is there capacity control with CX
 

I am a newbie with CX, so this might sound like a stupid question.

the other day I watch my friend booking an award flight. it seemed every flight is available for an award. so it seems CX does not have capacity control?

is this true? with NWA, Delta, Continental and United, it is VERY VERY difficult to get an award seat.

thanks

CX does have capacity controls, but if you book far enough in advance/on the right routes/on the right dates, sometimes you get lucky.

How far ahead would be the ideal time? I have heard some associates say they cant get seats six months ahead with miles but by paying money the seats were easy to get.

As with anything miles related, the earlier you book, the better your chances. I don't know how far ahead CX lets you book - I'm sure somebody else does. The good thing about CX is that they let you waitlist for award flights/upgrades, so they sometimes clear even when they seem full up.

Comparing others' tales and my own experience I believe that having MPC status helps a lot on this. But having said that even with Diamond it isn't possible to get award seats (I'm talking mainly in J) at peak times such as CNY.

I originally started this thread, because I was booking an award flight from HKG to NRT. I booked award earlier this month for flight late this month. there were economy award available every day. I was SUPRISED. so I thought there must be no capacity control.

do DL and CO have HKG-NRT flights?

CX award availability depends on the route, class of service and time of year. I've booked intra-asia flights in 1st and biz on the same day of travel. trans-pacific flights can be difficult to get in any class.

HKG-NRT has huge capacity and the flights are running half-full these days (at least whenever I've flown HKG-NRT). But CX refuses to give up on the market and cut the frequency (I suspect CX has good yield, they seem to attract a surprising amount of Japanese flying F/J on this route). The trans-pacific routes are hard to get for awards.