CX vs QF Upgrades

[christanil]

Hi all,
Newbie here.

On a recent flight with CX in fact my first i was upgraded to J from PE. I was wondering is this more of a common occurence within CX?
As with QF flying them for 2 years i have never ever been upgraded.
I am considering switching to CX as i rarely fly straight economy unless it's within Australia.

Would love your input/advice!
(Essentially my question is, do i get more value for being a Marco Polo member with CX than a QFF),
or was that a one off.

Cheers!

 

[Isochronous]

CX oversell Y a lot more hence they need to upgrade more frequently than QF. Hence they are good to elites in that way.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all,
Newbie here.

On a recent flight with CX in fact my first i was upgraded to J from PE. I was wondering is this more of a common occurence within CX?
As with QF flying them for 2 years i have never ever been upgraded.
I am considering switching to CX as i rarely fly straight economy unless it's within Australia.

Would love your input/advice!
(Essentially my question is, do i get more value for being a Marco Polo member with CX than a QFF),
or was that a one off.

Cheers!

In general CX treats all elites pretty well... better I would say than Qantas.

Upgrades for oneworld elites are not uncommon on CX. They seem to go down the pecking order and a QF gold will get an upgrade over a CX silver for example.

Upgrading from PE to J is not that uncommon. I think CX is struggling to fill their PE cabins on some routes and so will oversell economy and just move everyone up.

Once you get to MP elite levels (diamond), upgrades become more frequent. I have a friend flying full fare business class at least once a month from China to Europe (connecting in Hong Kong). They get a 'free' upgrade to First class on one sector about once every three or four months or so.

MP is also fairly generous with 'birthday' upgrades for elite members. While not a published benefit (or guaranteed), members flying on their birthday will get an upgrade at the airport provided there's a seat available in the higher class (gold and above and you're pretty well in the running).

Sadly that doesn't apply to other oneworld elites

 

[trippin_the_rift]

You will be upgraded far more on CX than on qantas.

Free upgrades every 25 premium cabin paid flights, overbooked upgrades... The way it should be.

Qantas don't seem to understand how to treat elites properly so if you want the upgrades a move to CX is a must.... I fly CX a lot (20 flights this year ) and have nothing but praise for the way I'm treated

 

[yohy?!]

It used to be the case that CX routes that were oversold often saw upgrades for those with oneworld status. These were prioritized in order of status meaning if lots of people needed upgrading they would work down the list sometimes all the way to oneworld ruby members.

Unfortunately that will become less and less likely as CX is changing their upgrade protocol to favour their highest spending customers rather than frequent flyer status - I think this is similar to how Qantas assigns operational upgrades also. A shame as it was very nice to be able to grab upgrades similar by being the first to check in online

 

[clazman]

Just did 4 legs with CX and all flights would have been close to full including J. Have dropped people off and have CX trying to downgrade J passengers to Y by offering 3 economy seats and cash

 

[christanil]

Interesting, hopefully they status match! If not at least my next few trips to the americas i can switch from QF to CX.
I find the service better in general (onboard). For OWS & OWE from what i've heard with my friends who fly them.

I think Qantas has a large number of Gold & Platinum FF's in Australia due to it being the major airline which nearly all companies use their work. Which im assuming is why they don't treat FF's as they "ought to".
I mean to travel from Melbourne to Sydney in the morning all the flights are booked out with professional service firms.

As a private spender on flights it's a different story and not having a company to pay for my flights it's a different story!.
Pity, should have made the move sooner as i will hit well past Platinum with Qantas this year .
Could still book the last few flights with CX i guess.

Does CX status match? I've heard the best they do is one tier lower but not the same.. Does anyone know if this is the same for OWE? (Plat)

 

[yohy?!]

Interesting, hopefully they status match! If not at least my next few trips to the americas i can switch from QF to CX.
I find the service better in general (onboard). For OWS & OWE from what i've heard with my friends who fly them.

I think Qantas has a large number of Gold & Platinum FF's in Australia due to it being the major airline which nearly all companies use their work. Which im assuming is why they don't treat FF's as they "ought to".
I mean to travel from Melbourne to Sydney in the morning all the flights are booked out with professional service firms minions.

As a private spender on flights it's a different story and not having a company to pay for my flights it's a different story!.
Pity, should have made the move sooner as i will hit well past Platinum with Qantas this year .
Could still book the last few flights with CX i guess.

Does CX status match? I've heard the best they do is one tier lower but not the same.. Does anyone know if this is the same for OWE? (Plat)

Dubbing people minions might not be the best move on this board

CX will typically offer at most CX GO to QF Plats unless you can show them a lot of prior or forward bookings in J. It is worthwhile to take if you are going to put 120k miles to them as you skip the earning required at the lower levels.