moa999

Booked to fly in the next week HKG-SYD-HKG in Y+ (E Class so not available for upgrade). Cost was A$1,700 / HKD 12,155 per ticket.

Three days out from flight my colleague (CX Diamond) received an email from CX Sales Sydney to call if they wanted an upgrade to Business for a "nominal price". No mention of a similar offer for myself (QF Platinum, oneworld Emerald) who is on the same PNR.

Expertflyer shows flight wide open - with availability in I, E and O (lowest classes in each cabin)...

So we called back. Price for each person, one way upgrade is A$1,000 / HKD 7,150.

Hardly a "nominal" price - more than half the original return fare -- ie doubling the cost of the leg. I would call A$200 nominal but not that.

--

I haven't seen this previously mentioned re Cathay, so
- is this common / or testing?
- does anyone accept at those prices?

CanucksHKG

Might not be a 'nominal price'....but an I fare for this route would be HKD 35,215.00.

So a $23,060 difference....or $11,530 per way compare to PEY. Since they are 'only' asking $7,150....you're getting somewhat a deal? Afterall...the call was from the "sales" department...

At a A$200 price point...they might as well just give you a free op-up.

yohy?!

slightly more than if you'd done an I-Class TPE-HKG-SYD return...agree it wasn't really 'nominal' still a pretty good deal though - I would've been tempted it was a mileage earning class.

moa999

I-Class TPE-HKG-SYD rr is about A$2,100...

If (and it wasn't on offer) I had taken the A$1000 each way upgrade would be at A$3,600.
Admittedly cheaper than the normal ex-SYD sales and standard fares, but nothing compared to TPE

fakecd

there's reason they want to free up your Y+ seat... it's not marketing ploy cuz as a DM it's expected you know what business class is like... so it feels like they know it will be rather full and doing a pre-emptive strike to earn extra $$$... report back if you get op-up..

moa999

As per my opening post, expertflyer shows flight is wide open, with cheapest bucket available in all classes.

fakecd

Yes i did see yoru comment. But flight is next week and lots can chagne. My own experience - T-36 hours I decided to change my J booking (revenue I + companion U) to earlier flight on same day cuz I was with infant so I could use spare seat for infant, and that flight morning flight had 60% of seats unoccupied in J and as you say, "wide open". Guess what, J, Y+ both packed up no empty seat....

Morale of the story - loading from seatmaps/inventory doesn't mean much, maybe they know they have some heavy interest from staff to travel that day (again, only speculation)... let me know, my bet is your flight will be full, CX is butchering QF on SYD route, 4 flights, all them very full in premium cabin whenever i flown.... i myself know few guys within my extended circle of collegues/friends in my industry who commutes HKG-SYD-HKG on weekly if not bi-weekly basis... trying booking a I-class CX138 on Sunday to HK, it's very tough on short notice! You might think it's crazy but the money you can earn in HK and savings from the tax compared to australia (mind u i lived in sydney 7 years before working in HK, i know what I'm talking about...) the maths do add up...

beck0723

ok so I am flying to Adelaide on Economy from TPE on 31st of Oct, which is in two days. I just got a call from CX TPE office to offer me a discount upgrade to PE from HK-ADL for NTD 5000 (USD 160) on one leg. does that mean that Economy on that flight is overbooked and they are trying to clean some seats by offering me discounted upgrade to PE? I am on MCP Gold btw.

my question here is
should I just take the deal to upgrade to PE or wait till they upgrade me at the gate as I have a higher chance to be upgraded becos of my MCP status?

thoughts are appreciated!!

CanucksHKG

Similar discussion in the past: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...hay-sales.html

Which flight are you taking? 105?
J/3 C/3 D/2 I/1 W/9 R/9 E/9 Y/2 B/0 H/0 K/0 M/0 L/1 V/0 S/0 N/0 Q/0 O/0

beck0723

yes its CX105. I actually used my gold status to get my Economy seat just two days ago on V class. that's appreciated. Ta

jona970318

The chances are if they are already doing that, they will be asking others anyway. So it really depends on you whether you really want to secure the seat in PEY or doesn't mind flying in Y and take a chance at check in

GE90-115B

Ask if you could do a mileage upgrade to J after paying for PEY. ^

CX828

Id take it. That isnt much money for a longhaul flight. I would say you would also have a high chance for an airport op up to J from PEY.

zqsn5678

Did they mention what booking code to PEY?

CanucksHKG

I'm 99% sure it will be in 'E'. It's a 'discounted offer' after all, they aren't going to give you W/R.