Qantas or Cathay in J

Hi all - we are hoping to book FF seats to Canada for next Christmas.

So far in doing prelim searches the options on the QF site for awards flights are for Perth to Canada is via HKG and there are seats in J on Cathay Pacific - all the way thru to Vancouver but with an 8 hr stopover in HKG. Will certainly be a long haul.

The other option is to fly Per-Mel (paid seat) and then an award flight in J on the A380 from Mel-LA; then paying for ticket on to Vancouver.
This would allow us to use award points on the longest haul in J rather than significantly more from Perth all the way thru to Vancouver.
We could also do an overnight in either Mel or LA to break up the trip.

556,000 points to do the whole trip on Cathay - or 384,000 points Mel-LA-Mel in J on QF A380 - plus paying seats for two shorter flights in Y.

I don't mind either - would like to hear your advice or recommendations.

Also - it will certainly come down to availability - we want to depart Mon Dec 15 from Perth and arrive home Tuesday December 30, 2014.

From experience, do you find the airlines restrict FF availability over the Christmas period?

The other option is to look at SEA as the destination. Seattle Vancouver is not hard

Ignoring cost in points & surcharges from PER I would go CX

Thank you - regarding the award flight Perth all the way through to Vancouver via Hong Kong.
Is it possible to break this up - I can't see HKG-Vancouver for award redemption but have no problem from Perth all the way through.
However as it is a long haul - is it possible to make one booking with awards and have an overnight in HKG or does it have to be connecting flights?

The new CX J hard product is far better than the QF Skybed Mk2 - I believe it is THE benchmark for all J seats these days.

Avoiding immigration at LAX would be an enough reason to go CX

As per grov, the new CX J seat is the best in the sky. Makes SkyBed Mk2 very dated. QF food is better than CX (just overlook the "inspired by ...." crap ).

But book the seats right now. The longer you wait, the more likely they will disappear - right before your very eyes. Do it now!

Wish I could book them right now og - from all your comments it's going to be Cathay - but have to wait for the seats to be available - flying December 15 2014 hoping to return by December 30. I think seats will be released around Christmas Eve/Christmas Day perhaps for booking.
It seems there is no problem when you search the entire journey with return - but when doing them separately the avails change (when using sample date). We have to book the journey across and then wait for the return dates otherwise we may miss out altogether, so taking a chance we can get the full journey.
First plan is Per-HKG-Vancouver. It truly is a long haul but don't think we can separate the legs for a stopover as the options are removed when you try that search.

OP might want to consider Alaska miles, while their partners like CX and QF flights are limited they are a real J bargain.

I'm considering CNS/HKG/YVR in J next year part QFF points and part miles.

This is normal -- PER-YVR will be available when HKG-YVR is not on the same plane! Cause is the yield optimization that all airlines do now, in O/D traffic. Unfortunately this also makes a HKG stopover difficult (but not impossible). You could try TPE-YVR or MNL-YVR which might be available when HKG-YVR is not (then you'd need a separate ticket to position HKG-TPE or MNL). Not really worth the effort. Note that J award availability to YVR is notoriously difficult to get, hence the advice to move fast if you see availability

^^^^

Definitely CX. Better seats, better looking FA, better food. Avoiding LAX is a great side benefit as well.

Go with QF if you enjoy torturing yourself. Otherwise it is CX.

As much as I am over "Neil Perry inspirations" on QF, the food is actually quite nice - indeed, it is better than that served in CX J. But that in itself is not a ringing endorsement, more that CX food is very ordinary.

We flew PER-HKG-Toronto last year with a break in HKG. But with such great J seats, I believe that you will hardly notice the trip length - in my case the 15 hr leg just went by in a flash. Just relax and enjoy the best J seats in the sky.

I have just done a 9 hr flight on AA's 77W which I believe use the same J seats as CX. These would be the best J seats in the sky. Plenty of length, plenty of width. No bed sag - ie the end of the bed sagging from poor design. For this particular city pair, it makes AA the airline of first choice instead of the airline of last last choice. If QF had these seats ....