Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
I'm not so sure about that. JL is a thing for AA. So are DL, EK HU and KE, all of whom provide significant Asia coverage.
JL has a great F product (though the service isn't quite as consistent as CX IME), but their overall capacity and network aren't quite what Cathay's is.
That chart isn't clear on whether it's showing # of trips or # of miles redeemed. Because if it's trips, we need to remember international trips can cost up to 8x as many miles as domestic ones.
What that chart also obscures is that most miles (probably) aren't directly bought by end customers, and that when airlines look to sell miles a la Avianca, many buyers are people in the FF community who value them and know how to spend them. So they cater to us because we're an important source of revenue and we punch far above our weight in numbers.
I'd venture a guess that those of us buying thousands of dollars in AA/AS/AV miles every year are doing so primarily for international premium cabin flights, and generally don't want to fly domestic carriers like AA or DL (seriously??) if we can have CX for the same price. KE? Sure, if you don't get a migraine looking at their blackout dates. Not to mention KE and DL require round trip bookings.
Yes, EK is a major partner for AS and I'm not discounting them (having gleefully booked myself an EK F redemption). But EK is 50% more expensive than CX to get to Asia, and personally I prefer HKG as a stop vs DXB, but to each his/her/their own.