Even Sapphire got op ups on TPAC LH? Wow CX is more generous than I thought.

haha to be fair, it's not generosity so much as the way the PEY cabin is sold and how CX does op-ups.

Generally on long-hauls CX upgrades from Y to PEY, even for their DM and GO members. Indeed there are exceptions where pax end up from Y in J, but generally this is how it works. To use an extreme example, if PEY is filled with 100% zero status pax, Y is filled with 50 DMs, and Y is oversold by X:
*X number of DMs will be upgraded to Y to PEY.
*X number of no-status pax will be upgraded PEY to J.

Reality isn't as extreme as above, but CX heavily discounts PEY at outports. Data I've seen in the past for the US, and make sense to me conceptually, indicate that CX prices PEY at prices that aren't much more, or even comparable to mid-priced REGULAR Y ticket buckets UA sells ex-SFO and EWR. What CX is trying to do is incentivize flyers from outside HKG, including those on *A and SkyTeam, to try CX. The calculus for those passengers is "well, I can collect my miles on UA in Y class (which we all know is a total disaster), or I can say screw it to miles and for the same price fly CX in premium economy". The latter is hands down more comfortable. There are a lot more complexities to this than I'm letting on, and these ticket buckets seem to be in conjunction with tack-on destinations in Asia, but the point remains.

As a result, the dynamic I've noticed is that PEY cabins tend to be the least elite-heavy cabin on the plane. (on a side note, I think this totally justifies the demand for PEY: CX is getting non elites, and even other alliance fliers to try CX because the value for money is there in PEY, when priced at a discount). Until recently, Cathay PEY is just horrendously priced ex-HKG for the most part. Maybe this will change going forward but history has been so far, CX says screw you to HKG fliers - where the greatest # of its own elites are based - and instead fills PEY with connecting traffic from outports. So CX's own elites especially Diamonds (CX equivalent of OWE) tend to be clustered in the other cabins, particularly in J class on long-haul flights.

So this is why, as even an OWS, you're already in a decent position in PEY. If Y gets super oversold like happens from time to time, and the cascade of op-ups start occurring, you'll be positioned for a potential upgrade to J.

PE to J is relatively easy because you tend to get fewer DM/GO passengers than J or Y.

Possible upgrade to J on a PE booked through asiamiles
 

Hi All - new poster here and encouraged by these posts...

I'll be redeeming 72,000 miles for a return London-HK flight shortly for CX PE. Would like to know your thoughts, as a Green Marco Polo member and in the right circumstances if there may be a possibility that I could be upgraded to J class...even if my booking will show I booked the flight via asiamiles?

Basically does booking via flight award disqualify me from a possible upgrade? I will be flying solo very close to Christmas this year and am flexible with dates.

Thanks for reading ...

No. How you paid for your ticket has no impact on your op-up chances.

That said, even though PEY is the "best" chance for op-up, I really wouldn't be booking around that premise. The odds still are low. It'll be great if it happens and it CAN happen, but I'd still say it's unlikely to happen and no doubt the disappointment will be real. Too many variables at work especially for a Green member.

If you were a DM, GO or OWE, then I'd go ahead and perhaps you strategize around it. The super high rates PEY-J you're hearing on here seem to be posted mainly by DM, GO and OWE members, based on what I know about those posters. I probably don't recommend being as aggressive as Green simply because the disappointment is more likely than the payoff.

But....PEY is definitely the one class where you have an "real" shot as a Green. Much, much, much higher than if you were in Y or J.

Thanks...Will be booking it as PE then, and not expect. What I can do is check with my travel agent which flights/dates are nearly full in Y and PE, 2 days +/- the 22nd Dec, to give me an idea of the probability.

Thanks for the response. I do understand CX's rule, unlike AA's (upgrade whenever there is an open F/J seat, in most cases), is to only upgrade when they "oversold" your class, and Y is easily oversold, which makes PEY a sweet spot.

I do notice the same pattern in terms of PEY price too. Say JFK-HKG PEY is around $2k, while JFK-HKG-CAN (Guangzhou is literally 100 miles away from HKG.) could be $1.6k, JFK-HKG-SIN is $1.7k and JFK-HKG-PEK is around $1.6k as well (Same thing for J). And yes CX PEY is priced competitively, even within Oneworld. For routes like JFK-HKG-NRT ($1.8k) when compared to JFK-NRT/EWR-LAX-NRT on JAL (easily $2.6k). As AA might promote PEY for its TPAC in the future, we will see how that goes.

PS: Please don't try UA Y class. That's the single worst experience I had with HKG-ORD flight and I am happily avoiding UA for domestic flights.

Flight
 

ORD-HKG

Upgrade frustration
 

I've a milage run next month, JNB-HKG-JFK 12 July after arriving on the early Qatar flight from Dallas that same morning, with a return on 14 July. Earlier today I was wanting to check and see how much it would be to upgrade the JNB-JFK portion. Website gave me a fantastic price of ZAR 13,395 for J (I class ticket) from my current PYE (E class ticket) on the same flights numbers I'm currently booked. I quickly input my card info and received an email from AMEX for the "large purchase approval" during the online "we are processing your order screen". A couple minutes later the screen pops up saying they couldn't book my request and to go back and pick another flight option. Huh?

Went back to "change my booking" and lo and behold the same upgrade offer price was not available. It is now ZAR 39,432! Wonder what happened and/or what did I do wrong???

Firstly, you are talking about what we call an 'upfare' and not upgrade. Your first price is correct as current ex-JNB published fare for JNB-USA rt is around 48000 ZAR while E class is around 26000, and indeed upfare for one way is normally just half the price difference, but the fare rules change every few months so I'm not sure if you would have to upfare the entire ticket. However, bear in mind that JNB POS and ex-JNB inventory itself is very volatile and can change from moment to moment. I just looked and it seems that 830 and 840 are still available, but it is weird as C and D class are zeroed out. I suggest you to call HKG hotline to sort it out (don't bother with the ZA hotline - those agents are incompetent.)

By the way, I have done this before and it is a physical and mentally stressful experience to put it lightly (in both J and W). I would also look into free stopovers in HKG granted by the I fares if you have the flexibility to do so :) (well, I believe E fares also have free ish stopovers included...)

Thanks for you reply G-CVIC. When I changed my flight a couple days ago to lengthen my stopover in HKG, by several hours to give me a little extra rest, (a nominal US$45) is when I noticed the website offering upfares. Figured for the price quoted I'd go for J since my wife and I will have just arrived from a 32 hour trip from DFW. I'm sending her onward to HRE from JNB whilst I do my milage run. Will be meeting back up that Sunday. She thinks I'm a little crazy.

Will call the help line from here in the US to see what I can figure out. Thanks again for your response!

**Update**

Upgraded yesterday for 15,895.00 ZAR so I'm pretty satisfied. Just going to leave it to luck on the return.

Greetings,

Flying SFO-HKG in PE (E) this Friday (6/30/17). I am unable to select a seat ("Please check at the time of check-in" on CX website); EF shows PE full with one seat blocked. 7 seats open in J with another 7 blocked.

I am OWE and wondering if there is any strategy that I should take to op-up to J. Maybe check-in early/late, call ahead, etc. Not terribly hopeful, love CX PE, just wondering!

Any comments are welcome. Apologies in advance if my query is redundant - I read the last 20 or so pages of the thread and may have missed it.

Many thanks.

Chance of upgrade is not affected by time of check-in. However, affect the time you know if you are upgraded or not.

When I flied KIX-HKG, didn't do online check-in and on a redemption Y ticket. Arrived the airport 60 min before departure, the ground agent didn't mention anything when I check in. Yet, I was being called while in the lounge and said I was being upgraded to PEY on an A359.

Another flight from NGO to HKG, I booked PEY and arrived at the airport 2 hours prior departure. The GA said Y was overbooked so I might have chance to upgrade to J. However, she could not confirm at the time I check in.

Once also experienced an instant upgrade from Y to J while check in.

So, just be patient and wait. That is what you can do.

Will do. Thanks for the insight.