I wonder if other airlines that use Amadeus have the same problem. To rephrase my question, I feel strange that this problem persists after migration to Amadeus.

Is there any strategy you guys use for trying to speed up the waitlist to confirmed seats? I'm currently sitting on the waitlist for a Y+ to J upgrade on JFK-HKG CX831, 20 May and HKG-LAX CX884, 26 May.. Both flights have barely any sales and are showing I9 on EF. Is there any point in ringing up every week to check progress or something along those lines?

May is long way away. Most J class travels don't get firmed up until week before the flight. Despite cost cuttings most banks tend to book flights only when employee are definitive to fly... so I9 remains for now but they are confident it gets to J4C3D1I0 by the time of your travel.

There is no point to ringing them up, nothing along those lines will help. Just sit on the waiting list and relax.

I don't fly JFK-HKG but I've heard it has lots of paid-J traffic and upgrading is on the more difficult side. I fly HKG-LAX frequently, and that route is relatively easy to upgrade as a gold or even silver.

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And Y is not? I don't see many last minute Y(X) last minute availability...

Ok, thanks for the advice! I've picked the most odd times to travel - departing JFK at 2pm on a Monday meaning arriving at HKG on Tuesday evening (not exactly a businessman's flight) and then departing HKG on Sunday noon and arriving in LAX Sunday morning. Fingers crossed this helps my cause.

Never had a problem getting J seats in the summer, just have to be patient. You can understand CX wanting to wait it out as long as possible to actually get revenue, rather to just redeem miles.

I'm just wondering if anyone else notices this doesn't happen with Y as much. For Y they decrease prices and clear the seats for less $$$, J has minimum price before they start cannibalising other J fare buckets or even higher Y buckets?