ernestnywang

Below is a summary of the information CX recently distributed to travel agents.

There will be 3 categories of Y fares: Light, Essential, and Flex.
Light fare - 1 bag of 23kg
Essential fare - 2 bags of 23kg each and free standard seat selection. AM upgrade permitted.
Flex fare - All the above + free extra legroom seat selection, no penalty for flight changes, and free standby for earlier flights at the airport.

Refund and change fees are differentiated, with Light fare tickets having the highest fees. There will still be a refund penalty for Flex fare tickets, but it will be lower than those of Essential fare.

The MPO benefit of free advanced seat reservation will stay the same. All tickets will have a bag allowance using the "piece concept." It is unclear how the extra bag benefit will change for SL members, since SL members currently only get 10kg extra on "weight concept" itineraries and none on "piece concept" ones.

W cabin tickets will have a bag allowance of 2 pieces of 23kg each in the future, the same as Y (except Light). There will be a slight reduction on the allowance for W cabin tickets to North America, since the current allowance is 2 pieces of 25kg each.

J and F cabin tickets will have a bag allowance of 2 pieces of 32kg each in the future, except HKG-AKL/CHC and v. v. tickets will have 3 pieces of 23kg each.

For W, Standard fare will be renamed as Essential fare. For J, Standard will also become Essential, while Save will become Light.

CX HK

1 bag of 23kg even for long haul... this definitely will be an issue.

shd9

The new economy fares sound okay to me - they are essentially just taking away a free bag from SNQO fares and giving Y (maybe B and H as well?) fares free extra legroom seats. Y fares on CX are so ridiculously high that I think pax deserve free extra legroom seats. All other policies are essentially the same as the status quo

garykung

Not sure that apply to the N. American market. But it seems it is a match to AA.

ernestnywang

Based on info I received, it applies to all routes. AKL/CHC is the only exception due to CX's JV with NZ, as noted in my original post.

ernestnywang

To me, the problem of "piece concept" is I cannot have a bag over 23kg when I take Y or W. I sometimes carry 28kg in a suitcase, for example.

tentseller

Same for me. I have a Hardcase of my business essentials which "dieted" down to 24.5kg which is the "tolerance".

alamah

It looks strange. Now many airlines in this part of the world use 23 kg (50 lbs) as the limit unless it's for long haul flight. It's usually 20, 25 or 30 kg.

tentseller

Americanization?

CX HK

From the SCMP: "Cathay has not yet set a formal date for when the changes will take effect, but the shake-up will impact most flights worldwide, with only New Zealand and the Americas, which operate on a different baggage allowance system, to be excluded."

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...gtype=homepage

djsflynn

Now made official at https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...omy-fares.html

peasant

true, but it is easy for a self check machine to deal with. Weight concept is harder to automate, or needs human intervention

feh

Previously I'd fly with one bag of 20-30kg (as at present; weight can vary depending on how many snacks I fly with outbound/ how many printouts (work) or crap (tourism) I fly back with

But from now on, looks like I'll need to bring a second suitcase just to not fall foul of the weight limit per piece

percysmith

Or get one of those Longchamp bags to overflow shopping in.

ernestnywang

Indeed, I also think my biggest problem in the future is I can't pack a bag over 23kg anymore.

On another note, the MPO benefits page for SL has been updated. Now it says SLs will always be eligible for 2 bags. Aside from the inability to pack a bag over 23kg, there's no loss for SLs I believe. See https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...-benefits.html