Last edit by: Prospero
Awards: All Cathay Pacific / CX (Including First and Business Class)
Questions, Availability, Discussion
NOTE: Multiple reports starting in June 2021 that CX is allowing only a 24 hour hold and could cancel reservations not being ticketed beyond 24 hours.
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).
Expert Advice:
Only "MileSAAver" awards apply to oneworld and AA partners.
Premium Economy seats are not available with AAdvantage awards, may be soon as AA sells Premium Economy Feb 2017.
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.
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.
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.
4Keep 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.
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.
AA does not charge "YQ" surcharges [what they sometimes call "fuel surcharge"] on CX 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.
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.
Not all CX flights offer First class; CX Business is markedly different on long haul and regionally configured aircraft.
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.
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.
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).
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.
AAward bookings containing CX flights that are put on hold will be restricted to only 24hrs, not the usual 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 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.
Can I visit my companion in First Class if I'm in Business Class?
"Up-cabin visits" 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.
Questions, Availability, Discussion
NOTE: Multiple reports starting in June 2021 that CX is allowing only a 24 hour hold and could cancel reservations not being ticketed beyond 24 hours.
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).
Expert Advice:
Only "MileSAAver" awards apply to oneworld and AA partners.
Premium Economy seats are not available with AAdvantage awards, may be soon as AA sells Premium Economy Feb 2017.
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.
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.
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.
4Keep 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.
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.
AA does not charge "YQ" surcharges [what they sometimes call "fuel surcharge"] on CX 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.
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.
Not all CX flights offer First class; CX Business is markedly different on long haul and regionally configured aircraft.
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.
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.
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).
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.
AAward bookings containing CX flights that are put on hold will be restricted to only 24hrs, not the usual 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 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.
Can I visit my companion in First Class if I'm in Business Class?
"Up-cabin visits" 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.
AA Award: Cathay Pacific / CX availability, etc. (2018-2022 archive)
#1561
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
-FlyerBeek
#1562
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NYC/PSP
Programs: AA EXP, A3 Gold
Posts: 4,106
Not really. They're operating under 10% of their normal schedule. They continue to cancel upcoming flights. Most all HKG transits were just banned. Hard to really fault CX here for not releasing award space on flights they have very little confidence they'll actually operate.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
#1564
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,640
#1565
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 11
Hi, new to AA booking CX and seems like I'm encountering married segment. Want to book XXX-HKG-JFK, but AA.com and call center not showing any availability (same for just the HKG-JFK leg, despite BA and QF both showing 2 seats in J). Was able to see YYY-HKG-JFK on AA.com and booked it. Getting to YYY is not an issue and it's only 3 hours away from XXX anyway, but the layover in HKG now becomes 12 hours rather than 3 hours.
My question is - would AA be able to change the first leg from YYY-HKG to XXX-HKG post-booking? Given that it's CX here who introduced the married segment, I doubt it would be possible?
My question is - would AA be able to change the first leg from YYY-HKG to XXX-HKG post-booking? Given that it's CX here who introduced the married segment, I doubt it would be possible?
Last edited by runmilerun; Feb 9, 2022 at 11:22 pm
#1566
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,053
Hi, new to AA booking CX and seems like I'm encountering married segment. Want to book XXX-HKG-JFK, but AA.com and call center not showing any availability (same for just the HKG-JFK leg, despite BA and QF both showing 2 seats in J). Was able to see YYY-HKG-JFK on AA.com and booked it. Getting to YYY is not an issue and it's only 3 hours away from XXX anyway, but the layover in HKG now becomes 12 hours rather than 3 hours.
My question is - would AA be able to change the first leg from YYY-HKG to XXX-HKG post-booking? Given that it's CX here who introduced the married segment, I doubt it would be possible?
My question is - would AA be able to change the first leg from YYY-HKG to XXX-HKG post-booking? Given that it's CX here who introduced the married segment, I doubt it would be possible?
DAK
#1567
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: EWR
Programs: CX Green | UA Silver | Marriott Lifetime Platinum | Hyatt Globalist | Hilton Gold | AA EXP
Posts: 813
2) I suggest you go to CX forum to understand what's going on with CX schedule. These days CX schedule is simply a placeholder. When you book, you should expect that transit flight be cancelled as it gets closer and be pleasantly surprise if it isn't. Personally i don't expect CX schedule to stabilize until early to mid 2023 (yes, that's 2023) as HKSAR intends to keep its covid policy in sync with PRC. Currently all flights from US (and high risk places) are banned till mid Feb and I believe yesterday HKSAR extended that ban till mid March. There's no guarantee that YYY or XXX - HKG will be allowed for your travel date (unless that's somewhere in PRC or Taiwan).
#1568
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: new york, ny
Posts: 1,373
I am surprised anyone is still asking a CX question. The flight ban from the West has been extended to mid March. The way I see it, it will extend indefinitely.
#1569
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: NYC, LAX, HKG
Posts: 286
If I have a ticketed USA-HKG award, then call in to add HKG-XXX, but subsequently decide to drop HKG-XXX, could I run into issues with married segment logic when trying to drop the leg? Or are the segments technically not married since the HKG-XXX was added after original ticketing?
#1570
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 35
Alternate Routing Possibility?
I wonder if AA will adjust its routing rules if CX continues not to be a viable partner? The lack of the Middle East exception has always been strange to me. The flights on Qatar would often be fewer connections from Atlanta/East Coast.
#1571
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
If I have a ticketed USA-HKG award, then call in to add HKG-XXX, but subsequently decide to drop HKG-XXX, could I run into issues with married segment logic when trying to drop the leg? Or are the segments technically not married since the HKG-XXX was added after original ticketing?
-FlyerBeek
#1573
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Not sure what to make of this.
My flight in Sept for SYD to HKG has not been cancelled and still appears in expertflyer, but doesn't seem to be for sale. There is not actually a single flight from SYD to HKG for sell on my date.
There is a flight from HKG to JFK, but it is via LAX. My connect flight from HKG to JFK is also not for sell, but also appears in expertflyer.
CX hasn't cancelled the tickets and I've heard nothing from Alaska. Looking at the tickets on CX's website via the booking code and everything looks fine. This doesn't seem good though....
My flight in Sept for SYD to HKG has not been cancelled and still appears in expertflyer, but doesn't seem to be for sale. There is not actually a single flight from SYD to HKG for sell on my date.
There is a flight from HKG to JFK, but it is via LAX. My connect flight from HKG to JFK is also not for sell, but also appears in expertflyer.
CX hasn't cancelled the tickets and I've heard nothing from Alaska. Looking at the tickets on CX's website via the booking code and everything looks fine. This doesn't seem good though....
#1574
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,053
Not sure what to make of this.
My flight in Sept for SYD to HKG has not been cancelled and still appears in expertflyer, but doesn't seem to be for sale. There is not actually a single flight from SYD to HKG for sell on my date.
There is a flight from HKG to JFK, but it is via LAX. My connect flight from HKG to JFK is also not for sell, but also appears in expertflyer.
CX hasn't cancelled the tickets and I've heard nothing from Alaska. Looking at the tickets on CX's website via the booking code and everything looks fine. This doesn't seem good though....
My flight in Sept for SYD to HKG has not been cancelled and still appears in expertflyer, but doesn't seem to be for sale. There is not actually a single flight from SYD to HKG for sell on my date.
There is a flight from HKG to JFK, but it is via LAX. My connect flight from HKG to JFK is also not for sell, but also appears in expertflyer.
CX hasn't cancelled the tickets and I've heard nothing from Alaska. Looking at the tickets on CX's website via the booking code and everything looks fine. This doesn't seem good though....
DAK
#1575
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Is CX known to move award tickets booked via Alaska or other partners if they cancel one of their flights to a different flight?
I see the same thing for a round trip JFK-HKG-SIN in September. My reservation (with AS miles) is still okay, can even make seat assignments at the CX web site. But flights show zero'd out on expert flyer. Only one flight JFK-HKG shows for sale and it does not operate every day... its on the A350-900 which has the range to avoid Russian airspace on the outbound (see recent press about distance making it the "longest" flight). It's possible that the 777-300ER does not have the range to do that. It looks rather like CX doesn't yet know what their schedule is going to look like in 6 months time and so are holding the flights in the schedule but not accepting new reservations. I hope (and expect) that closer to the date when they do know what will fly, they will move me onto whatever flights are operating.
DAK
DAK