Amex, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott all are Cathay Pacific transfer partners and make it easy.
Regular First Class travelers to Asia will know that mileage award space is often harder to find than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Not only are airlines releasing fewer award seats, but also a number of airlines are cutting down on a First Class cabin altogether.Well, it just so happens we were digging around at the bottom of a rainbow near FCF headquarters and look what we found: a First Class pot of gold in the shape of a Cathay Pacific aircraft, offering very good First Class award space to Asia from all its U.S. gateway cities.
Cathay Pacific – That’s Hong Kong’s Airline, Right?
We all know Hong Kong has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. The U.S. Government advises extreme caution for those traveling to Hong Kong due to civil unrest, and of course we completely comply with that advice. This special report is not about visiting Hong Kong at present (and of course we hope that changes very soon).Instead, this special report is about using Hong Kong as a First Class entry point to Asia, using miles, for up to 87% off. From there, Asia is your oyster.
And you never have to leave the Hong Kong airport, which is without incident we’re told, and the lighter traffic these days makes it easier to navigate than usual.
So how to get there? This month it’s Cathay Pacific all the way. Now, readers who don’t have Cathay Pacific miles might be tempted to do a “harumph” and storm off. Don’t. We’ve got good news. Cathay Pacific is a point transfer partner with four credit card rewards programs (Amex, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott), so you can transfer points to Cathay Pacific miles. Plus, Cathay Pacific is also a oneworld partner, meaning you can redeem American miles (more on this below). Or you can transfer points to other airline mileage programs. So, let's go to Asia in First Class.
Right Now: How to Win in First Class Using Miles With Cathay Pacific
FCF found good First Class award availability to Hong Kong from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, as these recent FCF Sweet Redeems alerts demonstrate:First Class to Asia from Boston, Chicago, and New York
First Class to Asia from Los Angeles and San Francisco
First Class to Asia Using Cathay Pacific Miles
Mileage Cost: Cathay Pacific’s mileage program, Asia Miles, uses a flight distance chart. This means the cost is based on the actual distance flown. For departure from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Hong Kong the cost is 220,000 miles round-trip, and from Boston, Chicago, and New York, it’s 250,000 round-trip miles.No Miles? No problem? Save Up to 81% by Buying Miles
Just buy Amex Rewards points. They cost 2.5¢ each. Given that the baseline First Class fare is often $34,100 from New York to Hong Kong (crazy, right?) and given that you can buy 250,000 Amex Rewards Points for about $6,250 and that taxes with the Cathay loyalty program generally cost $133, you save $27,717, or 81%.Related Reads:
- When to Buy Miles Instead of Purchasing a Normal Published Fare is here.
- How to Buy American Express Membership Rewards Points is here.
- Three Knockout Reasons Amex Rewards Beats Chase Rewards is here.
- Six Plays to Consider When There’s Only One Mileage Seat Available is here.
How to Win in First Class to Asia Using American Miles
Mileage Cost: American’s mileage program is a zone based program, meaning the cost is based on one zone to another. So any departure in the 48 U.S. states goes for 220,000 American miles round-trip--and to almost anywhere in Asia, including places such as Singapore or Thailand, for example.American Partner Power 101: Keep in mind that when using AA miles to fly Cathay Pacific you’ll encounter less availability. This is because Cathay Pacific generally releases less award space to AA than to its own mileage members.
Save Up to 87% by Buying Miles: Simply purchase American Airline miles when they’re on sale. A recent sale had them at 1.9¢ each. Again, given the baseline First Class fare is often $34,100 from New York to Hong Kong, and you can buy 220,000 American miles for about $4,286 round-trip (includes about $67 in award tax). That’s a staggering savings of $29,814, or 87%.
Great space, snap frozen: If you need a little more time to get your rainbow colors lined up, American also lets you “snap freeze” free award space for five days on Cathay Pacific. Plus you can book Cathay Pacific online, or if you prefer, by phone. For more on When Booking American Mileage Flights Over the Telephone Is the Way to Go, go here.
Hong Kong: First Class Gateway to Asia: Hong Kong’s location makes it a convenient gateway point to much of Asia, as the map below shows. From there you can either continue in First Class or travel the shorter leg in Business Class.
Let’s look at using American Airlines miles to connect through to other Asian cities.
Using Credit Card Points
Lowest Mileage Cost: Japan Airlines has the lowest mileage cost and it uses a flight distance chart, so the cost is based on the distance flown. From San Francisco to Hong Kong, the cost is 165,000 miles, and from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to Hong Kong the cost is 190,000 miles.Transfer Credit Card Point Partners to Japan Airlines: Marriott.
Transfer Chase Points to Fly First Class on Cathay Pacific: British Airways is a Chase airline transfer partner, meaning that if you only have Chase points and no other currency, then you might want to transfer points to British Airways. For departure from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco the cost is 288,500 miles, and from Boston, the cost is 412,000 miles to Hong Kong.
Looking at the data, using Hong Kong as a transit hub is as safe as anywhere else right now. If only because only passengers holding a ticket for a flight within 24 hours can access the airport.