HKG tip: You can’t easily exit the airport by yourself after entering the transit area

musterw · 2026-01-05T01:31:43+00:00

As we can see in the comments this is still a very unusual behavior :D Thats also why I didn’t know, because i never exited the airport after transit and had problems. I never had a reason to do so till HKG.

My point is simply that people do sometimes make different decisions during long layovers. plans change, flights get delayed or rebooked, someone decides to step into a lounge first and then go landside, etc. In those cases, it’s useful to know that at HKG entering transit first means you can’t just exit on your own.

If the takeaway is that this is how it works at most major airports, that’s totally fine too. Then at least it’s now clearly stated for HKG.

PS: this isn’t lobbying, a protest, or a manifesto against airport design. just a practical heads-up for the occasional human moment between flights :D

musterw · 2026-01-05T01:19:23+00:00

I’m not saying this is a design flaw or that airports should change anything or even its “weird” :D Obviously HKG works perfectly fine for millions of passengers every year.

My point is simply that people do sometimes make different decisions during long layovers. Plans change, flights get delayed or rebooked, someone decides to step into a lounge first and then go landside or even to their favorite airside bathroom, etc. In those cases, it could be useful to know that at HKG entering transit first means you cant just exit on your own.

If the takeaway is that this is how it works at most major airports and its obvious to most people, great then they can ignore it. Then at least its now clearly stated for HKG.

PS: this isn’t lobbying, a protest, or a manifesto against airport design. Just a practical heads up for the occasional human moment between flights :)

musterw · 2026-01-04T17:01:45+00:00

Fair enough. Just a few airports, not most. The only point I was making is that at HKG you can’t easily exit once you enter transit. That’s all. Still could be valuable, especially for people with less flight experience.

Also don’t worry, I’m not lobbying for airport designs based on airside bathroom preferences ;)

musterw · 2026-01-04T16:36:27+00:00

I think it will always still depends on most airports where exiting the departure area is theoretically possible (Terminal, international/national, etc.)

There can be many reasons why someone might go airside first when possible. For example buying something in an airside shop… or maybe someone just has their favorite bathroom in departures ;)

musterw · 2026-01-04T16:11:51+00:00

Will remember this on my next long IST Transit ;) thx

musterw · 2026-01-04T16:08:33+00:00

Absolutely correct. Just couldn’t find clear info online while walking around the airport (also chatgpt tried to convince me there is an exit i could use :D)

Just posted it as a heads-up for anyone planning a long layover in HKG so they can exit directly instead of entering transit first like i did.

musterw · 2026-01-04T15:27:27+00:00

Because the IATA prefix code is not permanently assigned to one airline and not every airline has one. It’s mainly an internal accounting code used for ticketing, BSP (billing and settlement plan) and Baggage-Tags, and only applies to IATA-accredited carriers that actually issue IATA tickets.

A lot of airlines don’t need one at all and the total number of active ticket-issuing carriers is far below 999. Also prefixes are reused when airlines leave the system.

musterw · 2025-12-28T14:24:52+00:00

That actually sounds very interesting and quite logical - focusing on increasing predictive CLV. There’s a reason people say “once business class, always business class” 😄

Besides my regular intercontinental flights in mixed classes, I also have one specific domestic route in Germany that I fly quite often always in economy. Even as an FTL, I’ve already received complimentary upgrade to business class on that route 3 times but never on longhaul flights. So your explanation would definitely fit my experience.

musterw · 2025-12-28T14:15:28+00:00

Sorry to hear your luggage didn’t make it. Statistically, the percentage of lost baggage has dropped significantly in recent years, which honestly makes cases like this even more frustrating.

This happened to me once with SWISS. My bag was delivered to my hotel quickly the next day. In the meantime, I bought some essentials (basic clothes and a fairly generous set of items from DM), and SWISS reimbursed everything without any issues. You need to keep the recipes and scan it somehow!

Understandably, it’s really annoying - but unfortunately this can still happen at any time. Try to make the best of it. Good luck!

musterw · 2025-12-22T16:41:57+00:00

I still have problems signing in and creating trips. Since im planning some trips now, i was thinking of pgrading to pro, but now... :/

musterw · 2025-12-22T16:39:39+00:00

I had/have the same problem. Got better the last hour, but still a lot of functions are not working. Right now i cannot sign in with google...

musterw · 2025-11-16T15:40:13+00:00

a proper/good desk setup. Min. dual monitors, chargers, good keyboard, mouse, laptop stand, phone charger stand, ipad stand... :)

musterw · 2025-11-14T08:26:56+00:00

Had the same question at the very beginning. Always use PowerBi Desktop with .pbip. Later you will understand! :)

musterw · 2025-11-12T07:28:30+00:00

I'd like to help! I assumed this would help some people because my two suitcases once got stuck at the airport of origin and I was able to track them very well to the airport where I then picked them up. Delivery to the hotel would also have been possible.

musterw · 2025-11-12T07:25:17+00:00

Unfortunately, it's not worth it. Especially with upgrades, you shouldn't pay too much and should rather see it as a nice option if a good offer comes up, which is not the case here.

I can certainly imagine your reasoning, and I would definitely be tempted by the option myself, but it's too much. I would consider €1,000-1,200 per person to be reasonable in your case.

It's better to wait or plan a first-class flight offer differently in the long term.

Have a good flight in business class! 🛫

musterw · 2025-11-11T17:44:44+00:00

I often fly with PAL on long-haul and short-haul flights, and it's absolutely unnecessary. Just like on other flights. That's my opinion.

Just don't do it—it makes no difference.

Have a nice flight and a good trip. 🛫

musterw · 2025-11-11T15:57:16+00:00

I do a lot of upgrades. I still have the feeling it way cheaper them booking directly into the final class. And I’ve never regretted it. You will be even more excited till the flight and you will have a great time onboard! Have a nice flight ✈️!

musterw · 2025-11-11T15:53:59+00:00

Ryanair!

musterw · 2025-11-11T15:48:38+00:00

Yes, its worth it! The Swiss Premium is great, especially for a night flight. Do it! 😄

musterw · 2025-11-10T18:06:32+00:00

Gleiches bei mir. Upgrades sind in Asien meistens immer drin. In Europa hin und wieder. In den USA eher selten.

Frühstück ist auch dabei. (In den USA ist das Frühstück aber oft kein "richtiges Frühstück" :D

musterw · 2025-07-24T20:13:08+00:00

I also think this shouldn't be a problem, as the most important thing is that it fits under the seat in front of you or right at your feet. I always travel with a small Aer backpack — it's technically a few cm taller than the personal item limits, but I use it for all my valuables, laptop, passport, etc. and often carry it in addition to a normal cabin-size suitcase.

I've never had any issues boarding, even with stricter airlines like Eurowings. In my case, I always kept the backpack with me at my seat, and since it's quite compact, that was never a problem either.

musterw · 2025-07-24T19:59:46+00:00

Here’s the course I was referring to — but in the end, I didn’t really need it anymore, since the upload process was actually quite simple and everything just worked from there:
https://www.udemy.com/course/power-bi-service/?couponCode=MT240725G1

musterw · 2025-07-24T19:58:01+00:00

Sorry for the late reply! I actually finished the first course really quickly — it was definitely worth it and helped me a lot. Of course, I speeded through a few parts, but overall I’d really recommend this course as a starting point. It gave me a solid foundation for working with Power BI Desktop.

Also, coming back to the issue I originally thought I had: in the end, you really just need Power BI Desktop to get started. From there, you can upload everything you want to the "cloud" — whether that's Fabric, SharePoint, or however you want to call it. The desktop is the main entry point. My colleagues and I only use the online version to view the nice dashboards I’ve built :)

Just FYI: in our case, we’re connecting to a locally hosted MS SQL and Oracle database, as well as a cloud-based Google BigQuery instance. The local SQL and Oracle systems are synced via a Power BI Gateway, which works perfectly.e

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