Last edit by: ZZ100
Is it possible to buy a (cheap) upgrade on Cathay Pacific upon check-in?
The short answer is no.
Cathay, as a general rule, does not allow you to purchase last minute upgrades if there are empty seats in Y+, J or F. The only way to upgrade a ticket is to pay the fare difference between your current ticket, and an available fare class in the higher cabins. Note that if your current ticket has restrictions (cancellation fees, non-refundable) these still apply.
There are been stories of people who have been offered cheap upgrades by Cathay, but this is more an exception than a common occurrence.
If I upgrade my ticket using asia miles, do I still earn miles?
Yes, you will earn miles for the original fare class that you booked, not the upgraded cabin.
How do I get a free upgrade / operational upgrade (op-up)?
Cathay Pacific does not upgrade passengers just because there are empty seats in higher classes. Upgrades will only occur where there is overbooking in lower classes.
The order of upgrades when required is believed to be:
I am travelling on an award ticket. Will I still be considered for a free upgrade?
Yes - there are many stories of passengers on award tickets, or who upgraded a class using miles, getting (additional) upgrades.
What happens if the aircraft has 4 or 3 cabins, but is only selling Business and Economy seats?
It is likely if you have Marco Polo status, and to a lesser extent oneworld status, you may be able to sit in either First Class seats (if booked in J) or Premium Economy (if booked in Y) with service of the original cabin. There doesn't appear to be consistency yet as to how these semi-upgrades are allocated. Some people have been able to choose seats in the higher cabin during online check-in, or some will get them on request at check-in. However, there is no entitlement to these seats.
Will I get an upgrade on my Birthday, or for my membership anniversary, or for reaching xx number of lifetime club miles?
Please see this link for members' experience with these kinds of upgrades: Marco Polo Anniversary Upgrades
I want to use Asia Miles to upgrade a BA flight. How do I do this?
As of 22 June 2018, it is no longer possible to upgrade BA flights with Asia Miles.
How do I upgrade a CX flight using miles?
If you already have issued your original ticket:
If you have not made any booking yet, and you want to check availability:
If you don't receive a new e-ticket before departure, call up Marco Polo club to double check if the upgrade has been issued.
The short answer is no.
Cathay, as a general rule, does not allow you to purchase last minute upgrades if there are empty seats in Y+, J or F. The only way to upgrade a ticket is to pay the fare difference between your current ticket, and an available fare class in the higher cabins. Note that if your current ticket has restrictions (cancellation fees, non-refundable) these still apply.
There are been stories of people who have been offered cheap upgrades by Cathay, but this is more an exception than a common occurrence.
If I upgrade my ticket using asia miles, do I still earn miles?
Yes, you will earn miles for the original fare class that you booked, not the upgraded cabin.
How do I get a free upgrade / operational upgrade (op-up)?
Cathay Pacific does not upgrade passengers just because there are empty seats in higher classes. Upgrades will only occur where there is overbooking in lower classes.
The order of upgrades when required is believed to be:
- VIP (Heads of State, Government Bodies, or Canto Pop/Movie stars)
- CX Diamond Plus
- CX Diamond Invitation, Diamond
- CX Gold
- CX management staff on travel duty
- oneworld Emerald
- CX staff on duty nominees , other airline staff nominees, CX staff on personal travel
- oneworld Sapphire
- CX Silver
- oneworld Ruby
- CX Green
- Asia Miles
- Non status
I am travelling on an award ticket. Will I still be considered for a free upgrade?
Yes - there are many stories of passengers on award tickets, or who upgraded a class using miles, getting (additional) upgrades.
What happens if the aircraft has 4 or 3 cabins, but is only selling Business and Economy seats?
It is likely if you have Marco Polo status, and to a lesser extent oneworld status, you may be able to sit in either First Class seats (if booked in J) or Premium Economy (if booked in Y) with service of the original cabin. There doesn't appear to be consistency yet as to how these semi-upgrades are allocated. Some people have been able to choose seats in the higher cabin during online check-in, or some will get them on request at check-in. However, there is no entitlement to these seats.
Will I get an upgrade on my Birthday, or for my membership anniversary, or for reaching xx number of lifetime club miles?
Please see this link for members' experience with these kinds of upgrades: Marco Polo Anniversary Upgrades
I want to use Asia Miles to upgrade a BA flight. How do I do this?
As of 22 June 2018, it is no longer possible to upgrade BA flights with Asia Miles.
How do I upgrade a CX flight using miles?
If you already have issued your original ticket:
- Try upgrading using Manage My Booking on the website (not always successful)
- If self-service doesn't work, try calling Marco Polo hotline to check availability
- If there is availability, you will need to issue the upgrade immediately to secure it. They may give you a few days grace before isssuing the upgrade, but this is now rarely given.
- In a few days, or longer if they are busy, your miles will be deducted, and you will be emailed a new e-ticket with the upgrade class details on it, and your online booking for your original booking class will disappear.
If you have not made any booking yet, and you want to check availability:
- Call Marco Polo club to check for availability on the flights/dates you want, or check for normal redemption availability on the website.
- Book a revenue ticket in the class of service for which you will be paying. Do NOT do this via the website -- call a CX telephone sales number/travel agent.
- Put the booking on hold.
- Call the Marco Polo/Asia Miles Service Center. Have them book the upgrade and give you a deadline to have the ticket issued. (It's usually about 72 hours).
- Have telephone sales/travel agent issue your revenue ticket.
- Call Marco Polo/Asia Miles back. Give them the revenue ticket number against the PNR and ask them to issue your upgrade.
- In about two or three days, you'll get a new ticket with the upgrade showing.
If you don't receive a new e-ticket before departure, call up Marco Polo club to double check if the upgrade has been issued.
The Ultimate Upgrade Question thread
#736
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,454
#737
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,708
good point. The only "classic" flight numbers to North America IMO are really CX888/889, CX873/872, CX883/882 and CX880/881. All the rest - including all ORD, JFK nonstops, BOS and EWR- have been launched in the last decade or less.
#739
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ORD [formerly] + HKG
Programs: CX Diamond, AA exExPlat, BAEC exGold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Starriott Titanium, GE
Posts: 2,966
By the way, why are the flights so full? Just because it's the week before thanksgiving?
Return HKG-SFO 872 next friday is J0C0D0I0 too. Crazy.
Return HKG-SFO 872 next friday is J0C0D0I0 too. Crazy.
#740
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ORD [formerly] + HKG
Programs: CX Diamond, AA exExPlat, BAEC exGold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Starriott Titanium, GE
Posts: 2,966
No shame, I'm trying to chance an op up to J. Will be in E class. USA to HKG. Flight in less than a week but not T-72. Which flight would you go with?
Flight 1: 77H
US POS F1 A1 J4 C4 D4 I3 W5 R5 E4 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
HK POS F1 A1 J4 C4 D4 I4 W5 R5 E5 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
Seats taken (yeah I know, bad indicator, but still) 4/44/26/63
Flight 2: 77H
F1 A1 J1 C1 D1 I0 W4 R4 E3 Y9 B8 H8K7 M7 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
F1 A1 J1 C1 D1 I0 W4 R4 E4 Y9 B8 H8K8 M8 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
5/34/26/118
Flight 3: 77H
F1 A1 J2 C2 D2 I1 W7 R7 E6 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
F1 A1 J2 C2 D2 I2 W7 R7 E7 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
4/33/15/28
Flight 4: 35G
J5 C4 D3 I2 W4 R4 E3 Y1 B1 H0 K0 M0L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
J5 C5 D4 I3 W4 R4 E3 Y1 B1 H1 K0 M0L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
24/17/40
You might even be able to guess which 4 flights these are. They are very 'similar'
Flight 1: 77H
US POS F1 A1 J4 C4 D4 I3 W5 R5 E4 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
HK POS F1 A1 J4 C4 D4 I4 W5 R5 E5 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
Seats taken (yeah I know, bad indicator, but still) 4/44/26/63
Flight 2: 77H
F1 A1 J1 C1 D1 I0 W4 R4 E3 Y9 B8 H8K7 M7 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
F1 A1 J1 C1 D1 I0 W4 R4 E4 Y9 B8 H8K8 M8 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
5/34/26/118
Flight 3: 77H
F1 A1 J2 C2 D2 I1 W7 R7 E6 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
F1 A1 J2 C2 D2 I2 W7 R7 E7 Y0 B0 H0K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
4/33/15/28
Flight 4: 35G
J5 C4 D3 I2 W4 R4 E3 Y1 B1 H0 K0 M0L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0
J5 C5 D4 I3 W4 R4 E3 Y1 B1 H1 K0 M0L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0
24/17/40
You might even be able to guess which 4 flights these are. They are very 'similar'
#742
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: FRA/SXB
Programs: FB Gold
Posts: 1,999
So, a newb question for someone who's never flown CX before, and rarely flies TPAC.....
Is it possible to (cash) purchase a round-trip itinerary where it's PY in one direction (US-HKG) and Y in the other?
Don't have quite enough MR miles to transfer to Asia Miles to use a one-way upgrade, and the rest of my OneWorld miles are in AY so can't use those.
Is it possible to (cash) purchase a round-trip itinerary where it's PY in one direction (US-HKG) and Y in the other?
Don't have quite enough MR miles to transfer to Asia Miles to use a one-way upgrade, and the rest of my OneWorld miles are in AY so can't use those.
Last edited by mlin32; Nov 14, 2017 at 11:34 am
#743
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: PVD, BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,664
Flying out on CX811 with the wife in a couple hours. Checked my BP on my way to the airport (around T-5) and saw that we'd both been upgraded from PE to J. I'm currently OWS and the wife has no status. Paid PE tickets in fare class E. Y appears to now be booked solid, though there was still a lot of availability as recently as 2 days ago.
Obviously very happy for the op-up and was definitely not expecting it at all.
Obviously very happy for the op-up and was definitely not expecting it at all.
#744
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: TPE / HSZ
Programs: CX GO (=SPH), IHG Diamond Amb, Hertz 5*, Accor, Hilton, National
Posts: 6,437
#745
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Flying out on CX811 with the wife in a couple hours. Checked my BP on my way to the airport (around T-5) and saw that we'd both been upgraded from PE to J. I'm currently OWS and the wife has no status. Paid PE tickets in fare class E. Y appears to now be booked solid, though there was still a lot of availability as recently as 2 days ago.
Obviously very happy for the op-up and was definitely not expecting it at all.
Obviously very happy for the op-up and was definitely not expecting it at all.
#746
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: Marco Polo / BA / Silk / Kris Flyer
Posts: 1
Upgrade Cathay Pacific Flight with Avios
I have booked a standard economy return flight from HK to London through Cathay Pacific. Is it possible to upgrade to the next level using my BA avios points?
#747
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,454
#748
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
#750
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,708