happened to me , me and another DM , didnt get upgrade to PEY from Y . but at least 1 SL got the upgrade seat to PEY .

so i really wanted to know how they choose who to upgrade.

could be milestone rewards

You're sure they didn't redeem miles or pay cash for the upgrade?

Also could be a birthday upgrade, or milestone upgrade as cxwaterboy says.

The ISM can process AM cabin upgrade up until final departure.

not any more , you can only pay $$$ to get upgrade in the cabin since at least one year ago , as i asked about the am upgrade last year.

Did one Y to PEY in June 2025

around Sep2024 , they told me that they dont do am upgrade any more. only $$ upgrade is accepted.

Quick question: Does a paid upgrade (by paying fare difference) at the airport give you the tier points of the original ticket class or new ticket class? I am a little confused as most information is related to upgrade bids but not full fare difference. Thanks!

Definitely tiered points of the new ticket class. You paid to upsell yourself into the new fare class. You should very well be entitled to all its associated perks.

I guess I will have to file a missing miles/complaint because they only cashed in based on the original ticket class. I asked the lounge staff before departure, and they made it very clear the ticket is the full fare class. It’s also not an upgrade bid so it’s logical to assume everything follows the new ticket class. Let’s see.

i did asked the check in counter in HKG , may be 2months ago.
they did confirm that it will be credit the original class .

didn't you get an email?

when i've upfared, IME the new itinerary was emailed to me in the new class, like a new ticket.

Yes I did, and the staff confirmed it is full fare J class. But apparently the Asiamiles and status points credited is the original fare class.

Ahh then I have wasted a lot of money, because the sole reason for this upgrade was to have enough status points for DM (I am 5SP short). I felt like I was misled by the staff at the counter.

The email will show your fare class! Shouldn't that prove your case?

Somehow I only got the purchase receipt but not the new ticket….

i think whatever show in that email doesnt matter.
as i asked the HKG check in counter , saying that the up-sell at counter is always full-fare , but will only credit the original.

I mean if it’s a discounted fare (like upgrade bid) then I understand, and is clearly stated on the website. Paying fare difference at the airport but crediting the original makes little sense, and potentially misled by the staff.

Hey everyone.

Been out of the flight community since covid and pretty much lost all of my airline statuses including my diamond status since I now work from home. But worked my way back to Silver so I at least get lounge access. yay!

In the past I used to use KVSTools an expertflyer to see the seat inventory, but I've been reading that both are unreliable nowadays for CX. Is there a better system to use these days?

Long story short, flying home to Vancouver in 2 days for my aunts funeral and I'm booked from KUL-HKG-YVR on PEY R the whole way and return. I did a dummy booking and I see about 8 seats available from HKG to YVR and YVR to HKG about 7. Just wondering what my chances are for an upgrade to business on the HKG/YVR and YVR/HKG routes. Don't really care about the KUL-HKG route since it's under 4 hours. I have plenty of asiamiles so that's not an issue.

Only thing I can think to do is to nag the CX counters once I land in HKG. I see the upgrade bid but the cost is ridiculous and I'd prefer to use my asiamiles

Any advice would be appreciated!

Counter. Report back

Damn, I kind of figured that was the only chance.

Does calling in and checking frequently still work? I remember before within 48 hours if my upgrade didn't go through I used to be able to call them if I saw a set become available using KVS.

Competence of call centre in 2025 = 1/3 of 2019 competence

Counter it is then...

YVR uncle just got off CX865. Very full he says.

I'm looking at loads, I forgot to look before he departed. Next CX865 is zeroed out, and the one after that is J2 W3 Y0.

What system are using to find the fare class totals? Was using KVS before but have seen posts that it isn't too reliable these days

You gotta subscribe for "Premium"for ExpertFlyer though to look at the fareclasses which requires a fee. The good news however is they have a 5 day free trial period where you could just sign up for a new email account (with a new email address) and then remember to cancel just before the trial period is over to avoid getting charged. Nice little hack for people not too keen to pay.

If that's too much work then of course it's easier to just pay for the service and use the same account indefinitely :p

Ok I'll look into expertflyer again.

Weird, just for the hell of it I decided to call the Cathay support line to see if the HKG-YVR or YVR-HKG routes had any upgrades, and to my surprise the YVR-HKG route had an upgrade, so I took it for 42k asiamiles. For HKG-YVR, the agent said try calling back later today or check at the counter. Happy at least one of the longhaul flights got upgraded.

Thanks for the heads up. I had an expertflyer and KVSTools subscription before covid, I guess that's why I don't see a trial on expertflyer. I'll look into getting a subscription again.

Ok I totally get what you mean by this now. I must have called Cathay support line at least 5 times in the last 2 days, all with different answers.

First was getting my YVR to HKG upgraded, was told that everything was done, no tax change. When I looked at my booking it was "Waitlisted". Called back and said what the heck is going on, and the agent said nothing she can do. So I escalated to a manager who listened to my previous call and she did confirm the first agent said it was confirmed, so the processed it.

Just now I called to see if I can get my HKG to YVR upgraded and the agent said there is 1 slot which is said I'll take it. Started getting my details, tax difference total, total asiamiles that will be deducted, what seat I wanted etc so I thought it was a done deal. After she put me on hold for 10 minutes I was told there was a mistake and the only thing she can do is put me on waitlist, which is useless since my flight is within 24 hours. I had to correct the agent on that.

That's twice now on this booking on both longhaul flights I was told it was 'confirmed' for an upgrade yet somehow they made a mistake. I'm not even confident my YVR to HKG upgrade is even confirmed

I hope this isn't the standard of support with Cathay nowadays.

/EndRant

I suppose you can log into CX MMB, press the three dots on top right corner, “Email e-ticket” and check the codes. If U (?) you should be good.

I asked that as well but the ticket for YVR to HKG isn't issued, but the upgrade is "Confirmed". They said I have to wait until I land in Vancouver, call CX support then it will be issued. Something about me needing to complete the departure legs first. Hence why I'm not confident since there's already two screw ups on this one ticket already.

"I have to wait until I land in Vancouver, call CX support then it will be issued. Something about me needing to complete the departure legs first." sounds sus. Actually sounds like they hope you'll be someone else's mess to clean up.

My thoughts as well.

Im going to see if I can sort this all out when I get to HKG.

Cx support out of Manila is horrible.

Try the Manila night shift (US daytime)

i think the Manila people is also easily to mess up things.

So just to update since I'm now in YVR.

When I got to HKG i immediately went to the lounge to see if my HKG-YVR could be upgraded. Stopped by The Pier and informed them on the situation, told them that when I called CX support they told me it was confirmed, then retracted their statement. They made some calls and said that I have to wait until just before the boarding time and they will inform The Wing staff since my gate was closer to that area. Headed over there and the staff knew I was coming, and about 10mins before boarding I was told my upgrade was confirmed and completed. Great service from the staff once I was in HKG.

They also looked at my YVR-HKG route and noticed it was handled weirdly by CX support, so they looked into it for me and after the guy was on a call, he informed me that when I land in YVR and within 24 hours, the upgrade should automatically happen, which I'm happy to say I have my YVR-HKG now upgraded.

So I guess the learning lesson here is that in person HKG staff is much better than calling in lol.

With Asia Miles upgrades, do others have the same experience that even when booked in an upgradable fare class, the CX website can indicate the sector as ineligible for upgrade?

I see this consistently when booked in W or R on a medium or long haul sector and connecting in HKG on to a shorthaul where PEY isn’t sold and hence that sector is in Y. Is this the reason the first leg shows as ineligible for upgrade even though clearly by CX’s rules it is upgradable?

The net result is always having to speak to the call center (or at counter upon check in) but it seems silly this can’t be better handled by the website given how many pax will have this type of booking…

It actually does say in CX terms and conditions that you cannot use miles to upgrade on a mixed-class booking. It seems they still allow it if you call in.

Thanks! Just goes to show, one should always read the T&Cs..

Just wondering so it seems the upgrade from Y class can only jump 1 class? I'm unsure if it's worth trying to upgrade from economy to premium economy? It would be JFK-HKG