HKG Airport Delays today

[JohnK]

Hong Airport has been having bad delays today due to bad weather and extracta and I are in the middle of a BKK-HKG-MNL-HKG-BKK same day trip.

Arrived in BKK airport this morning and our flight was delayed 40 minutes which would have made the next connection tight. The CX check-in staff put us on the TG flight. More fun later on this one trying to claim Original routing credit.

Now in HKG and the HKG-MNL flight is delayed by ~45 minutes and hopefuly this will be able to turnaround in MNL without too much fuss.

At this stage the HKG-BKK flight tonight appears to be on time but we may run into connection problems if the HKG-MNL-HKG is delayed any more.

Is there any way of finding which flights CX709 is doing today and if it looks like being delayed. If it is delayed it is better for us.

Sitting in a very full Cabin right now and staff do not appear to be coping.

Appreciate any assistance or thoughts.

 

[docjames]

I think it's your luck John!

Departure looks 10mins later at 2200 HK time.

 

[JohnK]

I think you are right. Fun, fun, fun.

All our flights were delayed today except the important flight to BKK.

The HKG-MNL flight left 1 hour late, arrive in MNL 1 hour late and left MNL 2 hours late. What a joke. We arrived back in HKG at 9:45pm and they did not hold the HKG-BKK flight which ended up leaving 15 minutes late anyway and will arrive ~40 minutes late.

We to transfer desk and the best they could do was a 7:40pm flight tomorrow. Just as well I have some experience at playing their game and we are now on an 8:55am flight that is wide open. Transfer desk would not book this flight and First Class lounge would not book this flight until I told extracta to take expert flyer on ipad to them to see flight wide open. And all of a sudden they can book it.

We have been put up in Novetel Citigate.

I have lost all faith in CX to provide competent service. They even wanted to put the 2 of us into a twin room. They are surely kidding right. We are on seperate bookings and just went to the desk together. And there were others with issues as well as a lady who was in economy and got to transfer desk much later but she was also Executive Platinum.

And the best part about today was the TG 747 flight this morning. I will now start to criticise CX anytime someone gives them praise. They do not deserve it....

 

[Austman]

Gee, a small amount of research would have shown that the HKG-MNL flights are often 1 to 2 hours late. Not good but it seems typical. I'm in MNL at the moment and my HKG-MNL was about 70 mins late and I expect the return will be no better. CX are a bit like SQ - they can be very good when they want to be but appalling when they don't. Were you in J? (not that it should matter with these issues but it might make re- bookings easier). Hope the next flight is smoother!

 

[JohnK]

Thanks Austman. I did do my homework and my routing was a very simple routing with ample time for connection in HKG. How for the life of me an aircraft can sit on the taxiway for 30-45 minutes waiting to take off in MNL is beyond my comprehension. The 8:00pm MNL-HKG took off before the 6:00pm MNL-HKG.

We were in business class and I informed the CSM that we had a tight connection and she sent off a message.

They actually did nothing for us. Nothing. There was a EK flight, an Ethiopian flight and a Hong Kong Airlines flight that were flying a little later.

And when we did go to transfer desk we offered a flight at 20:05 the next day. That is the protection that is supposed to be offered to business class passengers?

And the First class lounge did not want to help either until we told them that business class was wide open on all flights HKG-BKK today.

And to top it off he had the hide to try and book 2 people on different PNRs in the same hotel room. By the way when we did get to hotel we were told that CX only had 2 rooms booked and one of them was already used.

If this is how CX treats Emeralds in business class I would hate to be someone without status down the back. Makes me wonder what happened to all those that missed the connection to Mumbai which was the same flight as mine. They were still at the transfer counter waiting in line at around 11:00pm. I hope they were at least offered a hotel room.

Weather in HKG is shocking right now with more and more delays. And all they had to do was hold the flight last night for 15 minutes as there appeared to be at least 10-15 people connecting. Other airlines have held flights longer for a lot less.

CX has lost any respect from me....

 

[docjames]

Ah, the joys of travel.

Youll have to console yourself with the SCs.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Interesting experience... have to say that it is one of the peak travel periods in HKG, but that's not an excuse for such treatment. It looks like they aren't even organised enough to look after their own MPC members on such a weekend, let alone other "lowly" OW status pax.

 

[amaroo]

A status run that has ended in tears, had to happen sooner or later. Could have been worse - you could have been stuck in KGI:shock:

Hopefully, it hasn't mucked up too much of your trip or tee off times

 

[samh004]

Sounds like CX had quite a few issues yesterday with delays, so you’re seeing them at their worst, or on their worst day rather. Seeing as you are rebooked it’s not the end of the world, and most people would probably be quite happy about having a whole day in HKG, with accom paid for too.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Thanks Austman. I did do my homework and my routing was a very simple routing with ample time for connection in HKG. How for the life of me an aircraft can sit on the taxiway for 30-45 minutes waiting to take off in MNL is beyond my comprehension. The 8:00pm MNL-HKG took off before the 6:00pm MNL-HKG.

We were in business class and I informed the CSM that we had a tight connection and she sent off a message.

They actually did nothing for us. Nothing. There was a EK flight, an Ethiopian flight and a Hong Kong Airlines flight that were flying a little later.

And when we did go to transfer desk we offered a flight at 20:05 the next day. That is the protection that is supposed to be offered to business class passengers?

And the First class lounge did not want to help either until we told them that business class was wide open on all flights HKG-BKK today.

And to top it off he had the hide to try and book 2 people on different PNRs in the same hotel room. By the way when we did get to hotel we were told that CX only had 2 rooms booked and one of them was already used.

If this is how CX treats Emeralds in business class I would hate to be someone without status down the back. Makes me wonder what happened to all those that missed the connection to Mumbai which was the same flight as mine. They were still at the transfer counter waiting in line at around 11:00pm. I hope they were at least offered a hotel room.

Weather in HKG is shocking right now with more and more delays. And all they had to do was hold the flight last night for 15 minutes as there appeared to be at least 10-15 people connecting. Other airlines have held flights longer for a lot less.

CX has lost any respect from me....

this is the ugly side of CX i never saw whilst i lived in honkers and flew with them regularly.......................

lets hope they can redeem themselves.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Just heard from reports that they were having issues this morning due to weather as well. However, the rain band has now moved off from HKG, and normal flight schedules are expected to be resumed progressively.

It reminds me of 3 weeks ago, when I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to witness the aftermath of that flight from ORD which had to stop in ANC(?). It seems that either the transfer desks weren't open at that time, or they decided to setup makeshift desks, but the whole place was a complete mess. Pax were hanging around just outside the gate at the arrivals level (i.e. no seats), and most of them didn't know what to do. The desks already had boarding passes ready though, but given the temporary setup, I suppose nobody had the choice of a different flight or any other options which would normally have been available.

 

[Austman]

You only have to go to the Cathay website and look at the flight status of MNL-HKG flights over the past 5 days. Dreadful. And weather was not a factor on all of those days. I'm doing MNL-HKG-BNE tomorrow. On separate tickets CX and QF. Transit time in HKG is 6 hours. Seeing the MNL-HKG flight was over 3 hours late today, I might very well need those 6 hours! Wish me luck!

 

[extracta]

I ran into a guy last night that was on the 29 Apr CX 0855 flight HKG-BKK that was delayed for two hours.

He told me that when he arrived BKK there was no luggage at all on the carousel and that all of the passengers then had to wait around for 1 and a half hours filling in paperwork.

He said the reason for no baggage is that it was not loaded in HKG due to compter failures at the airport from the storms.

He said that he was told by CX that all other flights that left HKG at around the same time did not have luggage loaded due to the computer problems.

 

[simongr]

Sounds like a less than fun experience - I assume you have emailed the customer service people at CX the same tale of woe?

I will now start to criticise CX anytime someone gives them praise. They do not deserve it....

I don't understand this at all. You are saying that CX do not deserve any praise on the basis of your experience? Conversely then CX do not deserve any criticism based on my experience with them...

 

[JohnK]

I don't understand this at all. You are saying that CX do not deserve any praise on the basis of your experience? Conversely then CX do not deserve any criticism based on my experience with them...

If what extracta and I experienced is even remotely referred to as customer service it does not matter if one or 2 people here or there get good service.

You need to see the airline at its worst to get a feel of how they will react when things go well. This is the worst treatment I have had from any airline ever and I am supposed to have "high" Oneworld status and travelling in business class.

Missed golf yesterday. Off to have a game of golf today.

 

[Limewood]

Think yourself lucky, Mrs lime and self were delayed stuck in Manila airport for extra 4 hours in transit due to HK storms on 20th April, arrived HK to half hour wait at immigration, not a good day.

 

[docjames]

If what extracta and I experienced is even remotely referred to as customer service it does not matter if one or 2 people here or there get good service.

You need to see the airline at its worst to get a feel of how they will react when things go well. This is the worst treatment I have had from any airline ever and I am supposed to have "high" Oneworld status and travelling in business class.

Be thankful you havent had to deal with a cancelled flight on Cubana (in Y). After kicking and screaming, you got a hotel room, shifted on the next available flight etc.

We got zero, no eta on when the next flight even was, no booking on any forward flight ("just come to airport tomorrow and we see if seat"), and waited 5 months for a refund.



You're running out of airlines to fly JohnK...... :shock:

 

[yohy?!]

Sorry to hear your SC run has gone awry - the experiences with CX do not sound like the norm at all so I hope they pull their finger out and sort everything for you!

I understand the weather at the moment is quite atypical in HKG - we are getting waves of thunderstorms on a daily basis hitting the city which is playing havoc at the airport due to the winds.

 

[Austman]

My CX flight MNL-HKG today boarded on time but was 30mins late to take off (ATC delay they told us). And it was HOT at the gate. But once under way CX was excellent. The "1st Class" lounge at MNL...haha well that's another matter!

 

[JohnK]

You're running out of airlines to fly JohnK...... :shock:

LOL! One of these days I am going to get some luck.

Seriously though it is not the end of the world and enjoying the relaxation in Thailand now although the weather is extremely hot.