Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - LAX-HKG schedule/equip change

My spouse and I are flying LAX-HKG on CX 883 on a Friday in January. This had been scheduled to be a 777, and originally we were a bit disappointed because we like the upper deck on the 747, at least with the old J seats (never tried the new ones). In another thread it was pointed out (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10290578#post10290578) that CX was replacing 747s with 777s on this route to avoid technical stops in winter, so that seemed like a benefit, plus, it was suggested that two center aisle seats were best for a couple traveling together.

I happened to be looking at the reservation on aa.com, and noted that our seat assignments had vanished. AA EXP desk told me they were unable to assign seats, that it showed an error when they tried. I looked at the reservation again and noticed that it was now showing as a 747 with the new seats. There aren't two open main deck aisle seats, in fact, no open main deck seats next to each other.

CX's web page has a notice (http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_US/helpingyoutravel/traveladvisories?refID=0009320ffa3ab110VgnVCM10000 00ad21c39____) that they've eliminated CX 884/885 from October 2008 through October 2009.

So, naturally, I'm curious:

Why is CX canceling 884/885 for a year? Low demand?
Are there 747 J seats that are better for a couple?
Should I keep checking for two main deck aisle seats together?
How likely is it that we'll have a technical stop?

2. No, but you should look for two seats on the same side (A or K) so you could talk to each other a bit more easily.

3. Always go for the UD if possible.

So 11 D/G would be poor choices?

There are no good choices for a couple travelling together on the new J class. You won't be able comfortably to have a conversation whichever seats you pick (at least not at a volume that wouldn't disturb several other passengers).

When you fly CX new-J you fly alone. That is, apparently what CX's customers want, or so CX insists.

Now that the business market is tanking and they are reliant more on people paying their own money (or miles) in J they may come to realise how senseless that policy is.

So 11 D/G would be poor choices?
D/G are always the worst seats in the cabin, regardless of whether you're travelling together or not. They are shaped like \ / which means that they are back-to-back so you won't be able to see your spouse, if you know what I mean.

I agree with christep. You might as well go for separate seats on the upper deck and if you wanted to talk to your spouse, go to his/her seat.

you know what...finally had a chance to try new J together with my wife this past weekend (we always had old/new F or old J before) - and because of the special situation this time it's quite a great experience (otherwise both me and my wife don't like the new J).

we had 2 seats next to each other in the upper deck (e.g. 88/89A), and, we were the ONLY TWO people in the whole upper deck !! so while we couldn't quite see each other too easily (without climbing up a bit), but at least we could talk as loud as we wanted etc. and we were served by 3 full-time cabin crew serving the upper deck...

well it's just HKG-MNL and it's a weekend, but I was really quite surprised at this load situation in J...

you know what...finally had a chance to try new J together with my wife this past weekend (we always had old/new F or old J before) - and because of the special situation this time it's quite a great experience (otherwise both me and my wife don't like the new J).

we had 2 seats next to each other in the upper deck (e.g. 88/89A), and, we were the ONLY TWO people in the whole upper deck !! so while we couldn't quite see each other too easily (without climbing up a bit), but at least we could talk as loud as we wanted etc. and we were served by 3 full-time cabin crew serving the upper deck...

well it's just HKG-MNL and it's a weekend, but I was really quite surprised at this load situation in J...

i might not be at that age yet, but i dont think i would shout over teh walls to talk to my partner/wife, out of both appropriateness and privacy.
but then again, everyone has their choice.... and if they feel comfortable about it

i might not be at that age yet, but i dont think i would shout over teh walls to talk to my partner/wife, out of both appropriateness and privacy.
but then again, everyone has their choice.... and if they feel comfortable about it
I'm not sure if you got my point...we would never have done it otherwise even if there's only one other people, we wouldn't want to disturb others at all (and that's why we hate this new J). but in our case we were the only two in the whole upper deck cabin and there's no 3rd person around at all (the 3 crew were all in the galley most of the time). and we were not really "shouting", but just talking a bit louder so that the other could hear (but which usually I would already consider to be loud enough to be disturbing people in the cabin).

I'm not sure if you got my point...we would never have done it otherwise even if there's only one other people, we wouldn't want to disturb others at all (and that's why we hate this new J). but in our case we were the only two in the whole upper deck cabin and there's no 3rd person around at all (the 3 crew were all in the galley most of the time). and we were not really "shouting", but just talking a bit louder so that the other could hear (but which usually I would already consider to be loud enough to be disturbing people in the cabin).

dont worry, i probably do understand. im just saying i wouldnt be too comfortable talking loud enough to go past the dividers though...

Why is CX canceling 884/885 for a year? Low demand?
Are there 747 J seats that are better for a couple?
Should I keep checking for two main deck aisle seats together?
How likely is it that we'll have a technical stop?
We've had some useful discussion of (2) and (3), with consensus that two adjacent rows on the same side of the upper deck is about as good as can be.

Any info on the other questions?

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1. Why is CX canceling 884/885 for a year? Low demand?
2. Are there 747 J seats that are better for a couple?
3. Should I keep checking for two main deck aisle seats together?
4. How likely is it that we'll have a technical stop?
We've had some useful discussion of (2) and (3), with consensus that two adjacent rows on the same side of the upper deck is about as good as can be.

Any info on the other questions?
1) See here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=853349). If you want similar timings to 885, take CX879 ex-SFO.
4) 77A = Almost no chance. 74A/744= higher chance.