Subject to these terms and conditions, passengers holding a ticket issued by Cathay Pacific (ticket number beginning with 160), and travelling in Economy cabin on Cathay Pacific marketed and operated flights are able to reserve a seat for an additional fee or free of charge, depending on their eligibility as stated within this page.
Seats are subject to availability and offered on a first come, first served basis upon request. Fees when applicable are based on the individual flight sector per passenger and seats will be assigned upon full payment collection.
Cathay Pacific may change passengers’ seat reservations, whether before travel, at check-in or on-board, for operational, security or safety reasons. For seats reserved free of charge, Cathay Pacific will not offer any compensation for any changes made to such free of charge seat reservation. For seats reserved with the payment of an additional fee, passengers may be eligible to request a refund subject to the conditions in these terms and conditions.
Extra legroom seat reservations are free of charge when the passenger is:
1. a Cathay Diamond or Gold member¹; or
2. an oneworld Emerald or Sapphire member¹; or
3. holding a ticket on Economy Flex fares.
Passengers that are not one of those described in clause 4 above may reserve an extra legroom seat for an additional fee. However, extra legroom seat reservations are not available for unaccompanied minors, and bookings with children and/or infants.
Preferred seat reservations are free of charge when the passenger is:
1. a Cathay Diamond or Gold member¹; or
2. an oneworld Emerald or Sapphire member¹; or
3. holding a ticket on Economy Flex fares; or
4. travelling with a child or an infant (aged under 12 years at the commencement of travel) under the same booking (in which case preferred seat reservations are free of charge for the passenger and child or infant).
Passengers that are not one of those described in clause 5 above may reserve a preferred seat in advance for an additional fee. However, preferred seat reservations are not available for unaccompanied minors and Group Bookings. “Group Booking” means a booking with Cathay Pacific with 10 or more passengers under that booking.
Regular seat reservations are free of charge when the passenger is:
1. a Cathay Diamond, Gold or Silver member¹; or
2. travelling with a Cathay Diamond, Gold or Silver member¹ in the same booking and tickets issued on the same fare type; or
3. an oneworld Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby member¹; or
  holding a ticket on Economy Flex fares or Economy Essential fares; or
  travelling with a child or an infant (aged under 12 years at the commencement of travel) under the same booking (in which case regular seat reservations are free of charge for the passenger and child or infant).
Passengers that are not one of those described in clause 6 above may reserve a regular seat in advance for an additional fee. However, regular seat reservations are not available for unaccompanied minors and Group Bookings.
Passengers who do not purchase a seat reservation in advance may choose a preferred seat or a regular seat free of charge during check-in. However, passengers may not be guaranteed a particular seat type and/or sit together with their companion(s). Please note online check-in opens 48 hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time for Cathay and oneworld members, and all passengers in the same booking with them. For others, online check-in opens 24 hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time.
Please be aware that seat reservations will only be held until 20 minutes before the check-in counter closure for your flight. Check-in counter closure times vary by departure airport, please refer to the airport information pages for further information. Any paid seat reservations that are not used will not be refunded.
Extra legroom seats have certain characteristics, including the following specifications:
1. There is significantly more legroom than other seats in the Economy cabin.
2. Extra legroom seats are located near the emergency exit doors².
3. Exit row seats are often near toilets or galleys, so there may be increased traffic at certain points during your flight.
4. Personal items and luggage must be stored in the overhead bins, as no under-seat or seatback storage is available.
5. The armrests between extra legroom seats cannot be retracted because meal trays are stowed in the armrest section.
6. Your personal TV must be stowed during taxi, take-off and landing.
7. Some seats may see a reduction in seat width due to the location of the personal TV handset.
Passengers must fulfil exit row safety requirements when occupying seats located near the emergency exit doors. Please refer the exit row safety requirements stated on this page. Cathay Pacific has the sole discretion, at check-in or boarding, to determine whether a passenger meets the requirements to sit on a seat located near the emergency exit doors. If a passenger does not fulfil the necessary safety requirements, Cathay Pacific may re-assign an alternative Economy seat before or during the journey without a refund of the seat reservation fee.
Seat reservations are non-transferable. If a passenger decides to rebook the flight/date, the seat reservation can be transferred to the new flight/date within the same booking. Please note seat reservations cannot be transferred to another origin, destination, booking, or passenger, and, if done so, will be treated as forfeited.
Passengers may change to another seat that has the same reservation fee as the seat that was reserved by the passenger or to a seat eligible to reserve for free without paying any additional fee. Please note when changing to a seat which is reservable free of charge or for a lower seat reservation fee, any difference in the prices of seat reservation fees is non-refundable. If the passenger changes their seat to another seat which has a more expensive seat reservation fee, the fee difference will be collected (if any). Please note that Cathay Pacific may amend the applicable seat reservation fees.
Seat reservations are non-refundable except for the below scenarios. Cathay Pacific will issue a refund for paid seat reservations if the seat is not utilised under the following conditions:
1. Flight changes due to disruption.
2. Flight is cancelled by Cathay Pacific.
3. A connecting flight operated by Cathay Pacific is missed because of delay of a previous Cathay Pacific operated flight.
4. Selected seat is no longer available once passenger has changed to a different flight on the same route.
5. Seat reservation has been changed due to operational, safety, or security reasons and no suitable alternative seat has been offered.
6. Passenger upgrades to a higher cabin using Upgrade Bid, Asia Miles, bookable upgrade or by paying the fare difference on the same route.
7. Passenger holding a paid regular seat reservation, rebooks their ticket to either Economy Essential fares or Economy Flex fares on the same route.
8. Passenger holding a paid preferred seat or extra legroom seat reservation, rebooks their ticket to Economy Flex fares on the same route.
9. Passenger purchases another seat reservation for a higher fee on the same flight.
Please note if the passenger changes to a seat which is free of charge or lower in price, any difference in fees and/or applicable fees are non-refundable.
To request a refund, passengers must fill out and submit the refund request form online³ or contact Customer Care within 30 days from the original departure date of the flight for which the seat reservation was purchased. Please note that if a passenger submits a refund request form online, that passenger’s seat reservation will be automatically cancelled.
If Cathay Pacific determines that the passenger is eligible for a refund, such refund will only be made in the amount originally charged, and in the original form of payment and currency used, at the time of purchase. If the purchase was made with Miles Plus Cash, any used portion of the seat reservation, if applicable, will be deducted from the amount that was paid in cash first. Any remaining amount due and owing for the used portion of the seat reservation that the cash portion did not satisfy in full will then be deducted from the amount that was redeemed in Miles (at the same rate of Miles used to redeem). The remaining amount of cash or Miles (as may be applicable) will be refunded accordingly. Any refunded Miles will be returned to your Cathay Membership Programme membership account. If you have purchased/redeemed for more than one seat reservation together with flight ticket or other services in a single transaction using Miles Plus Cash, the number of Miles and amount of cash used to pay/redeem such tickets, seat reservations and/or other services will be counted in proportion to the price of each ticket and travel extra purchased when Cathay Pacific makes the deductions and refunds.
“Miles Plus Cash” has the same meaning as ascribed to it in Cathay Pacific’s Online Booking/Mobile Booking terms and conditions.
Amounts paid for seat reservations are not eligible for earning Asia Miles.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Cathay Pacific reserves the right to adjust the applicable fees and revise these terms and conditions at any time without notice. The applicable fees are stated on this page.
These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of Hong Kong. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms and conditions shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong.
In case of any discrepancies between the English version and any translated version of these terms and conditions, the English version shall prevail.
These terms and conditions may be changed from time to time.

_{¹Eligibility for seat reservation is based on the membership status at the time of the request.

²Please note the below extra legroom seats are not located near emergency exit doors:}

_{Boeing 777-300 (77A): 40C
Boeing 777-300 (77K): 40C, 40H}

_{³If the passenger has upgraded to a higher cabin using bookable upgrade, refund requests can be made by contacting Customer Care only.}