hkskyline

Yes ... I'm trying to redeem OW J for YYZ-HKG over New Year's and seems everything is waitlisted around that stretch.

NightTripper

I'm getting ready to book IAD-gateway-HKG-DPS for an August 2013 trip for a family of 4 using AA miles. I am resigned to the fact that I will likely have to buy 2 J and 2 F, then my goal would be to pay the difference in AA miles to move the 2 J passengers into F as well when/if more seats open. Some questions: (sorry, CX noob here, I'm usually a *A flyer)

After initial purchase (assuming 2F+2J), do I bother tracking F availabilty for the next year? Or is it safe to assume I've grabbed the only F seats to be released prior to the +/- t-14 day window?

To make the morning DPS connection convenient, I think I need to use either LAX/SFO/JFK as my gateway; does one of these cities offer a higher probability of last minute F over the others? (generally speaking, of course)

Many of these flights seem to offer 4 J seats; is it worth the hassle to go for F seats? tips?

many thanks.

Guy Betsy

If you're redeeming CX flights using AAdvantage miles, it is best if you ask your question over at the AA forum : http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l?highlight=cx

pssteve

NightTripper: SO and I did LAX-HKG-DPS in May. Originally booked LAX-SFO-HKG-DPS as only 1F seat out of LAX. Recall that CX used to fly a 747 from SFO with 9 F seats so 2 F's were available but it is now a 777 with only 6 F seats. You may need to book 2 thru SFO and 2 thru LAX if you want F seats for all. In my case there was always 1 F from LAX but second F opened 44 days out. YMMV Good luck.

Ragnarok

Quick update: 1 week to the date I wanted, the whole week's flights are all opened up.

Got the date and the flight I wanted. Thanks for the information everyone!

geo1005

Thanks for this ray of hope!

I'm currently holding (using AA miles) DCA-ORD-HKG return in C but am hoping for F to open up (either ORD or JFK) as we get closer to travel! I'm on KVS checking three or four times a day at least. ^

mcdullhk88

How about late-December and early-January for last-minute openings... Christmas season?

I am looking at 2F and 2J.

Thanks in advance.

CanucksHKG

Christmas season is peak ^2

yoyo

Last year lots of F/Js during Christmas season. I ended up with 4F but I was only looking for flights from JFK to HKG. We wanted to fly on Dec 23rd but grabbed Dec 26 flights J/F as they popup from JL/BA/AA sites and kept moving the dates until all the seats ended on Dec 23rd two days before departure and same flight and we took seats 1A/2A, 1K/2K. Next time we will probably try 1K/2K and 1D/2D and have a better PJ party BTW, I started looking every day starting Dec 12 so it was a lot of work with lots of help from people on this forum.

mecabq

You are a very risk-averse traveler! Out of curiosity, if this scenario happened, would you just abandon your car at the side of the road and then just deal with it when you return to the U.S.? Or do you hire a driver to take you to the airport, as well as a chase van?

Given your approach, I agree with your reluctance to book a connection. SFO is one of the most delay-prone airports in the U.S.; after a couple of close calls connecting there (e.g., coming on UA from LAX or SNA, which is virtually certain to be delayed), I avoid it if time is of the essence, especially if I am not on a paid J/F ticket.

jamienbaker

Yeah, I take some heat for this. For whatever reason, some posters have gotten very angry about this, there were numerous threads on the AA board (related to CX awards) that the monitor needed to remove.

Family of four, 60 miles north of JFK. We hire an SUV to take us + bags, and a second SUV (empty) to follow 4-5 miles back for the duration of the trip, though 2nd SUV peels off when we arrive JFK T7. I know that they follow, because once (only once) we needed their assistance. Massive traffic due 18 wheeler got lodged under a rail track and blocked all southbound lanes - we were stuck BIG TIME. We ordered chase SUV to take back roads, then head north in opposing lane, we crossed grassy median with bags and got in chase vehicle, then took side streets to a point BELOW the accident and resumed from there.

In addition to tracking all US bound CX tails (particularly those bound for JFK which will turn our departing flight), chase vehicle and monitoring LIVE ATC en route are absolutely mandatory.

I threw back the JFKSFO awards I was holding on AA, connecting in SFO would only make sense if we positioned the night before, but my schedule doesn't allow that.

Safe travels - Jamie

wtcmor

HI does anyone know whether they are still releasing seats close to departure. If so, is there a specific time period eg 14 days and do they release them at a specific time. thanks

mcdullhk88

I'd suppose they are, and I'd say a few (3-4) days out CX has some good availability.

As a sample search using BAEC, I am seeing very good availability in JFK-HKG J through this Friday (5/30) and F through Thursday (5/29). After May 30 there is no premium class availability open yet.

EDIT: I'd also say ~2 weeks out is a good time to search. I am seeing good availability around 06/12 in J/F (but NOT around 6/4).

tboons

How about cathay economy? There is no economy seats available from hkg to singapore in mid June over three days! Do they release these seats closer to date?

percysmith

18/6 is a public holiday so yeah you might have to wait. Quite a bit

I waited for Singapore 8-10/12 last year since getting a wedding invite in January and it took me til September to clear that (plan B was Jetstar, but I needed the suitcase for the suit...) (a xxxxload of seats was released that day - the Missus's birthday - we even called it Patricia Hwang's special birthday present for Missus)