Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Mpc Gold

Hi everyone,
Just like to share my recent upgrades with cx. Its been a month since reaching gold with cx and have been upgraded to first(from biz) twice in 1 month. Flown 6 times on cx this month and been upgraded twice the other 4 flights did not have first. Not bad at all.
On the other hand, I've been BA Gold for more than 5 years and have never been upgraded in any of their flights. CX to me wins hands down in rewarding frequent travellers with them.

I haven't been upgraded in months, though 80%-90% of the time in the last 6 months I have been flying in J with no F, or in F.

My last upgrade was mid-flight when I got to chatting with the ISM for longer than I normally do and she bumped me up to J for the remainder of the flight, even though I already had 3 seats to myself in Y. Nothing was wrong with my seat, I guess she just took pity on me...

The mid-flight op-up was a first for me.. apparently it's not too late for an op-up even after the doors are closed.. :p

My gold upgrade record has also been fairly good - more than 50% of flights has resulted in an upgrade. Lots of Y-J and one J-F

I love it and it certainly keeps me loyal.

Hi everyone,
Just like to share my recent upgrades with cx. Its been a month since reaching gold with cx and have been upgraded to first(from biz) twice in 1 month. Flown 6 times on cx this month and been upgraded twice the other 4 flights did not have first. Not bad at all.
On the other hand, I've been BA Gold for more than 5 years and have never been upgraded in any of their flights. CX to me wins hands down in rewarding frequent travellers with them.

I suspect CX looks not just at absolute status but the 'velocity' with which you are spending with them. If you are flying J 6 times a month then you are giving them a lot of $$$ and hence getting pretty high on the upgrade pecking order.

Apart from MPC Tier Status, for sure the booking class does help: Y>B>H>K....

Apart from MPC Tier Status, for sure the booking class does help: Y>B>H>K....

No, while CX does track revenue (for many reasons), booking class for the current trip does not matter.

I agree with that. In my experience the following make no difference to the op-up chance:

- booking class (including award classes - I've had many op-ups on award tickets)
- on-line check-in (or not)

These do:

- MPC status
- OW status
- travelling alone (or at least with no-one else on the same PNR)

And the key thing is: unless it is a special occasion op-up then the class you are booked in must be over-booked for you to get one, regardless of status (up to DM at least, not sure about DM+).

Special occasion op-ups seem to be considered:
- if you travel on your birthday
- on the first flight after renewing status (at least for Diamond, not sure for lower tiers)
- on passing a Club Mile threshold (e.g. 1M Club Miles)

Special occasion op-ups seem to be considered:
- if you travel on your birthday
- on the first flight after renewing status (at least for Diamond, not sure for lower tiers)
- on passing a Club Mile threshold (e.g. 1M Club Miles)

I travelled last month on my 1st flight after renewing DM and I didnt get any op-up !

I'm not suggesting that it is autopmatic, just that it often seems (from reports here) to happen when there is no other reason for the op-up (i.e. the booked class is not full). Obviously if the class into which you would have been upgraded was full then it is not possible.

Just wondering if the chances of Op-up on the HKG<->KUL are high or not? Should i try my luck or just book an upgrade with Asiamiles?

Just wondering if the chances of Op-up on the HKG<->KUL are high or not? Should i try my luck or just book an upgrade with Asiamiles?

It's a pretty short flight, and you would only get regional business class. So I wouldn't spend money/miles on upgrading to J class.

Hi everyone,
Just like to share my recent upgrades with cx. Its been a month since reaching gold with cx and have been upgraded to first(from biz) twice in 1 month. Flown 6 times on cx this month and been upgraded twice the other 4 flights did not have first. Not bad at all.
On the other hand, I've been BA Gold for more than 5 years and have never been upgraded in any of their flights. CX to me wins hands down in rewarding frequent travellers with them.

I am BA Gold (equivalent to AM DM) and been upgraded twice in F out of eight J segments (lowest D fare) in the past couple of years. I do fly on CX in F (so never in a position to be upgraded from J to F). But I have been upgraded (with my wife) on numerous occasions Y to J on regional CX flights. It appears that CX even keeps track of my revenues on CX (although I am not MPC) and does take my emerald status into account. So I am happy with my BA Gold which is easier to reach than the MPC DM status; I only need approx two longhaul RT in F.

from my recent experiences (some of which described here on FT before), I think they do often treat non-CX Emerald's even better than their own CX DM. so I'm keeping my DM really mostly so that I can use my miles...otherwise, in terms of service, I don't really see any too strong benefits of being DM vs. non-CX Emeralds...and that's also why once I reach DM every year, I start putting my miles to AAdv for the 100% bonus and lifetime status.

I really wouldnt agree with that because in the many years that I have been ba gold, almost 60% of my flights were on cx and I was never upgraded even once and all my flights were on either C or J on cx so from my experience I think mpc gold is far more valuable in terms of being upgraded than ba emerald. Then again i might be wrong.

Does it help to ask at check-in or gate if there is a op-up.
I got a free op-up once with my partner. Wasnt even a MPC member but I have flown cathay once a year.

Does it help to ask at check-in or gate if there is a op-up.
I got a free op-up once with my partner. Wasnt even a MPC member but I have flown cathay once a year.

It won't help either way. If there is an op-up, you will know at OLCI, at the check-in counter, in the lounge, or at the gate. Just treat that as a pleasant surprise.:)

On my very first flight on CX I used credit card Asia miles to get a free ticket and politely asked the check-in agent if i could get an upgrade since it seemed like there was no one on the flight. Anyway she smiled and politely said, 'no, we reserve these seats for our gold card members or above, but you can however use your miles to upgrade.. let me check how many miles you have.. hm... 3000..no you can't.." haha.. i felt funny but didn't loose anything in asking.^

I was pleasantly surprised when at my last check-in at LAX I was told it was my fifth year anniversary and I was being upgraded. Sweet.

I have never heard of MP anniversary upgrades...

I joined MP in Sept 01, and have have not received any anniversary upgrades.

I have been Silver for four years, and Gold for one year already, and I have only received two op-up since 01, and one of them is just Sanya to Hong Kong. I wonder why CX treats me worse than other Golds (in terms of op-up opportunities). I feel bitter!

I've been with MPC since 01 as well and never got any anniversary upgrade. For the past 7 years I've been either Silver or Gold and the number of op-ups I get is quite small compared to what I read on this site. I think it may be due to the flight choices I make (I don't like to fly during busy flights 9AM, 6PM.)

I have however been upgraded quite a few times on my long haul flights. J-F 3 times already going HKG-YYZ.

Op-Ups are a luck of the draw, if your on the right flight at the right time then you have luck on your side.....there are some flights that you know are busy and the % chance is higher then other flights, like the sunday evening BKK-HKG, the monday morning to PVG, or the Sunday night HKG-LHR where op-ups are more common. However with the ever increasing flying prices and surcharges, i find less people flying and alot more empty flights.

I was upgraded on my 10th anniversary. Look forward to my 15 years anniversary upgrade next year.

I was always upgraded if I fly on my birthday.

I was upgraded on my 10th anniversary. Look forward to my 15 years anniversary upgrade next year.

I was always upgraded if I fly on my birthday.

I think I will do a mileage run on my birthay for the op-up

i wonder how they know your anniversay? did you at some point inform them you were getting married? just curious..@:-)

Er, your anniversary of joining the Marco Polo Club!

Do you only get OpUps on your 10th year anniversary? Or is it 10 and beyond (15, 20, etc)?
Just realized that I flew on my anniversary date (8 yrs.) but didn't get an OpUp. :(

I think they also give out opups for 5 yrs anniversary too. Even to silver members.

I am beginning to think that there are no such things as an anniversary upgrades. My family, including me, are Marco Polo members for 7 years (Silver/Gold for the past 2 years), and none of us have gotten anniversary upgrades.

I feel that it is more like when an op-up is required, instead of the agent saying, "you got op-up because the Y or J is overbooked,", they just say "you got op-up because it is your MP anniversary". It's just a change in wording, and to make members feel more appreciated.

On that note of MP Gold, One of my relatives got an email for CX saying something along the lines of "You have been especially selected by us to upgrade you to Gold tier", and he/she had less around 38K Club miles in that membership year. I wonder if there is some kind of internal system that ranks revenue over miles?

On that note of MP Gold, One of my relatives got an email for CX saying something along the lines of "You have been especially selected by us to upgrade you to Gold tier", and he/she had less around 38K Club miles in that membership year. I wonder if there is some kind of internal system that ranks revenue over miles?
Wow! How I wish my wife will get that kind of offer (she is currently 40k)