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
May 9, 2018, 3:52 am
#2071
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,405
https://imgur.com/a/ytJRZUI
I was able to see J availability for both Tuesdays Dec 11 and Dec 18 on both Qantas and Avios search engines, but when I phoned into Alaska to inquire, they said that they could not see those seats.
Is it a case of phantom availability or CX restricting those seats to those FFPs only? The phone agent told me to just keep calling back and "hopefully" those seats might get loaded into their system.
I was able to see J availability for both Tuesdays Dec 11 and Dec 18 on both Qantas and Avios search engines, but when I phoned into Alaska to inquire, they said that they could not see those seats.
Is it a case of phantom availability or CX restricting those seats to those FFPs only? The phone agent told me to just keep calling back and "hopefully" those seats might get loaded into their system.
May 9, 2018, 4:43 am
#2072
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,066
Would this be possible?
LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO (stopover) - HKG-CGK?
Ideally, I would like to plan a long layover of around ~20h to go shopping in Portland. From PDX, I prefer to fly to SJC. However, CX flights departs from SFO.
Questions:
Would LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO be considered backtracking that is not permitted?
Are SJC and SFO considered co-terminals?
LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO (stopover) - HKG-CGK?
Ideally, I would like to plan a long layover of around ~20h to go shopping in Portland. From PDX, I prefer to fly to SJC. However, CX flights departs from SFO.
Questions:
Would LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO be considered backtracking that is not permitted?
Are SJC and SFO considered co-terminals?
May 9, 2018, 6:50 am
#2073
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Would this be possible?
LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO (stopover) - HKG-CGK?
Ideally, I would like to plan a long layover of around ~20h to go shopping in Portland. From PDX, I prefer to fly to SJC. However, CX flights departs from SFO.
Questions:
Would LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO be considered backtracking that is not permitted?
Are SJC and SFO considered co-terminals?
LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO (stopover) - HKG-CGK?
Ideally, I would like to plan a long layover of around ~20h to go shopping in Portland. From PDX, I prefer to fly to SJC. However, CX flights departs from SFO.
Questions:
Would LAX/BUR-PDX-SJC/SFO be considered backtracking that is not permitted?
Are SJC and SFO considered co-terminals?
May 9, 2018, 7:25 am
#2074
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 285
Booked JFK->HKG->MLE RT for Feb 2019 in F/J. Hoping space opens up or else wifey gets to enjoy F without me lol. Every agent was able to see exactly what I saw on BA.
May 9, 2018, 12:08 pm
#2075
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,388
Are you taking the stopover in the Bay Area or HKG?
I've booked BKK-HKG(stop)-SFO//OAK-SEA in the past (there were no SFO flight to SEA in the middle of the day on Sunday, so it was a 6 hour wait or 3 hours out of OAK).
I've also recently booked the following AS itineraries on the web:
DAL-SEA(stop)-PVR (AS refundable Y, upgraded to F on the DAL-SEA segment)
MEX-DFW-SEA(stop)-LAX-PHX (AA/AS F)
Both are one way awards. Seems like some backtracking to me. YMMV. Call and see?
I've booked BKK-HKG(stop)-SFO//OAK-SEA in the past (there were no SFO flight to SEA in the middle of the day on Sunday, so it was a 6 hour wait or 3 hours out of OAK).
I've also recently booked the following AS itineraries on the web:
DAL-SEA(stop)-PVR (AS refundable Y, upgraded to F on the DAL-SEA segment)
MEX-DFW-SEA(stop)-LAX-PHX (AA/AS F)
Both are one way awards. Seems like some backtracking to me. YMMV. Call and see?
May 10, 2018, 9:05 am
#2076
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,066
Are you taking the stopover in the Bay Area or HKG?
I've booked BKK-HKG(stop)-SFO//OAK-SEA in the past (there were no SFO flight to SEA in the middle of the day on Sunday, so it was a 6 hour wait or 3 hours out of OAK).
I've also recently booked the following AS itineraries on the web:
DAL-SEA(stop)-PVR (AS refundable Y, upgraded to F on the DAL-SEA segment)
MEX-DFW-SEA(stop)-LAX-PHX (AA/AS F)
Both are one way awards. Seems like some backtracking to me. YMMV. Call and see?
I've booked BKK-HKG(stop)-SFO//OAK-SEA in the past (there were no SFO flight to SEA in the middle of the day on Sunday, so it was a 6 hour wait or 3 hours out of OAK).
I've also recently booked the following AS itineraries on the web:
DAL-SEA(stop)-PVR (AS refundable Y, upgraded to F on the DAL-SEA segment)
MEX-DFW-SEA(stop)-LAX-PHX (AA/AS F)
Both are one way awards. Seems like some backtracking to me. YMMV. Call and see?
Thanks for the info. I'm aware the website spits out some interesting backtracking routings. CX flights make me nervous as we need to call and it seems like the reps decide whether or not it is a valid routing.
Also, I notice that AS is imposing married segment availability on their own metal for numerous domestic routings. For example, on 26 Mar 2019 (and many other dates), there is no first class saver availability in F for LAX/SNA/BUR - PDX.
However, there is a saver F availability for: LAX-SJC on AA 6031 connecting to SJC-PDX on AS 309.
When I searched for space on SJC-PDX, AS is charging 60K miles to fly on AS 309!
May 10, 2018, 11:19 am
#2077
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,388
The stopover is at SFO. However, I'm open to either LAX-PDX-SFO (stopover) -HKG or SFO-PDX-LAX (stopover) - HKG
Thanks for the info. I'm aware the website spits out some interesting backtracking routings. CX flights make me nervous as we need to call and it seems like the reps decide whether or not it is a valid routing.
Also, I notice that AS is imposing married segment availability on their own metal for numerous domestic routings. For example, on 26 Mar 2019 (and many other dates), there is no first class saver availability in F for LAX/SNA/BUR - PDX.
However, there is a saver F availability for: LAX-SJC on AA 6031 connecting to SJC-PDX on AS 309.
When I searched for space on SJC-PDX, AS is charging 60K miles to fly on AS 309!
Thanks for the info. I'm aware the website spits out some interesting backtracking routings. CX flights make me nervous as we need to call and it seems like the reps decide whether or not it is a valid routing.
Also, I notice that AS is imposing married segment availability on their own metal for numerous domestic routings. For example, on 26 Mar 2019 (and many other dates), there is no first class saver availability in F for LAX/SNA/BUR - PDX.
However, there is a saver F availability for: LAX-SJC on AA 6031 connecting to SJC-PDX on AS 309.
When I searched for space on SJC-PDX, AS is charging 60K miles to fly on AS 309!
AS just isn't making any F available on the AS 309 segment, or for that matter, any of the QLA-XXX-PDX routings. AA is though. That doesn't help you on a CX award though.
Personally, I wouldn't get too agitated about a 550 mile Y segment when you're angling for free stopovers and lots of backtracking on a CX J/F award (I might idly monitor if F comes open... it might?), but you do you.
May 12, 2018, 11:39 am
#2078
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,066
Thanks for clarifying eponymous_coward 
I see it now.
I have another problem. I don't have enough miles for a one-way J flight from USA-Asia, but will have enough once my AS card statement closes on June 6. In light of the changes on June 5, I'm thinking of booking PE for now and then upgrade to J by the time enough AS miles post. Would they have to cancel my original itinerary and book another?
I see it now. I have another problem. I don't have enough miles for a one-way J flight from USA-Asia, but will have enough once my AS card statement closes on June 6. In light of the changes on June 5, I'm thinking of booking PE for now and then upgrade to J by the time enough AS miles post. Would they have to cancel my original itinerary and book another?
May 12, 2018, 11:59 am
#2079
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 1
I spoke with two agents who both claimed to be able to directly access the partner desk. Yet they couldn't see HKG-LAX on one day where BA showed 3 J seats and HKG-LAX on another day where BA showed 2 J seats. (They can see PY availability on those flights.) Update: Tried a 3rd date where BA is showing 3 J seats, and still nothing. They appear not to be able to see any of the flights departing late-afternoon and evening.
Would it help to call back after a couple of days? Any suggestions?
Would it help to call back after a couple of days? Any suggestions?
May 13, 2018, 8:34 am
#2080
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: LAX
Posts: 2,851
I am trying to change my LAX to HKG from First class to biz class. I do not see any biz availability from October through November 18th. Is this correct but yet there are many first class seats available for one.
May 13, 2018, 9:54 am
#2081
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,388
Thanks for clarifying eponymous_coward I see it now.
I have another problem. I don't have enough miles for a one-way J flight from USA-Asia, but will have enough once my AS card statement closes on June 6. In light of the changes on June 5, I'm thinking of booking PE for now and then upgrade to J by the time enough AS miles post. Would they have to cancel my original itinerary and book another?
I see it now.I have another problem. I don't have enough miles for a one-way J flight from USA-Asia, but will have enough once my AS card statement closes on June 6. In light of the changes on June 5, I'm thinking of booking PE for now and then upgrade to J by the time enough AS miles post. Would they have to cancel my original itinerary and book another?
May 13, 2018, 4:49 pm
#2082
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: SFO, JFK/LGA, SEA
Programs: Alaska 75K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, *A Gold w/ Krisflyer Gold
Posts: 815
Maximizing Cathay F for 70k: Best/Longest Connecting Flight into HKG?
So, I've finally hit 70k Alaska miles, and am looking forward to my first flight in Cathay Pacific First Class from HKG to the US!
Of course, I am hoping to maximize this award, and add a connecting flight into Hong Kong. Which routes would you guys suggest for maximizing the flight time and experience (including lounges) in Cathay Biz on the way to Hong Kong, without adding more miles to the cost? I know one option is coming from Johannesburg or Cape Town in Africa, continuing to the US for 70k miles all-in. What are costs like from say, Australia or New Zealand or India?
My last question is: Is it possible for my connecting segment to be in Cathay Dragon's First Class from Beijing?
Of course, I am hoping to maximize this award, and add a connecting flight into Hong Kong. Which routes would you guys suggest for maximizing the flight time and experience (including lounges) in Cathay Biz on the way to Hong Kong, without adding more miles to the cost? I know one option is coming from Johannesburg or Cape Town in Africa, continuing to the US for 70k miles all-in. What are costs like from say, Australia or New Zealand or India?
My last question is: Is it possible for my connecting segment to be in Cathay Dragon's First Class from Beijing?
May 13, 2018, 5:31 pm
#2083
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
So, I've finally hit 70k Alaska miles, and am looking forward to my first flight in Cathay Pacific First Class from HKG to the US!
Of course, I am hoping to maximize this award, and add a connecting flight into Hong Kong. Which routes would you guys suggest for maximizing the flight time and experience (including lounges) in Cathay Biz on the way to Hong Kong, without adding more miles to the cost? I know one option is coming from Johannesburg or Cape Town in Africa, continuing to the US for 70k miles all-in. What are costs like from say, Australia or New Zealand or India?
My last question is: Is it possible for my connecting segment to be in Cathay Dragon's First Class from Beijing?
Of course, I am hoping to maximize this award, and add a connecting flight into Hong Kong. Which routes would you guys suggest for maximizing the flight time and experience (including lounges) in Cathay Biz on the way to Hong Kong, without adding more miles to the cost? I know one option is coming from Johannesburg or Cape Town in Africa, continuing to the US for 70k miles all-in. What are costs like from say, Australia or New Zealand or India?
My last question is: Is it possible for my connecting segment to be in Cathay Dragon's First Class from Beijing?
May 13, 2018, 5:34 pm
#2084
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
Good luck in finding J seats short of close in. LAX has become surprisingly tight. Discovered this several months ago. Even JFK has become tight.
May 13, 2018, 6:07 pm
#2085
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
James
