Originally Posted by
randapex
I currently have an AA award for 2 pax: LAX/HGK/DPS. LAX/HKG is in J. The HKG/DPS segment is in Y. There was no J availability for that date. I've got an Award Nexus search set to notify if 2 J awards becomes available. And I understand that I must go through AA to have the J awards processed if it becomes available. My question is, if none is released, what is my upgrade priority at the gate in HKG? I paid miles for the J award. Is there any chance CX will upgrade me if there are open seats, would I have any priority or will we just be SOL?
I would have asked this in the AA forum but I think the question revolves around seating going to airport control with CX. At that point, AA is out of it.
1.) I am not sure how fast AA can change your ticket from Y to J, that's better asked in the AA forum. But if CX makes partner award inventory available at the last minute, then you can presumably get it, however that works on you contacting AA and whatnot. Even if it comes available 3 hours before the flight, if you can get AA to change your ticket to J no problem.
2.) If you are ticketed in Y though, I don't think you're getting any priority for an op-up, which I think is your question if I understand it correctly. Your priority will stand where your OW membership is and fall within the CX op-up hierarchy, which goes CX DM, then GO, then OWE, then ID passengers, then CX SL, and on down. Indeed you paid miles, but by CX's logic they probably have economy elites who paid significantly more than the contribution from your miles payment. CX certainly don't have an incentive I'm aware of to bump you up if you're ticketed Y, and AFAIK there is no special system where AA can beg for favors on behalf of their members to score CX upgrades outside the op-up priority. I would assume CX will want the revenue from AA for the higher class of service, so they're going to want you ticketed in J....otherwise, let you sit in Y and upgrade someone they deem more valuable. My guess is if you're ticketed in Y all the way, CX will see you as a ticketed Y pax, and presumably they didn't release partner award inventory for a reason (perhaps a massive oversell in Y class?). Either way, they'll follow their own op-up hierarchy. I'm not 100% sure this is just my thinking. We get a query similar to this from time to time, and I think it's on AA who presumably eats more miles from you guys than they should? Or something like that? Or maybe AA doesn't change you any more for the additional HKG-DPS leg? Something like that? I'm not too familiar with the AA rules but unfortunately I don't think CX has incentive to hook you up if you are, at the final time, ticketed in Y.
Other guys are status AA members here, perhaps they can comment.