Review of HK Express flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo in Economy

HKE

UO - HK Express

Flight taken on 21 January 2015
UO622
19:10 03h 45m 23:55
Model Airbus A320
Class Economy
Seat
directorphilip2
3,898 · 90 · 7 · 0

This is the Return flight which was not as good once on board.
VIDEO Trip Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=Ot6GrSk-_hA&feature=youtu.be
F1 Bus Drivers when they're not at the grand prix they're displacing luggage and moving people into the other seat when taking corners


photo S3270007photo S3270012

The Check-in Staff have definitely been chosen for their politeness compared to my other flight with a feline low cost airline, they are a different source of staff (different agency) and every one of them seemed pleasant.
I was able to check in at 11am for my 7pm flight.


photo S3270038photo S3270039photo S3270040

Confusion with the check in signs though as it says Priority and Sweet Seats. I assumed it meant that it was the queue for people who booked sweet seats so i went there but it was only to buy the seats.


photo S3270041

I queued up for about 10 minutes and then the check in guy said do i have an itinery for my flight out of japan.
no i dont
I used my laptop but i asked him what if i didnt have this? I'm guessing it means you miss your flight and then i asked well how do i exit hong kong ever? Then it becomes an immigration issue. So much crazyness, I departed Japan for Hong Kong, I'd expect it to be possible to use my return portion and let japan worry about me seeing as i had a visitor visa already or they should put it on their website that i need proof of leaving japan.



AS I was filming a lot i didnt have much to drink, a coke and a hot chocolate and a free mango drink for filling in an airport questionaire.
I decided to eat at the taiwan beef noodle, big mistake, i asked only for rice and they add on a tea. They didnt speak english a lot when i tried to explain that i didnt order the tea. Some were just miserable as anything. I googled the restaurant and found that someone else had the same problem.
We got on the plane via a bus and steps.



The cabin crew were friendly although the new interior is not good for me, i am 5 foot 6 and my knees touch the front seat unless i push my rear upto the back of the seat, it's uncomfortable (im guessing this is the new A320 that crams more people in) And to top it off, they had the heating on extremely high that my head was sweating, I'm sure they probably do this to get some drinks out of you.
I asked if they could turn it down and they said they've already asked, i asked for some free water but they don't have it. If they are going to make us so hot that we're dripping water i think they should have some water available. I felt like cattle on this flight. The previous flight 2 weeks ago with them was fine on the 6am flight with the old interior.
I tried putting my chair back (before i noticed how little space there was, i felt this knee in my back pushing me) I thought he was kicking the chair but no it's because there's absolutely no room to have your legs there with the chair back in some positions.
I mean for £68 return I think i shouldn't really complain but there's a tipping point to where you would prefer to pay more.
They also told the japanese guys that they need to throw away their drinks that they brought on board and that she will help them do it. They pretended to not speak english (just like they did to me until i said dont speak english that's waht they all say when they dont want to talk He then was friendly with me and spoke english lol, i did prewarn him about the drinks but that was as an icebreaker to get him talking english to me)
Ran for the Immigration as we arrived at the gate around 11:45, I missed two sections for my passport number which i had to fill out and i was baggage searched in customs but with all that I was out at the monorail by 11:55, 10 minutes or 15 at most if the japanese guys watch was a bit fast but we landed at 11:35 anyway.



Tokyo train seems to only be quiet in the afternoon when i normally travel its not as busy as this

Display all

Product ratings

Airline

HK Express 5.5

  • Cabin3.0 / 10
  • Cabin crew9.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi5.0 / 10
  • Buy-on-board menu5.0 / 10
Departure airport

Hong Kong - HKG7.8

  • Efficiency9.0 / 10
  • Access9.0 / 10
  • Services5.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness8.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

Tokyo - HND10.0

  • Efficiency10.0 / 10
  • Access10.0 / 10
  • Services10.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness10.0 / 10

Conclusion

List of Problems:
People Smoking in some of the single toilets
Electric Shock from the trolley if i touch the metal part (they have a plastic part as the handle)
Extreme Heat on the aircraft for at least 1 hour 30 mins (outbound was fine)

Did you enjoy reading this?

Let the author know by sharing a clap! It will be greatly appreciated!

0 Clap

directorphilip2 's latest reviews

Comments (7)

  • What an awful flight!!!

    Did you take the train to get to Terminal 1 or did you walk?

    I know HKIA is one of my favourites airports but spending more than seven hours before a flight might be a little too much for me.

    Beautiful spotting BTW.

    Thanks for sharing.

    • You welcome, I didnt need to go to 1 at haneda as the monorail goes from international. At hong kong i walked, i didnt know there was a train from checkin.

  • Looks like we were in Hong Kong at the same time. I left on Monday 1/19. Yes, the price is great, but to be crammed in with that tight picth and not even water for free for such a long flight with the heat cranked up sounds like pure torture to me. If at 5'6 you found the pitch tight, it must be like 28 or less...which is just crazy. I really enjoyed their parent carrier, Hong Kong Airlines, but will avoid HK Express in the future. Nice pictures as always. Thanks for sharing.

  • Thanks for sharing this report with us !

    I like the livery of Hong Kong Express.

    The cabin looks cramped and I trust you for the heat . it's true it's a cheap fare but i agree with you that water should be free in such a case . Looking forward to you future reports !

    • It reminded me of the KLM flight from Lima Peru and that was tropical heat, I stayed in the hot jungle area but getting on that plane at the get was very hot just like this though they got it better once on the way

  • Thanks for sharing this report.

    This will serve me as a cautionary tale and avoid this airline at all cost. In this case it's true about the saying you get what you pay for.

Login to post a comment.
Flight-Report

Ad Blocker Detected

Flight-Report is a free website hosting more than 500 000 pictures and 17 000 reviews, without ads, this website can't exist.

If you enjoy our website, we would greatly appreciate it if you could disable your ad blocker to support us. Thank you for your help and understanding!

How to Allow Flight-Report.com?