[Senator]

Dear all,

Never had the pleasure of flying Cathay, but utterly impressed with Ms Wong coming online to explain and to fix web links causing confusion. Would be excellent for other airlines to use this forum to turn wrong to right! Well done Cathay!

[NTarrant]

I quite agree with what Senator is saying and well done to Ms Wong for being proactive and coming on this forum to address some of the issues.

The issue of issuing invitations has not however been addressed, a shame that the who issue was not clarified, which somehow lets it all down.

[Travellator]

Yes but still doesnt get over the issue of the CX lounge not opening until over 2 hours after the HKG flight arrives.

When I arrive on BA from HKG this flight is one of the first if not the first to arrive so by the time baggage is collected etc the BA arrivals lounge is already in full swing !

[VintageKrug]

Indeed. To clarify our concerns:

1. Although AAgents may show “discretion” and admit those who have a boarding pass showing class of travel and/OR a Marco Polo Elite Level Membership Card, this is technically still not sufficient to grant access.

2. The only document which guarantees access is an invitation, which must be pro-actively requested by the passenger at the time of check in, some twelve hours or more prior to using this lounge and several thousand miles away.

3. Other airlines (my personal experience was with BA) have an agreement with T3 AArrivals that boarding passes are sufficient to access the lounge.

Given the fact that passengers may not be aware of the need to request an invitation while they are in Hong Kong (or may not have access to an HKG J/F check in counter of they have a tight connection from elsewhere), it seems the current system is both flawed and not user friendly.

[Senator]

I believe the CX lounge is airside. Hence, arriving customers cannot use it irrespective of arrival time? At T3 it is “impossible” to get back airside without boarding pass for a connecting flight..

So my understanding is;
There is a departure lounge which opens at 8am. To access this you need a boarding pass for an outbound flight, and can’t be accessed due to T3 flow. (The same is true for SQ and TG if I am not mistaken).
There is no CX arrival lounge, but the AA Arrivals Lounge is available?

Hence, my understanding is that the original complaint is irrelevant? You cannot access the CX lounge as an arriving passenger?

[Travellator]

So after ALL this discussion it is NOT a dedicated arrivals lounge but an airside lounge that accepts arriving passengers who will find it difficult to access and even if they did their bags will still be on the carousel some 2+ hours later ?

[VintageKrug]

Not “difficult to access”. In fact, impossible, unless they have a same day departing flight exT3.

[BusinessTraveller]

Business Traveller replies:

Just to add to ElinWong’s comments, we’ve just spoken to a Cathay representative in the UK and have been advised that Marco Polo Diamond and Gold members can access the lounge irrespective of class of travel.

[VintageKrug]

Which “lounge” can they access? They certainly cannot access the CX airside lounge without a ticket to fly that day, regardless of what plastic they hold.

It does seem a very complex and poorly understood access policy at the T3 AArrivals lounge. Though I think we get it here, the average travelling Joe or Janine will surely not. So far in this thread we have had:

– one CX rep saying an invitation is needed,

– a CX statement saying if you don’t have an invitation AAgents use discretion

– others saying you need to have evidence you flew in J or F on CX (not all that easy as many asian carriers retain such boarding pass evidence on boarding)

– others saying you can access travelling any class if you have a Marco Polo Diamond or Gold Card with you

– what about BA/other oneworld cardholders: do Gold cardholders travelling CX get acces to T3 AArrivals lounges regardless of class travelled

Can open. Worms everywhere!

All very confusing!

[HKGdirector]

VK is absaloutely right. The isue is the need to carry an invitation card which must be asked for on check in at HKG and is not automatically issued to deoarting F and J class passengers ? Also, why is the CX lounge closed when 2 wide bodied Cx planes arrive in the early hours of the morning.

Whilst Ms. Wong has responded, I note, Ivan Chiu, Director Customer Service cannot be bothered to reply to this forum and once again, we ask BT to please contact him at CX to ascertain his reponse.

Maybe, the request from BT should be copied to CX’s Chairman Chris Pratt to ensure Ivan Chiu condescends to respond and more importantly, takes remedial steps to address this situation. Why not issue ALL F and J passengers with an arrival lounge invitation upon departure from HKG ???

[Senator]

HKGdirector,

Hope all is well. Can I just verify with you.. The CX lounge; is it airside at T3 and can it be reached by arriving pax without onward boarding pass? If this is the case, it is the only T3 airside lounge with access for arriving pax.

I cannot find any information that states CX has an arrival lounge at LHR. Hence, the opening hours of 8am relates to departing pax with the first of four flights to HKG leaving at 11:30. You should not be able to access the lounge upon arrival, hence its opening hour of 8am is irrelevant.

That leaves still the debacle related to access to AA Arrivals lounge to be sorted, but we should perhaps make sure all facts are clear before we start in “escalation mode”.

Now, what would be good is for BT to assist the readers to get a 100% clear answer of the access policy of the AA lounge, and if an invitation from HKG is required to ask CX HKG station to update procedures.

[Sacmatine]

Well I’ve enjoyed all this. May I just say that when I’ve checked in for the Finnair early morning flight to HEL [ depart 07.30 ] the CX Lounge has been up and running well before 08.00

[Gin&Tonic]

Dear All
Please lets give it up after 41 posts.
CX LHR uses AA Arivals lounge but yes you need to know this before you depart at origin assuming you have the required travel class or card type.
CX departure lounge at Lhr opens officially from 0800.

[VintageKrug]

I think we here understand that.

But the general travelling Joe would be hard pressed to find that information on CX website.

Indeed the distinction between the CX airside lounge (which is next to useless unless you have an onward connection, and so is not in any sense an “Arrivals Lounge” as CX deceptively suggests) and the T3 lanside AArrivals lounge operated by AA is not as clear as it should be.

The access policy to the T3 AArrivals Lounge for oneworld partners is similarly poorly described on the AA website.

Finally, the CX requirement for an invitation which must be *proactively requested* by the passenger at HKG check in is a flawed system, as this is easily forgotten about and/or impossible for those travelling via HKG and in a rushed transit.
—–

So:

First, this is an opportunity for BT to assist an airline in clarifying its (and its partner, AA’s) own online access policies to both lounges, for not only CX pax but all oneworld status passengers, so there is clarity for everyone who flies CX and oneworld partners in T3. This could be further clarified by updating the CX and AA websites, and being clear that the CX lounge is airside, and that the AA lounge is landside.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/airportAmenities/AAFlagshipLounges.jsp

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_ID/atairport/airportdetails?cityCode=LON

Second it is an opportunity for CX to review an unnecessarily bureaucratic process which wastes paper and is not passenger centric. At the very least I would expect eligible CX pax to be proactively given lounge invitations to the landside T3 AArrivals lounge at check in, and preferably that the requirement for an invitation was dropped in favour of requiring Boarding Pass access (or by showing an MP/oneworld Silver or Gold card depending on what the access policy actually is.

Third I would expect this to be agreed with the AAgents in T3 AArrivals so there is absolute clarity in their minds what the policy is, so that no-one is improperly embarrassed and denied access to a service to which they should have access.

[Author]

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