Wheels Up: that is because it IS third world. The other salient fact to bear in mind is that CX seems to have an institutional policy to treat it's staff with contempt. The staff travel system is degrading, frustrating and above all, it is costly. They have turned it into another profit center, instead of what it should be: a benefit to staff to help them travel and facilitate their family and holiday needs. As you mentioned, you only have to experience the BA system to appreciate how appalling our system is. Now they have gone and basically put in place a bidding system for empty seats that will probably kill staff travel for all intents and purposes. As I mentioned in another post, if that is the case, they can expect hundreds of expat pilots to start disrupting the roster in the biggest of ways, as we will be forced to manipulate our travel so as to ensure we are spending time with our families. They will reap what they sow. Greed is always a self-destructive tendency, and CX has just taken one too many bites out of the cherry...