HK Express' brand sentiments dip after users report mega flash sale site issues

Hong Kong’s low-cost carrier HK Express has seen a dip in brand sentiments after HongKongers reported long queues and technical difficulties on its mega flash sale site.

This comes as HK Express recently offered 100,000 discounted tickets at a starting price of HK$10 as part of its 10th anniversary campaign. It covered a total of 15 routes such as Fukuoka, Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Jeju and Phuket for travel between 10 November 2023 and 30 June 2024. This positivity is bolstered by the airline’s on-going expansion with the opening up of new popular destinations to its customers at affordable fares.

However, the campaign has drawn mixed reactions from HongKongers, with over 5,000 mentions on social media over the past weekend, according to media intelligence firm CARMA. Prior to the incident, HK Express had a positive sentiment of 15.2% and a negative sentiment of 18.4%. However, following the campaign's launch, the positive sentiment has decreased to 10.1%, while the negative sentiment has increased to 22.2%.

The majority of the mentions originated from LIHKG. There was also a notable volume of mentions on Facebook, particularly on HK Express' official page and various travel pages, said Charles Cheung, CARMA’s HK GM.

“Negative mentions primarily stemmed from netizens who expressed frustration regarding ongoing clashes they experienced on HK Express' website,” said Cheung.

Some users also voiced concerns about the airline seemingly favouring WeChat users, who encountered fewer issues with their bookings, Cheung added. Furthermore, there were negative mentions from individuals who expressed worry over not receiving email confirmations after making their bookings.

Conversely, positive mentions were made by netizens who felt that this campaign was executed more smoothly compared to previous promotional efforts by HK Express and other local airlines, Cheung added.

Meanwhile, social monitoring firm Meltwater saw a total of 99 mentions regarding the incident, with 13.9% positive 63% neutral and 23.1% negative sentiments.

In response, a spokesperson from HK Express told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that a queuing system had been set up and updated on the website due to the overwhelming public response.

“Participants who successfully enter the flight search page must complete the registration and payment procedures within the specified time. Those who exceed the time limit will need to re-queue to avoid causing network congestion,” the spokesperson added.

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In fact, airline websites seem to come across technical issues due to high traffic demand. Back in August, Hong Kong Airlines defended itself after consumers expressed their dissatisfaction with having to experience another round of an "endless" wait on its ticket giveaway website on 7 August, of which the airline aimed to distribute 9,800 free flight tickets to seven Asian destinations including Seoul and Bangkok.

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