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ARCHIVE: Earning AA AAdvantage Miles on CX / Cathay (including Upgrade Issues)

Old May 22, 2019, 7:13 am
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Last edit by: JDiver
Earning American Airlines AAvantage Miles Flying CX / Cathay Pacific Airways (consolidated)
Including known issues (e.g. upgrades) with AA / CX

Earning AAdvantage Miles flying Cathay Pacific Airways

NOTE: Travel on Cathay Pacific and its affiliate airline counts toward qualifying for AAdvantage elite status membership. However, please refer to aa.com here for fare classes that earn AAdvantage miles, not Cathay Pacific.
  • Economy / coach fares other than Y, B or H on CX do not earn AAdvantage miles

  • B and H only earn fractional (75%) credit on AA

  • Upgrades may book into ineligible fare classes, causing challenges getting AA to credit the originally purchased fare class

  • there are a few fare classes that CX says do not earn AAdvantage miles, whereas aa.com says they will, as do members reporting their experiences here

  • JFK-YVR and YVR-JFK do accrue EQ and miles on eligible fares. JFK-YVR-HKG accrues as if nonstop JFK-HKG.

AAdvantage Elite members members traveling on Cathay also enjoy:
  • [*]
If you fly CX as an AA codeshare / marketed flight, you will earn as if you were flying on AA.

Flying CX as CX, most discounted economy fare classes do not earn AAdvantage miles; See the chart. See Link to AAdvantage chart on earning miles and EQD flying CX.

Note: the CX website incorrectly indicates no AA miles for E fare; AA.com does and is correct

*Premium Economy fare W on a flight operated by Cathay Pacific will earn an additional 10% class of service bonus with the exception of W fares between Hong Kong and Bangkok, which will not earn a class of service bonus, and Premium Economy R or E, which earn no class of service bonus.
Upgrading to First on CX / Cathay Pacific Airways and U, Z Fare Class Issues

Upgrading a paid Business fare to First on Cathay Pacific Airways puts the flight into fare class "Z", a class that is ineligible for AAdvantage miles accrual (as reflected on the accrual chart) because it is also an award classification for a First Class award.

Upgrading a paid Premium Economy fare to Business puts it into U class, another award fare class that earns no AA miles.

Members have recently reported success at having their upgrades acknowledged as miles-garnering (mid-June 2015).

Originally Posted by BosTravel
I had the same issue. I upgraded from Biz to F using Asia Miles, but left my AA number in the reservation.

The outbound flight credited automatically without intervention.

The inbound flight did not credit and I submitted the Missing Mileage Request. That request got denied due to ineligible fare class. All I did was call the ExecPlat desk and ask for AAdvantage Customer Service, who had record of the denied claim. I explained I paid for Biz, upgraded to F, and provided them with my original ticket number (both ticker numbers were on CX stock). Call took about 5 minutes and miles (and EQM/EQP) posted to the account the next day.
and

Originally Posted by gohima
I just wanted to post the conclusion to my saga, that started with the brilliant idea to upgrade two CX flights in February (yes, 4 months ago).

Well, I Fedex'd a letter to the executive's office, which arrived Friday. Today, I received an email from an "executive liason" who said they agreed that "R" to "U" via an upgrade should be mileage earning and manually adjusted my account to receive credit. Account and status now reflects those flights.

So despite certain aagents and lower-level SUPs saying this is CX's problem and to go pound sand, AA actually can do something about it (albit at a higher level than a regular SUP, I assume). By the phrasing of the answer, I would say this isn't a one time exception but rather what is supposed to happen for these flights.

Godspeed to any other souls on this journey.
Possible snail mail or FedEx to:

Suzanne Rubin
President AAdvantage Loyalty Program, American Airlines
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
Thanks to nkedel.

Wikipost as of 2018
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ARCHIVE: Earning AA AAdvantage Miles on CX / Cathay (including Upgrade Issues)

Old Feb 15, 2015, 7:42 pm
  #46  
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Originally Posted by danielchee
Right. My apologies on not being clearer. I was referring to earning as if it's an AA flight (I flew Qantas last year but it was an AA flight number on AA ticket which earned full miles). Since these 2 flights are listed as JL only and not an AA flight Operated by JL I should follow the JL earning rates. Got it.
Yes, you do.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 1:18 am
  #47  
 
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CX upgraded flights didn't credit, AA blames CX for issues

So I booked my girlfriend on CX paid business HKG-JFK in December 2014. Then I used my mileage to upgrade her to first. I'm not sure how AA redemption upgrades, but CX reissues a new ticket with the upgrade, so the new ticket now shows up as a redemption fare. Apparently the system doesn't automatically reference the old ticket number (I think I recall before if you change flights in AA it shows something like exchanged coupon or whatever)--I don't think CX does this.

We tried repeated to get AA to get these miles, but they insist the ticket is redemption when the original ticket is not. I have of course called CX, and they said I should just submit the request with the original ticket number (before the upgrade), but when we submit the original ticket, we're told the booking class (business), does not match the flown class on the boarding pass (first). They keep giving us the run-around.

We've hit about three months, so in another three months I think they'll just tell my girlfriend it's past the retro-crediting period.

My girlfriend says I should just ignore it since she can't get the EQM/EQP for this ticket anymore (and it wouldn't bring her up to higher tier anyways). Perhaps it's time for that or there is something else we can do?

Last edited by JDiver; Jun 16, 2015 at 12:31 pm Reason: Restore original post title
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:48 am
  #48  
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In your correspondence with AA, are you calling or emailing? In a case like this I'd highly recommend calling AAdvantage Customer Service (not the normal reservations number) and see if you have more luck.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 6:34 am
  #49  
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Call and explain the specific issue. Unless CX issues the credit, AA won't see it.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 7:43 am
  #50  
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Originally Posted by JJeffrey
In your correspondence with AA, are you calling or emailing? In a case like this I'd highly recommend calling AAdvantage Customer Service (not the normal reservations number) and see if you have more luck.
Definitely follow this advice.

Originally Posted by Often1
Call and explain the specific issue. Unless CX issues the credit, AA won't see it.
AA needs to start receiving written complaints on this issue after it is sorted out so some education might happen over there. The frequency of the problem here is frustrating. Anyhow, good agents at AAdvatage CS can absolutely issue mileage credit while you are on the phone with them. Just make sure you are asking for help..Good luck!
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 11:53 pm
  #51  
 
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We have done both emailing and calling many times. As we do not live in the US anymore, we can't simply head to an AAdvantage desk or whatever is at the airport these days.

When calling they insist on explaining that the upgraded ticket which is a Z-fare is not eligible for mileage and refuse to resubmit the request; they keeping trying to explain to me on CX the eligible fares are different, etc...

I finally did what I dislike doing and I pulled a DYKWIA that I had status on CX to know the fare class differences to get an agent to even consider resubmitting the request again with the original booking ticket and the boarding pass even though they don't match in classes. Hopefully this time around we will finally get the mileage without more trouble. It just seems like a hassle.

My girlfriend only has basic Gold status, so maybe the agents are not as experienced?


Be honest, I think this is as much a CX issue as well, since I had my own issues getting credit for my upgraded flight. But at least when I submitted the request the MPO desk at HKG, the [CX] agent who helped me listened that it was an upgrade so she looked up the original ticket and credited my account immediately based on that info.
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 5:40 am
  #52  
 
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Similar cases -

HKG-TPE-NRT -> CX delayed, rebooked me on HKG-NRT non-stop. 001 stock, but since it's taking too much time to ask AA to re-issue, CX just put me on the non-stop flight. Still haven't got the credit after almost three months.(Flight took place on Jan 4). I think I should call them to get this straightened out.
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 6:15 pm
  #53  
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CX upgraded flights didn't credit, AA blames CX for issues

There have been other reports of this happening in another thread. I don't know if any of those posters were ultimately successful.

But I mean if CX insists you were on an award ticket then dispute the ticket cost with your CC with documentation from CX that it was an award flight...

I did this c. 2008 and didn't have any issues with miles posting to AA.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 12:00 am
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
There have been other reports of this happening in another thread. I don't know if any of those posters were ultimately successful.

But I mean if CX insists you were on an award ticket then dispute the ticket cost with your CC with documentation from CX that it was an award flight...

I did this c. 2008 and didn't have any issues with miles posting to AA.
This is both evil and brilliant at the same time.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 12:14 am
  #55  
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Originally Posted by Frindle
This is both evil and brilliant at the same time.
And fraudulent - the airline provided the ticket and the travel - only even able to lodge a dispute by making untrue claims
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 1:24 am
  #56  
 
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It's a real crap system. I had purchased a U.S. stock ticket with two segments on AA. I was upgraded on the AA flight T-2 but that flight never posted. I submitted the online missing mileage request FOR AN AA FLIGHT. Received an email three times saying I needed to scan a copy of my boarding pass or ticket. I was dumbfounded. I flew on THEIR aircraft. Called and they saw that I flew on the flight but still insisted on a boarding pass (which was electronic and no longer had). Took about a month to finally get credit.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 2:04 am
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
And fraudulent - the airline provided the ticket and the travel - only even able to lodge a dispute by making untrue claims
Isn't the airline the fraudulent party here, since they're making untrue statements (that the ticket was an award) and withholding part of what was purchased (the credit of mileage)?

In any case, the two parties have a dispute as to whether what was delivered was the same as to what was purchased (or, according to the airline, the nature of what was purchased), which is exactly what the credit card dispute process is there for.

Kudos to ijgordon for using his/her right through the credit card company to not be abused!
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 2:15 am
  #58  
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The airline provided that which was contracted for
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 4:02 am
  #59  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
The airline provided that which was contracted for
I guess the miles are always theirs to begin with (or some other legal loophole), so the fact that they didn't provide any to the purchaser is irrelevant, notwithstanding the fact that they specifically say that they come with the purchase (subject to actually flying, which the OP did) on their website:
Originally Posted by www.aa.com
Earn elite-qualifying AAdvantage miles when you fly on Cathay Pacific marketed and operated flights as well as Cathay Pacific codeshare flights operated by oneworld carriers and affiliates. Simply:
  • Buy an eligible published fare ticket booked in an eligible code
  • Fly an eligible route
Silly me who relies on AA's written statements!
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 4:32 am
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
There have been other reports of this happening in another thread. I don't know if any of those posters were ultimately successful.

But I mean if CX insists you were on an award ticket then dispute the ticket cost with your CC with documentation from CX that it was an award flight...

I did this c. 2008 and didn't have any issues with miles posting to AA.
Bad advice!! This is not a valid dispute. Having fraudulent/invalid disputes on a CC can lead to account closure. Also it was technically an award as miles were used towards the upgrade. It's an upgrade award.

Originally Posted by hillrider
Isn't the airline the fraudulent party here, since they're making untrue statements (that the ticket was an award) and withholding part of what was purchased (the credit of mileage)?

In any case, the two parties have a dispute as to whether what was delivered was the same as to what was purchased (or, according to the airline, the nature of what was purchased), which is exactly what the credit card dispute process is there for.

Kudos to ijgordon for using his/her right through the credit card company to not be abused!
there is no right to filing fraudulent/invalid disputes!!

Originally Posted by hillrider
I guess the miles are always theirs to begin with (or some other legal loophole), so the fact that they didn't provide any to the purchaser is irrelevant, notwithstanding the fact that they specifically say that they come with the purchase (subject to actually flying, which the OP did) on their website:
Silly me who relies on AA's written statements!
Take a look at the statement closer. It says has to be booked in an eligible code. Unfortunately the upgrade award books into ineligible code. Not saying that's right but by definition the ticket would not be eligible for mileage.
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