Your grounds for requesting a charge-back (in other words a refund) is “service not provided”.  Credit card companies as a rule will honour that.

If you have paid cash for the ticket then you are dependent on the honesty, and capability, of the airline.  There could be a protracted wait as your claim will compete for funds with other creditors.  The best rule with regard to travel payments is “don’t pay cash, pay by card”.

If you have already travelled the outward leg and they go bust before your return flight then you had better have travel insurance that covers default because you are not going to be able to recover that via a bank dispute.  Default is almost certainly not covered by the basic insurance that you get when you pay by card.

Frequent business travellers should probably not take out a policy for each time you travel as this could prove more expensive than the cost of one lost journey.  If you need to protect against that then you should to try include it in your general corporate risk insurance, if you can.

This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License source http://flickr.com/photo/62653960@N00/25464305

It is an oft-stated goal of the government of Hong Kong to make the city a New York or London of the East.  In our view they are succeeding and the British heritage in architecture and infrastructure gives it a unique western appearance among Chinese cities.  Taxis, buses, trucks and pedestrians interact in frighteningly close proximity.  (See “Pedestrian Safety”, below)  It is excitingly chaotic with a profusion of smells, a constant hubbub of sounds, and busy, busy, busy people constantly about their business, seemingly 24 hours a day.  If you feel that the purpose of a city is “so that you can get what you want any time of the day or night” then “Honkers” is the place for you.

The tailors of Hong Kong are highly skilled, and while even they cannot make a shirt or a suit while you wait, once they have measured you up, they can run up a bespoke shirt, suit or pants in astonishingly short times.  (Once they have your measurements a number of them will even accept orders and forward the finished garment internationally).

Pedestrian Safety

Your safest way to cross a road is to ‘go with the crowd’.  Over the border in mainland China you find it even more hazardous to make an impromptu crossing and following the crowd is very strongly recommended as the motorists get up to high speed and are pretty lawless.  (Add to that the fact that the majority of mainland Chinese motorists are very inexperienced, and that trucks, cars, taxis and bicycles all use the same roads and it adds up to a lot of daily accidents.)

Stanley Market

Stanley Market is an absolute must for the shopaholic.  Shops in the market sell everything from the tacky (T-Shirts with ‘I love Hong Kong’ across the front) to high-quality, gorgeous silk clothing, scarves, ties and souvenirs.  And a great deal more, besides!

The prices at Stanley Market represent good value and amazingly are pretty similar to Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the mainland, which are known for their inexpensive prices.  As is true in most Far East markets, bargain, haggle, negotiate!  Usually you can drop the price to half of the asking price without much difficulty.  You can do even better if the shopkeeper is keen for a sale, and you haggle with some skill.

Victoria Peak

The views from up here are definitely worthwhile.  Do not be put off by the prospect of mist – we found that instead of putting a dampener on our day, it gave the tops of the buildings craning through the mist, a mysterious and somewhat spooky appearance that was appealing in its own way.

Artists selling colourful seasonal depictions of Hong Kong do a roaring trade up around Victoria Peak.

Take a break at a pub

The ubiquitous Irish-themed pub can be found in Hong Kong.  They tend to serve hearty fare and a selection of imported and local beers and spirits.  We found Delaney’s in the Wanchai District much to our liking – it has a vibrant atmosphere with a variety of sports constantly shown on their screens.  There is also a sister pub in Peking Road.  (The Dublin Jack pub is a part of the same group too and the experience across all three of them is consistently good.  But one would need to have heroic liver capacity to try all three in one day!)

Hotel Accommodation

There are a great number of hotels in Hong Kong ranging from the particularly dubious through to ultra-luxurious.  You get what you pay for.  On my last visit I wanted to be in the Wanchai District, where we found the JJ Hotel – a budget hotel within comfortable walking distance of some good restaurants and nightlife.  The rooms were clean, en-suite and included the slippers that are de rigueur in Chinese hotels (seemingly independent of the star rating or price).

“Key deposit”

All hotels in Hong Kong (and Mainland China) require a ‘room key’ deposit on check-in.  This is not necessarily a set price, and can often be negotiated.  In Hong Kong a budget hotel may require a deposit of 500 Hong Kong Dollars.  At a particular hotel in Beijing they eventually accepted a payment of 300 Yuan, where their original request had been for 100 US dollars.

Make sure you get a receipt.

How you choose to pay for this will depend on how much cash you have, and how much credit is available on your credit cards.  Our preference is to pay cash because then when you leave you get paid out in cash and the books are squared.  If you pay by credit card you are likely to find that the amount will only be refunded some weeks after the reversal was due, so you may well have to settle the amount with your credit card company yourself before finally receiving the repayment.

It is best to be prepared.  If you are not insured on that lovely ski holiday in Austria and you break a leg (or both legs, or even an arm and a leg) the medical and evacuation bills could be astronomical.  If you are not insured, how are you going to pay them?

You may already have some very basic insurance cover linked to your credit card, if you pay for your flights by credit card.  Most major credit cards have this facility, though in some cases they must be “activated”.   Find out (in writing) exactly what insurance benefits your card company offers.  If you have a premium card such as a gold card, or higher, the automatic cover may be extensive.  With an entry-level credit card the insurance cover may be very basic, possibly limited to the immediate costs of a medical emergency and nothing else.  Even then, it may be an insufficient amount of cover.

If the “free” insurance is inadequate you should buy top-up insurance.  The bank or credit card company may offer this.  You could also shop around, though, as many insurance companies sell top-up insurance for credit card holders with basic travel insurance.

Bearing the above in mind, here are a few ‘musts’ that should be included in your cover:

• Medical emergency
• Medical Evacuation or repatriation
• Medical expenses – due to terrorism
• Accompanying family member
• Compassionate emergency visit by one person (some companies will restrict this to a family member)
• In-flight accident
• Lost baggage (including delayed baggage)
• Death (removal of mortal remains)
• Follow-up treatment in your home country
• Travel delay
• Premature return in case of death of a family member
• Legal assistance
• Personal liability.  (This could prove to be a big problem if you, say, knock over a camel that was trying to sleep on the road, while you are in Dubai.  You may find out that it was a very ‘special’ camel to the owner and you have to ‘cough up’ for it.  … For some reason favourite camels seem to suffer many more tragic accidents than unloved ones.)
• Hijack

Some of the above, such as baggage, are regarded by insurers as optional extras.  If you are carrying special equipment, such as cameras, expensive sporting equipment (specific “Golf insurance” is available) or other valuable goods that are pricey, check if they are covered under the baggage cover.  If not, and some travel insurance companies don’t cover these items (except for a low maximum amount not equal to the actual value) consulting your broker for specialist advice about this may be helpful.

In most cases you should insure with a company based in your home country as they will have worked out appropriate risk profiles.  Travel insurance from a foreign company is less likely to have adequate covering and claims are more likely to be repudiated or payouts reduced.

Many countries require proof of travel insurance, sometimes not below a certain amount and may be a visa requirement, for instance for Schengen visas.

As with all guidelines on this web site, the above is based on my own professional experience and my personal travel and does not replace the advice from your registered broker.   The main thing is to be adequately insured.  You never know when it will be needed!

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