Hi,

Been a lurker for a few days. Very interesting thread. I've just been given a start date for a job in HK, Mid Feb. That means I'm starting afresh and so i wonder if i might be able to ask for advice on which accounts and cards i should go for, based on the fact that I'm totally new to the country and starting from the beginning. My spend will be world-wide including PRC.

I'm currently an earn and burner with Avios (BA) and Etihad, but happy to change plans and will probably use the airmails i earn here to travel to Europe/Uk 70% of the time and regionally around here 30% of the time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

BJE

Welcome to the forum BizJet Express. I'm splitting out your question into a separate thread since the answer to your question is a little bit complex.

Firstly you need to consider what will be your work flying pattern once you move here. Will you fly a lot, and if so, do you know which airline and what class you can fly?

Then based on this, you need to work out which program you want to credit your miles to and whether you will be able to get status.

For the credit card choice, it depends on whether you want to continue to credit to Avios or Etihad, or switch to Asia Miles. For Asia Miles, the wiki at the top of the thread you originally posted to has starters recommendations:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...-2017-a-7.html

Let us know a bit more about the above questions and we can give you some advice on what is best for you.

Hi SXC

Thanks for the welcome and the advice about the thread. Much appreciated ^^

I'm a Pilot, but in private aviation where we have no concessions or anything like that. I very rarely earn airmails as a result of travelling on the airlines. Mainly I'm a redeemer. I do have Silver status with BA currently, however.

My eligibility to earn Air miles will be based on spend and card sign ups. In the past I've done really well (earning) out of Rocketmiles and Kaligo as my colleagues have allowed me to have their miles as they "haven't felt the need to collect them"

Generally i have redeemed miles for upgrades or the Amex 2 for 1 offer with BA.

With regards to travel back to Europe, direct flights are always preferable, but being flat overnight is by far, more important to me, so if that means a stop, that's fine. From HK, other than local based carriers offering direct flights, RJ and the Gulf Airlines would probably be the airlines i use if direct flight redemption isn't possible at a reasonable rate. RJ and QA are Oneworld so i could use Avios with them. I have a UAE Debit card that earns 3 miles (Etihad) for each $ spend overseas, but then I've got currency conversion downside to factor in.

I hope that helps with any advice that may be offered.

Thanks in advance.

BJE

In your case, then yes you just want the card that maxes your mileage. Since you are looking to mostly redeem on long haul, you will find that Asia Miles will go further than Avios. Avios is better value than Asia Miles for shorter flights.

Have a look at the credit card thread to see which one will max your miles - you will likely find that Standard Chartered Asia Miles master card will be the most straightforward and earns a decent rate of miles. However, you might find that being new in HK, it will take you a few months before a bank will approve your credit card. They usually want to see a few months of salary deposit before they approve a card.

Bizjet Express would you consider flying CX J to Europe less popular locations (MXP, ZRH, AMS, DUS) and then flying onto UK with BA?

Hi percysmith,

Absolutely.

Regards
BJE

In that case
AM is your program
And as sxc said, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...-2017-a-7.html is the place to start
Also http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...ly-upda-1.html for welcome offers (but the short summary is there aren't many)

Wrt your earn rate
BEA Flyer World for starters - $5/AM on everything, pretty easy on non-permanent residents
Then SCB AM - $4/AM dining/overseas/online, $6/AM on everything else, pretty hard on non-permanent residents initially

Thanks Percy, will take a look at all that. Really appreciate the input. ^^^^ Thanks again. I'll report back with how it goes