Hi SXC

Thanks for the welcome and the advice about the thread. Much appreciated ^^

I'm a Pilot, but in private aviation where we have no concessions or anything like that. I very rarely earn airmails as a result of travelling on the airlines. Mainly I'm a redeemer. I do have Silver status with BA currently, however.

My eligibility to earn Air miles will be based on spend and card sign ups. In the past I've done really well (earning) out of Rocketmiles and Kaligo as my colleagues have allowed me to have their miles as they "haven't felt the need to collect them"

Generally i have redeemed miles for upgrades or the Amex 2 for 1 offer with BA.

With regards to travel back to Europe, direct flights are always preferable, but being flat overnight is by far, more important to me, so if that means a stop, that's fine. From HK, other than local based carriers offering direct flights, RJ and the Gulf Airlines would probably be the airlines i use if direct flight redemption isn't possible at a reasonable rate. RJ and QA are Oneworld so i could use Avios with them. I have a UAE Debit card that earns 3 miles (Etihad) for each $ spend overseas, but then I've got currency conversion downside to factor in.

I hope that helps with any advice that may be offered.

Thanks in advance.

BJE