Clack

I've done the RTFF thing, and it appears the answer to this question is probably "no," but just wanted to confirm with those more experienced Avios wheeler-dealers on the board, especially when it comes to partner awards. I purchased a 1-way Premium Economy ticket on CX for SIN-HKG-SFO in July, and I have lots of Avios that I cannot use at the moment, so I wanted to see if I could use them to upgrade to the wondrous lie-flat territory that used to be my domain while employed by a big multi-national.

There is a cash option to do this, but as usual it's awfully expensive for what's likely to be bare-bones COVID service. So burning Avios would be a much better way to do it, if possible. I'm OneWorld Emerald (BA Gold for Life), but not a member of Marco Polo. Also, unlike on Singapore Air, I have occasionally gotten unsolicited upgrades to Biz when flying Cathay. So I could hope for that, but hope is not a strategy and I'd much prefer the sure thing.

KARFA

You can't do an upgrade with avios unless you have BA flights and on a BA ticket, so I think from what you described neither is the case here.

LondonElite

Unfortunately not possible.

Clack

Thanks, that was my guess.

Agent69

Why would you want to upgrade to something that is "likely to be bare-bones COVID service"?

cameramaker

Perhaps for some the prospect of a lie flat seat is much more desirable than a seat of limited recline despite the absence of all the bells and whistles.

carrotjuice

CX really isn't like BA to pare down to notoriously bare-bones service. Overall its J service remains decent: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...ing-covid.html

Clack

I'm 6'3" with a sometimes-dodgy back - it's all about the lie-flat seat. Sitting upright for 10-16 hours absolutely kills me. I don't drink, you don't have to feed me much, you certainly don't have to fuss over me with hot towels and other "service." Just give me the flat seat.

1Aturnleft

If it was all about the flat seat then why didn't you purchase a Business Class ticket to begin with?

As others have advised above it isn't possible to burn Avios on CX upgrades. You're only ability is to earn Avios via the OneWorld partner status BA holds with CX.

Perhaps pose the question in the CX forum and see whether there is the ability to AUP or bid upgrade? Keep in mind that these won't necessarily earn any additional avios by upgrading in this way.

brunos

I assume that you know that you could not do this itin today. Transit not allowed in HKG and no CX flights to SFO.
CX plans to resume SFO by the end of June, but nothing is certain.

email2markt

I’m hoping HKG follow the news from SIN and open up some transit lanes. Cathay seems to be planning on the basis of this happening around 20th June but who knows...

Clack

Because it's 3x more expensive!

CX quoted me a cash upgrade and I'm mulling it over, but the idea was to be able to do something with the Avios that have piled up, since I don't get back to the UK often anymore.

And I know transit is still blocked at HKG, but I was advised by CX that they expect that restriction to expire by late June, hence the resumption of a lot more flights then. Of course, the HK government can always extend that transit ban, in which case I'm screwed and will have to pay whatever SQ demands to get on the dreaded 16-hour non-stop. .

1Aturnleft

My point being it's not ALL about the flat bed and your health as you'd suggested when cost is clearly a factor.

JAL is showing J redemption space via HND and NRT on multiple dates in July. Perhaps you can use your pile there instead? Not sure what the transit policy is for Japan at the moment.

Clack

Yep, sore back vs. the ever-shrinking bank balance, that's the trade-off. Thanks for the JL idea - I think I could do that all at NRT -- but the problem is that I already "invested" $2000 into the Premium Economy seat on CX months ago, and not sure how refundable it will be if I decide to cancel it and the flight ends up operating as normal. Hence the desire to upgrade that particular flight if possible, rather than look at alternatives.

I also need to worry about one or the other CX flights going tech, causing me to somehow miss the connection, because no way can I get stuck in HK for 14 days while the family (on SQ) are back in the US and we have onward travel plans in the US (which does seem to be opening up). So the smart thing to do would be eat the $2k, switch to SQ and gut out the 15 hours in PE. But I really, really like CX, and they often give me complimentary upgrades due to my OW Emerald status - something that SQ has never done despite being PPS.

bradders239

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...d-updates.html check the website out as they have been touting free changes and refunds for ages now