Young Traveler Pressured Into Extra Fees — Never Booking HK Express Again
I booked an HK Express flight for my younger brother as a graduation gift, and this experience was honestly disgusting. He was flying back to Manila and brought a few tart/food boxes for our grandparents. His ticket clearly included a 7kg personal item allowance, and he did not even use the full weight we paid for. Yet the ground staff still found a way to charge him extra. The staff member told him to put the tart boxes inside his bag. Funny how this was allowed before, but suddenly became a problem when the passenger was a young traveler who did not know how to argue back. It felt like a complete power trip. My brother was confused, pressured, and treated poorly instead of being properly assisted. If there was a policy issue, the staff could have explained it professionally. Instead, the situation felt like they were just looking for a reason to squeeze extra money out of him. To make it worse, he also felt he was treated differently from other passengers. I will not write the full details here, but the experience was upsetting and unacceptable. HK Express may be cheap upfront, but clearly they make up for it with surprise charges and terrible treatment at the airport. Lesson learned. I will not book with this airline again, and I would strongly warn others to think twice before flying with them. Cheap fare is not worth being treated like this.