Quick Review – Hong Kong Express – Hong Kong – Saipan – Hong Kong, 2019.

This is something that has been pendig for a very long time, but for some reason or another I have never gotten around to completing this trip report series. Time to change that, hoping to get it all done in May, so I can move on to the next one.

I booked the tickets online through HK Express webiste, and the total price was 2.267 HKD, including 360 HKD for seat selectioon at the emergency exit row – I had seat 13A in both directions.

• Introduction – 48 hours in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
• Review – Hong Kong Express – Hong Kong – Saipan – Hong Kong.
• Review – Hotel GrandVrio resort, Saipan
• Around Saipan

As Saipan and Northern Marina Islands is a part of the US, it was not possible to check in online for the trip, but I had to make my way to the no longer existing Terminal 2 at HKIA for document check and a quick interview before my boarding pass was issued.

It was then time for a quick train ride to the main terminal, and another train ride from there to the midfield concourse, which we would be departing from. Boarding started right on time, and as soon as we were all seated we got a quick safety brief before we pushed back from the gate. This was my first time flying HK Express, and I was quite impressed by the quality of the seats and the legroom offered on the emergency exit rows.

The seatback had a standard tray table that folds down, which I was happy to see – on some flights in the past they put the tray tables in the armrests on emergency exit rows, but that was not the case here.

I got the entire 3-seater for mysef, so after departure I made myself comfortable and laid down across all three seats, and what felt like a moment later the cabin crew woke me up to tell me that I needed to sit up as we were landing soon. In other words, didn’t get to experience much on the flight, but it felt good to me!

Arriving in Saipan, there were 2 different lines for immigration, one for US citizens and travelers from one of the 42 VWP countries holding an ESTA approval, and another one for everyone else. I am fortunate enough to be from one of those 42 countries, so I could use the ‘priority’ lane – and I am glad I could, there must have been a couple more flights arriving just before us, and I would guess there were more than 1000 people falling in the other line. My line – 3 people only, and 2 open counters. Passport check took 20 seconds, and I was then greeted with a very friendly “Welcome to America!” from the immigration officer

For the return part, not much more to report, check-in was a bit slower in Saipan, took a good 40 minutes or so before I was in front of the line, but immigration was quick and easy. Leaving at 05:40 Am is not ideal though, but works well for me, working an afternoon shift that same day.

After boarding, the cabin crew seemed very surprised to me me sitting in the same seat as I had 48 hours earlier – it was the same crew who had brought me there, which makes sense I guess, as HK Express only operated the flight 4 times a week.

Again, I had the entire 3 seats for myself, so I did the same thing on the return flight as I had in the opposite direction, so nothing more to report from this trip. I assume it was great and smooth, but you never know 😀

Overall I was happy with HK Express, the extra leg-room was excelent, and well worth the money for me (I am 185 cm tall), and something I will buy again in the future when I am flying with them.

As a low cost operator, checked-in luggage and food and drinks are not included in the ticket, and needs to be purchased separately, but I don’t mind that as I generally travel light and can eat in the lounge at the airport before the flight, so I am happy for the lower cost of the tickets and lower level of inclusion. Definitely using them again in the future.