QRC3288

Ah, to be fair BKK is more like 2 hours flying time mate

The good news with BKK is CX I class fares are far below Japan and Singapore; those people really get screwed, usually paying 2-4x what a BKK fare costs and having 3-4 hours in the air, plus the ground and taxi time. But I'm not a fan of the equipment swaps period, and understand the frustration especially since your wife is pregnant!

If you want guaranteed J to BKK, you could try the once-daily EK flight. They fly a 3-class A380 once daily between HKG and BKK, guaranteed flat bed in J. Of course timing must suit it's an evening departure ex-HKG which I enjoy, but if you insist on flat J that's the way to do it IMO. Me and Mrs. have done our last two weekend trips to BKK on EK, headed out on Thurs evening for a long weekend. Very reasonable fares, generally $1k USD or maybe less for a special round-trip and you 100% are guaranteed a flat bed.

fairhsa

I recently complained a lot in another thread about a particularly insidisous load of crap I got from BA. I got a fair amount of "but that's normal on BA, [even if it is crap]". It's was useful to know that the issue was "known" but it wasn't necessarily helpful to be told "I should have known before I booked". Because I'm a CX and mainly Asian flyer, I know the "CX / Asian issues". One of them being the frequency by which CX bait and switches on regional planes. Its happened to me and it sucks. If the OP redeemed BA points, chances are s/he is not a regular Asian flyer and not used to these particular CX anomalies. I think they have every right to be pissed off. No - not everyone knows that CX does it! Or that Singapore Airlines doesn't! And being told that "you didn't pay for the ticket" isn't helpful. If course they did. They just used a different currency. It's still got value and they could have used it for other things that mattered to them which might have been delivered as advertised.

I wish I could offer you a solution but sadly I don't think there is one. But I can offer my sympathy because I don't think it's right and I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

FlyPointyEnd

Actually someone recently got US$100 for a HKG-BKK aircraft switch

Firemin

Taking aside the argument about equipment swaps and regional seating, one likely reason the OP received no notifications etc was that it was a BA reward booking, and in my experience the contact information never gets copied across correctly to the CX system when booking the tickets. I normally go into MMB on the CX website once the booking is ticketed (ostensibly for seat choice etc) and it always asks me for to confirm my email address (which always seems to have transferred incorrectly from the BA system, missing half the address) and phone number (which is always blank, or some amalgamation of my UK and HK mobile numbers!).

Also, I'd recommend the CheckMyTrip app - sends you push notifications for things like aircraft swaps/seat changes/flight time changes etc

Kilian Zoll

Any link or background to share?

EDIT: Found this https://loyaltylobby.com/2018/12/09/...-cash-payment/

FlyPointyEnd

there's a thread here last December. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...raft-swap.html

percysmith

Cambo

Since you often complain about every nickle and dime, your praisal for the SQ J seat surprises, given that quite a lot of SQ J flyers continuously complain about the concrete type of seat cushions of both the old and new SQ J seats. Or is that less relevant for you, because you only fly SH on SQ? Do you want to elaborate on that ?

Cambo

Goooood for collecting points&miles, though quite a bit "the long way around", something like flying from EUR to Asia via the US.😂

Cambo

The complainer did have 2 complains, the swap and a check-in issue. Zero proof, the compensation was related to the equipment swap. To me, it looks more like a service recovery for somebody considered a pain in the oss due to his behavior at check-in, and potentially negatively influencing other travelers in their appreciation of CX.

I sometimes complain myself, as well give possitive feedback, but never ask for "compensation", that's container trash behavior, brrrr.

QRC3288

Sure. I only fly SQ J short haul not long haul, and rarely recline my seat even an inch. I generally just sit up working or reading. I love the width on SQ, I meant to say this in another post. The width is almost as good as CX F. Of course you lose all the legroom on SQ J, but if you're not reclining at all the difference is narrowed.

I understand this might not be for everybody. As I posted above, I do think if CX could guarantee longhaul, especially on 77W or A350 it is probably better overall than SQ J on the 77W, A350 or A380 (I'm talking about regional only here fyi), since you can work, lounge, AND get CX's wifi. CX wifi is superior to SQ wifi IMO. So are CX lounges. And, if we're really getting particular so is CXs brewed coffee. But the fact you can be (and I have been, a decent amount) swapped to the crappy regional config on CX destroys all of CX's marginal benefits IMO. I also admit when wifi is finally installed on CX's regional configs I will like it more. But I still strongly dislike the CX regional J seat, it is poorly designed IMO for frequent travelers. Try it once or twice you don't mind. Fly it 5-6x monthly, or even multiple times a week, and you realize how bad it is. Especially when you know what you're missing out on.

Admittedly longhaul, I have only flown SQ F/suites in recent years, not J.

Cambo

Thanks, looks to me, CX is the clear winner, provided they don't bring that curious J seat on their regional birds in play.

And, yeah, I did enjoy that seat now nearly 10 times, so having some experience, I would describe the seat as very suitable for a red-light district club

I found out, you can relax in the regional J seat, provided, you "recline" only a very little (omit the seat bottom starting to move up) and then just slide down your own body. Not perfect, though better than using the seat recline features. Sleeps well.

Regarding the SQ seat, you somehow seem to ignore the general complaint that the SQ J seat bottom is rock hard (or at least, regular SQ fliers do complain about this, I did not try this myself). Or are you not as sensitive in that regard as with the other issues you do report regularly ?

percysmith

Cambo

Good luck, I do hope it anatomically fits for you. Once, I even felt asleep before take-off, waking up some 2 hours after departure, with my meal served after wake-up (DoD).
The crew did not complain about my sliding down, because my seat was still "upright"

Rock hard cushions of the SQ J seat, have a look: Lucky and Flyertalk.
Though those references are about the LH seat, my understanding is, the SH do get the same seat bottom qualifications.

Kilian Zoll

Update: Called CX again today and they agreed to put me on another flight on the same day that (currently) has the long haul J product despite no availability in my booking class. Hats off to them!