Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - UPDATE on first class on 340?? HELP

Does anyone have an update on when the A340 fleet will have their first class cabins removed? I have a trip from YVR-HKG in July1 on the afternoon flight. Shall I change it, or will first class probably be still offered. Thanks so much

I'm curious too, as I'm booked First Class on 340s serving YVR-HKG-JNB in September.

Is this removal of First Class from the 340s going to be fleet wide or, like BA with its 777s, affecting only a few aircraft that will be serving select routes?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RTW4:
Does anyone have an update on when the A340 fleet will have their first class cabins removed? I have a trip from YVR-HKG in July1 on the afternoon flight. Shall I change it, or will first class probably be still offered. Thanks so much</font>

What's your source?

I sort of have a suspicion that the F class cabin will only be removed on selected A340 aircraft and not ALL of them.

The September issue of CX World cited that all 15 A340-300s would have the First Class cabin removed, changing into a 2-class configuration. The refit will start in April 2004 and is expected to be completed by August 2004.

The article specifically mentioned Rome, Amsterdam and Toronto as 'thin' routes where front-end demand is low and back-end demand high, suggesting that these routes will definitely get the F chop if any sort of 343-reconfiguration plan is in fact implemented.

Assuming that the original plan is stuck to, and as much as I'd like that not to happen, a 343 July F service seems unlikely, and a September one even more so. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by B-HXB (edited Nov 23, 2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B-HXB:
The refit will start in April 2004 and is expected to be completed by August 2004.

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Doesn't it seem so funny, that it takes nearly 1.5 years for new J-class to be refitted (hence investment), but only 0.4 months to get rid of unwanted F-class cabin? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Anyways, as for original question, there is no way HKG-YVR is served by an aircraft without F-cabin. It's one of the most premium route, and my guess is that they will deploy A346 or another 744 in this route.

[This message has been edited by fakecd (edited Nov 23, 2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B-HXB:
The September issue of CX World cited that all 15 A340-300s would have the First Class cabin removed, changing into a 2-class configuration. The refit will start in April 2004 and is expected to be completed by August 2004.

The article specifically mentioned Rome, Amsterdam and Toronto as 'thin' routes where front-end demand is low and back-end demand high, suggesting that these routes will definitely get the F chop if any sort of 343-reconfiguration plan is in fact implemented.

Assuming that the original plan is stuck to, and as much as I'd like that not to happen, a 343 July F service seems unlikely, and a September one even more so. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by B-HXB (edited Nov 23, 2003).]</font>


Thanks for this info. I'm booked in F, but it is the new 346 out of LAX, so I guess I'm safe.

What are they going to do with the first class seats which are taken off from the A340? Are they going to sell them or put them in the used 747-400 which they just bought from BA?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fakecd:

Anyways, as for original question, there is no way HKG-YVR is served by an aircraft without F-cabin. It's one of the most premium route, and my guess is that they will deploy A346 or another 744 in this route.
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I think this is a very sound conclusion

Speaking of which, CX will decrease its 744 fleet by one (or 2) in 2005 when it will convert its oldest 747-400(s) on its fleet into a frieghter aircraft... according to Flight International.

Sorry no link.. but I subscribe to the magazine.

Perhaps CX's looking into possible fleet of 777-LR/ER to replace the A340? SQ are phasing out their 744 and introducing 777 which are more reliable and far more cost effective. In a long term, we might see 777 flying to YVR! (since loads might not warrant double 744)

Well, I am not surprised if the daytime YVR-HKG flight has the two class A340 service. In the past, F is full on CX 839 only during peak holiday seasons, but on low season, it is relatively empty.

But the good news is that CX is going to lease 15 Boeing 747-400s from BA in order to cover the future growth... CX is still not sure what to pick as its future long haul fleet... But some of the new leased Boeing 747-400 will be passenger version... so I assume that YVR will possibly get a second Boeing 747-400 service. A340s will concentrate on the thin routes like AMS, FCO, AKL, and YYZ, and used to explore other thinner long haul routes.

LAX flights are definitely not getting the new 2-class A340... Premium traffic is very healthy on this particular route.

Carfield

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Carfield:


LAX flights are definitely not getting the new 2-class A340... Premium traffic is very healthy on this particular route.

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Healthy on SFO as well - often hard to get seats

Early December 3 of us are trying to fly SFO-HKG and we need to go via LAX since we can not get 3 seats out of SFO (F not A)

It seems that CARFIELD and B WATSON disagree as to whether the YVR-HKG day flight will have first class . It is presently a Airbus 340. Will aircraft be switched to 340-600 or indeed will the service only be Business and Coach on this daytime YVR flight??

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RTW4:
It seems that CARFIELD and B WATSON disagree as to whether the YVR-HKG day flight will have first class . It is presently a Airbus 340. Will aircraft be switched to 340-600 or indeed will the service only be Business and Coach on this daytime YVR flight??</font>

Don't get too stressed out just yet. We're talking about the flight half a year later! The CX schedule is not up to date, so don't trust their "equipment" info just yet.

Besides, you will be fully informed by CX if F-cabin isn't available prior to your departure. You can easily switch to the midnight flight if indeed they remove F-service from afternoon.

We're scheduled on Hong Kong - Johanesburg next April 15 in First. And return in May. From what this thread is saying it looks like we're out of luck. What will they do to people like us who already cashed in the miles for First Class on this trip but get downgraded to Business? Getting the miles back and trying to rebook isn't possible since this award has been withdrawn ( U.S. to JNB via CX ). Paid tickets get a partial refund, I guess, but how can you do a partial "refund" on an award ticket?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mileageslave:
We're scheduled on Hong Kong - Johanesburg next April 15 in First. And return in May. From what this thread is saying it looks like we're out of luck. What will they do to people like us who already cashed in the miles for First Class on this trip but get downgraded to Business? Getting the miles back and trying to rebook isn't possible since this award has been withdrawn ( U.S. to JNB via CX ). Paid tickets get a partial refund, I guess, but how can you do a partial "refund" on an award ticket?</font>

Worry about it when it happens. However, note that the aircraft start going into the hangar for F removal from April 2004. If your flight is in April, it is highly likely that CX will be still selling it as a 3-class service, as there won't be any 2-class A340s in service yet.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mileageslave:
We're scheduled on Hong Kong - Johanesburg next April 15 in First. And return in May. From what this thread is saying it looks like we're out of luck. What will they do to people like us who already cashed in the miles for First Class on this trip but get downgraded to Business? Getting the miles back and trying to rebook isn't possible since this award has been withdrawn ( U.S. to JNB via CX ). Paid tickets get a partial refund, I guess, but how can you do a partial "refund" on an award ticket?</font>


If you're flying out of SFO, it's a 744 both ways, and if it's out of LAX, then it the new 346 or 744. Nobody here is talking about these planes. So far the one that was mentioned in the article is the 343.

BTW - I'm doing the same trip this Feb. with a return in March. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I've got 1A for the 4 segments. LAX-HKG on the 346 and HKG-JNB on the 744.

Can't wait!!!

JNB is served by an A340-300 during the Southern Hemisphere winter.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B-HXB:
JNB is served by an A340-300 during the Southern Hemisphere winter.</font>

I did not know that.
Anyway, I would like to know as well as to what if any compensation should he expect if that happens?



[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited Nov 25, 2003).]

Maybe they will protect you the same way they would if they cancelled the flight altogether and you already had a ticket: put you on a flight on another airline (that still offers the class of service on your ticket). Maybe South African Airways JNB-HKG? We're hoping nothing will happen by next April-May on this route and we'll be able to avoid this complication altogether.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by andrzej:
I did not know that.
Anyway, I would like to know as well as to what if any compensation should he expect if that happens?</font>Zero. The award provides for dropping the class of service without compensation in the fine print, and all airlines take full advantage of that rule. They won't reroute you on another carrier, and usually won't bump pax for you (at least that is how it worked the one time it happenend to me, albeit not on CX). It is one of the risks in getting awards far ahead of time (lots of routes are losing F service these days). I can confirm that all A340 are being converted to 2 class, but not sure when that will be completed (probably June 2004).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
I can confirm that all A340 are being converted to 2 class, but not sure when that will be completed (probably June 2004).

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Is that based on newer information since the CX World article in the September issue? As mentioned earlier, that had the timetable for refitting commencing in April 2004 and finishing in August.

I really don't know what to say...

This case is really tricky... About YVR to HKG, I am not that much worried about it -- I am sure that either Boeing 747 or an Airbus A340-600 will do the summer runs (at least, this year A346 runs on the HKG-YVR route till the end of September). But HKG to JNB -- that is a tricky situation. One thing for sure is that they will not put on on SAA flight (even SAA runs some A340-300 subs on this flight)... Also JNB does not seem to have that premium traffic load -- SQ has converted the JNB routes with all two class Boeing 777ERs. So it is hard to spectulate...

Maybe you want to postpone the trip till November, when the high season is here and the JNB flights will most likely be run by the larger Boeing 747s...

For now, you can check on it daily... , but new schedule will not likely come out till Jan next year...

Carfield

PS. Also it depends if CX will confirm the leasing of BA's 15 (or 14) Boeing 747-400s, the delivery schedule, and how many of them will be used for pax, and how many will be used for cargo?