Chaos, long waits online for Southeast Asian hopefuls on first day of Hong Kong’s airline ticket giveaway
- Flagship carrier Cathay Pacific wraps up first batch of giveaways, for tourists from Thailand, after just 45 minutes
- Campaign part of government’s ‘Hello Hong Kong’ promotional drive, which will distribute at least 500,000 airline tickets, with first round targeting Southeast Asia
Residents in cities across Southeast Asia hoping to win free airline tickets to Hong Kong suffered long waits and chaotic registration as two carriers launched their giveaway campaigns on Wednesday.
Visitors to the website of Hong Kong Airlines, which also started signing up entrants for its giveaway, reported being stuck in queues for hours.
Bangkok resident Ronnakrit Rojyindeelert, 28, said he waited three-and-a-half hours to register on Cathay’s website.
“I applied for the free ticket because I love travelling. I want to visit Hong Kong again because I love the food there and I did not have enough of it the last time,” said the graphic designer, who most recently visited the city in 2018.
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Hong Kong to give away 500,000 airline tickets as part of a HK$2 billion promotion campaign
The giveaway forms a key part of the government’s latest promotional drive, which will distribute at least 500,000 free airline tickets.
Cathay will hand out 80,000 free round-trip tickets to people in Southeast Asian countries in March, starting with Thailand.
To be eligible, residents from the countries are required to sign up for free Cathay membership on the company’s website, then answer three quiz questions correctly. Each member is allowed to submit only one entry. Winners will be announced on the carrier’s campaign website between March 17 and April 5.
Ronnakrit told the Post the three questions asked included which year Cathay was founded, how its loyalty programme members earned miles and which city the carrier was based in. Thai residents could choose to fly to Hong Kong from either Bangkok or Phuket.
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“I cannot say it was worth it until I get a ticket,” he said, adding he was happy to have made it through to the registration.
A message on Cathay’s website said it was experiencing high traffic volume upon the launch of its campaign. People applying for a free ticket were placed in a queue and once visitors entered the site they had 30 minutes to complete their registration.
But just 45 minutes into the launch, another message on the carrier’s website showed the initial round of sign-ups had ended.
Cathay’s campaign will allow visitors from Singapore and the Philippines to register on Thursday and Friday respectively. The carrier will give out 12,500 round-trip economy-class tickets in Singapore and 20,400 in the Philippines.
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Tickets for visitors from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia will follow in stages two weeks later.
Aya Lowe, 36, who works in the technology sector in Singapore, said the campaign was an interesting initiative to bring people back to Hong Kong.
“The quarantine and the face mask policy earlier had kept me away, as it’s not worth it if you’re just doing a short trip. I think I would definitely fly without a free ticket,” she said.
The website of Hong Kong Airlines was paralysed by a surge in visitor traffic as the carrier rolled out its offer of 6,000 round-trip tickets to the city from Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila on Wednesday morning. The tickets were issued on a first come, first served basis.
A Post reporter trying to access the company’s homepage at around 9.30am was met with a screen showing a queue of hundreds and a wait time of more than two hours. Another reporter who tried to log on at 1pm was left waiting for more than three hours.
Posting a message on its official Facebook page, the airline apologised saying: “due to the extremely heavy traffic, the waiting time of our official site will be longer than usual”.
The company had earlier advised interested fliers on its Facebook page to plan their travel periods and sign up for its loyalty programme in advance, while preparing to pay for surcharges and taxes applicable to their “zero-dollar” tickets.
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HK Express will reveal details of its free tickets starting in April, focusing primarily on the mainland China and Greater Bay Area markets. Greater Bay Airlines, meanwhile, said it would give out round-trip tickets starting in May from Taipei, then Seoul in July, without mentioning how many would be offered.
The giveaway is expected to last six to nine months under the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to reboot tourism, which was dealt a heavy blow by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three years. It aims to bring in 1.5 million visitors.
The Airport Authority is covering the cost of the ticket giveaway as part of a HK$2 billion (US$254.8 million) relief package put together for the aviation industry three years ago.
Hongkongers will also be allocated 80,000 free airline tickets during the summer while another 80,000 will be up for grabs for Greater Bay Area residents.
