ktravelbear

Has anyone taken the Turbojet from Macau to the HK airport? Is it fairly easy, in terms of hauling your luggage around? I have 3 days in Hong Kong and was going to do a day trip to Macau, but I am wondering if I shouldn't just stay in Macau that last night at take the Turbojet to the airport. I have a 10:30 am departure on Cathay, which means I should be able to take the 7am Turbojet to the Skypier without any worries. Is the Turbojet ferry terminal fairly easy to negotiate?

rkkwan

Yes, the ferry pier is pretty small. You won't have problem finding the check-in place.

http://www.turbojet.com.hk/eng/home/index.asp

tentseller

You will save time and processing by going directly from Macau departure/exit processing into HKIA airport departure section. Technically you are not entering HKG.

Excellent idea

gleff

Yep, you check your bags at the pier in Macau, get off the boat, then get in line at the transfer desk for your onward carrier. THey'll verify bag tags and handle transfer of bags for you.

In my case back in March I never entered HKG, went straight from the HKG airport via Turbojet to Macau and cleared immigration and customs there.

When I went back through HKIA I also stopped by the booth to receive a refund of the HKG taxes paid with my ticket, as I hadn't ever entered HKG.

But it's a very simple process, quite painless, just give yourself plenty of time with the connection -- assume your boat is late departing Macau (mine was), and that you encounter a line at the trnasfer desk (even as a premium passenger with CX, I did). But it's quite easy.

i'mlovin'it

As others have said, using the ferry is easy and convenient. Especially with checked luggage.

ktravelbear

The boat being late, that is my worry Gleff, because my scheduled departure time is 10:30 am, which means I pretty much need to be on the first boat out and that boat needs to be on time. That is the only thing that makes me think I might be better off just returning to HK and leaving the next morning via airport express. At least I have other options if things go awry, like a taxi. If I am on Macau, I am at the mercy of the few ferry operators.

tentseller

You will find transportation between HK/Macau very efficient and on-time unless there is major weather interruption.

rkkwan

I have taken Turbojet between HK and Macau dozens of times literally, and I have never experienced any delay of departure of more than 10 minutes. No reason why they can't run Macau-HKIA on-time. And they usually have several vessels parked in Macau as backups anyways.

gleff

By late I mean assume you're 20 minutes behind, don't cut it close to the minute.

I wouldn't worry about an hour or longer delay at all, personally.

ktravelbear

Okay, it's looking much better. I just always try to plan for possible glitches. The hotels do seem to be cheaper and if it will eliminate standing in long lines in HK, I am always down for that...

ktravelbear

Is it faster to clear immigration on TST or HK Island via the ferry ports? Or does it even matter?

tentseller

HK immigration is very fast and efficient at an any of the entry points unless you are entering at end of trip or holiday.
It is not like DTW's CBP.

Letitride3c

HKIA is quite big and it does involve a little bit of walking inside as you transfer from the Macau Ferry via Transfer Desk to your Departure Gate. Clearing immigration is made easy since HK residents and Visitors holding "foreign" passports are directed to different lanes, and they are very efficient to manage "people" traffic to speed the flow. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes once you reached that area.

As for passing security/old-style baggage screeners (no nude-o-scope to deal with, oh, daily travelers are dearly blessed) - just stick with the 3-1-1 rules, laptops & cell/smart-phones out, coins in the tray, etc. and you will be go thru it in a blink. Some, randomly, get a once-over with the standard hand-hand metal detector.

Same for clearing immigration on either the Kowloon or Island land of the ferry ports, very quick & efficient - follow the bilingual signs (English/Chinese)

rkkwan

The OP won't go through HK immigration at all. He will take the new automatic train from the ferry pier to the departure concourse at HKG.

A_Lee

I used them two weeks ago and they were nearly an hour late! The weather was fine and the only thing I could think of for the delay was maybe it being right before the Chinese holiday the number of passengers might have been more than usual. The boat arriving from HKIA was late and they did not put another boat on it for us waiting departing passengers.

I'd booked the ticket an hour earlier than what they recommended, so it wasn't any problem for me, but if I had a short connection, I would have been in trouble.

That departure tax refund is great. It's not so much the amount, but the thought that they so conveniently give back to you what in most airports would be impossible to reclaim or involve a major hassle.