Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Change a "valid Mon-Thur" fare to weekend travel?

In my years of travel, I actually have not encountered this problem, but I guess it had finally hit me!

I purchased a roundtrip HKG-LAX fare (H class) earlier. The fare conditions mentions valid Monday to Thursday only. I was suppose to come back from LAX-HKG on Wednesday, but now I need to change it to Saturday. I called up the travel agent, and they said that fares are only valid Monday through Thursday, and that I cannot travel on the weekend! I asked about paying a "Weekend" surcharge, which is usually USD25-50 each way, but the TA said the the fares rules does not allow this! Apparently, you can fly weekdays on a weekend fare, but you can't do the reverse. Can't CX just reprice the whole itinerary and charge just the fare difference?

I really don't want to stay in LA for an extra day or two. Has anyone has experience like this? I guess I was so used the fare rules here in domestic US, where it is always "change fee plus fare difference" on virtually all nonrefundable fare types, including changing dates and even routings. How could I go around this situation?

If you have not started your travel, then you cannot change the return. To do that you would have to cancel the ticket and issue a new one with all the change fees and cancellation penalty applicable.

I cannot find your fare on Sabre which means that it is a special fare applicable from the TA. They have conditions imposed to them by CX and are not as flexible as in the US. But still, the rules for the above are same for above.

Best is for you to check with USA CX office and see if you can change the return AFTER you have arrived at LAX. Usually I would think that a change fee and difference between fares will apply.

I did something similar about two years ago. The ticket was SFO-HKG-SFO in booking class M (or perhaps L). I changed my return flight to a weekend. Normally there is a USD25 fare difference for each of the first or last segment that departed on a weekend. I called MPC after the first segment. They took care of that for me but said that I needed to pay USD50 (but had to be paid in HKD, and would be HKD400). I went ahead.

However, if your fare is a promotional fare that cannot be changed, there that can be a different issue. You can check with MPC, although they will not be able to do anything until after the first flight. It is your TA's responsibility before the first flight.

I did something similar about two years ago. The ticket was SFO-HKG-SFO in booking class M (or perhaps L). I changed my return flight to a weekend. Normally there is a USD25 fare difference for each of the first or last segment that departed on a weekend. I called MPC after the first segment. They took care of that for me but said that I needed to pay USD50 (but had to be paid in HKD, and would be HKD400). I went ahead.

However, if your fare is a promotional fare that cannot be changed, there that can be a different issue. You can check with MPC, although they will not be able to do anything until after the first flight. It is your TA's responsibility before the first flight.

Originating from elsewhere to HKG, CX is more lenient than originating from HKG itself.

Originating from elsewhere to HKG, CX is more lenient than originating from HKG itself.

I noticed that too. In general, there are more restrictions and shorter validities originating from HKG.

Wow, I've never had that problem; every CX ticket I've had has been able to be changed after arrival in HKG. This goes for special TA issued tickets, as well as tickets I've bought from the CX website in the US. Here's what I don't understand, though, from what has been said so far, it seems like CX treats tickets originating from its Home with more restrictions. But is there another side to that? More restrictions maybe meaning lower fares?

Wow, I've never had that problem; every CX ticket I've had has been able to be changed after arrival in HKG. This goes for special TA issued tickets, as well as tickets I've bought from the CX website in the US. Here's what I don't understand, though, from what has been said so far, it seems like CX treats tickets originating from its Home with more restrictions. But is there another side to that? More restrictions maybe meaning lower fares?

The only time I had to pay extra (the HKD400 I mentioned) was when I switch from a weekday flight to a weekend one on the return long haul. Other than that, I made changes to my add-on flights and return many times without pay any extra, as long as I can keep the flight sequence. BTW, I also never change any transits (x) to stopovers (o).

The restrictions are not CX alone. Many airlines I have been on are the same. There are just far more restrictions than the ones I bought in the US. Also, most tickets I buy here is valid for 6 months or more. In HK, many tickets are only good for only 90 days, and they cost more - not less.