which award travel is better?
 

Im looking to either book HKG-JFK or HKG-LAX since cathay doesnt run thru DFW for first class award space. Since this will be my first time riding in first class I want a memorable experience ( since i am a student).

Which one would you suggest?

Whichever one you can get a seat on. The JFK-HKG flight is slightly longer (like 20 minutes or so), the lounges are way better at LAX. The experience on each is pretty much the same.

Agree with chasgoose whichever flight you can get a seat on. Just to clarify, you're flying out of HKG correct, not JFK/LAX -> HKG? If so then it doesn't matter which flight you take for lounge purposes. Just make sure you have time at the airport to check out the Pier and the Wing first class since this will be your first time experiencing first.

I use to live in the west coast and would fly back to SFO, but now living in NYC. I've found the flight time difference between west coast and JFK has definitely been greater than 20 minutes. HKG-SFO flights in my experience were usually around 12 hours, HKG-JFK is a good 14 hours.

I was going to fly emirates on the way there with AS, but since the devaluation is coming for AA, i might just make it a round trip if that makes a difference. My ultimate destination is BOM but Etihad availability for 90-100k vs HKG for 67.5K and then a paid flight over seems a better deal. I also looked at Emirates availability for DEC 16-19 but nothing for F.

So if I am flying out to HKG, then is JFK better or LAX?

AA won't let you route on one award on CX to India. You'd have to do it as two awards for more than 90k miles Etihad will be less miles. If you want to buy a paid ticket between HKG and BOM keep in mind they may not book your luggage all the way through on separate tickets. It's at the discretion of the agent. If that is important to you.

I agree with the above that in terms of flight experience whichever you can get a seat on is the one you go with. Make sure to check out the Pier at HKG. It was a beautiful space. And sign up for a free massage early as they book up fast. If going outbound, the new international terminal at LAX is stunning and the Qantas lounge is very nice. But I still prefer the lounges in HKG better.

The problem with Etihad is that they dont have any available slots for my dates currently (12/17-12/19). They release only 2 weeks out from what i can tell. And using that technique will result in Etihad being 115K miles due to the devaluation. Which is pointless given the fact that I can get a round trip F for 135 and then just pay a HKG-BOM or use avios for those.


Thanks for the advice about the Pier. Ill definitely arrive early for it.