Cheap Flights to Hong Kong

[manwiches]

You can also get them on the spot just before you enter customs (If you were to go over to Shen Zhen for example). But be warned, if you don't speak Mandarin, good frickin luck. I speak rudimentary Cantonese, and they looked at me like I was speaking French to them. I lucked out having my friend from Guang Zhao with me.

[gargamel]

The Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode on Hong Kong is one of his best, and you won't go wrong retracing his steps. His episode of The Layover on Hong Kong wasn't quite as good, but is still worth watching for Tim Ho Wan (or don't watch the episode, and still go to Tim Ho Wan - it's amazing).

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Canadians can get into HK and Macau with just their passport at the airport. For mainland China your hotel can get you a visa in as little as an hour if you trust the clerk to leave the hotel with your passports. I did and he brought them back with the visa.

For hotels in Hong Kong, I had a ton of luck booking from the airport kiosk. They have independent guys there who can get you a better rate on rooms then going through the hotel directly.

Are you insane. Never trust your passport with anyone back there! especially Canadian passports. There are prob 2000 GP_Matts circling the globe right now.

[SilverGS]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

Leaving in a couple weeks for Hong Kong and Macau...

Should have probably looked into this earlier but I don't need any kind of special paperwork (aside from my Cdn passport) do I? I know you need a visa to enter mainland China, but am I okay if just going to Hong Kong / Macau?

Yup all you need is your CDN passport for Macau.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by manwiches

You can also get them on the spot just before you enter customs (If you were to go over to Shen Zhen for example). But be warned, if you don't speak Mandarin, good frickin luck. I speak rudimentary Cantonese, and they looked at me like I was speaking French to them. I lucked out having my friend from Guang Zhao with me.

For us non-mandarin speakers, I would highly recommend going the friendly route and getting your visa at the Calgary location downtown. Yes it's more expensive but you won't have the headache of trying to figure out bureaucracy in a foreign language in a foreign country, run into language barriers, or standing in line with huge crowds in Hong Kong or Shen Zhen. Well worth the extra expense.

http://www.visaforchina.org/YYC_EN/

[GoJetsGo]

Sorry to bump again,

But I'm leaving Sunday and just wondering if anyone had advice on changing Canadian money to HKD...It was something that slipped my mind and at this point my Bank said it will take three business days and they suggested I just do it at the airport before leaving. From what I remember that's probably the worst place to do this as far as fees go.

Should I just pull out cash via an ATM while there? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[oxygen]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

Sorry to bump again,

But I'm leaving Sunday and just wondering if anyone had advice on changing Canadian money to HKD...It was something that slipped my mind and at this point my Bank said it will take three business days and they suggested I just do it at the airport before leaving. From what I remember that's probably the worst place to do this as far as fees go.

Should I just pull out cash via an ATM while there? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I use Calforex for currency exchange. They have a location downtown in Scotia Centre and one in Chinook.

http://www.calforex.com/en/branches

[lazypucker]

Actually getting money from an ATM in Asia (with a reliable bank system) isn't a bad idea anymore. If you go to the ones on the PLUS network, it just costs you about $1.50 in bank fee. I believe the big 5 banks and the HSBC is on the PLUS network at the very least, my RBC account is. Just look at the back of your debit card.

Sometimes paying a little bank fee can save the trouble of carrying a big whack of cash around.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by oxygen

I use Calforex for currency exchange. They have a location downtown in Scotia Centre and one in Chinook.

http://www.calforex.com/en/branches

Thanks I think I will give this a shot as I just checked and the location down town is open Saturday which works best for me as I live out of town.

Do you find the rates and or fees to be decent?

[rain_e]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

Sorry to bump again,

But I'm leaving Sunday and just wondering if anyone had advice on changing Canadian money to HKD...It was something that slipped my mind and at this point my Bank said it will take three business days and they suggested I just do it at the airport before leaving. From what I remember that's probably the worst place to do this as far as fees go.

Should I just pull out cash via an ATM while there? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I always just exchange there. You can exchange in the airport (after you come out of security/customs/luggage area. If you want an even better rate just wait until you go to one of the local shopping/eating areas and you can get better rates. 3rd option would be any hotel you stay at will usually do this.

Best rates are on the streets and I've never had an issue. Exchange a bit at the airport to get around and then the rest at the booths on the street.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Actually getting money from an ATM in Asia (with a reliable bank system) isn't a bad idea anymore. If you go to the ones on the PLUS network, it just costs you about $1.50 in bank fee. I believe the big 5 banks and the HSBC is on the PLUS network at the very least, my RBC account is. Just look at the back of your debit card.

Sometimes paying a little bank fee can save the trouble of carrying a big whack of cash around.

It was never hard. I used the Plus system with my cdn bank back in 1992 when i worked there for a summer. It's just that the exchange rate would kill you.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

It was never hard. I used the Plus system with my cdn bank back in 1992 when i worked there for a summer. It's just that the exchange rate would kill you.

Maybe its different because I use HSBC, but the exchange rate when I took out money in HK was pretty close to the actual exchange rate at the time.