I have read that CX is reducing there offering of PE

http://www.businesstraveller.com/new...economy-routes

It says that the planes will be downgraded to a 2 class a330, i have noticed though that they dont have any 2 class config, with the latest Cirrus seats, anyone think there is a possibility of changing to regional service on Middle Eastern flights?

CX has already begun the retrofit process - converting their long-haul 3-class (33G) aircraft to just a 2-class aircraft without PEY. They will use the retrofitted 2-class aircrafts for ME/India routes; it is still Cirrus J seats.

The remaining 3-class (33K) planes are deployed for Australian routes.

I don't know about other routes, but for the last 6 PEY trips I did EWR-HKG-EWR, the number of pax in the cabin is 6 or less. Like I've said before, the only "good" thing PEY has done is allowed more op-up seats for oversold Y cabins, in terms of revenue PEY it can't be that high because.... CX PEY is overpriced for the product CX offers....

...partly because CX decided that PEY fares had to be "Standard" and above in terms of flexibility for fears of diluting high Y/J fares, and they've never really pushed any kind of upselling through the online interface either.

But again PE has had more traction in EU/AU markets so it is partially a byproduct of markets with better purchasing power in the end.

agreed

to AKL for example PE is always packed, EU/AUS markers are more aware of P.E etc

Agree - always thought that an airline should sell PEY as an upgrade surcharge of x USD a sector.

This way you could split the flexibility price premium from the product price premium. I.e. buy an S class fare and add x USD for PEY, or buy a B class fare if you need the flexibility and add same x USD for PEY.

Noticed the new seat map when searching for a HKG-DOH flight in July on expertflyer.

New configuration is 39J/223Y for total of 262. So 28 W seats replaced by 48 Y seats.

Surprised they are removing PE from BOM flights. It generally is pretty busy. I know people who fly once or twice a month to BOM from HKG and they switched all their travel from Y to PE on CX.

before you CX'ers rush out to join BA , see what is happening:
So oneworld�s BA now also follows the CX mantra
http://www.businesstraveller.com/new...executive-club

Since CX normally sell L and H class exUSA, they have managed to price the PEY fare classes in a more competitive manner. I'll admit if the AU$ falls far enough then perhaps things will be competitive. When the AUD had parity (or higher) the situation was even more ridiculous.

Example Round trip PER-LAX (or reverse) two Tuesdays in Apr
exPER E class AUD 3991 about USD 3180 today
exLAX E class USD 2681

The difficulty is that CX would have to lower the ordinary Y class fares exAustralia to permit equivalence with the exUSA fares. That won't happen.

Back in October the PEY (LAX-HKG-PER) cabins showed a reasonable selection of seats a week before the flights. Both ended up oversold. Perhaps a shuffle up from a Y cabin oversell. Sunday HKG-PER seems a good day for op-ups. Or expensive last minute tickets.

I would venture that the middle east and south Asia have a different clientele. If they can afford to fly in a better cabin than Y, they will pay for J.

Happy wandering

Fred

I have a PE booking on CX137 HKG-PER in April & noticed the 33G operating that route only has 2 rows of PE (14 in total), so it looks like they will be taking out more PE seats on the 33G than previously planned.

Once again:

There will be 3 subfleets of the A330.

*Regional (33Z) (Regional)
*Longhaul with Premium Economy (33G) (Australia)
*Longhaul without Premium Economy (Code still to be determined) (Middle East, India, Indian subcontinent)

But the US market is a "high purchasing power" market too isn't it? And flights from the US to HKG are longer than Europe/HK or Australia/HK. So one would think there is a real market for pain reduction.

Maybe it's because premium economy is interpreted to mean "economy class seat with more legroom" which is what is sold domestically there and the pricing is too high for that perception.

Well, most Asians I know who had paid for PEY all sworn that were cheated by CX. Biggest complains:

1) Price too high for just a slightly better seat
2) Arm rest doesn't go up so even if the seat next to you is empty you can't really take advantage of it
3) Food and drinks are Y-quality

They all swore what's the point of PEY, even at "pain reduction" the price doesn't justify it.

1) Is subjective. YMMV.
2) Yes, this is a problem, but not a big one for me as I don't like to raise the armrest anyway. Bigger problem is that PE middle seats are terrible. Nobody paying a premium price should have to suffer a middle seat. Luckily, I've not flown in a middle seat for a very, very long time.
3) Varies by route. Medium-haul flights such as to India have a J main in PE.