CX offers no upgrade certificates. Often lower status holders are promoted when I ¨C then a Diamond card holder, would get no promotion. I went for 18 months traveling each month and missing out on all seating promotions, so I know CX has no orderly promotion rules. The reason I missed out was a combination of not being rude and pushy at the check-in counter, and checking in early before upgrades become an issue.

Does anyone have similar experience? Why does CX not adopt an orderly program of upgrade certificates to bring justice for loyal passengers and even more loyalty from Marco Polo members?

On a full flight, CX will upgrade its Diamond card members first and checking in early certainly has advantages when the computer scans who will be offered the upgrade.

For example, if a Silver card member has checked in first and his/her boarding number is 001 and then a Diamond card member checks in as boarding number 002, the computer will automatically pick 002 for an upgrade as he/she is a Diamond card member.

Being a Diamond card or an elite card member of the Marco Polo Club is certainly an advantage. I personally use Marco Polo Club because of my relationship with Cathay Pacific and the way they look after me on-ground and inflight. I could have joined AA's programme and become an Executive Platinum card member and earn those double bonuses as part of the elite membership but to me, having a closer relationship with the airline is more important.

I have heard that elite members of lower tier have been enticed with some special promotions inorder to get them back flying on CX. This is a pure loyalty incentive.

As for other loyalty programmes in Asia, they are pretty much in line with Cathay's FFP. Overall, CX's Asia Miles is way ahead in its programme structure, redemption mileage and partners then other airlines in the Asian region. You must also remember that loyalty programme concept is new in Asia and not as competitive to travellers so there is no reason for airlines to offer its members upgrade certificates the way the North American airlines do.

In the North American market, the competition is fierce and to survive, airlines offer a matching level of programme benefits to make them more competitive and hence retain their loyal customers. I am sure if the market was not as competitive with travellers needs and wants, then you might not see the free upgrade certificates that the US/Canada airlines offer to its members.

However, on the positive note, it is good to see that Asian airlines do offer the opportunity to its members to use their miles for an upgrade. Do airlines such as Air Canada offer this option? The answer is simple: NO!

Running a loyalty programme must be profitable objective and Asian airlines such as CX, SQ and TG are very smart at turning around profits so they want to make sure that they are not diluted by offering free upgrade certificates to their members in such ways as North American members do!

It is probably time for North American airlines to see how a FFP is operated in Asia and learn some lessons on how to make their airlines profitable.

Checking in early does not disadvantage you from benefiting from an operational upgrade. It happens all the time at the gate - the boarding pass is rejected by the machine and you are handed a new pass which has already been pre-printed. As for CX not having "orderly upgrade procedures", I would very firmly have to disagree with you on that point. Thankfully, CX does not have a policy of upgrading all and sundry and, to my personal knowledge, only upgrades when strictly necessary.

The idea is quite simple. Because CX does not believe(I guess) that it is their duty to provide so called "upgrade certificate" for simply flying frequently. Their stance is "if you want to travel first class, buy first class tickets".

Besides, when you start issuing all those "certificates" like many third world carriers , it becomes difficult to police their use.

In my view, CX provide sufficient perks for Diamond members even without such certificates. And, I would disagree that they do not have orderly upgrade hierarchy system in place.

Sq345 mentioned silver member with B/N 001 gets upgrade prior to Diamond with B/N 002. I strongly do not think so. There have been many discussion before, and CX would upgrade those Diamond => Gold => Emerald (or silver).. or whatever order that has been pre-determined.

So, if you DO want to take advantage of their system, the idea is simple. JUST FLY ON FULL FLIGHT as a diamond member, and you'd probably get the upgrade. If the flight is not full, then so what? You've just paid for the class you travel.

NO he didn't, you misread.

As for our poster -- who is presumably American as that is the only country in the world were people expect to be upgraded constantly after having earned their status on dirt-cheap mileage runs -- could it be that he is simply a Gold member (of which there are a few around) and thus never had the pleasure of an upgrade? Or has he been travelling a lot on flights that weren't full, and thus missed out on his so deemed 'privilege'?

I for one am glad that Cathay refrains from upgrading people too frequently.

I agree about excessive upgrading being bad for morale.
But with CX I see teenagers boarding a near full plane then being guided to business class when I as a CX Diamond member sit in economy. This is why rules are necessary to make the system function. I fly every second week tracking around East Asia. So I limit higher class bookings for very special events otherwise my US$25-30K annual ticket bill would become uncontrollable.

So why not a bit of order to reward the very loyal? I am not suggesting the N American upgrade on all flights, just say 2 long haul and two less than 1500 mile flight coupons as a means to bring some motivation to the CX FF system

I see that TG has upgrade coupons, so I think there is a demand for this reward in Asia too. Thai Gold annually gets one round-trip complimentary upgrade to the next class of service using a paid ticket.

Gold Member, if the upgrade certificates are bothering you so much, then write to CX about it and raise your concerns. I am sure they will listen to you as you a Diamond member after all.

I will still take the CX stance and say that if you want to fly J class then pay J class or use your Asia Miles to upgrade from Y to J class. It's simple and easy.

Good advice if you ask me

On the statement

"But with CX I see teenagers boarding a near full plane then being guided to business class when I as a CX Diamond member sit in economy. "

I would like to say that many of those "teenagers" you mentioned actually purchased a business class fare. Many "well-off" families get business or even first class tickets for their kids - my friend is a check-in agent who tell me this. If they are being graded, either he/she or their parents (if they travel together) also hold a high status in Marco Polo.

As I know, on a full flight, CX upgrade policy is always going from the top to bottom of the elite tier in Marco Polo and OneWorld. Afterall, upgrade certificate is not a bonus to elite members for most Asian Airlines.

I'm flying F soon, and can't wait!

back in 2000, me and my dad was holding a c class ticket from mnl - lax and we were not even a member of marco polo or any world perks membership, both of us got upgraded to first in hkg- lax sector. the funny thing is we got our upgraded boarding pass in manila. our manila- hkg on c class anf hkg- lax on first.

A year ago or so I was upgraded from HK to AMS along with a bunch of backpackers (all of us under 25 although I was on business myself). I and the girl sitting next to me were not CX FF members at all (I was Oneworld though). There were about 6 of us and I would have been surprised if anyone had any CX status. 't was a great experience and even though I'm Staralliance gold if anything happened to upset me I'd consider moving to CX, so I guess there is some potential advantage.
Having said that, it was pretty random and if I were 'Gold Member' I would have been upset.

Just got upgraded from J to F. Sitting in YVR lounge drinking vino and giggling like a school girl. Apparently 889 is oversold (I had 86A) so the lady was looking for suitable candidates to move to the first flight 829 and upgrade. Standing in line she looked me up and down, approached , and offered. I guess I looked suitable! No mention of Status or mileage club. She was doing it by class ie Y>J, J>F and how the individual was dressed, (or perhaps acted).

well, all said and done ... if you want J pay J etc.

Let's assume however, Gold Member, who is actually Diamond as he says , is right and has suffered amongst the unwashed whilst some high school brat got op-upped, then he has a valid point.

Many many years ago, I was still a student and flew HKG-JFK rtn on Cathay (my first ever long-haul Cathay flight. I signed up for MPC two weeks before. On the way back, the 2 of us travellig got upgraded to J, and the friendly soul at JFK bluntly said to me Cathay hoped that this gesture would entice me to fly with them more often. I have been a CX FF ever since, spending anything between 10'000 and 20'000 euros a year on mostly J travel since. So, Gold Member, the point is that upgrading the unwashed brats creates future revenues, while as for you --- they already caught you in their marketing net. Now the balance between pleasing your existing elites and creating new ones is obviously a delicate one.

If Gold Member is indeed Diamond as he says he is, he should know that CX will consider him ahead of everyone else when flights are full. The computer automatically sweeps the days' overbooked flights for suitable elite members and upgrades them accordingly. There is no way someone else without status gets put up front ahead of you, unless you're on an award issued by Asiamiles or another airline partner. Then , maybe.