May 22, 2019, 7:13 am
Last edit by: JDiver
Earning American Airlines AAvantage Miles Flying CX / Cathay Pacific Airways (consolidated)
Including known issues (e.g. upgrades) with AA / CX
Including known issues (e.g. upgrades) with AA / CX
Earning AAdvantage Miles flying Cathay Pacific Airways
NOTE: Travel on Cathay Pacific and its affiliate airline counts toward qualifying for AAdvantage elite status membership. However, please refer to aa.com here for fare classes that earn AAdvantage miles, not Cathay Pacific.
AAdvantage Elite members members traveling on Cathay also enjoy:
If you fly CX as an AA codeshare / marketed flight, you will earn as if you were flying on AA.
Flying CX as CX, most discounted economy fare classes do not earn AAdvantage miles; See the chart. See Link to AAdvantage chart on earning miles and EQD flying CX.
Note: the CX website incorrectly indicates no AA miles for E fare; AA.com does and is correct
*Premium Economy fare W on a flight operated by Cathay Pacific will earn an additional 10% class of service bonus with the exception of W fares between Hong Kong and Bangkok, which will not earn a class of service bonus, and Premium Economy R or E, which earn no class of service bonus.
NOTE: Travel on Cathay Pacific and its affiliate airline counts toward qualifying for AAdvantage elite status membership. However, please refer to aa.com here for fare classes that earn AAdvantage miles, not Cathay Pacific.
- Economy / coach fares other than Y, B or H on CX do not earn AAdvantage miles
- B and H only earn fractional (75%) credit on AA
- Upgrades may book into ineligible fare classes, causing challenges getting AA to credit the originally purchased fare class
- there are a few fare classes that CX says do not earn AAdvantage miles, whereas aa.com says they will, as do members reporting their experiences here
- JFK-YVR and YVR-JFK do accrue EQ and miles on eligible fares. JFK-YVR-HKG accrues as if nonstop JFK-HKG.
AAdvantage Elite members members traveling on Cathay also enjoy:
- [*]
Flying CX as CX, most discounted economy fare classes do not earn AAdvantage miles; See the chart. See Link to AAdvantage chart on earning miles and EQD flying CX.
Note: the CX website incorrectly indicates no AA miles for E fare; AA.com does and is correct
*Premium Economy fare W on a flight operated by Cathay Pacific will earn an additional 10% class of service bonus with the exception of W fares between Hong Kong and Bangkok, which will not earn a class of service bonus, and Premium Economy R or E, which earn no class of service bonus.
Upgrading to First on CX / Cathay Pacific Airways and U, Z Fare Class Issues
Upgrading a paid Business fare to First on Cathay Pacific Airways puts the flight into fare class "Z", a class that is ineligible for AAdvantage miles accrual (as reflected on the accrual chart) because it is also an award classification for a First Class award.
Upgrading a paid Premium Economy fare to Business puts it into U class, another award fare class that earns no AA miles.
Members have recently reported success at having their upgrades acknowledged as miles-garnering (mid-June 2015).
and
Upgrading a paid Business fare to First on Cathay Pacific Airways puts the flight into fare class "Z", a class that is ineligible for AAdvantage miles accrual (as reflected on the accrual chart) because it is also an award classification for a First Class award.
Upgrading a paid Premium Economy fare to Business puts it into U class, another award fare class that earns no AA miles.
Members have recently reported success at having their upgrades acknowledged as miles-garnering (mid-June 2015).
I had the same issue. I upgraded from Biz to F using Asia Miles, but left my AA number in the reservation.
The outbound flight credited automatically without intervention.
The inbound flight did not credit and I submitted the Missing Mileage Request. That request got denied due to ineligible fare class. All I did was call the ExecPlat desk and ask for AAdvantage Customer Service, who had record of the denied claim. I explained I paid for Biz, upgraded to F, and provided them with my original ticket number (both ticker numbers were on CX stock). Call took about 5 minutes and miles (and EQM/EQP) posted to the account the next day.
The outbound flight credited automatically without intervention.
The inbound flight did not credit and I submitted the Missing Mileage Request. That request got denied due to ineligible fare class. All I did was call the ExecPlat desk and ask for AAdvantage Customer Service, who had record of the denied claim. I explained I paid for Biz, upgraded to F, and provided them with my original ticket number (both ticker numbers were on CX stock). Call took about 5 minutes and miles (and EQM/EQP) posted to the account the next day.
I just wanted to post the conclusion to my saga, that started with the brilliant idea to upgrade two CX flights in February (yes, 4 months ago).
Well, I Fedex'd a letter to the executive's office, which arrived Friday. Today, I received an email from an "executive liason" who said they agreed that "R" to "U" via an upgrade should be mileage earning and manually adjusted my account to receive credit. Account and status now reflects those flights.
So despite certain aagents and lower-level SUPs saying this is CX's problem and to go pound sand, AA actually can do something about it (albit at a higher level than a regular SUP, I assume). By the phrasing of the answer, I would say this isn't a one time exception but rather what is supposed to happen for these flights.
Godspeed to any other souls on this journey.
Well, I Fedex'd a letter to the executive's office, which arrived Friday. Today, I received an email from an "executive liason" who said they agreed that "R" to "U" via an upgrade should be mileage earning and manually adjusted my account to receive credit. Account and status now reflects those flights.
So despite certain aagents and lower-level SUPs saying this is CX's problem and to go pound sand, AA actually can do something about it (albit at a higher level than a regular SUP, I assume). By the phrasing of the answer, I would say this isn't a one time exception but rather what is supposed to happen for these flights.
Godspeed to any other souls on this journey.
Possible snail mail or FedEx to:
Suzanne Rubin
President – AAdvantage Loyalty Program, American Airlines
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
Suzanne Rubin
President – AAdvantage Loyalty Program, American Airlines
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
Wikipost as of 2018
ARCHIVE: Earning AA AAdvantage Miles on CX / Cathay (including Upgrade Issues)
Nov 25, 2017, 3:24 pm
#361
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Santiago, Chile
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plat
Posts: 40
Codeshare miles
I bought RT SCL-TPE J ticket on CX, with the route being SCL-JFK-HKG-TPE. SCL-JFK segments were flown codeshare with LATAM.
Miles for the CX segments posted today except for the SCL-JFK LATAM segments. Would CX or LATAM be responsible for posting the miles? My FF number was posted on the LATAM boarding passes.
Miles for the CX segments posted today except for the SCL-JFK LATAM segments. Would CX or LATAM be responsible for posting the miles? My FF number was posted on the LATAM boarding passes.
Nov 27, 2017, 7:30 pm
#362
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Is the trip in economy class ?
If it is in economy class, then you are likely to earn zero miles from the flight. Only the most expensive booking classes (H,B,Y) are eligible for mileage accrual to AA
If you are booked in Premium Economy, Business or 1st class, then should be no issue accruing miles
Just add your AA number to the CX booking and miles , if eligible, should credit automatically
If it is in economy class, then you are likely to earn zero miles from the flight. Only the most expensive booking classes (H,B,Y) are eligible for mileage accrual to AA
If you are booked in Premium Economy, Business or 1st class, then should be no issue accruing miles
Just add your AA number to the CX booking and miles , if eligible, should credit automatically
Nov 27, 2017, 8:39 pm
#364
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Nov 28, 2017, 2:47 am
#365
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: in the vicinity of SFO
Programs: AA 2MM (LT-PLT, PPro for this year)
Posts: 19,781
Slightly dumb side question: does a through ticket earn as if it were a single segment JFK-HKG flight (~8070 miles, which is how it would credit if it were an AA flight # as "direct") or as two segment JFK-YVR-HKG (~8800 miles)?
Nov 28, 2017, 11:10 am
#366
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
Single segment. One reason (of several) to avoid through-flights, although in this particular case there's nothing inherently wrong (IMO) with CX 888/889 especially if the timing works better for you (especially ex-HKG).
Dec 6, 2017, 10:41 pm
#367
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat
Posts: 4,777
Cathay Dragon Earning? (to merge)
Will I earn AAdvantage miles at Cathay Pacific rates for these flights?
- Cathay Pacific flight number operated by Cathay Dragon (booking class H)
- Cathay Dragon flight number operated by Malaysian (booking class H)
Dec 6, 2017, 10:46 pm
#368
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: PVD, BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,664
It will earn based on the CX award chart.
75% RDM
0.5x EQM
15% EQD
75% RDM
0.5x EQM
15% EQD
Dec 6, 2017, 11:50 pm
#369
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
You will earn on KA marketed by MH in accordance with the CX earnings charts on aa.com, as KA is a oneworld affiliate airline of CX and MH is a oneworld airline.
You will earn as swingaling has posted.
Cathay Pacific earnings chart (link)
We will merge this into the appropriate thread soon.
/Moderator
Dec 14, 2017, 6:32 am
#370
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Santiago, Chile
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plat
Posts: 40
I bought RT SCL-TPE J ticket on CX, with the route being SCL-JFK-HKG-TPE. SCL-JFK segments were flown codeshare with LATAM.
Miles for the CX segments posted today except for the SCL-JFK LATAM segments. Would CX or LATAM be responsible for posting the miles? My FF number was posted on the LATAM boarding passes.
Miles for the CX segments posted today except for the SCL-JFK LATAM segments. Would CX or LATAM be responsible for posting the miles? My FF number was posted on the LATAM boarding passes.
Dec 23, 2017, 2:32 pm
#371
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: #1 LGA, #2 JFK, #Never EWR
Programs: Riteaid wellness+ Gold, PlanetFitness Preferred Black, Hyatt Cubic Zirconia, Hallmark Crown Platinum
Posts: 203
Happy to report that my CX flight - 1 OpUp, 1 cash upgrade and 1 upgrade with miles (which triggered a new ticket) all posted without an issue 
Dec 27, 2017, 6:25 pm
#372
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PHX
Programs: AA ExPlat, United Gold, IHG Amb Plat, HHonors Diamond(Aspire), Bonvoy LT Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 455
Was looking at booking a flight PHX-HKG-KUL on CX in Premium Economy. It looks like the HKG-KUL segment is on KA and I don't think the flight has PE seating. Assuming that I end up in Y on that segment, would it still post as a PE segment to my AA account, or would I likely get 0 miles/$$ ? I could adjust my plans and fly through BKK instead of KUL on mainline CX and I know that would post as PE and I would also likely get an upgrade to J as OWE.
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
Dec 27, 2017, 6:27 pm
#373
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: UA*S, AA Plat, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 256
Was looking at booking a flight PHX-HKG-KUL on CX in Premium Economy. It looks like the HKG-KUL segment is on KA and I don't think the flight has PE seating. Assuming that I end up in Y on that segment, would it still post as a PE segment to my AA account, or would I likely get 0 miles/$$ ? I could adjust my plans and fly through BKK instead of KUL on mainline CX and I know that would post as PE and I would also likely get an upgrade to J as OWE.
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
KA=CX for lounge access, they're all OW carriers so the OW rules apply as usual.
Dec 27, 2017, 8:18 pm
#374
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Was looking at booking a flight PHX-HKG-KUL on CX in Premium Economy. It looks like the HKG-KUL segment is on KA and I don't think the flight has PE seating. Assuming that I end up in Y on that segment, would it still post as a PE segment to my AA account, or would I likely get 0 miles/$$ ? I could adjust my plans and fly through BKK instead of KUL on mainline CX and I know that would post as PE and I would also likely get an upgrade to J as OWE.
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
Also, is KA=CX for lounge access in HKIA for OWE on a connection like that?
Op-up on J as OWE is slim in chances unless oversold or AC swap.
See here for the current thread.
Last edited by JDiver; May 22, 2019 at 7:16 am Reason: Add Moderator note