Trying to book a cheap Cathay Pacific deal.

[sinophile888]

I have just received an email from Cathay Pacific advertising some very low fares for 2014. Return from PER -> HND via HKG for A$739 in Economy and A$1615 in PE.

We are cruising from Yokahama to Hong Kong and so do not need the HND -> HKG leg. If I try to book the three required legs as a multi-city booking, the economy price increases from $739 to a whopping A$1658 and PE from $1615 to A$2516.

My daughter is also looking at other options such as Air Asia to HND and Jetstar back from HKG, my husband is ambivalent but favours the minimum no. of legs and cheaper flights and I am very keen to fly Cathay in PE.

I understand it is normal practice to cancel future flights if a passenger is a no show for a previous leg.

Is there any way around this problem?

 

[JohnK]

What you are trying to achieve is causing the airfare to price a series of one-ways which are going to be more expensive. It will only price the specials if you book the return airfare.

Why not book a PER-HKG return with the special and then look for a HKG-HND one-way on any number of carriers?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I have just received an email from Cathay Pacific advertising some very low fares for 2014. Return from PER -> HND via HKG for A$739 in Economy and A$1615 in PE.

We are cruising from Yokahama to Hong Kong and so do not need the HND -> HKG leg. If I try to book the three required legs as a multi-city booking, the economy price increases from $739 to a whopping A$1658 and PE from $1615 to A$2516.

My daughter is also looking at other options such as Air Asia to HND and Jetstar back from HKG, my husband is ambivalent but favours the minimum no. of legs and cheaper flights and I am very keen to fly Cathay in PE.

I understand it is normal practice to cancel future flights if a passenger is a no show for a previous leg.

Is there any way around this problem?

The only way to avoid being a noshow HND/HKG would be if CX were willing to cancel that sector from your pnr after the ticket had been issued for the 4 sectors so coupon 3 would remain unused then you would resume the journey HKG/PER. You wouldn't be a noshow if the airline cancelled the unwanted sector in advance.

While the above scenario is technically possible it would be difficult to get them to agree to doing it as they would wsnt to re-issue the eticket to match the more expensive open jaw itinerary.

You could alwsys call CX reservations & ask the question before you book the flights but I don't think they'll do it.

My suggestion would be to purchase a return fare PER/HKG/PER then for the HKG/HND flight, if you had QF ff points you could do a Partner Award on CX or JL

Alternatively compare a one way vs return CX fare HKG/HND & book the cheaper of the two options.

 

[sinophile888]

Why not book a PER-HKG return with the special and then look for a HKG-HND one-way on any number of carriers?

Thank you, JohnK, for your suggestion.
I had looked at the option of PER -> HKG return and a one-way flight from HKG -> HND, but could only see A$700+ options to fly one-way from HKG to HND, which is more than the PER-> HKG ->PER special price of A$654.

I have since found an A$154 fare flying overnight on Hong Kong Express. This would suit my daughter who always chooses the lowest cost option. I will go for a more expensive option with better flight times.

My suggestion would be to purchase a return fare PER/HKG/PER then for the HKG/HND flight, if you had QF ff points you could do a Partner Award on CX or JL.

You are brilliant, ozbeachbabe. Thank you so much. I am usually a great advocate of using FF points for one-way flights. I must have had roast turkey amnesia. I changed the QF website to show Hong Kong location but couldn’t get Tokyo as a destination, so I rang QF. The points needed are 18000 and as luck would have it, I have 54000 points. So this one-way FF leg turns out to be a great deal compared to the fare of A$785pp. I was advised to book sooner rather than later.

We have decided to use our points so that all 3 of us can fly on the same flights, with our daughter in Y and us in Y+ for A$1428 on the PER -> HKG -> PER legs. A pretty good deal for all of us. Our daughter’s flight from HKG -> HND can be a birthday present, as she has only 4000 points.

I am so pleased to have this chance for a very good fare with CX. I have followed their specials for a year or so, and this is better than anything I saw in the previous 12 months.

 

[yohy?!]

I would'nt be in a hurry to book with HKE - they are notorious for inexperience pilots and lax safety standards. They are owned and run by a mainland China carrier.

Perhaps you could book an award flight for HKG-HND on CX or JAL using QF points?

 

[sinophile888]

I would'nt be in a hurry to book with HKE - they are notorious for inexperience pilots and lax safety standards. They are owned and run by a mainland China carrier.

Perhaps you could book an award flight for HKG-HND on CX or JAL using QF points?

If your reply is regarding my previous post, thank you, I did book the reward flights to Tokyo with CX. I love being able to book otherwise expensive one-way flights with points instead.