Cathay to Sydney

[piton]

I'm soon to depart to Oz (first-timer) for a month long holiday.

In day to day life I'm a 737driver for the orange people and thus have no real openings for an upgrade.I've got a full fare econ class cathay ticket and a colleague suggested I pre-book a seat in the back of the aircraft where the seats thin out and allow better chance of a free seat next to you.

I've been on the Cathay site but can't seem to find a link to pre book a seat.

Can anyone out there help?

Also has anyone had experience with asking for an upgrade as flight crew with a "normal" ticket

thnx

Piton

[redsnail]

It does depend on what aircraft you are on. I know the 744 rows ~47+ I think are only 2 instead of 3 deep near the windows. Downside, having to put up with people standing around waiting for the loos.
I wouldn't really try the "I'm crew, can I get an upgrade?" approach. I don't think it'll work and you won't endear yourself to any one. Prebooking seats isn't a bad idea. I was nearly bumped from a flight a couple of Saturday's ago from LHR. (BA/QF overbooking). Fortunately I was pleasant to the check-in staff and so I got on. (3 of us did, I think about 15 didn't)

Have you done long haul paxing before? If not, take a good book, noise cancelling headphones (for the inflight entertainment, not your Dave Clarks :D ear plugs (vital, absolutely vital), bottle of water and compression socks. If you can remember, take a small tube of moisturiser too. Saves your skin. Also remember spare batteries for the MD/CD player. If you don't use compression stockings, stick to slip on boots/shoes. If you get stuck in a crappy seat and can't move too much your feet will swell.

I am about to head back to the UK from Sydney after a very pleasant 3 weeks at home. :D Nice and warm here. :ok:
Enjoy!
I'll be starting with the Orange mob as crew in 2 month's time. :D

[jtr]

The "Hi I'm crew" line is highly unlikely to get you anywhere. As CX cockpit crew, we cannot get upgrades, so your chances are zip. As a guide, they tend not to put people in the back row of the middle in economy, but having said that, LHR is almost always full these days, so expect to be shoehorned.

[MrSydney]

I am pretty sure CX does not fly 744 so Sydney ex Hong Kong. You should check their website.

[christep]

At the moment you are right CX110/111 are operated by a A330, and CX100/101 by an A340-600. (Though they have been operated by 744s in the past recent past)

On the A340 the best seats in economy are 54 A/C which are the ones with legroom, but most likely a Marco Polo Club member will have grabbed them, and because you are adjacent to the bassinet position there's the danger of screaming kids all through the flight. Otherwise rows 64-67 are 2-3-2 rather than 2-4-2, but they are adjacent to the toilets as others have pointed out.

On the A330 it is also 54A/C for the legroom, and the 2-3-2 seating is rows 65-70.

The only other disadvantage of the 54A/C seats is that they have fixed, solid armrests which can be a problem if you are wider than average.

[piton]

Thanks for all the replies......

Yeah I did suspect that it's better these days not to mention being crew as everyones priviledges seem to have gotten more and more limited.


I have done medium long haul paxing - most of it space available so have sat in my fair share of jumpseats both flightdeck or cabin - (with CD player and ear plugs) though not many longer than 9 hrs - so Sydney will be a whole new ballgame. :D Must buy those compression socks :O

I'm only 5ft 3 so can't really ask for extra legroom - looks like I will just have to see what the luck of the draw is....

Looking fwd to warming up after snow showers while driving from Holland today!

[redsnail]

Piton,
The massive heat wave that had engulfed Victoria and NSW has passed. Sydney is comparatively chilly today. Temps low 20's and cloudy. I believe northern NSW and Queensland is still nice and toasty at +30 Deg C
Enjoy :)