^ ^ ^
Great advocacy

well the new booking engine is up and running. looks different, but it`s still very very basic. reward booking has improved though.

Bringing up the subject again after much hassle with the CX IT dep't. Vent vent. CX seems to is completely ignorant of most of the problems with their booking web. I tried to take advantage of an ex UK fare which involves a stoppover in HKG, and is, like all such itineraries, unbookable with the new engines (pls. speak out if you had success). No matter what dates or connections, I always get the error message "Not all flights have seats available for the price option you have selected". When splitting the itinerary it works fine, but costs double, of course. CX sent me an email, saying that online booking was working fine and that "if you are unable to book the intineary in one go, we suggest making two bookings. You can then call our service center to make the necessary changes". Are they plain mad?
(That's more or less the same answer I got last February when I told them I could not book BKK-HKG-LHR-MUC rtn. They told me to book two single trips instead.) What on earth is wrong with these people, are they outsourced (or should they be?). Vent over.

Also, it dosen't seem to have the ability to book itineraries when BOTH stopovers and mixed classes of services are involved. (If you try to book ICN-HKG-SYD, and select First Class and stopover in HKG, the screen showing the flights ICN-HKG would have 'n/a' beside each flight option [since they are two class flights] instead of suggesting you book in business class for that sector instead)

There is also the lack of ability to book "A" and "D" class fares when in fact they are available (I am talking about PUBLISHED fares [In some markets such as JFK-HKG-TPE there are D published fares. Note: these are bookable using CX's North American website, but cannot be e-ticketed] and NOT Net fares). It just assumes that if you want a first class or business class ticket that you want it in either F or J class. [This is where British Airways's online booking site is better than CX's, the ability to select "First (lowest)", "First (flexible)", "Club World (lowest)", and "Club World (flexible)"].

On top of the bad booking engine, CX also seems to have some serious security issues: a couple of minutes ago when I checked in for tomorrows flight on line, upon clicking on the "Check-in" button, a new page opened, displaying a different flight, a different date, and A DIFFERENT USER. I completed check in and was returned to the home page of that different user. I am now checked in a TPE-HKG segment as Mr. CH** Y*** H**.


CX IT is starting to scare me.

Online checkin now requires you to input your date of birth, passport number and expiry date. Whats the need for this additional information? Previously, if you checked-in online and collected tickets from a machine (i.e. bypass the counters), they'd still check your pasport at the gate.

The more annoying part is, all that info is in my MPC profile! They could easily link it up.

You mean for any flight including non-U.S.-bound/originating services?

U.S.-bound/originating flights have long required those birthdate/passport number and expiry date as well as the name and phone number of an emergency contact.

Yep, this is for a flight from HKG to ICN.

I just did online checkin for HKG-SIN. I was not asked for those passport data.

I'll have another intra-Asia sector for check-in soon. Let's see how it works out.

I have never been asked for passport details on any flights other than US bound.

Just checked in for my return leg - this time it didn't ask for the passport details. Maybe it was just a one-off quirk for the HKG-ICN leg since my colleague also got asked for his passport details for that same leg.