AJ747M

Space for whatever reason re-opened today, so I called them and finally got them to issue it (almost) instantly. The customer service agent physically walked over to the department handling bookable upgrades to make sure it would be done. So a good result in the end, although it did take a bit of pushing (not accepting that they'll just send an 'urgent request' via email).

G-CIVC

HKGglobaltrotter

FYI I have just checked the loading on the dates I want to fly back to LA and back. Previously it was F5 A0/F6 A1 and now it is F5 A4 both ways. Either I am just very lucky or A fare is gradually reappearing! Time to use my BUDs before those A fares disappear again!

Moscowflyer

I agree with the concerns. For the first (and now second) time ever I've had requests for upgrades from business to first denied, two in a row. The occasional one is okay - you can always pick a flight that's surprisingly busy - but two in a row suggests that A class availability is much less than it used to be. I've been crediting any flights above 1800 points to my BA account for the past year or two, aiming for Lifetime Gold there, now that the last junior has his own Cathay gold card, I can drop that to flights above 1600. But if the upgrade vouchers (which I've always found the most useful of the mid-tier benefits) can't generally be used, the interest in securing them is clearly going to be reduced and I may as well take the BAs to London since their pricing is a lot lower than Cathay's on the direct flights. However, to be fair to Cathay, I do also manage to get quite a few upgrades (after a waitlist) just by using Asia Miles, which have a much longer shelf life than the upgrade vouchers' 12 months.

QRC3288

Yes, the strongest factor of the 1600 point Diamond upgrades was their reliability of use from J to F. Although, it seems fitting that CX probably isn't aware of this. I doubt it even crossed their mind when they decided to uphold the mistake fare, the consequence of which was to seriously cut A share inventory. Which, of course has a very negative effect on the 1600 upgrades.

it remains to be seen if AM upgrade awards to F are impacted in a positive or negative direction. I think overall, it makes sense to assume AM upgrades will be seriously cut in the next 11 months too, just given the reduced inventory already. But there might be some unexpected benefits like increased op-ups, if the people who bought mistake fares are able to move their flights, and/or show a propensity to skip some of the flights they bought but aren't cancelling in advance, or at all. I think the end results are a) lower overall availability (duh) of F seats, and b) higher uncertainty for CX, for the F seats that remain.

Specific to this thread, what's really unfortunate is the downgrade of these 1600 CP upgrades, only 2 years after launch. And unlike some devaluations, this one really bites because it was unplanned. Intentional or not on behalf of CX, the enormous benefit of the 1600 upgrades was the "planability" of using them. They were vastly superior to just using Asia Miles to upgrade, which almost always involves waitlisting. 1600 upgrade coupons were essentially like buying A class.

Like you, I previously went for 1800 CP to score an extra GO for Mrs QRC. She is now Diamond, so 1600 is the target. But if these 1600 upgrades become glorified Asia Miles, I'll just aim for 1200 (I find the 1400 CP lounge passes pointless). Inevitably I've always hit a higher number than my CP "target", but that's not the main point. The point is my highest revenue spend on CX almost always translates into CP....more CP is a rough proxy for me spending more money on CX. When I'm aware I need more CP, the addiction of loyalty programs kicks in and my pocketbook is open to CX (versus looking to burn Asia Miles, other award programs, or outright buy revenue tickets on competitors). If this forum has had one major behavior change on me, it has gotten me to seriously diversify my spending onto other airlines. In the past, I would've been earning 3000+ CP on CX. Not anymore. Although I have landed higher than my CP target recently (2000 CP last year aiming for 1600, 2300 CP the year before aiming for 1800, etc.), what is true is that if I "aim" lower, I spend less on CX. And if I "aim" higher, I am spending more. Loyalty programs are utterly addicting and these 1600 upgrades, with their "planability" were a very clever addition. They essentially saved me the price of 4 F tickets a year at a J class price; What CX got for this F class discount was me gunning for more CP sometime in my membership year.

Until a month ago I would've told you, if you're spending a lot of money on airplane tickets and based in HK, it's a "no brainer" to go for 1600 and then figure out what to do with the rest of your spend after you get there. Now my message would be "jury is out" and wait and see another few weeks or month here on FT, whether people are able to use them like before. If not, 1600 is not a "no brainer" anymore and you might want to start diversifying your spend at 1200.

Fly Me To The Moon

I purposely stopped putting credit into MPC last year upon hitting 1,200 Club Points; I did not need to use the upgrade vouchers during this year, when I will have a lot of points expiring and need to burn.

Therefore, I was not aware that the validity of these vouchers is only 6 months now? I thought they were valid for 1 year upon earning them? Has this changed?

HKGglobaltrotter

You're correct! Validity of the BUD voucher is 1 year; not 6 months.

fairhsa

Wrote to the general Marco polo address. The manager called me back by phone and apologised (a few days ago, so perhaps the 15th? after the opening referred to above anyway). DIdn't help though. I am trying again today...

Is there any way to tell if A class is available? All I can see is something called "Flex" if I do a dummy booking. I'm guessing that's not A. But I tried about 2 months of dates and could not find a single day with anything else....

G-CIVC

Just an update - for my very unworthy-lowly-low-yielding-trashy outport POS, they seem to have restated a certain amount of A class inventory. Cool. (Hoping it's not temporary)

jagmeets

G-CIVC

Yet another BUD request failed

Non prime flight

F3A3 / F3A2 checked over multiple POS, married segment combos etc

"We cant do it" was the only explanation available.

Seriously this sucks...

jagmeets

HKGglobaltrotter

Was it because the POS your ticket originated does not have A fare selling? That is the ONLY reason they could decline you, no? If A fare from your POS was still available at the time you requested (i.e. still can buy A fare on CX website) then I'd certainly escalate. Multiple POS offering A fares isn't relevant if your POS doesn't and hence I think that could be the only reason they can't clear your BUD. It sucks and I hope you will get it cleared eventually.

G-CIVC

QRC3288

would be curious if you provided updates. The past 2 years, I've treated these upgrades as de facto A fare availability. Bummer if they really have been hammered due to this Vietnam fare sale thing.

The fare you're buying sounds more "complex" than fares I'm familiar with. The most I'd ever have in an itinerary is 4 sectors, and usually just 1 or 2. Is it possible that's part of the problem?