A January Vacation to Bangkok on HK Express
Mar 23, 2024, 12:43 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,505
A January Vacation to Bangkok on HK Express
Hong Kong Express throws out emails after emails of specials regularly. One email in early November 2023 caught my attention. It allowed redeeming up to 3000 miles for a one-way flight to Thailand for travel until the end of January. Although Cathay Pacific purchased the budget airline from Hong Kong Airlines in 2018, I didn't expect Asia Miles to pair up with them, so this was wonderful new*. I snapped up a roundtrip after the New Year's peak travel season for a mere 6000 miles plus HKD$949 in taxes, and there was surprisingly a lot of availability across multiple dates. It didn't include checked baggage but with only 4 nights in Bangkok, I didn't need to bring a lot with me.
Online check-in worked flawlessly 48 hours before departure and I was issued a mobile boarding pass with a window seat. My lucky day ... it didn't trip up any errors so I wouldn't need to visit the counter at the airport, where they would likely weigh my hand baggage before issuing a paper boarding pass.
I arrived at the airport early, and headed over to the check-in kiosk to print out the boarding pass, which I collect for most flights anticipating it'll fade into history soon. The airport was crowded just like my early morning departure to Korea the week before.
Since Hong Kongers don't need visas to enter Thailand, perhaps it explains why some destinations such as Vietnam would require a visit to the counter.
Security was quite busy and there were long lines. I hope they would purchase some new technology soon and not have us take out our electronics for separate scanning. I saw these at work at Heathrow a few weeks ago and it saves quite a lot of hassle and time.
Even some of the ultra short-haul flights have resumed, such as this quick hop to Quanzhou in Fujian. The high-speed train would take 4 hours only.
My flight today departs out of the 200-gates over at the satellite terminal, requiring a train connection. I fondly remember this building, where all arriving passengers during Hong Kong's long COVID-zero era had to come get tested and issued hotel quarantine orders. I survived 2 sets of solitary confinement. The first time, I was stuck here a few hours waiting for my COVID negative test, while the second time was a bit easier. I got swabbed but could go after the rapid test passed, while the longer official test result would arrive the next day while I'm in the hotel.
My gate would be all the way at the far end of this pier today.
With my seat almost at the back of the plane and a fairly good head start in the line, I had no issues finding overhead space for my case and we pushed back 4 minutes behind schedule only at 4:29pm.
The A321 is quite massive with almost 40 rows of Economy seats, and it was a full flight. The interior looked quite new and comfortable, even though there are no televisions or in-seat charge ports. It's late afternoon so I passed on pre-ordering dinner as I would eat on arrival in Bangkok.
We took off into a smoggy sky at 4:42pm for a 2h40 flight to Thailand.
I couldn't make out much of the city afterward, faintly seeing the western side of Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island as we headed towards the South China Sea.
The first hour was bumpy even though the weather looked decent below. The seat belt sign came on and off and it wasn't until we passed Hainan and reached the Vietnamese coast did things calm down.
With Vietnam in sight, we only have an hour left to reach Bangkok.
I checked out the seatback literature to see if their food prices are still reasonable.
We descended into the sunset and landed at 6:26pm. Since Suvarnabhumi is quite east of the city, I couldn't spot the skyline as we looped around for touchdown. I would need to go up a few rooftop bars to savour the views in the coming days.
As we taxied into the terminal, I noticed a line of parked A380s. I think most airlines didn't succeed with this plane model except Emirates. Even other Middle Eastern carriers have struggled with it. I flew Thai's version in 2012 to Frankfurt shortly after they started using the plane on the route. I had scored an Econony seat in the front part of the lower deck, with plenty of empty seats to stretch out for the long flight.
While Thailand is historically a huge tourist destination and has made a big comeback post-COVID, I've never had good impressions of Suvarnabhumi. It never featured high on the best airports list and I didn't have a good impression of it from my past visits. The walk to immigration was smooth but as I made the final turn, I saw a huge group of people that had extended all the way out beyond the usual lines. Staff were on hand to send people to the Thai residents' lines but luckily the glob kept moving and it took less than an hour to get through.
Each person goes through a lengthy set of processing. Scan the 4 fingers on each hand, then your thumbs, then take off your glasses for a picture.
With hand carry only, I pushed straight out to the arrivals hall into a sea of people. I followed the signs and headed downstairs for the airport train. The currency exchange had an awful exchange rate while the ATMs charged a 220 baht access fee. Luckily, I had 40 baht left from my last trip, which was enough to take the airport train into the city. These trains don't take credit cards or QR codes for payment. They're stuck in ancient times.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/uo702.htm
Online check-in worked flawlessly 48 hours before departure and I was issued a mobile boarding pass with a window seat. My lucky day ... it didn't trip up any errors so I wouldn't need to visit the counter at the airport, where they would likely weigh my hand baggage before issuing a paper boarding pass.
I arrived at the airport early, and headed over to the check-in kiosk to print out the boarding pass, which I collect for most flights anticipating it'll fade into history soon. The airport was crowded just like my early morning departure to Korea the week before.
Since Hong Kongers don't need visas to enter Thailand, perhaps it explains why some destinations such as Vietnam would require a visit to the counter.
Security was quite busy and there were long lines. I hope they would purchase some new technology soon and not have us take out our electronics for separate scanning. I saw these at work at Heathrow a few weeks ago and it saves quite a lot of hassle and time.
Even some of the ultra short-haul flights have resumed, such as this quick hop to Quanzhou in Fujian. The high-speed train would take 4 hours only.
My flight today departs out of the 200-gates over at the satellite terminal, requiring a train connection. I fondly remember this building, where all arriving passengers during Hong Kong's long COVID-zero era had to come get tested and issued hotel quarantine orders. I survived 2 sets of solitary confinement. The first time, I was stuck here a few hours waiting for my COVID negative test, while the second time was a bit easier. I got swabbed but could go after the rapid test passed, while the longer official test result would arrive the next day while I'm in the hotel.
My gate would be all the way at the far end of this pier today.
With my seat almost at the back of the plane and a fairly good head start in the line, I had no issues finding overhead space for my case and we pushed back 4 minutes behind schedule only at 4:29pm.
The A321 is quite massive with almost 40 rows of Economy seats, and it was a full flight. The interior looked quite new and comfortable, even though there are no televisions or in-seat charge ports. It's late afternoon so I passed on pre-ordering dinner as I would eat on arrival in Bangkok.
We took off into a smoggy sky at 4:42pm for a 2h40 flight to Thailand.
I couldn't make out much of the city afterward, faintly seeing the western side of Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island as we headed towards the South China Sea.
The first hour was bumpy even though the weather looked decent below. The seat belt sign came on and off and it wasn't until we passed Hainan and reached the Vietnamese coast did things calm down.
With Vietnam in sight, we only have an hour left to reach Bangkok.
I checked out the seatback literature to see if their food prices are still reasonable.
We descended into the sunset and landed at 6:26pm. Since Suvarnabhumi is quite east of the city, I couldn't spot the skyline as we looped around for touchdown. I would need to go up a few rooftop bars to savour the views in the coming days.
As we taxied into the terminal, I noticed a line of parked A380s. I think most airlines didn't succeed with this plane model except Emirates. Even other Middle Eastern carriers have struggled with it. I flew Thai's version in 2012 to Frankfurt shortly after they started using the plane on the route. I had scored an Econony seat in the front part of the lower deck, with plenty of empty seats to stretch out for the long flight.
While Thailand is historically a huge tourist destination and has made a big comeback post-COVID, I've never had good impressions of Suvarnabhumi. It never featured high on the best airports list and I didn't have a good impression of it from my past visits. The walk to immigration was smooth but as I made the final turn, I saw a huge group of people that had extended all the way out beyond the usual lines. Staff were on hand to send people to the Thai residents' lines but luckily the glob kept moving and it took less than an hour to get through.
Each person goes through a lengthy set of processing. Scan the 4 fingers on each hand, then your thumbs, then take off your glasses for a picture.
With hand carry only, I pushed straight out to the arrivals hall into a sea of people. I followed the signs and headed downstairs for the airport train. The currency exchange had an awful exchange rate while the ATMs charged a 220 baht access fee. Luckily, I had 40 baht left from my last trip, which was enough to take the airport train into the city. These trains don't take credit cards or QR codes for payment. They're stuck in ancient times.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/uo702.htm
Apr 5, 2024, 11:45 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
HK Express looks pretty clean, far cleaner than even alleged full-service carriers in the States. Also, the inflight menu has a good variety. Great report!
Apr 13, 2024, 8:39 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,505
Worried with Bangkok's rush hour traffic after a nasty drive out to Ayutthaya the previous morning, I took no chances and stayed away from taxis and Grab cars to head to the airport. Luckily, my hotel is close to the MRT and it is only a short ride to the airport line.
Bangkok's train lines are not integrated. The metro and skytrain run on separate fare systems, while the airport line is entirely different, too. I can't buy a through-ticket but at least the metro takes credit cards. Setting off at 4:30pm, the pre-evening rush hour traffic was not too bad, and I made it to Phetchaburi for the long transfer to Makkasan station on the airport line. I first exit to street level, where there are signs pointing to a long skybridge to cross the street. I then had to pay cash to buy a new ticket to enter through the fare gates again.
The airport line is just a simple commuter train with bench seats, but it is reliable and doesn't take long to reach the airport.
Unfortunately, the trains stop at the basement level, which is neither the arrivals nor departures floors. I had to go from B1 through a bunch of escalators to the 4th floor for the check-in counter. By now, it is only 5:30pm though. Suvarnabhumi's airport design is not so user-friendly. I had to fight through the huge arrivals crowd along the way and the departures floor wasn't much better. The infrastructure is showing its age and hasn't been well maintained. The floors looked quite scratched up and dirty while many travellers were sitting on the floor for some reason on the intermediate floors.
2.5 hours before departure is quite early indeed. There was barely a line for check-in and the surly agent weighed my hand carry case and affixed the cabin baggage tag to it. I asked if they have a window seat but instead of answering my question, she asked for my booking reference, which I wondered why she couldn't see in her system. Out spat the boarding pass with my aisle seat that I got at online check-in. No explanation provided. This lack of customer service is a good summary of the state of this airport, which never made the top ranks in the region since it opened not that many years ago.
Tourism has returned to normal in Thailand with many foreigners on the streets and this airport buzzing with activity.
With my boarding pass on hand, I went looking for dinner. There are few restaurants on the downstairs intermediate floor between departures and arrivals with familiar faces such as Starbucks and Subway. Prices are inflated from the city but still reasonable. If I wanted to get Thai food, expect to pay about 200 baht in a sit-down restaurant. Not satisfied, I asked about the food court, and was directed to gate A on the 1st floor, which is at the end of the terminal building.
After a long walk, I found a small food court but with quite a lot of options. The central seating area was tightly packed but I was able to find a seat quickly after ordering a pork fried rice for only 60 baht - city food court prices. Similar to the mall food courts, ordering and paying for your meal is grossly inefficient. You first buy a cash card at the counter, and use that card for payment. If they don't want the shops to handle cash, why not just put up a contactless payment device instead and fire the 2 cash attendants. Welcome to 2024.
Not taking any chances again with such a huge crowd, I opted to clear security early hoping there won't be surprises. It surprisingly didn't take long, although everyone had to take their shoes off and for some reason, my shoes got rejected by the scanner, although the staff didn't do any additional screening on them plus my case and sent them all back to me.
Then I had to go downstairs for immigration. Staff were already on hand to direct people to the automated machines instead of the manual line. Similar kiosks in Hong Kong and mainland China let the next person scan their ID first while the machine is in use by the person in front, saving some time. These machines in Bangkok are a bit more stupid. The first lad needs to clear his/her face recognition entirely and exit the kiosk first before the next person can scan his/her passport. This adds a few seconds for each person's processing but when you multiply that across a huge volume of people, the delays will start mounting.
My kiosk experience was a fail and I got sent to the manual line. It is entirely a repeat of the arrivals experience. I had to scan 4 fingers on my right hand, 4 fingers on my left, then thumbs, then take off my glasses for the photo. I've never exited a country with so much processing.
Air-side was busy with lots of shops and restaurants. I saw a McDonalds and Burger King here but I filled up already so scanned around for last minute souvenirs. Prices are a lot more expensive than the Big C in the city so I held off from more shopping. Instead, I looked for a charging point to juice up my phone. Hong Kong Express is a low cost airline. There is no entertainment on board and no charging ports either.
I saw quite a few people on flight with bags of mango sticky rice to bring home. Hong Kong doesn't have a lot of restrictions for importing food, including fruits, but this pack is quite expensive compared to the city.
Connecting to the wifi, I saw a message that I have internet for an hour. What a stingy airport.
Next up - the actual flight. More on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/uo703.htm
Bangkok's train lines are not integrated. The metro and skytrain run on separate fare systems, while the airport line is entirely different, too. I can't buy a through-ticket but at least the metro takes credit cards. Setting off at 4:30pm, the pre-evening rush hour traffic was not too bad, and I made it to Phetchaburi for the long transfer to Makkasan station on the airport line. I first exit to street level, where there are signs pointing to a long skybridge to cross the street. I then had to pay cash to buy a new ticket to enter through the fare gates again.
The airport line is just a simple commuter train with bench seats, but it is reliable and doesn't take long to reach the airport.
Unfortunately, the trains stop at the basement level, which is neither the arrivals nor departures floors. I had to go from B1 through a bunch of escalators to the 4th floor for the check-in counter. By now, it is only 5:30pm though. Suvarnabhumi's airport design is not so user-friendly. I had to fight through the huge arrivals crowd along the way and the departures floor wasn't much better. The infrastructure is showing its age and hasn't been well maintained. The floors looked quite scratched up and dirty while many travellers were sitting on the floor for some reason on the intermediate floors.
2.5 hours before departure is quite early indeed. There was barely a line for check-in and the surly agent weighed my hand carry case and affixed the cabin baggage tag to it. I asked if they have a window seat but instead of answering my question, she asked for my booking reference, which I wondered why she couldn't see in her system. Out spat the boarding pass with my aisle seat that I got at online check-in. No explanation provided. This lack of customer service is a good summary of the state of this airport, which never made the top ranks in the region since it opened not that many years ago.
Tourism has returned to normal in Thailand with many foreigners on the streets and this airport buzzing with activity.
With my boarding pass on hand, I went looking for dinner. There are few restaurants on the downstairs intermediate floor between departures and arrivals with familiar faces such as Starbucks and Subway. Prices are inflated from the city but still reasonable. If I wanted to get Thai food, expect to pay about 200 baht in a sit-down restaurant. Not satisfied, I asked about the food court, and was directed to gate A on the 1st floor, which is at the end of the terminal building.
After a long walk, I found a small food court but with quite a lot of options. The central seating area was tightly packed but I was able to find a seat quickly after ordering a pork fried rice for only 60 baht - city food court prices. Similar to the mall food courts, ordering and paying for your meal is grossly inefficient. You first buy a cash card at the counter, and use that card for payment. If they don't want the shops to handle cash, why not just put up a contactless payment device instead and fire the 2 cash attendants. Welcome to 2024.
Not taking any chances again with such a huge crowd, I opted to clear security early hoping there won't be surprises. It surprisingly didn't take long, although everyone had to take their shoes off and for some reason, my shoes got rejected by the scanner, although the staff didn't do any additional screening on them plus my case and sent them all back to me.
Then I had to go downstairs for immigration. Staff were already on hand to direct people to the automated machines instead of the manual line. Similar kiosks in Hong Kong and mainland China let the next person scan their ID first while the machine is in use by the person in front, saving some time. These machines in Bangkok are a bit more stupid. The first lad needs to clear his/her face recognition entirely and exit the kiosk first before the next person can scan his/her passport. This adds a few seconds for each person's processing but when you multiply that across a huge volume of people, the delays will start mounting.
My kiosk experience was a fail and I got sent to the manual line. It is entirely a repeat of the arrivals experience. I had to scan 4 fingers on my right hand, 4 fingers on my left, then thumbs, then take off my glasses for the photo. I've never exited a country with so much processing.
Air-side was busy with lots of shops and restaurants. I saw a McDonalds and Burger King here but I filled up already so scanned around for last minute souvenirs. Prices are a lot more expensive than the Big C in the city so I held off from more shopping. Instead, I looked for a charging point to juice up my phone. Hong Kong Express is a low cost airline. There is no entertainment on board and no charging ports either.
I saw quite a few people on flight with bags of mango sticky rice to bring home. Hong Kong doesn't have a lot of restrictions for importing food, including fruits, but this pack is quite expensive compared to the city.
Connecting to the wifi, I saw a message that I have internet for an hour. What a stingy airport.
Next up - the actual flight. More on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/uo703.htm
.
Apr 13, 2024, 9:54 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,505
I've never ordered it because it only tastes good when it is fresh and crisp. I'm not sure whether reheating a pre-made one in the oven will have that effect. It should also generate a very nice smell but I've never smelled it on any of my recent flights, so I presume nobody has ordered it.
Apr 13, 2024, 9:59 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Melbourne
Programs: BA GO, CX SL
Posts: 53
Thanks for the trip report! I just returned from a trip through HKG and BKK and I agree with your observations. Have yet to try HK Express, not sure that I will since I am not based in HKG, but good to see how other LCCs around the world operate.
Apr 15, 2024, 7:43 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,505
Apr 16, 2024, 12:27 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 275
I've never ordered it because it only tastes good when it is fresh and crisp. I'm not sure whether reheating a pre-made one in the oven will have that effect. It should also generate a very nice smell but I've never smelled it on any of my recent flights, so I presume nobody has ordered it.
Apr 17, 2024, 1:10 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,505
Here are a few short posts from my trip highlights.
Jodd Fairs is a more upscale interpretation of a lively outdoor market with a mix of restaurants and other merchandise for sale. This market's location at Phra Rama 9 MRT station is quite interesting, wedged between a shopping mall and an office building. It opened in late 2022 but may not survive in this location if the lease is not renewed. Instead, they have opened a new branch further away near Chatuchak. For now, you have 2 Jodd Fairs to choose from.
More photos on my website : http://www.globalphotos.org/bangkok.htm
Jodd Fairs is a more upscale interpretation of a lively outdoor market with a mix of restaurants and other merchandise for sale. This market's location at Phra Rama 9 MRT station is quite interesting, wedged between a shopping mall and an office building. It opened in late 2022 but may not survive in this location if the lease is not renewed. Instead, they have opened a new branch further away near Chatuchak. For now, you have 2 Jodd Fairs to choose from.
More photos on my website : http://www.globalphotos.org/bangkok.htm