Last edit by: ZZ100
Is it possible to buy a (cheap) upgrade on Cathay Pacific upon check-in?
The short answer is no.
Cathay, as a general rule, does not allow you to purchase last minute upgrades if there are empty seats in Y+, J or F. The only way to upgrade a ticket is to pay the fare difference between your current ticket, and an available fare class in the higher cabins. Note that if your current ticket has restrictions (cancellation fees, non-refundable) these still apply.
There are been stories of people who have been offered cheap upgrades by Cathay, but this is more an exception than a common occurrence.
If I upgrade my ticket using asia miles, do I still earn miles?
Yes, you will earn miles for the original fare class that you booked, not the upgraded cabin.
How do I get a free upgrade / operational upgrade (op-up)?
Cathay Pacific does not upgrade passengers just because there are empty seats in higher classes. Upgrades will only occur where there is overbooking in lower classes.
The order of upgrades when required is believed to be:
I am travelling on an award ticket. Will I still be considered for a free upgrade?
Yes - there are many stories of passengers on award tickets, or who upgraded a class using miles, getting (additional) upgrades.
What happens if the aircraft has 4 or 3 cabins, but is only selling Business and Economy seats?
It is likely if you have Marco Polo status, and to a lesser extent oneworld status, you may be able to sit in either First Class seats (if booked in J) or Premium Economy (if booked in Y) with service of the original cabin. There doesn't appear to be consistency yet as to how these semi-upgrades are allocated. Some people have been able to choose seats in the higher cabin during online check-in, or some will get them on request at check-in. However, there is no entitlement to these seats.
Will I get an upgrade on my Birthday, or for my membership anniversary, or for reaching xx number of lifetime club miles?
Please see this link for members' experience with these kinds of upgrades: Marco Polo Anniversary Upgrades
I want to use Asia Miles to upgrade a BA flight. How do I do this?
As of 22 June 2018, it is no longer possible to upgrade BA flights with Asia Miles.
How do I upgrade a CX flight using miles?
If you already have issued your original ticket:
If you have not made any booking yet, and you want to check availability:
If you don't receive a new e-ticket before departure, call up Marco Polo club to double check if the upgrade has been issued.
The short answer is no.
Cathay, as a general rule, does not allow you to purchase last minute upgrades if there are empty seats in Y+, J or F. The only way to upgrade a ticket is to pay the fare difference between your current ticket, and an available fare class in the higher cabins. Note that if your current ticket has restrictions (cancellation fees, non-refundable) these still apply.
There are been stories of people who have been offered cheap upgrades by Cathay, but this is more an exception than a common occurrence.
If I upgrade my ticket using asia miles, do I still earn miles?
Yes, you will earn miles for the original fare class that you booked, not the upgraded cabin.
How do I get a free upgrade / operational upgrade (op-up)?
Cathay Pacific does not upgrade passengers just because there are empty seats in higher classes. Upgrades will only occur where there is overbooking in lower classes.
The order of upgrades when required is believed to be:
- VIP (Heads of State, Government Bodies, or Canto Pop/Movie stars)
- CX Diamond Plus
- CX Diamond Invitation, Diamond
- CX Gold
- CX management staff on travel duty
- oneworld Emerald
- CX staff on duty nominees , other airline staff nominees, CX staff on personal travel
- oneworld Sapphire
- CX Silver
- oneworld Ruby
- CX Green
- Asia Miles
- Non status
I am travelling on an award ticket. Will I still be considered for a free upgrade?
Yes - there are many stories of passengers on award tickets, or who upgraded a class using miles, getting (additional) upgrades.
What happens if the aircraft has 4 or 3 cabins, but is only selling Business and Economy seats?
It is likely if you have Marco Polo status, and to a lesser extent oneworld status, you may be able to sit in either First Class seats (if booked in J) or Premium Economy (if booked in Y) with service of the original cabin. There doesn't appear to be consistency yet as to how these semi-upgrades are allocated. Some people have been able to choose seats in the higher cabin during online check-in, or some will get them on request at check-in. However, there is no entitlement to these seats.
Will I get an upgrade on my Birthday, or for my membership anniversary, or for reaching xx number of lifetime club miles?
Please see this link for members' experience with these kinds of upgrades: Marco Polo Anniversary Upgrades
I want to use Asia Miles to upgrade a BA flight. How do I do this?
As of 22 June 2018, it is no longer possible to upgrade BA flights with Asia Miles.
How do I upgrade a CX flight using miles?
If you already have issued your original ticket:
- Try upgrading using Manage My Booking on the website (not always successful)
- If self-service doesn't work, try calling Marco Polo hotline to check availability
- If there is availability, you will need to issue the upgrade immediately to secure it. They may give you a few days grace before isssuing the upgrade, but this is now rarely given.
- In a few days, or longer if they are busy, your miles will be deducted, and you will be emailed a new e-ticket with the upgrade class details on it, and your online booking for your original booking class will disappear.
If you have not made any booking yet, and you want to check availability:
- Call Marco Polo club to check for availability on the flights/dates you want, or check for normal redemption availability on the website.
- Book a revenue ticket in the class of service for which you will be paying. Do NOT do this via the website -- call a CX telephone sales number/travel agent.
- Put the booking on hold.
- Call the Marco Polo/Asia Miles Service Center. Have them book the upgrade and give you a deadline to have the ticket issued. (It's usually about 72 hours).
- Have telephone sales/travel agent issue your revenue ticket.
- Call Marco Polo/Asia Miles back. Give them the revenue ticket number against the PNR and ask them to issue your upgrade.
- In about two or three days, you'll get a new ticket with the upgrade showing.
If you don't receive a new e-ticket before departure, call up Marco Polo club to double check if the upgrade has been issued.
The Ultimate Upgrade Question thread
#346
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ORD [formerly] + HKG
Programs: CX Diamond, AA exExPlat, BAEC exGold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Starriott Titanium, GE
Posts: 2,966
How reliable is EF availability for CX? I signed up for a subscription and seems that it's only based on US as a point of sale. For example, an upcoming HKG-ORD flight of mine is zeroed out for R and everything below. CX.com does not allow booking for PEY and EY class ex-US (this being a return trip), or ex-HK and ex-Japan. But I see H class for ex-TPE and Y class for ex-PEK bookable for the same flight. Interesting...
How about the EF/cx.com seat map?
Anyway. As mentioned it's at F1 A1 J9 C9 D9 I9 W1 R0...all zeroes after. Good chance for op-up as OWS in R? :P
How about the EF/cx.com seat map?
Anyway. As mentioned it's at F1 A1 J9 C9 D9 I9 W1 R0...all zeroes after. Good chance for op-up as OWS in R? :P
#347
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,374
Hi there, I'm confused, as I am on the waitlist to upgrade from premium economy to business on CX 841 on 11/24, and see on BA that I could get 2 seats in business using Avios points-same flight. What's up with that! ? I would think they would take care of Marco polo / asia miles members first.
#348
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
Hi there, I'm confused, as I am on the waitlist to upgrade from premium economy to business on CX 841 on 11/24, and see on BA that I could get 2 seats in business using Avios points-same flight. What's up with that! ? I would think they would take care of Marco polo / asia miles members first.
#349
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,374
I was advised by others on this forum that the waitlist isn't that reliable so if you see open seats available for redemption on Avios, CALL ASIA MILES NOW!!! Or is it Cathay? Someone else will know better but the point is, don't wait for the upgrade to come through on its own.
Thanks again, Suziemay, I dreamt 8's, took your suggestion to call AM service center, and good fortune was mine after a few minutes of checking by the kind agent. Best wishes to all.
Last edited by shoodawg; Nov 18, 2015 at 6:08 pm
#351
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,374
Best wishes all.
Last edited by shoodawg; Nov 18, 2015 at 7:06 pm
#352
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
Hi there, and thanks for the advise. Indeed, I purchased a Y+ seat months ago, and wish to upgrade to J using Asia Miles. Still J seats are available on BA. I called Asia Miles last night and they said BA has it's own bucket of J award inventory. So it seems that Asia Miles come behind the BA Avios customers. I'll just dream 8's until my flight!
Thanks again, Suziemay, I dreamt 8's, took your suggestion to call AM service center, and good fortune was mine after a few minutes of checking by the kind agent. Best wishes to all.
Thanks again, Suziemay, I dreamt 8's, took your suggestion to call AM service center, and good fortune was mine after a few minutes of checking by the kind agent. Best wishes to all.
#353
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
**Edited: Their ears must have been ringing. Immediately after I posted, my inbound flight upgrades came through. YIPPEE! My revised questions below
1) My booking confirmation indicates that my flight needs to be ticketed by Nov 21, otherwise booking will be cancelled. On Cathay's site, it's showing confirmed seats for both PE and Business for the inbound flights. Do I have to call to confirm I want the upgrade, or will this sort itself out?
2) Do I need to resubmit upgrade request for outbound after my inbound flights are completed, or will I remain on the waitlist for that?
THANK YOU!
1) My booking confirmation indicates that my flight needs to be ticketed by Nov 21, otherwise booking will be cancelled. On Cathay's site, it's showing confirmed seats for both PE and Business for the inbound flights. Do I have to call to confirm I want the upgrade, or will this sort itself out?
2) Do I need to resubmit upgrade request for outbound after my inbound flights are completed, or will I remain on the waitlist for that?
THANK YOU!
Last edited by suziemay; Nov 19, 2015 at 1:56 pm
#354
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
Heh. I answered my own questions. Figured I wasn't focusing on work anyway so may as well call Cathay to straighten this out. I also think I was using outbound/inbound incorrectly. Oops.
I had to call them because I had requested a return upgrade (55,000 Asia Miles) but only one way was available so I guess the upgrade wasn't complete yet. And also since they could only confirm the upgrade one way, they have to apply the one-way mileage requirement which is 35,000 miles. If the upgrade comes through for my return flight, they will also apply 35,000 miles. HOWEVER, if I call back, they will issue me a credit of 15,000 miles because my original request was for a roundtrip upgrade.
No need to resubmit, and I now have a new deadline for my return flight upgrade. I will need to make sure I have at least 35,000 miles on my account by this new deadline. Since I don't at the moment, I'm in the process of transferring Amex membership reward miles. Let's see how quickly that comes through...
(nice conversation I had with myself on here, hopefully I'm helping somebody)
1) My booking confirmation indicates that my flight needs to be ticketed by Nov 21, otherwise booking will be cancelled. On Cathay's site, it's showing confirmed seats for both PE and Business for the inbound flights. Do I have to call to confirm I want the upgrade, or will this sort itself out?
(nice conversation I had with myself on here, hopefully I'm helping somebody)
#355
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: MPC SL
Posts: 110
I am looking to buy OSL-LHR-HKG in J and back and upgrade to F for at least one sector LHR-HKG or HKG-LHR. On the days I am looking to travel it seems that there are F redemptions open for LHR-HKG according to CX website. Am I supposed to call MPC to hold the upgrade before I ticket? I think I have tried before having them hold an upgrade for me before I proceed to buy the ticket but they were reluctant to do it...
Thanks!
Thanks!
#356
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
How long before mileage difference credited back?
I recently completed a trip using a RT upgrade award worth 55,000. Because my flights became available one at a time, I ended up using 75,000 miles in total. I called MPC to get the 20,000 miles credited back and they informed me it would take 6-8 weeks. Does that sound right? I'm not sure why it takes so long plus I would like to use them for another trip I'm planning to take in February.
So far I haven't spoken to a MPC customer service rep that instilled any confidence in me with their responses, so thought I'd check here. Thanks!
So far I haven't spoken to a MPC customer service rep that instilled any confidence in me with their responses, so thought I'd check here. Thanks!
#359
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; UA 1K
Posts: 122
Is it fairly common for loads to fluctuate considerably in business?
What looked like an empty cabin (20+ seats open) and showed J9 on expertflyer has now gone to J0.
I'm waitlisted as a Silver for PEY to J upgrade on 883 1/6. Not looking great at the moment. Should I give it a few days, or start looking for better availability / routing?
What looked like an empty cabin (20+ seats open) and showed J9 on expertflyer has now gone to J0.
I'm waitlisted as a Silver for PEY to J upgrade on 883 1/6. Not looking great at the moment. Should I give it a few days, or start looking for better availability / routing?
#360
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ORD [formerly] + HKG
Programs: CX Diamond, AA exExPlat, BAEC exGold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Starriott Titanium, GE
Posts: 2,966
Is it fairly common for loads to fluctuate considerably in business?
What looked like an empty cabin (20+ seats open) and showed J9 on expertflyer has now gone to J0.
I'm waitlisted as a Silver for PEY to J upgrade on 883 1/6. Not looking great at the moment. Should I give it a few days, or start looking for better availability / routing?
What looked like an empty cabin (20+ seats open) and showed J9 on expertflyer has now gone to J0.
I'm waitlisted as a Silver for PEY to J upgrade on 883 1/6. Not looking great at the moment. Should I give it a few days, or start looking for better availability / routing?