Severe Overbooking???
 

I’m taking the CX 829 on May 6th, I’ve been told that the flight is severely overbooked. Can someone check expert flyer and see if its actually overbooked? Because I issued my ticket 24hours before flying and was waitlisted for V class, it then cleared within a matter of hours. If it was that overbooked, why would they release V class to be so quickly? Surprised they didn’t make me buy B class fare. I’m just trying to figure out how CX does its revenue management for future situations to see if I can always book 24 hours ahead. I’ve dropped down to GO so the seat guarantee is only 72 hours.

Show me software I can access that displays overbooked flights, and I'll gladly lay my credit card down for a subscription. ExpertFlyer, AFAIK provides information that may be suggestive of an oversell - and even then, the degree of oversell would be unknown

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I think they are just overbooked in economy but fairly light up front.

Interesting... There’s still 4 seats left in Y, but apparently the flight’s been oversold by almost 20 people according to reservations....

My guess is that they'll just move a bunch of DMs and GOs into upgrade class.

Does anybody actually pay for Premium Economy? (Except those who then use miles to upgrade to business)

I usually upgrade into it, I don’t see the point in paying for it if I can block off the seat next to be in Y. i considered upgrading into it, but since the flight is so overbooked I decided to take a gamble for an op-up, its also my birthday too. I don’t expect anything but I did grab a good seat in the forward mini cabin of Y.

On company dime, I'm flying PEY now. But I would NEVER pay for it. And I actually feel bad for my company that pays for it. But I think CX has it and it does exactly what CX wants it to do:

1) Make money off suckers (company) that won't pay for J class but will pay for PEY class (like mine)

2) A buffer zone for oversold Y upgrades to relief J class from overcrowding.

3) Gets people that wants to use miles to upgrade to J class

From CX's perspective PEY is a win, screw the pax.

I haven't requested blocking for a few years. I don't know whether I still can, but my neighbouring seat is often empty if the cabin is not full. In the past, even if I did, if there was a reason, CX might still release my adjacent seat even if not full. It happened once for me (and I was a DM).

As the flight is on your birthday, there is a good chance they may upgrade you anyway if the upper cabin is not full... Happy Birthday!

Thank you very much, my hopes of getting an upgrade are slim though. its T-9 hours and my OLCI still shows my seat in Y.

It used to show on my web page when I got op-upped, but not the recently. With J2 C2 D2 I2 W7 R7 E7 Y6 B6 H6 K5 M3 L3 V2 S0 N0 Q0 O0 now, involuntary upgrade is unlikely but birthday upgrade is possible. As the flight is after midnight, I do not know if they count 5 or 6 May for birthday though. You will know when you check in or in the lounge. Good luck (you may actually get J)!

speaking on the subject of severe overbooking, my friend told me PVG is way overbooked and CX is reluctant to turn would-be pax away in fear that they would jump to other airlines, so on some flights you get as many as 20-30 overbooked Y!!!!

PVG is notoriously known for no shows, I don't blame CX for overbooking by 30 people, same with TPE.

You do get a lot of no-shows all around China. It's in the cultural.

(Yes, I deal with no-shows all the time myself)

Overbooking is understandable on short-hall flights but on ultra long haul flights, no shows are rare to say the least.

4) Those unlucky few who are too tall for CX's economy seats ;)

UPDATE!! I got upgraded into PEY, J was very full apparently. Oh well, I’m happy because its my birthday and I avoid the herd of cattle, time to get some good sleep and party all day in HKG. I still haven’t been to the arrival, I’ve heard its underwhelming to say the least?

Did they tell you that you would have been upgraded to J if it wasn't so full?

Probably not. Although I did get a double-class upgrade to J once in EWR, but it was only because a plane went tech a day earlier and they had to fly in a 77W to take us, and of course with much fewer Y seats.

The reason I would like to know the answer to this is that s/he mentioned that "J was very full apparently" and I want to know if a birthday upgrade will bypass PE.

you're a GO member? i've never been able to block off the seat next to me ... most they'll do is request it but i always find someone sitting next to me. only success i've had is when moving my seat to somewhere in the back of the bus at the airport in hopes that it isn't a full flight

I don't think they block seats anymore on CX, so if you get an empty seat next to you, I think it's just luck (or the airport was holding the seat for another elite, but they missed the flight). I often get to the airport and then there are some good seats left but seem to be unavailable to most people, but once I ask they call someone, "Please release XX seat for DM." Anyways that's as far as I've seen in the new system.

I haven't requested block for a while, but I am not surprised they are not doing it anymore. However, I think they still try to leave my adjacent seat open.

Yes, the good old days of automatic block when you're a DM are over. It's the luck of the draw now. However, the check-in agent told me that you can still "ask" and they will "try their best"...

Hum...I was a GO, and up to Dec 2013 I always get the seat next to me blocked. (Bulkhead)

The problem is that empty seat will attract some very annoying passenger...and cabin crew doesn't care at all.

It is quieter in PEY cabin, and Cabin crew would actually care if someone from Y try to get a PEY seat. In fact I don't think I will fly CX Y again, some passengers are just intolerable...

I personally find cheaper PEY on ex-LHR quite reasonable (Normally £10xx-11xx), as I would be paying £8xx for V-Class anyway. But if they sell it at the normal £1800+, why don't I just fly JL via FRA/CDG/HEL...an indirect J + direct PEY mix would cost the same...

Irrelevant... Even as DM when I request seat blocking they block the seat by putting someone there (so it's blocked from letting me to have extra space...)

Anyway as many said I gave up on requesting seat blocking for quite some time already...

My numerous experience in PEY is Crew care as much as they bother to check, which they don't. Usually after meal time what they do is put out the tray table as a marker that this seat is open and unoccupied, but when they go back to rest they rare come back up. Then some people in Y would gladly move up and unfold the table and sit. Once a person just came and sat next to me which I politely told him to leave, but people are doing it.

There are even some Y that just went ahead to J if the last few rows were fairly empty, again, the crew doesn't seem to come around and check. Usually the get away with it till second meal time.

right....so you and i both have failed but i'm curious to how wrldtrav2013 has been able to do so :confused: or is it just plain dumb luck??

I think "blocking" is a discretional thing. It has never been a policy. Blocking is up to the check-in agent/flight control manager. If a flight is super empty, they will gladly let you block. If it is 90% above they are unlikely to block it for you as they need the seat. Sometimes, they can block but it is never guaranteed until aircraft has literally pushed back.

Over the years I have had CX block me a seat in Y on HKG-YYZ, HKG-LHR, and HKG-KUL.

I have found though, that outport staff are far less likely to be able to honour a blocking of a seat. I think this is because flights are still managed from HKG, and so they cannot liaise with a flight control manager as easily and ultimately have less control over the flight. In HKG, if the check-in agent is committed to trying to help me block a seat, they always call a flight controller.

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.