Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Am I going to get on this flight?

I have a question regarding the booking policies for Cathay. I am a regular flyer on American and my wife and I are OW Sapphires that will be making our first trip (or so we think) on Cathay at the end of the month from LAX-HKG-DPS and return.

I called a travel agent recommended from FT to book our tickets in H-class so we could earn AAdvanatge miles. I thought everything went smoothly, the agent confirmed our space on the flight and I faxed in our credit card information for payment.

When I called Cathay a day later to move our seating I was told that our seats were confirmed, but not ticketed. It seems that 1 of our 4 legs (HKG-DPS) was being waitlisted for H class. There were no H-class seats available.

The Cathay rep was very nice and said she would try to "push" us through last night but that the HKG office held the seats and they would have to put us on.

Not being familiar with the way Cathay works I really don't know where we stand right now. We are supposed to be leaving in two weeks and I need to book our connecting flights from DFW-LAX. No one at Cathay or my travel agent seemed concerned, but I sure am after looking at the availability readout from ITN. Cabin class: J9 C9 D9 I0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0


Is it likely that we are going to get on this flight?

in my experience.. if it reads Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 for economy.. it means that Y is overbook.. and the possibility to get into the flight will be quite low.. however... CX ussually upgrade Y passengers to J when the flight is overbook.. so you might still have a chance..

I got a bit more information on what is happening. Evidently the rest of my segments are booked in H-Class and the only class that was available on the HKG-DPS segment was K-Class, which is cheaper but doesn't earn AA miles. They are waitlisting me to try and get Cathay to accept the H-class fare and let me accumulate miles on that one segment.

At least that is how I understand it.

Yes, if you paid for H class, you therefore would expect to be booked in H class. Do not accept a ticket even if one segment is booked in K class. That segment will not earn miles on AAdvantage.

Pity CX in HKG doesn't understand that K class does not earn AAdvantage miles. They seem to think they're doing you a favour as K class is a higher yield booking class and think that CX in HKG will most likely confirm this over H.

in my experience.. if it reads Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 for economy.. it means that Y is overbook.. and the possibility to get into the flight will be quite low.. however... CX ussually upgrade Y passengers to J when the flight is overbook.. so you might still have a chance..

They must still be confirmed first, before they can be upgraded due to oversold situation. They cannot standby at the airport for this.

Thanks everyone. Guy, I was kind of in a pinch. We were not flexible at all with our travel dates and the only coach fares that were available on that one segment was K-class. I was willing to sacrifice those 2k miles because it meant doing that or not going at all.

What I didn't understand was why they could confirm me on a "cheaper" fare on one segment and force me to pay H fare for the whole thing.

Finally last night I got a hold of someone at Cathay who had the authority to push the fare through. She pulled up the reservation and immediately said "Because of your Sapphire status we will change that one segment of K-class to H-class"

I am still confused as to how they could sell out of the more expensive coach fare first.

At least it looks like my chances of an Op-Up on the HKG-DPS and DPS-HKG portions just increased with both coach cabins completely full. It is either going to a nice suprise or a crowded 5 hour flight. :)

Thanks everyone. Guy, I was kind of in a pinch. We were not flexible at all with our travel dates and the only coach fares that were available on that one segment was K-class. I was willing to sacrifice those 2k miles because it meant doing that or not going at all.

What I didn't understand was why they could confirm me on a "cheaper" fare on one segment and force me to pay H fare for the whole thing.

Finally last night I got a hold of someone at Cathay who had the authority to push the fare through. She pulled up the reservation and immediately said "Because of your Sapphire status we will change that one segment of K-class to H-class"

I am still confused as to how they could sell out of the more expensive coach fare first.

At least it looks like my chances of an Op-Up on the HKG-DPS and DPS-HKG portions just increased with both coach cabins completely full. It is either going to a nice suprise or a crowded 5 hour flight. :)

Don't even contemplate of thinking ...

I've been a TA for over 16 years and the way airlines change their minds can make me pull all my hair out (and I've not much left). You see, if you purchase a published fare from USA , CX can only offer you H class as per AAdvantage rules. Although CX also sells fares in L , M and K class, and although cheaper than H class, (Yes, you read right, K is cheaper than H in North America)... you don't earn AA miles. So they have no choice but to switch you to H.

Effective in the airline ticketing world, as long as the majority part of the ticket is in H class, even if one segment is in another lower fare class,the higher fare rules apply. But since CX doesn't limit the fares to just H and K, it's just what sells...

There aren't many H class fares in Asia. They're usually , M, V, L and K.
K being the higher fare class basis usually. But remember, not from the USA they're not.