I am sure someone thinks this is SARS driven, but I am really grumpy that the refrig and beverages are gone from the Cabanas. I THINK I might get this in the SARS context, but why are they still gone. Plus, the friges are actually missing so I then to think they are not coming back.

What is gained/saved by this? I find it very aggravating.

I suspect the answer is that they encouraged people to stay in there for rather longer than CX hoped with the result that a queue backed up at peak times. I have read here of people spending many hours there in transit - essentially treating liek a hotel room and sleeping in there.

if you are in a cabana and want to leave will they hold it for you for a short period of time?

B Watson,

Why don't you ask CX about this -- I am sure they will answer your query.

I am kind of glad that they don't have this in the Cabanas as people simply take ownership of the place and it is people like us who have to wait in the queue to utilise such benefit of First Class lounge at The Wing.

Very funny comparison. There are "us" that can take ownership of the cabana and those First Class passenger (or OW Emerald) that can not. It is a good thing you do not work for CX and are not in charge of the Cabana rules.

I have used the Cabana to take a bath on an 8 hour layover. That's right, I was in there for six hours and the attendant did refilled the fridge for me. Ain't CX First Class grand?

Just curious, but when you're in your cabanas and want room service, do you call them via a phone? Or do they roam the cabanas and check with everyone to make sure they have everything they want?

AH-64D,

I am also glad that I am not incharge of running The Cabanas and work for CX as I would change many of the rules at The Wing and The Pier.

CX is a great airline and it is for this reason why I always enjoy flying with this airline over other carriers.

I just find that exclusivity is important and having other OW members in the First Class area is slightly annoying. CX should have a rule like what SQ does with their lounge policy in SIN and other outerport. I know it sounds weird but CX Diamond card members need more exclusive benefits over other oneworld FFPs.

Any suggestion or disagreements? Just a thought for CX MPO Diamonds.

People who speak Cantonese should ask the Cabana attendants why the fridges are gone!

Guy Betsy, I like your approach. Simple and clear - just ask the Cabana attendants and they shall prevail the answer well in Cantonese.

CX is in alliance with other airlines. They have to share and share alike. When and if CX dexides to leave the alliance, you will get your little cabanas back, to be used by you and only you.

It's seems to me that you have this special approach to life - what's mine it's mine, what's yours is also mine. Well pal, it doesn't work this way.

Now, if you're looking for exclusitivity, why don't you rent some space at HKG, furnish and equip it as you see fit, and stay there by yourself. Now that would be sooooo exclusive.

Get a life!

Why? What make's CX Diamond Card members any better or 'superior' to other OneWorld Emerald flyers?

An example - are you saying that if you were flying BA out of LHR T4, and not travelling in First Class, you would NOT use the First Class lounge (if you have Emerald status)? Would you not use an AA Flagship Lounge in DFW, LAX, ORD or BOS?

Judging from your username, I would have thought you would understand what an airline alliance and the associated benefits are. I guess not....!

Oh well, each to his or her own, I suppose.

[This message has been edited by 777Brit (edited 09-22-2003).]

Would wearing a collared shirt help? Emerald status is exclusive. CX Diamonds get the upgrades.

There was a moment in time when CX staff were beginning to feel the heat (especially when the Pier was closed sometime this year) as the WING filled to the brim with Oneworld members.

There was some 'talk' amongst CX staff and management (not publised and not official) that CX would restrict entry to persons not flying with CX though other Oneworld airlines as the lounges were getting pretty full at peak times. Believe it or not, CX knows of SQ's Silver Kris Lounge use -restriction of other Star Alliance Gold members and wondered if they could actually apply that model to themselves.

But thankfully the Pier opened up and things are back to normal again. There are some things that CX Invitation/Diamond members get ahead of other Oneworld Emerald members though... the biggest of which is of course upgrades...

Which is totally reasonable as they are 'unpublished' benefits.

To put a different slant on it - if the issue is exclusivity, shouldn't CX offer a special F pax only lounge a la the Concorde Lounge at LHR? That would be a lot more defensible than a Diamonds only set up.

The reason SQ keeps everyone but their own top tier and First/Business passengers from the Silver Kris at SIN is because STAR alliance, unlike oneworld, only has two tiers, not three. It has long been a complaint of us STAR Snobs that life would be much better if the riff raff could be eliminated by the creation of a new top tier [PLAT since SILVER and GOLD are the current tiers]. This way only paying First Class and top tier passengers could gain entry to the top tier of lounges offered by a few of these carriers. If you think there are too many EMERALDS, just consider how bad STAR is with all those GOLDS running around, of whom maybe 2% are top tier members of their own programs, and should rightly have their own super elite tier. Long live elitism as long as I can be in the top tier of it!