Originally Posted by
ijgordon
It's much more likely that C is overbooked based on unsold capacity in F, and the passenger will be involuntarily upgraded to F. When C is sold over capacity, the F seats are usually taken out of inventory. I think it's pretty rare that the combined F/C cabins will be overbooked except on flights where they have a pretty good idea of how many no-shows there will be.
Now, my understanding is that SQ is loathe do to even operational upgrades, so seems that they either (1) don't overbook C or (2) do overbook and sometimes have to downgrade, pay compensation and probably lose a customer for good. Neither seems like a financially optimal way to run an airline.
I agree. 10 years in HK with CX, and I have never been asked to downgrade, and have only been asked if I would be prepared to take a later flight once (YVR/HKG) with the promise of an upgrade if I did.
My Singapore colleagues' stories about SQ suggest their "never upgrading" policy is true. I know someone who has been PPS for > 10 years and has never been upgraded even once. Most similar customers can count the no. of upgrades on the fingers of one hand. However, I hear they upgrade government linked VIP's instead.