Jan 7, 2019, 9:47 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Awards: All Cathay Pacific / CX (Including First and Business Class)
Questions, Availability, Discussion
Questions, Availability, Discussion
For the current thread, please see here.
NOTE: As of 15 Jan 2017, JFK CX flights have relocated to Terminal 8.
Please feel free to use this thread for questions regarding CX Economy, Premium Economy, First and Business Class award redemption using AAdvantage miles, as well as questions regarding award availability, routings and related issues. Please go to the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Forum to discuss or ask about meals, equipment, service, etc. on CX, as there is an existing wealth of information there - and this is the American Airlines AAdvantage Forum
.AA Flight award chart for oneworld® and partner airlines
Other related threads that may be of interest:
FT Discrepancy between CX Award Search and AA availability: Discrepancy between QF and CX award search and AA availability
FT How , When to Select CX Seats on CX Award: How / when to select seat on a Cathay (CX) award / flight (consolidated)
FT Cathay Pacific Experience - Seats / Interline/ Baggage FAQs: Cathay Pacific Experience / Seats / Interline / Baggage FAQs
Also, for Rules about awards, see AA oneworld and Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (2015 on).
NOTE:
1) Only "MileSAAver" awards apply to oneworld and AA partners.
1a) Premium Economy seats are not available with AAdvantage awards, may be soon as AA sells Premium Economy Feb 2017.
2) Awards on Cathay Pacific and subsidiary KA / DragonAir may be booked through AA.
3) aa.com does not reveal CX awards; you must call AA (1-800-882-8880) to book a CX award (though you may find BA, JL or QF websites may reflect CX award availability). As CX/KA awards can not be booked online on aa.com, you must call (no fee).
3a) Be aware that what you see on the BA, JL, or QF sites may not be visible to the AA reservations folks. You may want to note the flight on which the F award seat is shown as "available" on those sites and if the AA agent doesn't see any availability suggest that the AA agent check that specific one again. If the AA agent still cannot see it, thank them, hang up, and call back a little later.
3b) Sometimes CX will make flights available for award booking to CX frequent flyers, but not release the seats immediately for other oneworld frequent flyers. Usually though, the seats, if not taken by CX frequent flyers, are released after a while to other OW programs.
4) Although CX may release seats for award earlier, AA can book them no more than 331 days prior to departure. The awards that CX does release are available as early as 355 days prior to departure for CX and BA frequent fliers, and sometimes that means the awards you want w AA miles will be snatched up prior to the 331 day mark.
*** AA does not have a set schedule to load flights. They can load it anytime after midnight 331 days out. Most of the time it is within a couple to 12 hours of that. Other times, it can be a full day or a day and a half afterwards, especially on the weekends where there's most variability. Unlike JL award space, it is not a specific time of day.
4a) Keep in mind that when booking eastbound space to North America that it's one day later in HKG so that space usually becomes available 330 days in advance to North America; this is not always true, since CX has already loaded the availability a month prior to AA - it is just up to AA to load and release the seats on SABRE, so it typically ends up being 330 days out, but not necessarily.
4b) Similarly... if you are trying to book westbound, US->HKG->Somewhere then AA may not be able to book the HKG->Somewhere segment 331 days in advance of the US->HKG flight, if it is still 332 days out in HKG. As it is the flights from US->HKG that are hardest to get, if you find a seat US->HKG at the 331 day mark when it is first available for booking through AA but cannot book the continuation, you can just put that US->HKG segment on hold with AA, then call back the next day when connecting flights will be loaded into the system to try to book the onward flight from HKG.
5) CX tends to initially release award seats farther out, and then again closer to the day of departure if there is remaining F or J seat inventory available, so keep checking back with AA up to the last practicable minute. AA will ticket partner awards/changes up to 4 hours prior to departure.
5a) So is there a pattern to how many seats CX releases? They seem to consistently release 5 J award seats and 1-2 F award seats on long hauls to/from North America at 355 days out. For intra-Asia flights, they often release just 4 J seats.
5b) Patterns for west coast routes: Because LAX has 4 daily flights to HKG, it tends to be the easiest option for blocks of 3 or more J award seats. SFO and YVR only have 2 daily flights and even if 5 award seats were initially released at 355 days prior to departure, some of those may be gone by the time the 331 day mark rolls around. If you need 4 or 5 J award seats on these west coast routes, either use Avios to book at 355 days or consider routing through LAX where there may still be availability at 331 days out.
5c) Pattern for release of close-in (within about 14 days of flight) award seats? Driving Rain reports that using BA.com it appeared that on three consecutive Sunday evenings at exactly 1030pm Eastern Daylight Time inventory would open up for "close-in" CX flights (i.e. flights roughly within 14 days of that Sunday) to and from the US. While there were changes here and there periodically during the week, sweeping changes occurred on Sunday nights at 1030. Driving Rain reports that it seems that on Monday mornings in Hong Kong (i.e. 1030pm EDT on Sunday) someone at CX HQ consistently did a run through the inventory and freed it up. No guarantees, but a person looking for close-in flights might want to plan to check with AA shortly after 1030 PM Eastern Time on Sundays to see if anything has become available.
6) AA does not charge "YQ" surcharges [what they sometimes call "fuel surcharge"] on CX/KA award segments (BA Avios does), thus the taxes and fees on your "free" ticket on CX or KA are almost always significantly less than for the same routing on BA.
6a)
6b) There is a Hong Kong Departure Tax (HK) of $120 HKD (approx $15.50 USD) on every segment departing Hong Kong. Exemptions apply. If your ticket includes this tax and you qualify for an exemption, a refund can be applied for either in person at HKIA landside or via post to Civil Aviation Department. AA charges this tax for children under 12 years of age despite the exemption. In order to obtain a cash refund at HKIA, you will need passenger passport, passenger boarding pass, passenger ticket receipt showing the fare calculation line which will show the HK tax being charged. This receipt can be obtained at any AA counter worldwide including HKIA as well as Airport Express in-town check-in (AA check-in). As the AA counter at HKIA operates only during limited hours, Airport Express in-town check-in would be the the convenient option.
7) Not all CX flights offer First class; CX Business is markedly different on long haul and regionally configured aircraft.
8) If you're looking for multiple seats in First on a particular flight but can find only some but not all that you're looking for, take what's available in F, then take the rest of the seats you want on J (if available) on the same flight, and check back periodically to see if an F seat has opened up for award. There is no additional charge (in money, although there will be in miles) to change to an award to a higher cabin of service (e.g., J to F, Y to F, Y to J) as long as the award keeps the same origin/destination airports.
9) In general, rerouting to different flights after you have redeemed an award will not attract a monetary penalty so long as the originating and destination airports are the same (connection airport can differ without triggering change fee) and you are using oneworld carriers. For this reason, be aware of potential alternate routings and check them, too. For example, CX uses LAX, SFO, ORD, JFK, and BOS as ports of entry to the US from HKG (and also YVR and YYZ in Canada), so if you have one F and one J award seat on a non-stop from HKG to ORD, you might check flights from HKG to LAX for available seats in F, and if they are available, reroute from your HKG-ORD to HKG-LAX on CX, then continue LAX-ORD on AA First.
9a) Note the above rule also applies if you change the dates of flight but retain the same originating city and destination city. If you are flexible in your travel dates be sure to periodically check availability on other dates as well.
10) Be aware your award must conform to some rules on a) MPM (Maximum Permitted Mileage - your award routing can not exceed 125% of the most direct routing available); a useful tool is Great Circle Mapper.
11) The Most Significant Carrier (transpacific usually, CX in most of these posts,) must offer a non-"constructed" fare between your origin and destination (you might find an unconstructed fare between DFW and SIN, but might not from Killeen to SIN).
12) If you can't pick your CX seats online, either due to them being blocked or you just want to call, you need to first get the CX PNR from AAdvantage at 1-800-882-8880. Then call CX at 1-800-233-2742. Some seats that are blocked on CX website are assignable via AA reservations. Close to departure AA can even assign 2A, 2K.
Note: if the Cathay Manage booking tool doesn't appear to recognize your CX PNR, you need to enter your first name AND middle name, separated by a space, in the "First Name" field.
13) Up-cabin visits (i.e. J pax joining F companion in F cabin) are not permitted per CX policy, though have been granted under special circumstances. But putting crew in the awkward position of being asked to violate policy is generally frowned upon. Down-cabin visits are permitted ex-USA. However, on flights to the USA, down-cabin visits are not permitted and this rule is vigorously enforced.
Posts made in 2017 may be read in ARCHIVE: 2017 AA Awards in Cathay Pacific / CX, KA...
Posts made in 2016 may be read in ARCHIVE: AA Awards on Cathay Pacific (2016).
Posts made in 2015 may be read in ARCHIVE: AA Awards on Cathay Pacific (2015).
Posts made in 2014 may be read in ARCHIVE: Awards: CX / Cathay Pacific / (inc. F and J) - 2014.
N.B. Older posts have been moved and archived to: Cathay Pacific / CX (inc. First and Business Class) award - ARCHIVED.
ARCHIVE: 2017 AA Award: Cathay Pacific / CX, KA availability, etc. (master thd)
Dec 27, 2017, 8:19 pm
#856
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: DCA in the winter, SJC in the summer
Posts: 81
Since the advice is to book ASAP (so 331 days out) for CX availability - if I have a round-trip coming up, should I book as two one-ways as the segments become available to snag availability? I'm wary of paying two "mileage redeposit" fees if plans change. Is there anything else I should consider?
Dec 27, 2017, 8:22 pm
#857
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Since the advice is to book ASAP (so 331 days out) for CX availability - if I have a round-trip coming up, should I book as two one-ways as the segments become available to snag availability? I'm wary of paying two "mileage redeposit" fees if plans change. Is there anything else I should consider?
Dec 27, 2017, 8:52 pm
#858
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: DCA in the winter, SJC in the summer
Posts: 81
I had heard to book ASAP to snag award availability. If Business availability isn't much of an issue I would much rather book as one RT - I'm weighing the odds of availability disappearing vs. me cancelling my trip, basically, so if availability is good, I can afford to wait and book this award as one RT....
Dec 27, 2017, 9:10 pm
#859
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
I had heard to book ASAP to snag award availability. If Business availability isn't much of an issue I would much rather book as one RT - I'm weighing the odds of availability disappearing vs. me cancelling my trip, basically, so if availability is good, I can afford to wait and book this award as one RT....
CX releases seats to both AM and OW as travel gets closer. Of course when J/F sales good (December and summer, usually ends after Labor Day) they might be sold out. I've always able to grab last-minute CX J for my dates, but I am usually flexible on my travel dates. If you have a confirmed travel plans now then of course you could book now, but if you are flexible I see no reason to book now, unless you could reach EXP prior to your travel.
Dec 30, 2017, 7:25 pm
#860
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
Is it possible to change an award once travel has started? For example I'm booked DCA-BOS-HKG with a six hour layover in BOS. IF say a F seat becomes available at that point is it possible to get the award type (it's a C award) changed?
thanks
FDW
thanks
FDW
Dec 30, 2017, 7:53 pm
#861
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum; Amex Plat; Four Seasons; Fairmont; HH; etc.; "Retirees-In-Training"
Posts: 658
Sure enough, two F seats opened for one of the 3 days that would work for us, so we changed, and we were already more than a week into the trip.
However, we had flown JL outbound, so that wasn't really connected in CX reservations. Would that actually matter?
We had booked an F and a J so we knew definitely we could be on the same flight home, and we just had AAdvantage change both of us to the date that had two F available.
(We used a service to help us, which was especially nice while we were already traveling; *we* didn't need to be checking all the time. He's helped us with terrific F seats on several trips now.)
GC
Dec 31, 2017, 6:42 am
#862
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
We had been told that F availability might open up within 2 weeks of the travel date.
Sure enough, two F seats opened for one of the 3 days that would work for us, so we changed, and we were already more than a week into the trip.
However, we had flown JL outbound, so that wasn't really connected in CX reservations. Would that actually matter?
We had booked an F and a J so we knew definitely we could be on the same flight home, and we just had AAdvantage change both of us to the date that had two F available.
(We used a service to help us, which was especially nice while we were already traveling; *we* didn't need to be checking all the time. He's helped us with terrific F seats on several trips now.)
GC
Sure enough, two F seats opened for one of the 3 days that would work for us, so we changed, and we were already more than a week into the trip.
However, we had flown JL outbound, so that wasn't really connected in CX reservations. Would that actually matter?
We had booked an F and a J so we knew definitely we could be on the same flight home, and we just had AAdvantage change both of us to the date that had two F available.
(We used a service to help us, which was especially nice while we were already traveling; *we* didn't need to be checking all the time. He's helped us with terrific F seats on several trips now.)
GC
FDW
Jan 1, 2018, 6:35 pm
#863
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
Happy New Year to all!
Similar question to the one asked just a bit up thread, but somewhat different.
My husband and I are both booked in F on 2 separate flights on the same day (a couple of hours apart). I booked mine with AS a few months ago and that was the sole seat available for that day in J or F. I was hoping another seat would open in J or F on that flight and checked daily, but interestingly enough a few weeks ago only an F seat opened on another flight a few hours earlier. I booked it for my husband so that he would at least have a way home, using his AA miles that we wanted to get rid of. We were and still are hoping that another J or F seat will open on either of the 2 flights so one of us can switch and at least we'll be flying on the same flight even if it may not be the same cabin. We are within 10 days of travel and I'm checking very often but nothing is happening.
If nothing opens until the day of travel what are our chances of being successful if we ask CX at the airport lounge to switch one of us to the other's flight? We have no preference as to which flight we want, we just don't want to fly on separate flight.
Similar question to the one asked just a bit up thread, but somewhat different.
My husband and I are both booked in F on 2 separate flights on the same day (a couple of hours apart). I booked mine with AS a few months ago and that was the sole seat available for that day in J or F. I was hoping another seat would open in J or F on that flight and checked daily, but interestingly enough a few weeks ago only an F seat opened on another flight a few hours earlier. I booked it for my husband so that he would at least have a way home, using his AA miles that we wanted to get rid of. We were and still are hoping that another J or F seat will open on either of the 2 flights so one of us can switch and at least we'll be flying on the same flight even if it may not be the same cabin. We are within 10 days of travel and I'm checking very often but nothing is happening.
If nothing opens until the day of travel what are our chances of being successful if we ask CX at the airport lounge to switch one of us to the other's flight? We have no preference as to which flight we want, we just don't want to fly on separate flight.
Jan 2, 2018, 5:48 am
#864
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,536
Happy New Year to all!
Similar question to the one asked just a bit up thread, but somewhat different.
My husband and I are both booked in F on 2 separate flights on the same day (a couple of hours apart). I booked mine with AS a few months ago and that was the sole seat available for that day in J or F. I was hoping another seat would open in J or F on that flight and checked daily, but interestingly enough a few weeks ago only an F seat opened on another flight a few hours earlier. I booked it for my husband so that he would at least have a way home, using his AA miles that we wanted to get rid of. We were and still are hoping that another J or F seat will open on either of the 2 flights so one of us can switch and at least we'll be flying on the same flight even if it may not be the same cabin. We are within 10 days of travel and I'm checking very often but nothing is happening.
If nothing opens until the day of travel what are our chances of being successful if we ask CX at the airport lounge to switch one of us to the other's flight? We have no preference as to which flight we want, we just don't want to fly on separate flight.
Similar question to the one asked just a bit up thread, but somewhat different.
My husband and I are both booked in F on 2 separate flights on the same day (a couple of hours apart). I booked mine with AS a few months ago and that was the sole seat available for that day in J or F. I was hoping another seat would open in J or F on that flight and checked daily, but interestingly enough a few weeks ago only an F seat opened on another flight a few hours earlier. I booked it for my husband so that he would at least have a way home, using his AA miles that we wanted to get rid of. We were and still are hoping that another J or F seat will open on either of the 2 flights so one of us can switch and at least we'll be flying on the same flight even if it may not be the same cabin. We are within 10 days of travel and I'm checking very often but nothing is happening.
If nothing opens until the day of travel what are our chances of being successful if we ask CX at the airport lounge to switch one of us to the other's flight? We have no preference as to which flight we want, we just don't want to fly on separate flight.
How many F seats selling on the flights you want? That’s a good proxy for how maniacally you should be checking.
Jamie
Jan 2, 2018, 7:59 am
#865
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
Nil. So just keep checking. The only time I’ve gotten CX to make changes to a non-CX issued award is in high frequency markets like HKGBKK when there were oversells. CX wouldn’t even honour their own travel waiver during a storm since my ticket was issued by a partner (and said partner didn’t have the same travel waiver in place, so I was hosed).
How many F seats selling on the flights you want? That’s a good proxy for how maniacally you should be checking.
Jamie
On Cathay site I was only able to check up to 4 seats and both flights showed at least 4 for sale so I knew there's a good chance for some to be made available as awards.
I just checked again about half hour ago and TWO F seats were showing available on my husband's flight so I switched myself to it. I had to pay $125 for that change since my reservation was with Alaska - I did save 40k miles by booking with them vs AA and that's worth way more than $125. Had it been the opposite with hub switching to mine, AA wouldn't charge but that flight was still 0 J and 0 F awards available so I wasn't taking any chances. I also don't mind getting home a couple of hours earlier.
Jan 2, 2018, 8:47 am
#866
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,536
I was able to make the change this morning ^!
On Cathay site I was only able to check up to 4 seats and both flights showed at least 4 for sale so I knew there's a good chance for some to be made available as awards.
I just checked again about half hour ago and TWO F seats were showing available on my husband's flight so I switched myself to it. I had to pay $125 for that change since my reservation was with Alaska - I did save 40k miles by booking with them vs AA and that's worth way more than $125. Had it been the opposite with hub switching to mine, AA wouldn't charge but that flight was still 0 J and 0 F awards available so I wasn't taking any chances. I also don't mind getting home a couple of hours earlier.
On Cathay site I was only able to check up to 4 seats and both flights showed at least 4 for sale so I knew there's a good chance for some to be made available as awards.
I just checked again about half hour ago and TWO F seats were showing available on my husband's flight so I switched myself to it. I had to pay $125 for that change since my reservation was with Alaska - I did save 40k miles by booking with them vs AA and that's worth way more than $125. Had it been the opposite with hub switching to mine, AA wouldn't charge but that flight was still 0 J and 0 F awards available so I wasn't taking any chances. I also don't mind getting home a couple of hours earlier.
Jan 2, 2018, 8:52 am
#867
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Hmm, good question, you can generally make changes to awards after travel has begun, but a deposit and reissue into the higher class award might be complicated, if not impossible. Clearly I'd try to change into F before departing, and you can try looking at any of the North American gateways. JFK might be your best bet, and I often find DCA-JFK flights to have good award availability (and I'd certainly voluntarily downgrade to coach on that segment to get CX F). You could even do the DCA-LGA shuttle and taxi it over to JFK, but I'd plan a 3-4 hour connection at least. Also remember you can have up to a 24 hour connection on an international ticket.
Jan 2, 2018, 10:24 am
#868
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
Hmm, good question, you can generally make changes to awards after travel has begun, but a deposit and reissue into the higher class award might be complicated, if not impossible. Clearly I'd try to change into F before departing, and you can try looking at any of the North American gateways. JFK might be your best bet, and I often find DCA-JFK flights to have good award availability (and I'd certainly voluntarily downgrade to coach on that segment to get CX F). You could even do the DCA-LGA shuttle and taxi it over to JFK, but I'd plan a 3-4 hour connection at least. Also remember you can have up to a 24 hour connection on an international ticket.
FDW
Jan 2, 2018, 10:30 am
#869
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,347
I love it when a plan comes together. Do enjoy, the novelty of dining together (shared table) with one's sweetheart is not one to be missed, just ask them to set it up (if you haven't already experienced). Oh, and bring Pringles for the caviar. CX Blinis are practically weapons-grade. Way to big and gummy.
Thanks for the Pringles tip, I will add it to my grocery list
For the current thread, please see here.
Last edited by JDiver; Jan 7, 2019 at 9:54 pm Reason: Add moderator note