Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Redemption J YYZ-HKG 2013 Jan

Hi,

Trying to redeem a OW J YYZ-HKG on 1 or 2 Jan for someone. From CX's website all J for the week before and after are on Waitlist. Wondering if chances are high at all or they've only blocked the seats for revenue fares for now?

Any experiences on doing such J redemptions around year-end? Am thinking of even purchasing a K class Y then upgrading on miles if that is easier. Alternatively, I've some oneworld points on partner carriers I can use for a redemption.

Thanks!

Hi, usually seats are released closer to the flight date, and waitlisting should be easily cleared for yyz flights( well by exp anyways, I'm currently on a redemption trip yyz-tpe) was waitlisted for 29th, which cleared, then waitlisted for 19th, which cleared 2 days b4 the flight, and then the 20th, which was cleared immediately by cx staff.... All throughout these times, all flights in June were all full.... So try calling cx, yyz time of about 6pm, and call the HK hotline.. Good luck with your redemption;)!!!!!

Thanks! I actually find more value for points redeeming on AA, then BA. I was hoping to use those points first, but waitlisting doesn't apply to these two programs unfortunately ... Asia Miles has such a high premium so I'm hoping a seat would open up for the partner carriers ... perhaps it's wishful thinking!

Can someone kindly run KVS / availability for YYZ-HKG J and Y for 1-3 Jan 2013? Thanks!

can someone kindly run kvs / availability for yyz-hkg j and y for 1-3 jan 2013? Thanks!


11janyyzhkg¤cx«

01jan tue yyz/est hkg/¥13
cx response ** direct connect participant **
13cx 829 j9 c9 d9 i9 w9 r9 yyzhkg 0125 0605¥1 77w 0
e9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v0 s0 n0 o0

1¤¥1«

02jan wed yyz/est hkg/¥13
cx response ** direct connect participant **
13cx 829 j9 c9 d9 i9 w9 r9 yyzhkg 0125 0605¥1 77w 0
e9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l4 v0 s0 n0 o0

1¤¥1«

03jan thu yyz/est hkg/¥13
cx response ** direct connect participant **
13cx 829 j9 c9 d9 i9 w9 r9 yyzhkg 0125 0605¥1 77w 0
e6 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l3 v0 s0 n0 o0

Many thanks. Seems fairly low loading at this stage and presume worthwhile to waitlist for a J / Y redemption?

Many thanks. Seems fairly low loading at this stage and presume worthwhile to waitlist for a J / Y redemption?

Y load does not seem low at all.

Not to hijack the thread, but now that OP seems to have gotten his answer, I would like to ask if simply doing a dummy booking and checking the seatmap would be just as accurate as this money-required KVS tool?

Actually, now I'm more interested in the J redemption. Given the loads, what is CX's typical practice of releasing seats for redemption as the departure date gets closer? Is there a round 3 months before flight, then gradually more, or it's more sporadic?

Not to hijack the thread, but now that OP seems to have gotten his answer, I would like to ask if simply doing a dummy booking and checking the seatmap would be just as accurate as this money-required KVS tool?

Yes. Also ExpertFlyer.com offers a free version of their service which includes seat maps from the GDS.

Yes. Also ExpertFlyer.com offers a free version of their service which includes seat maps from the GDS.

This is absolutely NOT true. The seat map is an entirely unreliable indicator of loads on a flight. At one end of the spectrum, many pax have confirmed bookings but either have not bothered to pre-assign seats or aren't eligible to (in Y). At the other end, CX in particular blocks a lot of seats for assignment at check-in unless you have status.

I have been op-upped on flights where the seat map at OLCI t-48 suggested there were tons of open seats in Y, and I've had a whole row to myself in Y on other flights where the seat map before OLCI had made it look like the plane was totally full.

Not to hijack the thread, but now that OP seems to have gotten his answer, I would like to ask if simply doing a dummy booking and checking the seatmap would be just as accurate as this money-required KVS tool?

Yes. Also ExpertFlyer.com offers a free version of their service which includes seat maps from the GDS.

This is absolutely NOT true. The seat map is an entirely unreliable indicator of loads on a flight. At one end of the spectrum, many pax have confirmed bookings but either have not bothered to pre-assign seats or aren't eligible to (in Y). At the other end, CX in particular blocks a lot of seats for assignment at check-in unless you have status.

I have been op-upped on flights where the seat map at OLCI t-48 suggested there were tons of open seats in Y, and I've had a whole row to myself in Y on other flights where the seat map before OLCI had made it look like the plane was totally full.

As CrazyJ82 said, many PAX holding confirmed reservation does not have seat assignment, while many seats are blocked. It is very inaccurate to check availability based on seat maps. Dummy bookings, on the other hand, may work sometimes if you want to keep trying different number of PAX from 1 to 9 and see which fare you get in different cabins.

A CX agent mentioned to me that they block 50 percent of the seats until online check-in.

The seat map is an entirely unreliable indicator of loads on a flight. At one end of the spectrum, many pax have confirmed bookings but either have not bothered to pre-assign seats or aren't eligible to (in Y). At the other end, CX in particular blocks a lot of seats for assignment at check-in unless you have status.

I have been op-upped on flights where the seat map at OLCI t-48 suggested there were tons of open seats in Y, and I've had a whole row to myself in Y on other flights where the seat map before OLCI had made it look like the plane was totally full.

As CrazyJ82 said, many PAX holding confirmed reservation does not have seat assignment, while many seats are blocked. It is very inaccurate to check availability based on seat maps.

A CX agent mentioned to me that they block 50 percent of the seats until online check-in.


Not to hijack the thread, but now that OP seems to have gotten his answer, I would like to ask if simply doing a dummy booking and checking the seatmap would be just as accurate as this money-required KVS tool?

As others have already mentioned, Seat Maps are one of the worst indicators of flight loads:


http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Q2
http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Q3


Dummy bookings also cannot be used as a substitute for the actual Availability, as there are 21+ Booking Classes on CX and there is no booking website that would allow you to check/book each of them.

Can someone kindly run KVS / availability for YYZ-HKG J and Y+ for 1-2 Jan 2013 again? Thanks a million! Trying to assess whether my waitlist has any likelihood to clear.

Can someone kindly run KVS / availability for YYZ-HKG J and Y+ for 1-2 Jan 2013 again? Thanks a million! Trying to assess whether my waitlist has any likelihood to clear.

Results from ExpertFlyer.com (http://www.expertflyer.com/?a=s)Flight Availability Search
Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
CX 829 0 YYZ HKG 77W Daily J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 E9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
01/01/13 1:25 AM 01/02/13 6:05 AM 88% / 100m

Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
CX 829 0 YYZ HKG 77W Daily J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 E9 Y9 B9 H9 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
01/02/13 1:25 AM 01/03/13 6:05 AM 88% / 100m


Both days chances for J/Y+ look good.

Thanks! I'll keep waiting :)

Thanks for all your help. CX cleared the waitlist and opened availability in J for its partners as well. Now happily booked and ready to fly very soon!

Thanks for all your help. CX cleared the waitlist and opened availability in J for its partners as well. Now happily booked and ready to fly very soon!

What date did you manage to get? Congrats!

What date did you manage to get? Congrats!

1 Jan!