Superorb

2A is another story, I haven't been able to get anyone at the US call center to assign me that seat yet. And I can't figure out a way to call the HK call center without spending at least $10 up front.

FriendlySkies

Skype?

Superorb

I looked into it, and the smallest credit you can buy is $10 for calling an international landline. Google Voice was also $10, but less per minute vs. Skype.

XLR26

deleted

imm2b

My CX F flight over Xmas holidays felt the same way. Our flight was 5 of 6 for a day time flight. The service was friendly but not very attentive as in the past. No hand written note at dinner time, after dinner the FA didn't ask if I wanted dessert or drinks, the table got cleared and that was the end of dinner.

Over all, the soft product felt like C, the food was unedible. I ordered the sirloin steak medium rare, it came out cold because they didn't want to over heat it. The steak was so rubbery that I had a hard time cutting it, I gave up after a couple bites. The only thing I love is seat, great for sleep.

kfrombk

Haven't booked award travel with AA in over 1.5 years, I forgot how painful it can get. I've been trying to book a flight from HKG to JFK during the 3rd week of March. After 2 days of trying I finally got a return flight from JAL in Business from HKG TO JFK on JL 4. But it's the wrong date. So instead of calling 5 times a day, I used Award Nexus, and found flights on the 21st of March, when I called AA they told me the seats are not open.

I would prefer a flight on CX, direct would be even better. Any tips or suggestions? I've noticed that there are pretty much very limited award seats on CX in Feb and March. So my predicament is if I should just book my itinerary and change later on. I forget if there's a penalty to change. Thanks in advance.

tsz

Is there Y availability? CX often opens spaces up at the last minute (48 hours) and there is no penalty to "upgrade" (i.e. just pay the miles difference, no $)—might be tight with AA, but I think a number of people on here have done it.

Happy

Use Onesuite and it is 0.02 per minute. You do need to deposit a minimum $10 in your account but that you can use for other calls too. You can check the rate tables of all kinds of call, including using your laptop. I found it more convenient than Skype because you can use pay phone. We actually used it in Brisbane, Australia calling our friend to pick us up when we took the train from town to the station near his home at the suburb on a local payphone. I also use it to call AA US call center when in Hong Kong to change our flight back home. I think I have used it a couple times in Europe as well.

http://onesuite.com/

If you use OneSuite long distance from US 48 States using local number, rates are listed below.
Destination Country Name Country Code Area/City Code Rate (USD)4
Hong Kong

852
$0.02
Hong Kong-Mobile

852

1, 17, 21, 300, 303, 48, 49, 6, 8, 9

$0.02

bmchris

How do folks value if a redemption is good value or not? Is it by the distance between cities, or the distance flown?

For example, to go from Beijing to Shanghai is only 682 miles direct/non-stop. But to do so on CX, means PEK-HKG-PVG, a 6 hour flight. In J, that is a 22.5K mile redemption.

Thougths?

zznoname

Don't know about CX, but AA calculates AAmiles point to point if the connecting flights have the same flight number. Sum of the total flights if not.

If you're asking, to compare with posted fares, how much 22.5K AAmiles is worth $$, it's between US$45.00 - $742.00.

.002 cents/AAmile (US$150 for 110,000 AAmiles) if you did the Citi Exe. card, Vanilla Debit/Reload/Wal-Mart Bill Pay thing, and canceled before the annual fee payment was due.

.033 cents/AAmile (including tax/fees) purchasing AAmiles online or Mileage Multiplier (not counting bonus AAmiles promotions).

mattsteg

How much would you pay for the transportation + experience offered, or for what you would purchase in its place? "Value" of the product is the lesser of what you would pay, or what the cost would be to buy using cash.
How many miles does it cost to redeem?
Divide the two if you want a "good value" number.


In this example, do you just want to get from Beijing to Shanghai, quickly and ideally comfortably? What equipment is flying? Would you get extra value out of flying CX, maybe visiting the lounges at HKG?

I'd just buy a nonstop ticket with cash (most likey) or with other miles. Going out of the way to take CX would have negative value for me, unless I wanted to visit hong kong, or had some specific desire to sample whatever equipment was being operated.



distance comes into play only in that you are likely to value a nicer in-flight product more highly when you are going a long way (or you don't care for the transportation part at all and just want to experience a particular product).

Superorb

I don't think I'll be able to get around the $10 buy in as Skype, Google Voice, and now your suggestion also require that. But being able to use a pay phone is a big plus, that way I don't have to find wifi to use one of the regular VoIP options on my phone.

MileageGoblin

Or you can just send an email to web services on the website. Just did it yesterday. Have a short flight on miles with wife in Y and website wouldn't let me assign her a seat due to no status. CX emailed me back with confirmation of seat assignment.

catcathk

Hi all the experts, I am planning a trip later this year flying CX in J with 2 Adults and a 4 yrs old, 3 tickets in total. I see most of he CX flight only open up two J seats till closer to departure time. Any recommendation in secure 3 J seats?

Do I book 2 J seats first, and a Y seat on the same plane,, wait till CX open up J than upgrade the Y to J (pay the points in different)? And yes.. I'm planning to put my 4 years old at the back if I can't get a J for him, j/k :P

How about booking 4 J seat from HKG to SYD? Do I do the same?

dkerr

Folks here are most familiar with north america to HKG routes so may not be able to comment on the SYD leg. What route are you looking for the 3 J seats on? And what currency do you want to use to buy them... AA miles, BA avios, AsiaMiles? It can make a difference... E.g. AsiaMiles have more seats available than other partners.

At the 11-12 month time CX will frequently release 5 J seats on flights HKG/North America, and 4 J on intra-asia flights, if they release any. After that there is no predictable pattern until you get close to flight time, like within a week or two and then there does seam to be a consistent pattern to release available seats right up to flight time.

You can indeed separate your party into different classes of service and then hope for more seats to become available in the higher class. Provided the origin and destination remain the same AA will make the change for no service fee, just the additional miles. Not sure about BA or AsiaMiles. Use AwardNexus to automate the search.

Good luck
DAK