UO 702 Hong Kong - Bangkok
12 January 2024
Hong Kong Express throws out emails after emails of specials regularly. One email in early November 2023 caught my attention. It allowed redeeming up to 3000 miles for a one-way flight to Thailand for travel until the end of January. Although Cathay Pacific purchased the budget airline from Hong Kong Airlines in 2018, I didn't expect Asia Miles to pair up with them, so this was wonderful new*. I snapped up a roundtrip after the New Year's peak travel season for a mere 6000 miles plus HKD$949 in taxes, and there was surprisingly a lot of availability across multiple dates. It didn't include checked baggage but with only 4 nights in Bangkok, I didn't need to bring a lot with me.
Online check-in worked flawlessly 48 hours before departure and I was issued a mobile boarding pass with a window seat. My lucky day ... it didn't trip up any errors so I wouldn't need to visit the counter at the airport, where they would likely weigh my hand baggage before issuing a paper boarding pass.
I arrived at the airport early, and headed over to the check-in kiosk to print out the boarding pass, which I collect for most flights anticipating it'll fade into history soon. The airport was crowded just like my early morning departure to Korea the week before.
Since Hong Kongers don't need visas to enter Thailand, perhaps it explains why some destinations such as Vietnam would require a visit to the counter.
Security was quite busy and there were long lines. I hope they would purchase some new technology soon and not have us take out our electronics for separate scanning. I saw these at work at Heathrow a few weeks ago and it saves quite a lot of hassle and time.
Air-side, there was plenty of activity on the tarmac.
Even some of the ultra short-haul flights have resumed, such as this quick hop to Quanzhou in Fujian. The high-speed train would take 4 hours only.
At the end of the Y pier, the Cathay Pacific lounge at this downstairs spot is still closed.
My flight today departs out of the 200-gates over at the satellite terminal, requiring a train connection. I fondly remember this building, where all arriving passengers during Hong Kong's long COVID-zero era had to come get tested and issued hotel quarantine orders. I survived 2 sets of solitary confinement. The first time, I was stuck here a few hours waiting for my COVID negative test, while the second time was a bit easier. I got swabbed but could go after the rapid test passed, while the longer official test result would arrive the next day while I'm in the hotel.
My gate would be all the way at the far end of this pier today.
The waiting lounge was not crowded and people lined up in an orderly fashion for boarding. With my seat almost at the back of the plane and a fairly good head start in the line, I had no issues finding overhead space for my case and we pushed back 4 minutes behind schedule only at 4:29pm.
The A321 is quite massive with almost 40 rows of Economy seats, and it was a full flight. The interior looked quite new and comfortable, even though there are no televisions or in-seat charge ports. It's late afternoon so I passed on pre-ordering dinner as I would eat on arrival in Bangkok.
We took off into a smoggy sky at 4:42pm for a 2h40 flight to Thailand.
I couldn't make out much of the city afterward, faintlyan seeing the western side of Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island as we headed towards the South China Sea.
The first hour was bumpy even though the weather looked decent below. The seat belt sign came on and off and it wasn't until we passed Hainan and reached the Vietnamese coast did things calm down.
With Vietnam in sight, we only have an hour left to reach Bangkok.
I checked out the seatback literature to see if their food prices are still reasonable.
We descended into the sunset and landed at 6:26pm. Since Suvarnabhumi is quite east of the city, I couldn't spot the skyline as we looped around for touchdown. I would need to go up a few rooftop bars to savour the views in the coming days.
As we taxied into the terminal, I noticed a line of parked A380s. I think most airlines didn't succeed with this plane model except Emirates. Even other Middle Eastern carriers have struggled with it. I flew Thai's version in 2012 to Frankfurt shortly after they started using the plane on the route. I had scored an Econony seat in the front part of the lower deck, with plenty of empty seats to stretch out for the long flight.
While Thailand is historically a huge tourist destination and has made a big comeback post-COVID, I've never had good impressions of Suvarnabhumi. It never featured high on the best airports list and I didn't have a good impression of it from my past visits. The walk to immigration was smooth but as I made the final turn, I saw a huge group of people that had extended all the way out beyond the usual lines. Staff were on hand to send people to the Thai residents' lines but luckily the glob kept moving and it took less than an hour to get through.
Each person goes through a lengthy set of processing. Scan the 4 fingers on each hand, then your thumbs, then take off your glasses for a picture.
With hand carry only, I pushed straight out to the arrivals hall into a sea of people. I followed the signs and headed downstairs for the airport train. The currency exchange had an awful exchange rate while the ATMs charged a 220 baht access fee. Luckily, I had 40 baht left from my last trip, which was enough to take the airport train into the city. These trains don't take credit cards or QR codes for payment. They're stuck in ancient times.
Upon the train's arrival from the city, security staff go through the train compartment after the arriving passengers have cleared out before letting us on.
While service on board Hong Kong Express was fine and the flight arrived on-time, the arrival experience in Bangkok wasn't good. Perhaps they're a victim of their own success, coupled with a bit of mismanagement as well.