is incorrect I would love to realize it and just book EK. But based on what I'm learning, I really don't think flying a connecting airline to HKG right now justifies the risk compared to taking CX. It seems a lot safer to get to Hong Kong on my quarantine hotel booking day by choosing the non-stop.

What a mess.

I would strongly advise against taking EK to HKG as they appear quite often on the list of flights that carry confirmed Covid-19 cases, making them one of the carriers with the highest chance of getting banned.

I believe QR hasn't gotten banned before as I read an article about how they just managed to escape due to a delay in the test results coming back. QR is incredibly strict with paperwork for HKG flights (from my experience 2 months ago) and they fly to quite many US airports, making them a good backup plan.

QR818 has been banned a few times along with EK384. What you are quoting is one incident where QR avoided the ban through a technicality.

It is unwise at this time, IMHO to fly EK or QR to HKG when you have a CX option. EK and QR is being used to fly from very high risk countries with transit at DOH/DBX to HKG.

Thanks for the advice above, I'm definitely going on CX. I'd prefer F, but wouldn't we all.

Is there a website where we can get the official information on which flights have been banned?
I was not aware that QR818 had been been banned multiple times.

The largest source of the virus in Hong Kong is China.

Maybe you should update your statistics.