Cathay Pacific Seat Selection for Emerald
 

I'm on an AA code share on CP from HKG to CGK A-340 2 class going A-340 3 class with Premium economy on return. Flying on a cheap economy ticket...will CP let me pre-reserve an exit row or Premium economy for free due to one world status Thanks

Trend

Hi Trend

My experience of flying CX in Y when I was OWE/BA Gold was excellent. As a OWE you should be able to request an exit row for free in Y. When I last travelled HKG-SUB-HKG, on both occasions the aircraft was swapped to a 3 class plane. On the outward segment I was offered a HK$500 upgrade from Y to Y+ which I snapped up. The cabin was fairly quiet on the outbound with only two other pax.

On the return when I checked in at SUB, I was treated exceptionally well by the check in staff and as said, again the plane had been substituted to a 3 class bird. I was upgraded free of charge on this flight and the cabin was a bit busier this time.

I doubt very much that CX will just give you a Y+ seat if Y is not overbooked or capacity is required due to a 3 class plane substitution.
Best plan of action is to make sure your OW status is in your booking and you check in online at t-48 on the dot. I think from experience on this forum that the lower (ie. BN1) your sequence number and higher status gives you a better chance, although no guarantee, of upgrade when ops require.
Again, this may also depend on how the flight is marketed and if they sell it as a three class service, in which case Y+ may be sold out.

And as someone else may come along and state, if you want to fly in a higher cabin then pay for it to begin with, although I always go along with the thought that I get what I pay for and if I get anything better then bonus :D

Do come back and let us know how you get on.

Best of luck

Happy & Safe travels

S

Since the op is on an AA codeshare with CX flight, the BN won't help. It helps if he's on CX flight numbers.

Not to be pedantic , but CP is the code for the now defunct Canadian Airlines, which was once upon a time, also a member of Oneworld. :(

CPA is the code used for Cathay Pacific but the two letter prefix is CX.

As an Emerald member, you can select to sit at the emergency exit row free of charge. However, you must contact AA to select your seats as CX does not have you on their reservations as you are on a AA codeshare ticket. You may try contacting CX - and see if they can find you in their system, but I think not until AA releases their inventory back to CX which can be 24 hours prior departure.

You will not be given a seat in PE unless your ticket is in PE. So if you're in economy, you stay in economy.

You cannot pre-reserve seat in premium economy if you have economy ticket. Premium economy concept on CX is different from AA's main cabin extra.

As a BA / Emerald, I cant reserve a seat at all in Premium Economy on a CX LHR-> HKG flight prior to check in opening - is that correct ? Or am I pressing wrong buttons .. ))

I book AA code shares all the time. Call AA and ask them for the CX PNR from the booking. It is different from your AA one. Once you have it, you can login to the CX website and select your seat using the PNR and your name. You may have to play around with your first name and middle name in order to get in. Try just first name, first name middle initial with no space and the first name middle name no space. One of them will let you in.

Once in your OWE status will let you select an appropriate seat.

As long as we're not being pedantic, some additional info....

Canadian Airlines was the later incarnation of the air transport arm of Canadian Pacific, which started out as a shipping company, CP Ships. It had a number of criuise ships; I have fond memories of a Chirstmas/New Year's cruise with my family when I was little on the Empress of Canada, which went on in its next life to become the Mardi Gras, of Carnival Cruise Lines. More info on CP cruise ships can be found here.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

if you're ticketed in Economy (YBHKMLV...) then what happened it expected.

if you're ticketed in Prem. Eco. (WRE) then give CX a call.

Premium Economy is another class of service on CX.

The four classes of service CX are sold separately being Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and First. Premium Economy seats are not the same as Economy seats. They are wider and have much more legroom and a somewhat different meal service. They also have their own mini cabin with curtains offer more of a private section akin to the division to other classes of service.

So, for example, during an op-up, if you are flying Economy and you would be put into a Premium Economy, not Business (unless there is some extenuating circumstance).

I don't feel that TheBigRat was talking about buying Y and getting seat assignments in PEY. TheBigRat is a BA Gold member, and should already be aware of this (similar to BA's WT+).

Cathay Pacific Seat Selection for Emerald
 

Thanks all - I have an outbound E and inbound R seat - LHR-HKG return. I'm a bit embarrassed to report I didn't know to hit the update button when in the Seat tab - which then shows the seat availability. In the meantime all the good seats have gone and I'm in the middle of the mid row of 4 so lesson learned )) Thanks again for all the input - I'm also hopeful to try out The Wing - having read more on this forum, my OWE will get me access as I understand it.
Cheers

Yes you will have access. Although I wouldn't have my hopes up so high....its nothing to write home about. Definitely a far cry from T5's CCR.

Let me get this straight... so no premium economy seat for Oneworld Sapphire (Finnair Plus Gold) even when on CX ticket? Is there any kind of "blocking system" in place for CX that blocks adjacent seats for status holders like with Finnair?

Is there a way to select exit row seats on internet or is the only way to call CX or wait for reception counter?

Exit row seats are free even for Oneworld Ruby: "The Marco Polo Club Diamond, Gold and Silver, or oneworld® Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald members may reserve an Extra Legroom Seat free of charge." Missed that perk on couple of trips so they will not really offer it if you'll not demand it...

Why is this so hard to understand? You booked into Economy. Therefore you are only entitled to Economy class seating. You can feel free to choose any seat in Economy that is still available. You cannot implement a block on a seat online. You can request one at check-in, but it is not an official benefit, nor is it ever guaranteed. Even if check-in agent agrees to block, it may be that by the time you have boarded the seat has been occupied.

Premium Economy - is a completely different class of travel, separated by partition and with a separate service flow to Economy. Only passengers who have paid for premium economy will be able to choose a seat in the premium economy cabin.

Cathay Pacific Premium Economy is considered a separate class category with separate products to Economy. It is not like American/European extra leg room rows which are not considered a separate class, nor separated by dividers.