Oct 29, 2013, 4:27 am
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
Nov 22, 2018, 6:08 pm
#931
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,740
Refund and purchase of new ticket
But as a corporate accountant, I don't know how you handle the refund with your employer. Normally when we pay for a ticket, we demand to see boarding passes.
But as a corporate accountant, I don't know how you handle the refund with your employer. Normally when we pay for a ticket, we demand to see boarding passes.
Nov 22, 2018, 6:21 pm
#932
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Vancouver, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong
Programs: CX-DM, Marriott Gold, Fairmont Premier
Posts: 335
refunding wouldn't be an option as the fare was paid on the corporate credit card. I just wanted to see if I could pay the difference between an Economy (N) and Economy (V) to get the additional CP.
Nov 23, 2018, 10:51 pm
#933
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Vancouver, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong
Programs: CX-DM, Marriott Gold, Fairmont Premier
Posts: 335
Just in case it helps anyone in the future, I was able to upgrade from an Economy (N) to an Economy (V) and paying the difference that was shown on the website. Was around $450hkd to get an additional 20 CP.
Nov 23, 2018, 11:42 pm
#934
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
Only $450 difference for a long haul? That is quite good.
Nov 23, 2018, 11:51 pm
#935
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: DTW / SJC
Programs: AA EXP, DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 763
Any idea as to whether an op-up (PE --> J) is more likely from SFO or LAX (departing Sun/Mon, returning Thurs/Fri in May)?
I understand that the chance of an op-up is quite low, but are there any anecdotal experiences of one airport being more favorable in that regard than the other?
I understand that the chance of an op-up is quite low, but are there any anecdotal experiences of one airport being more favorable in that regard than the other?
Nov 24, 2018, 4:01 am
#936
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,708
Any idea as to whether an op-up (PE --> J) is more likely from SFO or LAX (departing Sun/Mon, returning Thurs/Fri in May)?
I understand that the chance of an op-up is quite low, but are there any anecdotal experiences of one airport being more favorable in that regard than the other?
I understand that the chance of an op-up is quite low, but are there any anecdotal experiences of one airport being more favorable in that regard than the other?
fwiw both airports have very similar flight schedules: 1x departing midday and 2x departing at midnight.
if we're really going to get into the weeds, SFO has more seats due to less-premium plane types (LAX gets 3x low capacity/F-equipped plane daily, whereas SFO gets 1x of that plane, and 2x higher-capacity B77W/A350). In theory this means there is less room for CX to op-up people to J if you're flying to/from SFO, since there are fewer seats in J+F to/from SFO and more in Y compared to LAX, despite the same # of flight frequencies. But in practice, honestly there's just zero point in making a decision based on this...and SFO could easily end up being the easier op-up, despite what I'm implying here.
I've been regularly buying J and F seats on these two routes for a long time now. What I can say for sure is SFO is easier to purchase F class, and also redeem these J->F upgrade coupons Diamond members have, despite there only being 1x flight daily with F to/from SFO. LAX can actually be tougher to score the flight I want in F class, despite 3x daily flights (there used to be 4, and not surprising to me, the 4th one was always wide-open in F IME).
However, SFO can be a bloody nightmare buying cash J class seats some times of the year, full to the gills and full price. I'm blown away by the business CX does to/from SFO, considering SFO is such a *A stronghold and basically a zero for OneWorld. 3x daily flights! But I digress. To/from LAX in J I don't recall the problem being like that, it seems cheapo J seats are in abundance.
What does all this mean for you? ...buy based on best schedule/convenience for you and definitely not op-up chances.
Nov 25, 2018, 11:39 pm
#939
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
Hello. I haven’t tried to upgrade in almost 2 years or so and the website looks slightly different. Previously, I could just go to manage my booking on the Cathay site, click my flights and waitlist for an upgrade with miles. Now when I go to manage my booking, I don’t see any way to click to upgrade with miles. Poking around on the internet, it seems that upgrades need to be processed on the Asia Miles website. But when I click through the upgrade with miles pages, it brings me to a page to redeem for a full award which I can waitlist for, but no upgrade.
I’ve been exchanging DMs with Cathay on Twitter but so far they have been instructing me to click through on Asia Miles which brings me to the same place I found on my own to redeem for a full award flight rather than an upgrade.
Help? Thanks in advance!
I’ve been exchanging DMs with Cathay on Twitter but so far they have been instructing me to click through on Asia Miles which brings me to the same place I found on my own to redeem for a full award flight rather than an upgrade.
Help? Thanks in advance!
Nov 26, 2018, 2:36 am
#940
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
Actually, not sure if this will help you but I was able to find a button that says “Previous Manage Booking” where I did find the option to click to upgrade with miles. However when I clicked on it, it only showed me a flight in the past as the sole eligible flight for upgrade. Maybe you can find your flight there to upgrade if you can navigate to that page.
Nov 26, 2018, 8:58 pm
#941
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Vancouver, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong
Programs: CX-DM, Marriott Gold, Fairmont Premier
Posts: 335
Thanks for confirming that I’m not crazy! But sorry that you’re having the same issue. I’m currently traveling and am planning to call next week. Will keep everyone updated!
Actually, not sure if this will help you but I was able to find a button that says “Previous Manage Booking” where I did find the option to click to upgrade with miles. However when I clicked on it, it only showed me a flight in the past as the sole eligible flight for upgrade. Maybe you can find your flight there to upgrade if you can navigate to that page.
I also can't find where it tells you when your waitlist will expire. I vaguely remember there was a date that said when your waitlist will expire.
Dec 2, 2018, 1:15 am
#942
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
Hello. I haven’t tried to upgrade in almost 2 years or so and the website looks slightly different. Previously, I could just go to manage my booking on the Cathay site, click my flights and waitlist for an upgrade with miles. Now when I go to manage my booking, I don’t see any way to click to upgrade with miles. Poking around on the internet, it seems that upgrades need to be processed on the Asia Miles website. But when I click through the upgrade with miles pages, it brings me to a page to redeem for a full award which I can waitlist for, but no upgrade.
I’ve been exchanging DMs with Cathay on Twitter but so far they have been instructing me to click through on Asia Miles which brings me to the same place I found on my own to redeem for a full award flight rather than an upgrade.
Help? Thanks in advance!
I’ve been exchanging DMs with Cathay on Twitter but so far they have been instructing me to click through on Asia Miles which brings me to the same place I found on my own to redeem for a full award flight rather than an upgrade.
Help? Thanks in advance!
Also, I was informed that only the JFK-HKG route was eligible for ugprade, because the HKG-KUL flight is "codeshare".
I started arguing with the CSR that it's the same company and then gave up, because clearly it's not the CSR's fault. So I guess there's no way for me to upgrade the HKG-KUL leg. Oh well. I don't need to fly business for such a short flight anyway, but still very puzzling.
Dec 2, 2018, 1:30 am
#943
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 409
In the "new" Manage Booking view, click on "More Options" and select Previous Manage Booking. You'll get back to the old view and should see the waitlist expiration up top in red font.
Dec 3, 2018, 7:06 am
#944
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond, CX MPO DM
Posts: 96
More op-up data points
CX636 SIN-HKG 20:15 departure on a Friday. Booked in S fare (economy class). Expertflyer was showing Y0.
No op-up at check in. While queueing at boarding gate, ground staff had a stack of new boarding passes and was combing the queue locating the op-ups in both First / DM line and Business / GO / SL line. Was handed over a J class boarding pass for myself (DM) and travel companion in the same itinerary (SL). There were DMs and OWEs in the line who did not get op-uped. Quite puzzling as I thought chances of op-up in a larger party will be lower.
CX619 BKK-SIN 12:45 departure on a Sunday. Booked in V fare (economy class). Expertflyer was showing Y0.
No op-up at check in. Beeped red when boarding pass was scanned at gate, and was handed over a J class boarding pass for myself (DM) and travel companion (SL) in the same itinerary.
CX636 SIN-HKG 20:15 departure on a Friday. Booked in S fare (economy class). Expertflyer was showing Y0.
No op-up at check in. While queueing at boarding gate, ground staff had a stack of new boarding passes and was combing the queue locating the op-ups in both First / DM line and Business / GO / SL line. Was handed over a J class boarding pass for myself (DM) and travel companion in the same itinerary (SL). There were DMs and OWEs in the line who did not get op-uped. Quite puzzling as I thought chances of op-up in a larger party will be lower.
CX619 BKK-SIN 12:45 departure on a Sunday. Booked in V fare (economy class). Expertflyer was showing Y0.
No op-up at check in. Beeped red when boarding pass was scanned at gate, and was handed over a J class boarding pass for myself (DM) and travel companion (SL) in the same itinerary.
Dec 12, 2018, 4:00 am
#945
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 810
Does anyone have any indication on how many seats CX typically oversells?
On a YVR-HKG flight later this month, I see J9 W8 Y0. I'm flying PEY as a OWE with a reasonable CX spend/CIV score (I believe). But with W8, I don't want to gets my hopes up that the rolling op-ups will reach me...
On a YVR-HKG flight later this month, I see J9 W8 Y0. I'm flying PEY as a OWE with a reasonable CX spend/CIV score (I believe). But with W8, I don't want to gets my hopes up that the rolling op-ups will reach me...
