Jun 28, 2017, 8:46 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Cathay Award Guide Using Alaska Airlines Miles

Note: Cathay flights cannot be booked using alaskaair.com. Mileage requirements in chart form available on alaskaair.com.

Quote:

Request your Partner Award reservation on Cathay Pacific by calling Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-252-7522 (TTY: Dial 711 for Relay Services) 5:00 a.m. - Midnight (PT), daily.

Routing Rules:

If it's not on the award chart, it's not allowed. For example EUROPE is To/From HKG only.
Stopover are only allowed on any CX award for North America awards as destination or origin. For instance: intra-Asia awards do not get a stopover. It must be a North America->Somewhere or Somewhere->North America award to qualify for a stopover.
The only awards that do not break at HKG are intra-Asia or North American ones. For instance, Australia-Europe/Middle East/Asia outside of HKG will be two awards (breaking at HKG). The AS award chart can be misleading about this and give you the impression you can fly an award like Australia/Europe-ICN, but the chart for these award types will show "Hong Kong".
One stop-over allowed on one way award. You can build open jaw and other advanced routings by booking multiple one way awards. Please note change fee rule below.
Allegedly stop-over only in Hong Kong, but some have posted success in other enroute cities such as YVR or SEA.
As of 5 June 2018 changes/cancellations made to a booking will incur a $125 fee which is waived for MVPG/MVPG75K. Bookings made prior to 5 June will be allowed one complimentary change or cancellation for up to 60 days prior to date of travel.
Awards can be booked 330 days in advance.
Cathay and Alaska (or an Alaska flight operated by SkyWest/Horizon on behalf of Alaska) are the only airlines allowed on a Cathay award. No other partner airlines may be used on a single award (e.g. American, JAL, Emirates).

North American Gateway Cities:

Western
Vancouver
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Seattle (Spring 2019)

Eastern (Can not be used if traveling to west coast)
Boston
Chicago
New York (JFK & EWR)
Toronto
Washington

Award Chart Links*:

Asia
Australia
Europe
India/Middle East
North America

Anyone with 90 posts and 90 days can edit the wiki. Everyone else if you want something added to the wiki please comment in the thread.

Cathay Pacific (CX) Award Redemption, Booking and Availability – 2017 and Later

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Dec 25, 2017, 4:30 am

#1561

hightide

Join Date: Nov 2010

Programs: IHG Platinum

Posts: 1,066

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

This is an age old question. It happens all the time of it showing on all the search engines, but AS agents can’t see it. Im fairly certain AS is given different inventory than that of OW and their own Marco Polo members to choose from. The only times (in my experience) where an AS agent sees exactly what’s presented on the other search engines is when it’s about 6 to 8 or more months out planning.

In July 2017, I saw 4J seats each on CX889 departing 22 and 23 Mar 2018 at ba.com; however, the AS agent couldn’t see space on both days for CX889 but could see J space on CX855 and CX837. I went ahead and booked CX855 in J. In Sep 2017, CX855 got cancelled and replaced with CX859. I rang AS, told them CX859's timing doesn't work for me. Magically, AS is now able to see J space on CX889 on both 22 and 23 Mar 2018! so I successfully changed CX859 to CX889.

Is AS intentionally withholding certain blocks of CX space and releasing them only when there is a change in schedule or CX flight cancellation?

Dec 25, 2017, 4:53 am

#1562

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

Quote:

Originally Posted by hightide

Is AS intentionally withholding certain blocks of CX space and releasing them only when there is a change in schedule or CX flight cancellation?

No way. The problem is that AS sells all these miles with incredible deals and everyone and their grandmother loads up on AS miles, especially mileage brokers. I’m sure they hoard the miles with the intention of booking JL and CX tickets. So those airlines have to protect their dedicated customers, as well as their alliance partners customers. I think AS is fed availability out of a different tube in certain scenarios so this doesn’t become a problem for CX and OW members. As a result the availabilities will not always totally match up.

Dec 25, 2017, 6:46 am

#1563

hightide

Join Date: Nov 2010

Programs: IHG Platinum

Posts: 1,066

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

I think AS is fed availability out of a different tube in certain scenarios so this doesn’t become a problem for CX and OW members. As a result the availabilities will not always totally match up.

That's what I used to belive. Not being in OW, AS gets last priority. However, it does seem odd that 8 months in advance AS couldn't see a single J seat out of 4J CX889 seats. Six months in advance, when there were only 2J CX889 seats left - AS could actually see them.

BTW: Considering JFK-YVR is an international itinerary, is a stopover possible? Say JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-ANC or JFK-YVR-SEA (stopover)-ANC or JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-YYC?

Dec 25, 2017, 7:02 am

#1564

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

Quote:

Originally Posted by hightide

Exactly. Random. Which would make sense why it has its own separate bucket. Some times it aligns, while other times it does it’s own thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hightide

BTW: Considering JFK-YVR is an international itinerary, is a stopover possible? Say JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-ANC or JFK-YVR-SEA (stopover)-ANC or JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-YYC?

If I’m correct, I think all those routings you gave as examples are okay and would be acceptable. Here is a link with some more specific information: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rew...-see-more/amp/

Dec 25, 2017, 9:02 am

#1565

eponymous_coward

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot

Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite

Posts: 20,395

Quote:

Originally Posted by hightide

BTW: Considering JFK-YVR is an international itinerary, is a stopover possible? Say JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-ANC or JFK-YVR-SEA (stopover)-ANC or JFK-YVR (stopover)-SEA-YYC?

Can’t add US destinations to a CX JFK-YVR award because that violates US cabotage laws (which would be hefty fines for AS and CX). You can’t use a non-USA carrier as part of the travel between two USA cities. Your award will break at YVR.

Last edited by eponymous_coward; Dec 25, 2017 at 9:52 am

Dec 25, 2017, 9:06 am

#1566

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

Quote:

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

The

Can’t add US destinations to a CX JFK-YVR award because that violates US cabotage laws (which would be hefty fines for AS and CX). You can’t use a non-USA carrier as part of the travel between two USA cities. Your award will break at YVR.

What if you overnight?

Dec 25, 2017, 9:09 am

#1567

eponymous_coward

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot

Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite

Posts: 20,395

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

What if you overnight?

Can’t be issued on a single ticket or award because AS and CX don’t want cabotage fines.

Dec 25, 2017, 9:15 am

#1568

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

Quote:

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

Can’t be issued on a single ticket or award because AS and CX don’t want cabotage fines.

You may be right on technicalities. But in practice it’s not enforced. I’m pretty sure I’ve booked, and I know other people that have booked, JFK-YVR(overnight)-SEA

Dec 25, 2017, 9:51 am

#1569

eponymous_coward

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot

Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite

Posts: 20,395

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

You may be right on technicalities. But in practice it’s not enforced. I’m pretty sure I’ve booked, and I know other people that have booked, JFK-YVR(overnight)-SEA

If you look at contiguous US to contiguous US on the AS award chart, CX is NOT an option. This is why.

If the tickets are being issued... well, just be aware that it's a multi-thousand dollar fine for carriers who violate cabotage law. And FT awareness of itineraries that violate cabotage HAS caused the DOT to fine carriers (which then "fix" the problem).

Last edited by eponymous_coward; Dec 25, 2017 at 11:57 am

Dec 25, 2017, 11:02 am

#1570

flytoeat

Join Date: Jan 2001

Posts: 2,841

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgerfly

You may be right on technicalities. But in practice it’s not enforced. I’m pretty sure I’ve booked, and I know other people that have booked, JFK-YVR(overnight)-SEA

Please double-check your contention. This is one area where it is not "YMMV". I redeem that route frequently. They never have budged on any connection, unless additional miles were charged.

Dec 25, 2017, 8:59 pm

#1571

rbw5t

Join Date: Aug 2012

Posts: 544

I'm in DC, and CX has recently announced a new IAD-HKG flight. I have never played in the AS sandbox before, but am strongly considering getting started with BofA AS cards to start building miles for a trip to Asia. Is the general consensus that CX and JA will continue to be available using AS miles? The numbers seem pretty incredible! I travel with my family of 4, so there and back in F is a stretch, but in J or even premium economy is nice enough for us. Roundtrip DC to Hong Kong in PE for 70k each (while still a hefty 280k total) is pretty awesome. Can 4 together in J or PE generally be found 11 months out? I figure if I can do a personal and business card every 3ish months, I should have the miles for a nice roundtrip in only a little over 15 months. If I start now, I should be there by May of 2019, and should be able to book a spring break trip, or summer vacation, for 2020. Sound reasonable?

Dec 25, 2017, 9:14 pm

#1572

jinglish

Join Date: Jul 2015

Location: SEA

Programs: Hilton/Marriott Gold, Accor Silver

Posts: 2,036

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbw5t

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but... not gonna happen. If you check out the card's thread over on that section of FT, you'll find in the wiki that BofA's new anti-churning policy will ensure there's no way you're amassing signup bonuses that quickly.

Dec 25, 2017, 9:14 pm

#1573

Mauibaby2008

Join Date: Jul 2012

Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black

Posts: 3,393

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbw5t

well at the rate AS has been losing partners lately nothing is guaranteed. But what is guaranteed is that those rates will not be around for the next 2 to 3 years :-)

Dec 26, 2017, 1:05 am

#1574

Edgerfly

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: SEA, FLL, Martha’s Vineyard

Programs: AS MVPGold75K, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Pan Am million-miler

Posts: 2,019

Is this true? An AS agent just told me that you cannot route from Colombo-HKG-LAX-SEA because they are not allowed to redeem cathay to Colombo.

Dec 26, 2017, 1:34 am

#1575

Orwaid

Join Date: Jan 2009

Posts: 1,621

Hi -

I do not know for certain, but it could very well be. When you look at the award charts, it lists "India", not "Indian Sub-Continent". Strictly speaking, that would kick out Colombo as a destination.

I would recommend calling Mileage Plan directly and not the res agents.

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