Cathay Pacific staff travel & standby

A booking or listing in myIDTravel is mandatory before you go to the airport. Without one, airport staff can't check in ZED SUBLO/NOSUB travelers or process them for standby.

• You can book or list Cathay flights in myIDTravel for travel within the next 30 days.
• When you buy a Cathay ticket in myIDTravel, the booking/listing is created automatically, and a ticket receipt for each traveler is emailed to the address you gave.
• If your plans change, another date, an earlier flight, or no trip at all, update or cancel the booking/listing in myIDTravel as soon as possible. This avoids wasted meals and extra costs for the operating carrier.
• Each traveler's name on the booking and ticket must match the travel document exactly. Otherwise you can run into problems at the kiosks and immigration, and may not be accepted.
• 48 hours before departure, make sure you're listed on your preferred flight. By 24 hours before, cancel any listings you don't need, so you hold only one listing for your journey.

New to myIDTravel? Login, app and listing ›

• CX flights not operated by CX aircraft, joint venture flights, codeshare flights, charter flights and domestic sectors within a country (for example KUL-PEN).
• Flight numbers CX1000-1999 and CX3000-9999.
• ANC-YTO-ANC, BAH-RUH and DXB-JED-DXB.

• Carry a valid ticket and the proper travel documents, including any visa or entry permit, for every country you fly to or through, unless that country's authorities grant an exemption.
• Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months. A visa or entry permit must cover your stay or longer, depending on the country.
• If you don't meet these requirements, you may have problems at check-in and be refused entry.
• Traveling on a Hui Xiang Zheng (回鄉證), Tai Bao Zheng (台胞證) or Travel Permit to and from Hong Kong and Macao (往來港澳通行證)? Add it as your travel document during online check-in. The passport details from your booking/listing carry over to online check-in, so simply replace them with this document.

Checked baggage

• Economy: 2 pieces per adult or child, up to 23kg each.
• Business: 2 pieces per adult, up to 32kg each. Between Hong Kong and New Zealand, each bag in Business can't exceed 23kg.
• Size of each bag: up to 158cm (62inches), adding width, height and length.
• The 2-piece allowance applies only if it is shown on your ticket. If the ticket says 1 piece, only 1 piece is accepted at check-in and a second one is charged as excess baggage.
• Infant without a seat: 1 piece plus a car seat and a stroller, up to the same weight as an adult ticket in the same class. Each piece can measure up to 115cm (45inches) in total.

Cabin baggage

• 1 piece plus 1 small item, together up to 7kg / 15lbs.
• Cabin bag: up to 36cm x 23cm x 56cm (14in x 9in x 22in), including wheels, handles and side pockets.
• Small item: up to 40cm x 15cm x 30cm (16in x 6in x 12in), including wheels, handles and side pockets, and it must fit under the seat in front.
• Infant without a seat: an approved child restraint seat, a small bag of food and nappies for the flight, and a foldable or umbrella-type stroller that fits the standard cabin bag size and weight when folded (if there's room in the cabin).

Departing Hong Kong

Since 11 December 2023 you no longer register at the Aisle A counters for a standby slip or wait there for your number. Check-in and pre-boarding are digital, and the steps differ slightly depending on whether online check-in shows you as accepted or on standby.

If you're accepted at online check-in:

1. Check in online at www.cathay.com and download your mobile boarding pass.
2. Scan your passport at a self-service kiosk in Aisle A, B, C or E.
3. Drop your bags at a self-bag drop counter in Aisle A or C.
4. Go through security and immigration to your gate.

If you're waitlisted or on standby:

1. Check in online at www.cathay.com before you come to the airport.
2. Scan your passport at a self-service kiosk in Aisle A, B, C or E, then print and attach your bag tags.
3. Wait for your boarding pass: it arrives by SMS and email if you're accepted.
4. Drop your bags at a self-bag drop counter in Aisle A or C, then go through security and immigration to your gate.

Timing and rules in Hong Kong:

• With a confirmed reservation you can check in online any time within 48 hours of departure. Otherwise, check in online between 24 hours and 60 minutes before departure.
• Online check-in closes sharply 60 minutes before departure. If your flight is delayed, it stays open until 60 minutes before the estimated departure time.
• Get to the airport no later than 70 minutes before departure with cabin bags only, or 80 minutes if you're checking bags, in case there are queues at the kiosks.
• Finish check-in, including the passport scan and any bag tags, at least 80 minutes before departure. Bags can't be dropped in the transit area: only in the Departure Hall, Aisle A, B, C or E.
• Everyone must scan their passport or travel document at a kiosk, with or without bags. If you skip it, you'll be held at the gate while your documents are checked.
• Enter a correct mobile number and a valid email during online check-in or at the kiosk: that's how your boarding pass reaches you. Dependents and travel nominees need their own number and email, because screenshots aren't accepted by the Airport Authority's systems.
• Bag drop closes sharply 40 minutes before departure, so stay near Aisle A or C. If acceptance has to wait until about 40 minutes before departure because of weight restrictions or other operational reasons, counters A35 and A36 serve as dedicated employee travel bag drop.
• Everyone starting their journey in Hong Kong must clear security and outbound immigration. You can't stand by airside at the gate, even when you've just come off a flight as operating crew.

Go to the Employee Travel counter at the end of Aisle A, not the kiosks, if you're traveling:

• on a passport without a biometric chip
• on a British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport
• with an infant under two
• on a direct flight to the USA

The Employee Travel counter also helps if an HKIA kiosk ambassador can't fix a kiosk problem, if you'll only travel in a certain class, if you're traveling with an elderly person or someone without a mobile phone (check them in online first), and if you want to say which family members should travel if not everyone gets on (check in, scan documents and print bag tags first).

Departing outside Hong Kong

1. Make sure you have a valid myIDTravel booking/listing.
2. Check in online on Cathay.com: from 48 hours before departure with a confirmed booking, or from 24 hours with a waitlisted or standby listing. Cathay recommends finishing online check-in no later than 6 hours before departure.
3. Arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before departure.
4. If you're accepted, go to the check-in/bag drop counter for your class and finish check-in no later than 60–75 minutes before departure.
5. If you're still on standby, check your status 6 hours before departure. If nothing has changed, go to the employee standby counter (if there is one) and register no later than 60–75 minutes before departure. Where check-in closes 60 minutes before departure, register at least 75 minutes before.

To register for standby:

• At a self-service kiosk, if there is one: scan your passport and print your standby bag tag.
• With no kiosk: go to the check-in counter or employee standby counter with your myIDTravel listing confirmation, your passport and travel documents, and a visa and return or onward ticket if needed.

Airport staff will tell you when to come back, usually 60–80 minutes before departure. Then wait for your standby number to be called once acceptance is finalized. Counter locations are on Cathay.com > Flights > Airport Information.

Through check-in: Cathay says it isn't available to all interline travelers on CX flights for leisure (personal) travel, so don't count on it.

Acceptance in Hong Kong

• Employee acceptance starts 60 minutes before departure. It can start earlier if all paying customers have checked in, or as late as 40 minutes before if the team is waiting for late Cathay members or the flight is weight-restricted.
• Acceptance is finalized 60 minutes before departure (earlier when possible), and you're told by email or SMS.
• Since 12 April 2025, travelers departing Hong Kong also get a real-time email when they are accepted from standby; accepted in a lower cabin than they listed for (and put on the upgrade list); upgraded or downgraded; moved to another seat; or not accepted because the flight is full: with details of the flight they've been moved to, or a note that they must re-list for a flight the next day.
• If you don't get on, you're moved to the next available flight to the same destination; wait for your boarding pass in the same way. If you decide not to travel, tell the Employee Travel counter before you leave the airport so they can cancel your check-in, and then cancel your listing so others see accurate loads.
• Before you board, check your SMS and email one last time for a new boarding pass in case of a last-minute seat change, upgrade or downgrade.

Traveling together If you and a dependent or another employee traveler are on separate bookings and want to fly only if you all get on, link the bookings during online check-in (the box at the top right of the online check-in page). The airport team then treats you as having to travel together, and all linked bookings get the lowest boarding priority in the group. For example, a oneworld traveler at priority 31 linked with a ZED traveler at priority 33 are both treated as priority 33. If you can't link your bookings, check in separately and tell the Employee Travel counter at the end of Aisle A.

At the gate Once accepted, be at the boarding gate at least 30 minutes before departure. The gate closes 15 minutes before departure.

• Standby passengers can't get special meals. If you have dietary needs or preferences, bring your own food on board.
• Travelers under 16 must travel with an adult on the same type of ticket.
• Departing Hong Kong with an infant: check in online before you come, then go straight to the Employee Travel counter at the end of Aisle A.

Dress to public standards of good taste: usually office wear or smart casual. Jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, gym shoes and other very casual clothes aren't acceptable. Dress rules are enforced at the airport: Airport Services staff have the final say, and if your clothes aren't acceptable you won't be accepted for boarding.

• If your plans change, update or cancel your booking/listing in myIDTravel as soon as possible.
• Back-up tickets: buy all the tickets you're likely to need from your own airline. Cathay doesn't issue rebate tickets to interline staff.

• Cathay recommends that all staff travelers take out comprehensive insurance.
• Aircraft configurations: cathay.com > Flights > Aircraft and fleet.