Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Question about redeeming Asiamiles for non-CX carrier awards

Apologies if this has already been asked; I couldn't find too much information in a search.

I'm starting to accumulate eBay anything points from Priceline bids, and read several reports on the milesbuzz forum about the advantages of certain aspects of the Asiamiles program.

I see that a business award for 2501-5000 miles is 60000 asiamiles. Would I be able to get a BA Club World Ticket from NYC-LED, for instance (or another carrier). And I gather I can stop off in London (or another transfer point, but I would assume on BA that's London) on both the way there and back if desired?

How much availability would there be for an award like this? If you have the miles, can you get the award, or is it like Continental?

Also, how difficult is it to use Asiamiles for non-CX upgrades? It seems you need to consult Asiamiles before buying the ticket - and on American you can only upgrade Y, B and H fares from economy, correct? Alas, I was hoping it might be a way around AA's copay.

Apologies if this has already been asked; I couldn't find too much information in a search.

I'm starting to accumulate eBay anything points from Priceline bids, and read several reports on the milesbuzz forum about the advantages of certain aspects of the Asiamiles program.

I see that a business award for 2501-5000 miles is 60000 asiamiles. Would I be able to get a BA Club World Ticket from NYC-LED, for instance (or another carrier). And I gather I can stop off in London (or another transfer point, but I would assume on BA that's London) on both the way there and back if desired?

How much availability would there be for an award like this? If you have the miles, can you get the award, or is it like Continental?

Also, how difficult is it to use Asiamiles for non-CX upgrades? It seems you need to consult Asiamiles before buying the ticket - and on American you can only upgrade Y, B and H fares from economy, correct? Alas, I was hoping it might be a way around AA's copay.

Hi FlyBalletGuy, welcome to the CX Forum.

Yes you can fly on BA from JFK to LED with one stopover in London either going or coming back only. You are not allowed 2 stopovers including point of turnaround. Availability is good. It depends on the time of year of course.

You can upgrade on CX, LX, AA, BA. On BA you can upgrade on most fares as long as it's issued on an e-ticket and is on a return. On CX, LX, paper tickets are fine. Using asiamiles to upgrade on AA international flights is simply not worth it.

Thank you for the information and the welcome, Guy Betsy!

There are two festivals in St. Petersburg I've always dreamed of seeing, one's in March (Int'l Festival of Ballet) and the White Nights in June. My guess is one is easier than the other!

I think my plan of action is to leave the points as anythingpoints until I have a sufficient amount to convert to the reward desired (unless points.com does a double bonus again) and then convert all at a go - this way no worries about expiration, even if there's (always) a risk award costs change. I assume the award is redeemed by calling Asiamiles and requesting the BA ticket? Hmm. This would take nerve, but I wonder if I could call them to inquire about availability before I made a points conversion.

Also, does Asiamiles currently offer or ever offer a bonus for joining on occasion? (Every mile helps!)

Thank you for the advice and assessment on upgrades, that is very useful. I've only started sitting in the front on occasion thanks to Flyertalk. I'm gold on AA, which means I can get an exit seat in Y, and honestly though getting into Business Class (never been in First!) is really spiffy, I'm not going to shrivel up and die in 31H on an AA 777. I get my first taste of a 763 exit row seat (21H) on an AANYC non-upgradable certificate I used from JFK-EZE. Hey, I flew JFK-SAN, JFK-SFO and JFK-EZE for $375 total, got Gold from a challenge, 10K butt in seat miles and 8K bonus miles (Fly04, e-rewards and the Gold bonus on the SFO-JFK leg). I think AA's been awfully good to me even without upgrades.