Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - New CX Award Booking Interface

Seems that CX has revamped their online award booking system. Maybe it'll take some time to get adjusted, but I liked the old one better!

Me too... I'd like the old interface more!!:(

This new interface is terrible. More visually consistent with the rest of the CX site, perhaps, but much more difficult to get availability information.

i have flexible travel schedules and generally redeemd only upgrade awards ... this new interface does not let me know upgrade availability at all (short of going to the trouble to first make dummy bookings).

watt the duck ... someone tell me i am missing something ?? i hate this ...

Disadvantages of the new interface

- Can't view upgrade seat availability other than your own booked flights (because free ticket availability is different from award)
- For some reason, viewing free ticketing availability using "flexible dates" gets an error message when they isn't availability.

Just when you think the CX website couldn't get any worse...

wow... and i thought cx announced they're changing their whole IT department... if this is what to come, i would like the old team back thanks

the biggest issue i have with this system is the fact that we can't see availability like we did for the old system

i've already noticed a problem (anyone experiencing the same thing?): i have 3 itins planned and they show up on my marco polo acct. However, when i try to check availability for an upgrade award, it says i have no existing bookings for an award. My ticket is in an eligible fare class.... so any idea why this is happening?

CX Please revert back to the old booking system !!! If the new system was created by the new IT team then we are all in big trouble =(

The American Airlines AAdvantage booking engine is so much friendlier and i hear that the BA booking engine even lets you search award availability on other OneWorld Carriers. CX needs to learn a thing or two from other airlines..

The new system only lets one search the upgrade availability for his/her own booked flights, but not the booked flights of someone on his/her redemption list. So is it still possible to redeem an upgrade award for a member of redemption list member without calling the hotline then?

And why is CX making the upgrade award availability information less accessible? Many people DO plan their itinerary based on the availability upgrade award.

I need the old interface back, please.

I checked for UG avail only yesterday and went to hold the award today and now can't with the new UI. Arrgh!

I agree - the new interface is broken. For award bookings (not upgrades), the new interface does not allow to look a different dates around the chosen dates like the old site used to.

Bring back the old site, Please!!!

For award bookings (not upgrades), the new interface does not allow to look a different dates around the chosen dates like the old site used to.

Just spent a few minutes playing around with it, because my travel dates are almost always flexible (±2-3 days) and the new format doesn't seem to allow much visibility.

It turns out that if you check availability and there's none, you simply get a "no." However, if you choose flexible dates and there's a close date, then it becomes much easier to cruise dates a week at a time, just like in the old system, although with a different visual interface and slightly different functionality. The key is to find a date, any date, on which there is some availability, then you get to the date navigation options.

Not yet fully debugged, apparently.

I checked for UG avail only yesterday and went to hold the award today and now can't with the new UI. Arrgh!

To be fair you could never do this on the old system. Only fully book an upgrade.

Can't even launch the site on Win 7. Tried on 2 machines and finally had to do it on WinXP. And because my booking will be credited to AA, I can't see the upgrade availability. :(

amazingly awful :td:
what were they thinking???

I completely agree that the new interface is just awful.

Cathay Pacific Director of Information Management, Mr. Edward Nicol, if you're reading this thread, please arrange to fix the new interface or better yet, revert back to the old one and make us loyal CX pax very happy.

I think they want to standardize the interface for both revenue and award booking ? well I also feel its less user friendly for the new site.

CX should provide both new and old interface before they fix the bugs!

CX should provide both new and old interface before they fix the bugs!

Major problem isn't with the bugs, it's more to do with the overall design and implementation. I think the brief for this new design was simply:

"Let's make life as difficult as possible for our members who wish to make an award booking online and take outd every possible useful functionality left on the old system."

Either that, or the displaced IT management knew they might be going and decided to leave this 'new' system as their leaving gift.

"If it aint broke, don't fix it!"

i just checked the new interface out! Yuck, this thing is horrible, I'm surprised AA IT is that good compare to the CX one. It's one thing to save money and manpower but give us something that actually works before changing anything.

Ya it sucks!:td:

Bottom line: how do we check upgrade award availabilities for flights not on our itineraries? Especially for ppl like me who dont' pay for KVS tool/expert flyer???

I don't think you can check CX award availability with EF, don't know about KVS. But it definitely sucks now that you can't check availability before hand, as some of us check award space before booking our flights to secure mileage upgrade.

Yes it's definitely a downgrade for CX! I was just using it last night and it was pretty useless.

I don't think you can check CX award availability with EF, don't know about KVS. But it definitely sucks now that you can't check availability before hand, as some of us check award space before booking our flights to secure mileage upgrade.

Well, you could, but when CX broke the front end, they broke the back end too, according to KVS :mad: (looks like they are trying to get it fixed)

Thanks MKE-MR, I only have EF and not KVS, can't justify 2 systems really, but ya just when you think CX IT can't get any worse, it does. FIX IT, CX

The now fixed KVS cannot search upgrade award availability anyway, but can search priority Y awards.

I notice the 'search method' in kVS now says 'Amadeus: Award/CX' instead of 'CUPID: Award/CX'.

Apart from the different visual interface, I can't see what improvement the new interface brings. The full redemption availability matrix? The information in the matrix is often incorrect anyway (like the new paid booking interface)!

The now fixed KVS cannot search upgrade award availability anyway, but can search priority Y awards.

I notice the 'search method' in kVS now says 'Amadeus: Award/CX' instead of 'CUPID: Award/CX'.

So far it has not been established that CX has separate booking classes for upgrades, so availability may actually be the same as for awards...

See also http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-asia-miles/956990-kvs-tool-now-searches-cx-awards.html

I don't think you can check CX award availability with EF, don't know about KVS.

CX award availability continues to be available exclusively via KVS Tool.

CX award availability continues to be available exclusively via KVS Tool.

Have the issues been resolved yet?

Have the issues been resolved yet?
Yes, as of the latest version.

I notice the 'search method' in kVS now says 'Amadeus: Award/CX' instead of 'CUPID: Award/CX'.


Will it caused by CX moving their engine from CUPID to amadeus ? I remember reading somewhere that CX will be migrated to Amadeus and this is one of the teething / migration issues ?

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news/details?objectID=19405
By the time it joins oneworld, Mexicana will have completed the migration of its main IT platforms to Amadeus Altea - alongside oneworld partners British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines and Qantas, with Cathay Pacific also committed to transfer to this provider soon.

The new system only lets one search the upgrade availability for his/her own booked flights, but not the booked flights of someone on his/her redemption list. So is it still possible to redeem an upgrade award for a member of redemption list member without calling the hotline then?

And why is CX making the upgrade award availability information less accessible? Many people DO plan their itinerary based on the availability upgrade award.

I need the old interface back, please.

I have just been trying to search for upgrade award availability for my daughter and I and gave up after 10 mins. Had to call the hotline to find out and make the booking.

This new interface is rubbish as it is making work for their call centre. I would've thought the whole point of having a website is to make it easier for customers to do this by themselves, which is cheaper than servicing them via a call centre.

Not sure who designed the website but I suspect it may be a subsidary of PCCW which operates the asiamiles / MPO call centre...

I was able to pre-book the upgrade award before booking a ticket before but looks like I can no longer do it anymore. Can anyone re-confirm that it is true?

Frankie

I suggest FTers contact CX to advise them of the terrible new award booking approach on the website. They'll only revert to the original calendar system if we let them know our frustrations! The CX website has a "contact us" page.

I was able to pre-book the upgrade award before booking a ticket before but looks like I can no longer do it anymore. Can anyone re-confirm that it is true?

Frankie

Strictly speaking yes. You have to book a ticket first then book the upgrade award. But if you use a travel agent, you don't need to issue the ticket (and therefore pay for it) until the upgrade is confirmed.

I only use miles to upgrade. I can't believe how bad the new award booking site is. Like most people here, I plan my trips based on upgrade award. With this change and the 25% infant J fare. I guess I have to say goodbye to CX.

CX award booking site is a giant step backward:td: