Will I make this connecting flight at Hong Kong International Airport?

55 min is plenty of time to trasit in Hong Kong. You are connecting
Cathay-Cathay so will already have your boarding pass. The only thing
you have to do is go through security (takes about 2 minutes unless
there is a big lineup. I fly through Hong Kong about 3x / year and
have never seen long lines at trasit security) there are no
immigration/customs issues for you. Assuming your plane is on time,
you'll have tons of time. Even if it's a bit late you should be ok.
The airport is very efficient and easy to get around in.
Have a fun trip.
C.



On 16 Sep 2003 19:59:05 -0700, (Jim Louis) wrote:

Planning a trip to Asia. Will this work: Arriving on Cathay CX 829
to Hong Kong at 8:00AM and need to make a connecting Cathay flight CX
717 for Singapore leaving at 8:55AM. I'll be arriving in Hong Kong
from Toronto. I've never flown to Hong Kong before, so I don't know
if 55 minutes will be enough to catch my connecting flight to
Singapore.

Do I have to worry about customs, distance between terminals or
checking in?

Many thanks,
Jim

"Whytoi" wrote in message
...
In article et, Blake
S wrote:

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

I did something similar last year and Cathay was about an hour late.
I
missed my UA connection and Cathay treated me like sh*t. First,
they

Actually, that was the condensed version of the story. That trip
started
from Taipei, and I confirmed with the Cathay respresentative at check-in
that I would make my connection. They cancelled my connection anyway.
Basically, they lied to me. They could've re-routed me from Taipei if
they
knew I was going to miss my connection. Business class on the
connecting
flight wasn't sold-out.

I still wouldn't try it. Last time I tried this kind of thing with EVA
and
I missed my connection (though the arriving flight was delayed by
weather).

I don't get it. Did you "miss" your UA connector or did they "cancel"
your connector? For some of the reasons, check-in reps may not be aware
of any late evolving factors that might delay your flight. Was there
already a delayed flag on your flight at check-in? Given the short hop
b/n TPE and HKG, did you know there's a major delay before you boarded
the plane? Did you try to contact UA or CX once you are aware of the
delay? Or did you wait until you got to HK?

In my experience, airline would rebook connecting flight passengers in
the order of their own FF program tiers, then passengers flying with
them, and finally passengers who are going with another carrier.

And what was the reason for the 1 hour delay in CX's inbound flight?
Weather, late flight crew, equipment delay, airport congestion,
security scare?

CX claimed there was a weather delay. It was a little foggy, but my guess
is that they had 2 planes lightly booked and they could easily fit everyone
on one plane. You are right, something should've been done at check-in. I
made it clear my itinerary and they confirmed that I would make my
connection. CX was fully aware of the situation and they either lied to me
or just didn't communicate very well with UA or the CX people in HK. The
first flight to HK was cancelled so they booked me on the second flight
leaving 45 minutes later.

My luggage made it to the UA flight. I didn't. Next time I am going to get
the names of the staff ahead of time.

"devil" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 19:10:49 +0000, Blake S wrote:


CX escorted me to the ticket counter and cancelled my flight.


Given that CX is selling you both the inbound and outbound flights on
the same ticket, you are almost guaranteed to be safe. And trust me,
you won't be the only passenger on that itinerary. Even if there's
irregular operations, CX would take care of any further arrangements
before you can open your mouth.

You would think so. My experiences have been mixed.

Strange story. Are you saying you got a single ticket, business class,
TPE-Hong Kong-YVR on CX. With a short but apparently legal connection,
which *they, CX* had sold you, but that, enroute, they canceled your
reservation?

(I assume it's not the flight that was canceled?)

Sounds like they had oversold their business class and that they needed a
scapegoat, and they picked you as the victim? Using the short connection
as an excuse?

I would say this was a case to stand firm and not go along with them. If
you had a reservation, you had a reservation after all.

If they really needed to bump someone, at the very least they should have
accomodated you in business class on another flight/airline.



Original itinerary was TPE-HKG-NRT-SEA, changed to TPE-HKG-YVR-SEA. Problem
was Cathay assured me that I would make to connection in HKG to UA. Once I
arrive in HKG there was a different story altogether.

It was strange to me too. I pretty much know what to do in a situation like
this, but when the CX staff in TPE confirms that I will make the connection,
and tagged my luggage all the way through, I believed them.

"Whytoi" wrote in message
...
In article , AJC
wrote:

Sigh. What immigration line? The passenger will be in international
transit arriving from somewhere (Toronto?) and departing to Singapore,
he never enters Hong Kong. Furthermore Hong Kong only has one
terminal, so he can't take a shuttle to and from his terminal. There
is a shuttle running the length of the main spine of the terminal
which he may or may not use in one or other direction depending on
which gates he has to transfer between. 55 minutes is enough to
transfer between two CX flights at HKG.

Further, CX hardly uses any gates at the top end of the Y.

Hardly meaning not as much as the lower numbered gates, but they still use
some of the gates at the top of the Y some of the time. I usually see a
couple of CX planes at the top of the Y in the mornings.

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

CX claimed there was a weather delay. It was a little foggy, but my guess
is that they had 2 planes lightly booked and they could easily fit everyone
on one plane. You are right, something should've been done at check-in. I
made it clear my itinerary and they confirmed that I would make my
connection. CX was fully aware of the situation and they either lied to me
or just didn't communicate very well with UA or the CX people in HK. The
first flight to HK was cancelled so they booked me on the second flight
leaving 45 minutes later.

My luggage made it to the UA flight. I didn't. Next time I am going to get
the names of the staff ahead of time.

Hey, guessing whether it was weather or load related cancellation? Was
it CX who didn't communicate well or did UA not listen very well?
That's not fair. You can't just blame someone without knowing the full
set of circumstances. The check-in agent probably did all the right
things but the system (CX or UA) failed on you both. In any case, given
that your onward connection is on a different airline, you should have
contacted UA (local TPE) the moment you became aware of the problem and
confirmed your seat on the next sector.

Given that CX cancelled the earlier flight and you are going on a
different non-aligned airline, it could very well be possible it was UA
who gave your seat away. I've encountered similar situations where UA
oversold their flights, they would just tick off any "late" arriving
passenger to permit standbys to get on. Or just close the passenger
list for that flight to ensure an on-time departure. And in my
experience, HKG's UA staffs are rather green and tend to be a little
inconsistent. I suspect that you were in that busket.

Get the name of the staff? What the point? Get him or her to bow to you
100 times for something unintentional? You are better to take your fate
in your own hands and confirm everything yourself in future.

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

Original itinerary was TPE-HKG-NRT-SEA, changed to TPE-HKG-YVR-SEA. Problem
was Cathay assured me that I would make to connection in HKG to UA. Once I
arrive in HKG there was a different story altogether.

It was strange to me too. I pretty much know what to do in a situation like
this, but when the CX staff in TPE confirms that I will make the connection,
and tagged my luggage all the way through, I believed them.

C'mon, CX was truthful wasn't they? Your checked luggage did make it to
the UA flight! It's so rare that ones' luggage can make the flight but
not the passenger. It only happens if there's significant delay due to
security or some other irregular things, especially for a business
cabin passenger who would have exited the arriving flight at the head
of the queue.

As I suggested, it could very well be that it was UA who cancelled your
seat on that flight.

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

"Whytoi" wrote in message
...

Hardly meaning not as much as the lower numbered gates, but they still use
some of the gates at the top of the Y some of the time. I usually see a
couple of CX planes at the top of the Y in the mornings.

Still, the consensus is that 50mins is decent for any kind of
connection in HKG. Of course, unless one gets held up at security for
carrying funny stuff.

"Whytoi" wrote in message
...
In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

Original itinerary was TPE-HKG-NRT-SEA, changed to TPE-HKG-YVR-SEA.
Problem
was Cathay assured me that I would make to connection in HKG to UA.
Once I
arrive in HKG there was a different story altogether.

It was strange to me too. I pretty much know what to do in a situation
like
this, but when the CX staff in TPE confirms that I will make the
connection,
and tagged my luggage all the way through, I believed them.

C'mon, CX was truthful wasn't they? Your checked luggage did make it to
the UA flight! It's so rare that ones' luggage can make the flight but
not the passenger. It only happens if there's significant delay due to
security or some other irregular things, especially for a business
cabin passenger who would have exited the arriving flight at the head
of the queue.

As I suggested, it could very well be that it was UA who cancelled your
seat on that flight.

Could be UA. Could be a longer than expected transit line. I did spend
over 3 hours at the CX transit desk trying to negotiate something. Finally
they gave me a pass to the Business Class lounge. Big deal.

"Whytoi" wrote in message
...
In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

CX claimed there was a weather delay. It was a little foggy, but my
guess
is that they had 2 planes lightly booked and they could easily fit
everyone
on one plane. You are right, something should've been done at check-in.
I
made it clear my itinerary and they confirmed that I would make my
connection. CX was fully aware of the situation and they either lied to
me
or just didn't communicate very well with UA or the CX people in HK.
The
first flight to HK was cancelled so they booked me on the second flight
leaving 45 minutes later.

My luggage made it to the UA flight. I didn't. Next time I am going to
get
the names of the staff ahead of time.

Hey, guessing whether it was weather or load related cancellation? Was
it CX who didn't communicate well or did UA not listen very well?
That's not fair. You can't just blame someone without knowing the full
set of circumstances. The check-in agent probably did all the right
things but the system (CX or UA) failed on you both. In any case, given
that your onward connection is on a different airline, you should have
contacted UA (local TPE) the moment you became aware of the problem and
confirmed your seat on the next sector.

Next time I will contact the connecting airline. Last time I put too much
faith in what CX told me.


Given that CX cancelled the earlier flight and you are going on a
different non-aligned airline, it could very well be possible it was UA
who gave your seat away. I've encountered similar situations where UA
oversold their flights, they would just tick off any "late" arriving
passenger to permit standbys to get on. Or just close the passenger
list for that flight to ensure an on-time departure. And in my
experience, HKG's UA staffs are rather green and tend to be a little
inconsistent. I suspect that you were in that busket.

Get the name of the staff? What the point? Get him or her to bow to you
100 times for something unintentional? You are better to take your fate
in your own hands and confirm everything yourself in future.

I could use the name of the staff at TPE that confirmed my connection. That
way the transit desk people at HKG will know I'm telling the truth instead
of some BS story. Might strengthen my case for compensation.

I'm sure the CX staff hear BS stories from pax every day as an excuse for an
upgrade. I don't want to be one of those pax.

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:

I could use the name of the staff at TPE that confirmed my connection. That
way the transit desk people at HKG will know I'm telling the truth instead
of some BS story. Might strengthen my case for compensation.

Did you meet UA staff or CX staff at the transit desk? In my
experience, when you connect to a different airline, it's always the
connecting airline's agent you deal with. And UA does have staffs
stationed at the transfer desk. And in my recollection, they are often
some junior with limited experience.

I can see how you can get delayed if you stood in line to re-check-in.
A few times the queue can be slow due to flight irregularities. That's
another reason why you should go with airlines with alliances and ones
that can issue boarding passes for your full itinerary at the first
point of contact. If CX was able to give you a boarding pass at TPE for
your HKG outbound flight, then I'd say that you would have been able to
go directly through security and be able to get on the flight at the
same time as your luggage.

I'm sure the CX staff hear BS stories from pax every day as an excuse for an
upgrade. I don't want to be one of those pax.

No. It's self degradation if one also gets into a BS slinging match
with airline staffs.