I'm flying with the family HKG - HAN, DAD - HKG on HK Express.... only flights that fit our schedule. Have I made a terrible mistake, or will all be well? Flight reviews are wither 5* or 1* .... not sure what to trust.

It's a fairly standard Low Cost Carrier. You get transported from A to B in a small seat in a metal tube. As long as you don't expect more than that then you should be fine.

Somewhat
As in fly them in school holidays and expect something to go wrong - whether minor or major (canx) is up to luck.
And as with all carriers, better when school's in session.

I have flown those routes with UO, CX and VN.
UO is a standard LCC, and not among the best.
After a couple of incidents, I go out of my way to avoid HK Express.

Fairly standard low cost carrier. Better than the likes of Ryanair but I don't have much expectations when paying that cheap fare. Planes are mostly new and Danang is only 1.5 hours away anyway.

Be aware outside food is not allowed on board so if you need a meal, pre-book it.

"incidents": one of the incidents included contract (ground) staff confiscating passenger-brought food and eating it (rule: passengers not allowed to eat their own food but staff not allowed to confiscate it)?

Thanks everyone. Not going to show this thread to the missus..... and hope for the best. trip is end July. what do school holidays have to do with it?

Used them a couple of times and it is fine for short flights.

in school holidays a lot of families go to vacation. not to mention UO doesn't only get Hong Kong vacationers, also a lot of transit from mainland china and a lot of other foreigners as well. it makes very cramped, overcrowded planes, but to be fair all other LCCs have this issue.

pay to sit in the first row (significantly more legroom / less interaction with the riff raff) and ufirst for priority boarding and counter access. Check in online and get your boarding pass. Yes you will have to pay for bottled water.

Honestly it's not that bad, it's better than FR for sure. It's not the same as a KA 320/1 in J like in the good old days but for an 1-2 hour segment you'll live.

Flown them to DAD.

Perfectly acceptable for flight of that duration.

For better experience you can order food in advance.

Out of HKG pay for U-First.

Return from DAD will make less of a difference.

First row better than exit row?

You'd get off faster, if that means anything

at 6'4" I'm all about leg room...

In Dec last year, I used HK Express for a positioning flight to KIX. At that time, I could still book a fare that included 7kg of hand carry. I booked the exit row 26F on an A321ceo. I did not prebook any meal, nor did I purchase a meal on board.

The flight was perfectly fine, and with the extra leg room of the exit row seat, it felt like sitting in 60K of Cathay's A350's. There was not much extra service, but I did not expect any for an LCC.

The flight attendant sitting across from me was quite chatting and pleasant; she was quite friendly. In hindsight, though, I probably would book 26A instead, since the A seat does not have the flight attendant in front of you, and you can enjoy the extra leg room throughout the entire flight.