from asiamiles.com:

To qualify for the 2,500 bonus Asia Miles, members should check in five times between 1 June and 31 December 2001.

the complete terms and conditions at http://www.asiamiles.com/am/1,,22538...eng__1,00.html

I tried internet check-in that day but was told by the site that the system was `down`. Enroute to the airport I even tried calling the CX res desk but as it was a Sunday, it was closed - but the recording did not even indicate the airport phone number which I would have called beforehand.

The issues here are simply that if I arrived even 5 minutes after the check-in deadline then I will have no legitimate reason to be be annoyed that I was denied boarding. But I was not. Plus it was not another Business Class passenger who had taken my seat, but rather an upgraded no-status tour group low revenue economy class passenger. (I apologize to whoever travels on tour group tickets, I do not mean to sound rude).

On AA flights, I know of examples when a passenger was upgraded from coach and when a full fare first class passenger shows up, that passneger sitting in 1A will be downgraded back to coach. So why can:t CX do it here..... "Hey you! Back to the back of the bus... or better still, YOU ARE BEING OFFLOADED to make way for a full fare Business Class passenger"

Isn`t this what STATUS is all about? Isn`t CX desperate to keep its full fare paying passengers?

I have written to Customer Relations and cc`d the lettter to Mr David Turnbull, CEO of Cathay Pacific. Customer Relations have replied to say that they will reply to me as soon as possible once they investigate.

I simply asked that :
1) A full explanation of the events.
2) An apology from the TG and his superiors as to his sort of behavior. Why did he act on his own accord and released J class space to economy class passengers.
3) That we be accorded the status mileage as though we had taken the CX flight.
4) That we be considered for an automatic renewal of MPO Club membership. (Fat chance but no harm trying)
5) That we be offered some sort of compensation similar to other Oneworld partners namely AA and BA. (another fatchance but again, better tried than never)

I shall keep you all informed of the outcome.

Guy Betsy:

With your current status with CX, and the fact you were full fare J class passenger, I would say you will get a rather serious attention from CX. But I doubt if your condition 4 and 5 will be met, but worth a try. Also, would they really forward the letter to the CEO??

Also, did you mention your occupation in your letter? I'm sure they will not want to anger someone who works in the travel industry...

cheer*s

Well, I'm sitting in the lounge in BKK now, and not only did I have no trouble checking in, I'm sitting here alone! I guess nothing is predictable in this world-- even bad treatment.

Hate to bring this up but has anyone ever considered
that there might have been a finacial kickback involved in any of this ?

If there was a large tour group involved
with Thai group leaders well if you lived in Thailand for awhile .... you get the idea.

------------------
TG Silver/UA premier
Ex airline ground staff UGHHH

I flew on CX 713 today from BKK to SIN (a two-class 777). I was on a very cheap coach ticket priced ex-BKK. I have no status on CX or any of the One World Carriers.

I checked in and was handed a business class boarding pass because the flight was oversold.

So from my perspective, it's great. Now if I was a full fare business class passenger who lost his seat to me...

(And no, I'm not Thai and had no connections with the agent)

I got my first reply (because I will be expecting more after I shot back a quick reply to this one) today.

Blah blah blah (the usual explanation) ... and
As a token of our apology for this regrettable experience, I would like to offer you both a one class, round-trip (two sector) upgrade on any future flights of your choice with Cathay Pacific. Kindly contact me at least two weeks prior to your planned date of departure and I will be more than happy to make the necessary arrangements for you. Please be assured also that the appropriate mileage for this sector will be credited to your Club accounts and this will appear on your next set of statements.

I don't know about you guys but I think this 'upgrade' is an insult and I have written back stating that in this 'bad economic climate' CX cannot afford such a bad PR boo-boo.

I think they should at least offer a J class ticket to anywhere CX flies instead... it's not as if CX will go bankrupt if they gave up 2 seats!

To be honest, and I don't mean anything personal here, but to ask for a J-class ticket for two will cost them a heap of money. They could do like a lot of other airlines do and not offer you a thing, but you should be glad that they've offered you an upgrade for two sectors.

It SOUNDS like you are milking something here though in actual fact you are probably not and were rightfully angry at being treated most unhelpfully. Have you rejected the upgrade? Because personally I think that's the most you'll get out of them.

Considering the fact that this happens relatively frequently (with overbooking of Y and upgrading to C) in BKK (with c@*p agents), then if they offered J tickets all the time, they WOULD go bankrupt.

Nasty experience. And I think the TG bozo did it deliberately, so he'd give TG CX's money from your ticket. Though of course...who in their right mind would fly TG's First when SQ is available...

Regards,

Clement

GuyBetsy,

I think the best you will get out of CX are those upgrade vouchers and getting two of them is pretty good. I don't think your justification for return J class anywhere on CX network is viable and that you should take what was offered.

I don't think you can compare US airlines compensation with that of CX and SQ's compensation levels as these are totally different airlines and have different sets of service recovery procedures.

But if he is a customer who purchases full fare J tickets, how much does Cathay stand to lose by making him angry enough to switch airlines?

I got the same two upgrade vouchers after a not too great experience of having a flight cancelled and then bags lost (and yes, this odyssey also started in BKK). Seems to be the standard compensation when CX is admitting that they really did make a mistake. I've had a few other problems in the past, but normally just get a sorry letter. I don't know of anybody who has gotten more than a couple of upgrade vouchers from CX-- suspect they'll take a fairly hard line on this issue, as they are afraid of setting precedents.

I know this topic is about recognition and upgrades but I have to say I would be happy if I could redeem a ticket in economy class.

There never seems to be any seats available for purchase using miles but there are seats if I choose to pay money.

I have had no luck trying to get a seat to Aukland for the past two months and have not been granted.

I have plenty of miles but just can't seem to spend them.

Why is it that Cathay doesn't release these seats, I spent good money,earned all these miles but for what?

Shout, sorry to hear that you have bad experience with redemption...in fact, from my experience, i think CX is among the best already in terms of award seats availability (my other experiences are limited to american carriers though)...their award availability is excellent even during peak seasons, except if you try to book last minute, of course...

my best exprience is...last year, i tried to book 7 business class tickets during chinese new year...about 3-4 months in advance...surprisingly, all 7 got confirmed immediately, and it's in a cabin of only 40 business seats...and finally of course the flights were so fully overbooked because of chinese new year...and 3 of us got upgraded to first... i have had much bigger problems trying to get seats with UA and other carriers...they never allocate more than a few seats on each flight and they all got filled months in advance...

as always, with award travel with different programs...if you want to do redemption...you need to book at least a month or two in advance...more if you wanna travel in peak seasons...i don't think CX is bad at all in this area...just my two cents.

Just following up on this, on my return leg from SIN to BKK, upgraded once again to business class. No incentive for me to actually but a C ticket when I get upgraded on the absolute cheapest Y tickets I could find (~$130.00 return ex-BKK).

Okay - got a reply from David Turnbull's office today...

Excerpt from his letter to us:
Thank you for your recent e-mail messages, regarding our inability to provide you with a seat aboard flight CX713 from Bangkok to Singapore on 25th November.

May I convey my sincere apologies for the considerable inconvenience this most unfortunate incident has caused you. As our valued frequent flyers you have every right to expect better of Cathay Pacific, and I am sorry that we have let you down on this occasion.

Please rest assured that the points you have raised will certainly be reviewed. There is little or no excuse for the difficulties you encountered and I am sorry that your confidence in both our standard of service and commitment to loyal customers has been compromised.

I fully appreciate the need for us to make amends for this regrettable experience and I am sorry that you are not satisfied with the offer of a round trip upgrade that has been made by our Customer Relations Department. As a token of our apology, I have instead arranged for 60,000 Asia Miles to be credited to your Marco Polo Club accounts and I hope this will go some way to offset any disappointment you have been caused.



What do you think? Should I have gone with the 2 sector return upgrades instead? It really doesn't do me much good since most of my tickets are already in First Class! I'll have to see what my business partner has to say about this counter-offer.