Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - CX Left me behind!

Well after all the great info. you guys gave me last week I was all ready to fly CX J to HKG then on to TPE and KIX. Well when I got to the airport to pick up my tickets from American I was informed that some how my reservation had canceled out. So they restored it and sent me on my way to TBIT to check in with Cathay. Well the agent at Cathay informed me I no longer had a booking and would have to go stand by. No worries I though I am on a full J ticket and OW Saphire. I was then directed to the AA codeshare agent working the flight he said things didnt look good at all. The first flight ( I was on 881 ) was oversold and weight restricted and my flight was also weight restricted. So I started to get a bit nervous.
Well as they began clearing passengers I was about the last one called I was told sorry only seats left are center row middle but you will have one seat next to you open. I could not believe it had the flight filled this quickly?! I questioned it again and said wait I am on a J class ticket and saphire isnt there anything else. NO! Hurry up I was told other people want your seat. So I aasked would I get a difference in fare. NO! But they would let me use the lounge in LA. Yeah that gonna make my flight better! So I said no and declined the seat the agent said you know you should have told us this before. I didnt know I was gonna get a coach seat instead of what I paid for! The people at CX were in my mind very rude. This really left me not to happy the AA agent said oh dont worry you can take the nonstop JAL flight to KIX not the point I wanted to try CX and wanted the extra elite OW miles. I ended up flying on Korean Air, who actually upgraded me as I am Elite Plus (AF Rouge.)
All in all not a good day for me . Don't thnk I will be flying CX anytime soon. On the other had AA offered me a $200 voucher for the inconvience. I really didnt care just wanted to vent to them they said oh well for you loyalty to Aadvantage and American. I also sent a message to CX and they have said nothing, I am not expecting anything but a simple explanation would be nice. Of course in LAX both airlines pointed the finger at each other. Go figure!

My feeling is that you were on the receiving end of the AA/CX El Shafto (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188608) dance. Raise a stink, see what you get. I got picas/bupkus.

My reading of what you have written is that AA stuffed up. I don't see what exactly you expect CX to do when you turn up an hour or two before a flight that is already fully booked. The only way you could have flown would have been if someone else was kicked out so what makes you think you have the right to do that? Even as a CX Diamond I have to give them 24 hours notice to do that, and only then (in J) on a full fare ticket.

Take this up with AA (assuming that is who you made your reservation with).

Okay .. all this is a little vague...

You booked on CX but AA issued your ticket? Was it AA codeshared? Why was the reservation cancelled? Who cancelled your reservation? If it's a CX flight number and no ticket number is on the PNR within about a week prior departure, CX will automatically cancel the reservation. If AA booked this, they should have known about this as CX's CRS would have sent a message to AA.

If your reservation had been cancelled, AA would not have been able to reinstate your reservation so close to flight time. CX's CRS closes out all reservation bookings within 10-12 hours of departure and no new bookings are at all possible. If they're booked on the AA codeshare, well, there might be a booking on AA, but as far as CX is concerned, you don't exist as there isn't enough time to generate a confirmed message to CX. CX ,would have by that time you checked in, already processed upgrades if any, on their flights and well, you lucked out as I'm sure you would have been considered for an op-up especially if you're on a full J ticket.

You could have gone on JL , you know... on an AA codeshared number and earn the extra Plat miles. But glad you got your KE flight in the end. So what did AA do in the end? Endorse your ticket over to KE or you refunded that ticket and bought a new one with KE at the airport?

Ok the ticket was on CX flight issued by AA through AA.com.Not a codeshare. I booked the ticket 3 days prior and when I tried to e-tkt the ticket was told I had to have it issued as a paper ticket. So I called the morning before my flight Friday morning, and asked if I needed to purchase the ticket by a certain time. I would have gone to SNA to do so. The response was no be at the airport by 11pm to ticket it. So I arrived about 2130 ro so and found out it had been canceled about 2010 four hours before departure. I understad the CX CRS but I dont think AA does or AA does not know how to make it work with their system. The whle thing with the JAL flight was this I wanted to get the maximum amount of miles and this was the way to do it LAX-TPE-KIX as opposed to LAX-KIX. As AA did not want to authorize the ticket to them for some reason or another.
Now christep I think you have mistook what I was saying about CX. My beef with CX was how incredibly rude they were. The way I was spoken to by both the Agent and the supervisor of CX was as though it was my fault.
The thing I want to know is how CX clears stand-bys. I was told by the AA agent I was the highest elite on the list however I was pretty far down as far as being cleared. Most of the passengers were Economy. Not sure if from the previous flight or not.

I'm pretty sure MPO members have priority standby clearance, which would suggest that should extend to oneworld elite as well.

Is there ANYTHING good about CX's operations from LAX, incidentally? The indications I have been getting from threads seem to be surly and incompetent ground staff, a higher risk of getting an unhappy cabin crew (I understand LAX is the most hated longhaul on the network, although maybe now that is second to the JFK nonstop), a potential risk of a refuelling stop on the way home and a miserable terminal.

Makes me think that perhaps AKL isn't that bad after all. :cool:

My beef with CX was how incredibly rude they were. The way I was spoken to by both the Agent and the supervisor of CX was as though it was my fault.
My experiences with CX ground staff:
Best: YVR ^
Worst: LAX :td:

Sorry to hear that you also had to bear the brunt of this ignorance. Had to put up w/ this type of attitude from the ground staff at LAX myself couple days ago although mines was about luggage instead of ticketing if you read my report from the previous thread. Most important thing is that I hope you don't take this unfortunate experience and use it as a tool to judge that every CX staff is like the ones you saw because the majority I encountered outside of LAX were pleasant to deal with. Will be flying back home tomorrow myself via CX872 to SFO after fixing my schedule instead of CX882 ($150USD change in itineary was worth every single penny). So at least no more LAX circus for me Yea!!

Now that the facts are up, there are more than just two sides of the story.

So it was AA's fault for booking your reservation but unable to issue it as an e-ticket which is STRANGE since AA has previously boasted that it can now offer e-ticketing with almost all of its airline partners. So as far as CX is concerned, no ticket number on reservation irrespective of who booked it, CX will cancel the reservation.

If you were on a full J ticket, then AA would have no problem having it reissued to JL or AA codeshare. Unless the fare was different and AA didn't want to pay the extra amounts. Which is strange..

In any case, I personally would come to the defence of CX staffing at LAX. I was treated with poise and courtesy by all check-in staff, senior managers and including the station manager when I last flew on CX at LAX in Feb this year. I had an AA ticket on BR from LAX-TPE and CX from TPE-HKG... and CX said that they would accept the ticket and fly me straight to HKG instead (which was what I had wanted in the first place). They were all polite and courteous.

Maybe it's a difference when one checks in 3 hours prior to departure to one that arrives at the counter just when the flight is about to close. CX closes the check-in process 40 minutes prior to departure. If a flight is already full in the premium classes, well, there is nothing they can do.

I'm sure you might have been a bit *vocal* to at least say something like "What do you mean I am not on the flight?"... well, the scenario can escalate from there... "I'm sorry sir, you are not booked on the flight and all First and Business classes are now full. Only economy class seats are left.." Well, you get the picture. If I was in your situation, I would certainly would have reacted the same way...

With the flight closing, CX would most likely have asked you to make up your mind fast or risk being left behind as other people are in line for your seat.

I'd personally take the matter up with AA as they basically screwed up. They CAN issue an e-ticket with CX.

Ok the ticket was on CX flight issued by AA through AA.com.Not a codeshare. I booked the ticket 3 days prior and when I tried to e-tkt the ticket was told I had to have it issued as a paper ticket.

There is something fishy here. If you buy tickets on short notice these days, with AA or CX, they usually REFUSE to give you a paper ticket. Could it have been a discounted special fare? Either that or AA screwed up big time.

As for ground staff attitude: i have started to disassociate ground staff from the airline they are working for. Most ground staff these days have no affiliation with an airline other than wearing their uniforms (I am not saying you did not deal with an CX employee, I don't know that for sure. Just last week I had beef with a rude BA check-in agent in Munich. When I asked for her supervisor, a woman from Munich Airport Services appeared, turned out the BA check-in agent worked for Munich airport.)

There is something fishy here. If you buy tickets on short notice these days, with AA or CX, they usually REFUSE to give you a paper ticket. Could it have been a discounted special fare? Either that or AA screwed up big time.


Not usually the case.....a month ago I had to leave for TPE on short notice, basically bought the AA codeshare on CX 873/872 as AA6117/6118 the morning on the day of departure. I bought the ticket on AA.com, used my CC and all, following normal procedures. The only ticketing option left for me was to "Ticket at Airport" which I did about 4 hours prior at SFO, before making my way to the international terminal.

I even have award tickets on e-ticket with CX issued by AA, but in this case, when you are purchasing on short notice, your ticketing options is only limited to paper ticketing at airport. I think this is what pertains to the OP in this case.....

I bought the ticket on AA.com, used my CC and all, following normal procedures. The only ticketing option left for me was to "Ticket at Airport" which I did about 4 hours prior at SFO, before making my way to the international terminal.


Same thing in my case as well. Did exactly that and had to ticket at airport. Apperintly some airports are net set up for electronic ticketing was the response I got from AA. Ex:I had a paper ticket this last week with MH on the way back from TPE. MH usually can E-tkt but TPE is not set up for that in there system.

[QUOTE=Guy Betsy]

I'm sure you might have been a bit *vocal* to at least say something like "What do you mean I am not on the flight?"... well, the scenario can escalate from there... "I'm sorry sir, you are not booked on the flight and all First and Business classes are now full. Only economy class seats are left.." Well, you get the picture. If I was in your situation, I would certainly would have reacted the same way...
QUOTE]

Sounds like your treatment by CX in LAX is 1 in a million here. As for being vocal, no I don't think I was at that point I was already seeing the pieces fall togeather and getting KE set up. I was glad not to give CX my money in the long run. Besides what does being *vocal* get you these days? Nothing, except problems from security. I wasnt about to lower my self to the level of the CX staff in LAX.

[QUOTE=jkc22]I bought the ticket on AA.com, used my CC and all, following normal procedures. The only ticketing option left for me was to "Ticket at Airport" which I did about 4 hours prior at SFO, before making my way to the international terminal.
QUOTE]

Same thing in my case as well. Did exactly that and had to ticket at airport. Apperintly some airports are net set up for electronic ticketing was the response I got from AA. Ex:I had a paper ticket this last week with MH on the way back from TPE. MH usually can E-tkt but TPE is not set up for that in there system.

Airports have nothing to do with ticketing issues. CX is a partner with AA and hence they should have been able to issue an e-ticket. It doesn't make a difference to the ticketing command on AA's computer, if an e-option is not available, AA would not be able to issue any CX tickets as e-tickets at all. The ticket at airport option is given probably to non-US creditcard holders or that your AAdvantage account is not in the US.

MH (Malaysia Airlines) for example has no e-ticketing agreement with AA and hence that would have been a paper ticket. If you had issued directly with MH, they would have been to offer you an e-ticket.

Though AA.com may be a great website for some, it sometimes may be better to go through the services of a T/A and avoid situations like that mentioned above.

Pity that you didn't get to try CX. Perhaps next time in a more pleasant environment.

And the problem is solved!!!!!
A call to my cx contacts in TPE revealed that AA flights to TPE still don't work with e-tickets because of a computer quirk. The US-TPE segment is not a problem, but apparently AA and CX computers don't talk to each other from a TPE terminal, (quote "AA software too old") and CX check-in TPE has no way of accessing a AA-issued e-ticket. I was assured they are working on it.

So much for onewold. Still a lot left to do.

Pity that you didn't get to try CX. Perhaps next time in a more pleasant environment.

Agree with Guy Betsy. No offence to KE, but once you step onboard a CX metal, you may never want to fly KE again. Next time try some other gateway other than LAX (e.g. SFO or YVR) and I'm confident that you are likely to be in that "More Pleasant Environment" :D