I recently booked Prem Econ (class e) some tickets from LHR to Japan.
I know that you need class r to upgrade, was wondering if I can upgrade whilst at the airport if there are still spaces available? My aim is to upgrade on the LHR-HKG and HKG-LHR sector. Will it come with extra luggages weight and lounges?

[Edited - I apologize for not reading carefully] No, you cannot upgrade with E fare.

Are you sure that E class ticket can do instant upgrade at the airport? If this works can G class can do instant upgrade at check-in?

I didn't read carefully. I thought that was R. E class cannot be upgraded.

SFO-HKG: R
HKG-MAA: Y

3. Using Asia Miles on BA for upgrade. I know it is almost impossible to get it but was wondering if anyone tried it. Looks like you have and it's not worth the hassle. My complaint is upgrade on CX using Asia Miles is also becoming a suspense - they have not opened up enough seats in J for upgrades and I won't know until a few weeks before travel date. I have shelled out more $$ to buy higher priced PEY (R fare) instead of the usual fare not knowing whether I will get an upgrade. That's really my concern. May be I should settle for guaranteed PEY and pay lower fare and hope the miles can be used in future. In general airline miles program seem to be a big rip-off.

Thanks for your response, CXfan1960.

Our first time flying CX. My daughter was just upgraded from PEY(R) to J, and now I am thinking about trying to move her up to join us in F. SFO-HKG one way on CX873 leaving mid June, and I am MP Green.

If an F redemption becomes available, can I cancel the J upgrade, use the 20k Asia Miles, (105,000 total needed) and get a PEY refund? Will the fees be about $120 (upgrade cancel fee) plus $50 (ticket cancel fee)?

Thanks in advance!

Y to J upgrade cannot be part of the R to J upgrade unfortunately.

Yes, it happened to everyone, even for DM like me. I bought a higher fare but ended up in the same cabin many times, even in the good old days when DM's upgrade was almost guaranteed to clear. It is a gamble...:(

Theoretically yes, but it will probably be a full flight. CX usually ends up scrambling to upgrade passengers at the airport and F redemption may not ever be available.

If this is part of a round trip ticket, cancellation will be tricky.

I can confirm that CX has no plans to institute such a system. From what I understand, they are fearful that it would result in lost revenue from passengers who would otherwise book revenue tickets in the higher cabin. Also, AA has a large domestic route network which increases the changes of an eVIP being used for a less costly short or medium-haul route.

I think what the loyalty management at MPO may need to consider here is that (a.) there are a whole lot of AA EXPs who book revenue Y tickets that they would not otherwise reserve at all absent the eVIPs; (b.) it is unlikely that corporate travelers who's company policies allow paid J would force them to use the upgrades for business travel, and; (c.) CX could prohibit J to F upgrades and sharply limit capacity for hot W/J markets or seasons in addition to any number of other restrictions to mitigate loss of revenue.

Personally, I think CX should reconsider -- especially for DM customers who buy a lot of seats up front throughout the year.

Interesting but:

(a) You mean on AA right? I think CX will be keen to sell eVIPs on regional routes where it faces stiff competition (ICN, BKK) but on the LH routes where we're really keen to have the eVIPs e.g. SYD/LHR/YVR/SFO/JFK forget it.
(b) These corporate travelers will fly CX with or without the EVIPs
(c) Even W to J is a big price difference to CX.

For (a), I was thinking that Enhance has been certified...

Thanks cxfan1960. As my travel is during "lean period" willing to gamble !

a.) No I mean on CX.
b.) Exactly, that was my point.
c.) F to J prohibition was suggested mainly as a capacity limitation issue.

a) Bit confused
No AA EXP member can buy CX Y now and apply a EVIP on it.

So you mean they will if CX allows it?
If yes, wouldn't then CX ask the question - can I make these EXPs buy full-priced J? Earning a full J revenue once may be worth 5 Y tix in terms of both revenue and profit.

b) Just because it won't cannibalise corporate EXP travellers doesn't mean CX should go easy on personal EXP travellers.

a.) The post was a direct response to a previous post that had questioned whether CX would consider the practice of issuing their own system-wide upgrades (I assume to DMs). IMO, it's not much (or any) different than giving out bonus miles which could then be used to upgrade based on availability.

b.) My suggestion to prohibit J to F has only to do with the fact that F seats on CX are very limited in number (only 6 on most long-haul flights these days), while J seats are generally more abundant.