Jun 28, 2017, 8:46 pm
Last edit by: eponymous_coward
Cathay Award Guide Using Alaska Airlines Miles
Note: Cathay flights cannot be booked using alaskaair.com. Mileage requirements in chart form available on alaskaair.com.
Routing Rules:
North American Gateway Cities:
Western
Vancouver
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Seattle (Spring 2019)
Eastern (Can not be used if traveling to west coast)
Boston
Chicago
New York (JFK & EWR)
Toronto
Washington
Award Chart Links*:
Asia
Australia
Europe
India/Middle East
North America
Anyone with 90 posts and 90 days can edit the wiki. Everyone else if you want something added to the wiki please comment in the thread.
Note: Cathay flights cannot be booked using alaskaair.com. Mileage requirements in chart form available on alaskaair.com.
Request your Partner Award reservation on Cathay Pacific by calling Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for Relay Services) 5:00 a.m. - Midnight (PT), daily.
- If it's not on the award chart, it's not allowed. For example EUROPE is To/From HKG only.
- Stopover are only allowed on any CX award for North America awards as destination or origin. For instance: intra-Asia awards do not get a stopover. It must be a North America->Somewhere or Somewhere->North America award to qualify for a stopover.
- The only awards that do not break at HKG are intra-Asia or North American ones. For instance, Australia-Europe/Middle East/Asia outside of HKG will be two awards (breaking at HKG). The AS award chart can be misleading about this and give you the impression you can fly an award like Australia/Europe-ICN, but the chart for these award types will show "Hong Kong".
- One stop-over allowed on one way award. You can build open jaw and other advanced routings by booking multiple one way awards. Please note change fee rule below.
- Allegedly stop-over only in Hong Kong, but some have posted success in other enroute cities such as YVR or SEA.
- As of 5 June 2018 changes/cancellations made to a booking will incur a $125 fee which is waived for MVPG/MVPG75K. Bookings made prior to 5 June will be allowed one complimentary change or cancellation for up to 60 days prior to date of travel.
- Awards can be booked 330 days in advance.
- Cathay and Alaska (or an Alaska flight operated by SkyWest/Horizon on behalf of Alaska) are the only airlines allowed on a Cathay award. No other partner airlines may be used on a single award (e.g. American, JAL, Emirates).
North American Gateway Cities:
Western
Vancouver
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Seattle (Spring 2019)
Eastern (Can not be used if traveling to west coast)
Boston
Chicago
New York (JFK & EWR)
Toronto
Washington
Award Chart Links*:
Asia
Australia
Europe
India/Middle East
North America
Anyone with 90 posts and 90 days can edit the wiki. Everyone else if you want something added to the wiki please comment in the thread.
Cathay Pacific (CX) Award Redemption, Booking and Availability – 2017 and Later
Dec 29, 2018, 12:44 pm
#3001
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Sounds like the reservation has not been ticketed yet.
Dec 29, 2018, 12:45 pm
#3002
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
That's what I was thinking. Does the confirmation email from Alaska have a ticket number?
Dec 29, 2018, 12:54 pm
#3003
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: In an aisle seat...
Programs: TK Elite, IHG Gold, Accor Silver, Ex-Malev Platinum (RIP)
Posts: 69
Yes, there is an Alaska Ticket number. (But Cathay do not have a ticket number.)
Dec 29, 2018, 1:14 pm
#3004
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Dec 29, 2018, 1:33 pm
#3005
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: In an aisle seat...
Programs: TK Elite, IHG Gold, Accor Silver, Ex-Malev Platinum (RIP)
Posts: 69
Thanks Beckoa - will do. That advice is similar to that given by Alaska (called them back again!), their last agent said there can be a delay between the systems. So will check again in 24 hours...
Dec 29, 2018, 1:55 pm
#3006
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I've had to wait a week before (this was for EK). It not a big deal though -- the space is held and can't be booked out from under you.
Dec 29, 2018, 3:50 pm
#3007
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Dec 29, 2018, 7:26 pm
#3008
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
Take notes when you call Alaska. Note the time and date of your call and the name of the person you spoke with and that they told you that the ticket is issued properly and is OK for travel. If for some reason CX does not honor it then you should be able to call back Alaska, possibly with the assistance of a supervisor, and get them to fix it for you even if they have to pull from non-award inventory to do it.
Since you are not traveling for a couple of weeks I would give it a day to see if it shows up properly in the CX system. Can you manage your booking on the CX website using your First and Last name and the ticket number you got from Alaska (or the CX PNR you got from Alaska, not the same as the Alaska PNR). When you pull up your reservation on the Alaska website does it show the E-ticket number (13 digits starting with 027)?
You should be able to retrieve your reservation on the CX website (under manage booking) and it should say "confirmed" to the right of the flight number.
Last edited by skimthetrees; Dec 29, 2018 at 7:41 pm
Dec 29, 2018, 8:21 pm
#3009
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Since you are not traveling for a couple of weeks I would give it a day to see if it shows up properly in the CX system. Can you manage your booking on the CX website using your First and Last name and the ticket number you got from Alaska (or the CX PNR you got from Alaska, not the same as the Alaska PNR). When you pull up your reservation on the Alaska website does it show the E-ticket number (13 digits starting with 027)?
You should be able to retrieve your reservation on the CX website (under manage booking) and it should say "confirmed" to the right of the flight number.
James
Dec 29, 2018, 10:04 pm
#3010
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
Trying to retrieve a CX PNR often fails if a "middle" name is missing from the search query or there is a mismatch with a passport on file. Try appending your middle name to your first name when searching via the AS ticket number or CX PNR. Don't include any spaces between first and middle names.
James
James
Dec 29, 2018, 10:27 pm
#3011
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
James
Dec 30, 2018, 1:13 am
#3012
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,472
I'm hoping to book HKG-SFO for Jan 2, 2020, when it becomes possible to do so. Given that it's right after New Years do I even have a chance? Not too familiar with CX availability patterns and I know AS doesn't always see what everyone else does.
EDIT: Should specify I'm looking for J/F.
EDIT: Should specify I'm looking for J/F.
Last edited by nexusCFX; Dec 30, 2018 at 1:41 am
Dec 30, 2018, 1:39 am
#3013
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,408
There is only one ticket number. Alaska creates the ticket and Cathy uses it. Cathay does not create the ticket for you (in this case), Alaska does, and based on your statement they already did. So long as they did it properly everything should be OK. Once the ticket has been issued though CX should see everything OK so I am surprised it does not show properly on the CX website.
Take notes when you call Alaska. Note the time and date of your call and the name of the person you spoke with and that they told you that the ticket is issued properly and is OK for travel. If for some reason CX does not honor it then you should be able to call back Alaska, possibly with the assistance of a supervisor, and get them to fix it for you even if they have to pull from non-award inventory to do it.
Take notes when you call Alaska. Note the time and date of your call and the name of the person you spoke with and that they told you that the ticket is issued properly and is OK for travel. If for some reason CX does not honor it then you should be able to call back Alaska, possibly with the assistance of a supervisor, and get them to fix it for you even if they have to pull from non-award inventory to do it.
Some airline require a very quick ticketing (like 24 hours for QR). Others I'm sort of 'ok' to allow 48-72 hours. If CX doesn't have the ticket number associated with the booking at that time I'd be actively chasing up with AS.
I don't know on what basis AS can demand the release of an award seat from partners in the event they have failed to ticket. It might be possible AS is willing to pay full revenue.
Dec 30, 2018, 2:29 am
#3014
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
I guess I should go and buy a lottery ticket since I managed to nab a mixed CX J/F Award from PVG to JFK on New Years Day with a stopover in JFK.
Called AS back to try and change the JFKLAX date and the agent informed me that the ticket I have now is invalid and therefore they can't honor their mistake and would need to cancel out JFKLAX in order for Cathay to accept me on their flight. I don't think AS is allowed to change anything post-purchase and the supervisor explained that the JFKLAX portion is invalid so even if I left the itinerary as is, the JFKLAX would auto-cancel.
Does this seem right to y'all?
Called AS back to try and change the JFKLAX date and the agent informed me that the ticket I have now is invalid and therefore they can't honor their mistake and would need to cancel out JFKLAX in order for Cathay to accept me on their flight. I don't think AS is allowed to change anything post-purchase and the supervisor explained that the JFKLAX portion is invalid so even if I left the itinerary as is, the JFKLAX would auto-cancel.
Does this seem right to y'all?
Dec 30, 2018, 3:25 am
#3015
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 2,172
I guess I should go and buy a lottery ticket since I managed to nab a mixed CX J/F Award from PVG to JFK on New Years Day with a stopover in JFK.
Called AS back to try and change the JFKLAX date and the agent informed me that the ticket I have now is invalid and therefore they can't honor their mistake and would need to cancel out JFKLAX in order for Cathay to accept me on their flight. I don't think AS is allowed to change anything post-purchase and the supervisor explained that the JFKLAX portion is invalid so even if I left the itinerary as is, the JFKLAX would auto-cancel.
Does this seem right to y'all?
Called AS back to try and change the JFKLAX date and the agent informed me that the ticket I have now is invalid and therefore they can't honor their mistake and would need to cancel out JFKLAX in order for Cathay to accept me on their flight. I don't think AS is allowed to change anything post-purchase and the supervisor explained that the JFKLAX portion is invalid so even if I left the itinerary as is, the JFKLAX would auto-cancel.
Does this seem right to y'all?
2. Did you mean JFK was stopover point and LAX was destination? Even so, not possible because that would involve 2 stopovers and my understanding is that there can only be one, being HKG. CX has no direct flight from PVG to LAX or JFK.
3. A third thing that is impossible about your post is JFK-LAX because there is no CX flight serving that route.
There is nothing for CX to do as they have no flight serving that route JFK-LAX and your dealing is with AS. Do you have an email confirmation from AS showing that they confirmed you as you claim ? Only then can you begin to hope that they will fix things (by paying out of their own pocket).