Jun 28, 2017, 8:46 pm
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
Feb 28, 2017, 11:31 am
#271
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Raleigh, NC
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Plat
Posts: 198
What is the most J seats someone has managed to book from asia to us at T-330?
The reason I ask is I am struggling with the following:
The family is planning our trip for next year and are debating if they want to grab the JL J seats at 60k for TYO-USA for 3 + a lap child or detour to HK on CX and grab 4 seats at 50k for TYO-HKG-USA for 20k more + extra taxes.
I have seen the infant price be anywhere from $300 to $700 - so is the 20k could come in on the cheap side vs. the revenue.
The reason I ask is I am struggling with the following:
The family is planning our trip for next year and are debating if they want to grab the JL J seats at 60k for TYO-USA for 3 + a lap child or detour to HK on CX and grab 4 seats at 50k for TYO-HKG-USA for 20k more + extra taxes.
I have seen the infant price be anywhere from $300 to $700 - so is the 20k could come in on the cheap side vs. the revenue.
Feb 28, 2017, 11:46 am
#272
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: CGK/LAX
Programs: KF,JMB, OZ, SPG,AA,UA,AS
Posts: 1,163
For me, it has been four seats ex-LAX at t-330 in J. We also had one F seat on the flight so a totally of 5 passengers booked at t-330. Eventually, we were able to convert two of the four J seats to F seats about a week before departure.
Feb 28, 2017, 11:59 am
#273
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 733
Today I received a generic email from customer service for a $75 voucher and not the 7500 pts I thought I heard him say. Considering I didn't ask for anything or even mention the wait, it's a nice gesture to bolster my opinion of AS.
My previous CX redemption on AS took 11 minutes, although that was admittedly simpler. In both cases I was feeding segment by segment and all seats were visible to the rep.
Feb 28, 2017, 3:18 pm
#274
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
For those who were successful in booking the HKG-JNB (or reverse direction) segment, what day was it? Did you see this award segment on any weekend days? How far in advance did you book?
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
Feb 28, 2017, 5:40 pm
#275
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
For those who were successful in booking the HKG-JNB (or reverse direction) segment, what day was it? Did you see this award segment on any weekend days? How far in advance did you book?
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
Mar 1, 2017, 11:28 am
#276
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: AS 100K
Posts: 184
I hadn't thought of cross referencing multiple partner award engines. Will do this in the future to hopefully save me some time.
I did find that having them look segment by segment (as advised in this thread I think) was the best way. The dates I ended up booking would not show up if searched YVR-AKL, but would show up if she searched each segment individually using YVR-HKG then HKG-AKL.
Mar 1, 2017, 1:16 pm
#277
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,911
Close to dept it can be anything.
Mar 1, 2017, 5:08 pm
#279
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,763
For those who were successful in booking the HKG-JNB (or reverse direction) segment, what day was it? Did you see this award segment on any weekend days? How far in advance did you book?
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
Ironically, I find it easy to get the North America-HKG (or reverse direction) segment, but find the segment to/fro South Africa to be elusive, even when check 330 days in advance.
I have never seen additional releases in my experiences flying this route 3 times. The last one when we checked in at JNB we were almost bumped due to the J cabins were oversold by 1. Reward tickets are at the bottom of the totem pole in CX system - they can bump you if the flight is oversold.
We defused the situation by joking around with the agent who was quite persistent, wanted to send us to SAS on the same day... At the end we prevailed. The flight was full to the gill including the PE and E cabins.
We have another JNB-HKG booked for end of August this year - ticketed in Nov 2016. I have NOT seen any additional J release ever since ticketing.
Mar 1, 2017, 8:38 pm
#280
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
HKG-JNB route is ONE flight per day. It also has a very healthy load hence once the 2 J seats are released, they are snatched up very quickly.
I have never seen additional releases in my experiences flying this route 3 times. The last one when we checked in at JNB we were almost bumped due to the J cabins were oversold by 1. Reward tickets are at the bottom of the totem pole in CX system - they can bump you if the flight is oversold.
We defused the situation by joking around with the agent who was quite persistent, wanted to send us to SAS on the same day... At the end we prevailed. The flight was full to the gill including the PE and E cabins.
We have another JNB-HKG booked for end of August this year - ticketed in Nov 2016. I have NOT seen any additional J release ever since ticketing.
I have never seen additional releases in my experiences flying this route 3 times. The last one when we checked in at JNB we were almost bumped due to the J cabins were oversold by 1. Reward tickets are at the bottom of the totem pole in CX system - they can bump you if the flight is oversold.
We defused the situation by joking around with the agent who was quite persistent, wanted to send us to SAS on the same day... At the end we prevailed. The flight was full to the gill including the PE and E cabins.
We have another JNB-HKG booked for end of August this year - ticketed in Nov 2016. I have NOT seen any additional J release ever since ticketing.
Mar 1, 2017, 11:45 pm
#281
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: Alaska Gold 75K, Southwest A-List, United MileagePlus Gold, Marriott/SPG Platinum
Posts: 59
BA/JL for HKG-DPS for the date I am looking at and several after - yet the agent shows 0 on everything.
Mar 2, 2017, 12:03 am
#282
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
What do you mean by different departures? I thought CX only flies out of JNB once per day?
Good to know then. I actually checked for the JNB-HKG flight the moment the 330 days opened up for AS redemption booking. But I didnt see any for the date I want. So it could be taken up by someone in the Marco Polo Club or something since they have access to it first.
Good to know then. I actually checked for the JNB-HKG flight the moment the 330 days opened up for AS redemption booking. But I didnt see any for the date I want. So it could be taken up by someone in the Marco Polo Club or something since they have access to it first.
Mar 2, 2017, 1:42 am
#283
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
The one time I flew to JNB on CX was in F, so its been a while. Got very lucky too as I was able to get two seats in F (I was in PE initially, but back when there was 9 F, it was a bit easier). This was in August, but again a few years ago.
Mar 2, 2017, 12:00 pm
#284
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,763
It was probably 4 years ago when CX used 747 to fly the JNB-HKG route. Once the 747 was retired and 777 came in, the service was downgraded to 3 class.
Mar 3, 2017, 1:35 am
#285
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