holdenuk

Hi, first time posting on here so apologies for the very long explanation below!

I originally booked LHR-HKG-BKK return this Fall with CX a couple months ago. Last week I got a notification email that my LHR-HKG flight has been cancelled and that I have been rebooked on the earlier CX flight (12:20 pm) which means I will now have 8+ hours transit in HKG.

Unfortunately I cannot make that earlier CX flight at 12:20pm (due to work reasons I can only do flights after 5pm- the original flight they cancelled was at 6:20pm). I also can’t travel the day after / before for personal reasons. The original flight worked with my limited schedule flexibility hence why I booked it.

I tried contacting CX but they seem to only offer the following solutions a) Re-book to a different date b) Take the 12:20 flight or c) Full refund

- Option A & B does not work for me
- Option C - I am not inclined to do this as literally all flights have gone up by 2-3x the price than when I booked a couple months ago so if I go this route I end up worse off having to eventually pay for a more expensive flight via other airlines? Also I don’t want them to get away from this situation that easily?

I asked about the possibility for them to re-book me on an alternative airline that would roughly depart the same time as the original CX flight and get me to BKK at around the same time as well (Both Finnair and Qatar flights seem to fit the timings) - but was told it was not possible and they can’t do this.

Any thoughts on what I could do given the above situation? Any recent experience of CX re-booking you to a different airline entirely (given that it is CX who cancelled the flight and caused this mess in the first place?)

I don’t want a refund as I feel they would just get away easily with the situation and I end up losing money by having to now buy more expensive flights?

williamluk

CX is not getting away with anything, CX would love to has as many as flight as it can. In case you are not aware, there are random flight suspensions imposed by the HK government and I think yours may be one of them. Suggested you to get a full refund and find another transit point to get to BKK. I would stay away from transiting through HK at all costs.

Cambo

Of course, there are a lot of J class flights available, including direct with TG, though these do cost a fortune. Pricing could easily be double the amount, OP originally paid.

williamluk

A cheap J seat is not going to help much if you can’t even be sure your flight is on or not. There is a reason why it’s cheap lol ….

ernestnywang

OP is travelling this fall, so the cancellation cannot possibly be due to the flight suspension mechanism. Also, if that were the case, how come the noon flight is still operating?

Cambo

Depends on your budget, need to travel and your ability to deal with uncertainties.

brunos

Af for your original question, I strongly doubt that you would get from CX anything else than the three option they offer.
Actually, probably no airline would as this is 3 months from now.

Be aware that flight suspension is a short-term risk on both your segments.

A reasonable option is to get refund and book an airline with less home restrictions.

Nicc HK

Even switching away from CX is no guarentee, Qatar Airways just received a short term ban in Hong Kong. Airlines aggregating passengers from multiple points of origin are statistically more likely to increase the chances of carrying a covid infected passenger, and Covid rates have recently been rising in the UK

I have booked flights on CX this Autumn and fingers crossed hoping things are going to be more stable then.

moondog

OP is going to BKK. QR has a pretty tight relationship with the local government in DOH, and Thailand is quite welcoming to visitors. I would say that is far less risky than CX via HKG. Of course, nonstops are the least risk of all, but these tend to cost a lot more than the ME3. I suppose SQ is worth checking out too.

brunos

I don't think you respond to the OP. He is looking for LHR-BKK. QR would avoid to go through HK.

ANyway the flight suspension mechanism is now suspended.

Nicc HK

Understand, though I got the impression the OP wanted to specifically fly CX.

QR is the local government in Doha.

Would agree if going to Bangkok or any other place in Asia, transitting HKG would not be my first choice

nomadabroad

What is going on with CX and LHR? They can’t seem to make up their mind how many flights they want to operate to LHR? From 3x daily to 1x daily then changed to 10x weekly and now god knows what? Also same flight departing different times on various days…

and we’re not even talking about flights next week, these are schedules for months in advance that has been changing every day like a roulette lottery

At this rate I don’t even trust any schedule they put up on their own website…..

williamluk

CX should be able to plan better now with these random flight suspensions nonsense out of the way, but staff shortage will continue to affect its scheduling like most other airlines …….

lsquare

I can't really fault CX when it's the HK government that sets policy. When they behave unpredictably, it just leads people to lose confidence in HK. It's bad for business!

ernestnywang

May I ask, how so?

If COVID rate is rising in the UK (more so than other countries, if that is the case), I would say an LHR-HKG flight is more likely to carry infected pax than a flight where only 20% of the pax originated from the UK.