u/xr4tim

EDIT! MY LAYOVER IS HKG!

As the title states, I am traveling back from Manila on a Cathy flight this November. 14 hour overnight layover at HKG. I don’t believe I want to process though customs/immigration and try to leave airport due to late arrival into Hong Kong and the time of my departure the next day.

I’m thinking my best plan to stay at the airport hotel.

First question: Has anyone stayed here recently? Recommend? Seems very convenient to sleep and then have easy access to get to departing flight to ORD.

Second question: I am flying economy, booked through AA as an award ticket. I ve been combing this subreddit and the Cathy Pacific one to see any data points and being able to purchase an upgrade. Anyone with experience in that - would love to hear your experience.

I have One World Emerald status and I realize that doesn’t mean much on the actual flight but is helpful for lounge access.

I just started using Flighty on my current trip. The free version. It was proven helpful as 1 flight was cancelled and 3 legs were delayed.

Naturally I wondering what more benefits (in reality benefits- I see what’s listed- I’m wondering if they are useful in reality). Flighty Pro has and if anyone here uses the pay version? Have you found it so much more helpful than the free version?

I had 29 flights legs on American Airlines in 2025 and 18 so far in 2026 and I *finally* saw someone board when they announced Concierge Key. It was at DCA. I’ve never seen anyone board during this announcement from my home airport (regional airport in the Midwest).

I know that there is lots of previous posts and comments on the sub about the spend and “butt in seat” flight time you need with American to get invited to be Concierge Key, but I’m wondering if your home airport has anything to do with it? Does American want them at each airport so maybe if you’re in a smaller airport you’d get an invitation, even if you didn’t hit the spend/miles of, say, someone whose home airport is CLT or DFW?

I know DCA isn’t small but this is where I saw someone board and starting wondering if there are no Keys in my neck of the woods and if American considers that at all? Like, “we have no Keys in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we should find the highest spending most mileage person and offer them so we have at least one concierge key in that area.”

(Wasn’t sure if this flair was correct or if I should I used “I need help!”. The! At the end of the I need help flair makes it sound more urgent than this is)

Looking to travel in November for wedding in Manila. It looks like Cathay has decent schedule out of ORD, overnight layover in Hong Kong.

I also checked to see if it was worth it to take a positioning flight to LAX and check LAX-MAN but the prices did not drop enough to justify an extra flight/separate itnery.

Anyone fly this route? I am Platinum Pro earned via domestic travel. I’ve only had one international trip as a Platinum last year - to Dubai- airlines were AA/BA/Qatar. Flights booked via award miles and there was no possibility of purchasing upgrades. The DOH to ORD leg was brutal on my back.

Hoping to plan better this time.

Delta? I have two Delta flights coming up, likely three before the end of the year. I’m wondering if there is any value in trying to status match with Delta? Researching online, I haven’t discovered what the threshold to their challenge is to keep status after you match.

Looking for to see if anyone can speak, and would be willing, to share their experience.

What is the longest route on which you’ve ever received on upgrade?