Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Should I switch to AAdvantage? Thoughts please

Dear veterans of MPO:

Currently my job allows me 55,000 miles travel per year. I've always been given the cold shoulder by MPO that refuse to upgrade me to Gold, and recently I've been reading how AA has a better mileage reward (such as 135,000 for First class!) Thus I want to check with you guys if I switched to AA - which lands me Platinum (One World Sapphire), would that be better for me?

Some awesome benefits I saw:

1) 500 miles upgrade with Full Y fare (Y is what my company pays for)
2) 100% elite mileage bonus
3) Pretty much all the benefits of One World Sapphire

Just want to know if MPO members here can correct me on what I may be missing if I stay with MPO. Thanks!

one thing to note is that, full Y (and all J/F fares) would actually earn you 1.5 points per mile. you can get Platinum for either 50,000 miles or 50,000 points, and Executive Platinum for 100,000 miles or 100,000 points.

so, your 55,000 miles of full Y flying would actually get you 82,500 points already. you only need 66,667 miles of full Y or J/F fares to get 100,000 points and you'll then be oneworld Emerald and get F check-in / F lounge access / etc.

that's exactly what I did, when back a few years ago my annual flying was more around the 70-90k miles range (but all in full Y or J), and so it's enough for CX Gold, or AA Exec Plat. I opted for AA Exec Plat for the F check-in and lounge access (besides the 100% mileage bonus etc of course).

Will your company be paying Full fare economy class for you even if it it international travel? Sometimes Y class is almost in the same fare level as the discounted business class.

If no, only a small portion of the economy class with CX can earn you AA mile.

For most US residents, the AA programme is much better. You can get 1.5 EQP per base mile on full fare Y and above. You can get elite bonus miles. Once a while they have some other offers such as AADER and DBEQM. You can take a Platinum Challenge and become a PLAT in one trip.

If you can close to but cannot make MPC Gold, AA Plat should be a very good alternative.

For most US residents, the AA programme is much better. You can get 1.5 EQP per base mile on full fare Y and above. You can get elite bonus miles. Once a while they have some other offers such as AADER and DBEQM. You can take a Platinum Challenge and become a PLAT in one trip.

If you can close to but cannot make MPC Gold, AA Plat should be a very good alternative.

Ok, thanks for the inputs. Will decide whether or not to switch. I've been loyal to Cathay but AA seems to offer better and better program...

Once you join AA you can do a platinum challenge and make platinum level quickly. you still have to build up 100,000 mile or points to get to Executive Platinum. If you go the AA forum they have all the details on platinum challenges.

I was actually somewhat in your shoes last year and is in the transitioning stage this year. Travel is usually 75000-80000 miles per year. So by the end of this year, my CX GLD and AA GLD become AA EXP because of DBEQM.

Dear veterans of MPO:

Currently my job allows me 55,000 miles travel per year. I've always been given the cold shoulder by MPO that refuse to upgrade me to Gold, and recently I've been reading how AA has a better mileage reward (such as 135,000 for First class!) Thus I want to check with you guys if I switched to AA - which lands me Platinum (One World Sapphire), would that be better for me?

Some awesome benefits I saw:

1) 500 miles upgrade with Full Y fare (Y is what my company pays for)
2) 100% elite mileage bonus
3) Pretty much all the benefits of One World Sapphire

Just want to know if MPO members here can correct me on what I may be missing if I stay with MPO. Thanks!

For 1) The 500 miles only apply on US/Canada/Caribbean routes so this highly depends on where your based.

For most US residents, the AA programme is much better. You can get 1.5 EQP per base mile on full fare Y and above. You can get elite bonus miles. Once a while they have some other offers such as AADER and DBEQM. You can take a Platinum Challenge and become a PLAT in one trip.

If you can close to but cannot make MPC Gold, AA Plat should be a very good alternative.

As well, you'll have to make sure your company buys you Y/B/H fare. Good things for AA is their mileage is quite redeemable on AA, their accumlation rate is better and they do provide Original routing credit. Bad for AA is you'll have to pay for admiral club, good investment to have if your fly their routes, and service can be hit or miss. All in All, it comes to down to where your-based and what your most frequent routes are. The benefits are only as good if you can actually use them, which for most AA members included myself will be the sticker upgrades.

Bad for AA is you'll have to pay for admiral club, good investment to have if your fly their routes, and service can be hit or miss.

If OP cannot get to CX Gold, he will not have access to AC based on status. So if OP likes to have AC accesses on domestic itinerary, he will have to buy an AC membership anyway.

The cost for AC membership is lower for AA elites.

Dear veterans of MPO:

Currently my job allows me 55,000 miles travel per year. I've always been given the cold shoulder by MPO that refuse to upgrade me to Gold, and recently I've been reading how AA has a better mileage reward (such as 135,000 for First class!) Thus I want to check with you guys if I switched to AA - which lands me Platinum (One World Sapphire), would that be better for me?

Some awesome benefits I saw:

1) 500 miles upgrade with Full Y fare (Y is what my company pays for)
2) 100% elite mileage bonus
3) Pretty much all the benefits of One World Sapphire

Just want to know if MPO members here can correct me on what I may be missing if I stay with MPO. Thanks!

Despite this whole AA EXP thing bothering me as a CX DM (AA EXPs seem to fill up the HK F lounge when many CX DMs fly double or triple what they do to achieve similar status - and sometimes spend far more, upwards of 3-4x), you have every incentive to. You can't achieve GO on CX (also surprised they didn't bump you up with 55k), when you definitely will make OW Sapphire and possibly even OW Emerald becoming AA EXP if you fly enough full-fare Y or J. No need to be "loyal" to the program if you're going to be stuck on SL, especially given the enormous mileage benefits of the AA program versus CX.

Also, if your company is paying full Y on international flights, the mileage upgrade on flights to Asia will be low on AA (15k miles each way, I think, with no co-pay).

Also, if your company is paying full Y on international flights, the mileage upgrade on flights to Asia will be low on AA (15k miles each way, I think, with no co-pay).

Unfortunately it seems that OP often flies CX to Asia.

and if you indeed can get to EXP, you'll get 8 one-way VIP upgrades. if you can use them, of course it's good; if you can't, I think you can exchange them on coupon connection too, usually each could be worth 20-30k miles (at least as of a couple of years ago, not sure now)...

so you're in effect, for say 67k miles you fly each year, getting 8 x 20-30k + 67k (100% bonus) + 67k (base miles) = 300-380k miles worth of awards...so it could be like a 400-500% mileage bonus...

(but of course to do coupon connection you'll need to have mutual needs of some awards at the same time, it's not like a simple transfer of miles)

One other thing that AAdvantage has going for it is that miles don't expire as long as you have some type of activity in your account every 18 months (airline, credit card, bonus from staying at hotel et al).

The Platinum Challenge used to be free, but in the past year or so AA now charges a fee to take it.

Entry to Admirals Club is gratis as long as you are on an int'l itinerary. You could have several stops domestically, but as long there is an int'l portion to it, they will let you in.

Four 500-mile upgrade vouchers are given for every 10,000 flown miles. These actually come in handy if you have to fly in the domestic network. In addition, these vouchers don't expire (unlike the system-wide upgrades) and can be used as long as you remain an elite member.

I think AA is the superior program (well, for me at least). The only weakness compared with CX Gold is that CX Gold has higher priority in operational upgrades. As an AA Platinum (OW Sapphire member), the number of opups I've received since CX re-did the pecking order a year or so ago has dropped dramatically. Of course, YMMV.

The only weakness compared with CX Gold is that CX Gold has higher priority in operational upgrades. As an AA Platinum (OW Sapphire member), the number of opups I've received since CX re-did the pecking order a year or so ago has dropped dramatically. Of course, YMMV.

Not quite a disadvantage - I have not had an upgrade on AA yet as a DM. At least AA PLAT/EXP can still get op-up on CX.

Despite this whole AA EXP thing bothering me as a CX DM (AA EXPs seem to fill up the HK F lounge when many CX DMs fly double or triple what they do to achieve similar status - and sometimes spend far more, upwards of 3-4x)

Well QRC3288, what in your mind do you believe they or their employer should spend before achieving OW EM seeing I'm joining the ranks of AA EXP next year. Of course I could try to keep the AA Plt and CX Gld (both OW SP) during conflicting period, only one as OW SP and the other program OW RB either AA or CX, but what good would that do other than 2 guest in J class lounge and free AA domestic lounge access? Shouldn't people look for the program that rewards them the most even though qualifications for each one is different. In the case of the OP, AA Plt>CX Slv, mine AA Exp>AA Plt, CX Gld

Well QRC3288, what in your mind do you believe they or their employer should spend before achieving OW EM seeing I'm joining the ranks of AA EXP next year, should qualify in late dec. Of course I could try to keep the AA Plt and CX Gld (both OW SP) during conflicting period, usually only one as OW SP and the other program OW RB either AA or CX, but what good would that do other than 2 guest in J class lounge and free AA domestic access? Shouldn't people look for the program that rewards them the most even though qualifications for each one is different. In the case of the OP, AA Plt>CX Slv, mine AA Exp>AA Plt, CX Gld

OMG I can hardly read this post given the abbreviations and symbols.

But to answer the part I bolded, I think QRC3288 is already suggesting that if the program doesn't suit, then it makes sense to change.

Not quite a disadvantage - I have not had an upgrade on AA yet as a DM. At least AA PLAT/EXP can still get op-up on CX.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. I wasn't referring to any op-ups on AA for CX members (while there may be examples of such, I've never heard of any). Indeed, AA Plat/EXP members have a better chance of op-ups on CX. However, my experience as a Platinum is that I have received considerably fewer op-ups since CX fiddled with the op-up pecking order.

thanks for the clarification jiaotze...that had me confused too

Not quite a disadvantage - I have not had an upgrade on AA yet as a DM. At least AA PLAT/EXP can still get op-up on CX.

One reason for that may be that there are lots of EXPs, given the relative ease of gaining that status and between their upgrade stickers and the 500 mile stickers that platinums earn, the available seats get eaten up pretty quickly.

I have been upgraded J-F only once (on 827) as an AAEXP on CX on 7 trips yyz-hkg plus regional travel in the past year or so. (did get a second upgrade as a result of a CX booking screwup.

<snip> Despite this whole AA EXP thing bothering me as a CX DM (AA EXPs seem to fill up the HK F lounge when many CX DMs fly double or triple what they do to achieve similar status - and sometimes spend far more, upwards of 3-4x), you have every incentive to.

Well QRC3288, what in your mind do you believe they or their employer should spend before achieving OW EM seeing I'm joining the ranks of AA EXP next year. Of course I could try to keep the AA Plt and CX Gld (both OW SP) during conflicting period, only one as OW SP and the other program OW RB either AA or CX, but what good would that do other than 2 guest in J class lounge and free AA domestic lounge access? Shouldn't people look for the program that rewards them the most even though qualifications for each one is different. In the case of the OP, AA Plt>CX Slv, mine AA Exp>AA Plt, CX Gld

Ummm... wow, I have absolutely no idea what you are attempting to communicate here Short hair Francis , but I'll attempt re-state what I believe QRC3288 is saying.

He/she is simply saying, on a human level, it's frustrating that AA EXPs are able to enjoy the same exact privileges as a CX DM, but likely spend less money, and fly less miles to obtain those same privileges as said CX DM. (I don't necessarily share that view, but respect the opinion)

Further more QRC3288, clearly said that it absolutely makes logical sense to pursue the program that gets you the best benefits, in spite of the fact that he/she finds that "hole" frustrating.

Now, to QRC3288, though I can certainly understand your point of view and can sympathize with it, I guess my only observation is that this is part of being in an alliance.

I will also say that I wish AA (my significant other is EXP and I will be next week) treated other OW Emeralds as wonderfully and graciously as CX has always treated us. They have treated us "top notch" and never like undesirable "freeloaders."

And for what it's worth, perhaps it's working, as we have been consider booking some flights on CX metal directly, rather than via AA in the future.

Regards

All my BIS miles have been flown on CX, but my FF program is AA, Why?

I travel YYZ-HKG and then some regional travel (currently in HKG heading to CGK in a few days), virtually all on CX. So why do I collect AA points?

As a Canadian I can have an AA points VISA through a Canadian bank and collect extra points that way.Leisure travel will often be in North America and I can fly AA and use the upgrades I get to fly J or F as available.

Having made EXP(OW Emerald) I get 1st class check in and 1st class lounge access no matter what clas I am flying in. If I am booking an award seat or have some domestic travel issues I have access to the AA EXP desk where the AAngels ae great.

What do I miss out on: being able to upgrade on points, possibly some op ups and having to pay a fee for membership in the club.

On balance, I think I made a correct to join AA, however I would be interested to hear others opinions. I do 4-5 YYZ - HKG flights per year in J and a similar amount of regional travel in a combination of Y & J (that is usually one or two regional flghts for each long haul). Based on that pattern what would be my Marco Polo club situation.

my first guess was that you could barely make DM. I then did a quick estimate and confirmed my thought...your travel pattern could take you anywhere between 70-100% of what's required for CX DM. while for AA, you can easily reach 100-150% of what's required for EXP.

on the low end, assume:
- 4 HKG-YYZ roundtrips in J each year (~78,100 Club Miles or ~93,720 AA EQP)
- 4 intra-Asia roundtrips in Y each year, assuming 1,000 miles per flight and 1 AA EQP per mile (~8,000 Club miles or ~8,000 AA EQP)
TOTAL = 86,100 Club Miles or 101,720 AA EQP - i.e. ~70% of DM requirement but reached AA EXP already

on the high end, assume:
- 5 HKG-YYZ roundtrips in J each year (~93,720 Club Miles or ~117,150 AA EQP)
- 5 intra-Asia roundtrips in J each year, assuming 2,000 miles per flight (~25,000 Club miles or ~30,000 AA EQP)
TOTAL = 122,625 Club Miles or 147,150 AA EQP - i.e. just barely reached DM, but almost 50% above AA EXP requirement

so based on what you said, and assuming all your BIS indeed on these CX flights only, you can only reach CX DM only if everything is at the high end (5 instead of 4 YYZ-HKG trips, all intra-Asia trips in J, each flight has to be long intra-Asia flights at ~2,000 miles, etc)...

but, of course, maybe some of your existing CX Y flights are on discounted economy that don't earn AA miles...for those you actually would earn more with CX.

in your case, I think it makes perfect sense to stay with AA EXP rather than getting CX Gold...(that's my situation a few years ago too, most travel on CX, can easily make either CX Gold or AA EXP - and I went for AA as well).

Following is how I decide:

1. Select the frequent flier program (FFP) of the airline I fly the most if I can be in the top tier status of that airline

2. If I do not have a shot at being top tier of the airline FFP and if the next tier is too crowded, evaluate other FFP's of the same alliance (ex: I have to stretch myself to be LH HON and I do not want to be UA GS. Hence I am *G w/BMI, CX DM & SQ PPS(double dipping with BMI))

Mentioning the above FWIW.

Is there any other FF program which enables you to Fly 3 Times First Class - Around The World with CX/JL/QF/BA and AA: For around $9000 per annum? with approx 40 stopovers. :D

Oh and 8 FREE International Upgrades Plus Unlimited FREE Domestic/Canada/Mexico and Carribean Upgrades.

Is there any other FF program which enables you to Fly 3 Times First Class - Around The World with CX/JL/QF/BA and AA: For around $9000 per annum? with approx 40 stopovers. :D Sorry, I don't understand why this would be programme specific? Presumably you are talking about AONEX products here.

Additional question: Is CX MPO the only viable programme for people who fly mainly on CX but on discounted Y, i.e. V/L/M/K class tickets?

And is it right to say that if you fly CX on deeply discounted tickets (S/Q/N/O classes), the only way to collect any miles at all is by using BAEC?

He can't be - AONEx products are ~$9000 each, not ~$3000 each so you can't go round the world three times in F for $9000 using them...

He can't be - AONEx products are ~$9000 each, not ~$3000 each so you can't go round the world three times in F for $9000 using them...

One AONE4 Purchased ex ICN was around $7100 during The 10th Anniversary Sale. The mileage accrued on that booking plus a couple of Long Weekend flights from East Coast USA via DFW to HNL [With E-VIP or 100 hrs Upgrade to First] and a further 40K Plus 12K Bonus Purchase, together with my regular 30K a Year CitiBank spend, gives me around 330,000 AAdvantage Points Per annum for approx $9000 Cash outlay. Much depends on the Florida-HNL fare when Purchased but I have obtained them for around $450 Including taxes..I Just wait for a sale.

That gives me enough for a OW330F which permits you 50,000 miles of First Class Travel i.e. another 2 times Around the World Flights up to 16 Sectors.

Sorry I miscalculated the stopovers since the recent changes..now its only 30 Maximum but I must admit difficult to undertake that number of stopovers of more than 24 Hours.

Trust me : I have Done This every year for the past 4 years.

PS Also I missed the $355 on the OW330F AAward ticket..By avoiding UK stops helps, you can save a substantial Taxes on the Journeys.

Next Paid Ticket : SEL-HKGx-DPS-HKGx-JFKx-GIG-SCLx-BOG-SCL-GRU-JFK-YVR-LHRx-DXB-LHRx-HKG-SEL..AONE4 : Only The JFK-Brazil Sectors on AA. The Internal South America Sectors are on LA 767 Business Class which I can endure:D Also some of the Internal Asia Sectors are only Business on CX , still better IMHO that AA Domestic First Class.

Next AAward OW330F Ticket TPA-JFKx-LHRx-CDG-LHRx-BKK-HKGx-JFKx-MCO-JFK-HKG-FRA-LHR-PEK-NRTx-ORDx-TPA ie. Twice Around the World >>> Almost Free in First Class on ALL Intercon Flights -Could not avoid One UK Tax this time. :(

This is what makes AAdavantage a Great Program for me.

Well QRC3288, what in your mind do you believe they or their employer should spend before achieving OW EM seeing I'm joining the ranks of AA EXP next year. Of course I could try to keep the AA Plt and CX Gld (both OW SP) during conflicting period, only one as OW SP and the other program OW RB either AA or CX, but what good would that do other than 2 guest in J class lounge and free AA domestic lounge access? Shouldn't people look for the program that rewards them the most even though qualifications for each one is different. In the case of the OP, AA Plt>CX Slv, mine AA Exp>AA Plt, CX Gld

I had to read this slowly, but I think I got it. I agree people should do whatever is economically most intelligent for them....apparently you didn't read my advice to Cathay Boy. I personally made the decision for CX DM for op-ups and ideally better service, although admittedly a bit now is just path dependency. I'm just saying, as a CX DM, it is painful how much harder it is to reach CX's highest level than AA's....no bonus for full Y, many discount Y fares don't count for elite miles at all, only 125% bonus for full J, 120k miles vs 100k, the dreaded "reset" function for MPC's trying to increase their status, etc. etc. Many CX GOs fly and spend more than AA EXPs. This board has been through this a bunch of times. Not saying much else.

Further more QRC3288, clearly said that it absolutely makes logical sense to pursue the program that gets you the best benefits, in spite of the fact that he/she finds that "hole" frustrating.

Now, to QRC3288, though I can certainly understand your point of view and can sympathize with it, I guess my only observation is that this is part of being in an alliance.

I will also say that I wish AA (my significant other is EXP and I will be next week) treated other OW Emeralds as wonderfully and graciously as CX has always treated us. They have treated us "top notch" and never like undesirable "freeloaders."

Exactly, and appreciated.

Yeah.. we EXP's do fill up the HKG lounges ;)

Of course CX gets cash from AA every time we do so...

I believe CX Silver gets you access to CX's lounges only- right? Whereas if you hit AA PLT, you'd be OW Sapphire, and get into any of the 10 (soon to be 12) airlines' J lounges.

FYI. In Coach, only Y, B, and M CX fares mean anything on AAdvantage.

Yeah.. we EXP's do fill up the HKG lounges ;)

Of course CX gets cash from AA every time we do so...

I believe CX Silver gets you access to CX's lounges only- right? Whereas if you hit AA PLT, you'd be OW Sapphire, and get into any of the 10 (soon to be 12) airlines' J lounges.

FYI. In Coach, only Y, B, and M CX fares mean anything on AAdvantage.

A CX Silver can access a CX or a CX-designated lounge if flying CX and KA only (but not other OW flights). No guest is allowed. AA PLT is better than CX Silver unless the member is flying CX and KA most of the time and wants to have CX lounge access.

In coach, only Y, B, and H (not M) CX booking classes can earn miles on AAdvantage.

A CX Silver can access a CX or a CX-designated lounge if flying CX and KA only (but not other OW flights). No guest is allowed. AA PLT is better than CX Silver unless the member is flying CX and KA most of the time and wants to have CX lounge access.

In coach, only Y, B, and H (not M) CX booking classes can earn miles on AAdvantage.

How about K class?

How about K class?

No AA miles.

If you do decide to switch to AA:
* Watch out for the qualifying booking classes.
* If you do a PLT challenge, make sure you ticket in AA flight number.
* Booking classes Y and B earn 1.5 EQP per qualifying mile.
You can get on the AA forum or the AA web page for details.