Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Need Help with Upgrade

I'm attempting to upgrade using AsiaMiles on a NRT-HKG-KUL-HKG-NRT run. It will cost 45,000 miles. I've been confirmed on all except the NRT-HKG leg, and my upgrade booking expires in 4 days. An AsiaMiles agent tells me that if that leg doesn't clear by then, my entire upgrade booking will be cancelled automatically. She also told me that if I can only upgrade on the remaining three legs, the cost will be 55,000 miles (since it's one roundtrip and one one-way upgrade).

So, some questions:

- Any advice on getting upgrade inventory opened up for the leg I'm waitlisted for?
(ITN.NET shows J9 C9 and over half the seats unclaimed)

- Any way to receive a voucher for the unupgraded leg and try at the airport?

- Any way to convince AsiaMiles to upgrade the other three legs for the original 45,000 miles instead of 55,000?

I assume your ticket doesn't allow for date changes.

One of the only two ways I can think of is to have a full fare ticket issued on the same route on the day where upgrade space is available.

You can then ask AsiaMiles to issue the MCO vouchers and send them to you. Cancel the full fare ticket for a refund. You may have to pay a nominal penalty fee for the refund.

Use the vouchers for your original ticket. For NRT-HKG, since you are holding an upgrade voucher, you can ask CX to put you on a waitlist until the last minute at the airport.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Chiangi:
I assume your ticket doesn't allow for date changes.

One of the only two ways I can think of is to have a full fare ticket issued on the same route on the day where upgrade space is available.

You can then ask AsiaMiles to issue the MCO vouchers and send them to you. Cancel the full fare ticket for a refund. You may have to pay a nominal penalty fee for the refund.

Use the vouchers for your original ticket. For NRT-HKG, since you are holding an upgrade voucher, you can ask CX to put you on a waitlist until the last minute at the airport.</font>

Hmmm... actually, I'm booked in "B" so I believe the ticket is changable. So you're suggesting that I change my flight to one with upgrade availability, have the upgrade vouchers issued, and then change it back?

No. Issue the MCO upgrade voucher as though you have confirmed upgrades all the way through. Tell Asiamiles that you will 'risk' it as long as they hold the waitlist for you right to day of departure. They cannot NOT say that all dates must be confirmed before they issue the voucher.

Waitlists can be tricky depending on load factors and dates. But generally, CX will clear the waitlist as short as a week to a couple of days prior departure.

Guy Betsy: THANK YOU!

I was able to read your message literally moments before the forums went offline.

It took several calls before I was able to find an AsiaMiles Agent willing to do what you suggested, but I finally succeeded. I now have a confirmed upgrade for the same flight one day later than my booked flight, and they are holding me on the upgrade waitlist for my booked flight (which still has plenty of Biz seats available). The vouchers have been issued & mailed, although I haven't received them yet.

There is one catch, though: If I don't use my first upgrade certificate, the other three upgrade bookings will be cancelled, and I may not be able to use ANY of
the upgrade certificates.

Edited to say:
Upgrade MCO just arrived via Airborne Express.