Originally Posted by
Princi
As a Qantas WP (and former CX DM), I always fly J with CX MEL-HKG so no chance of an op-up, but I know how the DM's are treated.
Normally, I go straight to sleep since I've already eaten better in the QF 1st lounge than I could expect to onboard CX in J.
The one time I actually had dinner on the flight, I received the little welcome card written by the FA's - as is usual for a DM. They even wrote: As a Diamond member, etc. etc.
Maybe they are all pre-written and they just added the name, but the fact that I'm not a DM any more and had checked-in using my QF WP FF number, I thought that was pretty special.
It also made me realise that Platinum / Diamond on QF or CX are pretty interchangable these days - so it's not worth the effort to try and maintain that level of status with both of them.
This is similar to the experience of myself and a colleague, also QF WP, over several years flying with CX (usually on AY or QF issued tickets) between Australia and Europe.
In my experience I have had several op-ups from J to F (probably 4 or 5 over the years, as has my colleague) on CX flights where F cabins have been available.
In fact it seemed to me that the crew did not really differentiate between me/us and a top-tier Cathay FFer ~ even though very few of the tickets we flew on were actually purchased through CX. They usually provided the hand-written welcome note and the purser personally welcomed me back with a "thanks for flying with us again".
Service in F has always been top-class, with generous offerings of all service items.
^