Flights to Hong Kong

SW17

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Cathay Pacific was flying from Manchester if I remember.

Just looked at BA and the flights were LHR. The Virgin flights said not available.

I would agree with the advice you've had from NiftyDigits. If you want to fly direct from a northern airport, Cathay Pacific from Manchester is the only show in town.

Depending how north of London you are, it is worth considering indirect flights vs travelling to London to fly direct from there. You an currently get flights from Manchester with 1 stop for around £490-510 on various airlines (e.g. SAS, Lufthansa). You could get it down to around £350 flying Air China from London via Beijing.

Because of your dates, I wouldn't expect prices to come down too much for the return flight in particular (the day after the HK Sevens), though you might get lucky in a sale.

BTW, Virgin are showing availability for LHR-HKG-LHR, out 4/4, back departing 11/04, around £670 in economy.

ladymarmalade222

Thanks everyone

It is the Hong Kong Sevens which he will be travelling for, a surprise for his birthday!

I think I will just book the Cathay Pacific direct flight, he does not fly well, usually with meds from the GP:D so I will not subject him to various stops or he might have a breakdown:rotfl:

Can I also ask, Skyscanner is showing the flight cheaper through companies I have not heard of eg Travel Trolley, Fly Sharp. Cathay Pacific is £35 more. Does is make any difference who I book it with if they are ABTA etc?

Thanks again

xx

Caz3121

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Can I also ask, Skyscanner is showing the flight cheaper through companies I have not heard of eg Travel Trolley, Fly Sharp. Cathay Pacific is £35 more. Does is make any difference who I book it with if they are ABTA etc?
x

check out the reviews and you will be happy to pay the £35 to book direct with the airline (chances are these 3rd party sites do not have live pricing so you could end up paying more than booking direct)

jpsartre

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Can I also ask, Skyscanner is showing the flight cheaper through companies I have not heard of eg Travel Trolley, Fly Sharp. Cathay Pacific is £35 more. Does is make any difference who I book it with if they are ABTA etc?

Yes it makes a difference. Book direct from the airline.

SW17

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Can I also ask, Skyscanner is showing the flight cheaper through companies I have not heard of eg Travel Trolley, Fly Sharp. Cathay Pacific is £35 more. Does is make any difference who I book it with if they are ABTA etc?

Well, most of the advice you will get on here is always book direct with the airline. I don't necessarily subscribe to that in every case, but for this (a straight return ticket), I would book direct even for £35 more. It's easier for such a booking to deal direct with the airline if anything goes wrong, and ABTA etc offers no worthwhile protection in your case.

I'm not casting any aspersions on the companies you mention, and you may get the lower price, but as Caz3121 says, not all pricing on Skyscanner is live, and you will only know when you get to the end of the booking process what you will pay (sometimes even after that, though tends to happen more with flight+hotel bookings).

One other thing. The HKG-MAN return flight departs at 01:00am, so if you book it for 11 April, you are leaving for the airport the evening of 10 April, just after the Sevens finishes. That might be a bit rushed, so if you have time, consider booking it for 12/04 return, which will get you back to Manchester at 07:00 on Tue 12/04 (assuming no schedule changes). It's also looking slightly cheaper for that date at the moment.

ladymarmalade222

SW17 wrote: »

Well, most of the advice you will get on here is always book direct with the airline. I don't necessarily subscribe to that in every case, but for this (a straight return ticket), I would book direct even for £35 more. It's easier for such a booking to deal direct with the airline if anything goes wrong, and ABTA etc offers no worthwhile protection in your case.

I'm not casting any aspersions on the companies you mention, and you may get the lower price, but as Caz3121 says, not all pricing on Skyscanner is live, and you will only know when you get to the end of the booking process what you will pay (sometimes even after that, though tends to happen more with flight+hotel bookings).

One other thing. The HKG-MAN return flight departs at 01:00am, so if you book it for 11 April, you are leaving for the airport the evening of 10 April, just after the Sevens finishes. That might be a bit rushed, so if you have time, consider booking it for 12/04 return, which will get you back to Manchester at 07:00 on Tue 12/04 (assuming no schedule changes). It's also looking slightly cheaper for that date at the moment.

I did wonder about the 01.00 flight. His friend who lives in Australia suggested the flight as he is getting his flight just before and it saves another night accommodation on his own as the others are all flying from other countries.

I know nothing about Rugby, or sport in general:D can anybody tell me is it a day event or evening and roughly what time does it end. I am just working out how rushed it will be and should I be concerned.

Thanks everyone once again.

Xx

Cisco001

Where do u live?
It will be much easier and cheaper to get indirect flight.

I hate busy LHR

SW17

Cisco001 wrote: »

Where do u live?
It will be much easier and cheaper to get indirect flight.

I hate busy LHR

That won't be a problem, the OP is booking a direct flight from Manchester

SW17

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

I did wonder about the 01.00 flight. His friend who lives in Australia suggested the flight as he is getting his flight just before and it saves another night accommodation on his own as the others are all flying from other countries.

I know nothing about Rugby, or sport in general:D can anybody tell me is it a day event or evening and roughly what time does it end. I am just working out how rushed it will be and should I be concerned.

Well, it's a 3 day event which starts on Friday and runs through to Sunday evening. I guess he may not attend all of it, but if your OH is staying to the end for the final, it would finish about 7.30pm on Sunday 10th (schedule isn't out, that's based on previous years' timings). So, plenty of time to get to the airport, though if he is a drinker, one has to take inebriation levels into account (a few drinks tend to be consumed at the Sevens...)

The stadium is in Causeway Bay, about 40-45 mins drive to airport without heavy traffic, so allow a bit longer, or more if he has to go and pick up luggage from somewhere.

ladymarmalade222

SW17 wrote: »

Well, it's a 3 day event which starts on Friday and runs through to Sunday evening. I guess he may not attend all of it, but if your OH is staying to the end for the final, it would finish about 7.30pm on Sunday 10th (schedule isn't out, that's based on previous years' timings). So, plenty of time to get to the airport, though if he is a drinker, one has to take inebriation levels into account (a few drinks tend to be consumed at the Sevens...)

The stadium is in Causeway Bay, about 40-45 mins drive to airport without heavy traffic, so allow a bit longer, or more if he has to go and pick up luggage from somewhere.

Thats great, thanks very much for the detailed info:T

He is not a big drinker so it looks like he should be ok to head to the airport on the Sunday evening with the others.

Thanks very much for all your help, I will book the flights now.

xx