Cathay Status / Lounge Access

[ByeByeEngland]

Couldn’t find the most suitable place for this but after years of being at least Gold my New Years present from Cathay was a downgrade and I’m flying back today. Admittedly I don’t do so much business travel any more but the prospect of queuing with the serfs and no lounge access is a bitch. First world problem I know. If I’d realised it was expiring I’d probably have found some way of retaining it (e.g booked business return for this trip back).

[becomjapanHK]

Get an AMEX platinum or centurion then you can access better lounges anyway.

Dont ever, queue, just get on last and stay in lounge longer.

Win, win!

[shri]

The platinum is expensive now if you just want it for lounge access. Looks like there will be a lot of cancellations.

Easier and cheaper to get a priority pass. Most of the Amex locations in Asia are priority pass anyways ..

HK Amex lounge is manky .. chase is better.

[flyingmmike]

Is the platinum lounge even nice? Never been.

I do like the Cathay lounges at HKIA, I’m not usually impressed with any other lounges (when traveling elsewhere). I did not like the Singapore lounge at HKIA either.

[Beanieskis]

Couldn’t find the most suitable place for this but after years of being at least Gold my New Years present from Cathay was a downgrade and I’m flying back today. Admittedly I don’t do so much business travel any more but the prospect of queuing with the serfs and no lounge access is a bitch. First world problem I know. If I’d realised it was expiring I’d probably have found some way of retaining it (e.g booked business return for this trip back).

What did you get downgraded to? Silver includes lounge access for yourself (no guest which you get with gold).

[SonicYouth1]

Is the platinum lounge even nice? Never been.

I do like the Cathay lounges at HKIA, I’m not usually impressed with any other lounges (when traveling elsewhere). I did not like the Singapore lounge at HKIA either.

Because Cathay is obviously based in HK therefore the flagship lounge is always gonna be excellent. Same thing with Emirates at dubai, Thai Airways in Bkk. There are some exceptions, Heathrow with BA being the 1st that comes to mind

[alexdown]

Because Cathay is obviously based in HK therefore the flagship lounge is always gonna be excellent. Same thing with Emirates at dubai, Thai Airways in Bkk. There are some exceptions, Heathrow with BA being the 1st that comes to mind

Not necessarily... CX lounges in Singapore and Taipei are awesome.
SQ lounges in Changi (regardless if it's T3 or T2) are very very bad.

[ByeByeEngland]

What did you get downgraded to? Silver includes lounge access for yourself (no guest which you get with gold).

Downgraded Gold to Green. Can’t say a downgrade wasn’t expected but any emails on it must have gone to junk. Perversely I don’t miss the business travel, been there done that many times over. Great when you go somewhere for the first time but Singapore gets tiresome after 2/3 of those a year. I will miss Haneda though. Loved everything about it and would usually monorail it unless I was travelling with a superior (rare). All in all 6 or more trips a year down to one if I’m lucky. The pros of this definitely outweigh the cons but if I’d known I’d have flown back NYE just for one last G&T blast!!!

[Beanieskis]

Downgraded Gold to Green. Can’t say a downgrade wasn’t expected but any emails on it must have gone to junk. Perversely I don’t miss the business travel, been there done that many times over. Great when you go somewhere for the first time but Singapore gets tiresome after 2/3 of those a year. I will miss Haneda though. Loved everything about it and would usually monorail it unless I was travelling with a superior (rare). All in all 6 or more trips a year down to one if I’m lucky. The pros of this definitely outweigh the cons but if I’d known I’d have flown back NYE just for one last G&T blast!!!

Bad luck! Didn't know they downgraded two tiers at once!

[shri]

So, to get basic lounge access the two low cost options that I have used are...

- Amex Explorer (min spend)
- HSBC Everymile

Both have Plaza Premium access as far as I know, which is ok to grab a coffee and a snack before your flight. Check their lounge access if its super important. Plaza Premium is OK around Asia.

Priority Pass gives you access to most if not all Plaza Premium and their own lounges / network.