People. They destroy an airline. (Update)

I finally got the "official" and yet "bureaucratic" response.

Trust me - it did take me a long way for the response (I will share some of my methods in the future). Before I comment anything, why don't you look at it first?

(The following response was edited for its format and some personal information was withheld.)

"Our Ref: XXXXXXX

11 April 2012

Mr Kung
Email: ______________________

Dear Mr Kung

Thank you for your follow up message.

It appears that there was a system error, a combined reply has been sent to you on 20 February 2012 under case reference XXXXXXX, reference number for the email you have sent to the Marco Polo Club. I am sorry that the message was not delivered to you accordingly. I have attached the below reply for your easy reference.

Once again thank you for contacting us.

Kind regards

__________________
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department
Cathay Pacific Airways

Our Ref: XXXXXXX

20 February 2012

Mr Kin Wah Kung
Email: ______________________

Dear Mr Kung

Thank you for your letter and contacting the Marco Polo Club, which has referred your concerns to us.

Please allow me to address the issues you raised in point for convenience:

Promotional Campaign
We very much appreciate your feedback in regards to our marketing campaign as it enables us to identify the areas that need improvement.

Check-in and lounge access
Marco Polo Club Silver member or above are eligible to use Business Class or designated club counters for check-in, and use our designated lounges at worldwide airports regardless of their ravelling class. Thus I am sorry to learn that you were denied access at both of our contract lounge provider, SAS Business Lounge and Swiss Business Lounge. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Cabin facilities and inflight safety
I will follow up with our Engineering Department to determine the cause of the observation you described with our cabin and seat facilities as it was not indicated as a defect on our reports. I have likewise raised your concern in regards to our inflight safety video and handling to the relevant departments for their review.

Condensation
The problem of water dripping was caused by condensation onboard the aircraft. The on-board environmental system on the aircraft produces very cold air, which cools the overhead area in the cabin to almost freezing point. When the aircraft doors are open for passenger embarkation and catering loading, the hot air from outside causes moisture to form on the cold overhead area, and subsequently drops of condensation may drip down in the cabin area during the flight.

At present, we have no way around this since our on-board environmental control system has to be efficient enough to cool the aircraft. Boeing and Airbus are looking into this matter but it may take some time to resolve. We appreciate your frustration over this matter, and hope the foregoing helps to clarify this problem in more detail.

Lounge quality - The Wing
Your comments regarding the food variety and computer station has been duly noted and forwarded to our Caterer and Product department for their future planning.

Baggage Claim
Whilst I am sorry that your baggage was damaged during transit, I am however most concerned to learn of the handling from our Baggage team in Chicago and San Francisco. Our staff are expected to assist passengers in a professional and timely manner and I regret that this was not the case.

I would like to assure you that various points you raised regarding our service and operation has been duly noted and forwarded to the relevant departments for their necessary follow up. In the meantime, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Mr Kung, thank you for choosing Cathay Pacific, and I hope that despite this regrettable experience, we will have the pleasure of serving you onboard our flights again in future.

Kind regards

__________________
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department
Cathay Pacific Airways
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named recipient, you must not read, copy or otherwise use the contents of this message. Any unauthorised use may lead to legal proceedings against you.

Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, incomplete or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of email transmission.

People. They destroy an airline. (Part 2 of 2)

About 2 months ago, I posted the following:

People. They destroy an airline. (Part 1 of 2)

Now, I think it is absolutely the good time to talk about it.

As you may aware, I took "People. They destroy an airline." exactly from Cathay Pacific's "People. They make an airline." which is CX's most recent marketing campaign, describing how Cathay Pacific is excellent in service.

Without going into the detail (as if you have read my blog, you should have know my issues with CX), I have emailed my concern about CX's service via Macro Polo Club. Just in case, I have sent the exact same thing by traditional method - Mail.

I sent the email on January 29, 2012. The letter was sent same day.

I have received the following on February 7, 2012 as response:


"Our Ref: XXXXXXX

Dear Mr Kung

We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence.

We are currently conducting a review of this matter with the relevant
party, and will write to you within 20 business days from the issue date
of this acknowledgement letter.

Thank you for contacting us.

Yours sincerely


Customer Relations Department
Cathay Pacific Airways

(This is a computer generated reply.  No signature is required.)"

As of now - this was the only response I have ever received.

Due to CX's recent IT upgrade, all phone lines are busy (and even dead tones).

But there is a thing I am certain with my entire experience with Cathay Pacific, which Cathay Pacific basically fails every single aspect of customer service.

Officially, I can classify myself as the unluckiest passenger Cathay Pacific ever has.

I have traveled with quite a few airlines. Cathay Pacific was one of the Skytrax's 5 star airlines that I have every traveled (another one is Singapore Airlines). The best rating get me the worst customer service.

Some people may think that (due to my past comments) I naturally hate Cathay Pacific (which I am not).

But based on my experience, the fact pretty much speaks the truth for me.

People. They really destroy an airline.

People. They destroy an airline. (Part 1 of 2)

The video said it all:

(For those of you don't know Chinese, you can refer to Celebrity chef given HK$40K cash compensation for 9-hour delay on CX255)

In this case, I will leave this topic open before I post my comments.

Stay tuned for update.

I make it...finally...

In this year - I will be United MileagePlus Premier Platinum.

But since the system is merging, I will have to wait.

But my Continental status has shown I am their top-tier elite.

Oh yeah...

Candy and Travel (and trip reports...)

Everyone love candy somehow, even for people with diabetes.

A lot of people do not realize that candy can in fact help you in travel at all.

Here is my personal experience during Christmas Eve and Christmas when I have to do a Mileage Run for my United MileagePlus Premier Platinum status for next year.

(The Candy I used was Ferrero Rocher Fine Hazelnut Chocolate.)

After I finished the so-called Christmas party (Birthday Party to be exact), I drove my car to the SFO Long-Term Parking.


And - Long-Term Parking was full (again). I was referred to other terminal parkings as the overflow for Long-Term Parking. So I parked at International Terminal G, which is about 5 minute walk to Terminal 3.


To me, even better - no need to wait for shuttle.

December 24, 2011 – UA 266 (San Francisco, CA > Chicago O'Hare)

I booked for the last flight to Chicago on Christmas Eve.

I checked in at the airport one day prior (as my sister was traveling to Hong Kong by the award ticket I booked for her on Singaporean Airlines). But since it will be a quick turn-over, I proceeded to Premier Access counter to get my return boarding pass.


I offered the Ground agents my candy. Candy worked like alcohol. The agents started talking about the mess about the merger of United and Continental. Oh well...they were not news, at least to me. Then I proceeded to Security.

Premier Access Security does not operate all-day long. But there is a line at the regular security that offer to premium customers. So, within minutes, I went through security and I was at the gate (my gate is exactly outside regular security).

My upgrade did not get cleared, which was expected. But I felt sad because I ranked #1 on the list (given that I purchased the ticket less than 2 days before departure) - I can't believe I could make that high.


All the ground agents appreciated my offering of candy. And this got more interesting when in the aircraft.

I offered candy to every single flight crew (including Captain and First Officer).

During in-flight service, when I asked for water, do you know what I get? The entire bottle.


(Usually, flight attendants give a cup of water only. What I got was enough to fill the cup for about 36 passengers - United's water is in a big bottle. Airlines do not give out the entire bottle easily, unless you are traveling in premium classes or you are top-tier elite, which I saw before when I last travel with Cathay Pacific.)


I was never thirsty during my flight at all time.

And the flight was landed ahead of schedule by about half an hour.

December 25, 2011 – UA 859 761 (Chicago O'Hare > San Francisco, CA)

I booked the first flight return to San Francisco (so in theory, I did not lose any time at all - as I spent my sleeping time in the air).

First, breakfast time (or mid-night snack) - Mr. McDonald - to be honest, nothing was really opened at that kind of hour, especially, my flight was first to land at Chicago O'Hare.

Unless my outbound flight, my upgrade was cleared ahead of time.

But there was an issue - my flight was overbooked (I had been wondering - how could that be overbooked, especially seats were available 2 days before departure).


So you know the next - Voluntary Denied Boarding.


How candy helped me? The ground agents did not intend to allow me to do so, as I was confirmed in First Class. (But for real - who cares about the breakfast?)

And for the entire duration of the mess (Yes - my flight was serviced by a Boeing 777), the agents had been extremely nice to me.

So United gave me my Christmas present - $400 Type B voucher.


Due to extreme mess for holiday travel, I was confirmed for an afternoon flight by standby for earlier.


My status and candy kicked in again.


I was confirmed on the next flight, which was 45 minutes later than the original.


And the agent assigned 7C as my seat.


(For those who do not know, 7C is the first row of Economy Plus with a large legroom space. Usually, Row 7 are filled the fastest, as well as Exit Row seats.)



I offered candy to every single flight crew (including Captain and First Officer) again.

Don't worry - I had not finished my water bottle yet (so I requested nothing for service).

And this got interesting - my seat cushion did not stick to the seat. I told the flight attendant and asked for a Skykit. He gave me 2.

And the funniest was - I returned to the same gate as I departed.

My cost:

Ticket - About $220 (after Type A voucher)

Candy - $6 (from Walgreens)

My earning:

2 Regional Premier Upgrade (Because of this trip and denied boarding, I make it to next level)

11076 Redeemable Miles (Original flight miles with 100% elite bonus and 100% route promotion)

$400 Type B voucher

2 X $75 Type A voucher

 

You can tell the rest - was my money worth?

 

Lesson:

I am not asking you to "bribe" the employees for the benefit.

What I am trying to express is they are humans as well. So if you treat them nice, they treat nice as well.

Showing or arguing as an entitlement class will never make your travel easy at all.

Am I too harsh to Cathay Pacific?

 I got couples of comments regarding my trip report about Cathay Pacific.

Am I too harsh to Cathay Pacific?

Or do I simply expect too much from Cathay Pacific?

Before I go into it, please take your time to review Skytrax's ratings for the airlines I have traveled last time:

Air China

Cathay Pacific

United Airlines

Also, I have reviewed again my trip reports. It turns out I don't think I am biased as other think.

Here are my explanation (and some of my concerns):

1. Unlike a lot of trip reports, I did not focus a lot of in-flight meals and snacks.

It was exactly my conversation on CX 807 with a senior flight attendant. At that time, the senior flight attendant offered me Kamameshi (it was the translation I found from Wikipedia - 煲仔飯 from Chinese) that was served in First Class. I sincerely decline it, as I believe there is no in-flight food that you can compare with what you can find on ground, which the senior flight attendant agreed.

While a lot of trip reports grade airlines based on food served, I intentionally leave this one out in understanding how airlines are operating.

I believe no airlines ever want to serve inedible food to their passengers, crews as well.

2. I have given credit when I review the Wing.

As a lot of people know the Wing is under renovation for now, I did not focus on what's outside. But what's inside only. Even my conversation with the agent at the Wing confirmed that the Cabin, with no doubt, has a better food offering.

3. CX's Skytrax rating has no doubt dropped.

For the record, based on Wikipedia's Skytrax page, CX's rating is dropping even they do still maintain as a 5-star:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skytrax

Based on the page, CX has officially dropped out from top 3 airlines of the year since 2010 (and they were in top 3 for the last 9 years).


4. Not the people, but the Corporate culture makes CX worse.

Surprisingly, not one, but several flight attendants told me that I should report my disappointment with CX directly.

They are claimed the same reason - CX is not willing to listen to their feedback.

As a service industry, feedback is important for a company's continuous improvement. Who do you think know what customers want, a C-level manager or a front line agent?

When the chain of feedback is broken, no matter what the front line does is meaningless, as they are faked based on policies and procedures.

I truly believe that all the flight attendants I talked to were willing to listen to my concerns and they were sympathetic to my disappointment. However, since the Corporate has no word from them, how can an airlines improve?

5. I am not alone...

Lucky, from One Mile at a Time, traveled on CX First Class for several time. Based on his comments, trip reviews, as well as his response from others regarding CX's service, he basically concludes that First Class is exceptional. But for the others, it really depends on the circumstances. In other word, he believes that there may be other which is doing better than CX.

6. Last but not the least - my expectation has been tiered based on Skytrax's rating, and I am being fair at all time.

Yes - I may be biased before in discussing CX without traveling with them (although I believe I was not).

But it is a fair question - Will you expect service level of the Peninsula from a Motel 6 Inn, or vice versa?

If you know how to answer this question - then you should know what standard I should use with Cathay Pacific.

Why elite status matters?

Why elite status matters?

I know that a lot of people do not really care. But read my example (which exactly happened to my family in last weekend). You will know why it is important.

My mother is a "regular" member of Asia Miles, a mileage accumulation program for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair (as Cathay Pacific and Dragonair has its elite program - Macro Polo Club).

She has some leftover miles at Asia Miles that is expiring. Since in most of the cases, I will sponsor my family's travel (To me, I feel it is a waste if I fly award travel as a elite. So I leave basically all of my miles to my family's disposal). There is no point that I attempt to renew those miles anyway (as they are merely 20000 miles).

Thanks to our fellow FlyerTalkers, I have helped my mother to score 75000 AAdvantage miles from Citi massive, crazy credit card promotion. My mother, then used those miles to book her a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific (Why one-way? American Airlines seems to have difficulty finding the return flight. So I booked her on Singapore Airlines for return.)

Since that 20K miles from Asia Miles still worth something. So she attempted to use them to buy duty-free. When she wanted to complete the transaction, she realized that she did not have Cathay Pacific reservation locator.

So she called Asia Miles (I know it was wrong...). The only issue was Asia Miles was busy. She was given a chance to leave a message (she left 2)...

Here was what get interesting - I called Macro Polo Club for my mother (By the way, I am a Macro Polo Club Silver).

I first discussed my itinerary next week with Macro Polo Club. Then I asked the $1 Million question - my mother's reservation locator. The following is what I have observed from that call:

1. My waiting time is less than 5 seconds.

2. My entire call with Macro Polo Club lasted less than 5 minutes.

3. I have successfully gotten the necessary information - my mother's reservation locator.

Here was the greatest - how long did it take for Asia Miles to call back? 2 days.

You are the reader - of course you can tell the message hidden in this experience:

1. Elites status matters, as always!

2. Think twice before relating to Cathay Pacific in any of your travel

3. How can Paul Loo keep his job? (By the way, Paul Loo is the General Manager for Cathay Pacific Loyalty Programmes)

4. The most important is - Cathay Pacific lost 3 customers permanently (my father, mother and sister).

My Blog - Funny Statistics

Sorry - I know this is not travel related.

But I can't resist as it is interesting (and fairly reliable - based on the size of the sample - you).

Based on the Pageviews statistics:

1. It will be a while for Apple to surpass Microsoft, as 68% of you are using Windows (while Apple is 27% combined, 19 for Mac alone).

2. People who use Apple Mac will mostly use Safari. But it is not true when it come to Apple i-product (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch) - I wonder, what App you use to browse internet?

3. Firefox is the most popular browser, followed by Google Chromo.

Will Chase live up with their promises? (Part 2)

A month ago, I talked about this:

Will Chase live up with their promises? (Part 1)

So Chase did live up their promise last time.

How about this time?

Before I move forward, you can look at the following to understand what's going on:

Improved United airlines card offer

Basically, the story can be summarized as:

1. Chase has been secretly planned a limited-time offer for its new Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card.

2. Some reliable sources confirmed the rumor.

3. Flyertalker (FTers) talked about how the offer would be, which I did provide my "totally speculative" insight on how the offer should have been (In other word, I was only guessing).

4. Chase pushed for first delay from October to November.

5. FTers were thinking about abandoning this big ship...and focused on another ongoing promotion which focus on MileagePlus elites who never had a United credit card before (How unlikely!!)

6. Chase delayed the promotion again...to First Quarter 2012.

And my million dollar question this time is - will Chase ever push this "offer" out ever?

There is 1 thing that I am sure I get benefited from this - my blog traffic has been increased. As I have been answering the issue with the offer and related credit cards questions.

Somehow, it makes me an "expert" of Chase (sort of...)

My opinion on this? Chase will not push this promotion out at all.Why?

The key is Citibank. Citi has put a complete stop on its super ridiculous generous 75000 the dAArkside (a term that is frequently used in Flyertalk in implying "AA" - American Airlines AAdvantage) miles offer and replace with a 50000 miles instead. By that generous offer, some people could in fact take advantages to earn up to 225000 miles from Citi to get a First Class ticket at Cathay Pacific from North America to Hong Kong (and good part is - no fuel surcharge).

If you spend some time to compare, it will not be difficult to find out Chase's card have more earning potential and perks than Citi's AAdvantage cards, which naturally put Chase in a better advantage. But Citi got a excellent offer that people can't resist.

But now - Chase lost the reasons - at the least - why offering more when others are offering less?

I still remembered from the street ad of Market Street of San Francisco, the old styled MileagePlus card - "That's a Plus" - only offer 30000 miles at that time.

Then why should Chase do something now when the game finally come to the end?

To be honest, I hope I will be wrong as a lot of people have the hope up for this...

Let's see Chase will live up another promise for this offer.

I will provide an update as soon as I have more information.

Will Chase live up with their promises? (Part 1)

With no doubt, this is a blog for my travel experience and wisdom in the back seat.

Why will I talk about Chase this time?

Chase, at the least, is the exclusive credit card partner for United and Continental (and some other airlines as well) in the U.S. So experience with Chase do impact your travel experience.

I want to discuss a funny issue that I recently face.
A FTer (member of FlyerTalk) posted a link for the application of United Mileage Plus Explorer Card. Unlike other existing offers, this one is targeted for United Mileage Plus Elite members (because the offer will not properly show until you have login at Mileage Plus).

This offer worth 50000 mile after first purchase (while the existing one for the rest is 25000 miles).

For those who take advantage of credit card promotional offers (App-o-rama) before, they will know that Chase has changed its term for a while before that only first-time cardholders will be eligible for the opening offer. In other words, you can only get the promotional offer once per product.

On August 15, 2011, I have read through the entire bonus terms and conditions and I have copied and pasted the following terms at FlyerTalk:

"This one-time bonus offer is only valid for first-time United MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers with new accounts. United MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers will only receive one 50,000 bonus miles award if they apply for both the United Explorer Card and the Continental OnePass Plus Card after 7/19/2011."

Literally, it only said that you can get this bonus only if you are first-time MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers. The key is no one ever has this card before, because this card was introduced on July 19, 2011. It only restricted your ability for double-dipping if you apply both  MileagePlus Explorer and OnePass Plus Card (as technically, you are earning the same miles).

Just in case, I pulled the application for Continental OnePass Plus Card and see the way how they address the bonus:

"This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time Continental Airlines personal cardmembers with new accounts. Previous and existing Continental Airlines personal cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer."

As you can see, the "Previous and existing XXXXXX Airlines personal cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer" line did not exist in MileagePlus Explorer.

So literally, the one-time only term should not work on this case, right?

On September 19, 2011, I checked the same thing again (to respond a post), and notice the following:

"This one-time bonus offer is only valid for first-time United MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers with new accounts. Previous and existing United Airlines cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer. United MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers will only receive one 50,000 bonus miles award if they apply for both the United Explorer Card and the Continental OnePass Plus Card after 7/19/2011."

So Chase fixed it, right?

Sure - but how about those people who applied under the old terms?

No one knows.

It is still early to tell (as the bonus sometimes take 6-8 weeks to show up). Based on the date that the link was posted, it is about the right time that the bonus should kick in.

I will provide an update as soon as I have more information.

UPDATE - As of today, those miles are pending transfer to MileagePlus. It seems like Chase live up the promise for this time...

United: The worst is not yet to come...

Finally, United announced the most controversial changes for its Mileage Plus (or MileagePlus) program:

The 2012 MileagePlus program

The detail is there. So I won't need to repeat that.

As other frequent flyers, my concern is, "is it over?"

I don't think so (Declaimer: I have no insider information from United. So everything is my straight speculation. But - I do own some shares of the new United.)

Why?

United is the first in Star Alliance having a 4-tiered elite program (I have only considered those you can earn within certain time frame. Revenue-based and lifetime status are excluded). When its current competitor, Delta SkyMiles, also has a 4-tiered elite program. It will be obvious to make a comparison.


Based on this, United will definitely re-shape the elite benefits again to increase revenues and increase the "competitiveness" of the program, even it was named best elite program in the Americas.

For Global Service, as they are revenue-based. It will be a doubt if United will ever touch them.

For 1K, don't be happy - Remember that United raised PQS to 120 before. With a 4-tiered system, raising PQM will eventually happen. It is a matter of sooner or later.

For Platinum Elite, Premier Executive and Gold Elite (which includes myself) - there are some trade-off. Disappointed but still a member of Star Alliance Gold. But I am extremely surprised that United cut Elite bonus miles (as they are the first American airlines to do so, while others are still giving out 100% bonus to their mid-tier elites.

For Premier and Silver Elite, they are the biggest loser for this change. Basically, having a credit card is way much better flying more. With the loss of comfirmed seating at Economy Plus at the time of booking, this status carry no meaning at all (Remember, to them, complimentary upgrade do not necessary exist).


For the rest - Good news - more Economy Plus, if you are willing to pay; and higher upgrade priority (Yes - Remember paid instruction first...so whoever do Miles+Copay will do earlier than CPU)."

Good luck everyone - it is going to be a bumpy ride in the unfriendly sky...

Is Cathay Pacific Ready to ditch oneworld for Star Alliance?

Before reading my post, please read the following:

Cathay Pacific reported ready to ditch oneworld

I am not an industry insider. However, this topic is so interesting that I have to provide my insight.

It is not going to happen, unless Cathay Pacific is so desperate to get out.

Their first obstacle is the U.S. Department of Justice.

If you travel a lot to Hong Kong, you probably know that the following cities have direct non-stop services from North America to Hong Kong:

• Toronto (Air Canada, Cathay Pacific)
• Vancouver (Air Canada, Cathay Pacific)
• San Francisco  (Untied, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific)
• Los Angeles (Cathay Pacific)
• Chicago (United, Cathay Pacific)
• New York (United/Continental, Cathay Pacific)
• Detroit (Delta)

This will give you a perfect idea - if Cathay Pacific wants to join Star Alliance (*A), it will be basically a cartel situation, which servicing to Hong Kong will be almost dominated by *A.

Do you really think Delta will stand still and not do anything? How about the Department of Justice?

Basically, Cathay Pacific will have to compromise in order to join *A, liking cutting routes/services.

But here is the issue - who will they give it to?

The only airlines that are capable to run this route are Delta and American Airlines, in which these are the possible replacements (in theory):

• American - Los Angeles, New York (Cathay Pacific just recently start their service in Chicago, so they will be allow to keep for a while)
• Delta - Minneapolis (Restore), New York

However, none of them have any extra aircraft to do this route. So?

Back to Square #1.

It will not seem worth the trouble to go with *A.

No offense, oneworld is not as organized as *A, but as the King of Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific does not need to do anything in order to strengthen its position in Asia.

Follow-Up: Chase MileagePlus Explorer Card “Baggage Claim” event & giveaway

I am not going to repeat what it is about. Read the following post from Frequent Flying, and you will understand:

United Airlines Chase Explorer Card “Baggage Claim” event & giveaway

As this event happens in San Francisco, so I took my chances (Yes - 2 times) to try and see what I can get, based on what I have learned from Darren's experience.

Basically, as Darren experienced, my United MileagePlus Premier Executive can help me get to the Priority Status line. Well, to be honest, they are really lousy in enforcing that - as I see a lot of unrelated people can still get into it (But I know they are not from United - so I will not be surprised that they don't know much about it).

My "Baggage" Check...

So what did I get - 2 Red Carpet Club One-Time Pass each time (Yes - I got the same thing twice), the SFO pin, and the bags:

By the way - the staff asked me a funny question - why do you need more miles? Oh well, what is the difference of asking "Why do you need more money?"

Anyway - I have wondered - why didn't they ask me to apply for the card? For real, the whole purpose is to get me to apply - but no one seem mentioning about that...oh well, thanks Chase...

UPDATE (09/02/2011) - It turned out that Chase did approve my card application (To be honest, if they are not offering me 50,000 miles based on the T&Cs, I will definitely not care about the new card...)

Lesson Learned from CX ORD-HKG $100 "Promotion"...

My very first blog...and my very first post...

As a way to celebrating the grand opening of my blog...I will share my perspective that I have learned (hardly) from the $100 ORD-HKG Promotion conducted by Cathay Pacific.

This promotion was discussed in my one of my favorite forum - FlyerTalk:

CX cheap fares draw: ORD-HKG $ 100 rt ++

$100 ord-hkg sweepstakes

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-asia-miles/1233508-100-ord-hkg-sweepstakes.html

In a summary, the promotion is CX will sell up to 100 economy seats for the new ORD-HKG on each Thursday (7/7, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28) on July, 25 each at 3:25:00 CST, in first come first serve, for $100. Travel must be done between September to December 2011.

Although I am the very first lucky flyer to get this promotion...no kidding...I got the deal by accident (as I ever expected that I would have gotten it), I still felt that CX North America does not know what they are doing at all...

Here were what I have learned and experienced in that last 4 weeks:

1. The most confusing promotion ever

Even CX pulled all the literature from their official site, but if you check out the FT links, you can easily realize that there was used to have a term and condition posted.

However, the T&Cs was never related to the promotion at all (and it was not posted in error). The T&Cs basically talked about the sweepstake running currently with the promotion.

Then you know the rest - people (including me before discovering all the details) were guessing at all time...

2. The worst promotion ever known

No offense - AFAIK...the worst promotion ever...

The reason is simple - based on Facebook, the link to the promotion was only shared less than 600 times...

3. Inconsistent ways to score the ticket

It was pretty simple to score the ticket.

Basically, at the right moment and click the right button - and you would see if you were a lucky one.

However, CX did an change for the week of 7/14, which required a refresh before you can click anything.

Anyone who know networking good enough would know what's going on...basically, CX asked all the people to initiate a DDoS attack against CX servers...

And then, CX changed it again for the rest of the weeks...

4. No contact information

Surprisingly, CX did not offer any ways for winners (or anyone else) to inquire about this promotion.

So basically, even I were lucky in scoring this deal...I was kind of in doubt that when would they contact me (For the record, it was faster than I thought - CX Vancouver called my 2 days later to book the ticket).+

5. Traditional CX value - cheap

This promotion, in airline industry terms, was subject to inventory control. In other words, CX in fact had the final say if they would allow you to fly on the date you want to.

Even I am personally from Hong Kong, I never ride with CX again - to be honest, I don't like CX at all - I thought that the 5-star rating that they are getting does not reflect the truth.

Since now I have the chance, I will definitely do a trip report and see how worse can CX be and see if it was my bias or the truth.