Free Tickets Not Quite Free

The free ticket giveaway to Hong Kong isn't exactly free

Those "free" plane tickets the Hong Kong government is giving away are not exactly free of charge, as winners need to pay fees and taxes, making it around the same price as a ticket.

Travellers from Southeast Asia were the first to have the chance to win one of the 135,000 tickets in March. Two winners from Singapore attempted to book their flights on Cathay Pacific's website using their redemption codes and were prompted to pay around HK$1,150 in carrier surcharges and taxes. Airfare return on CX usually costs around HK$5,300.

Some winners not impressed with high surcharge

"I wasn't expecting to pay that much," one said, adding he thought other airlines charged less.

The Singapore winners' fares were valued at S$280 (HK$1,655), but having to shell out HK$1,150 to get the free ticket seems outrageous.

Another winner from Thailand had to pay around 4,000 baht (HK$920) in extra fees for a ticket on Cathay Pacific, when flying on a full-service airline like Emirates would cost 5,000 baht.

"I knew it wouldn't be completely free, but I didn't expect that the taxes and surcharges would be so much," she said.

Lee trying to lure back visitors to Hong Kong

In April the ticket giveaway goes to mainland Chinese hopefuls. Wonder what they will think of having to pay the extra fees?

There were around 1.46 million arrivals in Hong Kong in February, almost three times more than in January, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

That figure still pales in comparison to the 5.5 million arrivals in February 2019.