One-way upgrade ripoff?
 

Around 6 weeks ago I requested upgrades from D to F for HKG-LHR return with the outbound being 11 August and the return 19 August. Last Wednesday (3 August) I was informed by CX that the HKG-LHR flight could be confirmed but the return was still waitlisted. I was told that I could either accept the confirmed one-way redemption for 40,000 miles or I could cancel the request completely and take pot luck by waiting to see if both sectors would come up before departure. They refused to confirm me on the outbound and maintain the waitlist on the return although I would have been quite happy to pay the 40,000 miles for the one-way if the return didn’t clear before departure. They would not budge on this so I agreed to accept the confirmed flight. On Saturday 6th, 3 days later, I checked my itinerary on line to find that the return was now confirmed. So, I’ve got a return upgrade but it’s cost me 80,000 miles, i.e. 2 x one-way upgrades rather than 70,000 for a return. At the time I agreed to accept the one-way, availability was showing as F4 A4 for the return and this was 3 days before they confirmed the return. As of today it’s still showing F4 A4 on all 3 flights so I can’t but believe that this was just a way of relieving me of an extra 10,000 points. Has anybody else had a similar experience and is this a new policy? I’ve certainly never encountered it before and I’ve been waitlisted up to the day before departure on occasions and picked up the upgrade voucher at the airport. I would have thought that, now it's all done electronically and vouchers are no longer required, they could be more flexible, not less.

Have you actually spoken to MPC since the second upgrade cleared? I'd be very surprised if they wouldn't simply combine them now...

In similar circumstance CX even call to tell me of reduced requirement, and never deduct two one-ways.

Call CX MPC and tell them. Then write back and say if they did it or not.

Have called them with absolutely no success. Their position is that I have redeemed 2 one-ways and they are sticking to it. I'll try writing to Customer Service. Thanks for your input, I'll be heading for the airport shortly (journey begins in AKL) and I'll report back with any further news when I get back from my trip.