Tag Archives for hong kong.
Back in May the process for entering Hong Kong was one of the most excruciating things I’ve seen in travel, taking the better part of a day. It involved being bused to the EXPO Center, long waits for testing and results, and receiving a monitoring bracelet.
While transit has opened up in some cases, the process for actually entering Hong Kong is still stringent – but has been substantially streamlined.
A Cathay Pacific passenger boarded a flight from Canada to Hong Kong back in March, intending to connect to Vietnam. Hong Kong transit was shut down March 25. Vietnam closed its border to arrivals. He lived inside the airport for three months.
Then he walked out.
Aircraft make great hiding spots for drugs, like when the nose of this American Airlines jet hid 31 pounds of cocaine.
But what on earth led Hong Kong Customs officers to do a full tear down on an aircraft engine leading them to an incredible haul?
After arriving in Hong Kong, it’s an 8 hour process involving quarantine forms, downloading a tracking app, and registering a tracking bracelet you have to wear – before taking a COVID-19 spit test and awaiting the results. This gripping report walks through it all, step-by-step.
The Hong Kong International Airport is testing a new booth that people can walk through that will take their temperatures and disinfect their clothing and bodies. It does not test for the presence of viruses, though, or whether someone is contagious.
Hong Kong has joined Singapore in not only banning foreign arrivals but banning transit passenger arrivals, too, after several foreigners arriving there tested positive for COVID-19. A doctor screening inbound passengers at the airport has tested positive as well there.
To crack down on intimacy as a source of spread, alcohol is being banned from bars though people can still get meals in restaurants.
When US Airways management took over at American they brought with them a revenue management philosophy of making far less award space available. However they’ve made efforts to make more economy award space available, bidding for space based on a fare value of miles.
International business class is another matter, even on the most lightly booked of flights.
After the airport was closed to departing flights Monday afternoon as a result of being overrun by protesters, people dispersed and some operations commenced again Tuesday morning.
However protesters returned and the airport once again shut down to departures on Tuesday afternoon.
Clashes between police and democracy protesters have escalated. Here an officer arrests a man on Sunday night, pressing his knee into the man’s face pushing him into his own pooling blood as he calls out “Don’t do this. I’m begging you.” There were 45 protesters injured over the weekend. Of those 25 remain in the hospital.
Spurred on by the government’s increasingly violent crackdown, protesters occupied the airport on Monday. Traffic came to a standstill and protesters crossed the roads leading in and out. All departures were cancelled for the rest of the day.
We’re seeing what may be the beginning of the next big restriction on bank-provided Priority Pass cards: American Express has notified Hong Kong cardmembers that effective August 1 Priority Pass cards that come with their Centurion, Platinum, Peninsula Platinum, and Cathay Pacific Elite credit cards will no longer offer “non-lounge airport experiences” such as restaurants, cafes, and bars “where food/beverage credit is offered instead of entrance into a traditional airport lounge.”
This would cut American Express’ costs to issue these cards significantly, and be a huge cut in cardmember benefits. The worry here is that it could spread (1) to other American Express markets, and (2) to other issuers. I have asked American Express what their plans are for this restriction and will share anything that I learn.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
