Visconti

Can't hurt if you're OWE, but, if you're on F, can't think of any obvious benefit. Regardless of OWE status, as a redemption, you can't select 2A or 2K, which are usually reserved for revenue pax. If not allowed online, as an F pax, you can call and certainly select other seats, which they'll be more than happy to do. Purser will make small talk with each F pax, so the OWE recognition stuff is irrelevant. Lounge invite is on your boarding pax, so OWE again is irrelevant.

I probably wouldn't bother, not really worth the effort, if you're F.

ralphs

I used OWE to get 3 checked bags for both me and my companion. Came in handy post-Christmas. None of the staff mentioned it onboard in F, but as mentioned earlier, there's no point imo due to the high level of individual attention anyways.

brentyb

Trying to piece together a trip to the Maldives. Can you layover in hong kong on the way to maldives with Cathay?

ukinny2000

yes

eponymous_coward

sinecure

Has anyone been able to find award space HKG-SEA on the new spring route?
The Qantas tool seem unaware that there is a forth coming HKG-SEA.

Kremmen

If you mean using AS, no. AS agents, as usual of late, can see nothing, even when there are 4 J seats shown on ba.com. (I tried several agents.)

The availability on BA can be booked by calling AA. (I have SIN-HKG-SEA booked and ticketed in J. I can live with using 70k AA miles while waiting to see if AS miles will ever be useful again.)

VegasGambler

This happened to me a couple of months ago. Then, a couple of days later, I called back and they could see the space, and I booked my ticket.

I'm not sure if there is some technical issue that is causing it to disappear and then reappear, or if many agents are just doing something wrong. I'm guessing it's the former.

Aisleseater

AS Newbie (albeit one who has tried to read the FAQ/threads) here!

I am trying to redeem an AS reward for the first time. Specifically one ticket one-way CX J HKG-SYD for mid January.

Not being AS savvy, I called the call center - but no luck with availability. Then looked at the FT AS board, joined up CX Asia Miles and looked for their availability around mid-Jan. No availability it seems.

So, questions for you AS veterans.

1. Am I trying to book too far in advance (or, I suspect, too late)?
2. Is there a reasonable chance, based on your past experiences, that availability will open up between now and mid-Jan? And if so approximately when?

Many thanks for your advice in advance.

VegasGambler

CX is not a good website to look at, because some space may be available to them but not to partners (although if they have no availability for their members, that is not a good sign).

You want to use a partner website that will show the availability online. I prefer the BA site for this, although others prefer Qantas. I don't think anyone prefers the JL site

General advice is (1) be VERY flexible with dates, and (2) try to start looking as early as possible (you are currently about 2 weeks before your trip). Of course you never know what will pop up last minute, so keep checking!

I think I read here that HKG-SYD is one of the most difficult CX routes to find availability on. I may be misremembering though.

VegasGambler

I see 2 J tickets on Jan 4. Not exactly "mid January", but that's all I saw for the whole month. If you want them, call AS and grab 'em while you can (assuming that they can see the same availability)

Aisleseater

VegasGambler - Joining BA site now. Jan 4 a bit too early. But thank-you so much for the advice and effort!

Kremmen

It was always harder to get CX availability to major cities in Australia and recently seems to be almost impossible, even through OW partners. (And much worse than that on AS.)

If you have the time and don't mind the extra flight, the chances are way higher of getting availability to a smaller city, esp. ADL and CNS. (Using AS, you'd have to pay for the connecting flight. Using AA, you could just fly QF as part of the same ticket.)

skimthetrees

There probably will be some spotty last minute space released if you are flexible on dates. According to the definitive post in the AA forums CX releases a sweep of close-in inventory on Sunday evenings at around 7:30 PM PST (or depending on who you believe, 6 PM, 6:30 PM, or 7PM) for the following 14 days. Possibly the time varies a little but the takeaway is to search often on Sunday evenings within 14 days of the days you would like to travel. Other reports have flights released X number of days out at exactly the time of day the flight will depart so you might check into that too once a day when you are within 14 days or so of your target date.

I like to search using the Qantas website first because it has a calendar view when you select flexible dates which lets you more easily see a broad range of availability. BA is good for checking a more limited range of dates. Once you find availability on QF or BA (or other) site you can call AS to see if they can book it.

Aisleseater

Hi all thanks for your great advice. I checked frequently and managed to get a CX J HKG-BNE a few hours ago in mid-January. But this is where the nightmare starts....I get the confirmation email from Alaska, and...

1. I check the reservation with the CX website and it says "Our records indicate that your e-ticket(s) has not been issued yet. Please contact local reservations to issue ticket(s). Otherwise, your booking will be cancelled without further notice."

2. I then call Cathay. They say "Your ticket is not attached to the booking" call Alaska.

3. I call Alaska. No problem with the booking. No we can't discuss directly with Cathay. You must call them back.

4. I call Cathay again. Same statement Ticket not showing up as linked to the booking. Call Alaska and tell them to reissue the ticket.

HELP! Never had this problem before. What does anyone suggest. Very grateful for any advice. Don't want to turn up in HKG and I don't have a seat/reservation has been cancelled.