Carrie So

I know for exPVG and PEK flights, check in agents will proactively book you on earlier flights if spaces are available?

What about the numerous HKG to TPE flights? Will they enforce the reissue fee? Or are they more lenient in these cases / routes?

Thanks.

jerrywu

Depends. Giving currently ATC, and TPE single runway issue, it seems CX is quite lenient with moving up to an earlier flight, providing a vacant seat is available.

Carrie So

Well, I guess I have a bigger issue than the above now.

Just got an email notification about lack of PEY on my flight. Checked...any I been moved to Econ, not J.

What should I expect? The lousy appreciate one-class voucher?
(Ticket is part of a larger journey so there should be no refund in $)

cxfan1960

It is a rather short flight... Why is this a bigger issue?

cxfan1960

They can enforce the penalty. They almost did that to me on an upgrade award on a return from TPE, but found an excuse to waive it (my original flight was delayed by 30 minutes).

Seeing that they swapped your equipment, you have a good excuse to hop on an earlier flight with PEY (or without) without paying the penalty. You may want to try that out.

Carrie So

Been trying all evening. Haven't had any luck reaching an agent. I guess I'll just wait until tomorrow and see if their "Customer Sales Officer" will really contact me "in due courses to make alternative arrangement"

Carrie So

It's a rather short flight, but 30A and 74E is quite a difference. Almost opposite ends if you don't take J into consideration. Can't even select an alternative Y seat since the booking is all restricted / controlled now.

Being TPE, I wasn't planning to check in any luggage, and hope to be out of the airport asap.

cxfan1960

Just remember that they swapped the equipment and you lost your PEY seat. So they should offer you a seat in an earlier flight without asking you to pay for rebooking.

If you cannot secure a seat the day before, you may also get to the airport early that day and ask for an earlier flight. However, if you do not have lounge access, you may end up wandering in the airport waiting for your flight.

Carrie So

Finally got through the English line (wow, doesn't seem like it's picked up in Philippines anymore!)

They wouldn't budge a single inch. Guess I'll have to HUACA tomorrow.

QRC3288

Definitely no upgrade voucher, that's far more valuable than the 90 minute PEY to Y downgrade!

It's a shame how CX likes to have it both ways with PEY; market it as a differentiated experience, but for regional flights there is really zero change to the soft product and CX feels fine swapping planes willy nilly witbout need to take care of pax.

You will be entitled to the fare difference, which will be peanuts (literally maybe 20 USD, possibly even less) if you're on a connecting flight segment as part of a longhaul. I think your best outcome is to get a thousand or two AM in compensation. It really rubs me the wrong way how CX so shamelessly markets the product but treats it like a joke regionally. It's like they're laughing at you if you're dumb enough to believe the soft product hype regionally.

Update: Carrie so, I think I read your post wrong. Are you VOLUNTARILY switching to an earlier flight? If so you most certainly aren't entitled to anything! PEY doesn't run on every flight HKG to TPE and if you want to swap into a non PEY plane then you must accept to sit in the lower class without any compensation.

If it's forced upon you, you are entitled to something small. Unlime what you imply above, the upgrade voucher is definitely not "small", and if somehow they give you that I would shutup immediately and take it! You can use them on longhaul segments. I'd be shocked if they gave that to you.

cxfan1960

It sounded like there would be an equipment change on her original flight, and she lost her PEY seat.

QRC3288

I see. If that's the case, I sympathize with her. CX sells a cash product it doesn't care to protect. I find this behavior similar to, but even more egregious than, CX swapping out regional F as done ever so often.

At least for the case of regional F, almost all the traffic is connecting partner awards. Few - if any - is cash F demand. Not saying the practice is ethical, but no matter how much hee hawing folks do about it, the fact remains partners vote with their award wallets and there is no shortage of partner members who line up to redeem for CX F awards that transit HKG - which the longhaul segment is the obvious attraction, and demand remains robust. CX can "get away" with swapping regional, non-Japan F.

Versus PEY: actively actively markets the regional PEY cash fares, including heavy marketing in Hong Kong, and I know heaps of HK-based folks who buy them for leisure for their families when traveling around Asia. I imagine outports as well - I recently saw CX PEY ads in Singapore. It is absolutely an impact on CX's brand when they don't deliver the product they offer on the "main" segments you pay cash for (in addition to treating the PEY soft product regionally almost no differently than EY class). For longhaul travel, the main segment is the longhaul. But when it's a weekend trip from HKG to SIN and you paid cash for PEY after lapping up CX's ads....well all that comes back to them. I think the inability to protect PEY again and again hurts them.

Carrie So

Yes - equip change on original flight. Lost PEY

They called me this morning proactively. Only option they had was put me on an even later 7pm (?) flight with PEY. They wouldn't allow any earlier flights claiming all flights are full in Econ. Seems to reflect what KVS is showing (except one or two Y1 B1's). But whether that's true on the actual flight is a different story....

percysmith

Is this miles or revenue?

If miles then pro-rate refund in miles: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...kg-europe.html

If revenue then PEY miles + US$40 + upgrade voucher: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...l#post22213339

Carrie So

MPO Eng line claims it will be difference in TPE's PEY and Y ; 2000 AM, without taking the longer journey into consideration. Automatically applied few days after the flight has been completed. I'll take that with a grain of salt for now.

Could only offer me the 8am flight. You can go ahead and standby at airport on the day of. She said since it's involuntary downgrade, the $25 reissue fee will not apply.