Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Anyone able to book an award from the US to South Africa ?

Hi All,

I am considering redepositing two roundtrip CX J tix (LAX-HKG-SIN) as i am slightyl concerend about SARS and was thinking of flying to South Africa instead (still via Hong Kong.

Spoke to AA (I am using AA miles) and was told that it is not possible to book a CX LAX-HKG-South Africa award. Is this true or are the folks at AA being their usual "highly conpetent" selves ?

Thanks
J

P.S.: Travel would be in August

I don't know about CX, but you can book BA to CPT or JNB via LHR. And with BA you are guaranteed to get beds in business class.

AA is being "highly competent" as usual and this is nothing new. They once told me I could only have a lay-over in ANC and not YYZ (ridiculous), naturally I had to set them straight.

LAX-HKG-Johannesburg is possible. The award codes are:

CX75A (Economy off-peak)
CX85A (Economy on-peak)
CX100A (Business Class)
CX140A (First Class.

Tell the AA "world-headquartered" CSR the award code, have them read it and *OH MY*....they may just figure out the country Johannesburg is located in. :-)

SHADO

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SHADO:
AA is being "highly competent" as usual and this is nothing new. They once told me I could only have a lay-over in ANC and not YYZ (ridiculous), naturally I had to set them straight.

LAX-HKG-Johannesburg is possible. The award codes are:

CX75A (Economy off-peak)
CX85A (Economy on-peak)
CX100A (Business Class)
CX140A (First Class.

Tell the AA "world-headquartered" CSR the award code, have them read it and *OH MY*....they may just figure out the country Johannesburg is located in. :-)

SHADO</font>

Thanks SHADO, as I suspected. I think half the people on this board could do a better job than some of the CSR's I occaisionaly speak to.

Stimpy,

I did ask about BA, however with the proposed EC changes that award would cost 150K miles, i.e. more than CX First. Yikes

I booked this award as well and used it last month... So either you got a bad AA agent - or CX might have changed something?

I booked a CX first class award to JNB from NYC last week using AA miles. Going in October. Hoping SARS is over by then (not due to health concerns, but rather hassle concerns)!

I just want the forced health checks to stop at airport terminals, that is really a waste of time and money, although initially the right thing to do....it cannot last forever.

I know showing my overcharged Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO card won't do any good. They may still want a co-payment! :-)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnG:
Stimpy,

I did ask about BA, however with the proposed EC changes that award would cost 150K miles, i.e. more than CX First. Yikes
</font>

I'm pretty sure that isn't the case if you book before June 30th. You can fly up to a year after booking. It should be 100K for Club or 125K for First. At least that's what it costs in BA miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
I'm pretty sure that isn't the case if you book before June 30th. You can fly up to a year after booking. It should be 100K for Club or 125K for First. At least that's what it costs in BA miles.</font>

Hmm, 125K for BA first does seem like a good deal. Thank you Stimpy, although I somehow doubt will be able to find an AA csr who knows about this... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif




[This message has been edited by JohnG (edited 04-15-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnG:
although I somehow doubt will be able to find an AA csr who knows about this... </font>AA csr would not know about this, as it is a BA only offer (you must have 125K BA miles and cannot use AAdvantage miles ... the AAdvantage equivalent award is P200Q which is 200K AA miles).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SHADO:
AA is being "highly competent" as usual and this is nothing new. They once told me I could only have a lay-over in ANC and not YYZ (ridiculous), naturally I had to set them straight.

LAX-HKG-Johannesburg is possible. The award codes are:

CX75A (Economy off-peak)
CX85A (Economy on-peak)
CX100A (Business Class)
CX140A (First Class.

Tell the AA "world-headquartered" CSR the award code, have them read it and *OH MY*....they may just figure out the country Johannesburg is located in. :-)

SHADO</font>

So... am I to understand that under the new AA All Airline Award scheme, in effect since 8/1/03, the above routing is no longer possible with one award? In other word, LAX-HKG-JNB now requires 2 awards: N.A.-Asia 2 + Asia 2-Africa?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bp888:
So... am I to understand that under the new AA All Airline Award scheme, in effect since 8/1/03, the above routing is no longer possible with one award? In other word, LAX-HKG-JNB now requires 2 awards: N.A.-Asia 2 + Asia 2-Africa?</font>

Correct. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif