Questions and Answers

I am trying to book Cathay first class HKG to US west coast using Alaska Air miles. The Alaska website doesn’t show Cathay so you have to call in to book. I had the MVP Gold reservation agent on the line for well over an hour searching for two first class seats for any time Dec 2015 through Mar 2016 and she couldn’t find any! (She was a super-good sport about the effort, and insisted that I wasn’t a bother with my tedious, quixotic enterprise). All she could find was two business class HKG-LAX in Feb ’16 so I grabbed those in a panic, but after your relentless harping on how F-ing AMAZING Cathay First is, I really do want to experience it. Do you have any tips on how to go about searching for and upgrading those lowly Business class tickets?

@ Ckrogstad — Finding two first class seats in advance is a bit trickier nowadays, but you can nearly always find seats close to departure: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/08/05/cathay-pacific-first-class-award-availability-trends/[/URL]

Search using the British Airways tool, then once you’ve found space call Alaska to book and/or upgrade: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/04/01/use-british-airways-award-search-tool/[/URL]

As Tiffany notes, I’d recommend searching for space online first using the British Airways website, and then you should be able to call Alaska and tell them exactly which flights you want.

Unfortunately nowadays Cathay doesn’t release two first class seats when the booking window opens anymore, though it is still quite common close to departure.

Good luck, and hope you get to try Cathay Pacific first class!