When business travel becomes routine, the “unexpected” is just a matter of time.
Business travel itineraries are usually calculated to the minute. You book the earliest flight out and the latest flight back, fitting every connection perfectly, with almost zero buffer time. For the most part, this works — until it doesn’t. And when it goes wrong, it inevitably happens at the most inconvenient moment possible.
Hong Kong International Airport is one of my most frequent transit points. The two incidents that follow weren’t planned. They were unplanned, high-stress disruptions that forced me to learn several hard lessons about airport regulations and transit logistics the hard way.
Incident One: Carrying Prohibited Items Through Hong Kong Transit — Detained by Security for an Hour
This happened during a business trip to the US, with a transit through Hong Kong. More on the US trip itself: First Time in the US West Coast— Business Trip That Became a Road Trip
Before leaving, thinking about safety in the US, I casually packed a small pepper spray I normally keep on my keychain. At Taiwan departure, nothing happened — no flag, no questions, I just walked onto the plane.
Arriving in Hong Kong for the transit, before sending my bag through the security conveyor, I noticed a warning sign on the side listing items prohibited from entry — pepper spray was on it.
I quickly pulled my bag back and told the security officer I had a pepper spray keychain I needed to remove. Before I finished speaking, the officer had already reached in and taken it off — and I was asked to step aside and sit down, with two officers stationed beside me. In Mandarin they said “wait here,” and then began asking detailed questions about where I bought the spray, when I bought it, and how much it cost.
The next hour or so was the period in my life I most wished I understood Cantonese — though I did not dare pick up my phone to translate or look up what might happen.
Other passengers cleared out gradually. Officers from adjacent lanes kept glancing over. The people handling my case cycled through four or five individuals in total, each taking turns examining the pepper spray — measuring it, photographing it, discussing in Cantonese. I understood nothing, and simply kept my expression calm while mentally calculating which flight I would take if I missed my connection.
Finally, a fully uniformed aviation police officer brought a form for me to complete and sign, and informed me clearly: no fine this time, but if another violation was recorded I would be barred from entering Hong Kong. The pepper spray was of course confiscated on the spot. I signed, got my passport back, and walked briskly toward the departure gate.
My connection buffer turned out to be long enough that I didn’t miss the flight. But that “thank goodness there was time” relief only arrived afterward. In the moment there was only the long wait, sitting beside the security officers.
The lesson I did the homework on afterward: it isn’t just Hong Kong — any spray containing compressed gas or chemical agents, including pepper spray and defensive spray, has carry restrictions at most airports. The fact that Taiwan departure didn’t flag it doesn’t mean other airports won’t. Checking customs regulations for both your destination and any transit points before you leave became a habit after this.
Incident Two: Missed the Last Flight, Stranded Overnight at Hong Kong Airport
This was a completely different kind of Hong Kong incident.
On the return leg of that business trip, the schedule was very tight. By the time I boarded the Airport Express I already sensed we might not make it — but we ran the whole way to the check-in counter on belief alone, and ultimately received a negative answer.
We immediately checked the airline’s same-day schedule on our phones — the flight we had been trying for was unfortunately the last one of the day. We decided on the spot to switch to the earliest departure the next morning and booked accommodation near the airport at an impossibly expensive rate.
After crossing the entire terminal to drop off luggage at the hotel, it was past ten at night. My travel companion suggested we eat a proper meal to calm our nerves. We flagged a taxi, held up a map on a phone screen, and half-gestured our way into asking the driver to take us to a nearby restaurant.
Language was the first barrier. The driver spoke Cantonese only; we spoke Mandarin only. Communication success rate was roughly twenty percent. In the end the driver dropped us near a residential complex and said there were restaurants there.
We walked around — there were restaurants, but nearly all accepted Hong Kong dollars in cash only. We had credit cards and Taiwan dollars, no Hong Kong dollars at all. Eventually in a corner of the complex we found a McDonald’s that accepted Octopus card payment. So we ended up — a group of us, late at night, in an unfamiliar neighborhood, after all that travel — eating McDonald’s that we could have gotten inside the airport. But the story didn’t end there.
After eating, we tried using an app to call a car back to the hotel. That was when we discovered there was simply no pick-up point anywhere in this residential complex. Calling the driver by phone was useless — we couldn’t understand the pick-up location they described at all. We even asked the building security guard to help communicate, and that also came to nothing.
Just as I was beginning to wonder if we had booked a hotel but would still end up sleeping on the street, I looked around and spotted a bus terminus directly across from us. We loaded the entire group onto a bus using Octopus cards and finally made it back to the airport hotel in the early hours of the morning, bringing this eventful night to a close.
The lesson that stuck afterward: wherever you are, however close to the end of a trip, keep some local cash in your pocket — even just a small amount as emergency backup.
Hong Kong Airport: The Place That Made Me Learn My Lessons
Hong Kong airport, as Asia’s core transit hub connecting over 200 destinations worldwide, is a place where even experienced frequent business travelers should be prepared for any possible incident. These two episodes are probably the most memorable of my entire business travel experience to date.
If you also travel frequently between Taiwan and Hong Kong for work, this post has no itinerary recommendations — but I hope these two stories help you avoid a few pitfalls. For leisure travel recommendations in Hong Kong, see this post: Hong Kong Trip Beyond the Surface: A Strategic 4-Day Itinerary
FAQ
Most airports prohibit pepper spray and defensive spray in both carry-on and checked baggage, as they contain compressed gas and chemical agents.
Depends on the airline and that day’s schedule — a same-day alternative is not guaranteed.
Hong Kong–Taiwan flight frequency is relatively high, but the last service usually departs in the evening; miss it and you’re waiting until the next day.
Go straight to the airline’s service desk to confirm the earliest available rebooking, and simultaneously check accommodation near the airport — the sooner you sort it the better, as hotels near the airport can sell out quickly during peak season.
The lesson from this trip: always carry some Hong Kong dollars in cash.
Restaurants in residential areas near the airport typically accept cash or local payment methods only — credit cards are not always accepted.
Also, for late-night rides in unfamiliar areas, the Cantonese language barrier is a real problem. Using Uber (which lets you set the destination in English) is easier than calling a taxi by phone — though even Uber may not be able to access pickup points inside residential compounds.
Unless you’re unlucky like us and the driver simply can’t get in regardless of the app you use.
The official minimum connection time varies by flight but is typically 45 minutes to an hour — and that is the bare minimum, with no buffer whatsoever.
In practice, allow at least two to three hours, especially if you need to enter and re-exit (for example, to declare items) or are carrying large bags.
The lesson from this trip is that having enough buffer is what gives you the chance to say “thank goodness” afterward. Not having it is a different story entirely.
