Aug 7, 2015, 8:58 am
Cathay Pacific Award Availability
when using Alaska Airlines Miles
North American CX Gateway Cities
New York City (JFK/EWR)
Boston (BOS)
Toronto (YYZ)
Chicago (ORD)
Vancouver (YVR)
Los Angeles (LAX)
San Francisco (SFO)
Notes and tips:
You cannot book CX award flights on alaskaair.com.
http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mil...rs/cathay.aspx
Both BA and JL websites can be used to search for CX partner inventory. JL is typically a more accurate engine. BA should only be used on a per-segment basis (in other words, do not search for LAX-BKK, search for LAX-HKG, then HKG-BKK). Note that AS award availability is only for 330 days, the BA engine will show availability to 365 days.
There are mixed reports on getting a CX stopover outside of HKG. By rule, HKG is the only allowed stopover. Stopovers are not allowed on intra-Asia award bookings (you will need a North American segment to be able to book a stopover).
All CX awards except for the intra-Asia award must either originate or end in HKG or North America. If you wish to fly Middle East/India/Europe/Asia/Australia to a CX destination beyond your initial flight to or from HKG that is not a North American destination, it will be two awards: XXX-HKG and HKG-YYY. CX intra-Asia awards do not include a stopover.
CX releases availability close in. If you do a change where you book another cabin and upgrade to F (which often may be the only way to get F on CX), you will be charged the $125 rebooking fee (waived for MVPG+).
*Have the AS CSR perform the search one leg at a time (Transoceanic first). That might yield more results than the whole itinerary at once.*
The CX forum has a FAQ on the CX experience.
Award eligible Destinations
By region.
(Dragon Air is not allowed on AS award)
Africa
Johannesburg (JNB)
Asia
Bangkok (BKK)
Beijing (PEK)
Cebu (CEB)
Denpasar (Bali) (DPS)
Fukuoka (FUK)
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Hong Kong (HKG)
Jakarta (CGK)
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) [Ends 30 April]
Manila (MNL)
Osaka (KIX)
Sapporo (CTS)
Seoul (ICN)
Shanghai (PVG)
Singapore (SIN)
Surabaya (SUB)
Taipei (TPE)
Tokyo (HND)
Australia/NZ
Adelaide (ADL)
Auckland (AKL)
Brisbane (BNE)
Cairns (CNS)
Melbourne (MEL)
Perth (PER)
Sydney (SYD)
India/Middle East
Bahrain (BAH)
Chennai (MAA)
Colombo (CMB)
Delhi (DEL)
Doha (DOH) [Discontinued as of Feb 2016]
Dubai (DXB)
Hyderabad (HYD)
Malé (MLE)
Mumbai (BOM)
Riyadh (RUH)
Tel Aviv (TLV)
Europe (To/from HKG only. NA is separate award)
Amsterdam (AMS)
Barcelona (BCN)
Düsseldorf (DUS)
Frankfurt (FRA)
London (LHR, LGW)
Manchester (MAN)
Milan (MXP)
Paris (CDG)
Rome (FCO)
Zurich (ZRH)
when using Alaska Airlines Miles
North American CX Gateway Cities
New York City (JFK/EWR)
Boston (BOS)
Toronto (YYZ)
Chicago (ORD)
Vancouver (YVR)
Los Angeles (LAX)
San Francisco (SFO)
Notes and tips:
You cannot book CX award flights on alaskaair.com.
http://www.alaskaair.com/content/mil...rs/cathay.aspx
Award Travel on Cathay Pacific
Book Your Award Travel: To use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ Miles on Cathay Pacific, call Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for Relay Services) 5:00 a.m. - Midnight (PT), daily
Book Your Award Travel: To use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ Miles on Cathay Pacific, call Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for Relay Services) 5:00 a.m. - Midnight (PT), daily
There are mixed reports on getting a CX stopover outside of HKG. By rule, HKG is the only allowed stopover. Stopovers are not allowed on intra-Asia award bookings (you will need a North American segment to be able to book a stopover).
All CX awards except for the intra-Asia award must either originate or end in HKG or North America. If you wish to fly Middle East/India/Europe/Asia/Australia to a CX destination beyond your initial flight to or from HKG that is not a North American destination, it will be two awards: XXX-HKG and HKG-YYY. CX intra-Asia awards do not include a stopover.
CX releases availability close in. If you do a change where you book another cabin and upgrade to F (which often may be the only way to get F on CX), you will be charged the $125 rebooking fee (waived for MVPG+).
*Have the AS CSR perform the search one leg at a time (Transoceanic first). That might yield more results than the whole itinerary at once.*
The CX forum has a FAQ on the CX experience.
Award eligible Destinations
By region.
(Dragon Air is not allowed on AS award)
Africa
Johannesburg (JNB)
Asia
Bangkok (BKK)
Beijing (PEK)
Cebu (CEB)
Denpasar (Bali) (DPS)
Fukuoka (FUK)
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Hong Kong (HKG)
Jakarta (CGK)
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) [Ends 30 April]
Manila (MNL)
Osaka (KIX)
Sapporo (CTS)
Seoul (ICN)
Shanghai (PVG)
Singapore (SIN)
Surabaya (SUB)
Taipei (TPE)
Tokyo (HND)
Australia/NZ
Adelaide (ADL)
Auckland (AKL)
Brisbane (BNE)
Cairns (CNS)
Melbourne (MEL)
Perth (PER)
Sydney (SYD)
India/Middle East
Bahrain (BAH)
Chennai (MAA)
Colombo (CMB)
Delhi (DEL)
Doha (DOH) [Discontinued as of Feb 2016]
Dubai (DXB)
Hyderabad (HYD)
Malé (MLE)
Mumbai (BOM)
Riyadh (RUH)
Tel Aviv (TLV)
Europe (To/from HKG only. NA is separate award)
Amsterdam (AMS)
Barcelona (BCN)
Düsseldorf (DUS)
Frankfurt (FRA)
London (LHR, LGW)
Manchester (MAN)
Milan (MXP)
Paris (CDG)
Rome (FCO)
Zurich (ZRH)
CX (Cathay) Award availability
Jul 22, 2012, 1:31 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,391
I would be really, REALLY careful about doing a connection that routes FLL-SEA-SFO (read: pad your connection time or come into SEA early, stay overnight and fly out on the first SEA-SFO in the morning). SEA-SFO is one of the routes that gets whacked hard any time SFO goes under air traffic flow control because low visibility is making them use a suboptimal runway configuration (they are going to hold short flights like SEA, PDX, LAX instead of making transcons and TATL/TPAC planes circle). You are much better off connecting to CX at YVR or LAX, or as suggested, using another ticket to get to a different CX gateway.
Jul 22, 2012, 4:18 pm
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
I would be really, REALLY careful about doing a connection that routes FLL-SEA-SFO (read: pad your connection time or come into SEA early, stay overnight and fly out on the first SEA-SFO in the morning). SEA-SFO is one of the routes that gets whacked hard any time SFO goes under air traffic flow control because low visibility is making them use a suboptimal runway configuration (they are going to hold short flights like SEA, PDX, LAX instead of making transcons and TATL/TPAC planes circle). You are much better off connecting to CX at YVR or LAX, or as suggested, using another ticket to get to a different CX gateway.
I know about the notorious ATC at SFO when the fog rolls in... We might end up have to use other means (whether a pay ticket or a separate award on AA that nests the AS award to Asia/Africa) exactly because of the potential issues cited by you. SIGH.
Based on my experiences, LAX hardly have any F availability, nor YVR. It seems SFO is the one gateway that CX constantly has F abundantly available when it is within 10 days to a week's departure window, followed by JFK. YYZ is out as it does not have F service anymore. In fact, CX has already cut F services on other routes for the 2012/2013 Winter Season for JFK/YVR/LAX routes - there are at least one flight that is flying 77D.
I really really dont like the idea of booking 330 days out because of the inevitably flight changes. I know as of now the pattern of USA-HKG is that you have good F availability starting 2 weeks before departure - just dont know how the HKG-JNB would pan out. If we want to do the Kruger NP, this would be hard to do because one would need to book quite ahead of time for the government-run camps. But if we give up the Kruger NP, and just enjoy the fab CX F long hauls and Cape Town, I guess we could manage the close-in departure and pay the change fee at $100 pp.
Last edited by Happy; Jul 22, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Sep 28, 2012, 3:12 pm
#33
Join Date: Apr 2008
Programs: AS MVPG
Posts: 454
I am planning a last minute trip to Dubai for next week. Saw there was availability on BA. Last time I booked BA post-surcharge, total taxes came to around $400, so I figured for an F redemption I will still use BA if the surcharge was under $800. Well, it came out to $1788, so that is a no go for me.
I found availability on the Asia miles website for a CX F redemption, but when I called Alaska they only showed J for less ideal flights. How closely does Alaska availability correlate to Asia miles, and is this a case of "call again and try another agent?"
Specifically, I'm looking to leave Monday 10/1 from LAX, YVR, or SFO and return on 10/9.
I found availability on the Asia miles website for a CX F redemption, but when I called Alaska they only showed J for less ideal flights. How closely does Alaska availability correlate to Asia miles, and is this a case of "call again and try another agent?"
Specifically, I'm looking to leave Monday 10/1 from LAX, YVR, or SFO and return on 10/9.
Sep 28, 2012, 4:18 pm
#34
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: PRG/ Ester, AK
Programs: AS MVPG75k
Posts: 451
When there are only 1 or 2 seats left, and they've been released for partner redemptions (as may happen a few days before departure), it may show that message AND you'd have access to those seats. so the correlation between that message and partner availability probably isn't 100%. availability will be changing frequently and probably improving as CX releases more seats for redemption.
call back frequently, but more because avail changes than because you mistrust the agent. If there are segments in F that work for you, you may be able to get the agent to start building your reservation, locking in what's available, and waiting until (hopefully) the remaining segments open up. They may be able to do this without collecting miles and $ until the full itinerary is complete. good luck!
Sep 28, 2012, 10:12 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,391
And yes, call again: BA shows F seats on 1 October on CX 873 (4 seats on award) or 879 (6 seats on award) out of SFO. Ask the agent to manual sell the seats and see if CX will confirm (they may have to call you back for this; it can take a bit).
Sep 29, 2012, 8:45 am
#36
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: SDF
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 290
Don't use CX's site to check; use BA's or QF's.
And yes, call again: BA shows F seats on 1 October on CX 873 (4 seats on award) or 879 (6 seats on award) out of SFO. Ask the agent to manual sell the seats and see if CX will confirm (they may have to call you back for this; it can take a bit).
And yes, call again: BA shows F seats on 1 October on CX 873 (4 seats on award) or 879 (6 seats on award) out of SFO. Ask the agent to manual sell the seats and see if CX will confirm (they may have to call you back for this; it can take a bit).
Sep 30, 2012, 12:13 am
#37
Join Date: Apr 2008
Programs: AS MVPG
Posts: 454
Thanks for all of your help. Yesterday I saw that F was available without the "only a few seats remaining" notification, so I called Alaska and sure enough they had it available. When changing my flight to that one, the agent somehow lost my award return ticket. They couldn't resolve and and told me the global dept. would handle in the next day.
A personal issue came up for next week though, and I had to cancel the entire trip before I could find out the outcome. But it was an interesting day on the phone with the partner desk!
A personal issue came up for next week though, and I had to cancel the entire trip before I could find out the outcome. But it was an interesting day on the phone with the partner desk!
Jan 19, 2013, 12:18 pm
#38
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Melonville
Programs: Alaska Mileage Plan MVPG, HHonors Gold, Hyatt GP Plat, SPG Gold, IHG Spire
Posts: 134
CX JNB F 140K Award Redemptions
Just noticed over at airlineroute.net that effective January 1, 2014, CX is reducing 744 service HKG-JNB to four flights per week, down from the daily 744 from September 2013 - December 2013. The other three days will use a three class 77W with no F. If you want to enjoy CX F to JNB, it might be a good time to redeem those miles. And who knows how long the 140K will last.
Overall, CX will operate just 11 744 long haul flights per week in January 2014. SFO will have 3X weekly on CX870/879.
Overall, CX will operate just 11 744 long haul flights per week in January 2014. SFO will have 3X weekly on CX870/879.
Jan 20, 2013, 2:34 am
#39
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AS MVP Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, WR, AA Gold, Friend of Dorothy
Posts: 144
Just noticed over at airlineroute.net that effective January 1, 2014, CX is reducing 744 service HKG-JNB to four flights per week, down from the daily 744 from September 2013 - December 2013. The other three days will use a three class 77W with no F. If you want to enjoy CX F to JNB, it might be a good time to redeem those miles. And who knows how long the 140K will last.
Overall, CX will operate just 11 744 long haul flights per week in January 2014. SFO will have 3X weekly on CX870/879.
Overall, CX will operate just 11 744 long haul flights per week in January 2014. SFO will have 3X weekly on CX870/879.
Feb 5, 2013, 11:59 pm
#40
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Hood River, OR
Programs: ASMVP Gold75k DL Gold UA Premier Gold SPG Gold Hyatt Platinum Hilton Gold Marriott Gold
Posts: 20
Has anyone done YVR-JFK in F using Alaska miles? I was amazed, I found some F availability using the asia miles tool that will work for a positioning award from PDX to JFK via YVR for the Delta mistake J fare I picked up from JFK-IST. J has better availability and would save me a day on each end in NYC.
Read a few trip reports of CX J & F. F sure looks nice, but J looks more than adequate for a 5 hour flight, is F really worth a 20k mile premium? I've flown DL J, AF J and EK J so interested in trying out F but 20k miles is a lot more to spend...
Read a few trip reports of CX J & F. F sure looks nice, but J looks more than adequate for a 5 hour flight, is F really worth a 20k mile premium? I've flown DL J, AF J and EK J so interested in trying out F but 20k miles is a lot more to spend...
Feb 6, 2013, 8:45 pm
#41
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: PRG/ Ester, AK
Programs: AS MVPG75k
Posts: 451
Do you like fancy whiskies and fine champagne? are you a thirsty individual when you fly? the seat is significantly more spacious than your previous J experiences. J on cx will no doubt be more than adequate, but I'd take F for the nicer meal, bigger bed on an overnight flight, and availability of otherwise inaccessible beverages. keep in mind that's 20k miles round-trip, so it's 10k for each 5h segment. but 20k is almost a RT north american redemption, so the value determination is yours to make.
Feb 6, 2013, 9:50 pm
#42
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Hood River, OR
Programs: ASMVP Gold75k DL Gold UA Premier Gold SPG Gold Hyatt Platinum Hilton Gold Marriott Gold
Posts: 20
I do enjoy the nice champagne and a good single malt scotch (Oban is the favorite)..
I went ahead and booked F this morning, partner desk was super helpful and matched up exactly with the availability I found using the asia miles tool outlined in this thread. Finally get to put to good use all these miles I've been collecting flying to Afghanistan and back for work.. I did make the mistake of trying to connect up to YVR out of PDX, I guess thats a no no as its a foreign operated flight and thus can't be done but even the lady at the partner desk didn't realize it until we'd already booked everything out and she tried to actually ticket it. I'll probably just end up buying a ticket to YVR as it was <$200 when I looked and 25k extra miles for a 1.5 hour Q400 does not sound enticing. Or maybe the train to YVR from PDX.
Kind of a bummer that expert flyer can't monitor CX flights.. I'd like to switch to a day earlier as it'd be no change fee per the partner desk, but aside for periodically searching on Asia miles I have no other way to monitor if other F availability will open up.
Edit: Also @evoG the flight I booked had the "just a few seats remaining" tag on it, but the 3 days in may I saw matched exactly with what the Alaska partner desk said they saw. Waiting on hold they were advertising the new award search feature on Alaska for partners, can't wait until that is actually active
I went ahead and booked F this morning, partner desk was super helpful and matched up exactly with the availability I found using the asia miles tool outlined in this thread. Finally get to put to good use all these miles I've been collecting flying to Afghanistan and back for work.. I did make the mistake of trying to connect up to YVR out of PDX, I guess thats a no no as its a foreign operated flight and thus can't be done but even the lady at the partner desk didn't realize it until we'd already booked everything out and she tried to actually ticket it. I'll probably just end up buying a ticket to YVR as it was <$200 when I looked and 25k extra miles for a 1.5 hour Q400 does not sound enticing. Or maybe the train to YVR from PDX.
Kind of a bummer that expert flyer can't monitor CX flights.. I'd like to switch to a day earlier as it'd be no change fee per the partner desk, but aside for periodically searching on Asia miles I have no other way to monitor if other F availability will open up.
Edit: Also @evoG the flight I booked had the "just a few seats remaining" tag on it, but the 3 days in may I saw matched exactly with what the Alaska partner desk said they saw. Waiting on hold they were advertising the new award search feature on Alaska for partners, can't wait until that is actually active
Feb 6, 2013, 9:55 pm
#43
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,631
Has anyone done YVR-JFK in F using Alaska miles? I was amazed, I found some F availability using the asia miles tool that will work for a positioning award from PDX to JFK via YVR for the Delta mistake J fare I picked up from JFK-IST. J has better availability and would save me a day on each end in NYC.
Read a few trip reports of CX J & F. F sure looks nice, but J looks more than adequate for a 5 hour flight, is F really worth a 20k mile premium? I've flown DL J, AF J and EK J so interested in trying out F but 20k miles is a lot more to spend...
Read a few trip reports of CX J & F. F sure looks nice, but J looks more than adequate for a 5 hour flight, is F really worth a 20k mile premium? I've flown DL J, AF J and EK J so interested in trying out F but 20k miles is a lot more to spend...
Feb 6, 2013, 10:29 pm
#44
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Hood River, OR
Programs: ASMVP Gold75k DL Gold UA Premier Gold SPG Gold Hyatt Platinum Hilton Gold Marriott Gold
Posts: 20
As of the middle of May its still F on a 777-300ER. I haven't seen anything about going to a 2 class and I've got a confirmed ticket on Cathay for seat 1A.. Getting on a non flat bed TATL J on Delta out of JFK will feel like such a disappointment now..
Feb 6, 2013, 10:44 pm
#45
Join Date: Nov 2000
Programs: AA Plat, Alaska MVP, HHonors Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz PC, National Executive Elite, UA Kettle
Posts: 897
I did make the mistake of trying to connect up to YVR out of PDX, I guess thats a no no as its a foreign operated flight and thus can't be done but even the lady at the partner desk didn't realize it until we'd already booked everything out and she tried to actually ticket it. I'll probably just end up buying a ticket to YVR as it was <$200 when I looked and 25k extra miles for a 1.5 hour Q400 does not sound enticing. Or maybe the train to YVR from PDX.