Honk Kong International Airport

[marine6357]

Hoping someone can give me info on amount of time needed for a layover in HKG? I am looking at flights and found a pretty good deal from US to Cebu. Only problem is ona and a half hour layover in HKG. Wondering if this will be enough time to catch connecting flights to and from the Philippines?

[Lee1154]

That should give you plenty of time in my experience.

[Dave Hounddriver]

24 minutes ago, marine6357 said:

Wondering if this will be enough time to catch connecting flights to and from the Philippines?

It depends.  If you are catching a connecting flight that has a check-in counter airside AND if your arriving plane is on time or early AND if they will transfer any checked luggage for you then yes.

If you are catching a connecting flight that has its check-in counter landside (such as Cebu Pacific) then it is highly unlikely.  The reason is you must go through immigration, collect your bags, check in with Cebu Pacific and then go back through immigration and this must be done 45 minutes before the flight's departure time.

[marine6357]

10 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

It depends.  If you are catching a connecting flight that has a check-in counter airside AND if your arriving plane is on time or early AND if they will transfer any checked luggage for you then yes.

If you are catching a connecting flight that has its check-in counter landside (such as Cebu Pacific) then it is highly unlikely.  The reason is you must go through immigration, collect your bags, check in with Cebu Pacific and then go back through immigration and this must be done 45 minutes before the flight's departure time.

This is all thru Cathy Pacific so not sure about them. Ok another choice is a 14 hour layover. really dont want to spend half a day in an airport.

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 minutes ago, marine6357 said:

This is all thru Cathy Pacific

Most of the time they connect well.  I only have one beef with them.  Their arriving flight from America was almost an hour late.  My 80-year-old mother had a connecting flight to Cebu with the same airline.  She traveled business class and was scheduled to have a wheelchair waiting to take her directly to the connecting flight and they xxxx off without her, sent her through Manila where she was stuck for 16 hours waiting for a connection and her baggage got lost.

So I would take the chance, if I were you, but I would keep it in mind that you need to take care of yourself as they do not put the customer first in some cases.  They can be a great airline and you will likely have no problems.  But there are no guarantees.

[marine6357]

Thanks I really appreciate all the answers. I guess this subjective but which airport is the easiest in your experiences to traverse thru for connecting flights to the Philippines?

[Howard]

I found Hong Kong to be the easiest and Tokyo to be the worst.

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

6 minutes ago, marine6357 said:

I guess this subjective but which airport is the easiest in your experiences to traverse thru for connecting flights to the Philippines?

Hong Kong is just fine if all goes well.  The same could be said for ICN in South Korea.  The problems occur with individual flights or airlines.  I would be careful with the airline and the connecting times but you cannot plan for all scenarios.

6 months ago I was connecting through Hong Kong and my Air Canada flight was 9 hours late arriving which threw all my plans into disarray.  It happens.  Be aware that it can happen and have a backup plan.  That's all any of us can do.

[Lou49]

I have had to transfer planes in  HK with a 50 minute layover twice. I only had a backpack, no luggage and I did go thru security. i raced from one end of the airport to the other end and just made it, they were closing the doors when i got to the plane. I flew Cathay Vancouver to Hk to Cebu. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 minute ago, Lou49 said:

i raced from one end of the airport to the other end and just made it, they were closing the doors when i got to the plane.

Feels good, doesn't it?  

From memory, I would say that most flights and connections go smoothly.  It is the ones where we just make it and the ones that totally screw up that stick in our minds.