Update: A Cathay Pacific spokesperson has reached out to tell me that there are no plans for a Cathay Pacific lounge at Hong Kong Airport to join Priority Pass. That’s bizarre, since Priority Pass doesn’t usually add lounges to its app for no reason. I’m curious if there’s more to this story, and to see how this evolves. You can find the full original (unedited) blog post below.
If this isn’t a sign of the times, then I don’t know what is…
In this post:
Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” First Class Lounge joins Priority Pass
As of June 21, 2021, Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” First Class Lounge in Hong Kong will open to Priority Pass members. This is already reflected in the Priority Pass app, and should also be reflected on Priority Pass’ website soon.
The lounge is open daily from 5:30AM until the last Cathay Pacific departure of the day. It’s located in Terminal 1 — as soon as you pass through security and immigration, the lounge is on the same level on the left.
Priority Pass members will be able to bring two guests with them into the lounge, and it’s noted that lounge access may be restricted due to capacity constraints.
This development comes as Plaza Premium is cutting ties with Priority Pass, which means Priority Pass members will lose access to three Plaza Premium lounges in Hong Kong as of July 1, 2021.
While Cathay Pacific was previously unwilling to add its Hong Kong lounges to Priority Pass, clearly the lounge program and the airline were able to work out some sort of a deal, as part of Priority Pass’ goal of increasing the size of its lounge network by 20% in 2021.
The one catch about this lounge being added…
If Cathay Pacific were to add a lounge to Priority Pass, you might be wondering why a first class lounge would be added, rather than a business class lounge.
That comes down to Cathay Pacific’s current lounge situation in Hong Kong. While you might forget about the pandemic if you’re traveling through airports in the United States nowadays, that’s not the case in Hong Kong, due to a combination of entry and travel restrictions.
Hong Kong International Airport saw a total of 59,000 passengers in May 2021, which is fewer than 2,000 passengers per day. Since demand for flights is so low, Cathay Pacific only has a single lounge open, and that’s “The Wing” First Class Lounge.
So all Cathay Pacific customers eligible for lounge access — whether on account of a first class or business class ticket, or oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status — have access to this lounge. As you’d expect, service has also been scaled back considerably compared to what used to be offered.
One has to wonder how temporary this lounge addition will be. Obviously this works while passenger numbers are still extremely low, but will Cathay Pacific cut ties with Priority Pass as soon as passenger numbers start to recover?
Bottom line
Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” First Class Lounge will be joining Priority Pass as of June 21, 2021. This comes around the same time that three Plaza Premium lounges in Hong Kong are leaving the Priority Pass network.
While the prospect of a Cathay Pacific first class lounge joining Priority Pass might sound exciting (and it is), just manage your expectations, as it won’t offer the typical first class food & beverage offerings.
But still, this so perfectly sums up the times — there’s so little demand for travel in Hong Kong that Cathay Pacific is sending all customers to its first class lounge, and now Priority Pass members have access as well.
Will anyone be able to take advantage of this Priority Pass addition?
(Tip of the hat to Preeti)
This comes at no surprise.
Consider this is Asia. The quality of lounge in general is usually better, but also on Priority Pass is usually better. Sometimes an airport run lounge, a well run lounge compared to the US or Europe in most cases or even business or first for the prime airline.
However, the demand for Hong Kong remains low with the entry requirements, etc.
This made no sense. Cathay's first class lounges in Hong Kong are awesome and diluting their exclusivity would be a monumentally dumb business decision.
There are people who pay at least $10,000 for a first class ticket to New York or London. It's hard to imagine anyone paying full price but a round-trip to JFK prices out at $33,445.
Whether it's $10k or $33k, Cathay isn't going to open the lounge to folks on a $1,200 fare with a Priority Pass card.
@Andrew totally agree w you.
Evan, you sound like you're from the Communist Party in Beijing rather than an American citizen and HK resident given...
Now even Priority Pass or Cathay Pacific is scamming customers.
Bait and switch.
Lucky I'm still within 24 hours to cancel my trip through HKG.
If Swire can't get its act together soon, they will be bought up by a Chinese conglomerate.
You have serious issues of you route a trip through an airport just for the lounge experience.
It's a first world problem, something you seem to not understand.
And you probably never will understand because we're talking about Cathay with a C.
It's just like how its impossible to explain the concept of equality to people who spells Klan with a K.
Super happy this ISN’T joining Priority Pass. Some of us Emerald frequent flyers put some serious cash and airtime for the privilege of stopping by lounges such as this one, and I’m glad they won’t be diluting the experience to an easily-purchasable member group.
The city’s travel industry will never fully recover, but on the bright side, you should be able to enjoy luxury at a discount due to the anticipated supply/demand imbalance.
Cathay Pacific will be devastated, and by extension, One World will be hampered.
Hong Kong having the nicest Priority Pass lounge on the planet is only a preview of what’s to come.
I was just reading the Cathay Forum on Flyertalk. Cathay refutes the story and said that they are NOT partnering with Priority Pass.
The Wing 1st lounge has always been pretty hum-ho. Sound pretty dire now. The Pier F lounge is the best, but no word when/ if it will re-open.
I agree, times are extremely tough at CX., however I didn’t ever imagine they would allow this but every dollar counts. Whenever the loads start to come back to some sort of normality the PP will be dropped like a hot potato so enjoy while you can
@Eric: not to play down the significance of the government's political crackdown, but CX's survival will depend much more on the HK government easing its insanely strict quarantine requirements, and HK residents showing more willingness to get vaccinated. Unfortunately for those of us living in Hong Kong, neither seems very promising at this point. And so we remain trapped, and CX remains grounded.
My thoughts would be that this will either be short term for extra $ for CX (somewhat sensible, maybe), or the standard will drop through the floor in the long term.
CX has more than sufficient liquidity to ride out the current crisis. It has strong shareholders to support its future and that if HK’s aviation hub status. Every little bit of income is welcome news in this environment.
Ugh…. I’ve got CX F in November. I hope I don’t have to share with the hoards of PP then.
No question "the Wing" is the best lounge in Hong Kong. They probably have stopped the Krug in the champagne bar area but that's a no brainer during covid.
As soon as travel reaches at least low-normal they will probably just allow PP into the regular Business Lounges which are almost as good if not, in some ways, better.
For a lot of the commenters, the lounge is more about being "exclusive" - i.e. excluding others that make it attractive to them. As soon as it is accessible, the feeling of being special and privileged is done.
Priority Pass has yet their own lounge to be opened in the airport itself. However it has being postponed for so many months. As the same catering company will take care of this, seems like a short deal as the lounge opening has been postponed again.
Meanwhile the question will be how long you can enjoy they lounge with long layover.., 3hrs only or unlimited..
@eric
How can civil person beat people for being Chinese? Have you even read apple daily? It’s a trash tabloid. So glad i moved to Singapore. No free press better airport better airlines better education better pay better housing better everything. HK is much better joining CPC sooner than later. PAP and CPC FTW. Let’s see how many people will call me a troll. Lol you like free speech but can’t accept my free...
@eric
How can civil person beat people for being Chinese? Have you even read apple daily? It’s a trash tabloid. So glad i moved to Singapore. No free press better airport better airlines better education better pay better housing better everything. HK is much better joining CPC sooner than later. PAP and CPC FTW. Let’s see how many people will call me a troll. Lol you like free speech but can’t accept my free speech and support for authoritarian figure like lee kuan yew or deng or even xi. Typical.
I am a frequent flyers on Cathay Pacific via HKG the connection hub, The "Wings" first class lounge is probably the best lounge in Asia. I am somewhat disappointed by the news that this exclusive Wings first class lounge will be joining Priority Pass, and Priority Pass members can bring TWO other passengers... that will definitely create a crowded lounge just like the Premium Plaza lounge at HKG. If I were a priority pass member,...
I am a frequent flyers on Cathay Pacific via HKG the connection hub, The "Wings" first class lounge is probably the best lounge in Asia. I am somewhat disappointed by the news that this exclusive Wings first class lounge will be joining Priority Pass, and Priority Pass members can bring TWO other passengers... that will definitely create a crowded lounge just like the Premium Plaza lounge at HKG. If I were a priority pass member, I will definitely go to this exclusive Wings 1st class lounge... it is a no-brainer.
However, talking to someone working in Cathay Pacific, he told me this is only a temporary arrangement. As HKG has so few passengers right now, and the lounge had already granted access to most Cathay and Oneworld passengers; it doesn't hurt further to grant Priority Pass members access now, so as to have more revenue. But rest assured that once the pandemic is near its end and passengers close to normal at HKG, this first class lounge will retain its exclusivity and won't be allowing Priority Pass members access.... So enjoy the lounge access as much as you could for the time being. By year end, things will change....for sure.
"So enjoy the lounge access as much as you could for the time being. By year end, things will change....for sure."
I'm not even sure Hong Kong will even open their borders by then.
I've been to HKG's Plaza Premium many times in the past and visited Cathay's First Class lounge "The Wing" only two weeks ago. The latter was so much better! "The Wing" even had a restaurant-style dining area serving a fixed menu of 3 courses. I hope it will stay with Priority Pass post-pandemic but seriously doubt it. For one thing, it is hard to imagine that the restaurant area of "The Wing" will be able...
I've been to HKG's Plaza Premium many times in the past and visited Cathay's First Class lounge "The Wing" only two weeks ago. The latter was so much better! "The Wing" even had a restaurant-style dining area serving a fixed menu of 3 courses. I hope it will stay with Priority Pass post-pandemic but seriously doubt it. For one thing, it is hard to imagine that the restaurant area of "The Wing" will be able to handle a sudden increase in passenger traffic, let alone the fact that the compensation it receives from Priority Pass probably only covers a fraction of the cost it incurs to provide a full meal to the guests.
I guarantee you the availability of this lounge to PP will only be temporary. This is only happening now because of the dire financial state that CX is in. They are going after any and all possible sources of income to keep their airline afloat. I really hope they will survive. They are one of my favorite airlines. I want them to survive.
I feel CX just raised a middle finger to my long-term loyalty. Only the top Diamond members can bring 2 guests; even Silver and Gold can't, but now PP holders get to bring 2! I certainly understand CX needs an extra revenue source these days, but I don’t see how this policy, especially the guesting part, is justified, and I hope this will be a very temporary policy.
I hear where you're coming from. Still, I think most HK-based businesses are in survival mode right now. They can definitely use the incremental revenue.
Not that I have plans to go to HK anytime soon, but that's one hell of an upgrade from Plaza Premium, if it sticks beyond the scaled-back operations. But HK has more problems than just travel restrictions. It seems that the virus exploding out of Wuhan was perfect timing to distract the world from the fact that the HK administration has been cracking down on their citizens and denying them of basic freedoms.
Given events such as the Hong Kong police cracking down on the free media (see their invasion of the Apple Daily and resulting mass arrests), China's destruction of Hong Kong's formerly vibrant civil society will greatly diminish the importance and draw of the city even following COVID. I feel terrible for the citizens.
Im a HK citizen and I'm glad for the national security law tbh. Our city was basically shut down a few days every week during the riots. Now things are back to normal business except well, Covid. The main change the security law has done is bring everyone closer to mainland China business wise. For those of us working with mainland, we are getting more opportunities. For those of us mainly working with US and...
Im a HK citizen and I'm glad for the national security law tbh. Our city was basically shut down a few days every week during the riots. Now things are back to normal business except well, Covid. The main change the security law has done is bring everyone closer to mainland China business wise. For those of us working with mainland, we are getting more opportunities. For those of us mainly working with US and Europe, I agree business is decreasing (but not to the point of being eliminated)
Yes safer, but at what price. You obviously parting with commies.
I concur!
Looking at the US cracking down on the Jan 6 democratic protest and leading to so many arrests, we all know how democracy ends.
Glad you're earning your 50cents! That's why Taiwan is a free country and not part of China. We know what will happen when China attempts to invade and take over another country like Taiwan
As a HK residence American citizen, I feel muchhh safer under the law. Granted I was scared to go to the streets because of violent protestors. HK was one of those places that had no national law in place and I believe that it is faulty in the first place. HK was lost and given to Brits during war and now it is finally coming back to its mother country.
Thank you. What is your Chinese name, and how much do you get paid to work as a social media bot?
Do you ever speak Cantonese my friend lol
...DEFINITELY a sign of the times! HK is/was one of my favorite cities before the newsworthy challenges we've seen over the past few years. In fact, I planned to book a CX F award ticket as soon as their border opened. I want to experience HK/HKG without the tourists and see if/how it has changed. Hopefully this is (extremely) temporary or they reopen The Pier so I can experience OMAATs #4 best first class lounge....
...DEFINITELY a sign of the times! HK is/was one of my favorite cities before the newsworthy challenges we've seen over the past few years. In fact, I planned to book a CX F award ticket as soon as their border opened. I want to experience HK/HKG without the tourists and see if/how it has changed. Hopefully this is (extremely) temporary or they reopen The Pier so I can experience OMAATs #4 best first class lounge. If not, The Wing is gonna look and feel like The Club (ATL). Ouch!