Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Business Class lounge, Hong Kong

This is our review of Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Business Class lounge in Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 1.

The Pier Business Lounge is one of Cathay’s three business class lounges and five lounges overall at Hong Kong International Airport.

I have already looked at the two First Class lounges – the truly spectacular The Pier First Class lounge reviewed here and the ‘pretty darn good but not as good as The Pier’ The Wing First Class lounge reviewed here.

You can find out more about Cathay’s Hong Kong lounges on this page of the Cathay Pacific website.

How do you access The Pier Business Class lounge?

Unlike The Pier First Class lounge next door, access to the Business lounge is a little looser, although you still have to by flying Cathay Pacific and/or a oneworld airline to get in.

You can use The Pier Business Class lounge if you hold any of the following:

• a same-day business class ticket on Cathay Pacific or another oneworld airline
• oneworld Sapphire or Emerald (BA Silver and Gold) status (+1 guest)
• Cathay Pacific Diamond members (+ 2 guests)
• Cathay Pacific Gold members (+1 guest)
• Cathay Pacific Silver members

Note that if you are entering the lounge based on your status you will need to be flying Cathay Pacific or another oneworld airline to qualify.

You cannot guest anyone into the lounge if you are entering based on a business class flight ticket without status.

Where is The Pier Business Class lounge?

The location of this lounge is its only flaw, as it is at the far end of Terminal 1, near Gate 65. It is, to put it mildly, a long walk, although you can also use the automated people mover. I thought I would stretch my legs before my 14 hour flight. With the help of countless travelators it took me about 15 minutes to get there, although I do walk fast.

Should you find your flight departs from one of the lower gate numbers (up to the low 20s or so) then you have no choice but to walk back, as the transit only operates in one direction.

If you are simply transiting in Hong Kong then it may be on your way to your next flight – lucky you!

That said, The Pier’s remote location also has its benefits. Many passengers may not be bothered to make the journey (or know what they are missing out on), leaving both the business class and first class sections of The Pier lounge significantly quieter than their counterparts in The Wing.

The Pier Business Class lounge is open from 5:30am until 12:30am.

Inside The Pier Business Class lounge

The Pier Business Class lounge consists of a series of rooms, arranged in a straight line. A main central path bisects all the rooms and goes much, much further than you expect; this is a huge facility.

The individual rooms are relatively dark, whilst a long thin space with more casual seating spans across the entire length of the windows:

and

The first room is the Food Hall, a buffet dining area:

Staff are on hand to serve you food (it is not self serve). Options are generally focussed on Western food and include a selection of pizzas and pastas (lasagne, polpette, macaroni cheese):

After the Food Hall you’ll find the bar. This is a staffed bar, not self-serve, but they will make you proper cocktails if you ask. Thienot Brut is the champagne on offer.

You then have the Noodle Bar where you can order Cathay classics such as wonton noodles and dan dan mien noodles as well as dim sum and HK-style roasted meet.

The seating in this section is more Asian influenced with wooden booths. If you’ve been to Cathay’s business class lounge in London then you’ll immediately recognise them:

After this is the Tea House, unique to this lounge. Here you can choose from a fantastic array of teas and a number of sweet treats:

Finally, at the very far end, you have the showers, toilets and Relaxation Room. I didn’t look into the showers as I had one in The Pier First Class lounge. The Relaxation Room features a central set of sofas flanked on two sides by a series of loungers in a dimly lit room. It is darker than it looks in the photo:

and

Additional toilets, luggage lockers and The Sanctuary – currently undergoing building work – are on the other side, by the entrance.

As you can see, it is a large lounge. Fortunately, it is easy to navigate and Cathay has sensibly kept the majority of food options in the various rooms whilst more casual seating flanks the window.

Conclusion

Whilst not as luxurious (or quiet) as the First Class lounge next door, The Pier Business Class lounge still makes a great impression and outclasses many first class lounges worldwide.

If you’ve ever been to the Cathay Pacific lounges at Heathrow you’ll have a sense of what to expect, albeit on a much larger scale here. There are numerous dining rooms with a variety of different cuisines spanning Asian and Western flavours, including Cathay’s famous noodle bar.

The decor is a stylish combination of wood panelling, warm brown leather and brass; the midcentury modern design almost lets you forget you are in an airport, bar for the aircraft sitting outside the window.

All in, this is a lovely business class lounge with virtually every amenity you could need or want.

You can learn more about The Wing and The Pier lounges on this page of the Cathay Pacific website.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2023)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.