Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Transfer BA to CX?

Hi all,
I'm based in HK, so using CX these days. Mostly economy these days too...which means I am unlikely to get enough miles to save my Gold Tier status by the time of renewal this September.
Is there anything I can do? Can I just buy my way into retaining Gold status with CX?
Can I transfer my BA Exec Club miles (about 200k) to Cathay? Or will that just not help?
Any advice gratefully received!

First of all, welcome to Flyertalk.

If you are short of miles in retaining Gold, I don't think there is much for you to do (since we don't know how many miles you still need...). You can't buy CX status miles.

However, if you will to pay - you could consider doing a mileage run, just get a cheap V class ticket to go somewhere (e.g. LAX/SFO HK$5900 + tax, 14496 miles), your current gold status can guaranty your seats in 72 hrs.

Also, you can't transfer your BA miles to status miles or asiamiles.

Hope this helps.

You could try one of the OW RTW tickets, maybe? Retaining the Gold tier is really not that hard if you have regular longhaul trips with connecting flights, even in eco class.

Many thanks for the welcome to Flyertalk...can't believe it's taken me this long to find such a great site!

Have heard about those OW RTW tickets - that could be the solution. Maybe a positioning flight to Seoul and could think about bizclass!

Actually, just looking now, I have until end September to cover a further 26 sectors or 36k miles....a tall order, but perhaps do-able if I squeeze in a RTW trip.

Or two!

You could try one of the OW RTW tickets, maybe? Retaining the Gold tier is really not that hard if you have regular longhaul trips with connecting flights, even in eco class.

RTW on economy does not work too well. You can only get 50% miles on BA and JL. Long hauls on CX/KA are good for miles.

The question is - is it worthwhile to go through all these to retain Gold?

Hi all,
I'm based in HK, so using CX these days. Mostly economy these days too...which means I am unlikely to get enough miles to save my Gold Tier status by the time of renewal this September.
Is there anything I can do? Can I just buy my way into retaining Gold status with CX?
Can I transfer my BA Exec Club miles (about 200k) to Cathay? Or will that just not help?
Any advice gratefully received!

Club miles (status) can only be earned by actually flying. You can simply get a cheap V and fly around the globe if you want to retain your status. Sorry, the only choice.

Then again Silver isn't that bad... :)

The question is - is it worthwhile to go through all these to retain Gold?Exactly - I can see it being worth maybe a couple of regional V mileage runs to retain a tier status, but not 36K miles worth of mileage runs! Gold isn't that valuable - all you get above Silver is lounge access when flying on other OW airlines, guaranteed Y seat availability (which isn't really a problem on many routes at the moment), and a little more baggage allowance.

Exactly - I can see it being worth maybe a couple of regional V mileage runs to retain a tier status, but not 36K miles worth of mileage runs! Gold isn't that valuable - all you get above Silver is lounge access when flying on other OW airlines, guaranteed Y seat availability (which isn't really a problem on many routes at the moment), and a little more baggage allowance.

Although I'm not Gold but Gold would be great for me because:

Baggage allowance does wonders for me. Everytime I'm out to Asia on business trip I have a billion relatives telling me what to get them, and being the nice guy that I am I try to accommodate. Last time I flew I had to pay $25 on the spot because the baggage was over the limit.

Gold gives you better chance for op-up, which is always a plus.

Finally, gold gives you priority in changing your flights to earlier or later ones. The nature of my business needs me to adjust my flights in the last minute a lot, and Gold would do wonders for me there as well.

Although I'm not Gold but Gold would be great for me because:

Baggage allowance does wonders for me. Everytime I'm out to Asia on business trip I have a billion relatives telling me what to get them, and being the nice guy that I am I try to accommodate. Last time I flew I had to pay $25 on the spot because the baggage was over the limit.

Gold gives you better chance for op-up, which is always a plus.

Finally, gold gives you priority in changing your flights to earlier or later ones. The nature of my business needs me to adjust my flights in the last minute a lot, and Gold would do wonders for me there as well.

Gold status can be helpful, but OP needs 36K miles in three months. That will be quite a mileage run.

Exactly - the 36K mileage run(s) would probably cost ~US$3000 at the absolute minimum. That's a lot of $25 excess baggage charges.

RTW on economy does not work too well. You can only get 50% miles on BA and JL. Long hauls on CX/KA are good for miles.

The question is - is it worthwhile to go through all these to retain Gold?

RTW in biz or first then. And a few CX Holidays biz class packages thrown in.

Gold status can be helpful, but OP needs 36K miles in three months. That will be quite a mileage run.

Well, we all have that problem. Guess if he can't afford it (like Biz or First) then he'll just have to enjoy Silver for a year and work his way up again

How about calling the MPC and asking for an extension of one or two months - do they ever do this?

I'm in a similar position in that I need 25K miles to get to gold by the end of August but have only got 12-15K in upcoming trips. If I could get an extra month or two then it won't be a problem to hit gold.

Is the MPC being a bit flexible in these straightened times?

How about calling the MPC and asking for an extension of one or two months - do they ever do this?

I'm in a similar position in that I need 25K miles to get to gold by the end of August but have only got 12-15K in upcoming trips. If I could get an extra month or two then it won't be a problem to hit gold.

Is the MPC being a bit flexible in these straightened times?

There were some threads on this. Yes, it can be done, but I have never done that. So you may just check out those threads.

There were some threads on this. Yes, it can be done, but I have never done that. So you may just check out those threads.

My motto is that it never hurts to make a call. The worst it can happen is that you wasted 5 minutes of your time and they say no.

Thanks for the helpful inputs all. I will put in a call to MPC to see how they feel about pushing back the deadline for accruing those miles. Will keep you posted.

Such a whopper mileage run might have been doable in different economic times...but it might just be sensible now to make do with silver for a year. As long as I can use the lounge when flying CX and can board without having to queue for ages, guess I could suck that up for a while!

Is the OP talking about retaining Gold status on BA (i.e. OW Emerald) or Gold on CX?

Is the OP talking about retaining Gold status on BA (i.e. OW Emerald) or Gold on CX?

Hey there: I'm the OP. I have Gold on CX. I also have 200k miles on BA from when I was based in London....so original question whether there is some way to swap the BA miles to CX (apparently no)...so thread is now talking about other options to retain Gold CX: a 36k mileage run before end September; ask CX to extend deadline; give up and take Silver for a year....or some miracle solution that noone has thought of yet....!

ICN-HKG-LHR-JFK-SYD-ICN
this is <26000 miles.... do it in F you'd get the status miles you need...

Anyway, I called MPO once and they extended my deadline (but i wasnt a silver for those trips ebfore i requalify)
it was 2006 when business was better, so i guess they'd even do taht now.
btw You weren't tipped off for a lower qualifying threshold??

ICN-HKG-LHR-JFK-SYD-ICN

btw You weren't tipped off for a lower qualifying threshold??


What do you mean? Do they offer people a lower threshold sometimes? I'm flying with CX very regularly - at least once a week - for economy flights around the region (Jakarta, Singapore, KL, Bangkok). So they can't question brand loyalty!

What do you mean? Do they offer people a lower threshold sometimes? I'm flying with CX very regularly - at least once a week - for economy flights around the region (Jakarta, Singapore, KL, Bangkok). So they can't question brand loyalty!

it was here somewhere. are you already gold? most reductions are for retaining gold/diamond. hmmmmm.....

yes - i'm at gold already. sounds like it might be worth a call and a bit of sweet talking about brand loyalty - and the basis that if you don't ask, etc etc

anyone successfully tried this before? would be all ears if there are particular ways to go about this!

What do you mean? Do they offer people a lower threshold sometimes? I'm flying with CX very regularly - at least once a week - for economy flights around the region (Jakarta, Singapore, KL, Bangkok). So they can't question brand loyalty!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-asia-miles/970070-gold-renewal-criteria.html
there you go

yes - i'm at gold already. sounds like it might be worth a call and a bit of sweet talking about brand loyalty - and the basis that if you don't ask, etc etc

anyone successfully tried this before? would be all ears if there are particular ways to go about this!

My experience with MPC is that it's better to present straight facts (i.e bookings or paid tickets etc.) than try the "sweet talk".