Last edit by: eponymous_coward
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.
Routing Rules:
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.
Note: Cathay flights cannot be booked using alaskaair.com. Mileage requirements in chart form available on alaskaair.com.
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.
- 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
#2431
Join Date: Jul 2018
Programs: alaska
Posts: 4
I hope this gets resolved, Ive been stock piling AS miles for a cathay trip to south africa in March and now there is no J options.
#2432
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
This doesn't help much now, but the history of mileage programs is replete with sudden devaluations and tightening of availability. I would view miles as a "currency" worth at best between one to two cents per mile, depending on how flexible you are with times and destinations, and leave it at that. Trying to stockpile miles for a specific carrier, date, and destination is likely to lead to disappointment.
#2433
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
I booked CX J 4 to 3 months out. Originally there was only PE JNB-HKG but 2 J opened up and I grabbed them. Upgraded to F at T-11 days. Hopefully you will find some space which definitely seems to be more challenging since the CX changes.
Personally, I think CX & JL are overdue for a devaluation via AS. I can see it more inline with AA soon but still perhaps maintain stopovers on a one-way award. I have booked 6 CX F&J awards over the last 8 months. Good for CX F to Australia in Feb, returning JL F from Toyko in Mar. Doing a paid J&Y RTW MR and an 8-day Tahitian Cruise inbetween.
James
#2434
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Awesome choice. I would visit CPT over JNB (CX starts nonstop service from HKG to CPT in November) and a Safari in the Kruger should not be missed. I was in SA in Jan/Feb. Flew CX JNB-HKG//HKG-BOS IN J/F. Incredible value for 70K. I paired that with an EK SFO-DXB//DXB-JNB in J. During the 26 day stopover I toured around SE Asia & Australia.
I booked CX J 4 to 3 months out. Originally there was only PE JNB-HKG but 2 J opened up and I grabbed them. Upgraded to F at T-11 days. Hopefully you will find some space which definitely seems to be more challenging since the CX changes.
Personally, I think CX & JL are overdue for a devaluation via AS. I can see it more inline with AA soon but still perhaps maintain stopovers on a one-way award. I have booked 6 CX F&J awards over the last 8 months. Good for CX F to Australia in Feb, returning JL F from Toyko in Mar. Doing a paid J&Y RTW MR and an 8-day Tahitian Cruise inbetween.
James
I booked CX J 4 to 3 months out. Originally there was only PE JNB-HKG but 2 J opened up and I grabbed them. Upgraded to F at T-11 days. Hopefully you will find some space which definitely seems to be more challenging since the CX changes.
Personally, I think CX & JL are overdue for a devaluation via AS. I can see it more inline with AA soon but still perhaps maintain stopovers on a one-way award. I have booked 6 CX F&J awards over the last 8 months. Good for CX F to Australia in Feb, returning JL F from Toyko in Mar. Doing a paid J&Y RTW MR and an 8-day Tahitian Cruise inbetween.
James
Until we see something solid to suggest premium cabin seats are released to partners, I would not have any high hope or give prior experiences which are woefully outdated.
Do agree CX and JL charts are overdue for devaluation. If AS is not pre-occupied with the integration with VX, I suspect the partner charts devaluation would have happened already.
#2435
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,898
I booked two HKG-JFK seats for later this month via AS. Today, QF shows an additional seat open for the flight I want, but AS can't see it. So CX does release J class seats to partners post 6/22. I also saw F seats available
#2436
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
One month out thru 11 months the booking window, sadly is a No. And that is what many posters want / need to book. Until we see availability shows up beyond one month from departure, there is no point to talk about prior experiences as such no longer apply.
#2437
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Close in, Yes, that has been confirmed days ago. If you can travel within the next 7 to 14 days, you can find seats, actually more in F than in J.
One month out thru 11 months the booking window, sadly is a No. And that is what many posters want / need to book. Until we see availability shows up beyond one month from departure, there is no point to talk about prior experiences as such no longer apply.
One month out thru 11 months the booking window, sadly is a No. And that is what many posters want / need to book. Until we see availability shows up beyond one month from departure, there is no point to talk about prior experiences as such no longer apply.
Now that we see JFK-YVR I looked at JFK-HKG and found F & J available in October 2018 as well, albeit not as many as JFK-YVR but still there for three months out. There is also some F & J in December up to the week before Christmas.
From HKG I looked at SIN. J is available virtually everyday of October and on a random day in October, 8 of the 9 flights that day has J open.
I am still not seeing anything even relatively close in from LAX to HKG nor from HKG-BNE/SYD/MEL/JNB.
Given that last week I saw nothing from JFK and now see some availability, I am hopeful that other cities will start showing availability too. I have also noticed there being less flights with both F & J availability together, usually either one or the other.
James
#2438
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,898
In my limited experience with 2 bookings, I was able to get J class seats (one at a time) 21-25 days out.
Currently, I am seeing seats on QF that AS cannot see. Darn Phantom availability.
I am also seeing the F OR J pattern
Currently, I am seeing seats on QF that AS cannot see. Darn Phantom availability.
I am also seeing the F OR J pattern
#2439
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
I have been periodically checking CX routes and some city pairs seem to be coming back "online!" After the updates, there was virtually no CX flights with any award availability. On the JFK-YVR route there was also no availability, then Y awards and a few PE started showing up. When I checked tonight there was award availability in ALL Classes. I am not talking about close in awards either. In fact in October 2018 there is F and/or J awards available on 24 dates.
Now that we see JFK-YVR I looked at JFK-HKG and found F & J available in October 2018 as well, albeit not as many as JFK-YVR but still there for three months out. There is also some F & J in December up to the week before Christmas.
From HKG I looked at SIN. J is available virtually everyday of October and on a random day in October, 8 of the 9 flights that day has J open.
I am still not seeing anything even relatively close in from LAX to HKG nor from HKG-BNE/SYD/MEL/JNB.
Given that last week I saw nothing from JFK and now see some availability, I am hopeful that other cities will start showing availability too. I have also noticed there being less flights with both F & J availability together, usually either one or the other.
James
Now that we see JFK-YVR I looked at JFK-HKG and found F & J available in October 2018 as well, albeit not as many as JFK-YVR but still there for three months out. There is also some F & J in December up to the week before Christmas.
From HKG I looked at SIN. J is available virtually everyday of October and on a random day in October, 8 of the 9 flights that day has J open.
I am still not seeing anything even relatively close in from LAX to HKG nor from HKG-BNE/SYD/MEL/JNB.
Given that last week I saw nothing from JFK and now see some availability, I am hopeful that other cities will start showing availability too. I have also noticed there being less flights with both F & J availability together, usually either one or the other.
James
I checked last night but the BA site just kept churning without ever going to the flight page. I was too lazy to try QF site.
I have not see anything between HKG to Australia in Nov except 2 dates to PER.
EDIT
Just checked. Unfortunately JFK-HKG are all zeroed out again. There is not a single J or F between Oct 9 thru Oct 24.
There are some PE sporadically, but not a single seat on any class for Fri/Sat/Sun during the 3 weeks in Oct I just checked at 1:15pm EST. Not a single seat on a Tuesday Oct 16.
For those days that have PE available, only 1 or 2 flights have seats, primarily on the 10am and the 22pm flight (go thru YVR).
Whatever you saw last night JFK-HKG in Oct 18, they are NOT showing. Can't believe they are all snatched up though it might be possible.
I am afraid we are back to Square One.
Last edited by Happy; Jul 5, 2018 at 11:25 am
#2440
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 272
I know this is not a correct topic to ask but I am not sure where to ask. Regard to the new rule if you make any change even before 60 day window you will get charge for $125? someone say you get 1 Free change before they charge $125? anyone know about this? thank you!
#2441
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
I know this is not a correct topic to ask but I am not sure where to ask. Regard to the new rule if you make any change even before 60 day window you will get charge for $125? someone say you get 1 Free change before they charge $125? anyone know about this? thank you!
James
#2442
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Thanks for the much needed updates.
I checked last night but the BA site just kept churning without ever going to the flight page. I was too lazy to try QF site.
I have not see anything between HKG to Australia in Nov except 2 dates to PER.
EDIT
Just checked. Unfortunately JFK-HKG are all zeroed out again. There is not a single J or F between Oct 9 thru Oct 24.
There are some PE sporadically, but not a single seat on any class for Fri/Sat/Sun during the 3 weeks in Oct I just checked at 1:15pm EST. Not a single seat on a Tuesday Oct 16.
For those days that have PE available, only 1 or 2 flights have seats, primarily on the 10am and the 22pm flight (go thru YVR).
Whatever you saw last night JFK-HKG in Oct 18, they are NOT showing. Can't believe they are all snatched up though it might be possible.
I am afraid we are back to Square One.
I checked last night but the BA site just kept churning without ever going to the flight page. I was too lazy to try QF site.
I have not see anything between HKG to Australia in Nov except 2 dates to PER.
EDIT
Just checked. Unfortunately JFK-HKG are all zeroed out again. There is not a single J or F between Oct 9 thru Oct 24.
There are some PE sporadically, but not a single seat on any class for Fri/Sat/Sun during the 3 weeks in Oct I just checked at 1:15pm EST. Not a single seat on a Tuesday Oct 16.
For those days that have PE available, only 1 or 2 flights have seats, primarily on the 10am and the 22pm flight (go thru YVR).
Whatever you saw last night JFK-HKG in Oct 18, they are NOT showing. Can't believe they are all snatched up though it might be possible.
I am afraid we are back to Square One.
James
#2443
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,800
#2444
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
I know this is not a correct topic to ask but I am not sure where to ask. Regard to the new rule if you make any change even before 60 day window you will get charge for $125? someone say you get 1 Free change before they charge $125? anyone know about this? thank you!
I believe what they're trying to say is that within 24 hours of purchase you may, without penalty, either make one change to the ticket or cancel and refund it. This is simply compliance with Federal law. It would be less confusing if they'd at least change "...payment within 24 hours..." to "...payment, within 24 hours..."
#2445
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,066
Just rang AS. SFO-HKG-SIN is available in J but not the exact flight for SFO-HKG! Hence married segments.