Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Is there a "common sense" dept at CX???

Yes, me again, with the same old gripe - apologies if it's wearing a bit thin. :rolleyes:

The flight I have booked from HKG-LHR in early Jan on a new-fit 747 is now sold out in J. The flight an hour earlier (old J) is looking pretty open, just sadly not in the I fare bucket we booked, but surely it makes sense for a request to shift our party onto the earlier flight to at least get some attention?

So far I'm having no luck with CRS in LON or customer service in HKG. Would it be worth trying to contact yield control or someone else in HKG to see if they would listen?

Thanks (and please avoid the flamings - I provide a decent amount of worthwhile stuff on FT so some pay-back on this issue would be appreciated).

Perhaps I fare is not available (of course, or sold out) on the earlier flight. Airlines put restrictions on D/I fare to be fair to the J/C passengers.

Would you be able to waitlist for the earlier flight? Is your ticketed restricted for a certain flight (date and flight number) or certain flight numbers?

there's no guarantee that the earlier flight wouldn't change to the 74A come january though

Yes, me again, with the same old gripe - apologies if it's wearing a bit thin. :rolleyes:

The flight I have booked from HKG-LHR in early Jan on a new-fit 747 is now sold out in J. The flight an hour earlier (old J) is looking pretty open, just sadly not in the I fare bucket we booked, but surely it makes sense for a request to shift our party onto the earlier flight to at least get some attention?

So far I'm having no luck with CRS in LON or customer service in HKG. Would it be worth trying to contact yield control or someone else in HKG to see if they would listen?

Thanks (and please avoid the flamings - I provide a decent amount of worthwhile stuff on FT so some pay-back on this issue would be appreciated).


I really think you should just bite the bullet and travel on the 74A. Really no matter how much you rant it is fact already.

251 is a premium flight and even for us DMs CX won't open I Class for us.

I agree with rtwdone4.

1. Early January is a peak season for students to go back to school and I can tell you that there are a lot of students studying in the UK
2. Y has been zeroed out for many days in Jan, and this will be the case with F and J as well, eventually.
3. How many pax are travelling and what status do you hold?

It's already zeroed out? that might actually be good news as they MAY change the 74A to 747 to have for J seats. It happened to me yesterday when I left London. J was overbooked and F was full. Not sure if that was the main reason tho. Fingers crossed!

It's already zeroed out? that might actually be good news as they MAY change the 74A to 747 to have for J seats.
There's only one less J seat on the 74A I'm not sure what you're talking about?

but there is 3 less F
if that makes a difference. who knows.

OK,

Thanks all - indeed sucking it up seems to be the only way ahead.

Some assorted questions:
1) do CX have a block of seats assigned to crew rest in Y on the LHR 747 flights?
2) what's SOP when it comes to flights being oversold in all classes? Will they switch pax to other carriers on the same day or do they prefer pax to take the next avail. CX flight?
3) we transit HKG on the way out to OZ too - is it worth discussing this with someone at HKG (and if so who) especially if both flights back are still showing sold out? Is there a better point of contact in the lounges or is the general ticket desk a good starting point?

Thanks

1) do CX have a block of seats assigned to crew rest in Y on the LHR 747 flights? No, there is a crew bunk.
2) what's SOP when it comes to flights being oversold in all classes? Will they switch pax to other carriers on the same day or do they prefer pax to take the next avail. CX flight? Rare situation in F and J but sometimes in Y - they will offer HKD to the pax and/or business class seat on the next available flight.
3) we transit HKG on the way out to OZ too - is it worth discussing this with someone at HKG (and if so who) especially if both flights back are still showing sold out? Is there a better point of contact in the lounges or is the general ticket desk a good starting point? Excuse the ignorance, do you mean you are trasitting in HKG to an Asiana flight or are you continuing with CX onto Australia?

To the OP - have you waitlisted to change to the earlier flight if you really want to be on it? That is really your only option.

You don't actually elaborate much on how/why CX customer service is failing you in this case. I imagine they are saying to you that the seats are not available, so I'm failing to see how this is not common sense.

They won't waitlist us on the 251 as our fare was ticketed when there was a discrepency between the two flights. However given the 255 is now full and the 251 is showing seats in J, it would seem like common sense should prevail and they move us low yielding pax onto the flight with old seats, enabling CX to meet the demand from others for the new seats (the loading disparity only came about after the introduction of the 74A - before that the 255 was empty...)

And sorry, we're en route to Australia. Bad use of abbreviations on my behalf.

I'm really thinking that if the flight is booked out 10 weeks before departure then they may well have an oversell situation at the front of the plane...

They won't waitlist us on the 251 as our fare was ticketed when there was a discrepency between the two flights.
...which means that your ticket is not valid on 251. End of story.
However given the 255 is now full and the 251 is showing seats in J, it would seem like common sense should prevail and they move us low yielding pax onto the flight with old seats, enabling CX to meet the demand from others for the new seats (the loading disparity only came about after the introduction of the 74A - before that the 255 was empty...)
No, 251 is more of a premium flight than 255 becuase 251 lands before 6 am. The new seats are put on 255 first because 255 has a much shorter turnaround time at LHR (6 vs 10 hours).
And sorry, we're en route to Australia. Bad use of abbreviations on my behalf.
I assume you booked one of the special I fares from London to Australia. These fares are often not valid on 251 and is stated clearly in your PNR, which also explains why CX res does not let you waitlist on 251.
3) we transit HKG on the way out to OZ too - is it worth discussing this with someone at HKG (and if so who) especially if both flights back are still showing sold out? Is there a better point of contact in the lounges or is the general ticket desk a good starting point?
I'm a bit confused here. Are you looking for an voluntary offload or something? Otherwise, what is there to discuss with the ticketing people? :confused:
I'm really thinking that if the flight is booked out 10 weeks before departure then they may well have an oversell situation at the front of the plane...
This happens every year. :o


Which flights are you on, anyway?

They won't waitlist us on the 251 as our fare was ticketed when there was a discrepency between the two flights. However given the 255 is now full and the 251 is showing seats in J, it would seem like common sense should prevail and they move us low yielding pax onto the flight with old seats, enabling CX to meet the demand from others for the new seats (the loading disparity only came about after the introduction of the 74A - before that the 255 was empty...)

And sorry, we're en route to Australia. Bad use of abbreviations on my behalf.

I'm really thinking that if the flight is booked out 10 weeks before departure then they may well have an oversell situation at the front of the plane...


Again, don't try and be nasty et al, but your assumptions and understanding doesn't mean it is always the case and 100% correct.

As we pointe out many times before 251 is a premium flights so CX won't release the seat as easily. Also given your ticket is no changable (according to what you said?) therefore of course they can't WL you on 251.


Also just it is not showing 0 availability that does not mean it is oversell. BA does this all the time by blocking inventory. CX does offer guarantee J and C class with 24 hours notice to DM and GO so that is why on high demand routes like LHR they hold back inventory.

You haven't even tried the 74A, so don't be too negative about it yet. Who knows, you might get lucky and get opup to F.

Again, don't try and be nasty et al, but your assumptions and understanding doesn't mean it is always the case and 100% correct.

As we pointe out many times before 251 is a premium flights so CX won't release the seat as easily. Also given your ticket is no changable (according to what you said?) therefore of course they can't WL you on 251.


Also just it is not showing 0 availability that does not mean it is oversell. BA does this all the time by blocking inventory. CX does offer guarantee J and C class with 24 hours notice to DM and GO so that is why on high demand routes like LHR they hold back inventory.

You haven't even tried the 74A, so don't be too negative about it yet. Who knows, you might get lucky and get opup to F.

opup: not gonan help- if you've been following, OP has a 2 year old and is unwilling to leave him in his own 'capsule'.

opup: not gonan help- if you've been following, OP has a 2 year old and is unwilling to leave him in his own 'capsule'.

Well I have seen it happen before whereby someone in F shares the same suite with an infant (around 2-3 years old). There is plenty of room to do that.
However, don't think they were opup.

Perhaps I fare is not available (of course, or sold out) on the earlier flight. Airlines put restrictions on D/I fare to be fair to the J/C passengers.

Would you be able to waitlist for the earlier flight? Is your ticketed restricted for a certain flight (date and flight number) or certain flight numbers?

I guess the ticket is really not valid on the flight number, and there is not much that can be done. kaka said OP has a 2 year old. I cannot see that in this thread, but the new J is really not too child-friendly. I hope he/she has a good sleep on the flight.

I guess the ticket is really not valid on the flight number, and there is not much that can be done. kaka said OP has a 2 year old. I cannot see that in this thread, but the new J is really not too child-friendly. I hope he/she has a good sleep on the flight.

nah, its not on this thread. but it's on other threads...

seriously... I think you should just refund your ticket and fly on another carrier.. its not worth the amount of headache and hassle you're going through IMHO....

seriously... I think you should just refund your ticket and fly on another carrier.. its not worth the amount of headache and hassle you're going through IMHO....

Assume OP is on I Class, highly UNLIKELY he can refund the tix.

OK,

Thanks all - indeed sucking it up seems to be the only way ahead.



So how was your trip in the end? Was it as bad as you were expecting?

So how was your trip in the end? Was it as bad as you were expecting?

As noted in the post about voluntary downgrades, only one of the four sectors had the new seats in the end after 255 had a last minute change of plane (and this sloppy roll out is also a PITA).

The seat is indeed wholly unsuitable for family travel, given there is no way you can keep an eye on your offspring during the flight. By sitting ontop of the pillow and folded blanket, I was just able to reach over and hold my son's hand during take off and landing (and i'm just a shade under 6ft tall). However, in the middle of the night he did wake up and fortunately the first thing he did was to come over and climb into my seat (I was asleep at the time too).

Also, food was a nightmare - the seats are so narrow it's very difficult to help young kids have something to eat.

I remain convinced that the seat is an ill-thought out idea and that given the circumstances (material change in product after ticket was bought) then more latitude should have been shown. At a higher level I was also surprised as to just how mediocre CX was as a whole. I had very high expectations but was simply not wowed and they didn't truly stand out IMO from many other major carriers. They were largely competent in the delivery, but not as customer focused as I had thought they may have been.