monster

My wife and I are traveling to Hong Kong in a few days, and I have a couple of questions about the Airport Express service (I did a search, but couldn't find the answers):

1. We'll be traveling to Kowloon station, and I seem to remember from my last trip there (December 2002) that there was what appeared to be a service counter before you had to pass through the fare gates. Are you able to buy your AE ticket from this desk? In other words, can you pay for the journey AFTER you've actually taken it? This would allow you to save time by simply hopping onto the AE train at the airport without first having to purchase a ticket.

2. We'll be staying for 2 weeks, and I noticed that there is a round trip (return) ticket valid for 1 month that saves you HK$20 over the price of 2 single journey tickets. We'll also be purchasing a regular Octopus card for public transport during our 2 week stay. Do these need to be purchased separately to get the discounted round trip, or is there some way to get the AE discount on a regular Octopus card?

Thanks!

Rejuvenated

Yes you can buy it at this desk which is the AE customer service centre. But NO you cannot pay after boarding the train. Everything must be prepaid if you are using a ticket journey.

Since you are going to purchase an OC (which can be done at the AE customer service centre at the airport), you might as well ask the customer representative or use the add-in value machine to add values to the card to a certain amount that you can use this OC to cover the cost of your AE journey to/from airport. I feel this saves more $$ and reduces the hassle of having to purchase two types of tickets when all can be combined into one. For more into check this out:
http://www.octopus.com.hk/eng/index.htm

monster

Thanks for the quick reply.

What you say is certainly true when traveling from Kowloon to the airport. However, my question is specifically about travelling from the airport to Kowloon. If memory serves, there is nothing to prevent you from boarding the train at the airport without a ticket as the fare is actually collected at Kowloon Station. What I want to know is if it is possible to buy the ticket once you've arrived at the Kowloon Station having already taken the Airport Express, or if you must buy it before boarding the train at the airport. The only reason I want to do this is to avoid possibly missing a train at the airport (and having to wait for the next one) while I'm buying the ticket.

I am planning to buy a normal (non-tourist) Octopus Card to get around during my stay. However, I believe that if I use this card to pay for both of my AE trips, I will be charged HK$90 each way (HK$180 total). The AE round trip card (good for 1 month) is only HK$160. It sounds like I will need to buy the AE card separately to get the discount (it's not much, but every little bit helps).

christep

Monster,

Yes - I often do exactly what you suggest if there is a train about to pull out. No problems getting the ticket at Kowloon or HK when you arrive.

Remember that if you are flying in on Cathay then you can get a one-month round trip ticket for the price of a single using this coupon anyway:
http://downloads.cathaypacific.com/c...nsport_c01.jpg

Note also that if two or more of you are travelling together on the Airport Express then you can get a discount on the normal tickets. http://www.mtrcorp.com/eng/whatsnew/...winter04_e.htm

And here's another special offer if you are arriving at Kowloon Station by taxi: http://www.mtrcorp.com/eng/whatsnew/...taxi0408_e.htm

monster

Thanks christep!

We're arriving at HKG at 10:30PM, so its good to know we don't have to miss a train in order to buy a ticket.

Unfortunately, we're not flying CX this trip, but the "Group of 2" discount should work for us. The T&C on the taxi discount specify a minimum taxi fare of HK$70, but we'll only be coming from TST so I don't think that will work for us.

rkkwan

I can see the AE's losing a lot of business to taxis from the city to the airport, but that $70 taxi minimum really makes little sense.

Anyways, my cousin and her husband just came back from Hong Kong. They got on a taxi from the Marco Polo Gateway on Canton Road with plenty of luggage and ask for the AE Kowloon station. The cab driver offered to take them to HKG for $220. Which is about the same as two AE tickets plus the taxi fare, so they took up the offer and save themselves a transfer. Now, if there's no $70 minimum, then they probably will stick with the AE and use the discount.

Doppy

Is the tourist Octopus card a good value? It's HK$220 for one airport express ride and three days unlimited MTR. Will we use the MTR enough to make that worthwile?

http://www.octopus.com.hk/eng/whatis/tourist.jsp

I'm a little confused about the refundable depositon of HK$50, though. Is the card HK$220 + HK$50, or is it HK$220, including the deposit?

Rejuvenated

The $50 deposit is to ensure that you can still use the card should you fall into a negative value (although not recommended). So in essence you store $200 into your card and pay the $50 deposit. This means that you've paid a total of $250 for the card; however when you scan the card at the machine to check the value amount, it will only read $200. So what this extra deposit does in this case is should you have already used $198 (meaning there is only $2 remaining) of the value in that card and your next journey will cost you $6, you can still use the card without adding any values to it as it will deduct $4 from that $50 deposit. So it is more or less an added security, but most people won't do this and will instead add extra $$ to their card once they realize that it is near $0.

STAM4NICK

You can buy an AE ticket online at their website www.mtr.com.hk and then print out the e-mail and one of the customer service people at the "centers" will print out your AE tickets. To Kowloon station is is 152HKD roundtrip online. I always do this rather then use my Octopus. It is less money than just using Octopus and buying two single tickets both of which will work fine. To get a roundtrip ticket you have to go to the Customer Service Centers anyway. I don't understand why they don't sell RT tickets at the vending machines--all they do really is single trip ticket for those expensive kiosks all over the place.

Not sure at the Kowloon Station there is Customer Service Center before you go through the turnstiles and have to present your ticket. I know at HK Station (and many MTR stations) they juxtapose both sides such that they can help people already through and those not through yet (to the check-in area at least I know of).

Good Luck.

rkkwan

Doppy - Is it a good value? Well, let's see, the HK$220 buys you:

- Single one-way AE ride (value $37.5-$100, depending on where you get off, and the size of your party).
- Three days of MTR ride
- $20 of value to use on anything else
- $50 deposit

So, if you take the AE to Hong Kong by yourself ($100 value), then your 3-day of MTR ride will cost you $50. Whether this is good value depends on what you'll do & where you'll go in those three days.

Some example:

- Crossing the harbor will cost you at least $7.9 (using the Octopus for the one-stop between Admiralty and Tsimshatsui). So if you just do 3 cross-harbor roundtrips during those three days, you already almost get your money's worth. But of course, you should also know that the Star Ferry cost only $1.7 between Central and Tsimshatsui.

- Going from Tsimshatsui to Mongkok is $4.6 each way. So, you'll need to make 11 such trips to get your $50 back.

- Central to Tung Chung is $20.1. So, a roundtrip to Tung Chung (to go to Po Lin Monastery/Big Buddha) on the MTR will give you a big portion of money back.

Keep in mind that there's significant discount on the single-journey AE ticket if you're travelling in a group (2 to 4); and fares are cheaper to Tsing Yi or Kowloon only.

monster

I've just returned from having a great time in Hong Kong and can report the following:

rkkwan - Our cab driver also offered to take us directly to the airport for HK$240, and when we said no, quickly dropped the price to HK$200 (this was 6AM on New Years Day so there was absolutely no traffic). We opted to use the AE anyway since it was still slightly cheaper with our "Group of 2" discount, and at 6' 2" I am just more comfortable on a train then in a taxi. However it is a good deal for a cab ride, and unlike the AE you would also actually get to see the Tsing Ma suspension bridge when you cross it.

STAM4NICK - There is definitely a Customer Service counter at Kowloon Station before passing through the turnstiles to exit, and as christep mentions above, they will definitely let you buy your ticket there after you arrive on the train from the airport.

It looks like they take credit cards at the Customer Service counters for AE tickets and Octopus cards, although we paid cash. There are ATMs at the airport, but I did not see any at Kowloon station.

A quick and painless way to get the remaining value and HK$50 deposit refunded from an Octopus card is to do it at the Customer Service counter where the AE trains arrive at the aiport.

christep

For AE tickets yes, for Octopus cards no (otherwise there would be a way of getting essentially infinite airmiles on your credit card by buying Octopi using them and refunding them for cash.

Doppy

What's the best way to get from the airport to Tsim Sha Tsui (Intercontinental)?

Airport Express' Kowloon station doesn't appear to be very close. It looks like I could take the AE to Tsing Yi, transfer, go one stop to Lai King, transfer again, and then go quite a few more stops to TST.

wideman

Well I suppose you could take the ferry to Shenzhen and rent a bicycle, too, but that wouldn't be a good way either.

I'd suggest the AE to Kowloon, then a taxi (about HK$25) to the IC. If the taxi fare is too steep for one who is staying at the IC, the Airport Express offers a free shuttle bus to the New World Renaissance Hotel, 2 doors down from the IC.

Doppy

Ah.. then the free bus it is

I'm sure I can handle the HK$25, I just prefer to avoid taxis because I don't like riding in them.