Apologies for the length - it's a long story - but please bear with me. I hope someone can offer some advice. Thanks in anticipation.

My wife and I both have a reasonably large number of Asia MIles that are due to expire in a couple of months' time. We had tried to book flights several times via Asia Miles - both on the website and by phone - but there was nothing available for any of the dates we wanted.

Out of the blue, on June 14th, I received a phone call from a lady at Cathay Pacific telling me that I had miles about to expire and that I could use them to book flights. I explained that we had tried to book flights but had not been able to find anything suitable. She said that she could have a look to see if she could find something.

I was after flights from LHR to HKG in F. She found two flights out and one back. I chose one of the outbound flights but explained that I would need to check with my wife if the flights were ok with her and asked if the lady could hold the flights. for me. She said she could hold them until 17:00 on Monday, June 18th. I was sent an email confirming the itinerary and booking reference.

I checked my Marco Polo Club account and the flights appeared under Manage My Booking, with a note that I needed to confirm the booking by 17:00 HK time on Monday June 18th..

After confirming the flights were fine, I called the Marco Polo Club on Sunday, June 17th to pay the taxes. The lady I spoke to confirmed to me the amount of tax due and took my credit card details.

I thought no more about it until a few days later when I happened to be on the Cathay Pacific site and logged on to my account. To my surprise there were no flights showing. I called the MPC immediately and was told that the flights had been cancelled as I'd not confirmed them in time. I asked how this could have happened and why the lady I spoke to hadn't mentioned this when I rang to pay the taxes, nor why she had subsequently taken my credit card details, but she couldn't explain it.

I was told the only thing I could do was to rebook them which I did. The only problem was that the outbound flight was no longer available and so it had to be on request. The return flight was still available. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told none was available, but if I called back an hour later she would have time to speak to one. I called back as requested, but again there was no supervisor. I was, however, asked for my own and my wife's passport details and credit card details again.

I have emailed the MPC to ask what had happened and to ask them if they would consider reinstating my flights but have not had the courtesy of a reply almost two weeks on.

I have since rung the MPC again and spoke to a very helpful lady who was able to tell me that there was a mix-up between the booking system and the ticketing system and that in fact the flights were both cancelled automatically on June 14th, the day of my original call from Cathay. However, this still does not explain why the flights were showing in Manage My Booking, nor why the agent I spoke to when trying to pay could obviously see them too.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem and if so how was it resolved?

Thanks for your time.