doable is a thing , but beside the 3 holiday , one need to do another 3 long haul trip , how many (hk)people is able to pay for 6business class ticket and what industry in hk can have so many day off a year? so , this group of people is really really small amount compare to the moved out big companies that do have a lot of business trip . so i just dont understand how come the DM number would be increased , the maths didnt add up at all.

You'd be surprised how many child-free mid-40s professionals who choose to spend on CX to make DM status. These aren't bankers, mind you... just middle class people who appreciates CX's F lounges and priority services.

And, as we all know on FT, status run flights is kinda normal here.

Migration transforms rather than eliminates travel demand. Relocated businesses separates work and personal ties so now you�ve got more bidirectional personal travel to cope with the social loss

Also, many Hong Kongers have significantly higher price tolerance and will pay premiums because of their strenuous labor hours and lack of paid leave. I have a friend who pays for F to Japan just for weekend detox getaways multiple times every year.

I am just saying thats 3 in basically Q1. Plus summer vacation(s) and weekenders and any intra-Europe/US/Aus OW flights during your trip.

Banker, lawyer, consultant, doctor. Basically any professional in Central. Lots of people have flex to remote work now. Just bring your laptop with you. I don't need approval to go away if its less than a certain number of days and I am willing to work during the trip - just need to tell them. Europe and US are difficult given timezones but Aus is an easy long weekend.

Not really - its basically any professional - and to put it bluntly, DM isn't for people who can't afford it. Its not meant to be for "normal people". If it was, everyone would be a DM.

I would also be surprised too though if the number of DMs has gone up materially.

Quite agree that CX runs a very different business model from BA / QF / QR, which is tricky to balance the interests of different stakeholders. For CX, a major MPC overhaul could require lots of data work. Not exactly sure if CX can ace it.

CX lounge network capacity is way below pre-COVID level. I totally understand the need of rationalising lounge investment. But many CX-operated outport lounges are even getting more popular than pre-COVID time while other OW operators cannot scale up their lounge offerings as demand recovers. The loss of the Cabin capacity has proved to be very substantial now. In other OW hubs like LHR and MAD, it is just messier...though not of any CX's strategic miscalculation. SYD/MEL/HND/NRT/HEL are doing just fine really because QF/JL/AY did not scale back their lounge capacity significantly from pre-COVID levels at their home bases.

CX BKK lounge will get worse after QR moves to the midfield terminal. And the JL lounge cannot share much burden. The OW lounges at ICN and AMS are good additions post COVID. But it does not address the issues faced by some OW hubs where there are many high-frequency international flights.

Anyway, back to the topic, CX will need to find a solution, either the supply for demand side. It could be hard to keep everyone happy. And judging from how happy CX is with its convenience store sized offline outlet at Taikoo, I dont think it would back from any lifestyle initiatives including credit card collab.

Maybe they�ll end up having a Cathay Silver lounge at HKG like Singapore has a Krisflyer Gold lounge at SIN? Difficult to do it at outposts though.

Are these the numbers of Marriott matches? Where�s the data from? I got SL match then flew 9 J revenue segments and several Y segments to get to Gold. I booked a few long haul J this coming year but have yet to decide whether it�s worth remaining Cathay SL or GO as most flights are in J anyway. In my case though, Cathay has benefitted because I wouldn�t have flown with them if I didn�t have the status. I would have considered other carriers (was previously KF Gold).

i know this kind of people would be DM all the time .
these kind of people is in hk from before , they will be DM from before . wont be a new DM , i am saying that these kind of people wont make the increase of the new DM .
thats why i dont understand where is the new DM comes from and making the number DM even more than before after so much compnaies and people left hk.

Lounge Area by non CX member:
Not just silver, but in Hong Kong or Taiwan, Japan Airlines Lifetime Sapphire is the problem that causes crowded lounge areas.
For F lounges, AA Platinum Pro is a problem as well.
If they enforce the one world member only lounge, the problem will be slightly solved.

Silver Issue:
Silver did put the problem a bit more seriously, BUT after a few years, SCB CX card launched, the silver membership is no longer a benefit if you're applying for SCB Priority CX Card.
Unless CX did continue their membership for no reason, we are now suffering from the Marriott status match era.

Remote work. My office is half full on a good day.

And as someone said above, people who leave Hong Kong never fully leave. They come back 2/3 times a year to see family/for weddings/funerals.

That said, I would still be surprised if the number of DMs has gone up significant overall.

Not confirmed by anything (Lounge access part), but Cathay is renovating The Wing (F+J Sections) after the reopening of The Bridge.

Could Cathay be changing The Wing J into a SL lounge in the forseeable future to reduce crowding in the other HKG lounge

Thank you for your insight from a completely different view. Would you mind sharing a little more about the direction of the new programme? Something in-principle would be good enough, as it is a bit puzzling on whether to credit my upcoming flights to CX or not given the rumoured changes

When will that be?

It was planned for May. Never heard of Wing turning into SL only though.

They better open the Bridge soon then...