This is probably one of the craziest things I’ve seen all year: The Wing – Cathay Pacific’s famous First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport is going to join the Priority Pass Network starting June 21, 2021.
According to a new entry on the Priority Pass App (not yet visible on the website) the popular lounge that so far required a oneWorld First Class ticket or Emerald status will open it’s doors on Monday to Priority Pass members.
Currently Cathay Pacific has already opened the The Wing up to any passengers who have lounge access including Business Class and oneWorld Sapphire members as their remaining lounges are still closed.
Lucky first wrote about it on OMAAT a few hours ago (see here).
You can access the Priority Pass website for Hong Kong here (The Wing not yet visible as of 6/19).
The app however has the lounge loaded already:
The access conditions are described as:
Guests are limited to two per cardholder and lounge access may be restricted due to capacity constraints – Children under 2 years are admitted free.
Keep in mind that in 10 days from now – on July 1st – Priority Pass will lose the other listed lounges of Plaza Premium. Maybe they were looking for a short term solution to fill the gap and Cathay Pacific was happy to take the extra revenue.
I don’t believe this will be a very long partnership and that it will change as soon as other CX (Business Class) lounges open again or Priority Pass finds another partner once more lounges open their door. Hong Kong doesn’t have a shortage of lounges but they’re all closed right now.
The Wing has always been a favorite of mine, especially the restaurant:
I can’t see how this can be offered when they make access available to Priority Pass customers. How much is Cathay getting per swipe, like $15-20 ?
Conclusion
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge ‘The Wing’ at HKG Airport Terminal 1 (right behind immigration) will join Priority Pass from Monday, July 21st 2021. This is absolutely stunning and shows that Cathay is really grasping for straws right now.
It’s hard to understand why they would even be interested. The revenue they could earn from this is absolutely minimal. From what I heard recently as I booked a friend on a CX flight via HKG, The Wing still operated on a level of decent quality. How long is that going to last?
