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Just got a notification from one of my travel agencies that a return Biz class fare is available for booking. Presumably the cheaper cabin service.
Base fare: HK$16,600 return plus taxes
Travel dates: from 7 March 12 to 31 March 2013
Min stay: Sunday rule applies
Date change fee: HK$1,300
Must be booked 28 days prior to travel
It may be of interest to some travellers as it is Gatwick arrival.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=16600&From=HKD&To=GBP
Just under £1,400 at the moment. Not a bad deal. I presume this is the new HK Airlines club service.
http://www.hongkongairlines.com/club
I am assuming that the £1400 price is return, and BA's is one way?
I assume that the club classic is not a lay flat, more of a Z config.
A lost of assumptions, 1, because i cannot be bothered to go trawling the sites and 2, because I cannot find pictures of thier seats anywhere.
No, £981 rtn in WT+ and includes tax (often the improved "new" WT+ in this route):
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/new-world-traveller-plus/public/en_gb
HK Airlines is £1400 but excludes tax (about £250 at a guess) for a non flat-bed business seat.
I think Hong Kong Airlines would be worth trying, but until we know what seats they are actually planning on using (with pictures) I'd be reluctant to part with any cash at this early stage.
the WT price looks attractive...but the seats are not for such a long haul. I will stick with QR until I see the HK seats!
I think this was missed as it came out during Christmas.
The HKA office in Hanoi have put their corporate presentation out on the web and it has a lot more info than you can get from the HKA website.
This is a link to the Powerpoint and it looks pretty good.
http://hanhx.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ac-agency-corporate-product-presentation-london.pptx
What an interesting presentation>
I've never travelled in premium economy so it's subjective but I think the Club Classic looks rather better than any premium Y product that I've ever seen
Only one of the 2 BA rotations to HKG features New World Traveller + because it is operated by a 777 300.
The seats on Business Classic look like the old BA Club World Cradle Seats.
A quick look at the new WT+ cabin recently on a 777 300 flight would suggest the Hong Kong Airlines product to be superior.
I was just booking some HKG and CAN flights so had a look. the upper class is nice and on a par with BA prices, despite the tier points issue I woudl give it a go at that.
but, the back of the bird prices are level with what I pay QR, and as QR is flat..or as good as then i would end up staying with them despite the extra stop.
now, if they undercut QR by a coupe of hundred notes then the Wifi on board would swing it for me to give it a try!
VK, with respect, I think HK airlines club classic looks nothing like BA WT+. Not sure when you last travelled on WT+ but 51 inch is very different to what BA currently have (34% more to be precise). Im a regular traveller on the supposed 'new seat embodied routes' and have yet to find it. In fact, on checking in to Dubai recently, the check in agent swore blind the new seats dont even exist, as had never heard of them. The entertainment is virtually un-watchable the screens are so small / poor condition.
The HK product looks great and I wish them luck.
I enjoy your posts and you are clearly very knowledgeable, but to say this new planned product is akin to BA WT+ is ludicrous.
The aircraft which serve Dubai are the GE90 777s with the tiny unwatcheable screens in economy - these are currently being revamped, the CSD on my recent flight told me he had flown one on a Middle East route only last week, so the refurbished interiors are beginning to come online, and should be done by mid 2012...
HKG often has one of the four 777-300ER which has the new WT+ cabin; another two aircraft go into service very soon indeed. DXB never gets the -300ER.
I recognise that HKG Airlines looks like a nice Business Classic product; but they are untested, no air miles to be earned as far as I'm aware, and are planning on charging £1400 plus tax (assume about £250) return, and to Gatwick as well.
So for £1650 you get Club Classic, but for £981 - an almost 40% saving - you get a choice of daily flights, all the support of a oneworld carrier (lounges, interlining, miles and an LHR destination point) so it's worth assessing the value of each product. I think new WT+ is 40 inches, so the difference to HKG's 51 inches isn't that great.
Don't quote me out of context and suggest I'm saying that WT+ is better than Club Classic - it doesn't look like it is. But I'm also not certain it's worth the more than 50% premium price over WT+.
HKG Airlines will have to introduce keener prices if they are to win market share on this route.
These £1400 fares (plus £250 tax) are for Business Classic, which is akin to a Premium Economy product, with old-style cradle seats. For comparison BA can fly you to Heathrow for £981 (round trip) in a similar seat.
Club Premier will feature luxury suites in a 1-2-1 configuration which convert from a superbly comfortable seat to a fully flat 6'1" bed.
Club Classic will feature extra wide and supportive cradle recliner seats in a very spacious 2-2-2 configuration, with a spacious 51 inch seat pitch.
The fare difference is not "a small surcharge over WT". It's £981 vs. £1650 - more than 50% more. Might be worth it for some people, but it's not yet a compelling proposition.
I think competition is great, but more at the £1200 price point for Bus Classic old-style seat, and maybe £2000 for the Bus Premium flat bed offering.
HKG Airlines will have to introduce keener prices if they are to win market share on this route.
I agree with VK on that point, to pry pax from other carriers they wre going to have to be keener on price, even in the short term to get people trying them out
VK. Lounges dont typically interest a traveller in WT+.
Interesting but on BA's website they quote Dubai as an embodied route yet I travel this route almost every week and have yet to see it. I have flown on the only triple seven on this route about 20 times!
see:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/new-world-traveller-plus/public/en_gb
Again, I think comparing BA WT+ with this new product (I didn’t misquote you as you said they are similar) is incorrect. I agree its yet to be tested, but it looks very good (onboard bar anyone??!!).
Im sure fares will find a level but faced with a small surcharge for HK airlines over BA WT+, I don’t see there is a choice.
BA need to wake up and smell the coffee. As Ive posted before, I fear for both of the British Carriers, in light of younger, hungrier, cheaper, fresher competition such as this.
BA can buy some people off Prems, but their bread and butter travellers will vote with their feet if they don’t improve their product and quick.
There is NO lounge access with WT+
I know HKG airlines fly from LGW but if BA did the BA lounge at LGW is pretty basic - no hot food just cold cuts and gelatinous soup - I have used the Number One lounge on a couple of occasions before facing the dreaded afternoon tea when flying on CE !
Travellator. Yes I know there is no lounge access with wt+. I was being ironic.
Number one lounge has great reviews - havent been myself.
Agree with VK on the pricing points, as if they want to gain a foothold in the lucrative LON – HKG route they may need to slightly undercut the incumbents initially to gain market share from London based travellers. The pricing points, however, may be more based on attracting Hong Kong / Nearby APAC based premium travellers, where premium cabins return fares originating there tend to be higher than those originating in London.
BA have finally upped their game with offering ‘guaranteed’ New First on the route, and also introducing a 3rd daily flight (albeit replacing the Qantas flight, no doubt). The flight departure time squares them up nicely against Cathay.
You can't beat a classic British product, like BA's World Traveller, with a massive 79cm seat pitch.
Put up against this dodgy eastern copycat seat with only 51 inches of room and any idiot can see why British is best.
Triumph, Rover, Morris, Austin giants of brands compared to eastern knock offs like Toyota and Honda.
Superchris
Now you realise that VK is actually a keyboard FF not a real traveller, because if he was a real traveller he would not be on here 24/7 obviously defending a crap airline with overpriced crap products.
VK. Lounges dont typically interest a traveller in WT+.
Interesting but on BA's website they quote Dubai as an embodied route yet I travel this route almost every week and have yet to see it. I have flown on the only triple seven on this route about 20 times!
see:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/new-world-traveller-plus/public/en_gb
Again, I think comparing BA WT+ with this new product (I didn’t misquote you as you said they are similar) is incorrect. I agree its yet to be tested, but it looks very good (onboard bar anyone??!!).
Im sure fares will find a level but faced with a small surcharge for HK airlines over BA WT+, I don’t see there is a choice.
Superchris - now you realise that VK is actually a keyboard traveller, if he travelled as much as he claims then he would not be on here 24/7 trowelling the forums for information to answer every question that pops up and defending a crappy service from BA against airlines that run circles around them.
BA need to wake up and smell the coffee. As Ive posted before, I fear for both of the British Carriers, in light of younger, hungrier, cheaper, fresher competition such as this.
BA can buy some people off Prems, but their bread and butter travellers will vote with their feet if they don’t improve their product and quick.
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