Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - More competition on HKG-BKK?

I read somewhere Dragon Air is planning two daily flights on this route. If I remember correctly, there will also be a new Thai carrier, launched by a medical doctor, in addition to Orient Thai (OX -- which looks like CX on the flight info board), which has been flying that route. I might have mistaken but this one is also contemplating BKK-HKG.

A few travel agents in BKK I know say TG and CX have long been colluding to fix prices on this route (They are 'good friends,' they say. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif)

Well, if those TAs believe their is collusion to keep fares high on this route, they ultimately are the beneficiaries because the airlines can afford to pay them fat commissions. If this route got into low pricing competition, then these commissions would drop -- or be eliminated altogether as has been the case in NAmerica -- and in the end, TAs lose money selling this route, not making more.

A colleague of mine , on his free award
ticket from LAX to JNB...make a stopover
in HKG and purchased a paid tkt : HKG BKK
$US600 some for that round trip...and that
was during the SARS period in May..
There were so few seats so CX charged what-
ever they wanted . !!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AA2MM:
A colleague of mine , on his free award
ticket from LAX to JNB...make a stopover
in HKG and purchased a paid tkt : HKG BKK
$US600 some for that round trip...and that
was during the SARS period in May..
There were so few seats so CX charged what-
ever they wanted . !!!!</font>

Going to be on such a trip next year and may make such a sidetrip. It seems the OW Visit passes maybe a good deal. Or one of the 5th freedom carriers (unfortunately for me, nothing allied to KL). FWIW, you could almost get CX BC BKK-HKG-BKk for that money.

Well actually KA is operating Chartered flights to BKK since Jul and most likely will be a schedule operation around OCT this year oh more or less the same time as CX flying back to PEK if things go smoothly. And you will see KA rapid expansion within the next few years as they will utilize thier rights to TYO, SEL, KUL, MNL and SYD. And don't be surprised that u will see a KA plane in LHR, YVR, YYZ and even JFK

For HKG-BKK (and if schedule allows) I highly recommend AY J. I've been using them for 4 RT's since I first flew with them early this year. Although service is sometimes hit or miss, and times are a bit awkward, for half the price of CX J (and better wine list!) I would gladly use them.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jkc22:
For HKG-BKK (and if schedule allows) I highly recommend AY J. I've been using them for 4 RT's since I first flew with them early this year. Although service is sometimes hit or miss, and times are a bit awkward, for half the price of CX J (and better wine list!) I would gladly use them. </font>

Where do you get the tickets from if they are not published fares and how much?

So Ay flies BKK-SIN some days and BKK-HKG on the others?

Indeed, AY only operates HKG-BKK v.v. 3 days in a week (Tues, Thurs, Sat), and BKK-SIN v.v. 4 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun).

AY 92 HKG-BKK departs at 9:25PM and arrives in BKK at 11:10PM.

AY 91 BKK-HKG departs at 2:40PM and arrives in HKG at 6:30PM.

Not the most convenient times, but for half the price of a CX J ticket for about the same level service as CX regional J. Tickets can be purchased at any Hong Kong travel agency offering ticket discounts. Usually they will price a "D" fare for about HK$3500 (US$450) RT.

My other favorite AY short-haul route is BKK-SIN v.v., which can be had for about THB11,000 (US$244) RT, priced in "D" or "I" fare. Talk about bargain J class prices!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AA2MM:
A colleague of mine , on his free award
ticket from LAX to JNB...make a stopover
in HKG and purchased a paid tkt : HKG BKK
$US600 some for that round trip...and that
was during the SARS period in May..
There were so few seats so CX charged what-
ever they wanted . !!!!</font>

Sounds like your friend purchased the ticket in North America which in this case would be the published fare. Had he/she waited till getting to HKG and going to a T/A, the bargains would be there for the picking.

Besides TG would have been cheaper than CX. And GF, EK and CI all would have been able to offer much better deals then and now. CX is the most expensive because it's the home carrier out of HKG.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by terenz:
It seems the OW Visit passes maybe a good deal. </font>
Be careful with the OW Visit passes, they are booked in M and don't accrue mileage on CX (At least not thru AAdavantage).

I was looking at the same thing for this November, HKG-BKK-HKG on CX, and it priced at about $600 in Y. When I priced it as two one-ways, I could have done the BKK-HKG seg in J for the same price. I'm probably just going to wait until I get there to buy discount J from a local travel agent.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by agmhkg:
And don't be surprised that u will see a KA plane in LHR, YVR, YYZ and even JFK</font>
Personally, I would be quite surprised since they have neither the traffic rights, nor any planes that can comfortably fly those routes with a full load of passengers and cargo.

Of course KA Cargo already flies its freighters to a whole heap of destinations.

well there is always a possibility, when the time comes, KA can lease or buy the appropaite aircrafts and apply for the traffic right, at least HKG will give her the green light cos CLK always wanna be the biggest HUB in the world.

Double Daily to Hong Kong on A320 from November 1.

-----------------
DRAGONAIR TO LAUNCH TWICE-DAILY SERVICE TO BANGKOK

(HONG KONG) Dragonair is to introduce two flights a day to Bangkok starting on November 1. The Thai capital will be the second destination served by the airline - it also flies three times a week to Phuket - and the 29th city in its passenger network.

"We're looking forward to introducing services on this popular route," said Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui. "Not only does it mean more choice for travellers from Hong Kong, it also opens up the options available to travellers in the China mainland destinations we serve.

"Thailand is a designated country for travellers from the mainland as well as being extremely popular with them, and we will be looking to fully utilise our flight connections to build traffic flows."

He added: "We believe the beginning of November is the best time to launch such a service, as it is just at the start of the peak holiday season for travel to Thailand."

The route will initially be served by Airbus A320s, and will also carry freight.

"We see our unique mainland network as a key point differentiating our service for shippers," Mr. Hui said.

I hope you'll excuse a slightly off topic post: but are there any mileage programs apart from Asiamiles and JAL in which you can earn miles when flying KA?

Regards,
Alex

Last time I was in HK, I flew J to BKK with Emirates and it was AWESOME!!!!! And the price of this ticket was only $400.00. I considered this the best deal for bangkok. Go to Emirates and ckeck their prices....I guess that coach runs for $240.00.... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Have you guys considered simply going to the CX website for your HKG-BKK-HKG tickets. Currently the "standard published" fares are:

B fare (basis BEE 0/21)
HKD 3310 (about US$420) any date to 31/12 except
HKD 3820 (about US$480) 20/12-26/12

This is CX only, max 21 days, otherwise flexible.

K fare (basis also BEE21)
HKD 2050 (about US$270) up to 31/10
HKD 2500 (about US$310) 1/11 to 31/12 exc 20/12-26/12

This is max 14 days and has HKD 500 change of date fee.

Sepcial promo fares come and go from time to time - I've seen them recently for HKD 1850.

Hey Christep, Are these Business class fares also? I tried looking up those fares, but the lowest price I get is 5034. hkd

B is slightly discounted economy, K is discounted economy. Business class fares on CX are sold in J, C, D, I fares only.

The best published special business class fare to BKK is:

HK$4850 valid for departure now to 29/9, 5/10-18/12, 5/1/04-20/1/04, 26/1-31/3

HK$5900 other dates to 31/3/04

It's booked in C, valid on CX operated flights only, min 0, max 14 days.

Last week there was a "Fare 48" fare booked in I which was 2/7 days for HK$4090, but that was only available for booking on 14/15 August for outbound travel on 22-24 August.

If these things might be of interest it pays to beon CX's promotions mailing list.