The Hong Kong Tourism Board, HK Airport & Cathay Pacific have launched their tourism campaign with free economy-class tickets to HK and the promotion has gathered a lot of attention, tonight being another round for U.S. and Canadian residents.
An online waiting room where interested customers can enter will give promotional codes to the lucky winners who can then book Cathay Pacific tickets with zero base fare.
Membership in the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program is mandatory to participate, though it’s likely possible to change the number during check-in for status benefits if one has oneworld status with another carrier.
Each eligible member can secure one round-trip ticket with only taxes, fees, and surcharges due at the time of sale.
All flights and travel dates must be decided at the time of booking. The minimum stay period for the ticket is 2 days, and the maximum stay period for the ticket is 1 month.
The complimentary tickets are offered from the gateways used by Cathay Pacific in the U.S. and Canada (other countries either already had their raffles or they’re still coming up).
- U.S. gateways: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York (JFK)
- Canadian Gateways: Toronto, Vancouver
Here is the landing page for U.S. participants:
Starting May 17 2023 at 5:00 PM PST/8:00 PM EST, a limited number of round-trip tickets to Hong Kong will be available from our US gateways. These tickets will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Each eligible member can secure one round-trip ticket with only taxes, fees, and surcharges due at the time of sale.
Eligible members at time of launch will be able to book one (1) economy round-trip ticket from one of our US gateways (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York (JFK)) to Hong Kong on a first come, first serve basis.* All flight tickets are sponsored by Hong Kong International Airport.
To be eligible for the exclusive ticket offer, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be a Cathay member
These are the terms & conditions for this offer originating in the U.S.:
This is easy enough, keep in mind though that “taxes, fees and surcharges” mean that the price could still be quite substantial but base fare zero is attractive IF you can manage to sit it out in Economy Class.
This is the landing page for Canadian participants:
Starting May 17 2023 at 6:00 PM PST/9:00 PM EST, a limited number of round-trip tickets to Hong Kong will be available from our Canadian gateways (Vancouver or Toronto). These tickets will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Each eligible member can secure one round-trip ticket with only taxes, fees, and surcharges due at the time of sale.
To access this exclusive offer, become a Cathay member today.
Ticket sales close on 23 May 2023, or until all tickets are sold – whichever comes first. All taxes, fees, and surcharges are at the cost of the traveler.
Here is the T&C sheet for participants in Canada:
If you plan to participate in this campaign this evening, it’s a good idea to have a firm idea ahead of time when you’re actually able to travel, as demand is most likely going to outpace availability. This means you have to decide and book fast.
You should also take into consideration that hotel rates in Hong Kong have risen sharply, so please check the pricing for hotels and also the weather in HK. We’re nearing the summer, and it gets pretty hot/humid there. You can book up to nine months later though, which might be an attractive proposition.
Another item to note is that all tickets are non-transferable, non-reroutable, non-exchangeable, and only the tax & surcharges are refundable. I’m trying to get one of these tickets (fingers crossed) and see how they price out, especially which charges are attached.
Conclusion
Another round of Cathay Pacific’s and HKIA’s famous Free Ticket Giveaway will start tonight for residents in North America and there will be a separate campaign (online waiting room) for both Canada and the U.S. to raffle away these free tickets.
I included the landing pages for both countries above. If you’re interested I suggest to read it closely, familiarize yourself with the t&c of the campaign, and also try to firm up a travel date in advance that works in terms of your time availability and the pricing for local hotels either in points or cash.