jagmeets

Good Luck! Just be firm, yet polite and they should reinstate, unless the flight is being cancelled and they’re working through reservations gradually.
JOC, how do you know that the original flight was oversold by 1?

C-FMWQ

Thats helpful and makes me feel better! Thank you! So I was on one of the YVR flights with service reductions and I knew my flight from YVR-HKG was going to cancel so I looked at my options and noticed the KA flight I’m on wasn’t listed in business. Looking at availability it was zeroed out in business class so I called CX to try and see if they would move to the flights I wanted (earlier YVR-HKG and same HKG-HAN) but the agent muttered that the something about business class being -1. I don’t know for certain if that means it’s oversold though. Ironically, the reason I called in was so that this wouldn’t happen since I had a gut feeling it would. Funny enough, the day after I called they cancelled my flight in the system and I was rebooked onto the flights I wanted and I confirmed that on the CX website. I was actually really happy with how it all just worked out...until Monday morning .

A bit of an update. I called the US number this morning and the agent was pretty sympathetic but sounded like she didn’t have much power to fix it because there were no seats available. FWIW I got them to link me and my buddies ticket, something I should’ve done when we originally booked the tickets. She said they would have to ask Hong Kong to place me back onto the original flight. My fear here is Hong Kong knows this is a mistake fare and will tell me to pound sand. FWIW the morning flight I’m on looks full at the moment too so I don’t think they can even get my friend onto it. It sorta sounded like they would place me on standby for the flight so I’m hoping they’ll be able to get back to me in the morning. Otherwise, what would my options be if they refuse to put me back on the flight I booked? There is a VN flight 3 hours before which I would be ok with taking as a last resort so long as they move my friend onto that flight for free. Otherwise is standing firm calling this an IDB the best bet here (seeing as they confirmed the move without consulting me)?

Thanks

Iain nz

Was just checking my booking for 08 December and noticed CX has cancelled my HKG to JFK in first and rebooked me in business from HKG to EWR. Called and they have changed me to another JFK flight the same day but will only confirm Business class, and waitlist for F, not the F I paid for. What are the chances of the waitlist clearing, and if not should I be getting some compensation or refund for the downgrade?

QRC3288

Bizarre. Why are you on the waitlist if you paid for F? I don't think I've ever had that happen to me once!

Is it maybe an A to F upfare issue? And A isn't available?

I still don't think I've ever encountered this situation, and I've bought my fair share of CX F tickets. Where they just shove me over to J class and then tell me to pound salt.

Update immediately after: I will let my ignorance stand above. But now I know why. I forgot what thread I was posting in.

It is almost 100pct guaranteed due to the fact you're on a Vietnam mistake A fare. CX has completely changed inventory ex-Vietnam to deal with you folks it seems. So A fare availability ex-HKG or other places can be wide open but ex-Vietnam Point of Sale is often 0. I'm pretty sure this is why you're in trouble. They don't have to open up a seat for you if A share ex-Vietnam point of sale isn't available on the flight you want. And the fare difference very well could mean you owe CX money not the other way around.

Others might have a better idea or more optimistic way of thinking about it. I'm not totally sure but read above, the point of sale issue is definitely your problem here.

My experience which I was initially referring to is about "normal" A fare, which CX in my experience is normally very flexible and liberal with. But ex Vietnam this year is a different story due to the mistake fare.

jagmeets

Don’t have any skin in the game for these fares, besides general interest (well, that, and anguish at what these did to upgrade availability!).

Do think that CX will reaccomodate in F, irrespective of VN PoS availability. They could have effectively cancelled all the mistake tickets by pulling off a stunt like this beginning of the year- renumbering the flights/tweaking schedules etc, to trigger en-Masse rebookings and cried ‘sorry, no A availability for your PoS’- but, they didn’t.

suspect that what the poster above experienced was a general /algorithmic rebooking (‘no A available, rebook next lower available fareclass’), and manual intervention by someone suitably higher up in the booking chain, with insistence on class of service booked, will resolve things.

Shareholder

As I posted on the Mileage Run discussion thread, my F flight (the 0:45a JFK-HKG) was cancelled and on Saturday I received an email notice that I hd been moved onto the 8:435p flight via YVR in F. Then yesterday received another email indicating I had been downgraded on that flight to J. Called CX and the supervisor converted one of the two open F class seats into an A class and I was put back in F. This had been my third sked change, two previous ones with the HKG-DAD flight times, also managed to rebook workable dates though required spending an extra day in Danang. Sked change meant I'd miss my onward VN flight to SIN (via SGN) for which I had left a 5-hour cushion for late arrival. Now must deal with that 40-minute connection at HKG onto my DAD flight!

Iain nz

@grc3288. Thanks. I get the point of origin and point of sale issue with A class issues and have followed this thread. Its not a matter of them not confirming a flight I want to be on, I wanted to be on the flight I was booked and confirmed into First class on, which the airline has decided to cancel. If it was the other way around and I had asked Cathay to change my booking from a flight in first to a flight in Business and to Newark instead of JFK, I would have been asked for a change fee, a difference in fare etc and etc. I never asked CX to undercharge for tickets out of Vietnam, They offered the fare and took my money. Then 2 days later confirmed it was a genuine booking. They then can't 9 months later after allowing countless people to travel on this fare just cancel my flight and downgrade me, and then claim they don't have seats in first class, just because they are hoping someone will pay more money for them. In my opinion.

brunos

I assume that you are connecting in HKG from VN. Which flight are you booked on from VN?

Cancellations 3 months ahead do happen and POS availability is what it is.
With so few F seats, It is hard to predict if waitlist will clear.
If F does not get full on your flight, your waitlist will clear. Hard to know what priority they will give to you, but I assume that you will be before awards (including upgrade with miles).
I doubt that you will get much financial compensation if in J.
IMO, you should call again and talk to some supervisor.and try to get them to open a seat.
You have not started your trip yet, so CX could simply volunteer to refund you if you are not happy.

Iain nz

To update, I called again and was told again that there was no availability in first, I politely but firmly said that there is availability as I can still make a new booking onto the flight, and that I understood that it might not be in the same fare class, but that I still felt it was unfair. I was put on hold for about 9 minutes and when she returned she told me I have been rebooked into first on the same flight. Can't ask for more than that really. I have worked for three different airlines over 20 years in both reservations and operations so I understand these things happen, and have had the pleasure of travelling premium on both staff travel and as a paid passenger. I am incredibly grateful that I was able to take advantage of this fare, and that Cathay Honoured it. I just know that when a flight is cancelled through no fault of the passenger then the passenger should be re-accommodated fairly.

QRC3288

glad it worked out. it looks like jagmeets was on the ball with the prediction

GoldPremier

I would like the board to comment on my situation. I flew the inbound flight already and my flight to Vietnam from JFK scheduled for late October was cancelled. I was moved to Business out of EWR flying the same day. I was supposed to arrive to JFK 2.5 hrs before the HKG-bound flight take-off and definitely would be unable to make the JFK to EWR hop barring NYC traffic and any plane delays, say nothing about the downgrade to Business.

I called Cathay whether I can fly out of Toronto/Boston/Chicago instead of EWR a month later. I spoke with a very nice agent who checked all the options and told me that there should available tickets in the A bucket and we found a date that would work for me. However, since we are changing the routing, now this is up to the head office in HKG to decide how much do I need to pay extra in change fees. I asked the agent to check the availability out of JFK in First and there is none a week before and a week after for my dates, thanks to all of you ;-)

What are my options when the big wigs in HKG come back with $$$$ in change fees or tell me to go in Business out of EWR? The agent was referring to this change as a voluntary but I see it as involuntary as they cancelled the original flight from JFK and there are no options in the same class out of JFK for the dates that work for me.

What should I do?

jagmeets

Like the poster just above- you should be able to get a flight from JFK in First. Doesn’t need to be in A class..

moondog

Since "late October" is still a month away, you seemingly have ample time to figure out how to get yourself to EWR, no?

golfingboy

The OP, if I understood correctly, has a ticket booked to fly into JFK arriving 2.5 hours on an entirely separate ticket before the CX flight to HKG. The OP has already flew Vietnam to JFK (the inbound flight the OP is referring).

In reading between the lines the OP booked on the 1:35am flight out of JFK (that was recently cut from daily to 4x week) and was rebooked onto the 1:55am flight out of EWR. 2.5 hours is not really enough time to transit from JFK to EWR.

With that said - All nonstop JFK-HKG flights on 10/29, 10/30, and 10/31 has at least F1 so I would push CX to rebook the OP on a JFK-HKG flight of your choice since this schedule change is on CX’s end not yours regardless of the fact this was booked on a mistake fare.

danam

I also got a change, with JFK-HKG in F changed to EWR-HKG in J. It seems an automated choice based on NYC and nearest timing (15 mins later).

Called and was moved to JFK-HKG in F later in the day. It showed me as waitlisted for a few minutes, but was soon confirmed and new seats selectable.

I guess I was lucky with availability.