Old Oct 29, 2013, 2:12 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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Lounge Admittance Policy and Guest Admittance Policy
Please see this link for details of lounge admittance for:
  • Marco Polo Members
  • Oneworld status holders
  • Business and First Class Passengers
  • People not flying Cathay Pacific or Dragonair
  • Guests


The following FAQs are addressed below:
  • What lounges does Cathay Pacific operate at HKIA (aka what are my choices)?
    • Which departures lounge should I use?
      • I am not a Marco Polo Club member. I am not travelling on a Cathay Pacific or Dragonair flight. Can I use one of the lounges?
        • I am arriving off CX First Class and connecting to a CX or KA flight in Business Class. Can I access the First Class lounge during my transit?
          • Can I visit multiple lounges?
            • Do operational-upgrades (op-ups) come with upgraded lounge benefits?
              • Do mile-upgraded (award) tickets come with lounge benefits?
                • What if I want to meet up with fellow FlyerTalkers in CX lounges?
                  • Transiting through HKG and getting to the lounges
                    • Is it possible to visit airside lounges during a transit and then exit the airport?





What lounges does Cathay Pacific operate at HKIA (aka what are my choices)?
Cathay Pacific (together with subsidiary Dragonair) operate the following lounges at Hong Kong:

Departure lounges:
  • The Wing - First Class
  • The Wing - Business Class
  • The Pier - First Class
  • The Pier - Business Class
  • The Cabin - Business Class - Closed as of 1 May 2018
  • The Bridge - Business Class
  • The Deck - Business Class

All departure lounges are airside and are only accessible by passengers who have an onward boarding pass and who have cleared security and passport control.


Which departures lounge should I use?
Depending on your access entitlement, you can use any lounge in the terminal. You should check how long it takes to get to your departure gate from the lounge you choose

Food
  • The Wing - F Class, there is a buffet restaurant, and an a-la-carte menu, and a Champagne bar.
  • The Wing - J Class, there is a new Coffee Loft concept offering freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked pastries. Compared to The Pier, there is also a wider selection of savoury foods.
  • The Pier - F Class has an a la carte restaurant, and no buffet. It is the newest of the lounges, and the most up to date in Cathay's service offering.
  • The Cabin has The Deli and the Health Bar which offer made-to-order hot sandwiches and antipasti, and fresh juices. There is also a small western and Asian food buffet. There is no separate F class dining or seating at The Cabin. The Cabin is permanently closed.
  • The Bridge features The Bakery, which offers freshly baked bread and pizzas, as well as sandwiches, pastries, Asian and Western soups, and fresh salads. There is no separate F class dining or seating at The Bridge.
    F Class Lounge Menus: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...nge-menus.html

For details of what facilities are offered in each lounge, please refer to the links on the Cathay Pacific/Dragonair websites:

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Airport Lounges


AusBT reviews of new CX lounges:
The Wing Business Class Review
The Wing First Class Review
The Bridge
The Pier First Class
The New Pier Business Class lounge



Discussion on CX Lounges World Wide:
New - The Bridge
The Wing - The Best Oneworld Business Lounge in the network?
Review of new F wing
Cathay Pacific Chicago (ORD) Lounge
New CX lounge in SFO???
The New Pier First and Business Class lounges
The New Pier Business Class Lounge
London Heathrow lounge experience
The Deck



I am not a Marco Polo Club member. I am not travelling on a Cathay Pacific or Dragonair flight. Can I use one of the lounges?

Please see the above section which include details on Admittance policies.

The following can access Cathay Pacific lounges to the extent as detailed in the above admittance policy:
  • First and Business Class passengers flying oneworld marketed and operated flights, class of lounge depending on class of travel
  • Oneworld Sapphire members (including Marco Polo Gold members) departing on a oneworld marketed and operated flight, J lounges
  • Oneworld Emerald members (including Marco Polo Diamond members) departing on a oneworld marketed and operated flight, F or J lounges
  • Marco Polo Silver members departing on a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon marketed and operated flight, J lounges (any lounge provided by CX to J passengers except for JFK, where SL members are directed to the Admiral's Club when it is open)
  • Marco Polo Silver, Gold, and Diamond members departing on a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon marketed flight operated by another carrier, class of lounge depending on status, for Cathay Pacific-owned lounges only, if physically accessible and open.

If you do not fall into any of these categories you are out of luck (or you can be guested in).


I am arriving off CX First Class and connecting to a CX or KA flight in Business Class. Can I access the First Class lounge during my transit?
Yes. You will be issued with two lounge invitations when you check in for your flight, one for use at your outport and one for use in Hong Kong. Your Hong Kong lounge invitation will clearly display an invitation to "The Wing/Pier/Cabin/G16 Lounge - FIRST CLASS".
There is some discussion at this thread regarding long transits between a First Class and Business Class flights and lounge entitlement: F lounge use when departing J after long next day transit

Can I visit multiple lounges?
Yes. Although the lounge invitation is collected upon entry, a lounge invitation is not required to enter a lounge. Your boarding pass showing cabin and status, and your frequent flyer card if you are relying on oneworld access privileges, is sufficient. The first time you use a boarding pass to enter, the gate staff will need to scan it to check entry eligibility. A re-entry stamp will then be stamped on your boarding pass, this is so that subsequent entries using that boarding pass will not need it scanned.


Do operational-upgrades (op-ups) come with upgraded lounge benefits?
No. This is because an operational upgrade relates solely to needing to re-seat a passenger on board. There is no operational reason to provide other benefits associated with the upgraded travel class such as lounge entry, priority baggage, or bonus miles.

For example, unless he has status etc. allowing first class lounge entry, a business class traveller upgraded to first class for operational reasons will receive a first class boarding pass paired with a business class lounge invitation. Attempts to use the first class boarding pass to enter a first class lounge will be denied when the lounge agent scans his boarding pass. Similarly, an economy or premium economy class passenger op-up'ed to business class does not receive lounge benefits.


Do mile-upgraded (award) tickets come with lounge benefits?
Yes, award tickets have the same lounge benefits as a regular ticket.


What if I want to meet up with fellow FlyerTalkers in CX lounges?
You could try having a look at this thread: Lounge Meetup Master Thread


Transiting through HKG and getting to the lounges

To provide an idea of where the lounges are located throughout the airport:
  • The Wing is near gates 1-4, G16 is near Gates 15-19. Both of these are on the far east side of the concourse - the Wing is southeast, and G16 is northeast.
  • The Cabin is near gate 21, centrally located also on the eastern side of the concourse.
  • The Bridge is centrally located on the west side of the concourse, within a five minute walk from all gates 30-71. This is probably the most strategically located of all the lounges given the volume of gates it is close to.
  • The Pier is on the northwest side of the concourse, nestled among the 60s gates.
  • *As of now, there is no lounge on the southwest side of the concourse (gates 40), but the Bridge is no more than a 5 minute walk from all of the 40s gates.

When transiting, you can use any transit point as they all lead to the same departures area of the airport. You can utilize any transit checkpoint to successfully reach your departure gate without much difference in walking time Therefore, if you see a transit point with no queue, just use it - you don't need to go to a transit point near your next departing gate. From experience, E1/E2 transit points are the points with the most congestion, but maximum time waiting through these points is about 15 minutes.


Is it possible to visit airside lounges during a transit and then exit the airport?

**Updated, this no longer seems possible, per this thread: Stuck in HKG without being able to Exit , previously there was some view that it may be possible, but this appears to be moot: Using HKG departure-side lounges before clearing immigration
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Lounge Access and other Lounge FAQs

Old Dec 16, 2018, 11:39 pm
  #1516  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Programs: Marco Polo, BA Executive club, SPG, Hyatt,
Posts: 65
Thought I should ask this question again just to clarify:

I recently obtained a membership with a higher tier than my Marco Polo membership (Sapphire vs. Ruby). If I wish to bring a guest into the lounge with my oneworld status, do I need to change my mileage accumulation (boarding pass) or I just need to present my membership card with a higher tier and show that to the CX lounge personnel for access?
HKUSFLYER is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2018, 9:13 pm
  #1517  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Programs: QF Plat VA Silver
Posts: 31
I'm arriving into HKG on Thursday at 4pm and connecting to a flight at 9:30pm - so 5.5 hours total. Departing flight is CX and I'm OWE. First time visiting the F lounges so I'm hoping to experience the cabanas at the Wing, get a foot massage at the Pier, and grab something to eat. (at the Pier? or am I better off going elsewhere?)

I understand the cabanas and massage service usually have long wait. Is it possible to put your name in the queue and go to another lounge to spend some time? How do they notify you when it's your turn?

Also, can you put your name in either queue from another lounge? (e.g. join the queue for cabanas from the Pier)

Apologies if this has been asked before and thanks in advance for any help.
AirbrushA380 is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2018, 10:19 pm
  #1518  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,704
Originally Posted by AirbrushA380
I understand the cabanas and massage service usually have long wait. Is it possible to put your name in the queue and go to another lounge to spend some time? How do they notify you when it's your turn?
No. You are handed a buzzer. You need to be in the lounge where the services are offered.

Originally Posted by AirbrushA380
Also, can you put your name in either queue from another lounge? (e.g. join the queue for cabanas from the Pier)
No.


To be honest, the massages are nothing to write home about. They're like 20 minutes long and usually a few hour wait. It's a nice gimmick to have a massage in the airport and I guess if that's your thing, maybe you'll love it. But I have been totally turned off by the wait and when I actually got a massage, it was very underwhelming.

My profile is a very frequent traveler based in Hong Kong, with F lounge access (CX DM) for all CX/KA flights, and I spent maybe 10-15 lounge visits over a multi-month span checking in for how long the wait was. It became sport by the end because I never got to use it during that stretch, meaning the lounge wait was always over an hour, and IIRC it was often a multi-hour wait which was quoted. (I visit the lounge probably 3/5 of my flights, and when I do my typical stay is about 15-60 minutes). The sole time I've used the massage I was with the missus, we had a lengthy transit of ~4 hours I think, and we stuck our names in and said what the heck. The wait did end up being significantly shorter than whatever they quoted but it was still something like 1.5+ hours waiting. I remember thinking "I've been building it up in my mind for THAT?"

I'm just speculating here, but my suspicion is the wait times are so stupid long that a lot of people end up missing their time. So the quoted times might be longer than reality. But this means of course you need to stick around the Pier F waiting "anxiously" for your semi-professional 20 minute free airport massage .
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Old Dec 18, 2018, 1:25 am
  #1519  
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Originally Posted by AirbrushA380
I understand the cabanas and massage service usually have long wait. Is it possible to put your name in the queue and go to another lounge to spend some time? How do they notify you when it's your turn?
The time individual passengers will take is variable and not usually known in advance. So as QRC3288 points out you need to be ready to go when your cabana is free. Can you imagine having to add 20-30 minutes on to each cabanna booking for passengers coming from the Pier?
LHR/MEL/Europe FF is offline  
Old Dec 18, 2018, 5:56 pm
  #1520  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Programs: QF Plat VA Silver
Posts: 31
Originally Posted by QRC3288
No. You are handed a buzzer. You need to be in the lounge where the services are offered.
Makes sense, thanks for confirming.

Originally Posted by QRC3288
To be honest, the massages are nothing to write home about. They're like 20 minutes long and usually a few hour wait. It's a nice gimmick to have a massage in the airport and I guess if that's your thing, maybe you'll love it. But I have been totally turned off by the wait and when I actually got a massage, it was very underwhelming.
Appreciate the honesty, I think I'll prioritise Cabanas at the Wing, then head over to the Pier for some food and if I fit a massage in that's great but no loss if not.

Originally Posted by QRC3288
My profile is a very frequent traveler based in Hong Kong, with F lounge access (CX DM) for all CX/KA flights
Would you say Pier is the best option for a meal?

Originally Posted by LHR/MEL/Europe FF
The time individual passengers will take is variable and not usually known in advance. So as QRC3288 points out you need to be ready to go when your cabana is free. Can you imagine having to add 20-30 minutes on to each cabanna booking for passengers coming from the Pier?
Valid point - I was thinking more join the queue from the Pier and then start walking, and if you're not there in time it starts eating into your 90 minutes. But point taken.
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Old Dec 18, 2018, 7:48 pm
  #1521  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 90
Originally Posted by ernestnywang
The CX lounge at SFO is a lot better than the JL lounge in my opinion.
So this means I should be able to access the CX lounge with my JL boarding pass no problem?
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Old Dec 18, 2018, 8:32 pm
  #1522  
sxc
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Originally Posted by Sizook
So this means I should be able to access the CX lounge with my JL boarding pass no problem?
There have been reports that the CX lounge doesn't permit access at certain times of the day due to capacity. It is a rather small lounge.
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Old Dec 19, 2018, 12:15 am
  #1523  
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Originally Posted by AirbrushA380
Valid point - I was thinking more join the queue from the Pier and then start walking, and if you're not there in time it starts eating into your 90 minutes. But point taken.
They ask pax to limit to a max 90 mins. But even with a long hot bath you'd be pressed to eat up more than an hour (and there are usually others waiting). I might use the 'relax' area for 10-15 mins.

I wondered about the 90 mins maximum until the Lufthansa FCT in August when a solo passenger was in there for something like two and a half hours. What were they doing??!!
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Old Dec 19, 2018, 10:49 am
  #1524  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
Originally Posted by sxc
There have been reports that the CX lounge doesn't permit access at certain times of the day due to capacity. It is a rather small lounge.
The SFO lounge was expanded to almost double the original size some time after they introduced CX893 to accommodate two night flights (CX873 and CX893). It is much better now.
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Old Dec 19, 2018, 4:07 pm
  #1525  
sxc
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Originally Posted by cxfan1960
The SFO lounge was expanded to almost double the original size some time after they introduced CX893 to accommodate two night flights (CX873 and CX893). It is much better now.
The expansion was a few years ago? I think reports of people being turned away was even after the expansion.
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Old Dec 21, 2018, 1:19 am
  #1526  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: CRK MNL
Programs: CX Gold
Posts: 1,261
is there a limit to the number of lounge passes I can purchase at a time using miles?

Last edited by boybi; Dec 21, 2018 at 3:26 am
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Old Dec 21, 2018, 5:47 am
  #1527  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: MPCGO
Posts: 123
Originally Posted by sxc

The expansion was a few years ago? I think reports of people being turned away was even after the expansion.
I agree that the expansions were done a while back. I find the (expanded) lounge still pretty small and I won't be surprised if they turn people away.
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Old Dec 21, 2018, 5:50 am
  #1528  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: MPCGO
Posts: 123
Originally Posted by boybi
is there a limit to the number of lounge passes I can purchase at a time using miles?
I don't see anything in the rules saying anything about a limit, but the drop-down menu in the redemption page (https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...ge-access.html) only limits 5 at a time.

However, if you are travelling with beneficiary, then you can just redeem at the lounge entrance itself.
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Old Dec 21, 2018, 9:25 am
  #1529  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: CRK MNL
Programs: CX Gold
Posts: 1,261
Terms and conditions
  • Instant redemption is only valid on the day of travel for members and their travel companions.
  • All Marco Polo Club members can instantly redeem access to the worldwide Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges.
  • Only Diamond members can redeem First Class Lounge access for friends and family members.
  • Members may use Asia Miles to redeem lounge access for their companions, friends or family members; this is not limited to the Redemption Group.
  • Members must have enough Asia Miles in their account at the time of the request to cover the total value of the claimed redemption(s).
  • 9,000 or 12,000 Asia Miles per person will be deducted from the member's Asia Miles account upon confirmation of their instant redemption.
  • Lounge reception staff will ask members to sign the consent form on the lounge invitation card as an agreement for mileage deduction.
  • Members may use Asia Miles to redeem Cathay Pacific lounge access even if they are not travelling on Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon or oneworld airlines.
  • Children under 2 years of age will be admitted without redemption.
  • Children 2 years of age and older will be charged at the adult rate and require a separate redemption.
  • Access is only permitted once per person.
  • The redemption holder has the same privileges and benefits as other patrons of the lounge.
  • Lounge redemption cannot be exchanged for other awards or cash. Asia Miles once deducted from member’s account cannot be returned.
  • In case of disputes, the decision of Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles Limited shall be final.

Does this mean a passenger with lounge access redeemed through miles cannot lounge hop?
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Old Dec 22, 2018, 12:04 am
  #1530  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 100
Hello,
We are arriving at 6am in HKG and our connecting flight is at 8pm on the same day; both in J. We'd like to take a shower before heading into the city using the airport express, but the Arrivals lounge is now closed. It looks like we either take the shower at the free airport showers, or head to the one of the departure J lounges. Is leaving the arrivals area, going through immigration and heading back into departures trivial? Thanks.
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