Thanks again for all of the suggestions.
I spoke with a Qantas rep on Friday and she offered my QF to SIN, leaving 1220 and then CX to HKG but arriving at 2210. Too late for my liking into HKG - removes the option of getting something decent to eat in the city and I don't like to pay for a hotel room from 2pm and not check in until 9 hours later. I asked about the direct flight (CX136) but she said no. However, she had to keep checking the "rules". She did confirm that we could get a refund if they couldn't give us a suitable alternative. I said that I'd talk it over with my wife and Mother-in-law.
We really do need to travel on the dates selected because of work, school, staying at our first hotel over a weekend to use a free weekend night voucher and staying at Disneyland when their Xmas season starts, not before. Also, my m-i-l needs to be in Sydney for a medical appointment on a particular date.
One piece of good news is that CX have introduced their new cabin on CX136/CX137, so no fixed shell economy seats if we go down the CX route. I understand that they are using the upgraded cabin on all flights between SYD and HKG.
What I'm going to do is push harder for them to book us onto CX136 and keep the rest of the bookings as-is (QF68 for the family and QF128 for the m-i-l), just for simplicity. If they won't do that, then I'll get the refund and book on CX136/137 (and CX136/CX161 for the m-i-l). The reason for looking at CX exclusively is that they have by far the cheapest fares of any full service airline between HKG and PER at the moment.
Anybody have any feedback on the cancellation history of CX in/out of PER?
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