alaska / cathay

[Buruch]

Is it (still) true that Alaska only gets access to one fewer f/j seat than ba, Qantas, etc.?

[rileywiles23]

Most people use these to book in 1st class last minute because ahead of time they usually only open one seat.  If they wouldn't have had last minute availability I wonder if I wouldn't have been able to return with my family all together.  I have 5 people but they only showed 4J seats so I booked me and kids on one flight (Sin-HKG-LAX) and my DH a couple on one a couple hours later, taking the risk that we'd be able to switch him.  Because they had availability, we were able to change my husband's to our flight and all go together.  I wonder if they would have still let this though since it was changing a current ticket not a new one (although I'm not sure how AS would have done it if they couldn't see availability).

I was referring to the HT narrishkeit, not the topic of the thread.

[Denverite]

I was referring to the HT narrishkeit, not the topic of the thread.

Ah ok gotcha. It does crack me up the HT craziness. It’s amazing how we respond to these teeny online status symbols. We are little Pavlovian DDFers chasing the HTs! 

[davidrotts63]

I was referring to the HT narrishkeit, not the topic of the thread.

That's all that matters, HTs

[mmgfarb]

Ah ok gotcha. It does crack me up the HT craziness. It’s amazing how we respond to these teeny online status symbols. We are little Pavlovian DDFers chasing the HTs! 

Why do you think I only have 3 and don't really care to get more? If there's something worth sharing, I'll share it, if someone else posts first, what do I care?

[davidrotts63]

Why do you think I only have 3 and don't really care to get more?

Henche sells them, should you feel you do need

[mmgfarb]

Henche sells them, should you feel you do neef

-1 it's Freddie who feeds his kids with them.

[rileywiles23]

That's all that matters, HTs

always have a reply ?

[12HRS]

-1 it's Freddie who feeds his kids with them.

thought it was likes

[mmgfarb]

thought it was likes

You're right, it was, my bad.

[zow]

My first time trying to book CX with AS, so I would appreciate some guidance. Trying to fly HKG-SFO on 4/2, ideally in F and ideally on CX872 (departs 00:30).

1. I see one J seat on BA and zero on QF. AS says they see zero. Should I forget about BA (?phantom) and just track QF?
2. Should I expect a J or F seat to open up on my desired flight 2-3 weeks out (or sooner), and if not, when should I bite the bullet and take a seat on a later flight?
3. Some have mentioned being able to book a domestic connecting flight in the future, i.e., a "stopover" in my primary destination (SFO) and a connecting flight in the future to another point, e.g., BOS.
  a. Is this allowed?
  b. If so, I presume I just pick a random future date for the SFO-BOS connection.  Will I be able to change it later fee-free?
4. Can I expect CX to have KLP Hermolis KSML?

Thanks.

[mochjas]

AS sees one less seat than BA so it's not phantom.

Also CX has expanded availability using CX points so you might want to look into that.

They serve hermolis ex HKG to NYC so I don't see why SFO would be different

It's likely an F seat will open up but check EF to see how many seats are available to give yourself a feel (though nothing is guaranteed but if you see F 5 or 6 then more than likely F will open up).

[zow]

Very helpful! Thanks. See a bit more below.

AS sees one less seat than BA so it's not phantom.

Also CX has expanded availability using CX points so you might want to look into that.
-->>But aren't the redemptions much more expensive? HKG-SFO is 7,000 miles, so wouldn't that be 105K Asia Miles in F? (Compared with 70K AS).


They serve hermolis ex HKG to NYC so I don't see why SFO would be different
-->>Yes, we had Hermolis HKG-PEK, as well. (In fact, we met the co-owner of Hermolis in HKG and PEK, but that's another story!)
The other part of the question was whether I can count on them having Kosher for Passover (KLP)?


It's likely an F seat will open up but check EF to see how many seats are available to give yourself a feel (though nothing is guaranteed but if you see F 5 or 6 then more than likely F will open up).

[Denverite]

Very helpful! Thanks. See a bit more below.

Remember, AS only allows bookings to be with one partner. Not sure when Virgin flights begin coding as AS but they won’t let you fly CX and then let’s say AA on to NY. Just something to bear in mind.

[mochjas]

Very helpful! Thanks. See a bit more below.

yes obviously you would rather use 70k AS but if you want to grab availability right away then using CX is a decent option

I have no idea about kosher for pesach meals

[zow]

Remember, AS only allows bookings to be with one partner. Not sure when Virgin flights begin coding as AS but they won’t let you fly CX and then let’s say AA on to NY. Just something to bear in mind.

Good to know re one partner. Fortunately, former VX flights are now showing as AS, so I should be able to tack on SFO-BOS.  I guess I will just pick a possible date and hope they will allow a date change if needed later.

[zow]

yes obviously you would rather use 70k AS but if you want to grab availability right away then using CX is a decent option

I understand. Makes sense, as MR transfer to CX. Thanks.

[Buruch]

I read on FT that vx becomes as for combining purposes on Apr 25.

[Yehudaa]

Thinking of flying TLV-HKG-YYZ on CX in F (J for the TLV-HKG segment, but booking with 70k Alaska if I can find availability) with wife and baby.

I hear that CX would charge 25% of the cash fare for a lap infant, which would be a fortune in this case, and it seems from CX's website that car seats are not allowed in F on any plane even if I wanted to book a 3rd seat for baby. Please correct me if I'm wrong on either of these points, I haven't done much research.

I have 2 ideas of how to do this, but I'm not sure if either would work. If anyone has any experience, please advise!

Option 1. Book 3 seats in F but keep baby on lap the whole flight. Basically a lap infant except that we pay for a seat that'll effectively remain empty instead of 25% cash. I imagine the extra 70 Alaska is worth less than 25% cash. Thing is, would they let me bring an infant with a paid seat on board without any way for that infant to sit in the seat that he's booked in?

Option 2. Book 2 seats in F for one parent + baby, and an economy seat for 2nd parent, and have 2nd parent take baby's seat in F once on board and leave economy seat empty. Similarly, I could book for both parents in F and infant in economy with a false DOB and then just carry infant as a lap child into F. Either of these ideas saves me 30k, but sound risky- would either work, or is it too much to risk for a savings of 30k?

[EJB]

Thinking of flying TLV-HKG-YYZ on CX in F (J for the TLV-HKG segment, but booking with 70k Alaska if I can find availability) with wife and baby.

I hear that CX would charge 25% of the cash fare for a lap infant, which would be a fortune in this case, and it seems from CX's website that car seats are not allowed in F on any plane even if I wanted to book a 3rd seat for baby. Please correct me if I'm wrong on either of these points, I haven't done much research.

I have 2 ideas of how to do this, but I'm not sure if either would work. If anyone has any experience, please advise!

Option 1. Book 3 seats in F but keep baby on lap the whole flight. Basically a lap infant except that we pay for a seat that'll effectively remain empty instead of 25% cash. I imagine the extra 70 Alaska is worth less than 25% cash. Thing is, would they let me bring an infant with a paid seat on board without any way for that infant to sit in the seat that he's booked in?

Option 2. Book 2 seats in F for one parent + baby, and an economy seat for 2nd parent, and have 2nd parent take baby's seat in F once on board and leave economy seat empty. Similarly, I could book for both parents in F and infant in economy with a false DOB and then just carry infant as a lap child into F. Either of these ideas saves me 30k, but sound risky- would either work, or is it too much to risk for a savings of 30k?

Not sure if the first option would work but the second causes people to get kicked off of planes. Strongly discourage it.