Paying to upgrade to first?
 

We have an I class ticket TPE-SYD. If there are seats available (MAR01 CX111), is it possible to pay for an upgrade to First, just for the HKG-SYD sector? We are both AAPlat, but I understand that there is little chance of an upgrade, let alone for two of us!

What would it cost for 2 upgrades, HKG-SYD, or HKG-MEL (we may change to CX135)?

CX often discounts Business class fares but rarely discounts First class. There is no paid upgrade into F program at the airport other than paying for fare difference which you could find out by calling CX reservation.

CX would calculate the cost difference between the I class fare and the full J fare.. and then the difference between that and the full F class fare.

Basically if you want to be sure that you get to sit in F, you have to pay or upgrade using Asiamiles to sit in F.

That seems too convoluted even for an airline. I would have to see the fare rules on that specific fare basis, but I would guess that even the rate desk would just figure the difference between I and F.

I called CX, and they told me that we can't just buy an F fare for the sector- we would have to upgrade the entire trip to F :(

We just wanted to have F for one of the sectors, so my wife could try CX F. I've used it before, and we've both used SQ F a couple of times.

Upgrading the whole trip makes it too expensive at this time- 3x more each, so I'll wait until I'm in HKG, and ask at the lounge or the transfer desk. If the quote is too much, then we'll just have to suffer in business class :D

Upg - F
 

johnkennet,

At "The Wing" the CX J/F lounge opposite Gate 2, the staff will simply calculate an I-F UPG, and charge you for it by sector. I've done it many times from D-F.

Thanks
MM

Well, yes.. it's a simple way of calculating between I and F!

But remember, many cities don't offer the I class fare as it is unpublished.

We are willing pay to upgrade, if the difference is not that great, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what they say at the lounge in HKG. The ticket is a TPExHKG-SYD routing, so can the lounge in HKG work out an upgrade charge for the HKG-SYD sector, given that it won't have been ticketed in HKG, and that one sector will have been travelled?

CX would need to break the fare into TPE-HKG and HKG-SYD to calculate fare difference. It will end up being more expensive to upgrade one sector only. It may not sound logical but that's how the airfare system is set up. :(

It will be more than your original I fare, of that much we can be fairly certain (and that is for a single sector upgrade to F, double that if you want to also upgrade the return).

To give you a rough idea of fares...

Full F class oneway fare between TPE and SYD via HKG = US$1694
Full F class oneway fare between HKG and SYD = US$2706

So if you paid say, US$1650 for your TPE-SYD return in "I" class, and IF HKG says that it's ok for you to upgrade.. then you'd end up paying around US$1880 just for the oneway upgrade from HKG! That's enough for another ticket from TPE!

That is why fares are CHEAPER ex-other places than HKG on CX!

If you really, really want to fly F class, then maybe you might have to buy a discounted F class fare from TPE.. it may cost you less for a return in F than it is for you to upgrade one sector. Generally you cannot combine an "I" class discounted Business with a discounted F class fare.

Thanks for all of the replies. Great to get this information before I fly! I'll call CX in TPE and see if there are any discounted First tickets to SYD or MEL- Are they in A class on CX? The F class fare TPE-SYD return is less than the J class fare ICN-SYD return, which is something to keep in mind for our next trip...Even when adding in the price of the ICN-TPE flights, it is a good deal to buy longhaul ex TPE rather than ICN

ex-TPE fares used to be the lowest in the world and while they have gone up they are still quite cheap. But not convenient for someone who never goes to TPE (I've never managed to use them). Also requires a good chinese TA for the best fares.

Yes, discounted First class are booked in A for CX. As I mentioned in post #2, CX rarely discounts First. Unlike I fares, A fares are only available from TPE during short term seasonal sales. They usually come with loads of restrictions such as limited window of departure, min/max stay, limited validity, limited desinations, fee for change/refund etc. I don't know if there are A fares to SYD or MEL now.

I can confirm that CX does not offer discount F Class to SYD from TPE.