In certain markets (possibly HK and TW) I think there are some people who are willing to pay a premium for the just the 'status' of having a metal Amex Plat card even if benefits aren't that great.

The card is very reasonable in Scandinavia -- about HKD 3,500 if I remember correctly, typically with the first 3 months (i.e. 25% of annual fee) waived as well. A bit more in the US but the card comes with many benefits that aren't available elsewhere.

In Australia I think I paid about $1,500 AUD (similar to the HK fee) but there the card comes with something like 150k miles (transferrable to any Membership Rewards partner) and $500 AUD travel credit -- i.e. actual benefits that offset the high fee.

There hasn't been a Citi Avios transfer bonus for over a year now, I think. They used to be pretty frequent. Are the good times over?

Seeing as the good times of using Avios intra-Asia on CX are pretty much over, I'm not particularly aching to lock up my Thank You-points in that currency anymore.

There's reduced availability on intra-Asia CX using Avios, but the inventory is still not bad. I've redeemed 5 HKG-HND/NRT round trips and a few HKG-TPE for 2019 for weekend trips without much difficulty.

At 40000 Avios for Tokyo and 18000 Avios for Taipei (round trip) in business class, it's still pretty good value considering the transfer bonus from credit cards.

Bit of hyperbole on my part of course -- there are still deals to be had. But since Cathay gutted their programme the situation has changed drastically, and so have my credit card transfer patterns. I'm finding myself increasing transferring TY-points and Rewards Cash to KrisFlyer these days. Too bad that programme is getting a devaluation of its own later this month. Fortunately SQ is far more transparent than CX with these changes though.

With the transfer bonus, Avios would often make more sense than Asia Miles for one-way long-haul too.

Hmm, what's wrong with those? I keep using BAEC Avios to book almost all one-segment flights in Asia, and they have by far better value than alternative Citi partners like AsiaMiles and EVA. AsiaMiles become better if you fall into 10k miles zone, but your flight consists of two segments (EVA is similar, but you need to book when then run promos, as regular prices make little sense).

As for conversion bonuses, haven't actually seen any from Citi recently. No 30% Avios, no 25% Etihad, no 5% (haha, pathetic anyway) bonus for AsiaMiles.

@barracuda93 as you are based in Taiwan, are you booking TPE-HKG-xxx flights? There is a lot of availability when you book this kind of flight with a married segment.

But if you are looking at HKG-BKK or HKG-SIN for example, it becomes much harder to find flights.

For these "forced married segments", is there a choice of which 2 segments to marry? do they need to be within 24 hours? Can one space them out by a week or more?

Thank you.

There is a choice, but if we talk about online booking, you can't make any extended stopover. Never tried doing that over the phone, since it's much easier to book two separate tickets instead.

Actually I avoid booking combinations of flights in a single itinerary with BAEC for several reasons: better flexibility (I can cancel or change just one flight without affecting another) and if I fly via Hong Kong, I usually prefer having a day there.

But yeah, in certain instances I have noticed this weird problem with Iberia and perhaps BAEC. As I remember, it was when I looked for flights between Hong Kong and Jakarta. Never had problems booking HKG–TPE, HKG–BKK or HKG–MNL though.
I also typically use Avios to book flights from Taiwan to Japan or Korea.

Two Qs:

1. How long after you receive the "Be rewarded with Annual Relationship Points" email from Citi Prestige will the relationship bonus points actually be credited to your account?

2. Does anyone currently hold the Amex Platinum Credit Card? In case I need a referral...

My friend in HK does.

Alot of questions
 

Hi!

Sorry if I'm the wrong thread.
I've searched alot and this was the least bad thread to post in.

I'm moving to HK in april for work 3 years+.

Currently based in Sweden, Stockholm ARN and I'm flying 90+ flights a year mainly on SAS and *A.
I'm SAS Eurobonus Diamond (*A Gold+)

I have decided to move my business to OW and preferably Cathay and I think I will do around 20 flights in Asia and 2-3 to Sweden each year.
Mostly eco and some businessclass.

Here's my questions:

1: Is it worth to try statusmatch my Eurobonus Diamond with Cathay Marco Polo?

2: First thing to do in HK, get HK ID-card is planned!
3: Get Cathay Amex is planned!

4: Which Bank to get? I've looked into HSBC and their HSBC Visa Signature Card.
Any better options for me?

/jz123

Valkommen till HK. ;)

1. Don't think CX officially do status matches, but you could give it a shot. They definitely wouldn't match SK Diamond to CX Diamond as the former is significantly easier to attain, given that you can earn status credits through credit cards in Scandinavia. If you're lucky they might match you to GO, but they may also not match you at all.

3. The wiki section in this thread is very useful if you need help selecting a suite of cards.

4. Once you arrive in HK there will be a transition period between needing a bank account and receiving your physical Hong Kong ID. Only Citibank (as far as I know) open bank accounts for expats who don't yet have a physical HKID, so they tend to get a lot of expat business early on. I originally banked exclusively with Citi but am now more spread out across a few banks.