thrillhouse763

Kinda scares the crap out of me but I'm seriously considering it.

Anyone have a feel on ease of J availability on CX831 JFK-HKG in November?

If I go down this route, should I just setup AwardNexus and check a couple times a day?

MasterJ

Saw 2 seats were available on BA, call AA, they can't see.

Was this common?

ralphs

Commonly if there is a connecting flight involved. In this case you need to separately verify the availability of those individual flights that make up the entire itinerary.

greg0ire

My wife and I enjoyed CX F LAX-HKG-BKK, but it looks doubtful it will open on 7/23 for BKK-HKG-LAX. One seat had popped up occasionally, but it always disappeared and two never popped up at the same time. Looks like we'll be "stuck" on JL BKK-NRT-LAX with only the second leg in F.

At least I get to try a new airline.

MasterJ

Thanks!

greg0ire

Flight is within 24 hours. There are two F seats available for purchase and only one available via reward. Has CX released two reward seats when only two are available within 24 hours?

jamienbaker

Almost never. I did see it one August from Chicago. But the consistently documented policy is Revenue Minus One.

Edit - you should still grab the one. What if someone else does, and then there's a cancellation and another award is released? You'd be screwed.

greg0ire

Can't do it. If my wife goes home via JL and I do CX she won't be pleased.

jamienbaker

Ah, I figured you were both together in J on the same CX flight. I didn't realize you were on split carriers.

greg0ire

Together on JL F...hoping for CX F.

no1cub17

Why not just stick with JL F? Looks like an impressive product from what I've seen.

ps9a

Unless it's more convenient time-wise, I actually prefer JL F to CX F-- food, champagne, service win hands-down for me. So I wouldn't sweat it. You're flying well.

25milesfromhome

I'm on JL F for the outbound leg of our trip this fall. As much as I like CX F, I'm looking forward to trying JL. Have heard nothing but good things about it.

jamienbaker

I agree JL significant exceeds CX when it comes to food & wine.

My objection (and not a strenuous one) is JL staff/pax ratio is poor relative to CX, and the cabin itself is 33% more crowded.

Ex-Asia, I'd also be influenced by the fact that the F Pier is significantly better than the JL F lounge at NRT. But departing from the States this wouldn't be an issue.

Just throwing a couple things out there. Truth be told I'd pick JL over CX since I enjoy the food so much.

Jamie

TravelLawyer

I guess I am the sole defector. I flew CX F ORD-HKG in December then JL F ORD-NRT-ORD in March. Hands down, I preferred CX F. The flight attendants on CX went above and beyond to deliver great service. I had to work on a project with a tight deadline that prevented me sleep on CX, so the FA stopped by to check on me pretty much every hour asking if I wanted drink refills, if I wanted a snack, pointed out the northern lights to me, addressed me by name, etc. I could not have asked for a better experience.

The FA's on JL just were not that nice, proactive (I had to ask for every thing - a drink, a snack, for them to make my bed, etc - they offered nothing), and in some instances very demanding (like waking me up and telling me I had to change out of my pajamas over an hour before the captain cleared for landing or turned on the fasten seatbelt sign). But of course, they do it with a fake smile and "please" and "thank you" so I think most people think they're providing good service.

I also did not appreciate the temperature setting on JL...I was literally sweating the entire flight. CX was also warmer than the average US carrier, but not to the extent JL was. And I was also not impressed with the food on JL, at least ex-US. I got an overcooked filet with some kind of gelatinous gravy. I also much preferred the caviar on CX. And I do agree that the food ex-Japan is great especially if wagyu is on the menu, but not worth the service issues.

For our upcoming trip, I could have gotten more JL F seats to HKG than CX F seats (right now we're in J one way, and F the other), but I'd rather be in CX J than JL F (especially since I would have needed to take a connection in that case - not worth it!).