Questions and Answers

Hi Everyone!

I am a oneworld emerald member with CX, I am making a trip to the US this coming summer, and since I will be flying two segments in coach (AA), was wondering whether or not my OWE status would give me priority on the upgrade list.

Thanks for your help!

Sadly no — airlines generally only upgrade their own elites unless there are operational issues. As an American EXP I wouldn’t be eligible for upgrades on Cathay either.

My wife (OW Emerald (QF Platinum)) and I (no status) once got an op-up from premium Y to J on BA SIN-SYD. I presume it was due to her status. They certainly swing by with the personal on board welcome the 3-4 times we have flown with them.

Never had a single upgrade of any type with QF, despite her 3 years of platinum with them, and year of gold (OW Sapphire) before that.

I recently flew MIA – LAX – HKG – BKK…… I was systemwide upgraded LAX – HKG on CX…. but flew in Y on HKG to BKK and the Cathay FA came up to me by name to welcome me aboard and asked if there was anything that she could do for me as I am an Emerald OneWorld member….. I did not get any upgrade (and I saw seats available) but she did know that I was EXP on AA. It was a short flight- perfect in coach.

(and to be clear- SWU on CX due to the 10 hour delay my DFW-HKG flight…. at the Admirals Club they shifted us to Cathay (via LAX) so we did not wait that 10 hours in DFW…. that LAX First Class Lounge was amazing….. happy we changed flights)

[USER=1690]@Rob in Miami[/USER] I’m assuming that your SWU cleared when you were still booked on AA’s flight and then AA transferred you to CX in the same class of service as the SWU?

I dont think that AA can use a SWU on CX if the SWU didnt clear on the original AA flight.

Hi. Yes. You are correct (and that is why I edited my response)….. we were MIA-DFW. DFW-HKG on SWU upgrades in Biz…… and from HKG-BKK we were normal economy passengers but the FA was kind to come up to me and say hello – THEREFORE- I know that she knew I was Emerald status. That status does not help in any normal way for an upgrade- as I saw empty seats in Biz.

(Edit again: Our AA137 flight was delayed 10 hours at least and we opted for a LAX to HKG flight which was so nice)

Friend of mine flew today on a BA 777 as a QF Platinum (OW Emerald) and got an op-up from J to F, [I]traveling on a QF award ticket[/I]. Crazy! You’d think there’d be a lot of people ahead of him in the upgrade queue. He even managed to bag 1K.

Each airline prioritizes upgrades differently and I think op-ups can be at the agents discretion. I would assume that in your friend’s case, the flight might have been over sold in economy so that some Y pax was bumped to J and some J pax were jumped to F. The agent may have decided to upgrade all BA elites first then still had space so decided to bump anyone with OW Emerald?

I am Exp on AA and got upgraded from PE to J on a CX BOS-HKG flight because of overbooking. Totally worth it for a 15-hour flight! I guess CX elites don’t often travel on Saturdays at 1:45am :p

I guess you don’t have to be top tier elites to get lucky, back when I was a mere CA silver I got OPUG on an LH flight from FRA to BOS. I was so confused…;)

Sometimes it’s just luck. Enjoy what falls into your lap 🙂

The agent’s have to pick people for op-ups somehow and if they’ve exhausted elites of their own airline, so the next logical group would be passengers with any type of elite status with a partner carrier. That would explain both of yours above.

Cathay gave out complimentary Marco Polo Green if you signed up as a business client, even if you didnt fly with them. That status got my father a few Eco to Prem Eco upgrades for JFK-HKG. That route in particular is almost always full in the back.