Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Is the apollo/sabre/reservation systems realtime

Just wondering how up to date these systems actually are?

I was on a LAX-HKG flight (purchased Y) last friday night and upon checking the Apollo system on the day of the flight it read as F4 J7 Y0...as I was looking to do an on-departure upgrade for myself and my wife. Upon checkin they actually told me that J was overbooked by 2 (in addition to Y being overbooked). Do they normally change that much on the day of the flight?

Incidentally, my wife and I both got into J because I offered to use my points if we could both get upgraded and effectively giving up my likely op-up but leaving my wife in the Y cabin!

Generally those CRS system as I understand it is Real time. But airlines like to hold back inventory or not disclosing the REAL inventory.
Just out of curiosity, what were the numbers of C/D and I Class. I think it would've being close to 0 judging from what you typed there.

Also as J = 7 (and not 9) it is likely that they did overbook J by 2??

But these are only my speculations, so feel free to comment on this.

Just one questions on your Miles On Departure Upgrade. How long did it took them to process it? Did you actually ask them will they Op-Up you so that it will cost you less miles just to Op-Up your wife?

I presume your Miles On Dept Upgrade = one way only?

Generally those CRS system as I understand it is Real time. But airlines like to hold back inventory or not disclosing the REAL inventory.
Just out of curiosity, what were the numbers of C/D and I Class. I think it would've being close to 0 judging from what you typed there.

Also as J = 7 (and not 9) it is likely that they did overbook J by 2??

But these are only my speculations, so feel free to comment on this.

Just one questions on your Miles On Departure Upgrade. How long did it took them to process it? Did you actually ask them will they Op-Up you so that it will cost you less miles just to Op-Up your wife?

I presume your Miles On Dept Upgrade = one way only?

C4, I0, D0.

Yes, upgrade was one-way. With the new e-upgrade policy effective on the day I travelled (1st Oct), there was no paperwork involved - I simply asked at the checkin counter what the status of the flight was like in terms of capacity and then asked if I could be given priority in upgrading to J if available since I was willing to use my miles. The actual upgrades itself were not confirmed until I reached the gate about 45 mins before departure. In terms of the op-up, I got the distinctive impression that coz of J being overbooked if I went along that strategy and waited to see if they would op-up me, it was most likely that my wife would not get the upgrade and I didn't want to risk that.

Does anyone know the unofficial policy on this? If op-ups are required, is someone willing to use their points ahead of someone with status?

Oh, so did they deduct the points? because normally they would confirm the upgrade at the desk and NOT at the gate?

So when you ask them about the capacity, did the agent actually tell you to save your points and opup you?
I would've thought you should only use the miles for your wife and not yourself?

Did you get lounge access?

I don't know the OP's status, but if you showed up at the counter and they didn't tell you that you've already been op-up, my guess is that you wouldn't have got the op-up anyways. In such over-booked flight, I presume the "lucky selection" is done well in advance. If you've already been upraded, they should have told you so, and you could simply offer miles for your wife.

So I guess you didn't loose out eitherway.

Gambler,

Sorry I didn't read your status when I typed the msg. Given your Diamond Status, it seems that they really didn't treat you that well.
But i guess it is an Outport and the TBIT jungle can be a bit ....

Anyway, hoped you had a good flight.

Also would you ming letting us know how was the catering on that flight? Has it improved?

I don't know the OP's status, but if you showed up at the counter and they didn't tell you that you've already been op-up, my guess is that you wouldn't have got the op-up anyways. In such over-booked flight, I presume the "lucky selection" is done well in advance. If you've already been upraded, they should have told you so, and you could simply offer miles for your wife.

So I guess you didn't loose out eitherway.

I checked in literally when the counters opened (about 4.5hrs before departure) as I was early connecting from an AA flight. Because J itself was overbooked no op-ups were confirmed until much later. I would've had a good shot of being one of the op-ups but because the number of available seats in J were gonna be quite few I spoke to the flight controller and offered to use my miles to upgrade both myself and my wife if we were given priority. Some of you may've thought I'd done the wrong thing and should've just assumed I would've gotten one of the op-ups being Diamond and just used miles to upgrade my wife but on this occasion I didn't want to take that chance.

Most of the op-ups occurred at the gate itself - I saw 4 op-ups from J to F (1 Diamond and 3 QF Emeralds). Actually, a TVB B-list star (HK's main TV channel) was asking at the gate whether she had gotten an upgrade. Supposedly she claimed she was booked in J but only holding a confirmed Y boarding pass - she didn't make it into J.

Gambler,
Anyway, hoped you had a good flight.

Also would you ming letting us know how was the catering on that flight? Has it improved?

The catering was poor - probably even worse than on a regional short haul J flight. Appetizer was simply that green salad. Choice of 3 mains (none particularly appealing) and 2 light snacks. Breakfast was as standard.

The service on this flight was also not up to the usual CX standard. ISM did not introduce herself to anyone on the lower deck of business class (can't speak for F or the upper deck). The crew seemed hurried (maybe due to the flight being completely full in all 3 classes) and not as attentive as usual. Even my wife noticed the big difference in service from our outbound flight and she doesn't even fly CX J that often.

The catering was poor - probably even worse than on a regional short haul J flight. Appetizer was simply that green salad. Choice of 3 mains (none particularly appealing) and 2 light snacks. Breakfast was as standard.

The service on this flight was also not up to the usual CX standard. ISM did not introduce herself to anyone on the lower deck of business class (can't speak for F or the upper deck). The crew seemed hurried (maybe due to the flight being completely full in all 3 classes) and not as attentive as usual. Even my wife noticed the big difference in service from our outbound flight and she doesn't even fly CX J that often.

I've noticed this as well on my last 4 flights in J/F out of LAX. Different crews on each one, and the service while better than you average American carrier, such as AA, was definitely not up to CX's usual standard. The best that I can describe it as "blah." My CX flights either intra Asia or HKG-LAX meanwhile have had excellent service.