Must the primary Cathay points holder fly with redemption booking for family members??

[Jstr]

Hi everyone. I am new to Cathay, having always flown QF redemption flights. I have 360000 points stuck in Cathay, transferred as a result of them showing some QR flights that weren't actually able to be booked because they were 10 months away (why did the Cathay website show them when they couldn't be booked, it's just poor form).

Anyway, I managed to find bookable flights in early 2023 so I booked two redemption tickets - both for my parents. They are flying, I am not. They are QR flights, booked via Cathay using Asia Miles.

The booking confirmation shows two tags: Redemption, Companion.

I initially ignored them but now that I have looked into it, Companion actually requires I myself purchase a fully paid ticket first to travel alongside my parents??

So if I don't plan to fly with them, I cannot redeem tickets for anyone else using Asia Miles?

Coming from QF, where you can book for anyone in your redemption group, this is a very annoying requirement, especially when Cathay lured me to transfer points from Amex initially with ghost flights....

 

[Jstr]

Just some more information:
1. The redemption bookings for my parents in 2023 are confirmed bookings, not tentative.
2. The flights were redeemed using Asia Miles on the Cathay website, but the flights are Qatar: SYD to CDG via DOH, in business class.
3. I can see the booking on both the Cathay and the Qatar websites using the same reference number.
4. The Cathay website shows this booking with the "Companion" tag. No such tag visible on the Qatar website.
5. When I actually looked up "companion redemption" on the Cathay website, and followed the link to actually redeem a companion award ticket, the website tells me I don't have an eligible ticket to allow a companion booking - which would be the correct pathway to allow such bookings in the first place.

So given that my booking went through like an ordinary redemption booking, is it just an error in the Cathay website stating my booking for my parents is "Companion"?

Has anyone been able to redeem a Qatar flight using Cathay points for someone else without the primary points holder also flying?

 

[BriarFlyer]

In the past (2019 from memory) I have, on two separate occasions, booked QR awards using Asia Miles for family without accompanying them. So unless they've changed their Ts and Cs with the change to their programs...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

IIRC cathay used to offer companion awards, which are separate from ‘standard’ rewards as we would know them. The companion award requires you to fly with the companion, the ‘regular’ awards are the same as qantas or virgin etc… you can book and the passenger can fly alone.

I’d call cathay and get it sorted. You don’t want them turning up at the airport and unable to fly.

But yes, cathay does offer ‘stand alone’ awards (not requiring member to fly)

 

[Jstr]

In the past (2019 from memory) I have, on two separate occasions, booked QR awards using Asia Miles for family without accompanying them. So unless they've changed their Ts and Cs with the change to their programs...

Thank you for the reassuring experience.

I was able to call Cathay, and then had the following experience:

1. I called around 4PM, and was on hold for around 5 to 10min - very acceptable given the HK situation in my mind.

2. The first staff member, after hearing my question, said immediately that this was outside of her knowledge/experience, and so transferred me to another member.

3. The second staff put me on hold after hearing the question, presumably to go check with higher powers or look up stuff in the system, then came back with the answer that, on her end, she could see my bookings, but could NOT see those bookings being classified as Companion tickets. She was unsure why it shows as Companion on my end when I log in, but assured me that my parents would be able to fly without me on the day, as they were nominees in my account as far as she can see on her screen (of course this reason could be poor, as a Companion might need to be a nominee also to start with).

Anyway, I hope this doesn't turn out to be a series of incompetencies on CX's end that ends in our detriment.

I am reassured by BriarFlyer's experience, and the fact that CX's website only allows a proper Companion booking if there is a paid ticket registered in the system, and CX only seems to allow Companion bookings on CX flights, I think, not on a partner airline like Qatar - which would seem like an impossible contractual obligation on all parties.