Frogman and Air Profit,
Maybe you missed my post in another thread, so I'll reproduce it here for you and others:
After an experience with staff travel where seniority was NOT respected, BN told me, directly to my face that FOC ticket "bookings" are confirmed randomly and not in seniority order.
Therefore, although you may be a 25-year captain with a waitlisted PRI4B FOC on a particular flight, another staff member, junior to you, may have his or her PRI4B FOC CONFIRMED while you are still waitlisted. That person, junior to you, will get a seat on the plane before you do.
If you don't believe me, ask BN, flight control or anyone in the BSC.
This behavior completely invalidates the entire "seniority-based" staff travel system at CX.
I am SO glad I am on a base for the rest of my life AND I can drive my car to and from work and not have to use this new disaster-of-a-system to buy (overpriced) tickets on (too few) airlines to commute 3,000 miles (as some do) to and from my base.
The only time I can complain is when I use (once per year) my FOCs to go somewhere. So, it goes without saying that every time I fly on CX there is a problem.
Almost a generation ago, I could grab a pen and a ticket from my desk drawer, write the origin and destination, my name and employee number, give it to the agent at the check-in desk at the airport, and fly around the world, for free. Wow, we've sure progressed, haven't we?