Originally Posted by
Raffles
Have you used this deal personally? The general feedback is that most airlines restrict it to full J fares which are already twice what you'd pay for a semi-restricted business ticket. It only seems to work well if your employer lets you book your own flights, which would allow you to sneak your partner along for free.
I've used PTS and CTS for CX J to Australasia a few times - and been very pleased on both occasions.
In the second case (not to doubt
ComputerCommuter - maybe it has changed back again) the offer on CX had changed from a companion deal to 'special fares'. That was handy as in the second case there were 3 of us travelling.
The 'special fares' were roughly comparable to the previous companion deal and booked into I class. Although there were publicly available J fares at not disimilar prices at the time (about 5/7% higher, I think) - they were restriction-riddled.
The AMEX I Class fares were fully-flex however.
PS - I did price-up EK on the same routes (LON-SYD and AKL) and the AMEX deal at the time was for a free upgrade from Y to J. That was much more expensive that the CX deals - and no BA Miles or TPs.