Originally Posted by B-HXB
4.3 I am travelling Business Class on a two-class (J/Y) flight being operated by a three-class (F/J/Y) aircraft. Can I get a seat in the First Class cabin?
Generally you require some sort of Marco Polo elite status or oneworld elite status although anecdotal evidence has suggested that if you are on a oneworld RTW ticket in First, that may suffice. Previously if you fell into one of these categories you would be able to reserve a seat in the F section at time of booking, but it appears that CX control are now keeping F seats blocked for assigning at checkin.
You can try requesting these seats at time of booking - if you can get them, great; if you can't, try at the airport.
Part of the reason why CX will only allocate these seats to its frequent flyers is that while the food is still Business Class, the crew usually close the curtains between the cabins and there is a dedicated crew tending to the F section. In short, while it is not marketed as such, there is an element of better service in the F cabin even though it is strictly sold as J.
I was not automatically allocated to the F cabin at OLCI. I rang MPO to see what they could do and the agent said she would put in a request for the F cabin. At T-18 hours I could see from the OLCI page that I'd been automatically allocated to the F cabin. In the end, there were 2 DMs, 4 GOs and 1 SL out of the 7 pax in the F cabin. The curtain was not closed.
On the return, there were only 1 DM and 1 GO out of 6 pax in the F cabin. The crew told me that Sapporo ground staff were too generous in allocating the F cabin. The curtain was closed.
No sign of other oneworld elites both ways.