Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - waitlisted for upgrade - what should i do?

I am trying to use Asia Miles to upgrade an SFO-HKG flight from economy to business in early Feb...however, no availability now in business class on the date I want (Feb 8)...I am now confirmed for business class 3 days after the day I want to travel (Feb 11), and waitlisted on Feb 8.

MPO said, to issue the upgrade voucher, I need to have an economy ticket issued AND a confirmed business class award booking on the SAME FLIGHT...although afterwards I can use the voucher at a different time.

However, the problem is, I am planning to buy an SFO-HKG-SFO ticket...and if I buy the ticket with ex-SFO on Feb 8, upgrade can't be confirmed at this time, and I cannot issue the voucher...and if I buy the ticket with the SFO-HKG on Feb 11 (when they have upgrade availability), I think I cannot change my economy ticket back to Feb 8 afterwards (at least for AA.com tickets, it seems the first outbound international segment cannot be changed), or there is at least a change fee of US$100.

One of the agents said I could try asking at the airport on the day of travel to see if I can use Asia Miles real time there to do the upgrade...but then I told the agent I thought these last minute Asia Miles redemptions are only possible at the HKIA...she said I might just want to give it a try...any comments ?

If upgrade is still not available 14 days before Feb 8 (deadline to issue an award for Feb 8)...what's the best I can do ? I have no status with CX, but am oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), although I don't think this matters at all in this case...

Thanks a lot !!

MPC arranged a few months ago a last-minute upgrade voucher issue for me out of SFO but I think I had something like three days prior to the departure.

I bought a ticket from cathaypacific.com and confirmed in economy. It was electronic and MPC could see it right after I made the reservation. Since the upgrade inventory was available, MPC went on to issue the voucher, telexing SFO and have it ready at check-in. So I didn't have to go through the regular ordeal of faxing the ticket copy, which is by all means ridiculous.

When I went to the check-in desk, they had a boarding pass already issued. The cathaypacific.com ticket I had came with a 50$ cancellation/change fee, not 100$.

The voucher, though it carries the ticket number of the original underlying ticket, can be used for another ticket. (Hint, hint!)

I could be wrong but I highly doubt CX staff at SFO would do the same-day upgrade service using AsiaMiles points. There also has to be a seat available.

It is better to have an upgrade voucher issued in advance and get on an upgrade list at the airpot, telling them that you have an upgrade voucher.

One thing I can think of is you could perhaps issue a normal fare ticket to get the necessary voucher issued and then refund the ticket. You can use the voucher for the ticket you want. It may carry a nominal fee for ticket refund but I would never assume it would be 100$.

Gurus on this board may have a much better idea.

I really think CX would do away with this upgrade voucher thing and make it more easier to process upgrade using AsiaMiles points.

Good luck, tedhl

Yes, Qualiflyer seem to be ahead there. For CX upgrades, you have to get your ticket "stickered" by a SWISS agent, which seems better than easy-to-lose vouchers.

Actually , from my experience , ASIAMILES doesn't care if you have an economy class booking. They just care about the business Class booking.

Just book the day you have now, and when the MCo arrives, attach it to the ticket you have. CX doesn't care what you have on the ticket. They will just look at the upgrade date.

But if you have status on CX, you will be prioritised accordingly. CX has a tendency to hold upgrade seats till 72 hours prior departure... or else the flight is pretty full.