Mrs. QRC and I stepped on-board CX a few days ago for our first flight this year, and I wondered was this both our first and last CX F flight in 2019?
Then I tuned back in here after a hectic week. I realize CX seems to have done as well as they could given the circumstances. At least kudos to them for being decisive. It seems CX has partially rectified things a bit from my perspective (wanting A fare inventory not to be totally zeroed out and unpredictable across ex-HKG and ex-other ports). By effectively not allowing date changes on the mistake fare without a reprice to the normal fare, they've at least seriously cauterized the wound. Technically to do that, it seems they are killing all ex-Vietnam discount premium fare buckets to North America.
CX is still going to have a lot less predictability in F class to North America, and I still think A fare overall will be reduced broadly. But I actually think it might lead to more op-ups. Because I imagine some of these tickets are going to be no-shows, instead of outright cancellations. Given there are so many more more Y and J seats on the plane, CX might end up overselling Y and J slightly more than usual if they see a pattern of more F no-shows than usual. I'm not really sure but that seems possible.
I feel bad for those actually based in Vietnam who fly D/I or A fares, those travelers are definitely getting the most screwed here if they were loyal to CX or needed CX for any reason. It looks like the biggest consequence of CX honoring their mistake fares is killing their ex-Vietnam premium business, at least for the next year, and those pax who rely on CX in that market are definitely hit the hardest.
Congratulations to those who got cheapo seats. My condolences to those of you who are Vietnam-based and who actually fly D/I or A fares as part of your normal life in 2019.