Switch from AA to Cathay?
 

Hi - I am currently an American Exec Plat and travel to HK frequently. I am considering switching to Marco Polo. Does anyone have any experience with that?

As an entrepreneur, I always fly coach. The biggest perk for me is upgrades. Since AA has no service to HK, I am often on Cathay flights and will never get upgraded.

My question - if I got to Marco Polo can I expect upgrades on long haul flights?

I don't fly to expected to be upgraded. If you want to be seated in premium cabins, then pay for that seat - whether it is through cash or FFP points. Any thing beyond that is just a bonus.


P.S: Do you even earn any AA miles when you travel CX in Y??!

What class do you book ur ticket? If it is H or above, best to stick with AA, as it doesn't sound like you will be able to reach CXDM in a short time.

The answer to your question is you can expect to not be upgraded.

Maybe a better phrasing of this would be You cannot expect to be upgraded. It might happen, but there is no expectation or entitlement.

martyman25, welcome to the board!

As others have mentioned - do not 'expect' upgrades. Unlike AA, these are not space-available, rather only in cases where the cabin is overbooked. That said, CX does overbook a fair bit.

AA has far better earn-burn ratios and status is harder to come by on CX. You can earn AA miles by booking the same flight as AA codeshares, or in the higher fareclasses (if booking under CX flight number).
On the flip side, being a CX elite will give you accecss to AA lounges on wholly domestic-US itineraries with AA. Overall the experience in Y on CX will be better as a CX DM, rather than as an AA Exec Plat.

Also, CX's seat guarantee in coach on "V" and higher fares (@72h notice for GOs and 24h notice for DMs) will come in handy, especially during peak travel periods - might be a factor if cost is a real issue. (And the likelihood of an upgrade will be higher then as well).

If you do move over, there would be no harm in asking CX if they can give you some sort of status to start off. AA Exec Plat + travel history with CX (show that to them), should get you atleast silver (which gets you lounge access when travelling CX, and excess to priority seats), and if you're lucky maybe GO. But you will get these benefits in any case as an AA elite.

It really depends, but I think the OP should remain as Explat with AA as will get more benefits:

1) More Exccess Luggage
2) F Class lounge access and check in
3) And maybe higher opup prioroty than SL (if he does get comp - but as he mentioned he travels in Y Class - so prob not likely will get comp anything).
4) Better earn and burn of FFP
5) More Oneworld recognition if travelling on other Oneworld partners.

For the most part it sounds like AA will be the program for you, for the reasons others have stated. AA also offers a lot more non-BIS earning in the U.S. As long as you're booking AA codeshares on the CX flights or are willing to shell out for Y, B or H. For the upgrades, op-ups may be a far more remote possibility and you can't upgrade with AA miles on CX. But AA's burn rate for straight-out redemptions on CX is supposed to be pretty good.

But... jagmeets raises a good point about the seat guarantee. I've found that to be an extremely valuable benefit. If you often have trouble getting booked on the CX flights you want or have to book more expensive fares when cheaper ones are sold out, this can make a difference.

correctioncx, fair viewpoints. Just on #1,2 & partly, 5 for the initial period, the OP could still get the perks as an AA Exec Plat, while crediting to CX (till the AA status stays).

But I think will be a stretch to get DM for the OP hence he/she might loose out in the long run. Especailly as a Y Class traveller the Emerald benefits are important I think.

Regarding the Guarantee seat booking, yes it is one of the most generous perks out there, but will be fly enough to even make Gold (need 30000+60000).

You cannot "expect" to be upgraded but I will say the upgrade percentage on long-haul flights - at least for me - has been very good, even as a SL.

You only get op'uped if the flight is oversold. And that is only if you hold an elite MPC card. As you're already AA EXP, CX will not status match you and even, you will only get SILVER and you need to work your way up to Diamond.

If OP wants UGs, then stick with AA, fly AA metal to an Asian destination (PEK, PVG, NRT, HND, ICN) apply SWUs, then connect to a OW partner to HKG and make the short flight in Y.

Even with those SWUs, they are getting so difficult to use as there are too many AA Emeralds. I was an AA Emerald for many years (this will be my last). I was able to get a customer service rep in less than 10 seconds before. Not anymore. Sometimes have to wait 5 minutes for them to call back. Made the switch to CX a couple years ago and became Diamond. Haven't regretted it since.

Granted, the redemption rates aren't as good as AA and the taxes on redemption tickets are higher but as a DM, i've been taken care of MUCH MUCH BETTER than an AA Emerald.

True, however the end of soft landings will likely cull the ranks of many AA elites.

Of course the only reasonable expectation the OP can have, regardless of with whom they are flying, is that they can expect to be flying in the cabin for which they have paid. However, there is a greater probability of being upgraded on AA as one can use instruments, whereas with CX, they are by all accounts infrequent and reliant upon other factors (i.e. an oversold cabin).