flytoeat

I agree. Also, booking wonderful award trips is a bit of escapism right now. Australia, Europe, India, South Africa, here we come...

aaronts

Just booked 1F/1F on CX 883/881 from LAX for next February. The departures are an hour apart, but would really like to be on the same plane as my wife, any thoughts on the probability of that happening or tricks/timing for another spot to open up for AS agents to find?

PVDtoDEL

If CX is still flying F class on LAX-HKG in February, I think your chances are pretty good that both reservations will get consolidated onto a single flight.

Flying for Fun

Or the once daily flight will be operated by a A359 or A351 without F.

James

aabbcc

Looking for LAX-HKG-SIN in J for late this year. AA, JL, and QF all show availability (JL shows 4 seats), but I’ve called AS twice and the agents have been unable to find anything (I asked them to search origin to destination, not by leg). One agent mentioned that what AS sees matches most closely with BA, so I went to check BA after the call, and there are no seats available.

Any idea as to what’s going on here? Could AA, JL, and QF all be showing phantom space? Thanks.

jamienbaker

Alaska inventory is not harmonized with that of OneWorld partners.

As for BA, sometimes their site glitches, I’ve had BA agents find awards that the site doesn’t display. So you need to call.

Good luck.

aabbcc

Thanks. Recent posts seemed to suggest JL/QF most accurately reflect what's available to AS, so I was surprised that the agents weren't able to find anything (especially with 4 seats showing).

skimthetrees

Did you check CX partner specific award availability on JL or just OneWorld availability? It can make a difference. Using JL's CX partner specific search provides the results most in line with AS IME. JL/OneWorld award search has more false positives.

Is the LAX flight departing shortly after midnight? Could be the shortly after midnight "feature". Ask the agent to search for a flight time of 1AM. Do not mention HKG, just ask for LAX-SIN on CX to make sure they pick up married segment availability (may not be necessary if the two flight segments are both available individually).

aabbcc

Thanks for the suggestions. I used the CX partner specific search on JL, which shows 4 seats available, and confirmed with both AA and QF. The LAX flight departs at 22:25, so I don't think that's the issue. I also asked the agent to search for LAX to SIN since it appears to be married segment availability (LAX to HKG alone not available on JL search), but no luck. I'll try HUCA a couple more times and see...

skimthetrees

Hopefully it is not a new era of blocking. Try HUCA a couple of times. Have you been calling in at the same time of day when you call? try calling in a different time of day to see if you get a different bank of agents. I doubt the time is the problem but try asking for the agent to set the search time field for the flight to 11PM and see if that makes a difference. Are you searching for all the 4J seats or less. There used to be reports that AS would see one less availability than other partners but I have not heard that rumor recently so I doubt that too.

If it's for 1 traveler how about go earlier in the day and grab an F seat? Maybe search SFO-SIN and then add an LAX-SFO on the front of it?

Flying for Fun

Despite a 97% reduction in capacity in April passengers counts for April were down 99.6%, averaging less than 500 passengers per day for Cathay Pacific & Cathay Dragon combined. In total, 13,729 passengers on a load factor of just 21.7% flew in April.

As long as the HKG border remains closed to foreign nationals and transit prohibited, it is unlikely any CX flights, revenue or award, well into 2021 will actually fly. Even if transit in HKG becomes available (which could also be restricted by origin) before entry, will the final destination welcome you? If you are from North America, probably not!

If speculatively booking an award on a pre COVID-19 schedule provides escapism with dreamy thoughts of "here we come," remember, reality will likely slap you firmly in the face followed by a scolding, "don't come, you are not welcome here," waving finger! It will be quite some time before CX commits 6 777-300ER aircraft and 1300 pax capacity to 3× daily flights from LAX. Initially, less than 1× daily on a smaller capacity A359 increasing to daily and then an A351 as demand grows is more realistic, IMHO.

Intersting article! Recovery for CX will be years, not months. CX is looking at selling and leasing back assets for short term cash.

Rather than commit miles & a small amount of cash to a lottery flight 8-11 months out, I will hold off until there is more certainty that I can actually get to where I want to go and enjoy the culture & experiences of the location once there. Being barred up in a hotel room for 336 hours isn't at all appealing.

James

flytoeat

YMMV, as may one's mileage balance, hedging strategy, and yes, need for escapism.

Flying for Fun

Definitely, YMMV but not sure what there is to hedge. We are very long on MP miles, CX won't be an option this year. I still have one award on the books I made January 1st for mid October. EK J DXB-LAX with a stopover and an AS Saver A LAX-JFK in November. I had planned to add on an additional EK flight to DXB when I figured out if I was going to be in Australia, Asia or South Africa. I am pretty sure I will be cancelling that flight too. It isn't that I want to, it is because governments will require me to if I want to keep the miles.

In February & March as things were starting to unravel, I was able to book QF J LAX-JFK-LAX-SYD//SYD-AKL, 55K outbound and SYD-BNE-LAX//LAX-FLL 55K inbound last minute. I changed the LAX-FLL to a later date, then changed it to OGG. I am not worried at all about availability when it is possible to travel again. After a month long, daily battle of keeping ahead of my itineraries and a slew of cancellations, ultimately I headed home on April 3rd/4th on a 10K award with less than 800 EQM short of 90K AS+Partners. Escapism for me, is booking something that will stick.

Enjoy your escapism! In all seriousnees, if it makes you feel better, all the power to you.


James

freed0m

you should worry about availability when it is possible to travel again. That’s what is the hedge, especially with cancellation fee waiver with MVPG. The risk is only $12.5 partner award fee.

even when it is possible to travel, the number of flights will be reduced. The availability could be less, too as airline prioritise cash over awards.

as a case study, right after SARS, there was more cheap cash upgrade availability, less award availability.

eponymous_coward

I currently have a trip to India (CX F/J to MAA, SQ paid nonrefundable J, ouch, BOM-SIN-SEA. Stopovers in HKG/SIN) in December 2020/January 2021

I’m not particularly optimistic this will happen, but in the VERY worst case if I can afford to pay $1500 to fly SQ I can pay $1500 and not fly them (I’d like a generous way to use the money for future flights, but that might not be SQ’s MO). I will say if the itinerary is possible (visas, etc.) I’ll try to travel.

But I have no intent of doing much planning, fixing broken itineraries, etc. until MUCH closer in. It’s a fool’s errand to do otherwise.