Online Check-in Seat Selection
 

Once you book a ticket you can always get onto the CX website 48 hours before your flight to choose your seat. But when you log on(even when you log on at exactly 48 hours) most of the seats are unavailible already! This makes me often wonder how can people choose their seats that early? Do they pay premium prices for their tickets which allow them to do that?

Its a benefit I use a lot as I can book my seat when the booking is made because I am Diamond member

I know of four possibilities:

1.) Special seats may be already pre-reserved, e.g. for disabled, family with babies, etc. Even if you may be able to get such seats, CX warns that you may be bumped from those seats in case someone in need requires those.

2.) Travelers with certain elite tier status on CX Marco Polo can book their seats even earlier than 48h before departure. You can then select via website or call them. The higher the status, the more seats become available.

3.) Extra leg-room seats, which are indeed more expensive and can be either redeemed with Asiamiles or paid by the traveler.

4.) Travel agencies can reserve seats for you already. At least our corporate travel agency can do that and I believe any other travel agency can do the same.

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You still can't reserve seats more than 180 days before departure via the website. And yes, there are people doing that to catch the cheapest fares for peak-seasons like e.g Christmas or Chinese New Year.

I'm not sure whether above is exhaustive. Hope it helps already though.

Agree with Connecta.
But, when I book my ticket online, I can select my seat - is that for all online bookings? I am just a Silver member.
So if you are logging on 48hrs beforehand, I was there long before you.

But, more seats open closer to departure time.
As I mentioned in another thread, I booked a flight about 90mins before departure time and had an exit row, even with BN: 363.

Anyone booked in First, Business, or Economy (Y, B, H, K, M, L, V only) can have advanced seat reservation within 180 days of departure, and can do so easily on CX's website under "manage my booking." On the other hand, non-status passengers who are booked in non-mileage accural Economy (S or below) can reserve seat only through OLCI, unless they need special attention.

What I like for being Diamond is that I can I can pre select my seat on other OW carriers like BA who make it very difficult to pre select seats

In "Manage your booking" section you can choose your seats from up to 180 days, so people tend to do that if they can't on line check in. And yes, CX's seat policy seems to be quite mean these days.

All are correct, it's not just 48 hours prior. Also, as GO I am able to reserve seats for my collegues and clients who are traveling with me with no status.

I was under the impression that by doing so, it will be affecting the chance of getting an op-up?

It shouldn't. Providing you are not in the same PNR. And we can get seat assignments for our friends/family traveling together, even when they are on a separate booking.

Now that you mentioned it all the times I didn't get op-up is when I made seat arrangements to sit with my friends, etc.... even on different bookings....

hmmm..........

I would say it would lessen your chance of an op-up. Single travellers have a better chance I think.

I think CX is tired of pax complaining about being op-up away from a friend, and they either demand their friend be op-up or decline the op-up which makes the shift supervisor having to manually do another op-up in the last minute.

Hmm... please see below thread where I was wondering about something similar - but same itinerary:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...h-cx-gold.html

It doesn't seem that clear-cut that multiple travelers on the same or different record locator have equal or worse op-up probability. Obviously, the bigger the travel group, the less available J class seats may be available to keep the group together. But chances may be better for only one extra traveler?

Does anyone know how to use "Manage My Booking" when on an AAdvantage award? I have the record locator from AA, but nothing from Cathay. Thanks for any help.