Hello FT Community,

I rarely (if ever) publish any content here, however I cannot resist on this occasion. I will briefly summarise my situation and would like your expert advice on what I should/shouldn't do? I am a Diamond Member with Cathay.

My flight was due to depart at 23:55 from HKG to LHR and connecting onto a BA flight to AMS. After waiting on the flight for about 1.5 hours and during taxiing we abruptly returned back to the gate due to a technical issue. After another wait of about 1.5 hours we were asked to de-plane as it needed repairing and the part was not available in Hong Kong (This was a little strange)

I was frustrated but accepted it as safety always first. I asked about accommodation as they didnt expect us to be departing anytime soon given the part needed to be acquired and there was no other available aircraft. They refused any form of accommodation for any of the passengers and asked us to wait in the airport overnight. Luckily for me I am Cathay Diamond and have access to the first class lounge.

After waking up at 6.30am this morning I was expecting to board my flight in about 60 minutes, however it appeared the flight has been further delayed until at least midday (It is not 0800 now). And potentially further delays expected.

As you can imagine nobody (including myself) had any sleep. throughout the night. We have a 13+ hour journey ahead and to top it off a connecting flight that they rebooked me on only allows about 1 hours connection in LHR.

After making enquiries at the lounge reception they only asked me to scan a QR code if I was unhappy or wanted to make any form of complaint. Instead I called their customer service and they made the complaint on my behalf and said I could expect a reply within 4 weeks (!!)

There was only an offer made of HKD150 for a meal voucher which I didnt take up given I have access to food in the lounge.

Is it reasonable to ask for any form of compensation? I am not looking to profiteer from this or take advantage but the lack of hospitality and waiting all night in an airport is really unacceptable.

What would be your suggestion? I am still at the airport now waiting for some good news...hopefully!

Thanks for reading, appreciate all your inputs.

It seems to me that this is exactly what Travel Insurance is for.

Also your report seems a bit inconsistent claiming both "After waking up at 6.30am this morning" and "nobody (including myself) had any sleep".

Waking up as in actually getting off the sofa not waking up from sleep. I assure you the facts are correct - I�m currently on CX255D �D� for delayed.

I already have travel insurance, the point is how they treat their premium customers and one shouldn�t have to fall back on travel insurance. The airline has a duty of care.

we finally departed around 12:40pm

As always, if there is something particular you want, a concise description of what you think the airline did wrong and what you think they should have done would be most likely to get you a positive reaction. A long story of irrelevant details outside the airlines control may make you feel better, but it doesn't make for a strong complaint.

Thank you for your concern. The detail is important in my opinion to give context. The recovery of the situation was well within the airlines control and this is where they failed.

wishing you a pleasant day�

It sounds like it was well past 0300 by the time they'd posted the new tentative departure time of 0800, so arranging hotels for ~300 pax within that time frame just wasn't feasible. The subsequent delay to 1240 is unfortunate, but that's the inherent uncertainty with rolling maintenance delays. I'm just a bit surprised Operations couldn't swap it to another aircraft to minimise the delay.

By all means, share your feelings with CX, but I don't think you can expect much more than some apology miles.

Are there travel insurance products in HK that would provide these coverages and at what annual premiums?
- Pax deplaned after midnight, flight delayed to morning, no hotel provided: insurance will cover hotel?
- Hypothetically there was a 3am direct HKG-AMS, insurance will cover the walk up rate?

The fact that they kept the F lounge opened overnight was already a very good speedy recovery imo

Obviously they can't throw all 300+ pax inside there, but at least they took care of their 'premium/elite' travelers in that sense already.
Espescially when it wouldn't have made sense to arrange hotel accomodations at that hour.

To the OP. Yes your concerns are extremely valid and i'm very concerned for your wellbeing.

May I recommend you take Qatar Airways next time (OW member), or Emirates if status isn't a key. As a bonus, they are offering cheap fares now.

Thanks for your concern

Actually I had a Qatar ticket but it was cancelled as there are no flights to DOH from HKG due to the situation there. Emirates the same I believe or at least I don�t feel comfortable flying into a war zone right now

1) No. Because HK products are for people based in HK and they don't provide for hotels in HK. However, fairly standard travel insurance would provide ~HK$500 for a 12 hour delay which would more or less cover the cost of getting home by taxi and back in the morning. Moreover, Cathay would normally also cover the costs of that transport for HK-based people.
2) No. Although for delays of more than 6 hours, the HSBC/AXA policy would pay up to HK$4000 for rebooking costs.

Obviously, if the OP isn't based in HK then HK Insurance isn't applicable. But in this case Cathay says that they will do their best to provide hotel accommodation.

From https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...nt-to-you.html

Hi Paul, thank you. I was confused as you had said OP's scenario is exactly what travel insurance is for but it seems like they would have neither gotten the taxi ride home (delay was not 12 hours initially) nor rebooking (4K unlikely would cover the difference between buying the walk up rate and CX's refund, if any)...

I just want to confirm as it isn't explicitly said (but seems implied), did CX specifically keep the F lounge open for the DM/OWE pax on this flight?

It's usually closed overnight, which is why I ask. Otherwise, where did the OP sleep?

I think the further delay from 0700 to 1130 (and subsequently 1230) was due to ATC delay in Chinese Airspace due to military activities

They did swap the aircraft from B-KQU to B-KQC, which came in from Vancouver at 6.30am. A 7.30am departure time seemed nevertheless very optimistic. The further delay because of ATC, first to 1130, and then even further is unfortunate, and I wonder whether there was really no alternative flight plan solution.