Seat selection for OW members
 

Hello,
Is someone here familiar with the rules for seat selection with CX?
I am BA Gold (or silver depending of the year) and on a BA or IB flight I would be able to select a seat for everyone on my booking.

Is this the same with CX or only for those with status?

On a recent booking I got the following:
- If I entered the OW status of my partner and I, I could select any seat in economy (including front row) (One of us Saphire, the other Emerald)
- But if I only entered mine and not hers, not only was I not able to select a seat for free, the front row was not even available to be booked (even paying)

I would like to travel with my sisters that have no status but it feels like then we won't be able to select a seat at all!
(this is all for cheapest Economy fare - as thanks to status I get most benefits like luggage, seat selection, etc.-)

Thanks!

(Sorry double posting)

No, you select for yourself only - unless all of them have status (or your are a CX Elite).
Select the seats for your companions when the check in opens, or pay to select seats now.

Thanks.

strange thing was that if only one person on the group has no status then none of us can select the bulkhead rows.

For instance if two of us:
- both have status: all seats in economy wide open for section. Including first row
- one has no status: first rows are unavailable to both of us to select (no option even to pay for them)

So only way is to:
- for me with status to buy cheapest ticket and select any seat I want
- for other passenger(s) without status to do another booking and select a tariff that allows seat selection for an extra fee!

When check-in opens, will my companion (just a OW Ruby) be able to select any seat that is available for free, or will they still have to pay for front row/etc? In other words, does it make sense for me as OWS to select an exit row, and then cross my fingers and wait for check-in to add my companion?

The CX website is quite clear on eligibility: https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...your-seat.html. Companions only have free seat selection only when in the same PNR as a CX élite member, and this is applicable only to regular seats. For oneworld élites, free seat selection is not extended to companions. For extra legroom and preferred seats, even companions of CX élite members do not enjoy free selection. Preferred and regular seats become free once online check-in opens, but not extra legroom seats.

Note Ruby and SL members can no longer select extra legroom seats for free. This used to be the case but not anymore.

I suppose the website was not well set up to handle the case when 1 person in the PNR has oneworld élite status but others do not. The Sapphire or Emerald member himself should be allowed to select any seat for free. I guess you could call CX to arrange the seat selection for yourself and payment for others.

CX doesnt recognise my status, it says "oneworld Sapphire members or above can enjoy complimentary seat selection in advance." even when im OWE.
Selecting seats adds xxx HKD to total. Is there workaround, MH/RJ/AY site?

Didnt have this problem last time booking with CX (years ago).

Could be that the CX website is currently bugging.
But I never had that problem as BAEC OWE or OWS.
Could be a temporary bug, or that you did not correctly enter your FFP number.

I've also noticed the CX website not recognising my OWE status all of a sudden, across multiple bookings.

QF website also failing to recognise it... not sure if that's related.

I would call CX to confirm they can see your status. If your status is with AY (or any oneworld airline other than AA and AS), it should not be a problem.

I have the same problem as above as I am BA Gold and my partner is Bronze. I currently have bulk head/exit seats and he is further back in standard seats.

Will I be able to move him next to me in a bulk head seat at check in or will that not be possible?

We definitely want to sit together so if this won’t be an option at check in I’ll discard my current bulk head seats and grab standard seats together for both of us…

Yes, you can pay for his seat selection to move him up now.
Even online check in opens up, you still need to pay for his exit row/extra leg room seats.

Just booked two CX award Y flights with BAEC. CX recognises my sapphire status, still I could not select those front row seats. In the end I chose two exit row seats😂

I have a Avios-issued ticket for CX HKG-SGN Y and still hanging onto my JL OWS.
I had to call into BA to change my FQTS. On the day of issue I had to then call into CX to do my seat selection (row 45, based on EF, see below).

I can do it online now, but only exit row.
I called in, and I was given the choice of exit row, front row (row 39 on a 33P) or any row in between (I picked row 40).

Side note: EF still shows all rows 39 to 44 as blocked. This is confusing as.

I've got an interesting one. Made a booking for a friend (BA Gold/OWE) and her child via Finnair with the final outbound leg HGK-BNE in economy. On CX website, says seat selection possible only at airport. Seat map looks mental with nearly half the cabin blocked out, but even then, there are plenty of unblocked seats. Tried RJ, MH, etc. No luck. Finally tried the chat via website and they said that because it's a codeshare (AY flight number in this case), seat selection is not possible until airport. From experiences above, seems that there is some weirdness when one person is OWE and the other has no status, but the idea that it being a codeshare is the sticking point seems like BS. Any ideas for a work around?