Last week, I wrote about the SkyPier service to/from Hong Kong Airport utilizing the Ferry to go to China Mainland as well as Macau, and some readers have commented that the connection via Zhuhai Bridge is much better. As...
Last week, I wrote about the SkyPier service to/from Hong Kong Airport utilizing the Ferry to go to China Mainland as well as Macau, and some readers have commented that the connection via Zhuhai Bridge is much better.
As Turbojet and CotaiJet both limited their ferry services to/from Macau to one connection per day or canceled them altogether in the case of Cotaijet, the concierge at the Grand Hyatt suggested the bus service.
The HKIA connection from the port check-in to the Hong Kong Airport SkyPier (just like the ferry) is actually charged/facilitated by the Turbojet ticketing service.
Interestingly, since I departed Macau today (Thursday), there was no ferry at all for the entire day. Not sure what makes Thursday so special that they dont operate the Skypier Ferry at all but the bus was pretty easy.
You can find the ticketing service website here to reserve and purchase a bus ticket.
The terminal is approximately 30 mins by taxi from the Cotai Strip where the Hyatt is located and I used a hotel transfer service.
Arrival at the terminal:
You have to go to this area if the destination is HKIA:
You will be checked in here and given a bus boarding ticket:
One bag can be checked in for the bus ride free of charge, you will then pick it at HKIA SkyPier and have to take it to the check-in counters.
Then its off to immigration:
The bus boarded 20 minutes prior to departure time, and we left early:
If you didnt check in your bags previously, then you werent allowed to put it in the baggage compartment and instead had to take it into the passenger cabin. I had to put mine on the seat next to me. I have no idea how this works when the bus is full!?
We promptly reached the entry gates of the bridge and made our way across.
After 40 minutes of driving time we reached the SkyPier terminal where passengers disembarked:
I went to the check-in counters to obtain my boarding pass and the lady checking me in handed me a stamped refund coupon for 120 HKD airport tax:
HKIA considers you a transit pax arriving directly from an international destination and hence they will refund the departure tax that the ticketing airline collected with the fare. Very fair and generous!
You obtain the refund for the taxes in cash at this counter:
Only cash refund is available, you cant have this booked onto your credit card.
I always come back to Hong Kong so this isnt a problem for me. Actually today I used the cash to pay 90 HKD to the buggy service to pick me up from The Pier First Class Lounge to drive me back to the center terminal where the flight left to Tokyo.
I rather pay this service rather than forego using The Pier which is highly superior compared to The Wing and Cathay Pacific is now upgrading their lounges, including personal Ambassadors in the lounge for passenger queries.
Here is my article from last Friday:
It appears that the signage displayed at the airport regarding frequency was pretty inaccurate. As some of you noted, the Macau ferry is very infrequent since Cotaijet never reactivated the service post Covid. Only one connection per day is available on Turbojet and as my luck had it that wasnt even available today.
Conclusion
As a follow up to last weeks SkyPier Ferry piece I took the advice of some readers to try to bridge connection as well and it was definitely a smooth process. As a side benefit there was no seasickness which really only affects me when the sea is really rough but there was a poor guy who puked his guts out on Tuesday, despite the ocean being super calm.
Considering you get 120 HKD back from your departure tax this means you can to the ride for 160 HKD total (280 HKD ticket price). Very reasonable considering the comfort. Make sure you budget extra time for the transit to the departure terminal in Macau though, traffic can be heavy!