£260 Flights to Hong Kong

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point3 wrote:

Hi,

Has anyone here flown with Oasis yet? Any feedback - good or bad?

We're already booked with Cathay, but would like to know for future reference. Also, has anyone who is resident in the UK successfully booked on the HK site rather than the UK one? Given the current rate of exchange, it seems even cheaper to book through the Hong Kong site!

:beer:

There are a couple of reviews kicking around on flyertalk. Also try airlinequality, few reviews there as well.

lswwong

A German colleague of mine flew with Oasis on around 21/22 November:

" had a great time in HK and Oasis is just like any other airline. If anything, the staff is much friendlier than on BA/Lufthansa. If you use them, make sure you reserve your seats early online after the booking and that way you are guaranteed an emergency row seat."

Hope this personal feedback helps.

lswwong

Hi!

An update - I am in HK now having just flown in with Oasis.

1. No queues at check-in at Gatwick - was able to check in immediately.

2. Beware of long, long queues for security checks before entering controlled area!!! Took me just over half an hour to get through. It was a bit chaotic but there was a team of staff on hand to help passengers move along.

3. Flight was ready to board 40 mins before scheduled departure. (Though a long walk to the gate (no. 34) - perhaps less preferable for some people.)

4. Passengers kept well informed while waiting to board.

5. Friendly, efficient staff.

6. Aircraft was ready and started to push back 20 mins before scheduled departure.

7. Aircraft was in position on the runway by scheduled departure time!

8. Aircraft was in the air 5 mins after scheduled departure.

9. Friendly cabin crew - though they really could do with brushing up their spoken English - it was a bit hard to understand what they were saying at times. Not a major problem as they were nice and were trying.

10. Economy seats were fine and didn't feel cramped. (You should see the amount of leg room available in business class - massive!) Though the blankets were thin and the pillows too. I saw that business class had slippers supplied. Bring your own pillows (inflatable or otherwise) if that might help you. I had a fleecy jacket on to keep my upper body warm and used the blanket for keeping my legs warm.

11. Cabins were clean and uncluttered, although the fixtures were not new (as aircraft is ex-SQ). No inflight magazines or other "frills" like free toiletries bags. Probably a good idea in tems of keeping the cabins tidy! No duty free either.

12. Two hot meals served - one dinner and one breakfast. Both were small and of just so so quality but edible. They suited me fine as I would rather pay Oasis' low fares than paying more for better food which I don't really need. Cabin crew came round often offering cups of water. You could also buy additional snacks on board - around the 1 pound mark or HKD $15. No pressue from crew to buy these additional snacks.

13. Entertainment okay. Own back seat LCD screen and a number of films to choose from - not on demand but while they are played and replayed. Not all recent films either but that doesn't bother me - gives me a chance to catch up with what I missed last year and the year before (!).

14. Flight time to HK was an exceptionally 10hrs 15mins (normally closer to 12hrs) and we arrived 1 hour earlier than scheduled!

15. A lady Oasis ground representative greeted the flight holding a card telling passengers the number of the baggage reclaim belt to go to.

As can be gathered from the above, I feel positive about Oasis. I like their basic service product which is to fly people between London and HK at a no-frills, good value price. That's all I need and want to pay for, really.

I discovered that it costs extra to book emergency exit row seats - 60 pounds each way if flying return. I booked an aisle seat one row behind the emergency exit row and it costed 15 pounds each way i.e. an extra 30 pounds added to my basic ticket price of 303 pounds.

cundall

Thanks for the info as i am flying with them in Oct and its looking like the flight will not be as bad as what i thought.

lswwong

Hi!

Now back in the UK. Here goes some thoughts on my return journey:

1. Flight was scheduled to leave at 00:50 (i.e. after midnight).

2. Do use in-town check-in facilities at Hong Kong or Kowloon Airport Express stations if you can. I checked in on the Kowloon side and got straight on to an Airport Express train afterwards and was at the airport within 20 mins. Unless you are really wanting to money save, the CityFlyer airport bus services (service numbers starting with an "A" - air conditioned special double decker buses/coaches - red and yellow on the outside) is a fraction of the price of the express train and is very well run indeed. Takes about an hour from downtown. By taking the bus you won't be able to use in-town check-in because that service is exclusive to airport express passengers.

3. If you are going to check-in at the airport, make sure you go to Terminal 2 where the Oasis counters are. I had a look when I got there and the queues were a bit long - it was a full flight. Anyway, I also checked in online and had a seat reserved so no problems there.

4. Lots of shops, good ones too, in the Terminal 2 check-in area! Spotted a handbag brand called "Louis XIV" which, I guess, is a local brand trying to emulate Loewe (similar looking logos). Really good (classic) designs! Could not check prices as it was late in the evening and most of the shops were closed apart from a few that were prepared to stay open to catch the late travelling crowd. No problem with spending one's last bits of HKD: small items of food/non-food souvenirs, magazines, touristy tit-bits.

5. HK now operates the "no liquids in hand baggage" policy - same provisions as in the UK. That also means you can't take drinks into the controlled area.

6. My flight was delayed for an hour ....... ground congestion, apparently. There was also a CX flight bound for Frankfurt that was parked/literally grounded at the gate that my Oasis flight was due to use - mechanical problems with the CX flight, apparently. Luckily the gate right next to it was becoming free so my Oasis flight had to change to that gate but passengers didn't need to go far as a result.

5. Passengers waited longer than was ideal for information about the delay. On our boarding passes, the stated boarding time was 00:10 but no announcement was made until nearly 00:30. Oh well, no better and no worse than other airlines, really. Calm atmosphere. Again, felt the Oasis staff could improve their spoken English a bit - it was quite hard to understand. They were using the right words (just) but pronounciation was a bit out. However, to be fair, overhearing the CX announcements from the delayed Frankfurt flight at the next gate, CX people were heaps worse!!! (No German version made either though both Cantonese and Mandarin were made.)

6. Well organised boarding once commenced. Wheelchair passengers and families with young children got on first. Business class passengers could board after that at any time.

7. Flight took off about 1hr 20 mins later than scheduled. Oh well. As said earlier, no better, no worse than other airlines, really.

8. Exceptionally, someone was taken ill about 2.5hrs into the flight. Suspected heart attack, I think. The staff coped very well indeed. The unwell passenger was laid down in an area where there was more floor space. Lots of pillows and blankets were fetched, and a brief annoucement was made calling for any doctors travelling on board to assist. The staff were on hand to assist and made sure everything that could be done, was done. An Aussie doc came forward to assist. No panic, very focused and managed. In the end, the passenger was fine and the flight continued as planned to London.

9. Arrived in London after a 13hrs flight (took longer because we flew east to west/head winds). Arrival time was just over 1 hour later than scheduled.

10. I overheard someone saying, after the flight, that the loos on the plane were in quite a state towards the end of the flight. (I only used it once earlier on during the flight). Perhaps that could be a point to note in future.

Overall, I think I had very good value from Oasis. Will defo fly them again.