One world Emerald status on HK Express?
 

I have AA platinum pro and I am planning to book a flight from HKG to TPE. I could book economy tickets either on HK Express Airways (HK Express) or Cathay or ? I'd like to get the one world emerald status being recognized so I could go to the lounges in HKG as well as luggages being covered(There will be 4 of us traveling with 2 or so carry-on + 2 checked-in luggages). Any advices? TIA.

I assume you really need to book CX to get your benefits...

Cathay only.

UO gets you nothing. (Cathy's ownership of them is irrelevant for status purposes. That's the story for a different thread.)

You can’t book UO and enjoy OW benefits unless you are connecting from somewhere else and it's a CX codeshare.

exactly. Stealth cost cutting - rebrand, cut all corners, and progressively move all low yielding route. hang on thats the definition of LCC no?

If they allow lounge access to elites on UO the lounges would be packed.

They are the definition of LCC. I don’t know why people expect full service on them when paying dirt cheap fares. You pay what you get. At least they aren’t easyJet or Ryanair.

Thank you all for the helpful info! I guess I can't be too greedy/wishful then ;)

Friendly reminder that you are not allowed to bring your own food on HK Express flights.

I agree in part with your points.

however, I have in the past flown to RMQ and DAD. Considered CNX although never went. I believe these are all examples of routes that KA used to fly, and hence we did get J class, as well as our lounge and elite benefits. I don’t mind the lack of J anymore so much as the rest.

I’m not sure the right answer but pointing out, this argument isn’t entirely fair since we had routes before where we have clearly been downgraded.

Or drinks.

The no outside food/drinks policy is fairly common among LCCs in the region but is one of the things that I hate most about HK Express.

negative!
You are allowed to bring food and drinks on board UO aircraft, but are not allowed to consume them on board.

“We allow passengers to bring food and beverages on board; however, consuming outside food and beverages in the cabin is not allowed. Ground staff will remind passengers of these regulations before boarding, but they will not confiscate passengers’ food.”
SCMP, 2024.07
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...uese-egg-tarts

Also if OP places such a heavy weighting on yielding OWE benefits then they should just fork out a bit more to pay for CX
UO is currently half a joke as far as we're concerned & the fare won't be that much different anyways

I wonder why CX doesn't fly to DAD, given that SQ itself rather than Scoot operates DAD

Can’t agree more. Wanting to travel to south east Asia with Oneworld but with limited destinations of CX, it’s a little hard to come up with something meaningful. Miss the days with KA.

While I kinda agree, I wonder what the price difference is now between what KA use to cost and what UO charges now for these routes?