YVR-HKG with Hong Kong Air, reviews?
 

Hi there,

My mom is going to Hong Kong in September and there are some pretty cheap flights with Hong Kong Air and they are direct @ <$700.

Has anyone flew to HKG with Hong Kong Air before? I'm wondering if it's better to pay $200 more and fly with Air Canada, or is Hong Kong Air comparable?

Thanks

Is not that cheap I usually flight back to HK/Beijing less than $700 sometimes even less than $650. just depends when (low or high season). Also leaving on a Wed and coming back on Tue/Wed is usually cheaper too.

Air Canada sucks why would you pay more for AC? Cathay is the way to go in my experience

Cathay rarely have flights sub $1000 though. I find AC consistently have lower prices for a bigger airline company.

I was debating about CP and HKA, went with CP even though it's more expensive.

Usually when there are deals, pricing between AC and HK Air is similar, AC is still higher. HK Air is a 2 hour longer flight than AC though.

I love how no one answers the OP's actual question and just goes on to knee-jerk bash Air Canada.

It's not knee-jerk though, it's based on actual experience for me. I've taken every option and AC is the worst of the bunch... that flight consistently leaves 1-2hrs late, and the seats, despite having the same numerical measurements as the other airlines for economy, somehow they are excruciatingly uncomfortable. Also, the food/service is terrible.

Cathay is worth the extra money every time on that long of a flight and worth the saving in time over HK Air. If I was already going on HK Air though, I definitely wouldn't pay more to go on AC.

I flew back to YVR from HKG with Hong Kong Air once, it was pretty ghetto. They use Airbus 330-200s. No headrest entertainment system. I think CP and ANA fly 777/787's and they have the headrest entertainment systems. However, they do loan out Ipads for the flight, loaded with typical long haul movies and tv shows. I would rate China Eastern Airlines over HKA if that helps rank their flights against other airlines. For the YVR to Eastern Asia route anyways.

I would bring a portable battery if you're going to use an Ipad or phone, they don't have USB outlets or even AC outlets.

Food was decent.

For the cheap price, I'd say it's worth it for me. I usually bring my own entertainment, sleep on the plane, watch TV/Movies and have plenty of battery life for the 10 hour trip.

Leg room seemed shorter than most, but maybe it was the perception of an old plane.

Can't really answer the OP's question cuz I've never flown Hong Kong Air before but I have flown AC to Hong Kong and I wouldn't recommend it. On the flight home, mine and my entire rows IFE did not work. They tried resetting it and still didn't work. Then we finally got tired of complaining. Made for a long flight home.

HK or not ... no one ever has much good to say about air canada wonder how it stays in business. Oh right subsidies?

For CX,
They will do sale once or twice a year.
Since you are talking about Sep 2018 (Low season)
I will sugguest you wait for Cathay Pacific on sale as low as $650
HK Airline price didn't change at $600-700 for most of last year
Don't expect they will increase unless High season.

My sister & family took HK Airline this past Christmas.
Her comment: Old Airplane, Hand out Tablet for entertainment. (Nothing special to complaint about)

Subsidies? Please explain.

If you pay more for better experience, go for Cathay.

For those who flew Cathay, why is their experience better?

If it is, I think my mom would rather pay the extra $250.

She's just trying to decide if it's worth that extra $250. If Hong Kong Air is really bad, then I think paying more is better, especially on such a long flight.

On AC, I got up every 2 hours to walk around because my legs and back were hurting... Cathay, I think I stayed in my seat the entire 15 hours except for 1 time to go to the washroom and I felt comfortable the whole way... customer service is excellent, you get a smile and they respond instantly to any requests... Cathay is HK's pride and joy, so everything is first for them at the airport as well, best docking area, best loading area, etc.

Also the food was absolutely phenomenal. Like serious restaurant quality... even in economy.

The only good thing I can ever say about Air Canada is sometimes it's cheaper and they have a good safety record.

Next time I go to HK even if Cathay is about $2-300 more... I will pay it.

Here's a HK Air Trip report YVR-HKG albeit in Business Class.

But you can see how the service was, and the cabin of the plane which seems to be less comfortable than AC/CX/etc.

So glad I picked CP!

Flew with Cathay last march and just flew with HKA last week. I was skeptical as well, but it was a $400 difference (600 for HKA vs ~1000 for CP) so I decided to try it.

Comfort:
- HKA flies with airbus A330, which I find quieter than Cathay's 777
- Seating is 2-4-2 on HKA vs 3-3-3 on CP, was flying with the gf, so it was nice having the row by the window to ourselves
- Didn't notice difference in seat comfort or leg room

IFE:
- CP has integrated headrest IFE system, HKA hands out iPads preloaded with movies. I usually bring my own tablet so makes no difference to me either way.
- CP has more selection of movies
- Headphone jack in the armrest on CP are loose a lot of times, so the sound can have lots of static
- HKA iPads don't show flight progress, CP does, and has those cool exterior cams

Meal & Service:
- same shitty food, I felt CP was better in the past, but seem to have gotten worse the last couple times I've flown with them
- service is fine on both, CP maybe just marginally better

Check-in/booking/rewards/misc:
- All the times I have flown CP were on time, my flight was HKA was also fine. When I checked flight aware and other flight tracking sites, both seems historically quite punctual.
- CP has better web platform for booking and checkin, HKA was slightly buggy, didn't text us the boarding pass like it was supposed to, but whatever, printed one at check in, got the job done
- almost no line up at baggage drop in YVR for both. No wait for CP in HKG, ~20minutes wait for HKA in HKG, CP have way more counters
- Asia miles for CP vs I don't remember what HKA has, really depends on what you already have. I had asia miles but for $400 difference I would rather save the cash up front.
- No issues with baggage on either one

Overall, I FEEL like CP is better because of their brand/reputation/perceived more polished experience. Objectively though, it's pretty much the same. Personally, I wouldn't pay any more than a $100 premium over HKA for CP.

Man.. When I was in HK, I booked a flight to Taiwan with HKAir.. the plane they used only had First and Economy.. so I got 2 seats right behind the first class at the front.. this was 3 weeks before the flight date. The day of the flight I go to the airport to get my tickets, found out they switched to a larger plane few days ago and didnt reassign the seat. The seat they had left was at the back..
I was so pissed off.. they didnt email me or call me or anything.. I will never travel with them again.. their lack of customer service skills totally did it..

Personally I’d ignore anyone single experience with any airline. Try and take note of people who fly weekly/monthly for the particular flight you are looking at. You’ll find the most “hate” for people who fly very little. Talking to someone who travels weekly will give you a much better idea over many experiences rather then the one time someone missed a connection and ruined their vacation.

Cathay offers a great product consistently. I have no experience with Air Hong Kong, but with ever changing fleets, Seating configurations and IFE systems can change from one day to the next pending which aircraft is available that day. Your not going to get a good idea from someone’s single experience.

unless difference is greater than $300...i would just go for Cathay
I had the option to fly HKA then connecting to Taipei for $500 r/t (but HKG fucked me last time security made me miss my flight so I'm blacklisting that airport for a while unless ridiculous deals)...opted to pay $300 more for direct flight with China Airline's new A350-900


AC is only decent if you don't need any service
for Vancouver-Asia routes I enjoy ANA the best

Personally I’ve never had a problem flying long haul with AC. Definitely better than BA’s offerings out of YVR (besides the A380)

HK Air=MK version of cathay

good thing is they have old style seats, none of the non recline bullshit that CX pulls off. Ipad for IFE which is good for choices and speed but shitty as you have to put it on table.

food service is fair.

It really comes down to your mom on what that $200 means to her. Would she be happier with extra $200 spending money or rather use it towards a good flight experience.

I flew Cathay twice last year and their customer service is definitely worth spending the extra bit. The only thing that ruined my trip was I had to sit beside a stupid ass chinese mainlander on one of my trip legs where she kept trying to talk to me and sticking her foot on her seat.

Cathay had some cheap flight deals around Black Friday. $650 YVR-HKG return. Haven't seen anything yet cheaper than that so far.

My coworker mom just flew with HKA and said cheap price, can't complain about anything else since it is cheap lol. So really it comes down to what your mom values the most when flying.