I've gotten to know the WNZ manager pretty well and now he always blocked an entire row for me, at the dismay of other pax that looked at my empty row with disbelief (flight full except the two empty seats next to me), heh heh

Since we are talking about blocking, it does seem as if they sometimes do it - or maybe it's just the luck of the draw (I am only GO).

I say this because of a recent experience - I had an aisle exit seat (I think it was an A320 or A321) and both middle and window seat were empty. Towards the end of boarding, the FA asked me if I minded if someone moved to sit in the window seat. I said it was no problem, but I was amazed they would ask me.

when did you request the seat blocking? at the airport or via mpc?

I didn't request it. That's why I was surprised that they asked me about someone sitting there.

whoa!!! that's awesome...are you a DM member though?

I actually think that outports do a better job..probably easier, as fewer elites (typically), to deal with.

I think HKG-based people see so many DMs that being a DM doesn't really mean a whole lot to them. But out-ports the DMs are still being treated very well.

I have no idea if this helps, but the manager at YYZ does recognize me every time I fly, often greeting me by my surname before even handing over documentation. Also often times when I fly, there’s are only 5-8 GO and maybe 3 DM.

I don't see the problem with PEY. It is significantly more comfortable than Y and it can cost only 30% more than Y. It can cost a lot more than 30% on top of Y, but if you aren't hell bent on a particular day then a 30-50% premium on top of a Y fare is quite achievable for a PEY ticket. OTOH if you go J, that is typically a 300-400% premium over the Y fare. It is quite a difference. Personally I don't think Dragonair J is that much better (food aside) then PEY.

Also if you are taking a Cathay day flight, do you really need a J-class flat bed? PEY is plenty comfortable enough.

Creampuff where does your 30% premium come from?

For my shuttle route: Hkg-Syd, next month (two weeks before school holiday) I'm looking at HK$5.7k/13.6k/33.6k for y/PE/j return

Going the other way I see A$900/1,957/6,193

For short haul I'll survive in Y, even the 4+-hour hard shell I'm getting this Friday. PE is only a more expensive bucket of Y for short haul.

For long haul flights from North America, or routes like LHR, PEY comes at a cost double of V class, as an MPO sitting in the mini cabin of Y isn’t so bad, especially with an empty seat beside me, which often does happen. For business travel J is a given and even on personal travel i only buy PEY to upgrade into J, I’ve never paid to sit in PEY. If the upgrade doesn’t clear before I issue the ticket, Y it is then. Or I get op-up to PEY, which I don’t mind.

Premium seats to/from Australia have an inbuilt (upward) price bias. exUSA because of the competition and the requirement for H class fares to credit to the AA program create a niche market.

Until Air Asia and Scoot entered the SEAsia-Perth market no one had cheap fares (even in economy) on those routes. Jetstar flights were often more expensive than Qantas. MH economy fares could/can be found at cheaper rates - but only if you are willing to forgo crediting the flight to a (any) FF program.

Happy wandering

Fred

I think the 30-50% premium roughly comes from comparing V class against E class (or at least this is the case for me) - but if you are buying cheapest available then yes it will be 100%+

Example: For HKG - SYD its normally somewhere between 9.5-10k for me when using my seat guarantee for V class

5.7k is a really good fare tho (almost at fanfare levels) - can you get that for the optimised flights? (161/101 and 138)

Very well. I repeated the same experiment (my test dates are 5-8 June BTW) for YVR, LAX and LHR (returns):

HKG-LAX: HK$9,000/22,870/91,640
LAX-HKG: US$1,722/2,397/5,187
HKG-YVR: HK$10,750/23,860/50,800
YVR-HKG: C$1,739/2,840/5,818
HKG-LHR: HK$7,350/16,720/59,960
LHR-HKG: GBP696/940/5,054

Premium of PE over Y:

HKG-LAX: 154%
LAX-HKG: 39%
HKG-YVR: 122%
YVR-HKG: 63%
HKG-LHR: 127%
LHR-HKG: 35%

Only if you're ex-LHR or ex-LAX does PE start relating to the floor space premium of 38%.

Even for YVR (argubaly another upward price bias route like Aus) the premium is doubled.

And ex-HKG you might as well buy another seat. Might even have enough cash left over to pay the second YQ.

I haven't done a comprehensive survey or anything like that, but I've travelled PEY ex-HKG on regional flights and PEY ex-LHR->HKG a few times now. It's been in the 30-50% premium over Y range. Totally worth it. I wouldn't pay double for PEY though. BA and Virgin operate direct LHR HKG flights with PEY cabins, perhaps that keeps the price down on CX.

Is the CX blocked seat thing only for high status MPC or can AA members also get it?

The A$6193 SYD HKG for CX J is Cathay taking the mick. You can fly all the way to London in J for only $1000 more.