Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Waitlisted LAX-HKG for date change despite available I inventory?

I called CX today to request a switch on my outbound LAX-HKG flight to the following day but I was told that I had to be placed on the waitlist. I checked EF and there are 8 seats available in I for the flight I want to be switched to. I've never had a problem changing the date before and I find this kind of strange. Any idea why I was told that the flight was full and that I had to be waitlisted?

For me on a very recent TRN-MUC LH flight, I was waitlisted though the flight had many seats left. However, the fare class that I had booked was gone already, so they 'upgraded' the fare to a more expensive one for free. Customer Service rep told me it clears 2-3 days prior to flight, and it did.

There are many variables to booking class availabilities, e.g. POS, married segments, ... EF cannot show all.

As said above, they may release seats a few days before departure.

I called CX today to request a switch on my outbound LAX-HKG flight to the following day but I was told that I had to be placed on the waitlist. I checked EF and there are 8 seats available in I for the flight I want to be switched to. I've never had a problem changing the date before and I find this kind of strange. Any idea why I was told that the flight was full and that I had to be waitlisted?

I would not trust EF for properly reflecting availability of fare classes. Re: "Any idea why I was told that the flight was full and that I had to be waitlisted?", I fare bucket is sold out. You have (2) options:
1. Upgrade fare bucket to higher class assuming there is inventory for that class
2. Hope that I fare becomes available due to cancellation/seat release

Best wishes!

I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. I'm just a bit disappointed to have bought this fare expecting to be able to change it easily if necessary...

If there is inventory available on EF then they should be able to confirm with you. I have flown on I many times and used EF and the inventory seems right. However frankly speaking if you are diamond tier then upgrades are easier to change (or even get) than I class fares. I-Class fares generally have very limited seats.

One situation I noticed is that often there is I class inventory in EF for LAX-HKG and then HKG-MNL - however no I inventory LAX-MNL via HKG on the same flights. They wait list even though the individual segments show 9 seats on I each.... So far, every time the WL clears a few days before the flights

One situation I noticed is that often there is I class inventory in EF for LAX-HKG and then HKG-MNL - however no I inventory LAX-MNL via HKG on the same flights. They wait list even though the individual segments show 9 seats on I each.... So far, every time the WL clears a few days before the flights

This is the "married segments" mentioned earlier.

In general, married segments have lower availabilities. There are exceptions, e.g. HKG-CAN on KA.