Upgrade on AA code / CX metal?
 

One thing special about Asiamiles is its ability to upgrade not only on CX, but also on AA and some other airlines. My question is: can you use Asiamiles to upgrade a AA coded / CX operated flight? I understand that codeshares are usually not upgradeable, but both CX and AA are covered under the Asiamiles upgrade chart.

Why would you want to upgrade on AA/CX operated ? You just upgrade directly on CX flight number on CX metal because the award codes will be based on CX's availability, and not AA. You can upgrade on AA flights on AA metal.

It seems like a valid question... it may be that in order to get miles (in whatever scheme) on the underlying ticket it is necessary to use the AA code.

(Example: if the underlying ticket is booked in, say, N class using the AA code then it earns 100% mileage credit on AAdvantage, but booked in N on CX it wouldn't earn miles in AAdvantage or AsiaMiles.)

I don't know the answer to the question though, sorry. However, I suspect that CX's answer might be that if the underlying fare isn't in itself eligible for AsiaMiles then it is not possible to upgrade. That is certainly the case for CX-coded flights.

Miles needed for upgrade?
 

How many miles are needed to do a one-way (Econ to Business) upgrade on CX? I'm flying YYZ-HKG-PVG next month and would like to upgrade the outbound portion.

Also, are there restrictions on what fare class you need to be in? (I think I'm booked in V.)

Thanks in advance,

musiclover

The Award charts are here:

http://www.asiamiles.com/am/1,,83101_82761_eng,00.html

To upgrade on CX (YYZ-HKG, 7810 miles) you need 40,000 miles for a one-way upgrade (or 70,000 for a round trip). On CX you can upgrade from any fare which is itself mileage-accruing. Since earlier this month V was mileage accruing (the full current list is YBHKLMV).

To upgrade on the HKG-PVG depends on who you are flying. One-way award upgrades are available on China Eastern, but not on Dragonair. On MU the cost would be 15,000 AsiaMiles. I'm not sure what the requirements are for the underlying fare on MU. From 1 May the mileage earning classes on MU are YK (100%), BEHL (50%).

A round-trip upgrade HKG-PVG-HKG on MU or KA would be 25,000 miles.

Thanks, christep. I don't really care about the HKG-PVG segment, it's the YYZ-HKG that matters to me. 40,000 miles isn't cheap, but still might be worthwhile given the length of the trip. My only challenge now is coming up with the miles (since I don't actually collect Asia miles). Some relatives of mine fly CX often, maybe I can get them to gift me the miles. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to see if anyone on FT wants to swap some Asia miles for miles in another FF program...

ml