woogallymoogally

How was the flight?

cmdsea

So... in the HX lounge now at HKG and waiting for my Bangkok flight and thought I would share my experience today for anyone curious about what they are going to get.

check in at Aisle A at TBIT was easy enough. Though the counters are buried away on the back wall and take some finding. The seats requested via online chat were honoured and I was soon up in the fairly generic and underwhelming "international lounge" that seemed to be hosting JAL and El Al flights at around the same time. Good enough for an hour or so though..

The flight left from Gate 156 which was right at the end of the Pier. Boarding was already in progress when I arrived and with no queue at the business entrance and with a separate airbridge in use for the front cabin I walked straight aboard.

today's flight was aboard LGC a newish A350 but with the "old" interior and still with a nasty cracked mirror in the starboard toilet mentioned by a previous poster...

I am a tall guy (6ft5") and with size 13 feet I need a lot of space and the recent trend to 1-2-1 seats and creative layouts has been a mixed blessing for me, as often otherwise very comfortable seats, once it's bedtime
​​​​have simply ended up being too short or the leg "tunnel" to restrictive for me to turn and lie on my side.. (Looking at you with your A350 Finnair..) But this seat was excellent. At full stretch I still had a couple of inches to spare at each end and there was ample turning space. I was in 18K which was a window seat with the extra padding at the sides providing even more space.

Crew were friendly and attentive and appeared eager to please, even if slightly rough around the edges at times. The soup was barely warm (for which they later apologised), the bread rolls arrived after the main course was finished and I had to request a second glass of wine with the meal, nobody seemed to be in charge of refills and they weren't proactive enough to anticipate the issue... but the food was tasty and good. With a choice of 3 mains there should be something for everyone. During the flight chicken sandwiches and a dim sum plate were available on request and a light meal of 2 choices (both chicken,?) Were served before landing...

​​​​​The major weak spot for western travellers is the entertainment system which has a lot of mandarin and cantonese content. Outside of the mainstream blockbusters there is very limited content, though I found enough to keep me happy "adrift" and "swimming with men" though the TV selection is even worse. Apart from 2 episodes of Modern Family there was nothing that interested me at all...

​​​​​So as an overall summary

Seat- excellent
Crew- friendly
Food- good
Entertainment-average/Poor

​Would I take them again..? YES

NJSwamplands

My HKG to BKK arrives at 02.20am. Will there be any issue getting taxis that time of night?

My BKK to HKG departs at 04.40am. Are there any lounges or anyplace to pass the time at that time of morning?

Mrgolfer21

I have same flights in March...shouldn't be a problem getting a taxi that late from the airport...i'd be more worried about the taxi driver falling asleep on your way to the hotel...i've had it happen in the middle of the day a few times. You could also book in advance with Grab...but if flight is delayed, might be a problem.

If you have priority pass, they have some lounges available 24 hours. I actually don't mind these lounges and on previous trips, these lounges were very empty and had pretty comfortable chairs and nice bathrooms (used the business class lounge mostly since it was closest to the gate I was at).

cmdsea

I just arrived at 2am and booked a grab when I was kerbside.
Arrived in less than 5 mins and was 372thb to my hotel in Silom n (plus 65baht toll fees). Zero traffic at that time of morning and I reached my room 20 mins later. Plenty of cabs waiting if you prefer that option...

Fes426

Doesn't HK have a lounge in BKK you can use, I wonder if any are open 24 hours

Quokka

Yes, the meal choices for the (US->HKG) before landing business meal are chicken and ... chicken.

The mid flight, on request, dim sum plate is very, very sad. One would think an airline based in HKG, calling itself Hong Kong Airlines, would be able to do decent dim sum.

Cizzla

Do the seats have individual vents? Some asian carriers tend to keep the cabin warm. Took MU from LAX to CAN via PVG in J and I would wake up sweating, very unpleasant. I decided I would buy a usb fan on future trips

Mrgolfer21

Based on a review from boarding area a month ago, no vents (and they did complain about the temp of the plane a little).

EVA777

Excellent summary. I am also tall with size 13s and found the seat to be spacious. Oddly enough I was on the same aircraft and in 18K from LAX - HKG on October 7th.

That is a nasty crack in the lav mirror. Also several passengers had problems locking the door completely, not enough to trigger the occupied red that is view able in the cabin. On more than 1 occasion I went to the lav and found it occupied even though the cabin indicator was green, Made the mistake of waiting up front by the exit door and was quickly chased back to my seat. They came to my seat to get me to use the lav when it was available.

EVA777

They do. I used it on another occasion not related to this fare deal. If I remember correctly it is the Miracle Lounge on the entrance to "G" Pier. It is open 24 hours but nothing worth rushing to, trust me.

I am heading out Monday at 4am, I can verify this is lounge again at that time.

NJSwamplands

welcomes another fellow size 13 shoe friend.

olouie

How is the SFO-HKG reliability lately? Trying to decide whether to book 1 or 2 nights in Shanghai hotel upfront (1 night just in case of delays and missing the connection).

josephstern

Looks like it's been within an hour most days recently:

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...940Z/KSFO/VHHH

Scroll down

Quokka

HX61 has been doing better over the last week or so, but be aware that historically it has a "0 out of 5 star reliability rating" and also when it gets to HKG, it can end up at a remote parking spot. That means you end up waiting for the airstairs to be put in place, then waiting for a bus to arrive, then waiting for your bus to fill. Then you take a fairly long ride to the terminal and wait for any aircraft (who have right of way) to pass and then you finally end up getting dumped at the bus gates, which are far, far away from the gates Hong Kong Airlines will use for your connecting flight. You then have to clear transit security, walk a lot, take a bunch of escalators and ride the inter-terminal people mover train. It's not a fast process. While my recent flight on HX61 technically arrived "on-time", we ended up at a remote parking spot and pax with tight connections were in trouble.