Sky Dreamer

How do you all deal with the reservations line of CX?!!! Yes, lots of airlines have ridiculous hold times because of COVID. CX is the only one where not only did I have long hold times but it seems that the agents had no idea how to help me! I was doing a pretty simple booking from LAX-HKG-BKK-CNX. The website wouldn't let me book a Bangkok Airways flight to CNX on their website. I called in twice, and they stated it wasn't possible. I told them it was and that Bangkok Airways was a partner and I had a CX codeshare number. Both agents stated no they couldn't do it. I finally booked the ticket on the website with the last leg to another city in Thailand via Bangkok Airways. Then I called in to change that leg to CNX. Spoke to first agent, after 1 hour, stated he would call me back- never called me back. Called again, after being on hold an hour, they put me on hold again- 40 minutes later the agent comes back and says the change is possible. It took four calls to make it happen. I asked about the CNX issue they stated there was "glitch". Ok.

After I booked in Y+, I decided I want to upgrade to business class. The fare difference should have been an additional $2,000 extra. When I called in the first time after a long hold- phone call got disconnected and no callback from the agent. I called in a second time and got a quote for $7,000. Called a third time (all of these calls have long holds like an hour or more) I got a $10,000 quote to upgrade the fare even though purchasing a brand new fare from scratch was about $4,000! I called three times and never got the $4,000 fare. I thought about booking a new fare but with the CNX leg fiasco, I just decided to just stay in Y+. It's crazy because I want to give CX more of my money but they are making it waaaay too hard for me. This is the first time I'm dealing with CX customer service- are they always this bad??? I was expecting a lot more. I hope that nothing changes with my flights as I will 100% dread if I have to call in again.

freed0m

You should book through travel agents. They are more capable for complicate tickets like this.

I doubt that CX has a lot of agents who can comprehend all the ticketing rules.

Sky Dreamer

Yes I did- but the prices they quoted were $150 per person plus a $60 ticketing fee. So it would have been an extra $420 via a travel agent for two people.

Also I was concerned that if I did it through a travel agent I won't be able to change the ticket with no charge like I can directly with CX.

freed0m

How about online travel agent like priceline? I knew priceline can create very complicate ticket online.

Will you book directly with CX next time? I am genuinely curious.

garykung

Yes. Move on.

cmiller11101

Did you call Hong Kong call center? They can definitely handle a booking like this and indeed yes, it is possible. If you're calling the US number, yeah man, forget it. The global call center in the Philippines is clueless. Always call Hong Kong.

But maybe also calm down a little bit. Jesus. If you're traveling next month, maybe we will be on the same flights lol... safe travels!

-Chris

Sky Dreamer

I actually found out the routing was possible doing a Kayak search. I needed to do a different fare class Y instead of Y+ for the last legs so it wasn't possible to book that via Kayak. My concerns are booking through an OTA is 1) getting credit for my frequent flier miles 2) making changes/getting rerouted with cancellations CX will redirect you to the OTA which can be a hassle and 3) ensuring I get Cathay's free rebooking policy I wasn't sure if I was guarantee all three if I went via an OTA.

Would I book again? In the past I really liked CX's services so I want to give them another chance- we will see how the service for the flight goes but I'm not expecting much. I would want to book again JAL at this point. However for AS mile earnings JAL is pretty sad only giving 50% for Y+ where CX gives 100% so if I need to do another vacation/mileage run- to Southeast Asia CX seems to be my only choice. I will probably fly them again but only using an AS Award ticket for biz class.

Sky Dreamer

Thanks- can you tell me what the Hong Kong Center number is and at what hours can I call being in the US?

Also, I understand that you are trying to help but just Google "telling a person to calm down" and check out the first few articles. The consensus is that saying this to someone actually makes the situation worse as it invalidates their feelings and shows a lack of empathy for a person's situation. It just makes the person more upset. Life tip- in the future, I would suggest not saying this to people in your life as it actually has the opposite effect of what you are intending.

So no, I don't "need" to calm down. I put [Rant] in the title for a reason so people would know what to expect. I had a bad customer experience and wanted to vent. I have a right to be upset and my emotion of feeling anger is a valid one.

I wish you safe travels as well.

cmiller11101

Lol, sure: https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/contact-us.html

Right. Yep. Well, okay. Indeed, safe travels and best wishes on your journey.

-Chris

ernestnywang

As long as the booking subclass (reservation booking designator) qualifies, it doesn't matter whether you book direct or via OTA.

+852 2747 3333. I believe the line is open 24 hours. That being said, if it had limited hours, no one can tell you which hours you can call if you don't tell us which time zone in the US you are located in.

cmiller11101

Correct.

neofung

I wonder if Thailand allows domestic flights by the time you travel, as no domestic flights are allowed in August.
And LAX-HKG-BKK-CNX, involving 3 sectors and at least 2 carriers, is not as simple as you think.