Thank you.
I'm glad you removed MY post as I had come down to the level of my antagoniser instead of ignoring him.
I apologise to the rest of you for my part in the unpleasantness.

Thank you for your comments, mise. We do want you to continue posting here.. Sometimes people can get heated up over small issues..and its nice to put a little humor instead of getting aggrevated.

And oh yes, welcome to FlyerTalk !

Hi Guy Betsy,
I have had helpful messages from folks so I have decided to take advice offered and write to the CEO. I think this is good advice.

Well contrary to Guy Betsy's gloom and doom. Cathay was very helpful and reasonable. They agreed to seat was broken and they are providing two one way upgrades (as they should). Gee... guess Cigarman wasn't a moron after all...
Maybe next time someone posts in this forum, one or two people might remmber this incident with how you flamed me for asking for reasonable compensation. The proof is in the pudding. Both Cathay and I agree. The only person out of step he are those one or two unhelpful people in this forum to newbees. Treat new posters the way you would treat houseguests... then they might come back.

So in fact we could have curtailed the thread at the second post, which seems to have been pretty accurate...

Well really the problem with the original post was the tone and approach of the post. The OP really came across as a gold-digger, rather than as someone with a genuine complaint. It's not the only post that the OP has posted on these boards that has come across that way.

I think that cathay oversold j and had to put them in first. Its out of the op's control in regards to the seat malfunction. I think that expectations of customer service is different amongst cultures.

Cigarman, Glad that things worked out well for you!

Agree 100% - the chair was a definite issue - the other two were laughable - thus the scorn.

But the comments about newbies are true - maybe some of the Long Timers should just ignore rather than post caustic responses - if for no other reason so the owners of this board can keep growing it.

What should one ask to be compensated for if a special meal is ordered but not loaded on the aircraft.

On a flt JFK-HKG I requested a kosher meal (even though I am not Jewish) at the time of booking. As fate would have it, I ended up in the far end of coach. All of the first and biz class seats were either sold or upgraded by people with a higher standing than myself. So, no upgrade for me. Since I was deep in coach, by the time the food service cart arrived at my isle, all of the good meals had been taken. All that was left was some nasty chicken fat like meat and probably the worst rice ball I have ever tasted and IMHO it was not edible. I queried on of the f/as and of course I was informed they had no record of my request and had no more meals left.

So, what do you think I should ask for and what do you think I will really get?

I believe the airline is not liable for not fulfilling a meal request. So there is not much that can be done. You can file a complaint, but I am not sure whether anything will happen.

Side notes:
* JFK-HKG - Upgrades (mileage/op-ups) are very difficult to come by. Also, chance of upgrade on x-HKG is better than on x-JFK.
* Special meals should be requested at least 24 hours ahead.
* Special meals pretty much disqualify a passenger from an op-up.

It is hard to say whether the FAs will start serving from the front or the back. I often skip meals on airlines (because airline food is only so-so) and have snacks instead. Hope you have better luck next time.

What I think you should ask for: The CEO's resignation and one millon Asiamiles in compensation (or else.... you will sue them!)

You know what we do when we get consumer complaints? We always read them out over lunch... some (in fact prehaps most) are really hilarious! What a great way to lighten up!

Just for interest - why did you order a Kosher meal?

Simple answer. I find the Kosher meals a better than the other meals that are served. So far anyway