Aug 7, 2015, 8:58 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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Cathay Pacific Award Availability
when using Alaska Airlines Miles

North American CX Gateway Cities

New York City (JFK/EWR)
Boston (BOS)
Toronto (YYZ)
Chicago (ORD)
Vancouver (YVR)
Los Angeles (LAX)
San Francisco (SFO)

Notes and tips:

You cannot book CX award flights on alaskaair.com.

http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mil...rs/cathay.aspx

Quote:

Award Travel on Cathay Pacific

Book Your Award Travel: To use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ Miles on Cathay Pacific, call Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for Relay Services) 5:00 a.m. - Midnight (PT), daily

Both BA and JL websites can be used to search for CX partner inventory. JL is typically a more accurate engine. BA should only be used on a per-segment basis (in other words, do not search for LAX-BKK, search for LAX-HKG, then HKG-BKK). Note that AS award availability is only for 330 days, the BA engine will show availability to 365 days.

There are mixed reports on getting a CX stopover outside of HKG. By rule, HKG is the only allowed stopover. Stopovers are not allowed on intra-Asia award bookings (you will need a North American segment to be able to book a stopover).

All CX awards except for the intra-Asia award must either originate or end in HKG or North America. If you wish to fly Middle East/India/Europe/Asia/Australia to a CX destination beyond your initial flight to or from HKG that is not a North American destination, it will be two awards: XXX-HKG and HKG-YYY. CX intra-Asia awards do not include a stopover.

CX releases availability close in. If you do a change where you book another cabin and upgrade to F (which often may be the only way to get F on CX), you will be charged the $125 rebooking fee (waived for MVPG+).

*Have the AS CSR perform the search one leg at a time (Transoceanic first). That might yield more results than the whole itinerary at once.*

The CX forum has a FAQ on the CX experience.

Award eligible Destinations
By region.
(Dragon Air is not allowed on AS award)

Africa
Johannesburg (JNB)

Asia
Bangkok (BKK)
Beijing (PEK)
Cebu (CEB)
Denpasar (Bali) (DPS)
Fukuoka (FUK)
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Hong Kong (HKG)
Jakarta (CGK)
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) [Ends 30 April]
Manila (MNL)
Osaka (KIX)
Sapporo (CTS)
Seoul (ICN)
Shanghai (PVG)
Singapore (SIN)
Surabaya (SUB)
Taipei (TPE)
Tokyo (HND)

Australia/NZ
Adelaide (ADL)
Auckland (AKL)
Brisbane (BNE)
Cairns (CNS)
Melbourne (MEL)
Perth (PER)
Sydney (SYD)

India/Middle East

Bahrain (BAH)
Chennai (MAA)
Colombo (CMB)
Delhi (DEL)
Doha (DOH) [Discontinued as of Feb 2016]
Dubai (DXB)
Hyderabad (HYD)
Malé (MLE)
Mumbai (BOM)
Riyadh (RUH)
Tel Aviv (TLV)

Europe (To/from HKG only. NA is separate award)

Amsterdam (AMS)
Barcelona (BCN)
Düsseldorf (DUS)
Frankfurt (FRA)
London (LHR, LGW)
Manchester (MAN)
Milan (MXP)
Paris (CDG)
Rome (FCO)
Zurich (ZRH)

CX (Cathay) Award availability

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Dec 19, 2016, 6:44 pm

#1651

brizone

Join Date: Aug 2014

Location: SEA, ORD, SFO

Programs: AS MVPG 75K, AA PLT, DL GM, SPG GLD, Hyatt GLD, SPG GLD

Posts: 202

Use JAL to Find CX Award Space

Quote:

Originally Posted by rownada

I am seeing BA showing J=3 on HKG-AKL but two different Alaska agents insisted J=0 :-(

Use JAL (you won't be able to check close-in flights however, unfortunately).

Too many false positives on BA.

Dec 19, 2016, 6:57 pm

#1652

brizone

Join Date: Aug 2014

Location: SEA, ORD, SFO

Programs: AS MVPG 75K, AA PLT, DL GM, SPG GLD, Hyatt GLD, SPG GLD

Posts: 202

Quote:

Originally Posted by glocklt4

Last year when my wife and I booked a trip to Africa, it was pretty wide open for JNB-HKG or HKG-JNB. Now it seems that there are plenty of rev seats in J, but only partner awards available on Tuesday's for some reason (besides some random single seats scattered around). Trying to get 2 couples down there and back, but proving to be difficult with just Tuesdays.

Anyone know what's up with this?

Certain routes, certain days. It shifts seasonally, and sometimes changes because of changes in schedule and capacity. Dunno what happened specifically in this case, but my general sense is that CX award space has gotten tighter since they opened things up wider for Marco Polo and Asia Miles members this fall.

Learning those specific patterns (I was actively tracking 6 North American gateways beginning in August) was part of how I managed to book SEA-LAX-HKG-SIN-HKG-LAX-SEA in CX F this autumn.

I changed my itinerary about 8 times before I got the days, times and gateways that I wanted. Grab something close to what you need that you can live with, then modify it over the coming weeks or months. Not flying on your ideal days is frequently the compromise you need to be prepared to make in order to land the seats. I was lucky: my dates were entirely flexible...

Good luck!

Dec 20, 2016, 3:21 pm

#1653

RGWMD

Join Date: Feb 2001

Location: Chicago, IL

Posts: 12

AS not able to see/book 1 available cx f seat- available on AwardNexus, QF, BA, AA

I am seeing 1 CX F seat available on awardnexus doing their cx/jl search. However when I called AS to book, they could not see the seat, so I re-ran award nexus- still 1 F seat available. BA and QF websites show 1 available F seat. Called AA, they see one F seat.

Does anyone have a solution/workaround for the AS not able to see/book 1 F seat issue?

Dec 20, 2016, 3:39 pm

#1654

eponymous_coward

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot

Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite

Posts: 20,392

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGWMD

I refer you to my previous answer last month:

Quote:

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

How would you propose to do anything? Find out where the AS rep is and threaten at gunpoint? There is no "magically make my seats appear because they show in one GDS but not another" button that only FT folks know about. This thread is full of fails, so are the blogs. It indeed is what it is.

There still is no magic "make AS book my seat even if the phone reps swear they can't see it" button. None. Nil. It doesn't exist. There's no workaround. Nada. Negatory. Read the thread, you'll see this is a common complaint.

Dec 20, 2016, 4:05 pm

#1655

Mauibaby2008

Join Date: Jul 2012

Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black

Posts: 3,393

Does CX ever release TWO F seats US HKG 330 days out or is it only one, trying to figure out how to get significant other in the same cabin.. maybe book 1 F one J for the time being and wait to see if anything else opens up...

Dec 20, 2016, 4:17 pm

#1656

jamienbaker

Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 4,541

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauibaby2008

Despite lack of punctuation, you essentially asked two questions. The answers are no and yes, respectively.

Dec 20, 2016, 4:18 pm

#1657

Mauibaby2008

Join Date: Jul 2012

Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black

Posts: 3,393

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamienbaker

Despite lack of punctuation, you essentially asked two questions. The answers are no and yes, respectively.

So sorry to offend you! I've used flyertalk for many years Since when did we hire punctuation police? 🚨 (But thank you for the answer :-))

Dec 20, 2016, 6:20 pm

#1658

jamienbaker

Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 4,541

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauibaby2008

So sorry to offend you! I've used flyertalk for many years Since when did we hire punctuation police? 🚨 (But thank you for the answer :-))

In fairness, I thought the wiki addressed your questions. Alas, that's the American/Cathay page. I see the Alaska/Cathay page is less informative. 1F/1J the way to go. I've claimed as many as 5 F awards on a flight, albeit one at a time.

Good luck!

Dec 21, 2016, 12:10 am

#1659

beckoa

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: FAI

Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E

Posts: 42,953

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauibaby2008

Dried up significantly once the 744 was removed from stateside service

Dec 21, 2016, 12:19 am

#1660

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

I've seen two seats released, but it's usually very close to departure; forget planning in advance.

Dec 21, 2016, 6:06 am

#1661

jamienbaker

Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 4,541

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

I've seen two seats released, but it's usually very close to departure; forget planning in advance.

This is well covered in the AA/CX wiki.

1F released on all US flights when CX booking window opens.

AS window opens about a month later, there may be some awards left.

CX window closes fairly soon thereafter.

Sporadic awards released for next 10-11 months but only on flights that are F6.

CX window begins opening again roughly two weeks from departure.

BA can no longer book inside of 6 days, a major bonus to those with AA or AS currency.

Best strategy is to run awardnexus during the aforementioned ~11 month stretch. Then supplement with daily/hourly checks of one's own.

Jamie

Dec 21, 2016, 6:45 am

#1662

jamienbaker

Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 4,541

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckoa

Dried up significantly once the 744 was removed from stateside service

Actually, the change from releasing 2 F partner awards to just 1 occurred sometime around 2013 I believe, and was independent from the 744 retirement schedule. By the time the 744 was retired from SFO, 1 F release at the edge of the booking window was already the convention.

Dec 21, 2016, 9:18 am

#1663

stephem

Join Date: Nov 2004

Location: Manhattan Beach, California

Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever

Posts: 6,367

There are nine or more business class awards now available on CX 897 tomorrow December 22, if anybody wants to take an extended group of friends and family to Hong Kong for Christmas!

With the changes to AS MP for premium cabin earnings on some partners, it sure looks like I'll be moving my kids earnings over to Alaska this year.

Dec 21, 2016, 10:04 am

#1664

crimsona

Join Date: Jan 2011

Location: YVR to SEA

Posts: 2,535

I'm more amazed that there are fare codes on CX that will credit 25 percent to Alaska and 0 to Asia miles

I swear Alaska must be funding those ones out of their own pocket, if CX wouldn't even give anything to their own members (deep discount economy g and o)

Dec 21, 2016, 11:15 pm

#1665

lax.sea.jnu

Join Date: Apr 2008

Programs: AS MVPG

Posts: 454

Can anyone update the wiki? This statement isn't accurate: "All CX awards must either originate or end in HKG or North America. If you wish to fly Middle East/India/Europe/Asia/Australia to a CX destination beyond your initial flight to HKG that is not a North American destination, it will be two awards: XXX-HKG and HKG-YYY."

There are many destinations beyond HKG that can be flown to on one award. Also, TLV is a Middle East destination that isn't mentioned.

Does anyone know which of the F seats are blocked off in advance? Was able to pick up an F seat HKG-SFO in May, and was surprised to find all but 1 seat were already blocked off/unavailable for selection.