Originally Posted by
Fly Me To The Moon
On a somewhat related matter, has anyone listened lately to the ISM's greeting as the flight pushes back from gate and prepares to take off? I never really paid attention to it until recently, and I noticed that there was a slight change.
I always remembered that the ISM would say something to the effect of "Welcome to CX ###, a Cathay Pacific/Oneworld flight to [Destination], and to all our Marco Polo Club members, welcome back...."
Now, the greeting is "Welcome to CX ###, a Cathay/Oneworld flight to [Destination], and to all our members, welcome back...."
The omission of "Marco Polo Club" really makes the greeting much less "personal" (?). Not sure if that is the right word. Having specifically listened to the message on my last two flights, I feel much more detached to the Cathay identity. In fact, I would guess that some passengers who are not Cathay (the frequent flyer program) Members would not even know what "members" the ISM is talking about!
That is unfortunately the direction of Cathay at the moment. Back in the day you had to pay to get Marco Polo Green, if you wanted the "free version" it was Asia Miles. They never greeted the Asia Miles members. Now, they're pushing the Cathay membership to every that just wants to make a booking on the Cathay website with simple catches like "Join us to check in online 48 hours before your flight". It would make more sense though if they welcome Silver/Gold/Diamond members over the announcement.