MilesBuzz! - Which frequent flier plan for LHR-TPE on CX

Does anyone know how many miles you would get for going LHR/HKG/TPE/HKG/TPE?

Which frequent flier plan would you choose for travelling on CX and living in the UK?
(BA? AA? CX?)

Probably travelling 6 trips on this route over a 3 month span.

Appreciate your help.

How many miles?
If you link on over to http://webflyer.com/travel/milemarker/
you'll find their MileMarker which is good for multiple legs of travel and determining miles earned.

Which airline program the best? I think the answer depends on which class of service you will be flying. If you don't mind offering that up I think there's a number of people here that can offer up opinions. If in coach, BA likely won't win many suggestions.

Lots of miles to be earned and you are right about trying to pick the right program.

I'll flip this over to MilesBuzz! for opinion since the advice to come will now be related solely to "best" frequent flyer programs for your needs.

What class will you be flying?

I'd say AA is worthy of more consideration If you do a challenge (search at the AA board for lots of detail) you can get status quickly.

BA is not bad for premium cabins, but as Randy says it's bloody awful for discount economy.

QF is another option to consider, but there is no accelerated status programme I know of.

CX's programme is notoriously hard to earn status in, and my impression is that the awards are quite expensive. With your flying pattern I doubt they are a good option, even though CX Diamond is pretty much the ne plus ultra of FFP's.

I'd say AA, if you plan to also travel to the US for business or leisure at any point. American carriers are always better with their programs when it comes to upgrading on their own aircrafts and other perks.

But check it out in some detail before diving in. Someone above mentioned the challenge they do. Without knowing too much about it, I would have thought the challenge would have to be accomplished on AA metal, not just One World partners.

I was a heavy QF and BA flyer for years, and indeed their service are the best if you are flying premium classes. I'd still say AA miles program would be easier to attain status and miles, however.

6 trips is a lot but it still depends on your future travel needs. If you have travel plans in Asia beyond those 6 trips, you might consider Cathay's Marco Polo Club. It's not a program for mileage, perks and points freaks, but it will assure you more recognition with CX. On the other hand, BA, QF and AA top tiers seem to be recognized by CX staff better and more often than BA or AA staff care about CX's elite (big airline syndrome). In any case, welcome to Taipei http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif I fly that route 4 times a year.

My parents flew CX recently in M class and received 100% of the miles in the Alaska FF program. If you're flying cheap economy that is probably one of very few options to get the 100%.

Travel would most likely be discount economy (coach). No further trips to Asia after planned trips and travel to US might be one trip. Thanks for all the responses so far..

[This message has been edited by sggolf (edited Jan 26, 2004).]

Have a look at AA website for rules on earning AA miles flying Cathay. Discount economy fares(except H) do not earn any miles.

[This message has been edited by santo (edited Jan 27, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sggolf:
Travel would most likely be discount economy (coach). No further trips to Asia after planned trips and travel to US might be one trip. Thanks for all the responses so far..</font>

Depending on your airline FF program status also helps. If you are an AA PLT or higher, an H fare will earn you double AAdvantage FF Miles. So LHR-HKG-TPE RT will do it nicely, 3 times. If you are just starting out with a FF program, you have to earn 25,000 Miles to make 25% bonus, then 50,000 for a 100% bonus. Fares lower than H on CX earn nothing on AA, then look into AsiaMiles. However, if you do fly AA to the US later on, any fare (except S, I think) will earn you 100% AA miles, plus bonuses as time progresses in your program tenure.

I have a bit more information. Its business class on CX and about 4 trips LHR/HKG/TPE/HKG/LHR.

I would say put your miles in QF and use that as your FFP, as you will reach Platinum with those four trips alone. You wouldn't even reach top tier with AA (you'd be at ~77k Q points and would need a few mileage runs to make Executive Platinum). QF Platinum gets you complimentary membership to the Qantas club which also gets you into Admirals Clubs and other lounges. For more info on QF benefits click here (http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/statusPrivileges).