Unclear Fare Rules
 

In June I booked a ticket (HKG-ZRH-HKG) in J on CX website.

During the booking process, under the "Key Conditions" summary it was stated:

"Rebooking - HKD1600 charge for rebooking"

In the emailed booking confirmation the fare rules were stated as:

* ITINERARY - HONGKONG CX ZURICH CX HONGKONG
* FARE HKD34450 PLUS TAXES HKD629 PER ADULT(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
* RESERVATIONS FOR ALL SECTORS AND TICKETING ARE REQUIRED AT
LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE
* TICKETS MUST BE ISSUED ON/BEFORE 31AUG2017
* EX-HKG VALID FOR YEAR ROUND FROM DATE OF ISSUE
* BUSINESS CLASS - I+I
* VALIDITY - MINIMUM 2DAYS - MAXIMUM 1MONTH
* HKG/ZRH VALID ON ANY CX FLIGHT OPERATED BY CX
* ZRH/HKG VALID ON ANY CX FLIGHT OPERATED BY CX
* REBOOKING FEE HKD1600 APPLIES PER PERSON PER TRANSACTION
* ANY MODIFICATION MUST CHANGE BEFORE FLIGHT DEPARTURE
* FARE DIFFERENCE MAY APPLIED FOR MODIFICATION BEFORE DEPARTURE
* NOSHOW FEE HKD2000 APPLIES PER PERSON PER TRANSACTION
* REFUND FEE HKD1600 PER PERSON FOR TOTALLY UNUSED TICKET ONLY
* RE-ROUTE IS NOT PERMITTED AFTER TICKET ISSUED
* NON-ENDORSABLE / NON-REROUTABLE / NON-REFUNDABLE
* VALID ON FLIGHT/DATE SHOWN

3 weeks before departure I called CX to change outbound flight to 1 day earlier.
I was fully prepared to pay the HKD 1600 change fee (plus any potential fare difference). But the CX agent informed me that no rebookings were possible after 30 days prior to the flight.

Needless to say that I was very surprised. I assume that CX is not lying to me on what the fare rules are. However, I find the way these fare rules were communicated to me during / after the booking process deceiving:

(1) The condition for Rebooking (HKD 1600 change fee) was stated without any time limit qualification
(2) I assumed that a Rebooking is a Modification, which "must change before flight departure"

Even if CX is "right" in their interpretation of the fare rules, I would expect that key rules are disclosed in an unambiguous manner that is understandable to a layman.

One of the reasons for buying this J ticket was to have the flexibility to rebook (against a fee); for re-bookings not to be possible anymore within 30 days to departure I consider a significant limitation to the ticket I bought.

I have written to CX to explain this. But when called back by an agent, I just get repeatedly told what the fare rules are, ignoring my broader point that the way these are worded is not clear.

Am I asking too much here? Views?


P.S. I looked into cancelling the ticket and booking a new one. But the return flight (which I don't want to change) is very full. On the outbound flight that I am looking to change, there is still availability in my fare class.

They screw HKG passengers (and our yield) and bow to low yielding outports
 

Brutal.

That's just insulting to the customer in my opinion, assuming they didn't disclose that anywhere except in those fare rules. It's technically spelled out in there, unfortunately for you if they want to play hard ball. But still horrible.

My bigger beef with it is we (ex-HKG passengers) are hands down the highest yielding crew CX has. And we arent stupid: we know how generous the ex-XXX fares are. Heck, I've bought some myself before!

It's such a "screw you" in the face type thing. For example, I'm not in front of my computer right now but I bet if you had bought ex PVG or somewhere else to ZRH in J, not only would your ticket likely have been cheaper.... but also allowed you better terms: *free* changes, and you can *change until departure*! (Unlike the very restricted fare to ZRH you're on).

I understand point of sale and I'll happily pay more out of here than fly to this or that place for a better fare. But the ex-HKG fares, especially D or I class, are also heavily restrictive! Waaaay more restrictive than ex outport fares usually. So we get the "luxury" of not only paying more, but also being more restricted. That's really maddening. It's such a screw you to the local customers. There are many reasons CX is having trouble, but i believe this attitude is part of it.

I always assumed that in the case of a ticket revalidation, advanced purchase is measured from the original ticketing date?

When I read this - "RESERVATIONS FOR ALL SECTORS AND TICKETING ARE REQUIRED AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE", moving ahead one day at three weeks before departure does violate this rule.

You may also try to refund the ticket ("REFUND FEE HKD1600 PER PERSON FOR TOTALLY UNUSED TICKET ONLY") and re-ticket. Is this possible?

Ok - but what is in your opinion then a "Modification"?

Inconsistent with the reservation clause, but if all clauses apply, then the reservation clause must still apply.

I agree the fare rules are unclear.

You may wish to bring this to the attention of HK Customs but I doubt anything can be done.

to the OP, you don't have to put up with CX's nonsense. Definitely shop around next time. I just bought a Swiss F ticket ex-HKG to Europe for <9k USD. Not same price, still only 2x more expensive and I'm guessin that might be in your budget?

Just sayin there is no excuse for CX to offer such a crappy, restrictive J ticket for 4-5k and now you're in a bind because of unclear fare rules. You should look around next time, especially when flying ex-HKG. The competition isn't bad and, although we're captive to CX to a large degree here in HK, it's not 100%. No excuse to be paying 4-5k USD on a heavily restricted J ticket to Europe in my opinion, when you can be spendin 8-10k for F on a nice airline.

I concur here. I don't think CX is at fault here. I wonder if you can pay the difference to upgrade to a fare not subject to AP (Advanced Purchase) requirement. I believe the "ANY MODIFICATION MUST CHANGE BEFORE FLIGHT DEPARTURE" means that, if you no-show, the entire ticket value will be nullified.

Could this also be interpreted as: You can change your ticket less than 30 days before your original departure, as long as the new departure date is more than 30 days away from the time of re-booking? After all, it doesn't say "30 days before originally booked departure [date]".

I would also recommend to have the ticket refunded, if that is possible (As it should be, reading through the rest of the conditions that you quoted).

^ Nice interpretation

I want to ask OP how full is the return flight? See if you can have them to let you waitlist the return trip and hold the outbound first? Once it clears you can cancel your existing ticket and issue the new one

Is this a promotional fare that it has such restrictive rules? I would have just booked an ex-South East Asia or ex-China ticket.

Example:
MNL-ZRH-MNL is only USD 2,984 and allows free re-booking with no time limitation (only fare difference if any) and it's not even a promotional ticket. You also get more miles and club points which is a bonus.

PS. I find that airlines are very sneaky in hiding these restrictions in the really long fare rules that aren't reader friendly. If you are used to travelling or have experience then it's no problem; but for novices and beginners then it really is confusing.

MNL fares are quite restricted except perhaps for Smartsaver, most credit card promotions they are currently running have US$150 rebooking fees.

Usually there's no re-booking fee as long as you don't use a credit card promotion for I fares ex-MNL, just a USD 150 cancellation. Other regions/countries have a re-booking fee even for standard I fares so that makes ex-MNL ones more flexible.

PS. I don't have a BDO card which is the current promotion and use my US card to book so pointless in my situation.

This sounds like a 30-day advance purchase fare.

CHCX is trying to change outbound segment (eg wholly unused ticket) 3 weeks prior to departure of new desired flight so the entire ticket needs to be repriced with a fare that has an advance purchase restriction of 21 days or less.