Letters | Cathay Pacific extra baggage charges fly in the face of logic

Thousands of students are leaving Hong Kong at the moment, to live and study overseas at the start of the new academic year. Students often need to pay for extra baggage because of the length of their stay overseas, and because they are carrying heavy items such as books. This year it is even more the case, because most students will be unable to return to Hong Kong at Christmas or Easter, owing to the Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.

Last week, my two daughters flew back to London to live and study. Both had extra baggage. One daughter flew with British Airways and was charged HK$720 (very much in line with normal fees). The other daughter, flying with Cathay Pacific, tried to pay for an extra bag in advance and was horrified to discover that the charge was HK$7,800 for one 23kg bag.

Is Cathay trying to alienate its customers and destroy its own business? The charges are completely unjustified.

Worse followed from Cathay when I contacted its Customer Service hotline and Customer Relations department: I entered the twilight zone of the way Cathay treats its customers. I wanted to find out whether the HK$7,800 charge was a mistake, and (if not) how it could justify that charge. My case was urgent because my daughter was flying out two days later. I then encountered:

• a complete refusal to answer simple, polite questions (I asked 12 times whether or not I was allowed to speak to a manager or supervisor; the staff member refused every time to say either “yes” or “no”)
• a blanket refusal to explain why the charges are so high: the only answer was “Those are our charges”
• most bizarrely, repeated claims that the Customer Relations department does not have a telephone number for customers to contact it at (even Customer Service said they don’t have a number for them). Here is their number: 2747 5287

How did I get their number? One hour after telling me, perhaps 15 times, that no such number existed, Customer Service themselves emailed it to me!

Worst of all, when my daughter tried to check in at the airport, the Cathay staff there reduced her to tears, by claiming that her hand luggage was too bulky. You can guess what their solution was: check in the hand luggage, for a fee of HK$6,800!

My daughter refused and took her hand luggage through airport security without any problems.

So, next time I book flights for my daughters to travel between their home here in Hong Kong and London, which airline do you think I will avoid?

Adam Conway, Tai Hang