Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Seat selection prior to flight

Sorry for the newbie questions (new to CX).

Is there any way to get a seat assignment online prior to departure? If not, can this be done by phone - or is it best to show up early at the airport?
Is there any way to determine the aircraft that will be flown on a particular flight (ie, a 2 class vs 3 class Airbus)? 3 of the 4 aircraft could be either/or
Does the "Class" or the "Fare Basis" indicate mileage earning? I'm on Q class, but have BLEE6M fare basis.

I'm an AA guy, so I'm trying to get used to this new world quickly.

ICN-HKG-LHR (and back) March 3-14

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

You can get advance seat reservation by phone but only if either you have Marco Polo Elite status OR you are booked in first, business, or high subclasses (YB from memory, perhaps H) of economy. Not in Q class I'm afraid.

If you had MarcoPolo membership (even non-Elite) then you could check in online and select your seat at that point - up to 48 hours before departure.

The Q class is the one that determines mileage-earning, and it determines that you get none in either AA (for which you would need to be in YB or H) or Asiamiles/MarcoPolo (YBHKLMV).

HKG-LHR is always 3-class. Using an avaiability tool for your flight dates will almost always give you enough information to determine the aircraft type. Try http://flyaow.com/classcwt.htm

...

I'm an AA guy, so I'm trying to get used to this new world quickly.

ICN-HKG-LHR (and back) March 3-14

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

On CX Q class, you don't get miles on ANY frequent flyer programme. You may join the Marco Polo Club for $50 and you can do your seat selection and online check-in (after having had added your new FFP number to the reservation) but you will still not earn miles as Q class is a non earning booking class on CX.

Thanks for the help. I guess those were the answers I was expecting (dreading), but oh well.

Appreciate the info.

Extra

No, you don't need to hold elite status within the Marco Polo Club (or even Asia Miles for that matter) to reserve seats, as long as you bought those tickets via the cathay pacific website or with your local TA.

So I hope these are not the answers you are "dreading".

Here is CX's Policy on ASR as distributed to TAs through cxagents.com. It is absolutely clear that a passenger booking a ticket through a TA in Q with no OneWorld status or MPC membership DOES NOT in general have access to ASR.

dvance Seat Reservation
Last Update: 29MAR05

Advance Seat Reservation (ASR) is a passenger service that enables
you to reserve a specific seat for your passenger at the time of booking
within the ASR zones. This can be done up to 180 days before flight
departure and until flight departure control takes over. The reserved seat
will be guaranteed until 60 minutes before departure on most of Cathay
Pacific flights.

If you have made an ASR on behalf of your customer please advise them to
check-in at least 60 minutes prior to flight departure. When failing to do so,
their ASR may be released to other passengers.

Eligible Passengers

* All First and Business class passengers
* Bassinet seat of Business & Economy class on request only
* Marco-Polo Club members in Economy class
* Spouse and children of Marco-Polo Club in Economy class
* A maximum of 4 guest travelling together with a Marco Polo Club member in Economy class
* oneworld top-tier members, i.e., Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby Card members.
* Passengers travelling with small children and/or infant in Economy class
* Invalids and pax need special assistance except Unaccompanied Minor (UM)
* Passengers of Y and B subclasses
* Passengers of H, K, M, L and V subclasses are eligible for ASR subject to seat in available ASR zone are open.
* Applicable to Joint Services except HKG/SGN v.v. where members, their spouses, children and max 4 companions.
by class/category of passengers if the flight is operate by VN flights.
* Advance Seat Reservations not applicable to codeshare flights.
* For seat not accept interactive ASR, please send the request by SSR oths with -NN- status

Sorry for the newbie questions (new to CX).

Is there any way to get a seat assignment online prior to departure? If not, can this be done by phone - or is it best to show up early at the airport?
Is there any way to determine the aircraft that will be flown on a particular flight (ie, a 2 class vs 3 class Airbus)? 3 of the 4 aircraft could be either/or
Does the "Class" or the "Fare Basis" indicate mileage earning? I'm on Q class, but have BLEE6M fare basis.

I'm an AA guy, so I'm trying to get used to this new world quickly.

ICN-HKG-LHR (and back) March 3-14

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

just call CX. i just took my first flight on CX (much better service than AA) and was able to reserve seats for myself and my wife on all CX flights. i'm not AA plt or any elite either. I was flying CX coach.

I'm an AA guy, so I'm trying to get used to this new world quickly.

Are you Gold or higher on AA? If so, you may get taken care of. I didn't say a word and got the best seats in Economy on every flight LAX - HKG - PEK...PEK - HGK - LAX last Nov.

Of course showing up early with a nice smile and attitude probably won't hurt either...

Is there any recommended point of contact to make ASR for a OW xONEx ticket regarding the CX flights, or will any office/desk do just fine?

Is there any recommended point of contact to make ASR for a OW xONEx ticket regarding the CX flights, or will any office/desk do just fine?

For my AONE4 in May 2006 (E-ticket by BA) I sent an e-mail to the local CX-office (Frankfurt/Germany for Switzerland) and they did it (I got a reply from them with my seats only 10 minutes after sending my request by mail ^ ). Your local CX-office should be able to do it.