Qantas FF and Cathay Pacific

[Bolman]

Howdy.
My girlfriend and I are traveling to Taipei next week with Cathay economy, on the way home we are doing a stopover in HongKong.

I am a FF gold, but only 20 status points away from platinum (so I should reach platinum after our first leg to HK). My girlfriend is FF bronze.

I've never traveled international with FF status before and have read the many of the posts around being upgraded (or not), and wonder if anyone has had a similar experience and this?

Rules to follow - be extra polite to the check-in staff and keep my fingers crossed for an upgrade.

I actually enquired with Cathay, asked if I could use my FF points to upgrade to business, they said no. Any ideas?

Cheers, Dave.

 

[JohnK]

Rules to follow - be extra polite to the check-in staff and keep my fingers crossed for an upgrade.

Yes you can follow a set of rules if you like but unfortunately there is no guaranteed way to receive an operational upgrade.

Very rarely do they hand them out for no reason or just becausee you are a high status frequent flyer. There are many factors that come into play. Economy is full and they need to upgrade some people, they need your seat to keep a family or group together etc.

I actually enquired with Cathay, asked if I could use my FF points to upgrade to business, they said no. Any ideas?

You can only use QF FF points to upgrade flights on QF metal.

Good luck.

 

[Skyring]

Howdy.
My girlfriend and I are traveling to Taipei next week with Cathay economy, on the way home we are doing a stopover in HongKong.

I am a FF gold, but only 20 status points away from platinum (so I should reach platinum after our first leg to HK). My girlfriend is FF bronze.

I've never traveled international with FF status before and have read the many of the posts around being upgraded (or not), and wonder if anyone has had a similar experience and this?

Hi Dave!

You can't use your Qantas points to upgrade with CX. You are unlikely to get an upgrade, but you never know. You certainly have the right attitude and if they want your seat for some reason, they may pick you ahead of some scowly bear.

However, you can use your QFF gold status to get into CX's Hong Kong (and other) lounges. The two in HKG are superb. I had an award flight in economy in June, and made the most of my hour in Hong Kong to have a shower, a drink, a snack and a bit of internet. It's one place where I don't mind spending several hours in transit!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Welcome to AFF bolman

The only sure way to get into a higher class of travel is to pay for it.

 

[Bolman]

Just got off the phone with both AsiaMiles and FF.

I wanted to transfer my FF to AsiaMiles so I could upgrade using points, but no luck in that department either.... bummer.

How about using my Platinum status in HK or Taipei - Can I get into a first class lounge?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yeah no way to transfer points out of QFF.

Once you reach platinum status then you can use platinum benefits. Note it may take a day to register that you've made it (relevant if your stopover is short).

Since you won't have the card, the best bet to get the benefit of first lounge access is to printout your QFF summary showing platinum status.

 

[NM]

Just got off the phone with both AsiaMiles and FF.

I wanted to transfer my FF to AsiaMiles so I could upgrade using points, but no luck in that department either.... bummer.

There is no way to transfer QF FF points to any other program.

The only way you will get an upgrade on CX is to pay the fare difference and rebook in the next cabin, or if the flight is full and need your seat to get another person onto the flight.

How about using my Platinum status in HK or Taipei - Can I get into a first class lounge?

Yes, you will be able to use the F lounge at HKG. I am not sure what lounge arrangements CX has at TPE. If they have an F lounge, then as a OneWorld Emerald you can use it. Just make sure you have your FF card that shows your status, or some other way to prove your status. Its quite possible that the CX reservation system will have noted your FF status at the time the reservation was made and may not show your current upgraded status.

 

[serfty]

... How about using my Platinum status in HK or Taipei - Can I get into a first class lounge?

The Wing and the Pier at HKG are of considerable renoun.

As for TPE, look here: Cathay Pacific - At The Airport : Lounges

 

[markis10]

The CX F lounge in TPE is a room at the back of J with seating, shares catering with the J lounge. Not to be compared with HKG.

 

[bravoecho1]

Bolman,

i'm not sure what port you are exiting from, but I have heard of a number of instances out of Brisbane where they are over selling Y and op-uping passengers to J because they are not getting the loads due everyone avoiding the CX Regional Business Class config and going with Qantas to get the Skybed. Though from memory Qantas has changed their 333 scheduling so that may have changed things.

 

[NM]

Bolman,

i'm not sure what port you are exiting from, but I have heard of a number of instances out of Brisbane where they are over selling Y and op-uping passengers to J because they are not getting the loads due everyone avoiding the CX Regional Business Class config and going with Qantas to get the Skybed. Though from memory Qantas has changed their 333 scheduling so that may have changed things.

Yes Qantas is back to using 767-300 on the BNE-HKG route. But I think your source re overselling Y when J is not expected to sell is quite valid.

My two op-ups with CX have involved some discussion with the CX FLounge staff. The discussions were different in each case, and neither was requesting an upgrade. However, in both cases I believe these discussions did influence their decision to upgrade me, but only as a result of the flight being full and needing a J seat for another passenger.

 

[Bolman]

Forgive my newbie-ness - but I am not really sure what Y and J is? I am guessing a fare-class, but how do I tell which one I am?

 

[NM]

Forgive my newbie-ness - but I am not really sure what Y and J is? I am guessing a fare-class, but how do I tell which one I am?

Y is an economy fare class and is used generally to refer to economy products (cabin, seats, service etc).
J is a business fare class and is generally used to refer to business class products.
F is a first fare class and is generally used to refer to first class products.

 

[Bolman]

Y is an economy fare class and is used generally to refer to economy products (cabin, seats, service etc).
J is a business fare class and is generally used to refer to business class products.
F is a first fare class and is generally used to refer to first class products.

Sweet and Simple. Thanks. So I am always Y - aspire to J, aspire to J.

 

[serfty]

For future reference, here are two posts/threads listing of some of the more common acronyms/abbreviations used in this site and in the Qantas FF Forum on FlyerTalk.

Abbreviations and Explanations

For those new to the QF board....

 

[garyjohn951]

I fly approx 4 times a year to TPE via HK. My track record has been an upgrade on the HK-TPE to J each time I have flown MEL-HK with CX. That has been 5 times in past 2 years. All the CX MEL-HK have been in Y with no upgrade. The interesting fact is that twice I has taken the time on the HK-TPE to look in the Y cabin, both times half-full so that discounts the upgrade because of full Y. Last time I asked the purser who said they quite often upgraded "loyal" customers on the short 3 -5 hrs routes.
The other interesting fact is the 3 times I have flown MEL-HK on QF, I haven't been upgraded on the HK-TPE section.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Y is an economy fare class and is used generally to refer to economy products (cabin, seats, service etc).
J is a business fare class and is generally used to refer to business class products.
F is a first fare class and is generally used to refer to first class products.

Note that these are airline specific. While Y and F are fairly universal. J most certainly is not. On most *A (star alliance) airlines, for example, C refers to business class.

 

[Alan in CBR]

Forgive my newbie-ness - but I am not really sure what Y and J is? I am guessing a fare-class, but how do I tell which one I am?

Y is an economy fare class and is used generally to refer to economy products (cabin, seats, service etc).
J is a business fare class and is generally used to refer to business class products.
F is a first fare class and is generally used to refer to first class products.

Note that these are airline specific. While Y and F are fairly universal. J most certainly is not. On most *A (star alliance) airlines, for example, C refers to business class.

And it gets more complicated even on oneworld. NM was quite precise in his wording that, for example, Y is an Economy fare class. Y, J and F refer to the Economy, Business and First cabins respectively. They also happen to be the highest fare class in each of those cabins. Each cabin will however have a number (and in the case of Economy, lots) of lower cost fare classes.

Take for example a oneworld Explorer 4-continent Economy fare (referred to here as an LONE4). You are in the Y cabin, but can only be booked into the L fare class. Generally L class sells out waaaaaay before the Y fare class.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Oh yes. Its quite complicated. Still can be advantageous to have a basic understanding (especially on codeshares ) and also when airlines change their booking classes it might take their partners a while to catch up to the changes

 

[NM]

Oh yes. Its quite complicated. Still can be advantageous to have a basic understanding (especially on codeshares ) and also when airlines change their booking classes it might take their partners a while to catch up to the changes

All I was trying to do was answer the query around my use of the letter Y and J in an earlier post. I was not intending to fully describe all possible uses of fare classes . I think my answer was complete in the context of the question.