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
Nov 18, 2015, 7:06 pm
#1021
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
I really dont see the hung up on the position flight given the AS award is so generous.
We have booked a LAX-HKG-JNB-HKG-LAX award outbound both in J, inbound 1J 1F in 2 PNRs for traveling in Aug/Sept 2016. We dont even bother to try to piece the FLL-SEA-LAX possibility because it would add way too much travel time plus require an overnight at SEA.
We would just use a separate ticket for the MIA-LAX//LAX-MIA part. Outbound we can connect on the same day for the 01:30 departure from LAX. Inbound we can spend a few days in SoCal after the trip.
The total costs for the positioning flights would be either 25K + $10 pp, or $149x2 pp. It is just a bit more for the 2 overnight hotels at SEA. It really is an impossible task trying to fit the FLL-SEA//SEA-FLL in, not to mention much longer traveling time even if it miraculously work (and dont have the few days in SoCal).
From the first moment we decided to collect AS miles for South Africa trip we already know we would need positioning flights. With the bargain price AS charges and the stopover allowed, it is no brainer to take the AS option even that means we would need to pay extra outside the main award.
For the perspective, using AA miles even though now it allows to route thru DOH on QR, it is still 150K for J, no stopover and a horrendous layover at DOH. Did that routing this past Feb but with the old 110K US award before USDM disappeared.
I will take CX 777 anytime over QR 787. Even though the seats are the same reversed herringbone 1-2-1, 777 is a bigger plane hence the seat space is much more than the 787. We are totally underwhelmed by 787, especially the blindless window shade. Utterly slow to change.
Nov 19, 2015, 6:52 am
#1022
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Quick redemptions question. IM looking to get a CX award from HKG to JFK. Currently no J seats available but I'm still far out.
If I call AS, get a confirmed PE ticket, and then say 2 weeks before the flight a J seat opens up what is the process? Is there any fee? I'm an MVP if it makes a difference
If I call AS, get a confirmed PE ticket, and then say 2 weeks before the flight a J seat opens up what is the process? Is there any fee? I'm an MVP if it makes a difference
Nov 19, 2015, 10:02 am
#1024
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
I suspect this is a manually charged fee, i.e. the system does not automatically default to charge. The agent specifically told me when I booked the 1J 1F itinerary, that if F opened up BEFORE 60days prior to departure, no fee to change. Within the 60days window change fee applied even up from J to F. My guess is, if you initially paid F, but voluntarily downgraded to J on one segment due to availability, when F opened up and you got back to F, there would be no change fee. Else change fee applied by the rules. Agent did not charge that, then you lucked out.
Nov 20, 2015, 12:25 am
#1025
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Taxes also may differ slightly due to the exchange rate.
Nov 20, 2015, 4:14 pm
#1026
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,535
The HKD is pegged to the USD so any changes will only occur if you're travelling onwards to a non-pegged country
Nov 20, 2015, 9:45 pm
#1027
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
Ah makes sense.
This was a F redemption to JNB
Originally Posted by crimsona
The HKD is pegged to the USD so any changes will only occur if you're travelling onwards to a non-pegged country
This was a F redemption to JNB
Nov 21, 2015, 11:03 pm
#1028
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern Washington
Programs: AS MVPGold 75K
Posts: 81
Did you know that if you book a trip for someone else using your MVPGold miles there is no change fee? I didn't but I'm happy about it.
I booked a trip on AS/CX PUW-SEA-LAX-HKG-JNB for January 2016. Did last March at 330 days so got lucky with good seats (first SEA-LAX-HKG and business HKG-JNB) My daughter decides she wants to join me on this trip and gets vacation approval and I'm thinking uggg...getting a ticket will be no fun this late. Mostly concerned with a change fee since soon to be under the 60 day window. I book her ticket in business class (not bad for 63 days out) and the AS agent tells me "there will never be a change fee and taxes are refundable" I asked him about the 60 days and he said "the ticket was booked with your miles and with your status of MVPGold that extends to her booking so no change fees". I had no idea....learned something new every day. After booking the ticket I called back and spoke with someone else to confirm this. And she said the same thing. I have been gold for 3 years and use my miles for my family often. I never knew this.
I booked a trip on AS/CX PUW-SEA-LAX-HKG-JNB for January 2016. Did last March at 330 days so got lucky with good seats (first SEA-LAX-HKG and business HKG-JNB) My daughter decides she wants to join me on this trip and gets vacation approval and I'm thinking uggg...getting a ticket will be no fun this late. Mostly concerned with a change fee since soon to be under the 60 day window. I book her ticket in business class (not bad for 63 days out) and the AS agent tells me "there will never be a change fee and taxes are refundable" I asked him about the 60 days and he said "the ticket was booked with your miles and with your status of MVPGold that extends to her booking so no change fees". I had no idea....learned something new every day. After booking the ticket I called back and spoke with someone else to confirm this. And she said the same thing. I have been gold for 3 years and use my miles for my family often. I never knew this.
Nov 21, 2015, 11:34 pm
#1029
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,621
Hi -
Just another reason why MVPG is the sweet spot to get.
Just another reason why MVPG is the sweet spot to get.
Nov 21, 2015, 11:51 pm
#1030
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern Washington
Programs: AS MVPGold 75K
Posts: 81
I need some help figuring out award nexus. I want to redeem AS miles on specific CX flight. Currently it's unavailable so I want to do a search and create an alert on award nexus. I'm not sure which box to check. As CX availability is somewhat limited to AS. Do I check Oneworld (BA) or CX? I am currently searching BA for availability, but there is no alert feature and it requires daily checking. I've read the getting started guide and I must say...it's a bit confusing.
Nov 22, 2015, 7:28 pm
#1031
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern Washington
Programs: AS MVPGold 75K
Posts: 81
So right now, my daughter only has one of her return legs booked. I was able to secure a seat JNB to HKG. Need HKG to LAX/YVR/SFO etc. Nothing anywhere...Trip is 10 weeks from now. I went ahead and booked an EK flight (keeping fingers crossed they both don't get canceled due to duplicate travel). It appears seats open up within a week or of travel. But that's kind of risky. I am concerned because the outbound and part of the return are all on same PRN. I think I should have had them separated. I can't really leave her in HKG so not sure what you would advise. At this point I'd take any class of travel just to make sure she has a seat.
Nov 22, 2015, 10:25 pm
#1032
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,621
Hi -
As you alluded to earlier, when flying CX it is a better idea to book as two separate one-ways. If you are more than 60 days out, you should be able to break up your ticket without any fees.
Also, CX might have seats in PEY. See ig JNB-HKG-USA has any availability in PEY.
Also, within a week out you should find one seat in a class of service to the US. Look for Monday-Wednesday departures.
As you alluded to earlier, when flying CX it is a better idea to book as two separate one-ways. If you are more than 60 days out, you should be able to break up your ticket without any fees.
Also, CX might have seats in PEY. See ig JNB-HKG-USA has any availability in PEY.
Also, within a week out you should find one seat in a class of service to the US. Look for Monday-Wednesday departures.
Nov 25, 2015, 10:04 pm
#1033
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 376
I cant find any awards going from dfw to bom in first. Can anyone help show me how to search it on BA's chart? I can only see BA and AA flights.
Nov 26, 2015, 9:13 am
#1034
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Melonville
Programs: Alaska Mileage Plan MVPG, HHonors Gold, Hyatt GP Plat, SPG Gold, IHG Spire
Posts: 134
DFW - HKG nonstop is on AA metal only. On HKG - BOM, CX flies the A330, which does not have F. I suggest you look for EK, which should have decent availability in F.
Nov 26, 2015, 10:46 am
#1035
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
If you want to fly CX you will need to look on BA site from a city CX serves to find space. It wont find round crazy routing's on the BA site. Considering positioning costs and time. EK would be a better way go for the extra 20K miles