[tomyam42]

Cwoodward. May I direct your attention to B-LBI and B-LBK. That is two more than you listed, so wrong again.

When you quoted me you omitted my words “most of the time”. I do not intent to search the records to see if China service was over or under 50% in any unspecified period. We could even waste time discussing whether Taiwan is in China.

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ASK1945, sparkyflier, christ

[onajetplane]

I just tried to make a multi-city booking with Cathay (guided by results I found on Google flights). Using a macbook, the flight option results looked like they were designed to be viewed on a phone. I gave up as I couldn’t navigate away from the economy light no bags that they presented more than once despite that was not the class I selected. Now flying emirates, albeit was keen to return to the Wing at HKG.

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tomyam42

[tomyam42]

Today I again tried to make a multi-city booking online and reached the point where I was told they needed to know who was flying when I received an error message saying that they were experiencing technical difficulties and that I should start again. I did so with the same result so I reached out to my contact in Cathay Manila for help. She advised that she was no longer able to arrange ticket issuance in Manila as the ticketing office there has been closed. Instead she gave me a HK telephone number to call. I called and quickly reached an agent who made the same booking but at a higher price. I insisted on paying the price that I had found on my web booking. After multiple exchanges the agent put me on hold while making investigations.
About 20 or 30 minutes later she reverted and advised that the difference was due to Philippine Travel Tax (for which I am exempt). The web site booking does not include this. The program that agents in HK have to use requires that the tax be applied. There was not way for her to avoid it. She had made dummy bookings herself for the same itinerary and found that the problem could be circumvented if I used Firefox instead of Chrome. I suggested that Cathay should modify its booking program to overcome the problem but she did not hold out any hope that she could get anyone to make a change. She said that I should contact the Manila office where tickets without travel tax could be issued. But it was the Manila office that gave me her number because they cannot tickets any longer.
There’s a hole in the system dear Cathay, dear Cathay, there’s a hole in the system, dear Cathay, a hole.
My contact in Manila is trying to find a solution. Both Cathay employees tried very hard to render all the assistance they could. It just seems that the management of Cathay Pacific, which in its 2023 Interim Report describes the company as a leading premium lifestyle brand, doesn’t know or care how appalling its computer systems are.

[tomyam42]

Having complained so widely about Cathay’s website I should report that at least one of my cries fell on fertile ground. I tried again to make a multi-city booking using Chrome and it sailed straight through.

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cwoodward

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