Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Can OW Emeralds pre-assign seats in discount economy?

Hello there,

I've got a reservation on Cathay coming up in the next couple of weeks. It's all booked in Q and, because it eventually involves flying out of HAN on a VN operated craft, it's all been issued as a paper ticket.

I am a OW Emerald (BA Gold), and as such I was under the impression that I could pre-assign seats on this booking as one of the standard OW elite benefits.

I have just called Cathay in London to try and do this and was flatly told "No". The agent told me that I would be able to assign a seat 48 before departure via the website (unlikely, given that I have a paper ticket issued by a third party travel agent...)

Can anyone confirm or deny what I've been told?

Many thanks.

According to the oneworld.coom rules you can in accordance with the individual policy of the oneworld member airline operating the flight. for CX see here:

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/ffp/oneworld-status/cathay-pacific#emerald-the-marco-polo-club-diamond

Hello there,
Can anyone confirm or deny what I've been told?

Many thanks.

The agent is wrong. If OW Emerald shows in the system correctly, you can pre-assign seats even in discount Y. I have done this on numerous occasions - (although not sure if they can assign seats on the codesshare sector - but that is a short flight). Call back and try another agent - or call the HK reservation line if the UK one is worthless.

The following should be noted:
* OneWorld policy on ASR is "in accordance with the individual policy of the oneworld member airline operating the flight.". Your ticket should not be a group fare ticket. It should be on one of CX booking classes YBHKMLV. Although said to be possible, CX's official policy is not to allow ASR on lower booking classes.
* It is not a codeshare. Otherwise it may not have the information from the other airline.
* CX has your FF number on record with your booking.

Thanks for the advice.

I just called the London office again, and again got an agent who told me it wasn't possible to pre-assign seats as a OW Emerald. With some encouragement though she went off to check, and eventually came back and pre-assigned me some seats.

Quite a fight though!

Thanks again.

cxfan 1960,

I was going by the Marco Polo benefits per CX's website, which states that MPC Silver/Gold/Diamond can obtain advance seat reservations, the only caveats being:

Subject to availability at time of reservation, and applicable to paid tickets only. Please note that group fares and unaccompanied minors (children aged 12 years or below who travel alone) are not eligible for Advance Seat Reservation. Exit seats are limited and subject to other rules and restrictions. Members must check in at least one hour before departure otherwise seats will be released. Some other restrictions may apply.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INTL/ffp/mpo/benefits

Which to me implies that booking class is not relevant.

Anyways, I'm just pleased I managed to get some seats assigned. I can confirm that they were not able to pre-assign on the VN operated codeshare, but that's no real bother as it's such a short flight.

cxfan 1960,

I was going by the Marco Polo benefits per CX's website, which states that MPC Silver/Gold/Diamond can obtain advance seat reservations, the only caveats being:

Subject to availability at time of reservation, and applicable to paid tickets only. Please note that group fares and unaccompanied minors (children aged 12 years or below who travel alone) are not eligible for Advance Seat Reservation. Exit seats are limited and subject to other rules and restrictions. Members must check in at least one hour before departure otherwise seats will be released. Some other restrictions may apply.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INTL/ffp/mpo/benefits

Which to me implies that booking class is not relevant.

Anyways, I'm just pleased I managed to get some seats assigned. I can confirm that they were not able to pre-assign on the VN operated codeshare, but that's no real bother as it's such a short flight.

Booking class is relevant (as in bold - group fares), but as I mentioned earlier that it is possible. CX can still do ASR as long as they have the information on the passenger. I am glad you get your seat.