Hi everyone,
Just like to share my recent upgrades with cx. Its been a month since reaching gold with cx and have been upgraded to first(from biz) twice in 1 month. Flown 6 times on cx this month and been upgraded twice the other 4 flights did not have first. Not bad at all.
On the other hand, I've been BA Gold for more than 5 years and have never been upgraded in any of their flights. CX to me wins hands down in rewarding frequent travellers with them.

I haven't been upgraded in months, though 80%-90% of the time in the last 6 months I have been flying in J with no F, or in F.

My last upgrade was mid-flight when I got to chatting with the ISM for longer than I normally do and she bumped me up to J for the remainder of the flight, even though I already had 3 seats to myself in Y. Nothing was wrong with my seat, I guess she just took pity on me...

The mid-flight op-up was a first for me.. apparently it's not too late for an op-up even after the doors are closed..

My gold upgrade record has also been fairly good - more than 50% of flights has resulted in an upgrade. Lots of Y-J and one J-F

I love it and it certainly keeps me loyal.

I suspect CX looks not just at absolute status but the 'velocity' with which you are spending with them. If you are flying J 6 times a month then you are giving them a lot of $$$ and hence getting pretty high on the upgrade pecking order.

Apart from MPC Tier Status, for sure the booking class does help: Y>B>H>K....

No, while CX does track revenue (for many reasons), booking class for the current trip does not matter.

I agree with that. In my experience the following make no difference to the op-up chance:

- booking class (including award classes - I've had many op-ups on award tickets)
- on-line check-in (or not)

These do:

- MPC status
- OW status
- travelling alone (or at least with no-one else on the same PNR)

And the key thing is: unless it is a special occasion op-up then the class you are booked in must be over-booked for you to get one, regardless of status (up to DM at least, not sure about DM+).

Special occasion op-ups seem to be considered:
- if you travel on your birthday
- on the first flight after renewing status (at least for Diamond, not sure for lower tiers)
- on passing a Club Mile threshold (e.g. 1M Club Miles)

I travelled last month on my 1st flight after renewing DM and I didnt get any op-up !

I'm not suggesting that it is autopmatic, just that it often seems (from reports here) to happen when there is no other reason for the op-up (i.e. the booked class is not full). Obviously if the class into which you would have been upgraded was full then it is not possible.

Just wondering if the chances of Op-up on the HKG<->KUL are high or not? Should i try my luck or just book an upgrade with Asiamiles?

It's a pretty short flight, and you would only get regional business class. So I wouldn't spend money/miles on upgrading to J class.

I am BA Gold (equivalent to AM DM) and been upgraded twice in F out of eight J segments (lowest D fare) in the past couple of years. I do fly on CX in F (so never in a position to be upgraded from J to F). But I have been upgraded (with my wife) on numerous occasions Y to J on regional CX flights. It appears that CX even keeps track of my revenues on CX (although I am not MPC) and does take my emerald status into account. So I am happy with my BA Gold which is easier to reach than the MPC DM status; I only need approx two longhaul RT in F.

from my recent experiences (some of which described here on FT before), I think they do often treat non-CX Emerald's even better than their own CX DM. so I'm keeping my DM really mostly so that I can use my miles...otherwise, in terms of service, I don't really see any too strong benefits of being DM vs. non-CX Emeralds...and that's also why once I reach DM every year, I start putting my miles to AAdv for the 100% bonus and lifetime status.

I really wouldnt agree with that because in the many years that I have been ba gold, almost 60% of my flights were on cx and I was never upgraded even once and all my flights were on either C or J on cx so from my experience I think mpc gold is far more valuable in terms of being upgraded than ba emerald. Then again i might be wrong.

Does it help to ask at check-in or gate if there is a op-up.
I got a free op-up once with my partner. Wasnt even a MPC member but I have flown cathay once a year.