Layover in Hong Kong

Hi there,

I’d like to travel to Japan with my son. I read that it’s cheaper to fly via Hong Kong to reach other Asian countries. I tried it, and it’s indeed much cheaper, with better flight times on Cathay Pacific, which is a great airline. In short, it’s better—even though I think if I miss a flight, I’d lose everything.

I’d like to know if it’s easy to get around Hong Kong Airport? Do you have to go through customs again in these cases? Do you need to pay for some kind of transit visa?

If the layover is long, is it easy to head into the city for a quick visit?

Thanks for your feedback!

Hi Jennifer,

Are you thinking of a Cathay flight with a layover in Hong Kong but a single ticket to your final destination, or a Cathay round-trip to Hong Kong with a continuation ticket on another airline? In the first case, there’s nothing to worry about with the connection. In the second case, I doubt it’d be financially worth it, since a direct flight to an airline’s hub is almost always an expensive option.

Michel

I wanted to book everything with Cathay but ended up with separate tickets. Paris HK HK Tokyo and the same on the way back. These aren’t real connections.

Hello,

Booking separate tickets when you have a connection can be risky because the two reservations aren’t linked electronically. So if your first flight is delayed, canceled, or rescheduled, things can get complicated fast—financially too. It’s best to plan a long layover just to be safe. That said, if you’re planning to stop in HK on both the outbound and return trips, then it’s fine. But double-check if the gamble is really worth it, since you’ve got to be okay with potentially losing out.

The goal is basically a round-trip from Paris to Tokyo, and there are plenty of options (even checking Brussels out of curiosity). Don’t hesitate to shift your dates by a few days either.

For the ones I’ve seen, I can book a longer layover to visit if possible.

Since it’s school holidays, it’s not possible to change the dates.

It saves me 600 € in total, which isn’t negligible!

When booking 2 separate tickets, you’ll need to ask at check-in for the first flight to have your baggage checked through to the final destination, since they won’t see it otherwise. Are these both Cathay Pacific flights? Normally it’s fine, but you never know. And with a long layover, go through immigration on arrival and make sure you’re early enough for the second flight—you’ll have to clear immigration and security again. If your baggage isn’t checked through to Tokyo, check if there are left-luggage facilities at HK airport. I haven’t been there in a few years, so I can’t say for sure.

I hadn't thought about the option to have my luggage sent straight to Tokyo. I'll ask about that. Not the lockers either.

Thanks so much for the tips! ✌️