John26

Just visiting from the UA board. I am Premier Executive over there.

I've been looking at the AsiaMiles award/upgrade chart. The mileage amounts aren't as different from UA as I thought they would be.

But if I want to purchase an economy ticket and upgrade to business on say, HKG-SFO, which fare classes in economy qualify for mileage upgrades? Is it full fare Y only?

Confirmable UA transpacific seem to "zero out" about 5-6 months prior to departure. How about on CX? Does CX maintain a waitlist once confirmable upgrades are "sold out?" I presume this is prioritized by either fare paid or MPC status?

Sorry - lots of questions, I know. Just fondly remembering my flight in F on CX and how the J cabin looked "not too shabby, too!" Thanks in advance for any info you're willing to provide.

Chiangi

V, N, O and Q are not upgradable (and do not earn miles). Other subclasses (that earn miles) are eligible for upgrades, unless otherwise stated in fare conditions.

Unlike UA's Mileage Plus, CX's AsiaMiles do not offer elite bonuses at all and therefore one does not earn as many miles as one would with UA as an elite flyer. Generally speaking, you will need more miles with CX to upgrade a long-haul flight than UA.

On top of that, UA does not charge any fees for last-minute upgrade request. CX does not let you upgrades at the last minute, except at HKG, and if it is within a certain time frame (I think 4 days prior to departure), you will need to pay a fee to upgrade if space is available.

CX, like UA, lets you be waitlisted, but CX, like UA, does not waitlist you if the waitlist is 'closed.'

I do not see many advantages of CX's program compared with UA when it comes to upgrade with miles.

One advantage I see is you can upgrade flights with a few CX partners such as AA and BA.

christep

I think (but I may be wrong) that you can only waitlist for awards on CX if you are a Marco Polo Club member.

The upgradeable classes on CX are YBHKLMS.

Chiangi

CX may have changed their rules but I have been waitlisted for upgrade using miles. The last experience I had was in May.

[This message has been edited by Chiangi (edited 06-04-2003).]

christep

Chiangi - read again what I wrote. Only Marco Polo Club members can be waitlisted. According to your profile you are CX Marco Polo Diamond, so of course you can be waitlisted. So am I, and I have waitlisted on many occasions.

But John26 is apparently not an MPC member, so I believe he could not.

By the way, you must do an astonishing amount of flying to keep all those FF schemes at the top or near top level. Even when I was doing 200 flights a year I could only keep three at the top.


[This message has been edited by christep (edited 06-04-2003).]

Chiangi

christep, I've been through non-status, green, silver and gold as well. You are probably right. But I don't recall being rejected for being waitlisted. I also don't see why CX does not allow it for a non-status member especially when s/he is holding the upgrade voucher.

My LH status was attained two years ago. It's valid for two years and I am not renewing it. (I will pull out after I overdraft 160,000 miles from my LH account soon.) You don't need to fly a lot to attain SQ status and you can double dip with SQ. I put some SQ miles into NH to gain the latter's Platinum. It is CX that I felt I had to fly a lot.

I bet Guy Betsy has more cards!

[This message has been edited by Chiangi (edited 06-04-2003).]

Guy Betsy

As long as you're an ASIAMILES member, CX will let you waitlist for award flights BUT if you have higher status, of course, the chances of clearing will depend on that.

Guy Betsy

Hmmm.
AA-Exec Plat - Oneworld Emerald
CX-Diamond - Oneworld Emerald
BA-Gold - Oneworld Emerald

LH-Senator - Star Gold
AC-Elite - Star Gold
SQ-PPS - Star Gold

AS-Mileage Plan - Gold
VS-Flying Club Gold
LX-Travel Club Silver

And a bunch of no status but have points in them ..UA,TG,QF,AF.

PS - this is not a competiton guys, .. I'm just satisfying Chiangi-san's curiousity.

John26

Good info, folks.

I believe I will be working in Hong Kong starting in late 2004 or 2005. I may want to change my loyalties next year if I am to move to HK in 2004.

Does anyone know how CX processes their waitlists? What is the order - status, fare basis or time added to waitlist?

I think the hardest thing about MPC is that the cheap fares don't earn miles, and there are no elite bonusses (ouch!). 100% mileage bonus is a considerable plus on UA and AA.

christep

GB - I'm really curious to know what it is you do in what little of your life is not spent on planes - I reckon you must be flying somewhere towards a million miles a year to keep all those cards at the top level (even if you are doing it mostly in F)?

Guy Betsy

He loves to fly and it shows! (Extra wrinkle here, and here, and here) No, I do fly coach once in a while... and then that's when MikeinSIN has to go grab his smelling salts, and SanDiego1K shrieks in disbelief.

Honestly... (although some may beg to differ), once I move to YVR, my flying may be halved. <sob>. Meanwhile... I'm off to catch the next flight now..CX to HKG.

christep

Yes, but what do you do when you are NOT in a plane that
a) justifies you getting in a plane so often
b) generates enough money for you to be able to afford it
?

And do you need a bag carrier?

JNLentertainment

Hi , how will i know if the aircraft i'll be using is equipped with the new business class seats? is it 74b or something else? I wanna browse the cathay pacific website on my own so that i can call travel agency to book me. thanks

christep

74B is the one that doe not have NBC. You need 744 or 74J for NBC. (Or 34C, 346, 333).

Leumas

What does HKG-LHR typically fly with (CX255, to be specific)? I guess more importantly, I'm trying to find out whether it has NBC...

Seatmap shows 747-400. CX's web site shows EQV... I've a flight in early August.